I’m Sandy McAfee, a digital media professional living in Atlanta, GA. I’ve spent 10 years professionally in digital media. My skills run the gambit from content planning to visual design to writing, editing and SEO strategy. To this day, I continue a passion for storytelling and user experience that has driven my entire career.
My Journey
I got my start building websites for CBS Sports Digital. At CBS, a division of CBS Interactive, I worked in the college sports network. Our digital services team assisted more than 100 colleges, including Ohio State, USC and the University of Georgia, in the day-to-day management of their athletic websites. My time at CBS gave me a solid foundation in website development and design. I was part of several redesigns that emphasized builds for mobile (believe it not, at the time some of our websites were not designed for mobile phones). So, I developed skills in basic coding and styling, troubleshooting front-end bugs and managing files on servers. I also used my background in journalism to make sound editorial judgments, writing headlines, captioning photos, building galleries, updating web pages and designing projects for tentpole moments such as National Signing Day.
After nearly three years in San Diego, I received the opportunity to wok one state over in Arizona. The Arizona Cardinals in the NFL gave me the opportunity to be their digital platforms coordinator. It was a great next step as I used the skills I learned at CBS devoted to one particular website, AZCardinals.com. A year after I came on board, the NFL began migration of all their club websites onto a new platform. I was the project manager for migrating AZCardinals.com onto new Deltatre technology. I also worked with my first production team, helping the social and broadcast groups with storytelling projects and finding ways to market their pieces to our audience. After a few years managing the website, I also took the reins of our official Arizona Cardinals app. I worked in the Rover/Judo tool to promote unique experiences key moments like the NFL Draft and schedule release, and partnered with our marketing team to make the game day experience the best it could be. Additionally, I began to consider SEO, working as the club representative on digital calls with the league’s SEO team.
Following the pandemic, I had the opportunity to move back home when a position opened up for one of the clubs I cheered for: Atlanta United in Major League Soccer. Initially, I expected this job to be platform-focused like the Cardinals where I operated both the website and app. After some restructuring, I took on more of an editorial role. I channeled my inner sportswriter from my days covering the Chicago Sky to write news and feature articles on the team. This allowed me to be directly involved in content creation as well as distribution and strategy.
