Washington DC-What happens when you put the brightest minds in sports event experience in one room? That’s what BizBash set out to uncover at the inaugural BizBash Sports Summit. The event, held in Washington, DC from November 27th to 29th, brought together 77 sporting event professionals and suppliers from across the country for two and a half days of networking opportunities, education, intimate dinners, and interactive work. There were shops etc.
Attendees represented some of the biggest teams, leagues and brands in sports today, including the NBA, Barstool Sports, ESPN, NFL, NCAA, Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Celtics.
“The whole point of the event was to provide an unconventional way to network,” said Michela Giovannnotto, director of brand experience at BizBash. “Instead of having participants sit through long educational sessions, we tried to make everything really interactive and collaborative.”
The summit began with “Day 1,” which took attendees to Nationals Park, home of the Washington Nationals, for an education and networking reception in one of the ballpark’s clubhouses. In the first session, speaker Taylor Buonocore Guthrie asked participants questions to answer in small groups. “What was your biggest mistake this year?”
“This really broke down barriers from the beginning and made people feel comfortable with each other,” Giovannnotto said.
At Nationals Park, attendees can write down advice on which tickets to save until the end of the conference, hit balls in the batting cage, visit with the Nationals mascot, and enjoy the immersive Enchanted Christmas We ended the night with a tour. Winter Wonderland is currently underway in the field.
The next day, the group headed to Baltimore for a special tour of Under Armor headquarters, where they also participated in team building and heard from Kelly Jones, Under Armor’s senior advisor. Since it was his Giving Tuesday, the group also enjoyed his CSR plant making workshop. The completed plants were donated to local Donald McDonald House.
The final interactive dinner was held at the host hotel in Washington, D.C., and the summit concluded the next morning with a keynote address by Frank Spowitz, who has worked behind the scenes at major sporting events such as the Super Bowl, Stanley Cup, and Indy 500. . He was also in charge during Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans in 2013 when the stadium lights went out. He recounts this and other trials in his book. What to do when things don’t go well.
Giovannott said attendees stopped sharing their contact information and did not return to stay in touch long after the keynote ended.
“We couldn’t be more excited about the direction of BizBash Sports Summit after its launch in Washington, D.C.,” said Patrick Higgins, Senior Vice President, BizBash Sports. Experiences for executive-level experience creators in professional sports and brand marketing. This year, we designed a unique mix of off-site experiences, networking opportunities, best practice sharing, and professional development, and our numbers show that 100% of participants intend to attend again next year. tells the story. ”
Do you have any more fun statistics? Higgins said that while in Washington, D.C., participants were asked to estimate how many fans, athletes and consumers their event personally impacts each year. “The average BizBash Sports Summit attendance in 2023 is impacting over 126 million people per year, and combined with summit attendees, he is impacting over 9.7 billion people. ” Higgins said.
Megan Miller, event manager for Fenway Sports Management, said this was “by far the best industry conference I’ve been to.”
She added, “As event experts, we are tough critics and no detail was overlooked. The program was thoughtful and engaging. The opportunity to build deep connections was unparalleled. “This is a conference that everyone can participate in.” I would like to add it to my yearly calendar. I’m looking forward to 2024!”
Interested in the 2024 BizBash Sports Summit program? Learn more. Keep scrolling to learn more about the inaugural BizBash Sports Summit…
A special thank you to our sponsors: AE&ES, The Decor Group; wolfgang puck catering, EIS group, interactive entertainment group, capture vision, pitch 5 production, Big Head Office Co., Ltd. custom seven, Nationals Ballpark Enterprises; lime media, show pro, spokane sports, tent craft, brand activation service, pinpoint promotion, Pixis drone, Czarnovsky Go West Creative and Spot my photo.