Like many sports fans growing up in the Portland area, Willen Sin had long dreamed of working for the Trail Blazers.
Empowered with a degree from the College of Business, Sin is making that dream come true.
“Oregon State is pretty embedded in me,” said Sin, a partnership marketing specialist.
Sin completed his studies at OSU in 2013, graduating with a marketing degree and international business option. He was also involved in the Austin Entrepreneurship Program, and he says the event management skills he picked up in the AEP come in particularly handy in his role with the Blazers, which requires him to handle the logistics for a wide range of corporate-sponsored events including the Toyota Half Court Shot (more on that in a minute).
Sin signed on with the Blazers in September 2013 as corporate partnership intern; he worked game nights and basically made sure the team’s business partners had everything they needed. Sin started as a full-fledged Blazer employee in July 2014.
He personally manages about 15 accounts and assists with the management of five larger accounts, including Toyota.
The Toyota Half Court Shot takes place 11 times a year, and the basic format is simple: At halftime, the contestant spins a wheel to determine which kind of car he’ll win if his heave goes through the hoop.
Sin says no one had connected for four or five years – until March 5, when a bearded man in his late 20s named Chris found the bottom of the net — Rip City, indeed — and drove off with an Avalon hybrid, sparking pandemonium among the fans … and the person who coordinates the promotion.
“This is business to me, but I’m a fan too, and I just lost it,” Sin said. “I was so excited for the guy. And then I realized I had a ton of paperwork to do. It was another two or three months of processing everything. It was a roller coaster.”
The wild ride did nothing, however, to dampen Sin’s overall enthusiasm.
“I’m proud to be part of the Blazers,” he said. “That culture and this brand are so ingrained in this city, I’m building a network that down the road will go a very long way. I’m open to other opportunities, but I’m really enjoying it and still learning, and I want to capture as much knowledge as I can. I have great co-workers and great mentors, and I’m just taking it all in.”