NASC Playbook - September 2017

Fall 2017

Inside this issue: NASC Launches Sports Tourism Learning Institute Register for the 2018 NASC Symposium Creating An Inclusive Work Culture In Sports Tourism 2018 SLF Beneficiary Announced

National Headquarters

9916 Carver Road, Suite 100, Cincinnati, OH 45242

Telephone/Fax

(513) 281-3888/(513) 281-1765

Website

www.SportsCommissions.org

Staff Alan (Al) R. Kidd, President & CEO Lori Gamble, Associate Executive Director Elizabeth Young, Director of Membership & Marketing Brad Bellissimo, Member Services Manager

Board of Directors Officers

Chair Mike Anderson, CSEE, Executive Director – SportsTourism, Myrtle Beach Regional Sports Alliance Vice Chair/Chair-Elect Kindra Fry, CSEE, SMP, Executive Director, Bryan College Station Sports + Events Treasurer Janis Schmees Burke, CSEE, Chief Executive Officer, Harris County - Houston Sports Authority Secretary Michael Price, CSEE, Executive Director, Greater Lansing Sports Authority Immediate Past Chair Ralph Morton, Executive Director, Seattle Sports Commission

TABLE OF CONTENTS President and CEO Update .............................................1 NASC Launches Sports Tourism Learning Institute ............................................................... 2 2018 Nominating Committee ....................................... 2 2018 Member Awards And Hall Of Fame Nominations ............................................ 2 Keep Them Coming Back ...........................................3-4 Register for the 2018 NASC Symposium ........... 6-8 Creating An Inclusive Work Culture In Sports Tourism ......................................................... 9-10 2018 SLF Beneficiary Announced ....................... 11-12

Directors Janna Clark, CSEE, Sports and Sales Director, Elizabethtown Sports Park John David, CSEE, Chief Operating Officer, USA BMX Don Dukemineer, CSEE, Convention Sales Manager Huntsville/Madison County CVB, Director Matt Dunn, CSEE, Vice President, Tourism Development, Palm Coast and the Flagler Beaches Roy Edmondson, CSEE, Vice President of Sports Business Development, Visit Anaheim Jason Gewirtz, Editor, SportsTravel Magazine Laura Gurreri, CSEE, Director of Sales, Sport York Pete Harvey, CSEE, Director of Sports Development, Buffalo Niagara Sports Commission Jim Hilb, CSEE, Associated Premium Corporation William Knox, CSEE, Director, Grand Park Frank Lett, CSEE, Senior Associate Executive Director/ Director of Sports Marketing, Visit Kingsport Matt Libber, CSEE, VP, Business Operations, Elite Tournaments Kathy Nelson, President/CEO, Kansas City Sports Commission Ray Palmer, CSEE, President/CEO, Pensacola Sports Janis Ross, CSEE, Executive Director, Eugene, Cascades & Coast Sports Kris Smith, CSEE, Director, Detroit Sports

Media & Public Relations Advisers Jackie Reau, Game Day Communications Betsy Ross, Game Day Communications

www.SportsCommissions.org

Looking To Share Your Expertise?

Information-sharing is a founding principle of the NASC, and the industry knowledge among the NASC membership lends itself to unprecedented expertise.

The NASC encourages members to share information with your peers. Contact Elizabeth Young, Director of Membership and Marketing, at elizabeth@sportscommissions.org to learn more about how you can contribute to a future edition of The NASC Playbook.

To include your news in the weekly Get in the Game eNews, send press releases and articles to info@sportscommissions.org.

President & CEO Update As we enter into the back quarter of the year the sports tourism and event business continues to expand and make positive differences to many communities across America.

New outdoor and indoor facilities continue to open, adding valuable community and economic resources. The ebbs and flows of organized club-based sports cover a small portion of the necessary physical activity needs of our younger population. We will be actively pursuing our role and voice for our members in key national initiatives such as PHIT, Project Play, and others the promote a more active lifestyle. Thank you to those members who send emails to the national office keeping us abreast of the some of the great work being done across the country.

