Talent Scout with Dave Neff

Morgan Snyder of Visit Indy on Selling Indianapolis to the World

Morgan Snyder has spent 15 years helping shape how the world sees Indianapolis, and her work is entering its most consequential chapter yet. As Vice President of Communications and Community Relations at Visit Indy, Snyder oversees the messaging strategy behind a city in the middle of a $3 billion tourism infrastructure boom, a Michelin guide expansion into the Midwest, and the arrival of the American Society of Association Executives convention, what she calls the Super Bowl of the conventions world. Snyder traces her path from Oldham County, Kentucky, to Butler University, where a brochure promising "one of the country's most romantic campuses" sparked a career rooted in hospitality, place-making, and civic pride. She reflects on her time at the Conrad Indianapolis, where luxury service principles shaped her professional philosophy, and on the years she spent navigating the national fallout from Indiana's 2015 Religious Freedom Restoration Act, one of the most challenging communications crises Indianapolis has faced in recent memory. She also discusses mentorship, the value of treating every internship like a job interview, and why success, to her, means uplifting the people around you as you rise.

Olivia West: From 4H to Indiana Fever MC to Keynote Speaker

Olivia West turned a $5 Fever ticket and a cold approach to team leadership into a career as one of Indianapolis's most visible emcees and keynote speakers. The Purdue University alumna and partner at Driven Content Marketing traces a path from raising hogs in LaPorte, Indiana, to MCing Indiana Fever and Indiana Pacers games, hosting the 2024 NBA All-Star events, and now speaking nationally on competitive advantage, communication, and talent development. West details the moment she spotted Dr. Allison Barber at a near-empty Fever game and asked for a role before one existed, the "audition" that turned out to be a live season opener, and how a single email from Pacers and Fever VP Ebony Armstrong connected her to one of the world's top production agencies. She also discusses leaving corporate life, the data she analyzed before betting on herself full-time, and why she now hosts monthly office hours for the eight to 10 students who contact her each week seeking career advice. West is a keynote speaker and partner at Driven Content Marketing, based in Indianapolis. Learn more at OliviaWestSpeaks.com. Talent Scout is hosted by Dave Neff, CEO of the 500 Festival. Learn more about the show and its sponsor, Prolific, at prolifichq.com.

Jason Vansickle on the IMS Museum's $60M Transformation

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum's $60 million renovation changed how 115 years of racing history gets told, and Jason Vansickle helped make it happen from the inside. Vansickle, Vice President of Curation and Education at the IMS Museum, traces the museum's origins to a 1956 tribute to three-time Indianapolis 500 winner and Speedway president Wilbur Shaw, through the 1976 building that stood for decades, to the sweeping renovation that reopened in April 2025. He explains how a collection of 200 vehicles and 55,000 artifacts gets curated, restored, and selectively displayed, including a recent acquisition of 14 Chip Ganassi Racing cars that filled a critical gap in the museum's modern racing history. Vansickle also details the museum's expanding education programs, from iRacing simulators and a dissected IndyCar to STEAM classrooms and summer camps developed in partnership with BorgWarner. He previews a planned 72,000-square-foot restoration and event center on Polco Street that will open public access to nearly 150 vehicles and allow visitors to watch the restoration team at work. His own story mirrors the institution's growth. He started as a volunteer docent in 2011 while studying history at Indiana University Indianapolis, joined the full-time staff in 2015, and has built the curation, restoration, and education departments into what they are today. His advice for early-career professionals centers on one consistent theme: build real relationships and ask for advice often.

Michael Kaltenmark on Marketing the Indy 500 to a Sellout

Michael Kaltenmark, Vice President of Marketing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, has helped transform the Indianapolis 500 into a perennial sellout, drawing 350,000 fans and 8.5 million television viewers to one of sport's most iconic events. Here he explains how strategic marketing, the Snake Pit EDM stage, and a generation of experience-hungry young fans drove that growth. Kaltenmark traces a career that began with a journalism degree from Butler University, an early pass on motor sports job offers from CART and Walker Racing, and nearly two decades building Butler's live mascot program through back-to-back Final Four runs in 2010 and 2011. He also shares how a Crohn's disease diagnosis and a kidney transplant from his brother shaped the empathy and resilience that define his leadership approach. On the professional side, Kaltenmark breaks down the vision behind positioning the Indy 500 alongside the Super Bowl, the Masters, and Wimbledon on every sports fan's bucket list. He previews what the 110th running on May 24, 2026 has in store, including a patriotic pre-race production tied to the nation's semiquincentennial, the return of Black Hawk helicopters and the Wienermobile, Zedd headlining the Snake Pit, and Counting Crows and Switchfoot on Carb Day. He also reflects on the mentors who shaped his path and why relationships, not applications, have driven every career opportunity he has ever received.

Sarah Myer of Indiana Sports Corp on What Makes Indianapolis Unique

Sarah Myer has spent her career turning Indianapolis into a destination, and she is not done yet. As Senior Director of Communications and Marketing at Indiana Sports Corp, she helped execute the 2021 NCAA Men's Tournament bubble, led the 2024 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials at Lucas Oil Stadium, and is now building toward the 2026 Men's Final Four and beyond. Myer traces her path from a Cleveland suburb to Butler University, where a professor handed her a $30-per-game rooftop camera job with the Indianapolis Indians and opened her eyes to what the city could offer. She talks about interning with the Indiana Pacers during the 2004 brawl, marketing the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra through a financial crisis, and what those hard seasons taught her about crisis communications, self-advocacy, and resilience. She also speaks candidly about personal loss in 2020, the grief that followed, and how a November phone call about hosting the entire NCAA Tournament gave her something to pour herself into. The conversation covers what makes Indianapolis's local organizing committee model unique, why the city is pursuing an NFL Draft bid for 2030, and what fans can expect for free at the 2026 Men's Final Four on American Legion Mall. Myer closes with three words she would give any young professional: be curious, be humble, and do not be a jerk.