Jayson Hajdu

This is indeed an ongoing process. Because there are (understandably) so many questions about the various changes, such as those mentioned above, we will send out a press release in the near future that addresses all of the changes related to athletics organizations, programming, etc.

You are more than welcome to email me at jayson.hajdu@athletics.und.edu and I can pass it along to the appropriate contact. Or, if you have a specific area of concern, you can contact our administrative staff -- all of our email addresses can be found here. We also closely monitor our Twitter and Facebook pages for feedback, positive and negative. Sites like SiouxSports.com are also valuable. If we're not keeping our ear to the ground, we're not doing our jobs!

The new 'Through These Doors' feature was conceived primarily as a way to replace some of the void left by the cancellation of the Inside Fighting Sioux hockey television show. The men's hockey program, previously rather rigid when it came to granting behind-the-scenes type of access, approached myself and new media editor Matt Schill about the possibility of doing a show similar to last year's HBO program that featured the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins. Due to limited resources and manpower, we weren't sure it could be properly executed, but we wanted to give it a try. Our numbers show that men's hockey drives the most traffic to FightingSioux.com, and the gap is significant. Our thought was that a men's hockey program that peels back the curtain a little bit for our fans would hold tremendous appeal. So far, the response to the first episode has been overwhelmingly positive. Having said that, we are fully aware that every sport deserves our attention and coverage. Matt and I had this exact conversation yesterday afternoon. FightingSioux.com will continue to search for new and creative ways to cover all of our programs to the best of our abilities and resources. An all-sports weekly podcast has been discussed as one potential new feature. As far as in-game management and marketing, we are always looking for ways to improve the product. Football is one of these areas. Our new marketing director, David Primus, came on board exactly one month ago and will be a great addition. David's background includes the University of Wyoming, where he had a significant hand in increasing interest in their football and basketball programs. He is being asked to do the same at UND, among other things. We know we will get there, but it will take time and patience. Having joined us three weeks into the football season, all of our marketing strategies for the current season were already in place by the time David got here. But he has tremendous ideas and it will be exciting to watch them evolve over the next year-plus. In the meantime, I encourage fans to continue providing feedback. It helps all of us -- not just the marketing department -- if we know what you like and don't like, what you want and don't want.

That is correct. A logo has not yet been created, because the programs will want to have a commissioner in place before determining a precise branding strategy. The league logo, obviously, would be a key component of that branding.

Last year we released our television schedule in late August. While I don't anticipate this year's announcement coming that late, it is still likely a few weeks away. The sport schedules involved need to be finalized first, meaning all game contracts must be signed by both parties before we will do anything publicly on them. The men's hockey and men's basketball schedules are both very close to being finalized. What I can tell you at this point is to expect a similar amount of televised coverage (covering multiple sports) this year.

Well, here I/we are We've actually had plenty of internal dialogue within the UND media relations office about developing a presence on SiouxSports.com. I guess subconsciously we were just waiting for you to call us out! That we'd like to have a presence here (other than "lurking") has always been a given; rather, the discussion has always centered around what exactly that presence would be, and how would it best serve not only UND athletics, but our fan base as well. The hangup has always been the temptation to address every rumor or falsehood we come across. That would be counterproductive. After all, rumor-based discussions and positive buzz do not have to be mutually exclusive. I'd like our presence to be a constructive one so I'll be picking my spots, at least initially, whether that is by injecting myself into general discussion, or by responding to direct feedback. Our athletics M-O during Brian Faison's tenure has always been to be as transparent and as interactive with our fan base as possible. As of today, that extends to this board. In addition to e-mail, Facebook and Twitter, my hope is to merely provide one more avenue by which our fan base can interact with the athletics department. Jayson Hajdu Assistant Athletics Director, Media Relations University of North Dakota jayson.hajdu@athletics.und.edu www.twitter.com/UNDSID