Sign of the times?

I was in Cedar Rapids recently for the S.P.O.R.T.S. Relationship Conference, and as I always do when I’m traveling, read the local newspaper. The lead article in the sports section discussed the dramatic increase of forfeits in interscholastic football in Iowa. Participation numbers were continuing on their downward trend, a number of schools have switched to 8-man football and injuries to players impacted some teams ability to field a team. Other states have reported a similar fate. Additionally, many states are limiting padded practices. It was reported that the Canadian Football League was going to limit padded practices as well ... a situation certainly worth watching in the coming years.

Worth knowing After attending a presentation by Amy Griffen, a goalie on the Women’s National soccer team, I spoke with her about forwarding information to us to better understand a growing health issue from the use of turf fields. Amy’s story started out innocuously when she wondered what impact on players health, if any, came from playing on turf fields. She noticed a few goalkeepers had contracted a form of cancer and began her research. She found that crumb rubber, a repurposed form of tires, was composed of carcinogens.

Furthermore, as the crumb rubber aged and dealt with sun and weather conditions, the crumbs deteriorated to powder.

And, the powder covered the athletes and was taken into

their lungs as they breathed. As of 2015, she had identified 200 athletes, 150 soccer players, of which 95 were goalkeepers who had cancer. Her work has led the Philadelphia Phillies to look into the high occurrence of players playing on the old Veterans field who have passed away at a young age from cancer. While her work is in the early stages, and she has no resources to mount an effort to study these instances, it is something our members should be more aware of particularly facilities across the country who are deploying artificial surfaces.

4S Summit Update I am pleased to report that the newly developed Fall educational program, 4S (Strategy, Sponsorship, Service, Sales) set a record for a fall meeting. As in previous years, we have arranged plenty of space for pull-out meetings for smaller groups of members. We have a number of outstanding presentations coupled with two outside presenters of products and services that can be a great benefit to our members. BlueJeans will discuss their interactive HD video meeting products that include an unlimited number of live participants sharing videos, PPT, word docs, spreadsheets, and Facebook live, which have proven to be a great tool for us in the last few months. We have also used the Facebook live plug in that provides live broadcasts and interviews on Facebook. These guys provide the backbone for the Players Tribune sport media company. Additionally, Hook It, who provides a solution to aggregate social and digital awareness to measure sponsor impact, will share more about their tool.

We are offering CSEE credit for attending the 4S Summit as well as to those who attend the live CSEE offering. The Summit will provide opportunities to meet with front office staff from the professional franchises in Detroit and discuss the 4S’s with them. Finally, a big shout out to MGM Grand and Daniel Rush and Lisa Motley, Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Bureau for sponsoring our Happy Hour. Thank you for stepping up your support.

Keep your ideas coming, and THINK BIG! Al Kidd President & CEO

Annual Membership Benefits

The NASC continues to develop benefits and services to make your organization more efficient and effective in the sports tourism industry each year including: • • • • • • •

1

Online Directories Online Event RFP Database NASC Economic Impact Calculator Industry Research and Reports NASC Career Center Models and Samples CSEE Certification

• Best Practices Webinars • • Event Webinars

• 4S Summit • • Sports Event Symposium • • Consulting Services

• Shipping Discounts, courtesy • of PartnerShip®

Car Rental and Airport Shuttle Discounts Premium Item Discounts SportsBusiness Journal subscription discount SFIA Reports

#SportTourism

2018 Board of Directors Nominations Board service to the sports tourism industry’s association is vital for its continued success. Board members serve as representatives of the NASC’s nearly 800 member organizations and help develop strategy for your Association.

Self-nominations are recommended and encouraged.

Visit the NASC website to learn more about the nomination timeline, open positions and the responsibilities of the NASC Board of Directors.

