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ALUM Spotlight Damian Shepard '01

At 30 years old, Damian Shepard looked at the "Aubie" mascot costume and saw his future.

"Doesn't everybody want to be Aubie?" asks the former marketing major, who cites a quote from a t-shirt: "AUBIE: Women Love Him, Men Want To Be Him" to support that hypothesis.

After graduating from AU in 2001, Shepard snagged a job portraying the Seattle Mariners mascot "Moose."

"Fact is, I turned the Moose into Aubie plus antlers, minus stripes," he says. Shepard eventually parlayed his love of sports, marketing and clowning around into a position that requires neither fur nor tail: He's entertainment manager for Seattle's NBA and WNBA basketball teams, the Sonics and Storm.

Q. What is your current position with Sonics and Storm basketball?

A. I am the entertainment manager; this loosely translates into game operations and events. I work all the departments that have a share in the production elements of our game (sponsorship, community relations, ticket sales, etc.). I script each element to fit their needs while keeping the game entertaining for our fans.

Q. What is the best part about your job?

A. Being able to make our partners happy while making 17,000 fans laugh or cheer is a great feeling. Often the Sonics and Storm are approached by our partners with a desire to reach our fans. I really enjoy finding creative solutions for them and combining their marketing messages or brands into our finished game-entertainment product. Recently a bank expressed an interest in creating an on-court promotion. I crafted a "Deal or No Deal" contest which featured the bank's logo and tags, and we even had a "banker" on the big screen. The promotion ran through the season. It was a big success with our fans, and the client was very happy. These solutions help ensure a long-lasting relationship with our partners, and they give attending fans a good value for their entertainment dollar. Some clients know exactly what they want, while others only know they want to be involved. I come in and bridge the gap to find a creative and entertaining solution.

Q. You were in the military before attending Auburn?

A. Yes, I was in the U.S. Army Reserve for two years and sent to Saudi Arabia during Desert Storm. Then I entered the U.S. Coast Guard for six years, and I did law enforcement and rescue for the most of my time while stationed in Mobile.

Q. Why Auburn University?

A. Good question. My mother and father raised me as an Alabama fan. I was wearing shirts which read "Roll Tide" before I even knew what it meant. My father settled down in Georgia and, again, not knowing any better I wore a bunch of University of Georgia stuff. Then when I got out of the Coast Guard in 1997, my wife at that time (Heather '03) was accepted into graduate school at Auburn. I immediately signed on as an Auburn Tiger! I have never looked back! I enrolled at AU under the GI Bill as a nontraditional student, and I was determined to maximize my college experience. To this day, when asked where I am from, my reply is "Auburn, Alabama." I don't think my father was ever more proud then when I told him I enrolled in college. ... Also I don't think I've ever hurt him so much as when I told him I was going to Auburn. All hilarity aside, we have a great family rivalry (which is a strong part of the lore of SEC culture).

Q. How was your Aubie experience?

A. Life changing! Aubie was the catalyst which brought me to Seattle via the Mariner Moose. (Aubie) was my gateway into professional sports, and he's the foundation of so many 'War Eagle' memories. There is nothing which can prepare you for running onto the field, flag in hand, being chased by the cheerleaders and a mob of football players hungry for a win! It is such an emotional high, I often go to that moment in my mind when looking for inspiration.

Q. Favorite Aubie memory?

A. I was approached by a little girl in an Auburn cheerleader outfit who brought me a can of Nine Lives cat food, because (her mother told me), "she thought you might be hungry." Then the girl hugged me, looked me in the Aubie eye (as if to see inside my head) and said, "I love you, Aubie." It's cliché to say I've got too many great Aubie memories to list just one ... but drawing from that one experience is a great example of what each memory is like ... AUsome!