Experienced media man Matt Olsen has joined AFL NSW-ACT as the region’s new communications and partnerships coordinator.
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Olsen started work on Monday after years in different media spaces.
After playing his footy at East Wagga-Kooringal in his younger days, Olsen said the time was right to take on a new challenge with AFL Southern NSW.
“I’ve had a lifelong connection with the brand of AFL so that was obviously a big reason why I was attracted to the opportunity to take the job on,” Olsen said.
“I’ve spent nearly 20 years in the media space...combine that with a newish interest in the digital space and the social space, that I’ve only explored in the last couple of years, it all set me up quite nicely to take on a role like this.
“I was running my own business so it wasn’t like I was looking for it but it kind of just appeared and presented itself, and the more I thought about it, the more I thought there is a whole bunch of things there that I’m attracted to and they’re all together.”
Olsen’s role will be to grow the game and share club’s stories through the AFL’s digital platforms, while also manage their partners and major sponsors in the region.
He said there is a couple of key aspects he is looking forward to.
“One is, reconnecting with the local media space and being able to focus in on one brand and tell it’s story,” he said.
“ When you’re a freelancer so to speak, and you’re taking on whatever job comes your way, you don’t really have any opportunity to invest in one particular thing, you do whatever you’re employed or asked to do and you move on. So it’s a nice change to be able to forget about everything else, be interested in it, but not be all that concerned and focus in on one brand.
“The other thing I’m looking forward to is it’s such an important brand in a lot of people’s lives and it’s such an important thing, is footy. Whether it’s playing it, following it, whether it’s watching the kids play, participating in it as a volunteer, there’s so many aspects of it and every one of those aspects has a million stories attached to it.”
AFL Southern NSW game development manager Marc Geppert said it is an exciting development.
“It’s exciting we can grow our game in so many different ways with Matt on board,” Geppert said.
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