To be considered, nominations must be received no later than December 15, 2017 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

National Association of Sports Commissions launches Sports Tourism Learning Institute for Increased Industry Education “The Sports Tourism Learning Institute more completely represents our thinking for the new paradigm that positions the leading trade association, NASC, as the premiere education provider for the sports tourism industry in the United States,” said Al Kidd, president and CEO of the NASC. “We will offer wider and deeper content for key players, including sports destinations, sports event owners, and industry partners. Our goal is to provide a variety of educational opportunities for all our members and industry professionals.”

Courses will include: event management, a general and advanced tourism certificate, revenue and funding sources, marketing and communications, social and digital engagement, sales training for destination management organizations, event measurement tools, global event management and programs for sports events owners.

The new content will be delivered in a variety of formats including certificate programs, boot camps, live and online courses, and webinars.

The NASC will launch two courses this fall under the STLI umbrella, including a live course on social and digital engagement and an online course on effective communication in the sports tourism industry. Additional programming is being developed with an anticipated launch in early 2018.

Questions? Contact Ralph Morton, Immediate Past Chair and Nominating Committee Chair at rmorton@seattlesports.com

2018 Member Awards and Hall of Fame The NASC Hall of Fame Committee was established to honor those who played a vital role in the success and promotion of the National Association of Sports Commissions. The purpose of the Hall of Fame is to promote the professional management of sporting events and the sports tourism industry as a whole by honoring those individuals who exemplified the values of the NASC in their careers and by acknowledging their legacies to provide guidance for future members of the NASC. Representation on the Hall of Fame Committee is by appointment from members of the NASC Leadership Council (former chairmen of the Association) and approved by the NASC Board of Directors and shall be comprised of not more than five (5) members who will be identified as the NASC Hall of Fame Committee. The Committee elects its officers and shall serve a three-year term, and is eligible to serve one successive term upon majority vote of all committee members. The NASC Hall of Fame Committee, by authority granted by the NASC Board of Directors, is the final authority of which nominees shall be inducted into the NASC Hall of Fame.

After nominations are received and considered by the committee, the sponsor may be invited to present any other information on behalf of the nominee.

The induction process and eligibility requirements can be found on the NASC website.

To be considered, submit your entry via the online entry format sportscommissions.org/hall-of-fame no later than December 1, 2017.

Contact Terry Hasseltine, CSEE, Hall of Fame Committee Chair, at thasseltine@marylandsports.us, for any questions.

www.SportsCommissions.org 2

Keep Them Coming Back

By Jennifer Stoll, CSEE, PhD Candidate

You’ve heard it over and over again in the sports tourism industry – it’s all about relationships.

Photo Courtesy 14K Media

Show up for an education session at any sports tourism conference and the word pops up all the time.

Our goal as sports tourism professionals includes cultivating long-term relationships by putting in the time and effort required. It is the core of to our industry.

Genuine connection occurs with “one-and-done” thinking in the rear view mirror.

Photo Courtesy JUCO World Series

Relationships. It’s the way we talk to each other, behave toward each other and deal with each other. It is a key to success not only in the $10 billion sports tourism industry, but to success in life as well.

toward allegiance by focusing on specific elements of our community.

You are likely aware that gaining new customers is more costly than retaining existing customers. If this principle holds true for sports tourism, and I believe it does, then significant opportunity lies within cultivating our existing consumers. This begs the question: How do we keep them coming back?

In the academic world, Funk and James proposed the Psychological Continuum Model, in which individuals proceed through a process of becoming aware of a product, and then attracted to it, followed by attached to it, culminating in allegiance to it. In other words, over time, the individual establishes a deeper connection to the product.

This principle explains going from the couch to running multiple marathons or not-a-fan to a die-hard, for example.

Photo Courtesy Train to Hunt

In sports tourism, our destinations and the events held in them are our brands and products. Each is uniquely different, which is to our advantage since it allows us to build

We can all list a community event by which people set their calendars; attending year after year and reminiscing about the good old days back in 19-something. Throughout the years, the event and its host destination became an integral part of the individual. How do we replicate this phenomenon, changing the mentality of our consumer relationships from one-time to repeat, thus building that deeper connection?

