garnai36: SEC official joins Tanner's administration at USC

Charles Bloom

University of South Carolina Athletics Director Ray Tanner has named Southeastern Conference Associate Commissioner Charles Bloom to his senior staff as Senior Associate Athletics Director ? External Affairs, it was announced today.

?Charles brings a vast amount of experience working on both the university level and at the SEC office,? said Tanner. ?He brings tremendous expertise in communications, having worked closely with Commissioners Roy Kramer and Mike Slive, both visionaries in collegiate athletics. We are excited to welcome Charles and his family back to Columbia, where both he and his wife, Cindy, are Carolina graduates.?

Bloom has spent the past 17 years as director of the Southeastern Conference office?s media and public relations efforts, and the last 10 years as Associate Commissioner. He has supervised the media and public relations operations for the SEC?s 21 sports, directly overseeing football, has been the chief spokesperson for the conference office and has overseen the communication strategies for the office.

In addition, Bloom oversaw the editorial content and planning for the SECDigitalNetwork.com website and started the SEC office?s presence in social media. He has also served as media director for the SEC Football Championship Game and various other conference and NCAA championships. Bloom assisted with the creation of the Bowl Championship Series, including its formula for ranking teams and also developing its media relations policies and procedures.

Since 2000, he has also served as chief administrator for baseball in the SEC office, setting conference schedules, serving as liaison for the league?s coaches and umpires and overseeing game operations with the conference tournament.

?I am excited about the opportunity to return to my alma mater in this capacity,? said Bloom. ?Carolina is a special place and I look forward to working with Ray Tanner and the USC staff to promote and enhance the Gamecock brand. I am fortunate to have worked the last 17 years with a great staff at the Southeastern Conference and I am very appreciative of Commissioners Roy Kramer and Mike Slive for their support and leadership during my time in the SEC office.?

Bloom, a native of Emporia, Va., came to the Southeastern Conference from East Carolina University, where he served as Sports Information Director/Assistant Athletics Director from 1988-95. Prior to joining the ECU staff, he was an associate SID at Ole Miss from 1987-88 and an assistant SID at LSU from 1985-87.

A 1985 graduate of the University of South Carolina, Bloom served as an undergraduate and graduate assistant in the Gamecock SID office. He also worked as a student assistant in the SID office as an undergraduate at UNLV.

Bloom is a past president and chair of the Division I Management Advisory Committee of the College Sports Information Directors of America, Past President and current board member of the Alabama Public Relations Society of America chapter, board member of the Football Writers Association of America as well as member of the United States Basketball Writers Association, National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (past president), Public Relations Society of America (national) and the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. He is also on the board of the Entertainment and Sports Section of PRSA and is on the Public Relations Committee of the Football Bowl Association. He was inducted into the CoSIDA Hall of Fame in June, 2011.

In the Birmingham community, Bloom serves as chairperson for the Loaned Executives Division on the 2012 United Way of Central Alabama campaign, a position that he also held for the 2011 campaign. He is also Immediate Past President of the Temple Emanu-El Brotherhood men?s club and was also a board member of Temple Emanu-El from 2007-10.

Bloom and his wife, Cindy, are parents of two children ? daughter, Lindsey (19), and son, Max (8).