NATIONAL SPORTS MARKETING NETWORK

Jennifer L. Karpf
Founder/President
National Sports Marketing Network (NSMN)
jenkarpf@sportsmarketingnetwork.com

As the Founder and President of the National Sports Marketing Network (NSMN), Jennifer Karpf is the guiding force for the sports business industry’s foremost trade organization. Under her leadership, the NSMN has become a voice of the sports business industry through dynamic event programming, a stellar Board of industry leadership and career development initiatives. Today, this rapidly growing organization boasts more than 8,000 members, nearly 200 nationally-known Board members and local chapters in 11 cities around the country.

Launched in 1998, the membership of the NSMN now includes a virtual “Who’s Who” of sports business professionals. To achieve this phenomenal growth – with more chapter openings planned – Karpf created a program of NSMN produced events to bring sports business professionals together. Her vision was to host compelling monthly discussions about the predominant sports marketing issues of the day.

By using her keen instincts and knowledge of the sports business industry, Karpf cultivated the growth of NSMN events which are renowned for their caliber of speakers that have included the top newsmakers and leaders in the sports business industry such as league commissioners, network executives, teams, agency presidents, corporate sponsors and facility executives. Today, Karpf serves as Executive Producer of all NSMN produced events, working hand in hand with a team of dedicated professionals and local chapter managers.

In addition to overseeing event programming and promotion, Karpf spearheads the organization’s educational programming, event marketing, and business development. Under her leadership, the NSMN now includes the NSMN Bookstore initiative; a partnership with major literary publishers to promote industry-focused titles.

Three years ago, NSMN produced the first annual Sports Licensing Summit – the first invitation-only, full-day gathering of the international newsmakers in sports licensing. A highlight of the 2006 event was the participation of the 2008 Beijing Organizing Committee making their first appearance in the United States at the Summit. The 2nd Annual Sports Licensing Summit sold out and attracted three league commissioners to its stellar agenda - making, this event a "must attend" conference for top decision-makers in sports licensing.

Karpf has been an invited guest speaker, lecturing on sponsorship, marketing and sales at the 2005 National Convention for Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. She was the keynote speaker at both the 2006 Hampton Classic Sponsor Summit and the 2007 Partners in Business conference.

In addition to her role with the NSMN, Karpf served as an Adjunct Professor at New York University’s Sports Management degree program, where she wrote the first curriculums for NYU's undergraduate sports marketing program. While with NYU, she taught courses including: Sports & Entertainment Promotions and Public Relations; Corporate Sponsorship for Entertainment and Sports; Introduction to Sports Management, along with Professional Seminars on Career Development. In recognition for her efforts in the sports business industry, Karpf has been nominated for the SportsBusiness Journal's prestigious Forty-Under-40 list.

COMMUNITY
Active in the community, Karpf serves on the Marketing & Public Relations Board for the American Cancer Society. She is a member of the Executive Committee of UJA Federation of New York's Sports for Youth initiative, where she chairs the Governance Committee. Karpf is also an Advisory Board member of the East West Sports Summit, an international conference focusing on sports and the sports industry in the Asia Pacific region and the United States. Her past community involvement includes active participation with the Boston office of the Combined Jewish Philanthropies, Steering Committee for the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston and the Marketing & Communications Steering Committee of United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania.

PRIOR TO NSMN
Prior to starting NSMN, Karpf was a member of TIME Magazine’s sales development department where she coordinated sports programming for clients including IBM, Volkswagen, American Express, SAVIN and Merrill Lynch. Prior to Time, Karpf coordinated promotions and advertising sales at Senior Golfer Magazine, and also held public relations positions at The Children's Museum, Boston and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

EDUCATION
Karpf graduated with honors from Boston University where she earned a B.S. in Mass Communication/Public Relations and a B.A. in Art History. She was the Founder/President of the Art History Association and she held internships at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Vose Galleries and Boston Garden while in school.