USPTA EASTERN Fall 2023 Newsletter
USPTA World Conference and Trade Show Celebrating Another Year of Excellence in Our Industry FALL 2023
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Recently I returned from our USPTA World Conference in Orlando at the Rosen Shingle Hotel. I have been attending USPTA World Conferences since 1994 and I have to say, this past one ranks up there as one of my favorites. The seminars covered a variety of topics, featured special guest speakers (Chris Everett to name one), included Pickleball, the largest trade show to date (75 vendors), emotional goodbyes and award winners. This was to be John Embree’s final World Conference as our CEO, retiring at the end of this year. John took over as CEO for the USPTA back in 2012. I attended his welcoming at our World Conference in Monterey, Ca. He stood up at our awards luncheon, put on a 10 Gallon hat, faced an eager and skeptical group, then laid out his vision and immediately, you could see and feel the instant connection he had with everyone. Throughout his tenure, John has always been available and engaging. He has done so much for this association, and he has left it in a better position than when he began. I wish him a happy, healthy, and fun retirement. A couple of important topics, among many, that were discussed at our Executive Committee WEEK meeting OUR wereGOALS where THIS we were in the USTA accreditation process and how to grow and retain USPTA members. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor In July, the USPTA applied for accreditation with the USTA. As I write this, our incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. accreditation is still under review.quis Wenostrud should know by the end of the year. Ut enim ad minim veniam, exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex eadivision commodo Duis aute irureto the executive board what they are currently Each wasconsequat. tasked with presenting dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse doing to retain and grow membership and new ideas to implement moving forward. cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
Divisions spoke about having golf outings for USPTA members, hosting charity events, mentorship programs and welcoming packets for new members. It was helpful to hear what other divisions are doing, what is working and what is not. Some fresh thoughts were shared and the feedback from everyone was positive.
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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE (cont'd)
On May 3rd & 4th, we will be co-hosting our annual Spring Conference with the Middle States division at the Atlantic Club in Manasquan, NJ. The agenda we are currently putting together is sure to continue to raise the bar for all our conferences moving forward.
As I am approaching the end of my term as President, I am proud of the direction we are headed and grateful for all the relationships I have made with everyone over the years. I look forward to seeing everyone in May.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur All the best, adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud Mike Smookler exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex USPTA Eastern President ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
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NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS Joint Divisional Conference May 2024
Save the dates! Save the dates! Save the dates! USPTA Eastern and USPTA Middle States will be hosting a joint Divisional Conference Where: The Atlantic Club in Manasquan, New Jersey When: May 3rd and 4th, 2024 Mark your calendars! More information to follow regarding speakers, agendas, meeting times, Specialty Course and hotels.
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Oh what a week it was. We took Orlando by storm at our September 2023 USPTA World Conference and Trade Show celebrating our members with leadership and mentorship programs, workshops, innoviative ideas and more. Take a look at our conference photos!
Drills, Learning, and More
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2023 WORLD CONFERENCE AND TRADE SHOW Trade Show and Merchandise
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2023 WORLD CONFERENCE AND TRADE SHOW Awards and Recognition
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2023 WORLD CONFERENCE AND TRADE SHOW Q&A with Chris Evert & Celebrity Pro Panel
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NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS Accepting Nominations for Esteemed Recognition
Attention all USPTA members! We are now accepting nominations for esteemed recognition in several categories. If you believe there is an individual who deserves acknowledgment for their exceptional contributions, please take a moment to submit your nomination. To ensure your nomination is considered, kindly use the exclusive link provided below and complete the form no later than December 1st. https://www.cognitoforms.com/uspta1 /_2024usptadivisionawardsnominationform Your participation in this process is greatly appreciated, and we look forward to receiving your valuable nominations. Thank you!
Cheers, Awards Committee Chair Danny Casesa
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JOIN TODAY AND REAP THE BENEFITS Now is an exciting time to be a part of the association! In addition to educational changes, I’ve outlined our goals for 2023 below: 1. Education a. Continue to provide regular monthly webinars b. Return to in-person workshops & conferences 2. Improve Communication a. Create a schedule of regular marketing content b. Conduct Semi-Yearly Virtual Town Halls c. Survey our Membership more often 3.Help Facilitate New National Education Track a. Continue to Liaison between National and Eastern Division b. Provide Communication regarding Educational Changes 4. Create New Partnerships OUR GOALS THIS WEEK a. PTM Programs
b. Early Education Programs Lorem ipsum dolor sit College amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor c. Local Clubs in our Districts
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d. Moreveniam, Diversequis & Inclusive Full Board of Directors Ut Attract enim adaminim nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
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NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS Pickleball Certification Opportunity
Attention! USPTA Eastern Coaches, Directors and Club owners: The popularity of Pickleball is undeniable and so USPTA is providing our membership the opportunity to become a USPTA certified Pickleball Teaching Professional. We are looking for clubs or facilities interested in hosting an official USPTA Pickleball certification.
