Mercer Announces External Operations Staff Promotions, Additions

MERCER – Mercer Deputy Athletics Director Daniel Tate announced Thursday morning that he has initiated a restructuring of the department's external operations staff, including a pair of promotions and a handful of additions, that will better serve the needs of the Bears' 18 NCAA Division I varsity athletic teams and nearly 500 student-athletes.

Erica Eades and Augusta Thramer have been promoted to Director of Marketing and Director of Fan Engagement and Creative Content, respectively. In addition to the internal staff promotions, Tate has announced the hiring of Todd Anderson as Assistant Athletics Director for Media Relations, Morgan Barber as Director of Ticket Sales and Joe Campione as Director of Video Services.

Anderson has since announced the addition of Makenzie Jones to his staff as Assistant Director of Athletic Media Relations, as well as Talia Campione as a media relations assistant. Tate has also added graduate assistants Kayla Astin, Zach Hiers, Jacob Hoffman and Aaliyah Prim to the external operations staff as well.

"I am both proud and incredibly excited about the team that we have been able to assemble to continue to drive Mercer Athletics forward," Tate said. "This team is incredibly talented, and their drive and work ethic are something that will continually produce positive results as it pertains to both fan experience and external operations of our department."

Eades joined the department as a graduate assistant prior to the start of the 2021-22 athletics season, and is charged with a multitude of marketing and external revenue initiatives, including the cultivation and maintenance of more than 50 partnerships in Macon and surrounding areas. She also directs the game day marketing and operations for all 18 of Mercer's varsity athletic teams.

A native of Kennesaw, Ga., Eades earned her bachelor's degree in business administration at Samford in 2021, while also double majoring in marketing and management with a sports marketing concentration. She received her master's of business administration degree from Mercer in December 2022.

Thramer heads into her second season with Mercer Athletics in 2023-24, and serves a multi-faceted role at MU. She plays a key role in the marketing efforts of all 18 varsity athletic programs, but also produces and manages creative content for the department's main and team social media accounts.

A 3-time academic all-conference women's basketball standout at Sioux Falls, Thramer played in 107 games (28 starts) as a point guard for the Cougars from 2016-20. The South Sioux City, Neb., native earned her bachelor's degree in sports management from USF in 2020, and was awarded a master's of business administration degree from Stetson in 2022.

Anderson trekked to Macon in mid-July after serving a similar role at UNC Pembroke for the last 17 years. A 26-year veteran of sports information/athletic media relations, he has been charged with oversight of the publicity and communications efforts of both the department and its 18 varsity athletic programs, while specifically managing the day-to-day athletic media relations needs of the football, softball, men's tennis and track & field squads.

A native of Sarasota, Fla., Anderson earned his bachelor's degree from Alabama in 1998, and completed graduate work in sports administration at UNC Pembroke in 2013.

Barber, who spent 10 months as business development manager for the Macon Bacon baseball team, will head up ticket sales and renewals for the department, as well as serve as the liaison for corporate and group ticket packages. She will also assist in the development of new and creative ticket options, as well as oversee the processing of ticket orders and the building and maintaining of events.

Barber, a product of Valdosta, earned her associate's degree in business administration from Georgia Military College in 2015, and completed her undergraduate studies at Mississippi (Ole Miss) in 2018. She also earned her master's degree in business administration from LSU in 2022.

Joe Campione will head up Mercer's broadcasting and video streaming efforts, including all ESPN+ streams, after serving a similar role at Morehead State over the last six seasons. He will direct the student production crew, as well as produce and direct the nearly 100 events that MU will showcase. Prior to Morehead State, Campione spent 3-1/2 seasons as Director of Video Production with the Binghamton (N.Y.) Rumble Ponies, the Double-A affiliate of the New York Mets.

Joe Campione earned a pair of bachelor's degrees (English, History) from George Mason in 2012 with a minor in sports communication.

A former cross country and track & field student-athlete at Chattanooga, Jones joined Mercer Athletics in late August after serving a role as public relations assistant with the Jacksonville Jaguars last year. She has a previous 2-year stint as an assistant in Chattanooga's Athletic Communications Office, and served as the social media manager with Chattanooga's chapter of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

A native of Morristown, Tenn., Jones served as the Southern Conference's student-athlete representative at the 2022 NCAA Convention in Indianapolis. She earned bachelor's degrees in communications, as well as sports, outdoor recreation and tourism, from Chattanooga in 2020, and completed her graduate work in business administration at UTC in 2022.

Astin will assist Eades in the department's marketing efforts while also serving as a liaison to the cheerleading and dance squads as well. She will enter her third year with the department in 2023-24 after serving similar positions in the two years prior, including the 2021 campaign as a student manager for the nationally-ranked football program. She also has a previous stint as an intern in the marketing department as well.

A native of Macon, Astin earned her bachelor's degree in business administration from Mercer in July 2023, and is currently pursuing her master's of business administration (MBA) at MU.

Hiers will serve an important role as a graduate assistant in the MU Athletic Ticket Office, and brings previous experience with him after undertaking a stint as a ticket operations associate for the Georgia Swarm professional lacrosse organization. While in Atlanta, he helped generate new individual and season ticket sales, while also contributing to the second- and fifth-highest single-game attendance totals in organization history.

A product of Cumming, Hiers graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree from Wingate in 2022, and graduated cum laude with his master's degree in sport analytics from Mississippi in May 2023.

Hoffman and Prim will both serve integral roles as creative content graduate assistants and will be charged with the production of both photography and video for all phases of the day-to-day operations of the athletics department, including Mercer's main and team social media channels.

A former collegiate tennis player at Ashland, served as a media producer at his alma mater prior to making the move to Middle Georgia and helped grow the department's social media presence by more than 25 percent, while also serving as the lead content producer in the coverage of three national championship runs by Ashland's teams. The Noblesville, Ind., native earned his bachelor's degree in marketing from Ashland in 2022. He is currently pursing his master's degree in business administration (MBA) at Mercer.

Prim is an award-winning producer with previous experience in a variety of collegiate settings. She spent the previous three years as an assistant video coordinator with the Ball State football team, and served a dual role on campus as a sports producer for Ball State Sports Link where she was charged with planning feature stories and supervising all facets of production. A native of Indianapolis, Ind., Prim earned her degree in telecommunications from Ball State in 2023. She is currently pursuing a master's degree in higher education athletic leadership at Mercer.

Talia Campione will serve a part-time role on the athletic media relations staff after serving a similar role at Morehead State over the last two seasons and will serve as the primary communications contact for Mercer's beach volleyball program. She has served previous professional roles with Disney's College Program, as well as a stint as a video production assistant with the Binghamton Rumble Ponies.

Talia Campione earned her associate's degree in arts & sciences from SUNY Broome in 2015, and later earned her bachelor's degree in broadcasting and mass communications at SUNY Oswego in 2020.

Mercer Announces External Operations Staff Promotions, Additions

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