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KYLE
MORRISON
DIGITAL & SOCIAL MEDIA
CO NTEN T STRATEG IST
HELLO.
I’m Kyle. Digital media professional. Pop culture nerd. Hot sauce advocate. Fan of all things Ohio.

I’ve spent most of my career so far in the fast-paced world of professional sports – with some agency-side work mixed in – but I’m looking for a
new challenge. What am I looking for? A directive to innovate, a creative environment and an opportunity to grow professionally and personally.
 + FAHLGREN MORTINE + FLORIDA PANTHERS

Account Executive, Aug. 2017 - April 2018 Digital Media Coordinator, Jan. 2016 - July 2017
• Provided tactical social media recommendations, campaign • Modernized and elevated team social voice with the goal of bolstering fan
execution and conversation monitoring for Cardinal Health, Nova engagement locally and growing brand awareness globally, spurring a 68%
Southeastern University and Bendon Publishing. follower increase on Twitter and nearly 250% growth in engagements.

WORK
• Audited social media accounts and consulted on next steps for • Told captivating visual stories through DSLR photography with stylized
Margaritaville, the Ohio Manufacturers’ Association and the Ohio editing, branded motion graphics and GIFs to broaden and improve team’s
Inter-University Council.   visual assets on social space.
• Executed media relations outreach for Land-Grant Brewing, resulting • Became an industry-leading team on emerging platforms; was the subject
in pickup from Columbus Underground, Columbus Monthly, Drink of a MLB case study for team-level best practices on Reddit; became first
Up Columbus and more; monitored and reported on pick-up and pro sports team to release branded custom Snapchat stickers.
sentiment for DHL Supply Chain and EAS Nutrition. • Rebuilt team website during MLBAM takeover of NHL digital properties;
wrote feature stories and aggregated content roundups.

+ CLEVELAND BROWNS + COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS

Digital Engagement Coordinator | May-Dec. 2015 Digital Marketing Intern | 2014-15

• Handled all social media execution on team accounts, adjusting • Created offbeat player GIFs, written content and graphics.
strategy when needed based on engagement data. • Brought team’s social voice to web with Friday Five series, pairing player
• Created a dynamic, young, engaging voice for Browns social media, pop culture parallels with outlandish graphics.
resulting in 24% increase in Twitter followers.
• Wrote community features, took photos and managed photo
galleries on ClevelandBrowns.com.

P: 614.869.7637 E: kylemorrison1993@gmail.com @morrison_kyle_

+ SKILLS
Social media management
Social analytics & strategy
Custom GIF creation
DSLR photography
Pop culture sense
Digital marketing
Editorial content
Motion graphics
Public relations
+ SOFTWARE
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Lightroom
Adobe AfterEffects
Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe InDesign
MLBAM Homebase
Microsoft Office
HTML/CSS
+ PANTHERS SOCIAL OVERHAUL + RESULTS
Background & Challenges Follower Growth - No Longer Last More Visuals, Better Variety
• Team had fewest followers among NHL teams. • Inconsistent team performance Twitter standings – Start vs End
• Lackluster visuals, limited to unedited Getty • Constant relocation rumors
photos and occasional static graphics. • Little brand awareness globally/locally
• Generic tone, little post variety.
High-Level Engagement Increase Reddit “Best Practices” Team
Strategy
• Embrace dynamic, more modernized tone
• Create and post wide variety of engaging visuals
• GIFs (highlights, reactions, motion graphics)
• Behind-the-scenes DSLR photos + Lightroom edits
• Social video highlight cuts
• Explore emerging platforms to gain reputation as a team
that does social media right
MISSION
RECONNECT
STORY & PHOTOGRAPHY BY KYLE MORRISON
F LO R I DA PA N T HER S . C O M
Nine-year-old Dominique Vassalo belted out the “I got goosebumps seeing them out on the ice for the national anthem,” said
Lieberman. “A few people were looking at me, so I didn’t want anyone to point
national anthem – getting a bit of help with the me out.”

“RED!” from the crowd – prior to the Panthers His father, Ron, was in on the surprise. His mother, Heidi, wasn’t. Luckily for
Game 5 matchup with the New York Islanders. Zach, he blended in just enough during the anthem. And the plan to surprise
his mother was still on.

