The NASC is pleased to announce that the call for speaking proposals is now open for the 2016 NASC Sports Event Symposium. The event will take place April 4-7, 2016 in Grand Rapids, MI. Proposals will be accepted through October 30, 2015.
Emphasis is placed on curriculum that is relevant and timely based on what leaders in the sports tourism industry are experiencing. Education sessions are designed to raise the level of professionalism and provide training that leads to career advancement in the field of sports tourism.
The 2016 NASC Symposium educational offerings will include keynote presentations, breakout sessions, deep dives, “next” practices, and speed learning sessions. Although not applicable to all education styles, it is preferred that breakout and deep dive sessions include both a presentation (individual or panel) and a practical application exercise.
Sessions vary in length. All sessions include 5 minutes for speaker introductions, sponsor recognition, and announcements.
We have a great line-up of both Best Practices Webinars and Event Webinars that you won’t want to miss. Check out the schedule below and reserve your spot today!
National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Event Webinar Sponsored by MGM Resorts International
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
2:00pm – 3:00pm ET
Join Mark Krug, Assistant Executive Director, NJCAA, as he discusses the National Junior College Athletic Association and what it takes to land their events. Recently, NJCAA uploaded RFP’s to our Event RFP Database for 15 different events with multiple years available. If you haven’t checked these out, be sure to do so! There will be time at the end of the webinar for questions. If you are unable to join us on the 4th, remember you can download a recording of the presentation on the webinar archives page of www.SportsCommissions.org (login required).
US Corporate Games Event Webinar Sponsored by MGM Resorts International
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
2:00pm – 3:00pm ET
Join Kurt Aichele, CEO US Corporate Games, as he discusses US Corporate Games and what it takes to land their events. There will be time at the end of the presentation for questions. If you are unable to join us on the 18th, remember you can download the webinar recording from the webinar archives page on http://www.sportscommissions.org.
Utilizing Social Media for Events Best Practices Webinar
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
2:00pm – 3:00pm ET
Join Jackie Reau, CEO, Game Day Communications, as she discusses best practices for utilizing social media for events. If you are unable to join us on the 26th, remember you can download a recording of the presentation on the webinar archives page of www.SportsCommissions.org (login required).
Join Robin Baxter, Vice President of Events, NXT Sports Inc., as she discusses NXT Sports and what it takes to land their events. There will be time at the end of the presentation for questions. If you are unable to join us on the 29th, remember you can download a recording of the presentation on the webinar archives page of www.SportsCommissions.org (login required).
The Biggest Loser RunWalk Event Webinar Sponsored by MGM Resorts International Wednesday, July 1, 2015 2:30pm – 3:30pm ET
Join Christina Morlock, Director of Marketing and Public Relations, as she discussed The Biggest Loser RunWalk and what it takes to land their events. There will be time at the end of the presentation for questions. If you are unable to join us on the 1st, remember you can download a recording of the presentation on the webinar archives page of www.SportsCommissions.org (login required).
USA Badminton Event Webinar Sponsored by MGM Resorts International Tuesday, July 22, 2015 2:00pm – 3:00pm ET
Join Jon Schmeider as he discusses USA Badminton and what it takes to land their events. There will be time at the end of the presentation for questions. If you are unable to join us on the 22nd, remember you can download a recording of the presentation on the webinar archives page of www.SportsCommissions.org (login required).
National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Event Webinar Sponsored by MGM Resorts International Tuesday, August 4, 2015 2:00pm – 3:00pm ET
Join Mark Krug, Assistant Executive Director, NJCAA, as he discusses the National Junior College Athletic Association and what it takes to land their events. Recently, NJCAA uploaded RFPs to our Event RFP Database for 15 different events with multiple years available. If you haven’t checked these out, be sure to do so! There will be time at the end of the webinar for questions. If you are unable to join us on the 4th, remember you can download a recording of the presentation on the webinar archives page of www.SportsCommissions.org (login required).
Webinar Archives
If you’ve missed any of our recent webinars or would like to view them again, visit our webinar archives.
The NASC will hold its 2015 Fall Meetings in Colorado Springs, the home of most of our National Governing Bodies in Olympic and Pan American sports, along with many other event rights holders.
All functions will take place September 28-30 at the Antlers Hilton Colorado Springs, located in the heart of downtown. Our board will meet the afternoon of September 28. Our Fall 2015 CSEE Module will take place the morning of the 29th. Market segment meetings, Rapid RFP Review, and a reception with event owners will take place the afternoon of the 29th, and market segment meetings will conclude on the 30th. View the preliminary schedule.
