Today, Charles Myers ’94, is a highly-successful technology expert, with decades of experience to offer companies.
But during his senior year at Farmingdale State College (FSC), he was diagnosed with cancer and was an anxious young man in a hospital.
What made that frightening period easier and helped him across the finish line to get his degree was the support and visits from several of his FSC professors, which both cheered him and impressed him, a sign of the closeness of the Farmingdale community. “I don’t think that would have happened at many other colleges,” recalled Myers, a Copiague native. The accessibility of the FSC faculty and the ease of building relationships with them were among the highlights of his college experience, along with the marketable skills he developed as an Electrical Engineering Technology major.
Myers, who is the Chief Technology Officer for Monumental Sports and Entertainment in Washington, D.C., has been rapidly ascending the technology career ladder since graduating from Farmingdale.
The company owns the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., and four professional sports teams, including the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League and the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association, which sold Myers on the job. “I love sports, so the combination of sports and technology was a win-win for me,” he said. “I love the entrepreneurial spirit here, I love the charge of using technology to change the business, and how it helps foster change within the organization.”
In his current position, Myers oversees a new department involved with information technology, engineering, cyber security, digital development, new technologies, innovation projects, and other pressing technology needs.
Myers’ work also is critical to assisting with the growing interaction of technology with sports. “People love to see timely analytics while sports betting is becoming popular, and we’re seeing more direct to consumer services and streaming,” he said. “We need to do that securely. We (Capital One Arena) even use analytics to track concessions and wait times, to see what we can do to get people food faster.”
Prior to moving to MSE, Myers held several positions at Sirius XM, most recently as Vice President and General Manager of Media and Development Engineering.
Myers credited his FSC education for getting him into the industry quickly and accelerating his advancement. “The FSC program was helpful because it focused on the application of technology, how it applies to real-world situations, and the context of how to use it,” he said. “I was prepped to hit the ground running.” Small classes and attentive professors also benefited him. “I was able to use professors as references because they were easily accessible. “
Networking has served him well. When he interviewed for the job at Monumental Sports and Entertainment, he realized he had met the CFO 20 years earlier. “I only applied for one job, the one right after college,” Myers said. “The rest found me through word of mouth.”
Relationships and connections are critical to career success, added Myers, who calls himself “a friend collector.” “I tell my kids to go out and make friends.” He advises current students searching for jobs to reach out to alumni and meet and talk to as many people as possible. “You never know how you can help each other.”