InSiteMarketing

With all the talk about the economy, bail outs, and cut backs in marketing…it was a pleasure to spend some quality time at a sports conference that cost nothing…that’s right ZERO.  I have been to my share of conferences over my 18 years in the industry…and spending anywhere from $700 to $2,000 a conference is starting to add up.

The 2008 Princeton Sports Symposium was held on Friday, December 5th at Princeton University.  Organized mostly by the students and the University, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of attendees and the level of speakers who participated on the seven panels.

The keynote conversation with the father and son duo of Mark Shapiro, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Cleveland Indians, and Ronald Shapiro, Co-Founder and Chairman of Shapiro Negotiations Institute, and moderated by Tom Verducci, Senior Writer at Sports Illustrated was a good start to a full day of breakout sessions on various industry topics ranging from Sports Marketing and Sponsorship to Sports Business 2.0.  Discussions were geared toward students entering the market and the state of the industry given the current economy, but for a majority of the attendees, who were industry professionals, there was some good case studies and solid advice by successful industry players.

Other panelists who participated were Bob Basche of Millsport, Wally Hayward of Relay Worldwide, Dan Mannix of LeadDog Marketing Group, Bill Rasmussen of ESPN, and Barry Hyde of the USGA to name a few.

If nothing else this was a very good networking opportunity with a nice spread for lunch and snacks through out (again no cost).

Overall, I recommend you mark your calendars for next years Princeton Sports Symposium.  They don’t have an official website yet, but for more information about next years event email Anthony Soroka ‘09 at atsoroka@Princeton.EDU