See the details below Phone: (402) 617-6571 Email: geoffjag66@gmail.com Preferred Day/Time: Sunday 1-5pm Courts needed: 1 court 3-5 students or 2 courts 6 - 8 students. Fee: $229pp Please contact Geoff Jagdfeld to arrange a date to host a certification. Coaches' registration will be through the USPTA National website.
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WEST ORANGE TENNIS CLUB HOSTS SUMMER EVENTS
Sunday, August 20 – Thursday, August 24, the West Orange Tennis Club hosted the 12th Annual “Little Mo” International tournament in West Orange, NJ. Approximately 200 players from over 30 different countries and territories worldwide participated in the tournament. The festivities began with an opening ceremony featuring guest speakers, a clinic for all the players from the WOTC staff, a silent auction, and a parade.
The 5th Annual Jo-Ann Danzis Memorial Tennis Weekend and BBQ at the West Orange Tennis Club was held this year on July 28th. The Jo-Ann Danzis Foundation’s mission is to advance pancreatic cancer research and awareness through charitable giving. This year the event raised over $15K. To donate to the cause, please visit www.danzis.org.
New Jersey’s Annual USPTA Summer Workshop was held this year on August 5th at the West Orange Tennis Club. Featured speakers were Adam Borr from Center Court and Les Smith from West Orange Tennis Club. Coaches also participated in a drill share.
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TENNIS CLUB OF ROCHESTER HOSTS A WEEK OF SUMMER EVENTS The Tennis Club of Rochester played host to different events July 17-23, one being an ATP Event, a $25,000 Mens’ Futures, and a USPTA Instructors Clinic. Hosted by TCR’s Manager, USPTA member Deanna Kernan, an innovative USPTA clinic took place by combining a Jr Excellence class and a Coaches/Instructors Seminar.
Three USPTA members took over the class and ran drills and lessons with the juniors while attending pros and coaches watched.These three were TCR and USPTA pro Jason Stephens, Steve Pekich, Western District President and Jason Joesph, USPTA Education Chair.
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Each presenter gave a different program of Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur equal length, and each attendee was given adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor a presentation folder to take incididunt ut labore et notes. dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
The method is ideal because no specific courts were needed for clinic. It uses existing groups and courts so there is no disruption of classes. The seminar ran from 2-4pm and then all attending moved to TCR’s clay courts to watch the tournament action for the evening.
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INSTRUCTORS’ CLINIC AT SHAKER HIGH SCHOOL
USPTA/Eastern’s Northern District hosted an Instructors’ Clinic at Shaker High School’s excellent facility in the Albany area on Friday, July 14 from 9am to noon. The host was USPTA pro Gerry Cuva, Head Coach of Shaker Men and Women, both of which have made it to Sectional Championships for many years. An innovative method was used by taking an existing summer camp of 35 juniors and turning it into a clinic. Steve Pekich, Northern and Western District President, demonstrated a specific base drill on a central court to the juniors and instructors, who would then split off into four courts and run OUR GOALS THIS WEEK that drill. As that progressed, Steve introduced variations that all individual courts could easily Lorem pick up.ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. back to a central court and demonstrated After aincididunt water break, Steve brought everyone Ut drill. enimThe adprocess minim veniam, quis nostrud another would repeat for three hours. exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure The method is ideal because no specific courts were needed for the clinic. It uses existing dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse groupscillum and dolore courtseu sofugiat therenulla is no disruption of classes. pariatur.
Handouts were available for attendees and instructors.
