National Collegiate Live Mascot Conference at Butler

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – The live mascot conference at Butler University aims to help handlers explore things like branding and marketing strategies. It’s a big get-together for the humans who guide the most famous animals in college sports.

The National Collegiate Live Mascot Conference will bring together live mascots and their handlers from colleges and universities all over the country. There will be 58 programs participating in the conference and they will explore various topics from branding to animal care, live entertainment techniques, coordinating with student handlers, NCAA relations, and more. However, the true stars of the event are Grady the Greyhound for University of Indianapolis, and Griff II for Drake University who were all in attendance.

Evan Krauss is Butler’s Senior Marketing Manager and Butler Blue IV handler. He’s ensuring every mascot appearance goes smoothly. Krauss says the conference allows handlers to learn from one another.