connecting people,opportunities and ideas

Today, we have a guest post from Mathew Gunderson of Brown Bear Events

In this day and age, it is no longer acceptable to ignore the impact of special events on the environment.  From parties, meetings and weddings to sporting events, festivals and concerts, there are numerous events generating waste and creating huge impacts on the environment.  According to the Green Meeting Industry Council, a typical 5-day conference for 2,500 attendees will use 90,000 cans or bottles, 75,000 cups and 87,500 napkins, most of which ends up in landfill.  The 2007 US Green Building Council’s Greenbuild Conference generated 44 tons of waste.  That’s just one event!  During 2001, the US alone held approximately 11,800 major conventions attended by 12.5 million delegates.  When you do the math, it doesn’t take long to see (more…)

The economic landscape is altering the sponsorship industry and no one is immune.

With new deals and renewals taking longer to close and with fewer prospects left standing in key sponsor categories including banks and media, last year’s strategies are not sufficient for selling in these highly turbulent times.

To give rightsholders and agencies the economy-defying approaches they need to jumpstart efforts and sell more to buyers with less, IEG is taking its flagship training seminar to the entire industry immediately. (more…)

Warning – This message is political.  If you are not interested in politics,or my perspective on politics, do not read further.

Someone forwarded my an e-mail from someone at B of A.  I am a customer of B of A.  I am hopeful that the following words reflect the opinion of one person and not that of his employer.  I would think that he would use better judgment than to send it out from his work e-mail.  Lastly, I am hopeful that he intended it as humor, but I don’t think he or Rush Limbaugh would agree it was anything other than their real perspective.  Here it is.  My rebuttal to the sender is below it.  The person who sent it from this person to me will remain nameless because he may have thought I would agree or find humor.  Neither of which is true.

The sender/author of this document is:  peter.kakkavas@bankofamerica.com

I recently read a post by David Rachel of Pinpoint Sponsorship and wanted to share with my readers.  David is an industry veteran and provides great prospective and keen insights on sponsorship.

Read his post here

As always, I welcome your feedback!

Whenever I am stymied about my daily blog update, I always am able to find inspiration and keen insight from Jason Peck. He is a social media guru and stays on top of sponsorship and social media. Recently, he wrote about a sponsorship software fulfillment program that helps sponsors sell and renew sponsorships. It helps brands and agencies justify their spends.

Check out his post here.

As always, I welcome your feedback.

I attended the Croc’s AVP Volleyball Tour event in Riverside, CA on Saturday and wanted to share a couple of quick takes:

• Before going, I went to their website and found a really cool video series they are producing with Holly McPeak, called Transitions. It is the story of 8, hand-picked, woman’s indoor players who are trying to make it on the AVP Tour.  I could imagine it  as an American Idol style series, with eliminations each week and the prize is the chance to play in a tourney with Holly for the winner.  The sponsorship potential of this is great as it has all the right elements and could integrate some interactive elements and new advertisers.

• Paul Mitchell Hair Care Products had a new activation which looked great.  They work with local salons to provide on-site haircuts and beauty demonstrations and donate all proceeds to the Boy and Girls Clubs.
• Croc’s had some new footwear products, which were a bit hit and totally different from the ones they have always been identified.
• The downtown venue really showcased what a neat city Riverside is and that what the purpose of the presenting sponsorship of their Convention and Visitors Bureau.
• I talked and toured the venue with one sponsor, Bud Luppino of Bud’s Tire and Wheel.  Keep your eye on this category.  Bud said, he has broken sales records for the past 5 months.  Think about it, with the downturn in the economy, people are not buying news cars, so they need to maintain their existing ones.  This will be a hot category to watch/pitch.

My friend and co-manager of Sponsorship Insights Group on LinkedIn, Greg Parsons, has recently started a blog.  For those of you involved in commercial real estate, trying to squeeze every last dollar from your properties, this will be a must-read in coming months.

Here is the blog link.

Good stuff Greg!  As always we wlcome your feedback.

I recently attended a gathering of some very bright and talented people and want to share a few nuggets with you.  It was an invitation-only event and many people made great sacrifices and travel significant distances to attend.  I was honored to be invited and appreciated the opportunity.  Thanks to all who were there and for your valuable participation.  I’ll do a list today and will expand on each in the upcoming weeks.  As always, I welcome your feedback. (more…)

It  takes big news for me to blog twice in a day, but here it is – We are already excited about some sponsorship renewals with Bud Light, NBC, the expansion of the Barefoot Wines sponsorship of qualifying events, a further development their brilliant youth initiatives kicking off this year and the news of additional tour stops at creative venues.

Now the news is out that their has been a management shakeup as well.  Jason Hodell takes over as CEO and Paul Tedeschi as CMO.

Before being named Chief Marketing Officer, Paul led Mr. Youth, a firm with expertise in word-of-mouth, social interactive and experiential marketing.

As a sponsorship professional and chronicler of the sports and sponsorship marketplace, I am confident these changes can only mean more excitement for the fans and will help the AVP get back to profitability.

My sense is that with some big names out this year (Kerry Walsh and Misty May), they will do what most smart brands are doing – focusing on the consumer and bringing more value.  Beach volleyball has all the great elements that marketers are trying to capture and the AVP leads the way.  They provide a great time out at the beach to watch some some amazing athleticism and enable quality brand interactions.

Thoughts?

“We are what we repeatedly do, excellence, therefore is not an act, but a habit.”  Aristotle.

This quote reminds me of someone who practiced excellence in everything.  In honor of his enshrinement into the Naismith Hall of Fame, an article on Michael Jordan by Sam Smith.

Here is the final paragraph of a great article and trip down memory lane…a commitment to a project and an ideal, a determination to get the job done and work hard. It’s one reason why despite being sporting royalty, Jordan also endeared himself to Chicago. He wasn’t blue collar. He was basketball blue blood. But the philosophy was the same. Work hard and don’t cut corners and earn your pay and leave it all on the job. Jordan did every day he was on the basketball court.

I have many, many fond memories and great stories of (more…)