Symposium

The Symposium is one of the most thrilling times of the year with opportunities to network, participate in various educational sessions, and explore a new city. If you would like more info about the Symposium, visit: https://www.sportseta.org/symposium/about 28th annual Symposium April 20-23, 2020 Kansas City, MO Hosted by Visit KC and Kansas City Sports Commission We are already preparing for the 2020 Symposium. Schedule, education sessions, and speakers will be announced later this year! If you have not attended the Symposium before, this is the year to begin - because Kansas City has it all! Plan your trip to come down early or stay later to explore all that Kansas City has to offer. We made a “Bucket List” of a few activities you and your coworkers can try next year: Go ziplining with Zip KC - they can take you on ziplining tours day or night in the park! They also offer team building activities if you want to take your entire Sports Commissi...

A record turnout of industry leaders in sports events and tourism attended the 27th annual symposium held in Knoxville, TN from May 6-9 to elect new leadership, honor members with national awards and participate in dozens of continuing education programs led by industry leaders. 

It’s back to work for those of us who went to the NASC Symposium in Knoxville last week. As you are getting back to your projects and events, don’t forget about all those contacts you met last week. In the sports events and tourism industry, networking is key and we hope you met a lot of great people at the Symposium to help in future projects. So don’t let those business cards go to waste. Follow-up is key to developing a new professional relationship. Forbes has a few great tips to master the art of the follow-up. Start with a quick email this week. Don’t feel it has to be something long and profound. Simply say you enjoyed meeting them and if you can, reflect back on a point from your conversation, even if it wasn’t about work. Link in on LinkedIn. This is another way to connect days after meeting. LinkedIn also offers many free tools to keep your contacts front-of-mind for both you and them. Plus, you can send them a quick note on their work...

KNOXVILLE (May 10, 2019) – The National Association of Sports Commissions (NASC), the governing body of the $11.4 billion sport tourism industry, announced this week a new brand designed to represent a more inclusive organization to lead the sports and event tourism industry and its membership. The organization will now be referred to as Sports Events & Tourism Association or Sports ETA. A record turnout of industry leaders in sports events and tourism attended the 27th annual symposium held here from May 6-9 to elect new leadership, honor members with national awards and participate in dozens of continuing education programs led by industry leadership. “In our largest-ever Symposium where sports events and tourism industry leaders meet, we introduced a new brand for the organization called Sports ETA that represents the evolving and growing nature of the industry we lead,” said Al Kidd, President & CEO of Sports Events & Tourism Association. “...

The National Association of Sport Commissions is excited to share its 2019 Member Award Winners. Every year the NASC honors organizations and individuals in the sports events and tourism industry to celebrate their accomplishments and achievements! There were a ton of impressive nominees this year, and deciding on a winner for each category was incredibly difficult. With that said, our 2019 winners hail from all over the country, from Minneapolis to Gulf Shores. Without further ado, here are your 2019 NASC Member Award Winners: Sport Commission of the Year, Over 500k -Sport Minneapolis, powered by Meet Minneapolis Sports Commission of the Year, under 500k -Spokane Sports Commission Sports Tourism Organization of the Year, over 500k -VisitAnaheim Sports Tourism Organization of the Year, under 500k - Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Sports Event Marketing Campaign  -Savannah Sports Council Destination Branding and Marketing Campaign of the Year, und...

The NASC is excited to congratulate our recent Certified Sports Event Executive graduates. Through this program, these graduates have shown the world they’re serious about making a difference in the sports events and tourism industry. Give a round of applause to these CSEE graduates, as they prepare (or continue) to take the industry by storm. CSEE 2019 Spring Graduates: Danny Corte, CSEE Jamie Patrick, CSEE Billy Bos, CSEE Mark Kowalewski, CSEE John Poole, CSEE Ashley Wilson, CSEE Jeremy Leifel, CSEE Matthew Bosen, CSEE Daniel Gallagher, CSEE Kris Jackson, CSEE Kathy O'Connell, CSEE Luchie Javelosa, CSEE Jarrett Dowling, CSEE Al Stauffacher, CSEE Consuelo Sanchez, CSEE Shaheen Roostai, CSEE Sarah Kirchberg, CSEE Kelsey McLean, CSEE Ashleigh Bachert, CSEE Matt Prewitt, CSEE Kristyn Hawkins, CSEE Mark Hargis, CSEE Clay Partain, CSEE Bill Kelly, CSEE Suzanne Keller, CSEE Holly Kesterson, CSEE St...

The National Association of Sports Commissions would like to congratulate 2019 NASC Hall of Fame inductees. Each of these members have played a vital role in the success and promotion of the National Association of Sports Commissions and have contributed significantly to the advancement of the sports events and tourism industry. Our 2019 inductees are as follows: Patricia Ernstrom- Vice President of Special Events, San Francisco 49ers Jack Kelly- CEO, World Equestrian Games Pam Gerig-Bland- Executive Director, Palm Beach County Sports Commission Kevin Smith- Founder, OnPoint Sports Strategies, LLC Induction into the NASC Hall of Fame is considered to be the equivalent of a lifetime achievement award. These inductees have typically spent decades in the sports events and tourism industry; they have been leaders in the industry; and they have an extensive list of accomplishments locally, nationally, and even internationally in some cases. Patricia, Jack, Pam, and Kevin...

People tend to fall on three sides of the networking spectrum: The people that love socializing and meet all kinds of people The people that hate networking and skip these sessions or don’t participate The people that are good at networking and leave with a valuable lead and/or resource Depending on the day, each of us usually falls into one of these categories when we must attend networking events. Many factors contribute to how we react to networking including the hours worked that day, what’s happening outside of work, and energy levels in general.  Please take a moment to learn some networking lessons that may provide positive results while networking at the 2019 NASC Symposium. Look at this stack of business cards! These are on my desk right now. Can you imagine if your card is located near the bottom of that stack? I’m sure my card is at the bottom of stacks on hundreds of desks around the country. This is a constant reminder that I’...

The NASC Symposium is just over two weeks away, which means it’s time to request event overview appointments! The Symposium is a phenomenal way to network and learn more about the industry from the people currently thriving in it. Wondering how to do that? It’s simple! Start by going to the NASC Symposium website to update your profile. Making sure that your profile is up to date is vital because you may not appear correctly in the member directory, which is where Symposium attendees look when requesting/accepting appointments. After that, make your request for all the organizations you would like to meet with during event overview appointments. You will be able to view a list of organization’s that you have a confirmed one-on-one appointment. Once you submit the request, rank each one, while also accepting or declining appointments requested of you, to ensure that you receive the best possible matches.  If you request an appointment, but the other organiza...

The countdown is on for the 27th annual NASC Symposium! Before your bags are packed, check the conference website. Then, as you prepare to meet event rights holders, vendors and destination representatives from throughout the USA in Knoxville, Tennessee May 6- 9, you might want to check it again. This will help you ensure the most efficient and effective use of your time! NASC staff and volunteer members have worked diligently to provide several great resources to assist you as you get organized to attend the NASC’s annual meeting (for the first time or the 27th)! Follow the links below to find answers to many of your questions: Hotel & Travel Schedule Education Marketplace NASC FAQs Blogs Hotel & Travel: Traveling to a destination by yourself (especially for the first-time) can seem a bit intimidating. A little advanced homework will reduce potential concerns and set you up for a fun, successful conference experience. Review your...