My name is John Cornfield and I am currently a Senior at the University of Maryland. I am currently pursuing a dual-degree in marketing and finance, with a minor in business analytics. Additionally, I am also currently a Strategic Design and Innovation Fellow where I am learning the importance of design in every aspect of a business. Design can shape the overall customer experience, whether it be through how a mobile app functions or the feel of a store, designers have the ability to have an impact on every customer that interacts with their company. By understanding how to create an effective design, it can make any business project more successful.

When I was 3-years old I had a life threatening illness that had me hospitalized for nearly six months in ICU followed by repeated hospitalizations for two years. As a result of this illness, I was told I might never be able to play sports. In spite of this dire possibility, sports became my passion. I was able to fully participate in every sport I wanted to play. Sports has always been an outlet for me. It is my hope and plan for my career to center around sports on some level. I have already started executing my plan by becoming involved with multiple sports programs at the University of Maryland, including Intramural Sports and Maryland Athletics.

As a sophomore, I began the fall semester as an Athletics Marketing Intern. In this position I coordinated on-field promotions and created various print and digital graphics. For my sophomore year spring semester I was promoted to Secondary Contact for Maryland Baseball where I was in charge of running group experiences, as well as creating promotions such as “Wings for Dings” where fans could win free wings from one of our corporate sponsors every time Maryland hit a home run. This past semester, I worked as a Secondary Contact for Maryland Football. In this role, I conducted market research, created promotions, and assisted with the production of all Maryland Football games.

In the summer of 2019, I served as a Marketing Intern for the Big Ten Network in Chicago. I worked with the full-time staff to create and plan on-campus initiatives for the upcoming school year. I analyzed the effectiveness of promotions from the previous year to determine which marketing strategies would work best for the upcoming year. I also worked with the staff of the Big Ten football coaches to create advertisements to be used throughout the year.

During the fall semester of my junior year, I was selected to be the Marketing Supervisor for the Intramural Sports program at Maryland. I ran the social media accounts and created other promotions to increase the program’s reach. After taking over in August, 2019, the Instagram account has increased its followers by 85% in just 18 months. This was achieved by increasing the interaction with followers, as well as running promotions to incentivize following the accounts.

I am currently working as the Primary Marketing Contact for Maryland Field Hockey and the Secondary Marketing Contact for Maryland Men’s Basketball. With both of these roles, I am working on ways to keep fans engaged in both programs during the pandemic. Additionally, I am responsible for processing the fan cutouts seen in our stadium during this time.