CONFERENCE REVIEW

Every year in sports tourism, we look to the Sports ETA Symposium to bring the entire industry together and help set the year’s course. Though unable to host their traditional event due to the thing we’re all tired of hearing about, Sports ETA united its forces to lead the virtual way.

SportsBiz XChange emerged in August as the first large scale event since the pandemic to provide business appointments, round table meetings, and education from industry leaders. Though virtual will never fully compare to in-person meetings, Sports ETA took the reins and whipped up the lemonade we all needed.

The Virtual Wins

Having the guts to go first. Big kudos there, but not unexpected from this talented team.

The creation of a visually pleasing platform. It even LOOKED like a conference floor! Longer appointment times. This turned out to be a huge win. While the virtual appointment hustle did not get us the FitBit extra steps bonus, maneuvering between floors does take some time. The spare time not only allowed for expanded conversation but also helped minimize the “back-up” and ensured that being late to one meeting didn’t derail the rest of your appointments.

The mix of appointment and free time connection opportunities. While we know business needs to get done, we were all craving some lunchtime table talk with our much-missed conference friends.

The sure-fire conversation kick starter. For the first time potentially ever, the entire industry has been affected by the same circumstance. Though not something we enjoy talking about, it made for an easy conversation starter. “How are you guys handling everything?” Almost instantly, two people who, 5 seconds ago, did not know one another are suddenly connected by the

common goal of surviving and finding their way.

Sports ETA’s focus on education and industry advancement is no secret, and virtually they are still delivered. Bringing keynote speakers Seth Davis, Andrew Hawkins, and Rohit Bhargava to the stage reminded us that pandemic or not, there is still plenty of great work to be done. Table topic discussions led by industry colleagues allowed attendees to dig in and work together through shared current challenges.

All in all, the SportsBiz XChange delivered on it’s promise to bring the industry back together and help pave the way for moving forward in 2020.

By the Numbers:

Total Meeting Requests: 13,799 Total Meetings: 5,000+

Total Meeting Participants: 393

Time Spent in the Marketplace by Attendees: 265,816 minutes/4,430 hours

Total Views in the Event Owner Locker Room: 1,084