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NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS USPTA Eastern Town Hall Fall 2023
Virtual Town Hall Wednesday November 15, 2023 1pm-2pm Topic: USPTA Eastern Town Hall Fall 2023 MEET: The Current and Incoming Leadership Team Board Members, Committee Heads, District Presidents. LEARN: About our Division's activities, committees, and ways to get involved. COMMUNICATE: Get your voice heard with opportunities to express your questions and concerns, give us feedback on benefits of membership and any ways we can improve. PARTICIPATE: Send us your questions and comments in advance with your registration or during our live chat Program Agenda * Welcome/Introduction by Millie Didio- Regional VP and Chair Membership Committee * Updated State of the Division and Leadership Team by Mike Smookler- President * EXCOMM and World Conference 23 Report by Paul Fontana- Executive Director * Our new Team Reach App and invitation to join by Geoff Jadgfeld, Past President * Membership Feedback Facilitator/Moderator Mike Smookler * Use the Zoom link below on November 15 to log in to the Virtual Town Hall https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7297685144?pwd=MFd0eVQ0VEo1TnJrMW1MMFh5MlZPdz09 Meeting ID: 729 768 5144 Passcode: tx5NWh
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MEMBER'S CORNER It has been my privilege and honor to Chair the Membership Committee these past four years, a position I happily accepted knowing it is by far the most important committee in our division and our association. This past year our national Executive Committee, of which I am also a part of as Regional or First Vice President of our Division was tasked with a very special assignment. We were asked to prepare a report on how our division is actively seeking to grow membership, engage our members and retain our members. Given my dual role as Chair of Membership I took the lead on this assignment and this past summer organized three monthly membership committee meetings to address each aspect of our assignment with our leadership team. The results of our meetings were included in a written report which we submitted to national and I’m also sharing it with all of our membership in this newsletter and welcome your feedback! Perhaps you will be able to share that at our next Virtual Town Hall meeting that will take place in November or else feel free to contact me. I would like to highlight two very important action items that have come about since our report. Recently
OUR GOALS THIS WEEK
our past President Geoff Jadgfeld launched a USPTA Eastern Team Reach app to help facilitate better and faster communication andsitabout membership including social, educational, and networking Lorem ipsum by dolor amet, our consectetur adipisicing elit, improve sed do membership eiusmod tempor opportunities — and thus engagement. Please be sure to join! It’s totally free! incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud Here is theexercitation info and link: ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in- Group reprehenderit voluptate velit esse USPTA Eastern Inviteinfrom Geoffrey Jadgfeld cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
Geoffrey Jadgfeld wants you to join the group, USPTA Eastern in the TeamReach App. Install TeamReach on iPhone: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/teamreach-team-management/id1101253705?mt=8 Install TeamReach on Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.teamreach.app Enter code: USPTAE FALL 2023
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MEMBER'S CORNER (cont'd)
Our second action item involves an opportunity to grow our membership which was offered to our division thanks to the initiative of 30 plus year member Lee Sutor. Lee offered to host a level 2 three-day certification workshop at his club Southampton Bath and Tennis June 5-7, 2024. I have chosen Lee to be in our Member Spotlight this issue so please be sure to read that and learn more about Lee. We are thankful that Lee will host a certification workshop to help us grow our membership! Our recent membership meetings and follow-up feedback from our leadership team, as well as the reports from other divisions that I was privy to listen to at our most recent ExComm that was held just before the start of our World Conference, provided some dynamic ways our association and our division can grow and engage our membership which will be of great help as we transition with a new board starting in January. I am honored to be serving as the new President and this theme of growing and engaging a diverse membership will certainly be a central theme for our division. Looking forward to hearing more from you and hopefully seeing you virtually at our next town hall or at one of our divisional programs. Sending deep appreciation to our outgoing board and President Mike Smookler OUR and wishing all a safe and healthy rest of 2023 GOALSyou THIS WEEK Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.
Millie Didio Chair Membership, Regional or 1st VP and Incoming President
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MEMBER SPOTLIGHT Lee Sutor My name is Lee Sutor. I am the Director of Tennis of the Southampton Bath and Tennis Club in Southampton, NY, and have served in this position for the last 27 years. I have been a member of the USPTA (Elite Professional) since 1991. I spend my winters in Czech Republic. Previously, I have worked at the Heights Casino in Brooklyn, NY as the Head Pro and Manhattan Plaza Racquet Club as the assistant manager and Director of Tennis. During my time at Manhattan Plaza, I had the good fortune to warm up with the likes of Monica Seles, Conchita Martinez, and Zina Garrison. However, the highlight was teaching on the same court with Billie Jean King. Personally, I have been married for the last 20 years to my wife Martina, and we have two children - Jakub age 19, and Daniella, aged 15.