All of the eyes in the building were stuck on Vassalo, save for the two fixated “I was nervous for that part, but it was just awesome seeing them on the ice,”
on the adults standing to her right. he said. “She didn’t know what was coming.”

US Air Force Staff Sergeant Zach Lieberman was back stateside, unbeknownst THE PLAN
to his mother. This time, he was on a very special mission, but there was one
detail that could have spoiled the surprise. They’d tried this surprise after Zach’s first deployment. It didn’t work.

He was in full uniform, standing in the section directly across from the “We didn’t really think it out and it wasn’t really a surprise at all,” said Zach.
anthem. And as he stared at his parents down on the ice, he hoped they “She picked up on it, she knew I was coming back.”
weren’t staring back.
They had a bit of help this time, though. They reached out to the Panthers
Heroes Among Us program with the idea. And from there, the plan was born.
First, they needed to figure out a date.
“The problem was, in the service, nothing’s definite,” said Ron, “and with
hockey, nothing’s definite.”
First, they needed the stars to align – a Panthers playoff appearance and
Zach’s trip home had to coincide – and they did for Game 5.
Second, they needed to figure out how to do the surprise.
They knew that Ron and Heidi would be out on the ice for the anthem, but
there wasn’t enough time in the pregame ceremony to squeeze in the reunion.
Colombo and his team had to get creative.
A TV timeout would work the best. But they needed a video to lead-into the
surprise, keeping up with the typical Heroes Among Us tradition. So, Colombo
had to get a bit tricky.
“We reached out to the mom and threw an idea out that they were honoring her
son due to him not being able to be there,” said John Colombo, the Panthers
Director of Community Relations. “We had her come in and do the interview
under the assumption that she was standing in for him.”
Finally, they had to sell it.
The plan was all laid out. Now Ron and two of Zach’s younger brothers had to
keep it all under wraps, lest Heidi figure it all out again.
“She’s one of these people who gets this gut feeling about things,” said Ron.
“She knows her kids phenomenally well, she’s a very close mother to her kids.”
Ron had to constantly watch everything he said. He almost spoiled it once, but
caught himself. And up until the day of the game, Heidi didn’t suspect a thing.
But Zach had to sell it, too.
“He told me earlier in the week that he’d be out of touch because he was going
on a mission,” said Heidi. “Little did I know, his mission was coming home and
surprising me.”
THE TWIST
One thought ran through Heidi’s mind as she trotted out onto the ice for the
anthem. This, she thought, might be the moment she’d be reunited with her
son.
If there was a surprise reunion, she thought, this is when it’d happen.
“I was hoping in the beginning that maybe he would be there,” she said. “Once
the national anthem was played and I realized he wasn’t coming out, i just kind
of lost my mind.”
The misdirection was necessary due to a tight pregame schedule – but it
ended up being one heck of a twist – and it worked out perfectly.
“The idea that they had was phenomenal,” said Ron. “She was absolutely
shocked.”
The twist also meant that Zach got to watch his parents on NHL Stanley Cup
Playoff ice from the best seat in the house, directly across from them in Club
Lexus.
“I got goosebumps seeing them out on the ice,” he said.
THE WAIT
Zach flew in the morning of the game. Lunch with his father and brothers went
by pretty quick. They got to the arena early, and the clock seemed to slow to
a crawl.
“We looked over at the clock and went, ‘man, this is going to take forever,’” he
said.
It was a long wait for the anthem. Then, the puck dropped. And between the
excitement of playoff hockey in his hometown, and knowing the moment that
was in store, the next few minutes absolutely flew by for Zach.
“It was a blink of an eye from that moment, waiting in the suite, to when they
told us to come out and surprise my mom,” he said. “It just happened so quick,
it was all surreal.”
THE REVEAL
“OK, wait here for our signal.”
The game presentation crew told Zach to wait for his cue to go
surprise his mother. Problem was, Zach almost couldn’t wait
that long. “I probably jumped the gun like three or four times
thinking that they gave the thumbs up,” he said. “I was just
so excited and so amped to see my mom for the first time
in a while.
“I knew she was going to cry, so i had to have the camera crew
hold me back.”
