Fight For Your Right to Party!

Bowl season is about to begin and with it comes bowl parties. Whether throwing a small house party or planning an event on a larger scale, there are things to consider. While event planning may appear to be all fun and games to many people, professional event planners realize the dangers of the games. There are many potential liabilities to consider when planning an event. One possible liability was demonstrated by an Atlanta event planner last year. In December of 2010,  Terry Singleton received a letter from the Academy, but it wasn’t for her nomination. This letter was to inform her of her infringement of copyright. An event she had hosted around Oscar time utilized 7-foot gold statues, similar to those given out at the Academy Awards but not identical. She did not see a problem because the statue had no facial features and looked “more like a gold alien” but the Academy had a different idea and was looking to sue. Due to the Academy’s prestige and wealth, the planner decided to comply and came to an undisclosed settlement. While this may seem like a freak occurrence, incidents like this are an expensive liability that could easily be avoided. Be careful not to include any copyrighted material into decorations and if a client is dead set on having something copyrighted, tell the client he/she will have to pay to have the rights to use that copyrighted material. The client may change his/her mind.

Boys Among Men: How To Compete

When thinking about basketball there are certain teams that automatically come into mind. Besides the home team, one cannot help but to think about the Lakers, Heat, Bulls, Celtics and a few of the other large franchise teams. Unless a smaller team is a playoff contender, it is not usually getting much press. So how do these teams gain momentum and amp up their fan base? How when you are the Kings or Warriors, playing in the same state as the LA teams (Clippers and Lakers), do you compete?

Spotlight: SMA Conference

Last week, the annual conference for the Sports Marketing Association (SMA) was held here, in Orlando, FL, at the Wyndham Hotel. This year they teamed up with Teamwork Online to add a day for students to network with some of the many sports professionals present and each other. This past Saturday, October 27, 2012, I had the opportunity to attend this event. It began with introductions and then the professionals shared their stories. The people we heard from were Tom Veit, Alex Vergara, Bob Crowley, Ed Willett, Rick Burton, Jeff Angolini, Donna Rowe, Jeffrey Gray and Marcellus Cooper. Here are a few of their stories:

Trend Alert: Augmented Reality

Sports fans are always looking for new ways to interact with their favorite teams and their favorite players. For the past few years sports teams and associated products have been using augmented reality to give fans this new experience that they crave. Augmented reality is, in short, incorporating aspects of a virtual world into the real world.

EA Sports and ESPN have teamed up to create EA Sports GameView. This technology allows analysts to interact with virtual players to show players’ techniques and provide insight into the game.

Project XX

In the past year there has been an insurgence of marketing to women. Politicians can’t seem to get enough of us as they have realized how great an influence we have on their campaigns. There has also been a push to women for goods and services that aren’t typically considered feminine, including sports. For many years sports marketers have done their best to appeal to men but have ignored women. It was believed that men were their target market and that advertising to women was a waste of time and money. As a woman sports fan I never understood why they would leave us out. Although some of us may be watching for different reasons, like seeing attractive sweaty men, we are still watching and enjoying sports just as much as the guys. Moreover, lets take a look at the stereotypical male-female relationship. The man works and the woman spends the money. Women make a large percentage of the spending decisions in a household, so doesn’t it make sense to market to the one’s who are going to be spending the money?

Spotlight: National Sports Marketing Network

Trade associations are an important part of any industry. They give you the chance to meet people with like interests and career paths. Many also offer conferences, charitable events and career services. You could think of them as the fraternities of “the real world”.  One industry trade association that I hope to become a member of and would recommend is the National Sports Marketing Network (NSMN). They have deemed themselves “the exclusive industry trade organization for sports business professionals in the United States” and rightfully so.  NSMN’s members include league commissioners, network and corporate executives, agency presidents and a host of other sports industry professionals.  This group is encouraging interaction between sports professionals and creating a more united front in the industry.

Cooling Out The Fans

This summer has been one for the record books. The heat has been overwhelming and outdoor arenas have not been the ideal place to venture, but in the sports world the show must go on! Baseball teams literally had their diehard fans sweating in the stands this season as temperatures were near 100+ in almost every state. Moreover, if you have been watching the games on TV you may have noticed that these outdoor arenas are far from full. Many of these venues are not prepared to accommodate these types of weather conditions and many fans have been forced to sit this season out.