One way is by leveraging the unique factors, or “destination attributes”, of our respective communities. Destination attributes include all the factors that make up the image of your community in the minds of your consumers. Broadly, these factors, and how consumers perceive them, work either toward or against our desired consumer behavior: returning to our destination.

Back over in the research arena, Chen and Funk identified 16 factors on which we could focus our efforts as destination marketers for sports tourism. Examples include accommodations, climate, pricing, culture, transportation, personal safety, food, natural/historical/cultural attractions, shopping, and sports venues. The list is long, and as sports tourism professionals faced with limited resources, we must decide where to focus our efforts.

Chen and Funk’s research suggests focusing on sports facilities and activities, accommodations, safety and food.

However, the point is not to pick the same destination attributes for each event, but to consider what attributes make the most sense for your specific product, and focus accordingly.

#SportTourism 3

For example, this spring Grand Junction hosted the Alpine Bank National Junior College Athletic Association (JUCO) World Series for the 60th consecutive year. When I asked what primary community attributes have led to such longstanding event success, tournament chairperson Jamie Hamilton noted, “Our community has fully embraced the JUCO tournament by welcoming athletes and spectators, supporting venue enhancement, and serving as ambassadors for the culture of Grand Junction to create lasting memories.”

visiting your destination? What would motivate them to return? Let the emerging patterns lay the foundation for your roadmap to long-term relationships with your consumers.

Due to Mr. Hamilton’s ability to identify and leverage these factors of local hospitality, venue and community culture, the JUCO World Series has a high-functioning 80-person local organizing committee and a contract with the NJCAA through 2035. That is utilizing your community’s strengths to keep them coming back!

Jennifer Stoll is the executive director for the Greater Grand Junction Sports Commission and a Sport Management doctoral candidate at Troy University.

As sports tourism professionals, we should encourage our community colleagues to view repeat business holistically by focusing resources on attributes that have the best chance of return.

Funk, D. C. & James, J. (2001). The Psychological Continuum Model: A conceptual framework for understanding an individual’s psychological connection to sport. Sport Management Review, 4(2), 119-150.

We have the privilege of serving as ambassadors for our wonderfully unique communities. With this responsibility comes the opportunity to make it fun, make it strategic, and make it results-driven to keeping our consumers coming back.

Chen, N. & Funk, D. C. (2010). Exploring destination image, experience and revisit intention: A comparison of sport and non-sport tourist perceptions. Journal of Sport & Tourism, 15(3), 239-259.

Photo Courtesy Epic Rides

Photo Courtesy Colorado Mesa University

Eliminate the guessing game. Talk to your customers through engagement at the event or post-event electronic surveys. Stay in touch through social media. Facebook.

Instagram. Snapchat. Twitter. What did they do while

www.SportsCommissions.org 4

It’s a touchdown, hole-in-one, three-pointer, home-run, winning goal, game-set-match, kind of state.

In Kentucky, we go above and beyond to help you plan your sports event to perfection.

From helping you choose the right venue in the right community to arranging lodging and entertainment, and answering any questions you have. It’s the perfect combination of tournament class facilities and world-class hospitality. All within a day’s drive of nearly 2/3 of the U.S. population. Learn more at TeamKy.com or call 502-564-4270.

2018 NASC Symposium

Photo Courtesy Lane Pelovsky

The NASC Symposium is the annual meeting of the National Association of Sports Commissions (NASC), the non-profit 501(c)3 trade association for the sports tourism industry in the United States. Hundreds of industry professionals and partners gather to exchange time, resources, strategies,solutions, and more. The Symposium features dozens of relevant education sessions, countless networking opportunities, and business development appointments, all to help our members produce measurable ROI for their organization, elevate their sports events, and improve the quality of life in their sports destinations.

