With players reporting for football practice and other student-athletes set to return to campuses around the conference, the end of summer is near and the beginning of another athletic year is just around the corner. While we here in the Conference USA office do not take a summer break, we do use this time to wrap up the season just completed, begin preparations for the new season ahead and, of course, find time to get out and enjoy the summer weather.

As a loyal media relations staffer like myself, I have been busy working on record books, media guides, press releases and sport previews. Those types of things are the norm for someone in my line of work, but I was also included in another aspect of season preparations by a conference office I wanted to share with everyone.

Each season, C-USA produces video spots that air during league games on television. Our marketing staff, along with the Richards Group came up with an original idea to promote both the league and NCAA Football. The concept was designed around our new "Our House" campaign that will be accompanied by tag lines such as "Competition Lives Here" and "Sportsmanship Lives Here".

One would be amazed at the process involved in taking sketches and conceptual ideas and turning them into 30-second advertisements ready to air on television. I will try to give you a little taste of that process, as I actually got to take part in the filming process.

The one-day shoot for our new spots took place on Friday, July 27 in Dallas, Texas on the campus of SMU at Kappa Alpha fraternity house. I arrived at 9 a.m., but crew call was a 6 o'clock in the morning. Director Brian Bain, Executive Producer Tony Miglini, Producer Byron Fitts and a crew of about 30 people were on hand from Sugar Film Productions to help complete the shoot.

I thought I would just be on hand to make sure everything looked like we wanted it and to be a "runner" if anyone needed help from our staff, hence the 9 a.m. arrival. Little did I know, I would immediately make my acting debut within the first 10 minutes of being on the set!

Due to some scheduling conflicts, the SMU students cast to be our 12 football players were unavailable and the next shot required two of them. Luckily, a local actor who was on hand for another part filled in as one, while I was reluctantly thrust into my first football uniform to play the other character.

I played sports in high school (basketball and baseball) but my small town did not have football. Therefore I was suiting up in full pads for the first time in my life. Boy was it an experience! I will go down as one of the skinniest No. 71's ever. Needless to say, I do not have the build of a lineman. Lucky for me all you could see was my back in the shot.

The scene called for a referee to be icing a cake, while one football player studied at the same table (me) and another walked by and stuck his finger in the cake. Sounds simple right? Well, this is where I began to realize just how much time goes into making these things. Our simple 7-10 second part of the commercial took 19 takes to shoot!

This was the case for just about all of the scenes shot that day. A glance at the shot list (I am starting to sound like a pro) showed that they allotted about an hour per shot. This time includes dressing the set, setting the scene, rehearsing the scene and then shooting the many takes.

Later in the day after a great catered lunch, I was informed that I would have to bring my talents to the screen once again. This time the crew needed someone to play a Rice baseball player. Now this was a role I knew could handle. I was a pitcher back in the day and figured that I would look a bit more believable in this role.

After getting all suited up again and hitting the set, I was told that I would be studying in the background yet again. I don't know if someone had told them I wasn't much of an actor, or if I just looked really smart, but for the next two scenes, I was in the background studying as the Rice player. I may have "studied" more that day than I did for some tests in college!

Finally at the end of the day I was able to get some real face time. The last scene we shot (which I will not give away here so I don't ruin the commercial) had me standing in a line with some other student-athletes and I actually got to act a little bit. I'll let you all judge for yourself after seeing the commercial if I should be expecting a call from the Academy anytime soon!

The famous phrase "That's a wrap!" was actually said once filming the last scene was complete and everyone on set applauded. Everyone involved was very pleased at the end of the day and we here at the office are eager to see the final product.

We will wait for the preview version first, which will probably undergo a few edits before being sent out to air on live TV and stadium jumbotrons. I wouldn't mind seeing some of the "outtakes" if I could get my hands on a copy.

The whole day was a great experience for everyone from our staff that was involved and we are really excited about this commercial and our new marketing campaign. The idea should be fresh and original and we here at C-USA hope to bring our fans lots of fresh and cutting edge content in the months to come.

Be sure to visit the multimedia tab on the main age of the league's official website, www.ConferenceUSA.com, to see the final version of this year's C-USA promo and NCAA Football spot once they are finished as well as our previous TV ads.