HOLLAND - Key Persons
Ron Backer has been involved in the music industry for most of his life. During his teen years, Ron played in and managed several bands. He then attended The University of Texas at Austin where he studied management and marketing. After college he immediately opened his first record store, Spicewood Sounds, in Austin and followed that with a second Austin location the next year. While still overseeing the two stores, Ron was offered the opportunity to co-manage Ray Benson and Asleep at the Wheel, which he did and founded Lone Star Artist Management.
While working with Asleep at the Wheel, he was able to secure a record deal for them with MCA Records. He built solid relationships with many in the MCA/Universal camp and as a result was offered a position as a sales/marketing executive. During his 16 years at Universal he was instrumental in breaking acts such as George Strait, Reba, Vince Gill, Trisha Yearwood, Lionel Richie, Bobby Brown, Nirvana, Guns ‘n Roses and many more.
While still at Universal, Ron was approached by Sony Music Entertainment/RED and offered a position as VP of National Sales which he held for 19 years. While at Sony/RED he was key in the success of Jason Aldean, Mumford & Sons, Kelsea Ballerini, Train and many more.
Throughout his tenures at both Universal and Sony he was responsible for developing and overseeing all sales and marketing initiatives for key national accounts including major promotions with Walmart, Target and Best Buy.
Ron left Sony/RED to start his own artist management company, Genesis Artist Management, and to manage The Willis Clan, a family band consisting of 12 extremely talented brothers and sisters. He handled all aspects of the band including their TLC weekly television show, securing a label deal, working on a full-length movie, securing promotions with Wal-Mart and Cracker Barrel, and handling their publicity which included appearances on The Today Show, CNN, Megan Kelly and others.
Shortly after this, Ron merged his company with The Holland Group Management because of his long standing and successful relationship with THG's president, Billy Holland. Together they have molded the company and their roster to the successful company it is today.
Tracie Hitz moved to Nashville to start Hitz & Branding so she could help others by building their personal and professional brands through storytelling. She's worked with large brands like the NCAA and UNICEF, as well as small businesses that range from artists to nonprofits to a surf coach. Hitz and her team create integrated marketing and branding plans for clients, as well as build all of the elements necessary to implement them effectively, including graphics, videos, websites, email campaigns, social media, digital media, PR, booking content capture, event planning sponsorship sales, fundraising, merchandising, management and more.
Hitz selected Nashville to start a business after she fell in love with the city when she was planning her first Women's Final Four in Music City while working as the Director of Business Operations at the NCAA. She took over that roll in October of 2013 where she managed external operations for the Division I Women's Basketball Championship that led to a sell-out crowd at Bridgestone Arena for the 2014 Women's Final Four in first-time host city, Nashville. The following year, she led the sales team to record the largest attendance at a Women's Final Four since 2010, collaborated with over 150 staff and committee members to put on the first-ever combined championship where the Division I, II and III champions were all crowned in the same arena in 2016 and notched back-to-back sellouts in Dallas in 2017 and Columbus in 2018 with the latter being the largest attendance across the entire Women's Basketball Championship since 2004. She created new initiatives to engage fans, business professionals, coaches and former players during her tenure. Hitz garnered earned local and national media with unique ideas that tell the story of women's basketball, including landing on ESPN's SportsCenter Top 10 Plays for the inaugural Dribble to Work Day in 2015, which also earned a 2016 NACMA award and was named a finalist for the National Sports Forum's 2016 Sammy Awards.
Before the NCAA, Hitz worked for Old Hat Creative for 3.5 years where she was the Chief Marketing Officer tasked with creating the strategic plan to grow the company from design, video and web services to a full creative sports agency dedicated to branding professional and college sports teams. She doubled the company's annual revenue every year with first-class customer service, understanding their current needs and anticipating the future trends in the sports and entertainment industries. She also oversaw marketing, public relations and social media to secure 30% of total clients and 65% new clients while collaborating with over 100 collegiate and pro teams to create sales and marketing plans to generate revenue for multiple sports, as well as assisted with donor relations and fundraising plans. She developed the James Justice Slam Dunk Social Campaign for the 5'9 Martin Methodist College basketball player to compete in the 2012 State Farm Slam Dunk Contest where he took home the dunking title as the dark-horse entry.
Hitz took the post as Old Hat Creative after working for 13 years at Northwestern University where she was the associate athletic director for Sales and Marketing Department. During her tenure at NU, she was part of a team that set records for season tickets and single-game attendance in every admission-charging sport, as well as won nine national marketing awards in seven years. Since starting at NU as the Marketing Assistant in 1997, she contributed to the creation of several initiatives that continue to build to this day, including the Wildcat Kidsʼ Club, Womenʼs Sports Weekend, the Sports Marketing Club, the Randy Walker 5K Walk and the Womenʼs Reunion Weekend for former student-athletes. Through the years, she kept up with the changing technology from being part of the creation of NUsports.com to producing the gameday content on the videoboard in Ryan Field.
She is a frequent presenter at conventions and symposiums across the country covering marketing, sales, female initiatives and professional development. She started a career development blog in 2012 to supplement her career coaching, as well as managed The Migala Report business journal from 2010-2014 and created the WBBMarketing blog last Fall. She also developed the NACMA Online Library in 2011 to share best practices among college marketing administrators.
Since 2000, she has been an active member of the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators (NACMA), including being named to the Board of Directors in 2008. When her board term ended in 2010, Kurt Esser, Senior Associate Athletic Director at New Mexico asked her to be his advisor during his one-year term as the NACMA President. The following year, the incoming NACMA President, Jamie DiLoreto, Associate Athletic Director at Boston College asked her to stay on for his term in 2011. She was then asked for a third straight year to advise the NACMA President when Greg Herring, Assistant Athletic Director at Northern Illinois University requested she stay on for his term that ended in 2013.
Starting in 2007, she was a teaching assistant, guest lecturer and thesis advisor for the Northwestern University Masterʼs of Sports Administration program. She's also a frequent panelist for sports symposiums and conventions throughout the country and is a member of the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators (NACWAA), Women in Sports and Events (WISE) and Association of Women in Sports Media (AWSM). For a few years while at NU she also worked gamedays in the Stadium Suites Department for the Chicago Bears and in the Marketing Department at the Chicago Fire. She received her bachelorʼs degree in Communication (Journalism) from Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri in 1997 and her masterʼs degree in Integrated Marketing Communications from Northwestern University in 2003. At Truman State, she worked in the Sports Information Office where she assisted with media relations for soccer and track. While in college, she spent her summers as a sports writer for the Peoria Journal Star, which is the local newspaper near her hometown of Kickapoo, Illinois. At the Journal Star, she covered local sporting events, including baseball, basketball, golf, bowling and motor sports.