This new event replaces our partnership with the USOC’s Olympic SportsLink conference, the rights to which were transferred to another event. In fact, our room block at the Antlers Hilton is part of the room block previously held by the USOC.
We offer all area event owners and NGBs a way to meet with interested cities in a cost-effective manner: all they will need do is come to the hotel the afternoon of the 29th, present their event opportunities in the Rapid RFP Review, attend a reception, and be home for dinner!
NASC Active members will also have the option to arrange private meetings with local event owners while in Colorado Springs.
Preliminary plans are to rotate this new event between Colorado Springs and Indianapolis. These cities are home to almost all of our NGBs plus the NCAA and many other prospects.
The NASC is pleased to announce the launch of the new website for 23rd annual NASC Symposium, scheduled for April 27-30, 2015 in Milwaukee, WI., hosted by VISIT Milwaukee. The NASC Sports Event Symposium is the annual meeting for the only not-for-profit association for the sports tourism industry. For more than 20 years, the Symposium has been designed for sports tourism professionals by sports tourism professionals. Through a combination of industry-leading educational and business development opportunities, more than 800 Symposium attendees learn how to produce measurable ROI for their organization and advance their careers in the industry.
“The NASC board of directors, staff, and Symposium Committee are all very excited about the way the 2015 NASC Symposium is coming together,” said Beth Hecquet, CMP, CMM, Director of Meetings and Events. “We are taking the feedback provided by our members and previous attendees and letting it guide us every step of the way. You won’t want to miss it!”
On the website, you can download registration forms, view the preliminary schedule, find hotel & travel information, learn about sponsorship opportunities, and more. Online registration will open for NASC members at the end of September.
As theonly trade association for the sports tourism industry, the National Association of Sports Commissions (NASC) is the most trusted resource for sports commissions, convention and visitors bureaus (CVBs), and sports event owners.
Since its establishment in 1992, the NASC has been committed to increasing the effectiveness of nearly 700 member organizations and more than 2,000 sports tourism professionals.
Our promise is to deliver quality education, ample networking opportunities, and exceptional event management and marketing know-how to our members and to protect the integrity of the industry.
Let’s talk for a few minutes about Sports Marketplaces. The NASC developed the first Sports Marketplace in the late nineties and since then it’s become an intricate part of the annual NASC Sports Event Symposium. And looking at the recent responses from our meeting in Oklahoma City, we can tell that your interest in the sports marketplace is as high as or higher than ever, and it turns out to be the number one reason why many of you attend the symposium and we understand that. One of the questions I would ask you though is to determine for yourself whether you’re prepared for the sports marketplace before you begin. And now we’re talking from the cities point of view, because one of the concerns, I personally have is, that many of you are relatively inexperienced in the industry are expecting to go to the Sports Event Marketplace and pick up business in 10 to 12 minutes, when you’re not even sure whether your destination can host the events you’re talking about. How do you fix that?
First, don’t go to a Sports Marketplace until you know the kinds of events you can host, and which age groups, and why. And if you don’t know that, you’re going to have to find somebody to help you determine what you can do before you talk to anybody. Because what happens is, a very simple prophecy is fulfilled if you don’t know whether you can handle the event or not, and you show the event owner in a sports marketplace appointment that that’s the case, what you’re doing is losing the business, rather than gaining the business.
What’s a proper approach to a sports marketplace appointment? Be prepared, be absolutely ready with what you can do and don’t take appointments with people who have events that you can’t handle. How do you find out where these events are? You go to the Rights Holder section of our database and you can find hundreds of event owners, and you can determine by sport which ones you ought to be talking to. And it makes common sense, to go ahead and do your homework before you go to the marketplace, at all.
Now, there has been some thought about restricting appointments at the marketplace to people who have been members and have attended the symposium for at least two years, and not have marketplace appointments with new people. That, of course, is not what we are going to do. Instead, I think you’re going to find the NASC to rely itself increasingly on Rapid RFP Review sessions; where an event rights holder meets with 10 or 12, or 15 of you at one time, “Here’s what we’ve got, this is what we’re looking for, go off do your homework. When you know you have it, get in touch with us, let’s talk then.” That’s a great way to do this. What is not a great way is to say to yourself before you arrive on-site for a sports marketplace series of appointments, is all I have to do to be successful in this business is to have a bunch of appointments, talk to a bunch of people, I’ll make friends and they’ll want to do business with me.” That’s not the way this business works, never has, never will, and it will be a waste of your time and a waste of the other event owners time, also.
I wish you well in all of your marketplace appointments, but I also, would wish preparation and the understanding that in 10 to 12 minutes you can lose a relationship faster than you can gain one. It is a terrific way to go back and say hi to old friends and acquaintances, and remind them that you are still interested in doing business with them. It is a terrible way to show people that you’re too new to know what’s going on.
