AUBURN, Ala. – As founder, CEO and chairman of MELT, one of the country's largest independent sports marketing agencies, Vince Thompson has produced 17 consecutive Final Fours for his company's largest client, the Coca-Cola Company.
This year was different, and not just because MELT launched Coca-Cola Orange Vanilla during March Madness.
"The greatest experience ever," said Thompson, a 1984 Auburn University communications graduate. "In spite of the outcome, I think we won a lot of living rooms with the way the Auburn family lost graciously."
Like many in Minneapolis, Thompson turned the Final Four into an Auburn family reunion.
"It was also very poignant in that I was able to be there with many of my family and friends," he said. "We either grew up in the Auburn family or we were fraternity brothers together. It was one of those very special occasions in life, one in which I'll never forget."
Thompson returned to his alma mater on Oct. 9 to visit with Auburn student-athletes interested in sports marketing careers as part of AuburnYOU, Auburn Athletics' professional development initiative.
"Auburn student-athletes are a very important part of the Auburn family," Thompson said. "Student-athletes make the great, prototypical employee because of the dedication, grind and desire.
"I wanted them to be aware that Auburn University is the greatest professional lab around them so take advantage of other opportunities they may have when they're not competing, practicing or studying.
"And how to parlay their specific sport experience into a career in their industry. In other words, the equestrian team can parlay that into working in the equine industry, governing bodies, Olympics, and those types of things."
As an Auburn student, Thompson worked in sports information under David Housel while also serving as sports editor of The Auburn Plainsman.
"My experience at Auburn University truly transformed my career through sports information, and really got me on my path," he said. "I want to communicate to these kids, if you can dream it, you can do it.
"Auburn University is turning out some of the greatest student-athletes and some of the greatest students. You can see a tremendous impact in the professional marketplace. That's one thing I wanted to point out to these student-athletes: tapping into the Auburn alumni base is the lowest hanging fruit for job opportunities because of that emotional connection each one of us has to Auburn University.
"I wanted to tell them tricks of the trade, how to build their brand, how to leverage LinkedIn and how to leverage the Auburn alumni family for job opportunities."
Thompson employs six recent Auburn University graduates on the MELT team, offering many others on-the-job experience through his MELT U internship program, a practice he recommends to fellow Auburn alums who own businesses.
"I want to point out to the Auburn family that these student-athletes, and I tell them, they're so special and that they make the best employees because of their dedication, training and discipline," he said. "As a member of the Auburn family, and the Auburn alumni family, we all need to bond together to help these kids.
"I applaud Auburn University and the athletic department and Athletic Director Allen Greene on how progressive that they and we are being with student-athletes, helping evolve them to the next step, which is career development, because in the end, we're all here to help prepare these students for their next step in life."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer