Temi Bajulaiye on Shaping Babson Athletics’ Storytelling
As a track and field athlete at SUNY-Binghamton, Temi Bajulaiye discovered how to channel his creativity and love of sports into a career as a multimedia storyteller. He served as an intern at Binghamton, FloSports, and, after earning his economics degree, at Penn State. Now, as the marketing and new media specialist, Bajulaiye brings a big-school approach to Babson Athletics’ storytelling efforts on social media and beyond. “Babson is unique in that most Division III schools don’t really have the position that I have,” he says, “and I get time to do the creative stuff that Division I schools have.”
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The Q&A
What does your role as marketing and new media specialist entail?
“Every day is literally different. Some days, it’s getting ready for games, or prepping stuff for different events. Some days, it’s editing video, editing photos. I try not to miss a home game unless there’s another home game at the same time. My favorite part is connecting with student-athletes and shooting video, so that’s why I prefer road games to home games. By going to the road games, student-athletes see you want to be here. Because you get that connection and relationship with them, when it comes to trying to tell their stories, they’re willing to share information, they’re willing to be their authentic self, and it makes these pieces better. When you’re around a team, when you understand their culture, their vibe, then you can put that into the video so it actually reflects the program.”
What’s your objective with Babson Athletics’ storytelling efforts?
“The approach is adding context to content. Early on, we would post all these things, and they look cool, they sound great, but there’s no context to it. We’re starting an approach of when we’re posting a graphic or a video, let’s tell a story. Each team has a different story to tell. For example, field hockey is coming off its Final Four appearance, and this is the 40th anniversary of the team. Going into the championship, the hype video, which is one of our pinnacle points of content, it’s the 40-year journey. It didn’t just happen overnight; it took 40 years to get here. The first team played so this team can play in those games. The other thing is different moments require different attention. We’re going to win a lot of games every year, and we are posting photos for every single home game. If it’s an interesting or fun one, we post a video. And, if our teams lose a championship or lose a game, the cameras are still rolling. Because that’s not the end of the story. It’s just a piece of it, and to have all those moments to be able to fully show what they overcome and what they go through, it’s awesome. Then, come the postseason, we have a year’s worth of clips and photos to really tell the story now.”
How do you manage capturing and editing so much content?
“My first year here, I thought was a Superman and I didn’t need help. But I learned quickly that having a team is huge. Now, we have a team of nine student-workers, who are creative content producers. Some do photos, some do videos, some do both. Some make graphics. My rule of thumb is you can do anything you want as long as it helps. It doesn’t have to be something we’re already doing. It can be something new. You can create your own path.”
What reactions do you hear about your multimedia storytelling?
“The best and most gratifying reaction is from alumni who say, ‘Wait, why didn’t we do this when we were here?’ It means that they’re engaged in what we’re doing and they like what it is. That’s all you can ask for because our audience is the alumni, the current athletes, the parents.”
What is your relationship with the student-athletes?
“Originally, I was overseeing the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, helping with DEI and as a point of contact for student-athletes. We then added Kendall Elder to our department, who assumed that role. But I’m still aiding in his efforts. Students often come to me for advice and to just talk. After being here six, seven years, with the things you’ve seen and done, you can help a little bit more. It’s important to let them know you’re going to make mistakes, you’re not always going to get the grades you want or play the game you want, and then remind them there’s a bigger picture out there. I think it’s cool to be a resource for them, that if they need you, you’re there.”
What do you attribute to the success of Babson Athletics?
“It’s twofold. One, you have students who want to be the best in everything they can do, whether it’s being the top scorer, the top GPA in class, whatever it is. And, two, you have coaches who are all masters in their craft. The coaches we have here are super passionate, and they genuinely care about the success of their student-athletes not just on the field but also in the academic and professional world.”
Two More for Temi
What does Babson mean to you?
“It means community. In Athletics, you work such weird hours, and I spend so much time editing photos and videos that I don’t have to be in the office, but I really like the community aspect. I like my co-workers, the coaching staffs, our administrators, and I like being around the student-athletes. Being on campus recharges me.”
Right now, what are you …
- Reading? “I probably shouldn’t say, but it’s Western philosophy. I’m really into philosophy. I took a bunch of philosophy classes in high school, and I’ve always thought it’s pretty cool.”
- Watching? “I just binge-watched ‘Inventing Anna’ and thought this show’s dipping. And a show called ‘MacGyver.’ ”
- Listening to? “My music interests are very vast. I really like instrumentals and acoustic covers of popular music, because then I can use them for videos.”
- Doing in your free time? “Finding desserts. I’m a huge dessert fan, specifically cupcakes. Whenever I have a chance, I like to go find new bakeries to try out. Still haven’t found anything better than Cupcake Charlie’s.”
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