I played some satellites and Bundesliga in Europe in my teens. At 19, I started to teach and have done so ever since. I passed the PTR, LTA and RPT exams and have been to at least 25 USPTA world conventions. During this year’s convention in Orlando, as normal, I was networking with other eastern pros. I found out about the need to host a Level 2 course in eastern. I was able to arrange this with my manager for June 5-7th 2024. A highlight of my time in Southampton is the charity work we do at the club: 1) Teaching the Shinnecock Indian tribe for free during their camp; 2) Racquet drives to send racquets to Jamaica and the PTR racquet round up; 3) giving away free
lessons in a silent auction to help
charities in Southampton and; 4) lastly, and definitely the hardest for me, a swimathon to raise money for the same Southampton charities. This year I raised $8,500 and $10,000.
My personal goal is for everyone to have fun every lesson and learn something to make their game better. FALL 2023
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ANNOUNCING OUR 2024 - 2025 EXECUTIVE BOARD
Attention! The USPTA Eastern is proud to announce our Executive Board for 2024-25! Congratulations to our new Board members.The entire Eastern membership offers them our complete support! President: Millie Didio 1st Vice President: Heath Hoover Vice President: Brad Breakstone Vice President: Michael Filipek Vice President: Martin Miedzowicz
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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT As Summer turns to Fall, the USPTA Eastern Division continues to move forward into a challenging future. Tennis continues to grow across the country and the Eastern Division has seen a dramatic jump in participation at all levels of play. The USPTA continues to provide support for our members through educational opportunities, an expansion of member benefits and a network of activities to help each member benefit for being a part of our organization. The USPTA Certification Pathway has become more solidified and provides members easy access to membership and upgrades. USPTA National continues to provide opportunities online and in person for our members. USPTA Eastern has selected Somadi Drucker as our Coach Developer. Somadi is committed to hosting certification workshops throughout the division. National is planning a series of workshops for 202324 in our division. Please monitor USPTA.com for those upcoming dates. USPTA Eastern will be holding educational workshops in 2023-24. Any and all workshops will be advertised throughout the year. We look forward to providing educational opportunities for our members. Our 2024 Eastern Conference will be held at the Atlantic Club in New Jersey on May 3 and 4. This will be a joint conference with USPTA Middle States and is expected to be a very dynamic event for all of our members. I OUR GOALS THIS WEEK look forward to seeing you at the conference. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur
Our member benefits elit, continue to eiusmod be a vitaltempor part of being a part of our association. Tennis Warehouse adipisicing sed do continues toincididunt be a strong partner, benefitting many members through discounts for their pro shops and for ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud each individual member. Our upcoming World Conferences will be held in California in 2024 and Hawaii, yes exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex promise to be outstanding events. Our 2023 Conference Hawaii, in 2025. Both of these World Conferences ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure in Orlando was a tremendous success. It was great to see many of our members at the conference. Please dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse mark your calendars for the 2024 and 2025 World Conference. cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. In closing I want to thank John Embree, our outgoing National Executive Director, for doing a truly outstanding job over the past 11 years. John became our ED of the USPTA during a truly tumultuous period. John was able to get our association back on track and put us in a much stronger position under his leadership. Thank you, John, for all you have done for the USPTA and I wish you all the best in your welldeserved retirement. Thank you, my friend, job well done! Paul Fontana Executive Director USPTA Eastern Division FALL 2023
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USPTA EASTERN DIVISION REPORT ExComm World Conference September 24, 2023 Presented by Millie Didio Chair Membership Committee, Current Regional VP, Incoming President
The acquisition, engagement and retention of membership was made a top priority at USPTA Eastern Division for at least the last four years by our immediate past President Jason Speirs and has continued as such under our current leadership with Mike Smookler as President. We just heard from Mike about an action item in development that may also be of interest to National and other divisions. Some examples of action items that have already been implemented by the Membership Committee and our divisional leadership team during this time include: 1. Creation, execution and review of a Membership Survey to identify member needs and extent of satisfaction, as well as to evaluate and assess division leadership. Through this survey we learned that networking education and job opportunities are all priority interests of our membership. 2. Development and implementation of a Virtual Town Hall which was especially helpful due to the Covid pandemic. At the Virtual Town Hall our leadership team was introduced and identified by our Division President, our Executive Director provided members with an update and report on matters at the national level such as ExComm, the World Conference and our division leadership team had an opportunity to promote upcoming events, invite greater membership participation and other recently held events or activities of interest. Further there was an opportunity for members to dialogue with the leadership team to address any questions concerns or other feedback. Our Virtual Town Hall grew into a twice a year event to coincide with our April ExComm and Divisional Conference and our September ExComm and World Conference. With the pandemic coming to a conclusion the division may now consider a combination of a combination live in person and virtual town hall. 3. Creation of a Members Corner permanent column in our Divisional Newsletter designed to identify and promote members unique contributions to their local community. More recently we are now looking to develop and revive an additional permanent column for Local Job Opportunities that our USPTA members want to post as a benefit to giving other USPTA members a heads up on some local job opportunities. 4. We asked our Executive Director to identify and personally contact members in suspension status for either insufficient education credits or nonpayment. This was implemented by letter and followup email or phone communication and aided in retention of members. 5. We have also held numerous education workshops free of charge to members and attended a college coaches workshop to promote membership at USPTA. FALL 2023
