Inaugural SRM Conference hosted by U of Iowa
The University of Iowa Sport & Recreation Management program hosted the inaugural SRM Conference on campus September 2. Featured speakers included sport business analyst Kristi Dosh, sport marketing executive Wade Martin and Iowa Speedway President Jimmy Small. Following the three presentations, there was a panel discussion with Iowa alumni working in the sport and recreation industries and a networking session with students. It was a very successful event overall!
Our presenters had many years of sport business experience, wisdom and insight to offer, such as:
Wade Martin
Build a career around the people you work with and the culture where you work.
Go to work in sports because you love the business, not to satisfy your fandom.
Look for jobs that will make you uncomfortable in order to grow professionally.
Jimmy Small
Fans travel from 20 states to attend events at the Iowa Speedway – the Speedway is a major part of central Iowa tourism.
2-3 hours of racing is a small percentage of what the Iowa Speedway offers fans. Interactive games, concerts, camping and other events make a day at the Speedway a great return on investment for fans.
The Iowa Speedway is the only track in the country owned by NASCAR and is a “test kitchen” of sorts for the sport.
Don’t be afraid to try out innovative marketing ideas. When a major blizzard was moving through Iowa last winter, Jimmy tweeted that he would shovel anyone’s driveway if they called the office before the end of the business day to renew their season tickets. They ended up receiving many more calls than expected, and Jimmy was out later that night shoveling, which led to national media coverage of the story.
Kristi Dosh
Everyone in sports is on Twitter. Use Twitter to promote yourself professionally. Most of her business and sport connections and work offers have come as a result of her skillful use of Twitter.
There are several sport business Twitter chats that students and other interested followers should look for, such as the sports law chat and the sports biz chat.
There is a great deal of misinformation spread in popular media about the business of college sports, which is Kristi’s area of expertise.
The SRM faculty had an enjoyable visit with Wade, Kristi and Chad Scott, Kristi’s husband, the night before the conference. Plans were made with Wade to include him at my pizza networking dinner in Chicago during next summer’s practicum class with the Blackhawks, and it was a treat to finally meet Kristi in person after having communicated with her on Twitter regarding the business of college sports for the past several years.
All of our guests had positive feedback concerning their experiences and interactions with our students. There’s great potential to grow this conference into a major event on campus in future years.