The pre-recorded interview with Heidi and Ron played on the
arena scoreboard. Then the monitors cut to a live shot of the
parents, accompanied by a nice ovation.
But then the camera panned up. And the ovation got a lot
louder.
“All of the sudden, I’m looking on the screen, and I’m seeing
him actually walking,” Heidi said. “I was in disbelief.”
Before the anthem, she thought he was coming back. After
the anthem, she thought it’d be another two months before
she would see her son.
“It wasn’t that i thought he was coming back, it was wishful
thinking,” she said, “but i was hoping he would be… I was in
complete and utter shock when i saw him.”
Everything leading up to that moment – the perfect timing
of Zach’s return, the fake-out during the anthem  – it had all
gone exactly according to the plan.
“When i just came out and she freaked out, I saw her crying,”
Zach said. “It was probably one of the best experiences of my
life, just seeing her that emotional and knowing we were able
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to pull this off without her catching onto anything.”
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Ron knew what was coming, but seeing it all come to fruition caught him Despite the loss, Zach says that Game 5 was the best Panthers game he’s
off-guard. ever seen. Playoff hockey in South Florida. A double-overtime thriller. An
electric crowd. REFERENCES
“It was almost like an out-of-body experience,” he said. And the thunderous For the Liebermans, the venue couldn’t have been more fitting.
ovation amplified that even more. “The hockey community has meant so much to our family over the years,” Chris Liskiewicz
said Ron. “To be able to tie that in with what was done, that was very special Assistant Director, Graphic Design
“The admiration that they had for him,” he said, “It was like he scored the to us.” University of Alabama Football
winning goal in overtime.” chrisliskiewicz@gmail.com
Zach grew up skating on the rinks at the Florida Panthers IceDen, long
At that point, Colombo felt he had to apologize for the deception. “When I before it was actually called that. He’s loved the game since he saw that
saw her, I gave her a hug,” he said. “And I told her, ‘I’m really sorry for lying to 1996 team, and he still plays in adult leagues up in Maryland, where he’s Rob Mixer
you, but I hope it was worth it.’” currently stationed. But for those few moments during Game 5, he felt like Lead Strategist
one of the 20 guys suited up for the Cats. Rob Mixer Digital
After the live reveal, Ron’s phone exploded with texts. And with good reason, robert.mixer@gmail.com
because the Liebermans had quite a few friends in attendance. Any reunion “I actually felt like one of the players when I got that applause,” he said. “I
would have been special. But to have it happen at a Panthers playoff game was not expecting that big of an ovation from the arena.
Rob Conroy
meant so much more to the family that’s been a fixture in the South Florida
hockey scene for two decades. “Being a hometown kid, having my hometown recognize me at my favorite sport for Associate Producer
my favorite team ever, it was just a surreal moment.” Cleveland Browns
“It just kind of comes full-circle, doesn’t it?” Heidi pondered. rconroy@clevelandbrowns.com
Zach got to spend one more day with his family before catching a 5 a.m. flight to
complete his processing and debriefing. He got to take one incredible memory back
Ron has been a coach in the area for over 15 years. Each of the Lieberman
boys started playing hockey at the age of four. Zach, the oldest of the siblings,
with him. The same incredible memory that he left his family, and the 17,000-plus Contact
fans at the BB&T Center that night. It was a short stay. But the brevity doesn’t matter.
fell in love with the game during the 1996 playoff run, as a toddler.
Phone: 614.869.7637
“I’m going to take anything I can get with him,” said Heidi. “If it’s a day, two days, a
“He was caught up in the moment,” Ron recalled. “He only wanted to play week, two weeks, just being able to see him and spend time with him is great.” Email: kylemorrison1993@gmail.com
ice hockey.” @morrison_kyle_

So, he did. He was never the biggest, or the fastest, but he played with heart.
And maybe a hit of a hot head, too, he said. But he stuck with it. His brothers
followed suit.

“I wouldn’t consider myself that great, just your average South Floridian kid
who fell in love with the sport,” Zach said. “And I found a great time to be in
love with the sport.”
+ P: 614.869.7637
E: kylemorrison1993@gmail.com
@morrison_kyle_