Trainer Spotlight - Drew Pittman

Drew Pittman

Drew Pittman is the Associate Athletic Director for Event Management and Facilities at Baylor University. He has been with Baylor Athletics since 2005. In his role, he oversees multiple different Division 1 varsity sports. Prior to starting at Baylor Drew working as an intern with NBC in New York. Drew is a valuable member of the NCS4 training team and always receiving top marks on instructor evaluations. He serves as a lead instructor and assists with all NCS4 FEMA training.

Title:

Associate Athletics Director
Current Organization:

Baylor University Athletics
What courses do you teach?

AWR-167, MGT-412, 466, 467
What motivated you to become an NCS4 Trainer?

An excitement to share with people our best practices and course material and to learn what they are doing that is successful in their organization.
What has been the greatest professional benefit to instructing with NCS4?

Learning what works and what doesn’t has benefited me tremendously.
What is your most memorable location or experience from a delivery?

Teaching in Las Vegas shortly after the attack. It was a serious reminder of the reason why we do this.
What is one takeaway from any NCS4 course you wish you knew as a young professional?

The focus on continual training at all levels is key.
Why do you feel these courses are important to the security industry and the nation?

We need to continue to build a resilient and robust work force and this training allows us to develop current and future leaders for these roles.

“The importance of this training in asking hard questions directly impacts our ability to provide a safe and secure event experience for each and every one of our patrons.” – Drew Pittman

Past Recipients

Mark began his career in Emergency Management in 2000, where he worked for Ada City-County Emergency Management, Boise, Idaho, as Exercise and Training Coordinator. Robertson was also a Regional Coordinator for the Idaho Department of Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program and facilitator and evaluator for exercises held at the National Interagency Fire Center.
Mark was the State of Nebraska National Incident Management System (NIMS) Coordinator and Exercise Training Officer for the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency and worked with Nebraska Office of the Chief Information Officer as Disaster and Continuity of Operations Coordinator.
Currently, Mark is the Emergency Management Coordinator for the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. This season will be his eighteenth as the Planning Section Chief of the Incident Management Team for Nebraska football games, which sees regular attendance at 90,000 people, with the longest sellout streak in the nation (since 1962).
Mark admits to being an Incident Command System (ICS) nerd and beginning his career as a member of the media but asks to not hold that against him. Presently, Mark instructs three courses for NCS4 and has been a key member of the training team since beginning approximately two years ago.

Amanda is a sports and entertainment industry professional with more than 10 years of experience in guest services, event management, and security operations for stadiums, arenas and performing arts facilities. She has worked in a variety of complex organizational settings including university, municipal government, private firm, and major league sports franchises. Amanda has been instructing for NCS4 for the last four years. During this time, she has been serving as a lead instructor in the NCS4 training program to provide training that enhances multi-agency collaboration when planning and preparing for large special events. Prior to instructing for NCS4, she worked for the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium in the Event Operations and Security department managing more than 1,000 guest services and security employees. Some of the events include the Inaugural College Football Playoff National Championship, the 50th Anniversary of the Academy of Country Music Awards, 2014 NCAA Men’s Final Four, and WrestleMania 32.