Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG — Virginia Tech Athletics announced Monday a one-year partnership with FanWord to give its student-athletes a platform to share their own personal stories.
After consulting with Tech's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, the new feature series will be named Written in Stone – a play off our Hokie stone that's chiseled on numerous buildings around campus and etched in the fabric of our DNA.
FanWord, founded by former Nebraska student-athlete Christopher Aumueller, is a storytelling and brand development company that specializes in helping sports teams and athletes tell their stories and build their personal brands.
"One of the topics we discussed as a communications team over the summer is how we could bolster our storytelling," Brian Cox, associate athletics director for creative communications said. "We wanted to provide an opportunity for our student-athletes to use their own voices to share experiences, challenges and successes, while also continuing to promote their individual brand. After initial meetings with Christopher and his team, it became evident that FanWord was a terrific medium for our storytelling vision."
FanWord has existing partnerships across all levels of collegiate athletics, including Alabama, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Memphis and SMU. Tech becomes the first ACC school to partner with FanWord.
"Virginia Tech is at the forefront of student-athlete empowerment with their NIL and brand development initiatives," Aumueller said. "Giving athletes a voice to tell their own stories is a great complement to their existing efforts. We are beyond excited to launch this new partnership and help show who these young men and women are outside of sports as well."
The first stories will begin posting soon and will be found on hokiesports.com/WrittenInStone as well as promoted across VT Athletics social channels.
ABOUT FANWORD:
FanWord is an athlete storytelling and branding company that works with more than 30 athletic departments across the country to help their student-athletes build, protect, and market their personal brands through a variety of products. To learn more about FanWord's storytelling product, FanWord Stories.