Quick Stats • 1,000 serious-minded sports tourism professionals attend the NASC Symposium • 97% are decision-makers for their organization • 146,407 unique visitors to the NASC website each year • 221,848 emails distributed • 9,500 pre-scheduled business appointments

Photo Courtesy GilmourCreative.com.eps

Incomparable world-class playing & training facilities that can host over 40 sports disciplines, 47 miles of beaches, and over 200 hotels & resorts Learn more at PalmBeachSports.com or call 561.233.3174

The NASC Shipping Program – a free member benefit!

Enroll today at PartnerShip.com/09NASC

The NASC Shipping Program, managed by PartnerShip®, helps you save on every shipment you send or receive. From envelopes up to large truckload shipments, PartnerShip allows you to save on your shipping with the most trusted carriers in the country.

Palm Beach County Sports Commission 1555 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd., Suite 930 West Palm Beach, FL 33401

and many more ...

6

Schedule

Subject to change.

Monday, April 23 7:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.

9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.

10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Noon - 4:00 p.m.

2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Sports Legacy Fun Service Project Board of Directors Meeting Committee Meetings NASC Sports Legacy Golf Outing Registration/Member Services Exhibitor Move-in New Member Networking Board of Directors and Former Chairmen Dinner

Tuesday, April 24 7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.

8:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

7:30 a.m. - 8:00 a.m.

8:30 a.m. - Noon

Noon - 1:30 p.m.

1:30 PM - 3:00 p.m.

3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Registration/Member Services Exhibitor Move-in New Member and First Time Attendee Orientation CSEE Spring 2018 Course (additional fees apply) Open Lunch for Client Meetings Opening Ceremony, Awards & Hall of Fame Presentation One-On-One Appointments Sponsor, Exhibitor and Event Owner Social Opening Party

Registration Rates Destinations Registration includes all functions and one set of appointments per organization (membership required).

Appointment portal opens on March 9, 2018.

Wednesday, April 25 7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.

7:00 a.m. - 8:00 a.m.

8:00 a.m. - 9:15 a.m.

9:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

11:15 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.

1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.

2:15 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.

3:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

6:00 p.m. - Midnight

Registration/Member Services Continental Breakfast Trends in Sports Tourism One-On-One Appointments General Membership Meeting and Networking Luncheon Education Sessions Education Sessions One-On-One Appointments Happy Hour in the Sports Marketplace Open Night for Client Entertainment or Sightseeing

Thursday, April 26 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

8:00 a.m. - 8:45 a.m.

9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.

10:45 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.

Noon - 1:30 p.m.

1:45 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.

3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

5:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m.

7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Registration/Member Services Continental Breakfast/Town Hall Event Overview Appointments Education Sessions Closing Luncheon Education Sessions One-On-One Appointments Board of Directors and Committees Happy Hour Exhibitor Move-Out Closing Party

Event Owners Complimentary registration: Registration includes access to all Symposium functions as well as booth space in the NASC Sports Marketplace, and appointments with sports destinations and vendors.

Travel assistance: Registration includes access to all Symposium functions as well as booth space in the NASC Sports Marketplace, and appointments with sports destinations and vendors.

Category Rights Holder Member

Rate Thru 2/16/18

Rate After 2/16/18

FREE

FREE

.............................................................................................................................................................

Non-Member Sports Event Owner (includes annual membership)

$100.00

$100.00

Register by March 9, 2018 to participate in one-on-one and event overview appointments.

#SportTourism 7

Vendors Category

HOTEL AND TRAVEL Rate Thru 2/16/18

Preferred Exhibitor – Includes 3 registrations

$5,995.00

Exhibitor – Includes 2 registrations

$2,995.00

Rate After 2/16/18 $6,295.00

.............................................................................................................................................................

$3,295.00

.............................................................................................................................................................

Exhibitor – additional registration

$895.00

$1,195.00

.............................................................................................................................................................

Vendor Attendee Only – Member

$1,895.00

Vendor Attendee Only – Non-Member

$2,595.00

$2,195.00

.............................................................................................................................................................

$2,895.00

Hotel Reservations www.sportscommissions.org/Symposium/Hotel-Travel Hilton Minneapolis 1001 Marquette Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55403 612.376.1000 Room Rate: $194.00/night Hyatt Regency Minneapolis 1300 Nicollet Mall Minneapolis, Minnesota 55403 612.370.1234 Room Rate: $204.00/night

Airline Discounts

Delta When booking online, enter meeting code NMQYM. United When booking online, enter offer code ZE6K908863.

8

It’s The Little Things: Creating An Inclusive Work Culture In Sports Tourism (Part 2 of 2) Heather Lawrence-Benedict, Ph.D., Associate Dean of Graduate Programs and Associate Professor of Sports Administration, Ohio University College of Business Christina Wright, Lecturer of Sports Administration and Multicultural Faculty-in-Residence, Ohio University College of Business of Business

Creating an inclusive work culture in sports tourism is not just the responsibility of leaders. Featured in the June 2017 issue of the NASC Playbook, Part 1 focused on ideas that leaders could implement to promote an inclusive work environment. Recognizing that “it takes a village,” our goal in Part 2 is to share our favorite ideas on how everyone plays a part in creating a top-notch inclusive workplace culture.

Language Using inclusive language is merely a matter of habit. Forms asking for demographic information of any type should allow all people to categorize themselves or to not answer at all. For example, for gender, options including female, trans, prefer not to answer, and an open-ended response are recommended. The same is true for race/ethnicity and the addition of bi-racial, multi-racial, and open-ended options are now standard demographic identifiers and preferred by many people.

Relationship status can be a tricky point of conversation at the office, but with relatively small staff sizes and the inordinate amount of time we all spend together, sports tourism professionals tend to know each other pretty-well.

Even if you think you know someone’s sexual orientation and relationship status, things can change in this area without it being common knowledge at the office. Therefore, it is still more appropriate to use the term partner that encompasses someone’s spouse, girlfriend, or boyfriend when discussing personal matters. Similarly, on invitations to events – inviting a guest instead of a spouse is preferred.

When colleagues are spending time with new members of their family, the term parental leave in lieu of maternity or paternity leave is more inclusive to all family structures.

Finally, policies associated with preferred names and preferred pronouns are becoming more widely accepted as common practice. This simply allows employees to decide if they would like to be addressed as he, she, or xe as well as to be called by a name other than their legal name.

Swag Who doesn’t like swag?

Create pride and logo up your team. This is an area that sports tourism does exceptionally well. Host a large event and have extra polos? Before you put them in a closet and rediscover they’ve succumbed to moths and dust in five years, give them to team members who may not have gotten one. Want to promote sustainability? Give each employee a coffee mug or refillable water bottle. Swag increases your employee’s swagger of your organization and we all like free stuff.

One quick word of caution, be aware of the little things like ordering apparel in women’s specific styles and cuts as many women in sport have enough men’s polo shirts to outfit an entire event team. Do your best to offer both men’s and women’s cuts, sizes, and even consider a variety of colors when appropriate to appeal to everyone.

After-Hour Events In general, sports tourism executives are a social crowd. It’s not uncommon to hit the golf course or even a bar for some social time as a team. It’s great that people in sports tourism like each other enough to spend their leisure time together too. The presence of alcohol can be difficult for some people and alcohol is an expected part of many professional and social events in sports tourism. Just be cognizant of the fact that there could be someone in your office, or in your midst, that struggles with alcohol, is a recovering alcoholic, has a medical issue resulting in them abstaining, or simply prefers

#SportTourism 9

not to drink. Pressuring someone to drink, “calling them out” for not partying, or even having a lack of non-alcoholic choices can be a very uncomfortable environment for some people. To make everyone feel welcome and part of the crowd at the event, work to make something other than the alcohol the central tenent. Add activities such as billiards, darts, trivia, karaoke, or something that also connects people during those happy hours!

Another consideration is how you schedule after-hour events. Avoid assumptions about your coworker’s avialabilty based on family responsibilities (or a lack of family responsibilities). This also translates into work assignments that fall into the “outside of my job description” category.

