Wade Nelson: in Winnipeg, MB

Taught fifty undergraduate courses over ten years at four universities. Taught in departments of Communication Studies, Rhetoric, Writing and Communications, Women's and Gender Studies, and Sociology. Recently was awarded a prestigious teaching award as the top-ranked professor in Social Sciences at The University of New Brunswick for 2016 - 2017 for the previous year in which I taught two classes of Sociology of Sport, and courses in Popular Culture, Film, Masculinities and Promotional Culture.

Was in charge of securing talent and was Master of Ceremonies for an annual cross-Canada tour which featured snowboarding, skateboarding, BMX freestyle and inline skating demonstrations, along with a mainstage featuring top musical acts. The unique draw was the giant 30ft snow quarterpipe that was constructed on scafolding and snow-making equipment. My two main responsibilities were inviting and securing the professional BMX athletes ( I managed between thirteen and twenty athletes each year) and announcing for the skateboarding, BMX, and inline slating events. I worked as a liaison between the event management company, the sponsors, and the athletes, always putting the athletes first (happy athletes serve the promoters best, anyways).

Easily obtained pertinent work visas (as a "Management Consultant") to work for a (then) prominent BMX freestyle brand in Southern California. Was given a 66% raise within a month of arriving. My business cards read "Customer Service" - and as our customer list included most of the other BMX freestyle bicycle brands, my assignment was often to fly to Taiwan, Hong Kong, and / or China to service them. Much of my time was spent traveling the United States and to Asia.

On two separate occasions, was asked to fly in and act as on-site Team Manager for the GT Bicycles Freestyle Team at B3 ESPN events when the regular managers were not available (Woody Itson and Robert Castillo). The first such event was at an event at Seal Beach, California, the second for an event at the Chelsea Piers in Manhattan, NYC. Duties included making sure everyone on the team made it from the airport to the hotel, making sure everyone was fed and generally comfortable, making sure everyone was registered for the event, and acting as pit crew should equipment fail. In New York, my duties also included escorted one of the Pros to the emergency room with a major concussion and a split-open chin.

Was hired to help run the on-site promotions for Airwalk shoes for the 1996 B3 ESPN tour (four events - Chicago, San Diego, New York City, and Seal Beach, CA). Duties including the setting up and break-down of the tent, working in the tent over the weekend, and securing Airwalk-sponsored Pros (skateboard and BMX) for autograph sessions.