We hope you're staying safe and healthy during this pandemic. It's been a challenging time for the SSIA and our members, as we are certain it has been for everyone!
Now that we've had some time to respond to the crisis and determine the best ways to support our members and industry, we have finally been able to pick up from where we left off with de-briefing from the 2020 SSIA Conference and moving forward again with regularly-scheduled newsletters and messaging on behalf of the association.
In this month's newsletter, we will highlight how our members, sponsors and partners are supporting our industry and pivoting during the COVID-19 pandemic; share the post-conference survey and video; showcase our newest partnership with Wilson Sporting Goods; and announce the winner of the Social Sports Network's Nationwide Egg Decorating Contest. We will also demonstrate how the SSIA is supporting members and the social sports industry through our GoFundMe campaign, Resource Library and weekly calls.
If you have any questions or comments, or would like to be considered for a future Highlight opportunity, please contact Krissy at krissy@ssia.us.
~ Your SSIA Team
An Industry-Wide Response to COVID-19
The notion that we are all greater than the sum of our parts has never rung more true. The SSIA staff and Executive Committee, members, sponsors and partners have banded together to make it through this unprecedented time. As professional sports teams and schools started shutting down, the SSIA quickly shifted its efforts to include:
Hosting 1-3 weekly members-only Zoom conference calls covering topics related to:
Financial relief
Online games and eSports
Refund policies
Marketing social sports post-pandemic
Soliciting the help of our sponsors and partners to answer questions on chargebacks, insurance and PPE
Adding a COVID-19 and Owners-Only channel to our Slack account
Creating a members-only Coronavirus Resource Library with helpful information on:
Financial relief for businesses and individuals
Example email communications for refund policies, keeping players, staff and sponsors informed, etc.
Online activities to share with players
Best practices for working from home
Helpful links on financial planning, assisting staff, business toolkits, etc.
Helping members financially by:
Deferring member dues by 6 months
Organizing the Save Social Sports GoFundMe campaign (see below for more details)
The EC voted to approve a GoFundMe campaign to help further support members by raising funds, while simultaneously raising awareness around the current plight of our industry.
Dedicated emails to our vendors, partners, sponsors and general contact list
Inclusion in upcoming newsletters
Personal emails to friends, family and colleagues
Sharing on personal social media pages
PR campaign
If sharing the campaign makes sense for your organization, please see the below suggestions to help us reach as many eyes and raise as much money as possible.
Share on your business social media
Share on your personal social media
Send dedicated email to players, sponsors, vendors
Send personal email to family, friends and colleagues
Add the campaign link to your website
Share the campaign in your newsletters and / or email signature
Send press releases to local media (Click HERE for an example)
100% of the donations from this campaign will go towards helping our association’s members weather this storm, and in turn, help them support their communities. For every dollar raised, the SSIA will match it through $5000. United Fray has generously offered to match every dollar raised between $5001 - $10,000. Click HERE to view and share the GoFundMe campaign.
You know what they say about what happens when the going gets tough...THE TOUGH GET GOING! At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, one of our founding members, Underdog Sports Leagues that operates in Seattle and Portland, found themselves in the coronavirus epicenter. Instead of turning inward and only focusing on their business during an incredibly trying time, they thoughtfully kept the SSIA and our members updated on the progression of an impending shut-down in their city, openly sharing with us their ever-evolving coronavirus policies, procedures and communications with their players, staff, vendors and sponsors.
Underdog served as our industry's canary in the mine and helped to prepare our members for what was to come in all of their cities soon enough, saving them valuable time in the process. We'd like to say a big THANK YOU to Shawn Madden, Delaney Lafond, Nick Ferate and the rest of the Underdog team!
It has been amazing to see how SSIA clubs have pivoted, moving in-person sports and events to virtual platforms practically overnight.
Virtual trivia and bingo, along with eSports, fitness challenges and online communities have proven to be the most successful new ventures for our members. Click HERE to check out the awesome ways they are engaging their players and local communities during quarantine.
Creating fundraisers for laid off and furloughed staff has been another area of focus for some. Six SSIA member organizations have raised more than $69,000 in donations since mid-March! