A badge and a ticket!

Houston Astros pitcher Brandon Backe, a native of Galveston, Texas, helped kick off a convention in his hometown by meeting and greeting attendees.

Courtesy Galveston Island Convention Center

---

By Dan Dickson

Say your company sends employees to an annual professional development conference in Anytown, USA. They’ll expect the usual amenities, like an assembly hall, breakout rooms and lounges with meals or snacks. After a day of conferencing, meeting planners may have built some entertainment and networking opportunities into the schedule.

But if your conference planner booked Philadelphia’s Comcast-Spectacor Wachovia Complex, participants will get not only a meeting, but also a pulsating mega sports and entertainment center, home to the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers.

Many groups meeting in Indianapolis take time to visit the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Courtesy Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Across America, meeting planners are linking sports venues, events and athletes to create a buzz for meeting guests. Such events leave lasting impressions with attendees and may even help clinch a business deal.

A meeting of Southwest Airlines employees at the Comcast-Spectacor Wachovia Complex was an example of a corporate gathering with a sports tie-in. Participants got an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour.

“They visited the 76ers’ and Flyers’ locker rooms, saw where players store their equipment, even how the basketball team’s shower heads are seven feet tall to accommodate players’ height,” said Fran Cassidy, vice president of premium seating for Comcast-Spectacor.

A group attending a Flyers game may be shown how the Zamboni is stored and operated, or even get to hitch a ride on it while it resurfaces the ice.

“During an event like a Flyers game, team alumni visit suites. Legends like Bernie Parent, Bob Kelley and Joe Watson, all Stanley Cup winners, sign autographs and have pictures taken with participants,” explained Cassidy.

For a 76ers game, guests may sit at the arena tunnel and see players arrive and depart during warmups. Spectacor may ask 76ers legends like Julius Irving or Charles Barkley to stop by to schmooze with attendees.

“We all know as businesspeople that this is sometimes where business gets done,” Cassidy said. “You have a formal meeting and discuss highlights after. People enjoy that experience for the rest of the evening in a casual environment. It could be a handful in a private luxury suite or a group of 140 to 280 in a party suite.”


Making the most of landmarks
Many groups meeting in Indianapolis arrange a visit to an international landmark — the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home of the Indianapolis 500 — to give conventioneers some high-octane fun.

“It’s a 90-minute guided tour,” said Mary Geiss, Indianapolis Motor Speedway tour coordinator. “We take them for a lap on the track in a bus. When they reach the front straightaway, they get off, walk the track and stand on the yard of bricks.”

Geiss said the group also sees the pagoda where race control, timing and scoring are done, and climbs to the grandstand’s fourth floor for a view of the entire speedway. A trip to gasoline alley and the museum complete the visit.

“Big national and local companies request the grounds tour,” said Geiss. She once had the Blind Merchants Association convention visit. “One hundred twenty-five people came. Many were sightless, so we provided special accommodations.”

Reaction to the speedway grounds tour and museum is usually “five stars.”

“It’s probably the only thing I’ve done in my life that doesn’t get complaints,” said Geiss. “People love it. The price is $25 for adults, but I’ve had people say it’s worth twice or three times that.”

In the summer of 2007, the Amateur Athletic Union Girls Basketball 12 and under Division II National Championship rolled into Bloomington, Minn., a suburb of Minneapolis. It was a collection of top girls AAU programs from around the country. But the girls did a lot more than play basketball.

“In our brainstorming sessions, we wondered how to differentiate our bid from the 50-plus other cities trying to win this because it was such a prestigious tournament,” said Matt Meunier, sports sales manager for the Bloomington Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The Bloomington CVB partnered with the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx, which plays in Minneapolis, a quick 15-mile light-rail ride away.

“The Lynx was on board from the get-go, and [they] were very accommodating,” said Meunier. “The WNBA is a huge sponsor of girls AAU basketball, so it was a perfect match.”

The Lynx hosted opening ceremonies in the Target Center. Although the AAU games were played in Bloomington, it was fun for the girls and their families to go to the big arena to see what life is like for professional basketball teams.

The Lynx arranged with WNBA schedulers to play a home game during the AAU tournament. Deeply discounted tickets were provided for players and their families. Some girls were randomly selected to go on the court during warmups and received official WNBA basketballs from Lynx players as their names were introduced. In postgame, AAU participants were treated to a private question-and-answer session with some players from the Lynx and their opponent, the Phoenix Mercury.

Former professional baseball player Jim Abbott is a popular motivational speaker recruited by meeting planners across the country. Courtesy Jim Abbott

“The pro players were former AAU players themselves,” Meunier said. “The girls got to interact with players they looked up to and aspired to be like one day.”

Would the CVB create a sports connect again? Definitely, Meunier said enthusiastically.
“It was a strong selling point for our business. We’re using that model for other sports and nonsports groups. We want creative ways to include professional sports in what we do to sell Bloomington as a destination.”


Meetings motivation
Ever since coach Knute Rockne delivered an emotional locker room speech in 1928 urging his Notre Dame football players to “win one for the Gipper,” sports motivational speakers have been in demand by event planners. Today, the business is booming because ordinary Joes love to mingle with sports stars who have accomplished feats about which fans can only dream.

“There are two reasons a sports celebrity is brought into an event,” said Lilly Walters, a California sports booking agent and author of five books on motivational speaking. “The first is name draw. Event people need to pull people in; corporate types like breaking bread with a celebrity. The second reason is they want to get something out of it, the message being if that guy can do it, can overcome that, so can I.”

Walters has only one sports motivational speaker/client, but he has an astonishing story to share. Jim Abbott was an All-American pitcher at the University of Michigan, played 10 seasons in the major leagues, won 87 games and threw a no-hitter for the New York Yankees — all without a right hand, which he was born without.

Retired from baseball and living in California, Abbott represents the kind of miraculous sports story that captivates corporate audiences.

“They are brought in to speak because they have overcome the major frailties of the body, mind and spirit,” Walters said.

Enlisting a local sports celebrity was a strategy used by the Galveston Island, Texas, Convention Center. The resort’s best customer, McCoy’s Building Supply, held a buyers show with the theme “A Whole New Ball Game,” a reference to the challenging economy and retail sales environment. Houston Astros pitcher Brandon Backe, a Galveston native, helped open the convention.

“We thought it would be great for our best customer to have a sports theme and a baseball player to sign autographs and mingle at the reception,” said David Townsend, director of conference and convention planning.

Other sports tie-ins included baseball-type centerpieces on tables, and wall hangings and PowerPoint slides with baseball themes. Each participant also received a baseball shirt.

Amateur and professional sports in America are a multibillion-dollar industry that reaches deep into almost every segment of our society. So it seems no surprise that sports has also become an important entertainment, sales and motivational tool for businesses.

Back to Articles