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USPTA EASTERN DIVISION REPORT
ExComm World Conference September 24, 2023 (Cont’d)
Further action our Membership Committee has taken as a result of our workshop at this past April’s ExComm and subsequent request to prepare a report for this ExComm has been holding three separate Membership Committee Meetings this past June, July and August to separately focus on each of the three areas for making our organization viable. In June our focus was on identifying and developing ways to acquire and grow our membership base. In July our focus was on how to better engage our existing membership and in August our focus was on retaining our membership base. I would like to highlight our general findings in this presentation and then if time allows I am happy to share the summary of each of our three meets held this summer. In a nutshell, the feedback we received at our meetings held this summer emphasize the overall need for there to be better communication at a number of levels. Within the division we will be exploring using a singular communication app such as Teams whereby we can instantly inform our members of upcoming meetings, educational and networking events. We also need to make better use of communication tools of social media like Instagram Facebook etc to promote our activities and our members. For those unable to personally attend an event we want to be able to record it for later viewing and also create shorter clips for social media platforms which our leadership believes will attract a younger member base. Our members also identified the need to incentivize members for joining or participating. Perhaps with the help of national our sponsoring partners can donate promotional items which can be offered to attendees of events or for new members who join. We discussed for national’s consideration the development by national of member tiers for all levels of people who participate or support our industry like high school or college kids/summer seasonal instructors, PE teachers, team coaches, parks and recs instructors, separate pickelball and padel memberships, organizational/club membership. Also another way of addressing member tiers for additional revenue to meet various budgets may be to offer scaling of dues based on years of membership or reducing or subsidizing conference fees for newer members to get them more engaged. And now I am happy to share the summary minutes from of our three membership meetings held this summer.
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USPTA EASTERN DIVISION REPORT
ExComm World Conference September 24, 2023 (Cont’d)
Report on Three USPTA Eastern Membership Committee Meetings to address ExComm request to report on How each division proposes to Grow Engage and Retain Membership USPTA Membership Meeting 6/27/23 Report to National On Division Action Plan to Grow Engage and Retain Membership Meeting Focus today on Growing and Acquiring New Members Target Audiences 1. College Coaches 2. College Players 3. High School coaches 4. High School players 5. Parents and Parks and Rec Instructors Action items For college reach out to ITA and Conferences to gets broad message out. Dave S will reach out to ITA College Coaches workshop tied in during Friday of qualifies weeks in August at new place at Columbia High School drills and workshops with social in February for boys coach and August for girls coach Broad message for High School Through sectional leaders Parks and Rec and parents instructional workshops Also consider special memberships targeted for summer for kids from college and maybe add a parent coach Engagement briefly touched on this but need to identify what coaches want will help create effective member drive Also spoke about heavy social media campaign happening with USTA and PTR
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USPTA EASTERN DIVISION REPORT
ExComm World Conference September 24, 2023 (Cont’d)
Next Membership Committee Meeting 7/27 Meeting Focus will be on Engaging Members USPTA Membership Meeting 7/27/23 Began meeting with brief review of last meeting. Then shifted focus to second part of action item how to better engage our members. Consensus was to focus on better communication MCD: more social events at local level Geoff: point of contact and mentor needed with each new member Discussion on need to provide access to all board members to our social media platforms Research best single multi platform communication tool that can quickly communicate events and happenings with district and or division one tool discussed that Geoff uses is called Team Reach we all agreed that whatever tool is decided it should be the same for all districts and the division Summary Focus on ways to engage membership 1. Create incentives 2. Need someone to help pull across applicant members eg mentor who is assigned while applicant is in the pipeline 3. Division assigns a local mentor to new members in addition to whatever National offers … discussed possibility of Paul request monthly list of new members and sends to leadership team who disseminate and assign either to DP for them to further assign or to those who may have personal knowledge of new member 4. One participant pointed out that survey from members says they want education and networking opportunities. 5. All agreed we need better ways to communicate and key is communication. Discussed possibility of developing our own communication platform at divisional level and maybe additional ones at district level but key is to use the same platform whatever is decided. One example platform to consider is Team Reach each DP invites potential members and can connect resources to find other pros etc can also cross platform to other districts when applicable. Team Reach is a free app and applies to any sport.
