Eric Harding was named Public Relations manager at SFMTA in September 2024. Eric was previously the Digital Marketing Communications Manager at San José State University from 2022-24, and earned his MBA at Cal State East Bay in 2024.Formerly an award-winning journalist, Eric has evolved from newspaper reporter to communications and social media manager. He spent the previous three years as Sports Information Director at Cal State East Bay after two years as communications assistant at UC San Diego. He also has previous media relations experience at San Diego State.As Communications Assistant at UC San Diego (2017-19), he was the primary media contact for the Tritons' NCAA-qualifying women's basketball and water polo teams, in addition to track and cross country. During this time, he excelled in writing feature stories, staffing the basketball scores table, supervising student interns and pitching stories to local media outlets. Harding finished his time at UC San Diego by winning the 2019 CoSIDA Diversity and Inclusion Grant essay contest.Formerly Media Relations Assistant at San Diego State University from 2012-15, Eric managed all sports information duties for Aztec men's soccer, women's lacrosse and men's tennis, while assisting with football and men's basketball. His duties included writing press releases and game recaps, branding and promoting the program through social media, assisting in the production of media guides and keeping in-game stats.Harding's professional career began as a staff writer at the Antelope Valley Press in Palmdale, Calif. (2007-12). With an emphasis in sports, he wrote breaking news stories, features, enterprise pieces, fantasy football columns, game recaps and notebooks. Covering various levels including high school, junior college and minor league baseball, Harding won a National Newspaper Association (NNA) award for best feature story in 2010, and later helped the staff earn a 2012 Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) award for best projects under circulation 30,000.In addition to the sports industry, Harding has spent time as Marketing Specialist at Everyone Counts, Inc., where he wrote marketing content and handled social media responsibilities. He also previously served as senior writer and editor of Business Review Australia and Healthcare Global for BizClik Media (formerly WDM Group).A native of Canton, Ohio, Eric graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 2007 with a bachelors degree in journalism. At UC, he worked two years as sports editor of the school's independent newspaper, The News Record.