Video blog: Don Schumacher, CSEE, Executive Director National Association of Sports Commissions 513.281.3888 – http://www.sportscommissions.org Published August 18, 2014
Recently, many of our Rights Holder members have presented Event Webinars to more thoroughly share information about their events and requirements to bid with destinations interested in hosting events. The opportunity to host an event webinar is a benefit of membership and a unique way to reach numerous cities simultaneously.
Upcoming Event Webinar schedule:
Monday, December 2nd at 2pm ET – USA Weightlifting (5 events available for bid) – Register Now
Tuesday, December 10th at 2pm ET – National Senior Games Association (1 event available for bid) – Register Now
If you are interested in hosting an event webinar to discuss your RFP and bid requirements or have any questions, please contact Elizabeth Chaney Young, Director of Membership & Marketing, at Elizabeth@SportsCommissions.org.
Visit the webinar archives page in case you missed any of our recent webinars. Check out the infographics below to view the Q&A sessions from recent event webinars:
Are you interested at presenting a breakouts session, or know someone who might be, at the upcoming 21st annual NASC Sports Event Symposium, April 22-25, 2013 in Louisville, KY. If so check out the recently released Call for Proposals form.
The 2013 breakouts sessions are being collectively called “Engaging Education Sessions” with the aim of allowing attendees to drive their own learning experience by extracting the collective knowledge from industry experts and the audience. There will be three sets of four concurrent sessions (12 sessions in total) and each meeting room will have its own theme:
Room 1: Event Management (for example: Local Organizing Committee (LOC); working with municipality, county, state governments; event insurance; contract negotiations; volunteer recruitment, training, recognition; preparing for an event; etc.)
Room 2: Sales & Marketing (for example: sponsor development/fulfillment; membership recruitment; media partnerships; ticket sales; marketing plans; essentials of good salesmanship; effective promotional strategies, etc.)
Dale Neuburger of TSE Consulting facilitated the CSEE Module on “Bidding … from A to Z” held on October 2, 2012 at the Cobo Convention Center Hall in Detroit, MI. Nearly 140 current and prospective CSEE members were in attendance. The primary theme of the presentation was the components necessary to develop a winning sports event strategy, including researching, strategizing, campaigning and activating. In addition, four NASC members (Buddy Wheeler, Janis Schmees , Terry Hasseltine and Sean Krabach) provided input and examples of specific bidding practices they have each utilized to benefit their destinations. At the conclusion of the module, six individuals were recognized for completing the requirements to earn their CSEE designation.
Fall 2012 CSEE graduates:
Karin Aaron, CSEE, Visit Loudoun
Lindsay Arellano, CSEE, Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau
Josh Dill, CSEE, Visit Lubbock, Inc.
Roy Edmondson, CSEE, Team San Jose
Dave Plevich, CSEE, Greater Morgantown Convention & Visitors Bureau
Justin Stine, CSEE, Overland Park Sports Alliance
Perhaps you have had the opportunity to read the recent Report on the Sports Travel Industry. If not, I hope you will be able to take a look. You can find it on our web site. The overall purpose was to sketch out the roles played by the organizations making up our industry.
In Hartford among the dozens and dozens of conversations I found some confusion among event owners on the roles played by convention and visitors bureaus. I also became aware of the need for some of our newer members to do their homework.
There can be a very big difference between the help offered to event owners by our members. In the more than thirty years I have spent dealing with these issues it surprises me to find event owners or publications who think one host organization is the same as most others. Not true. Some of you do a brilliant job selling your destination but must partner with a local organization to make events happen. You are not in the sports planning and delivery business.
Event owners need to pay particular attention to the abilities of prospective host organizations.
Sports commissions have professional staff that can handle every aspect of the event. Convention and visitors bureaus do an excellent job marketing the destination and assisting the event owner in connecting with local experts. A small number also have event experts on staff that can follow-up on behalf of the event owner.
As to the homework issue, it is just not enough to take appointments at the marketplace and think magic will occur. I was talking with a member who was excited about a new running track at one of their high schools. The message to me was they have this new track and are looking forward to hosting events. No concerns about the number and width of the lanes, where the field events take place, or other important details.
What can the NASC do to help? We will review with our Symposium Committee ways in which we may be able to segment our breakout sessions. This can serve to focus attention on the various levels of expertise within the membership. I think this is particularly important as we prepare for Louisville. Our purpose will be to address in the coming months the things to keep in mind before contacting event owners.
We simply want to find the best ways to prepare each member for success.
Each day of the 2012 National Association of Sports Commissions Annual Symposium, we will publish a daily blog with highlights from the programs and activities.
