If Cole isn’t relaxing on a boat with his friends and family, you can be sure he’s networking until you know the name of Wicomico County, Maryland. Cole works to connect with peers and colleagues to help bring big scale events to a small market.
“I focus on strengthening and growing my professional network not only locally, with facilities and various organizations, but nationally with colleagues and event organizers,” said Cole Lacey.
Cole was recently promoted to Assistant Tourism Manager at Wicomico County Recreation, Parks & Tourism/TEAM Maryland. His main focus is on bringing new business to Wicomico County including developing proposals and budgets for events with the goal to grow economic impact. Additionally, Cole assists event organizers with logistics and management including facility set up and volunteer/ staffing needs.
If there is one thing to take pride in working in sport tourism and events, its recognizing the impact that one single ...
A dream came true for Mike Sharpe just a few weeks ago- his hometown team won the Super Bowl! Not only that, he had a hand in planning the celebration parade for the Kansas City Chiefs. And while celebrating this momentous occasion, the Sharpe family found one of the biggest Kansas City fans around- actor Paul Rudd.
This dream didn’t happen overnight for Sports ETA mentor Mike Sharpe. He’s been in the sports industry for almost 30 years. Now he works at the Director of Business Development for the Kansas City Sports Commission & Foundation.
Some of Mike’s responsibilities include overseeing all facets of national event procurement for the organization. As well as handling governmental affairs at the city, county, and state levels.
If there is one thing that has remained constant through Mike’s career has been leadership. He has spent the last three decades working his way up from student manager, to head coach, to Athletic Director, to an Assistant ...
Josh Akright loves sports. Not only has he found a career in the sports industry, but sports is a hobby of his and his two sons. In his free time, you can find Josh either playing sports or coaching his sons’ travel hockey team.
“Watching my sons have success playing sports and the exhilaration in their faces, that’s my favorite,” said Akright.
Josh is the Vice President at Pse Event Housing and a Sports ETA Mentor. The company handles all the housing details for tournaments and events from beginning to end. As you can imagine, Josh is well versed in event management, but his responsibilities also include acquisitions, business development, fiance, sales and strategy.
“The people are incredible. The highs and lows of the event management business and watching something come together from the grassroots beginning to last out or play that end the event,” Akright added. “I’ve been able to travel much of the country, meet incredible ...
My staff and I are excited about attending the 2020 Sports ETA Symposium on April 20-23 in Kansas City. We are looking for some KC hospitality- the KC BBQ experience, distilleries & craft breweries, and exciting sports scene!
If you haven’t registered for the Symposium yet, here are some important dates for you to mark on your calendar:
March 1st - Registration Deadline, Appointments cannot be guaranteed if not registered by March 1, 2020
March 13th - One-on-One Appointment Portal Opens
April 3rd - One-on-One Appointment Portal Closes
April 10th - Schedules Distributed
Don’t delay in registering yourself and others from your organization for the Symposium. The Symposium offers a variety of education sessions, networking opportunities, and appointments with event rights holders. It’s the Sports Tourism Conference to attend in the spring.
Will this year’s Symposium be your first? Join us for the First-Time Attendee Orientation on ...
Bonny Bernat is a Boston fan living in the Winston-Salem area. While she cheers for the Boston Red Sox, she loves bringing sporting events to her community as the Senior Sports and Event Sales Manager at Visit Winston-Salem.
Bonny works on prospecting and proposal development. It’s something Bonny has to do every day to fight for sporting events.
“I have found that if I can get a prospective event organizer to Winston-Salem, we stand a really good chance of securing the event,” Bonny said. “I also think our servicing of events is strong; we do not operate with a sports commission so we have to provide as many of the same services that we can, within our limits, to compete with those cities who do.”
Building relationships is something Bonny finds important in this industry. It makes for fun experiences.
“It always circles back to the relationships and friends I’ve had the fortune of forming,” Bonny added. “Our indus...
Each year, Sports ETA honors organizations and individuals in the sports events and tourism industry to celebrate their accomplishments and achievements.Every member should consider submitting for an award because we all do amazing work throughout the year. Submitting for an award acknowledges the hard work you have put into your events and allows you to be recognized by your peers at symposium as being among the top leaders in the industry.
Sports ETA as well as the awards committee understand that the acknowledgement for the winners at one luncheon isn’t enough. We are working on showcasing our award winners not only at symposium more, but throughout the year in various ways. This allows peers and Sports ETA members to understand the great work happening with each organization and to motivate them to submit and win the next year. Winners in each category will be given the following benefits:
Press release
Playbook article featuring each ...
Branding can take you to two very different places.
You own some cows
You own an idea, product, or company
Although the first could be a bullish conversation.....we'll spend some time talking about how it impacts your business, team, product or idea.
Branding in the marketing sense has several major distinctions but here are a few of the key points:
Branding communicates the consistency of your product and the customer experience
Branding is essential for good advertising in today's digital noise
Branding encourages employee price, satisfaction, and morale
Branding allows you to communicate why you stand out from the competition
Branding helps you generate more customers
Branding if done right can help increase your company's value
Most importantly Branding It creates trust and loyalty with the customer
Within sports, a segment that has such a strong media component, we ofte...
“Never settle for things. We should do what we are most passionate about and enjoy doing. When that happens you are not working, you are sharing your passion with others.”
Wisdom from Sports ETA mentor Kindra Fry who is living out her passion for sports as the President and CEO of Experience Bryan College Station and Executive Director for Bryan College Station Sports + Events.
In this role, Kindra works with communities to provide resources her staff needs to market and sell Bryan College Station as a premier destination for sports events and other conventions and meetings. Besides her extensive knowledge of working with community leaders and organizations, Kindra has experience as an event owner and in destination marketing organizations.
One of Kindra’s favorite aspects of her job is watching spectators come into her community and truly enjoy being there. Or watching up-and-coming NCAA DI athletes before they make it big. But her favorite sports memories c...
Meet Derek Bombeck, a devoted family man who enjoys weekend camping trips and hunting. Derek loves to travel around the globe, recently checking off Budapest, Hungary where he attended the World Wrestling Championship with his dad. Derek is one of our dedicated Sports ETA mentors.
Derek is the Sales Development Manager for the Lincoln Convention and Visitors Bureau in Nebraska. He is responsible for marketing Lincoln as a premier sports tourist destination by recruiting new regional, national, and international sporting events. Derek also is in charge of the retention of current sporting events. He is satisfied knowing the greater impact his work can bring to help the city thrive.
Derek has an extensive background in event management and coordination. He served as the Director of Events for Nebraska Athletics for a decade. He fondest memory was seeing the Huskers compete in the NCAA Volleyball Championships the year he was Tournament Director.
Derek encourages his mentees to m...
Being new to this industry is intimidating, right? You have seasoned vets who seem to know everyone and then there is you – brand new and ready to make connections. But how? Here are a couple of tips and tricks I hope will help as you navigate being a “newbie” in this industry!
Go to the Sports ETA 4S Summit. Aside from the fact that you get to learn from some of the greatest leaders in our industry, this event is also one of the best opportunities to meet people. It’s smaller than the Symposium and is a completely education-based conference, making it your best opportunity for networking with colleagues. This is your chance to learn best practices and pick the brains of people who have walked in your shoes.
ASK THE QUESTION. This industry is built on relationships between clients and peers. With that being said, we can be each other’s greatest resource. You are learning the industry and it’...