The Human Factor: Sports Storytellers

The Human Factor brings a panel of NC State alumni to the Dorothy and Roy Park Alumni Center on Thursday, November 12, for a conversation called Sports Storytellers. The lineup features Ari Chambers, Lyndsay Signor, Jason Spells, and John Ward, who'll talk through their respective paths in sports broadcasting, production, and marketing. It's a look at how a few different roles—the voice on the air, the person behind the board, and the one handling the branding—all fit into the same industry.

The evening is part of The Human Factor Speaker Series' 2026-27 season, Preserving Human Stories, which looks at how stories are created, shared, preserved, and sometimes distorted in an era of technology and complex public discourse. This particular panel fits right into that: sports storytelling is one of the most visible ways we keep track of who people are and what they've done, and hearing from four alumni who've worked it from different angles gives a good sense of how those narratives actually get built.

It's not the only thing the series is doing this season. It opened with actor, writer, and filmmaker Jesse Eisenberg, who spent an evening of conversation, live storytelling, and surprises on stage. The series also runs the Flash Film Fest, a hands-on filmmaking experience hosted by NC State Libraries, and a screening of Freeman Vines, which follows the life and work of the North Carolina artist whose hand-carved guitars draw on the history of a 1930 lynching in his community. The sports panel is one piece of that larger conversation about how we tell stories.

Sports Storytellers starts at 5:30 PM at the Dorothy and Roy Park Alumni Center, and tickets are $10.