Скачать или смотреть Matt McLaughlin: Voice of Wrigley Field

Matt McLaughlin's entry to be the Voice of Wrigley Field in the CareerBuilder Chicago Cubs P.A. contest.

Career Background:

I grew up in LaGrange, IL, and started radio broadcast work in high school at Lyons Township. I also attended Ohio University, where I covered sports, and graduated to early career roles in Chicago and national sports radio.

I started my professional career at WSCR Radio before taking an anchor position at One-on-One Sports Radio Network (Now Sporting News Radio). My three times-per hour updates were heard coast to coast, across North America.

After a few years at One-on-One, I gravitated toward a goal of doing play-by-play, landing a position with Schaumburg Flyers Baseball in 1999. I was hired as Director of Media Relations and also worked on the broadcast team. In 2002,I was named as lead play-by-play announcer and called games through the 2005 season.

I worked with several ex-major leaguers in Schaumburg, including Manager Ron Kittle, the former American League Rookie of the Year, Greg Hibbard, Mike Marshall, Brant Brown, Jack Voigt, and Matt Nokes.

Broadcast partners included Kittle and Tommy John III, a pitcher for Schaumburg in 2002, who then stayed involved in our organization. Tommy's father, 286-game major league winner Tommy John, visited the broadcast booth for a memorable three-man broadcast in 2005. Other visitors to the broadcast booth during my stint included Pete Rose, Lee Smith, and Jim Eisenreich.

I have worked in marketing-business development positions since that time while making inroads back into the sports industry.

In 2009, I received a great opportunity to do public address work in my community, signing on as the new P.A. announcer for Buffalo Grove High School Football. I have completed two seasons as the stadium voice of Bison Football and have also handled several BG basketball games. I was also added to the Comcast CN100 high school sports team in the summer of '09 and currently draw assignments as a field reporter for prep football and basketball games.

This work played a key role in my hiring in 2010 as the new Public Address Announcer for the Chicago College Football Classic, held each fall at Soldier Field. I have also done basketball p.a. work for Harper College.

I am constantly refining and polishing my speaking and presentation skills through my participation in Toastmasters International, an organization focused on communication and leadership skills primarily through the medium of public speaking. After briefly participating in the suburbs, my Toastmasters experience really began to take shape in the summer of 2009 in the downtown Chicago cluster of clubs. I have entered 15 speaking contests as a member of the 219 Toastmasters Club and have won 12 of them (As of March 10, 2011).

I am employed full-time at Corcoran Expositions, a trade show marketing company in downtown Chicago. I lead the sponsorship sales program at CE, handling shows in various industries. I also play a key role in the Corcoran-owned Chicago Golf Show, handling sponsorship sales, client relations, and floor announcements for the annual three-day winter show in Rosemont (15,000 attendees).