experience. community. perspective.
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CONFERENCE REVIEW US Sports Cong ress
w w w. u s s p o r t s c o n g r e s s. c o m
Conference US Sports Cong ress Dates Dec. 8-11, 2019 Host Destination Columbia, SC Re v i e w e r C a s e y Ta ke r I RO N M A N G r o u p I’ll fully admit that heading into US Sports Congress for the f i r s t t i m e t h i s ye a r, I c e r t a i n ly had my questions. The idea of a sports tourism conference without the built-in guarantee of scheduled appointments was d i f f e r e n t . I w a s n’ t s u r e w h a t t o expect, nor the potential impact I could make for my comp a n y. T h o u g h h e s i t a n t , I k n e w
t h i s c o n f e r e n c e h a d ov e r a d e c a d e o f e x p e r i e n c e, s o l o o k o u t C o l u m b i a , I w a s c o m i n g. Arriving around noon on S u n d a y, I h e a d e d s t r a i g h t t o Colonial Life Arena. Columbia S p o r t s h a d i nv i t e d r i g h t s h o l d ers to join them at the USC basketball game against the Houston Cougars. The Col u m b i a S p o r t s t e a m p r ov e d a g reat host as they made their r o u n d s e n s u r i n g e v e r yo n e i n t h e s u i t e k n e w o n e a n o t h e r. O f f to a good start. In my book, there are a few things that can make or break a c o n f e r e n c e, a n d f o o d i s definitely one of them. Lou Mengsol, President, US Sports Cong ress, spared us the typi-
c a l c o nv e n t i o n g r a y m e a t a n d m y s t e r y s a u c e. I ’ m p r e t t y s u r e I left Columbia with a bit of e x t r a b a g g a g e. N o t o n l y d i d they ensure we were treated to delicious local chef creations throughout the weekend, sponsors stepped up and had their l o c a l f av o r i t e s s h i p p e d i n . B u f f a l o ’s w i n g s a u c e, s p i k e d c i d e r from Richmond and a little bourbon cream from Lexingt o n . I a m n o f o o d i e, b u t g o o d food is good food, and this team knocked it out of the park. Wa k i n g u p M o n d a y, I r e a l i z e d h o w e x c i t e d I w a s t o N OT worry about appointments. I looked at the event schedule in a new light. I had an option to completely customize exact-