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USPTA EASTERN DIVISION REPORT
ExComm World Conference September 24, 2023 (Cont’d)
Next Membership Committee Meeting 7/27 Meeting Focus will be on Engaging Members USPTA Membership Meeting 7/27/23 6. Another communication idea discussed was to task each DP with Facebook and social media posts. Some suggested opening access to FB to others or give each DP admin access and same for all Board Members but need someone to monitor and to create a set of guidelines for posting. 7. Another participant said we need a way to share and record our events maybe promote this as member benefit. 8. Another idea is to offer giveaways. For example join Team Reach and get a free T-shirt. And try to get National to support this idea financially. 9. Need to better promote and highlight the Retain and Earn benefit and any others. 10. Discussed how string Ping can be an effective tool for reaching by text since team reach is by email USPTA Membership Meeting 8/17/23 Focus on ways to retain members 1. It’s a different environment. We should consider providing material incentives. (From Bob) 2. Use media influencer (eg Gary) to engage members You Tube Channel eg for USPTA Eastern and make education information available 3. Referring back to increasing communication opportunities spoke about giving access to all board members on new Facebook page but also appoint administrator. Another point discussed is think You Tube channel will also attract and retain younger members. 4. There was discussion that membership growth and retention is not just a USPTA issue it’s a PTR Zane industry one. 5. Discussion conclusion for retention should be how do we address the change in culture which likes shorter quicker visual messages and lives on You Tube and influencers and likes instant gratitude. Again spoke about the need for a new platform (using these platforms and need to create a new message and need to decide what new message will be. 6. Another platform possibility in addition to YouTube Channel discussed is podcast. 7. Geoff spoke about his You Tube channel and his analytics most of his viewers are in their 50s. 8. Mentioned younger people like shorter and faster messages like Instagram and Tick Tock (though later said Tick Tock now also adding longer ones). 9. So as an idea can take an education session and break it into smaller units of 1 1/2 minutes.
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USPTA EASTERN DIVISION REPORT
ExComm World Conference September 24, 2023 (Cont’d)
10. Also idea is feature younger people who like to see themselves! 11. Can also make an effort to include younger people in conferences and workshops all can help retain membership 12. Reminder that whatever social media using need a leader and administrator and it’s important to have consistency and content. 13. Need better marketing while Gary is available as social media influenced and is paid by National to post he posts to his own personal account and we need an influencer to post from our USPTA Eastern account to more directly benefit 14. We don’t have any analytics how if any Gary is driving business to USPTA. Geoff said he will talk with Gary. 15. To help retain younger members and members was also discussed older members try to bring younger members to meetings 16. Goal to make things easy for our members to access benefits events education etc 17. Can look into social media influencers will need a platform and person to run so cost for person and equipment if go this way. 18. Three keys Key to retain members! 1. communication 2. ease of use 3 consistency of content 19. How to accomplish? Need more next gen people involved at levels including leadership. Consider membership survey 20. Consensus feel getting beat by PTR who is also getting support of USTA 21. Also need analytics of social media to ensure hitting targets and goals and person to administer. Use of mail chimp 22. Discussed general sales and retention ideas possibility of a trial membership or prorated dues maybe reduce initial dues be sure to promote on USPTA Wen site ‘subscribe and save’ 23. Also other general points on growing membership: target public park pros maybe separate dues amount. Also helping pending members cross the finish line from division level. Incentivize offer first conference free if become a member. From National level maybe offer organizational membership which includes discount to its employees on their membership sell club membership to owners also target high school directors and guidance counselors to get more members. 24. Offer instructor certification for high school kids looking for summer job or career.
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