Brandon Maki must surely pinch himself, from time to time, enjoying a first-hand view of his favourite sports.

A graduate of Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School, the 26 year old has long been an avid fan of both football and hockey, dabbling in a few other athletic activities from time to time.

These days, as the Communications Manager with Ottawa Sports & Entertainment Group, Maki finds himself standing on the sidelines as the Ottawa Redblacks take the field, enjoying winters as a mainstay at the Ottawa 67’s home games.

This is hardly the type of opportunity that Brandon Maki would take for granted.

“It was the definition of the stars aligning,” he suggested recently, sharing the configurations of events that would lead to his start with OSEG in 2021 and his ascension to his current role, made official this past May.

“I feel very blessed, very fortunate that this came around the way that it did.”

The passion of the young man for all things sports – but especially football and hockey related – has never been questioned.

During his years at the University of Toronto, studying English and competing with the Varsity Blues football program until concussion issues forced him off the field of play, Maki would find time to pen content regularly for the Silver Seven website, a must-read for fans of the Ottawa Senators.

His connections to the nation’s capital and close friend Chris Hofley (OSEG Communications Manager at the time) made a relocation from the GTA, upon graduation, an awfully easy choice. “It was a little surreal because Ottawa was pretty much an ideal destination,” said Maki. “But it was very much a whirlwind; I think I did three interviews in a span of ten days.”

Maki knew how to write – and the Communications side of the equation could be taught – but there remained so much to learn in an industry that is changing at a pace that has never been seen before when it comes to pretty much any aspect of sports media and publicity.

“I think in many ways the era of the specialist is coming to an end,” said Maki. “This is something that I will tell people who are looking to get into the industry. All of these places are looking for people who can do everything, so the more tools you have in your toolbox, the better positioned you are going to be moving forward.”

Maki speaks in tones of someone who might have 20 to 30 years of industry experience under his belt, all while acknowledging that his starting point is still extremely fresh. But when newcomers are quickly transitioning into the market place in the blink of an eye, one cannot help but to feel the benefit of even a few years of wisdom on their side.

Certainly, he appears to have a very good handle on a general framework of what he sees as the role of a communications department with a sports and entertainment entity at a time when conventional media outlets, whether they be print or electronic, continue to downsize.

“For us, that means a lot of internally produced content – video content, feature writing,” he said. “When you are telling your stories, it’s good to have young people with their fingers of the pulse of a shifting landscape.”

While it might not be the template that long-time fans of professional sports teams and the like have come to know, it is a current reality – and one which Maki, for one, does not take lightly the balancing act that he must straddle in handling organization communications duties that step in to fill the void of what was conventional journalism.

“I think you have to respect the intelligence of your fans,” he said. “Fans are smart; they know what’s going on – especially the ones that are at every game. If you try and be too “rah-rah” when the team is not doing well, people will sniff that out.”

“But we’re also not writing anything to submarine the team.”

As gregarious and outgoing as they come, Maki leans heavily upon his instinctive interpersonal skills to navigate his way along what can be a very narrow tight-rope, at times. “A lot of it comes down to trust,” he stated. “If you’re talking to the GM or head coach, they rely on you to exercise your good judgement of what to use and what not to use and how to frame things.”

“Everybody, from the top down, has to be on board with it; everybody has to be pulling in the same direction.”

At this point in his life, Brandon Maki is both thrilled and thankful to be one of those “everybodies” with Ottawa Sports & Entertainment Group.

Truth is, at one time, this was but a dream – so perhaps best he not pinch himself.