When I say there is education in our sports industry, you may think that I'm referring to sports knowledge. And when you have the opportunity to select the sports category when playing a trivia game, that's what we are studying.
Well, that's not quite it!
In 2002 the National Association of Sports Commissions (NASC) developed the CSEE program, which is the Certified Sports Event Executive program. This was developed based on the growing membership of the organization and the need to exchange ideas and explore the issues that are within our industry.
The NASC is the only trade association for the sports tourism industry and includes sports commissions, convention & visitors bureaus (CVB's) and sports event owners. Now, with more than 2,700 members, the need for education is vital to the continued evolvement of the sports industry.
Don Schumacher, NASC executive director says, "There is now a tremendous need for people to acquire the basic skills needed to be successful, because a lot of the organizations that are being attracted to join our association have never been involved with the sports event and travel market. That's a big emphasis today that we did not have to worry about 20 years ago."
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CSEE classes are held twice a year and you need to attend eight of those sessions to graduate from the program. The classes are an extra expense each time and will last around three hours each.
Our staff has participated in CSEE several years and we continue to see the development and value this program brings to the sports industry.
One of the program's key elements is the balance between all that are involved with hosting sporting events and the complex process. Being able to hear and understand the differences between someone who is in sales and marketing and a manager who not only sells but also produces the event, sells tickets and sponsorships, rents the facilities, all that kind of thing.
Education is an important part of any job, to further your knowledge and understanding of your industry. I believe this to be extremely important especially when you are new to the industry and possibly don't have the complete understanding of all parties that are involved.
I remember when I first started here with the Sports Commission and attended my first conference. What a great way to learn how other cities work and I had a much better understanding of our industry and a more complete picture of how things work.
We will be attending the upcoming CSEE session the end of next month in Colorado Springs, at which we will be discussing best practices in the bid process.