Just because your coworker is single doesn’t mean they have more free time than others. Being volun-told to do something rather than having the option to volunteer to help out can be demoralizing when it becomes a regular occurrence.

Other Perks This is a catch-all idea because it depends on available resources. The technology industry is especially known for these perks that positively affect workplace culture: free meals, educational benefits, gym membership or an on-site NASC_Playbook-HP-Sept.pdf

1

8/23/17

gym, general wellness coaching, massages, free laundry services, on-site childcare, travel discounts, and supportive parental leave policies.

In sports tourism, continuous improvement strategies are necessary and critical to the health and longevity of your organization. This is the same for inclusive work environments. It’s always a work in progress. Leaders change, markets change, technology changes. A strong work culture allows organizations to “weather the storm” when change happens. It should be the one consistent thing that defines your organization. No matter your role, you can contribute to an inclusive work environment each day.

The cliché is true – you can make a difference. Dig out (or search your email inbox) the previous NASC Playbook to remind yourself of the inclusion tips for leaders previously provided. Pick a starting point from of of the articles and commit to sticking to it. In no time at all, it will become second-nature and when it becomes a habit of many, you have officially implemented change toward a sustained inclusive work culture.

1:10 PM

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

10

Sponsored by

2018 SLF Beneficiary Announced The National Association of Sports Commissions (NASC) has selected Minneapolis-area non-profit InSports Foundation as the recipient of its Sports Legacy Project award, to be presented at the 2018 Sports Event Symposium, April 23-26 in Minneapolis.

The InSports Foundation offers InSports Days for kids to learn sports skills as well as healthy habits; individual scholarships to pursue athletics; team sponsorships to support athletes with proper equipment, experiences and opportunities, and Summer InSports Days, providing summer physical education camps for students participating in summer school programs.

“The InSports Foundation represents everything the NASC supports to develop the next generation of young athletes,” said Al Kidd, NASC president and CEO. “We could not have chosen a more deserving organization in the Minneapolis area.”

“Being selected for the NASC Sports Legacy Project is a fantastic honor,” said Max Smith, founder of the InSports Foundation. “Our InSports Foundation is extremely excited to continue to help kids get in the game! We can’t wait to partner with NASC to carry out our foundation’s purpose while making a positive impact in the lives of kids in our community.”

Photos Courtesy InSports Foundation

The NASC Sports Legacy Fund awards an annual grant to an organization in need in the host city for each year’s NASC Sports Event Symposium. An emphasis is placed on donations to not-for-profit organizations that provide individuals, particularly at-risk youth, veterans, or physically or intellectually disabled individuals, opportunities to participate in sport and encourage healthy lifestyles. This contribution is part of the legacy the NASC leaves in each host city.

Members can make donations to the Sports Legacy Fund or participate in the silent auction and raffle held at the Symposium. Since 2009, the NASC Sports Legacy Fund has donated more than $90,000 to beneficiaries in the host cites of the NASC Sports Event Symposium.

#SportTourism 11

Photos Courtesy InSports Foundation

Bring it home!

Mobile, Alabama

GO ALL OUT. WE DO.

Historic Mobile, Alabama hits a home run when it comes to places to be!

Whether it be a day out at “The Hank”, catching the Senior Bowl at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, enjoying one of our fine-dining experiences or touring the famous USS Alabama Battleship... the Port City is the place to play year-round!

Play like the pros.

Email or call Janna Clark at: sports@TourEtown.com • 270-765-2175 ElizabethtownSportsPark.com

12

We look forward to hosting the NASC Sports Event Symposium in Minneapolis, Minnesota April 23 - 26, 2018!

Minnesota has the facilities to host Super Bowl size to pint size events – summer or winter – mobility challenged athletes or athletes looking for extreme challenge. Minnesota destinations can help you execute your ultimate game plan. You’re passionate about your sport. We’re passionate about making your sporting event a sensation! Team up with Minnesota Sports!

SportsMinneapolis.org

MinnesotaSports.org