Get Social with NASC: #NASC12 Follow all of the news from the 2012 Symposium on Twitter @NASC_News, using the hashtag: #NASC12 Check us out on Facebook @National Association of Sports Commissions
“Heard” on the Show Floor
“Passion and Perseverance” by Paul Assaiante, Trinity Squash Head Coach Passion and Perseverance: Those are the two words that describe Trinity Squash Head Coach Paul Assaiante, and two messages that he conveyed during the CSEE (Certified Sports Event Executive) Spring 2012 Module discussion that helped kick off the National Association of Sports Commissions Sports Event Symposium this week in Hartford, Connecticut. Coach Assaiante and his men’s squash team at Trinity just came off a 13th consecutive perfect season in 2010-2011. A 14th perfect season ended this year with a 5-4 loss to Yale, the first team to defeat Trinity in 252 matches, a streak that goes back to 1998. That winning streak is the longest in intercollegiate records. Assaiante’s message to CSEE attendees was a simple one: If you have the passion and perseverance to do something that you like, you can achieve anything. Using the example of a duck that looks calm on the surface of the pond but is paddling furiously below the waterline, he mentioned a match when his Trinity squash team was losing to a rival. “I’m thinking Chinese,” he told his team during a timeout. When they didn’t quite understand what he was saying, he said again, “After this match, I think we should go for Chinese.” The message? When the leader is calm, everyone else around them will be calm as well. The team went on to win the match.
Industry News: Sponsorship The Spring Module for the Certified Sports Event Executive (CSEE) program today discussed sponsorship trends and was led by Jim Kahler from Ohio University Sports Administration and AJ Maestas from Navigate Research. With sponsorship fees totaling $17 billion in North America last year, it was a hot topic among the 200+ in attendance. “We’re all in the business of selling or persuading,” said NASC’s Executive Director Don Schumacher. “In our industry, those of you that can sell have tremendous value in your organization.” Kahler and Maestas shared the top 14 reasons for why companies sponsor events according to IEG. They include: 1) Increase brand loyalty among customers 2) Create Awareness and Visibility 3) Change/reinforce image 4) Drive Retail Traffic 5) Showcase community responsibility 6) Drive sales 7) Sample/display brand attributes 8) Entertain clients 9) Narrowcasting 10) Recruit/Retain employees 11) Incenting retailers, dealers and distributors with pass-through rights 12) Differentiate product from competitors 13) Combat ad budgets of larger competitors 14) Achievement of multiple objectives The CSEE Program is a certification program open only to NASC members. Since its inception, the NASC has been dedicated to raising the standards of professionalism in the industry. The NASC Staff and Professional Development Committee assist presenters in preparing sessions and case studies to ensure that the needs and concerns of the sports event industry are addressed. Members may enroll in the program at anytime. CSEE participants are provided with cutting edge knowledge about topics based on the CSEE Core Curriculum during modules held twice per year. Modules cover a variety of topics that increase participants efficiency and effectiveness in the workplace and enable them to earn the designation as a “Certified Sports Event Executive.” Modules are fours hours in length and include both instruction and practical application. To learn more, visit http://www.sportscommissions.org/CSEE
Congratulations to the CSEE Graduates The following NASC members will be recognized at Symposium for their completion of the Certified Sports Event Executive program. Congratulations to all!
Jay Allen, Chicago Southland Convention & Visitors Bureau
Heath Aucoin, Jackson Convention Complex
Demp Bradford, Greensboro Sports Commission
KP Clements, Central Florida’s Polk County Sports Marketing
Tom Coleman, Central Wisconsin/Stevens Point Area Sports Commission
Randy DuTeau, Augusta Sports Council Eric Engelbarts II, West Michigan Sports Commission
Michelle Fakler, CMP, Discover Kalamazoo
David Gyza, Valley Forge Convention and Visitors Bureau
Jim Hilb, Associated Premium Corporation
Sue Hollenbeck, Oklahoma City Convention & Visitors Bureau
Dallas Howard, Clermont County Ohio Convention and Visitors Bureau
Ray Hoyt, Tulsa Sports Commission
Troy Killian, Louisville Sports Commission
John Larsen, Rochester Amateur Sports Commission
Jennifer Miles, Amateur Athletic Union of the United States
Monica Paul, Dallas CVB Sports
Scott Powers, Columbia (SC) Regional Sports Council
Jason Puckett, Sarasota County Sports Commission
Holly Shelton, Oklahoma City Convention & Visitors Bureau
Linda Smith, Warren County Convention & Visitors Bureau
Kelly Wells, Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau
Marc Zimmerman, Central Florida’s Polk County Sports Marketing
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