Aspire announces corporate staff promotions

ATLANTA, GA – The Aspire Sport Marketing Group’s Chief Executive Officer Bill Duffy announced four promotions for the headquarters staff in Atlanta, GA.  Aspire has promoted A.J. Smith to Vice President of Client Partner Development, Madison Southerlin to Director of Marketing, Patty Spielman to Sr. Manager of Benefits & Payroll, and Gina Roberto to Project Lead of the Strategic Consulting & Research team.

“We are excited to congratulate AJ, Madison, Patty and Gina on their well-deserved promotions,” said Bill Duffy.  “While there were many outstanding contributions made across our headquarters staff this past year, these promotions are a recognition of their tireless efforts to position Aspire for continued growth.”

Smith, one of Aspire’s first employees hired in 2009, joined the headquarters’ staff as Director of Client Partner Development in October 2015 after holding Fan Relationship Management (FRMC) leadership positions since 2011.  Under AJ’s direction, Aspire has added 50 new client partners since he assumed the role.

Southerlin started her career in sports with Aspire as the Marketing Intern in 2012, and in December received her Master’s Degree in Marketing from Georgia State University.  Madison has been instrumental in leading marketing initiatives for Aspire and its partners, raising Aspire’s visibility and is currently overseeing the redesign of the company’s website.

This recent promotion marks the second promotion for Spielman in her three-year tenure with Aspire, initially hired as Payroll Coordinator.  Patty has emerged as the go-to person for financial support for Aspire’s 32 Fan Relationship Management Centers (FRMCs) across the globe.  She also works to ensure its employee benefits are competitive and administered seamlessly.

Roberto began at Aspire as a Strategic Consulting & Research Associate before quickly being promoted to full-time in 2015.  Over the past year, Gina has independently led several of Aspire’s research projects from development to execution. Gina has provided these partners with valuable insights as well as the strategy for implementation of the data-driven recommendations.

About The Aspire Group

The Aspire Group is a global sports and entertainment marketing firm specializing in providing partners with the most innovative ticket marketing, sales and service solutions in the sport industry.  Aspire created the outsourced ticketing niche, revolutionizing Intercollegiate Athletics with the first Fan Relationship Management Center (FRMC^SM) at Georgia Tech in 2009.  Over 200 collegiate and professional sports properties have trusted Aspire to drive revenue, attendance and enterprise value growth through the combination of strategic consulting and research services, data insights and best-in-industry fan relationship management. For more information, visit www.theaspiregroupinc.com.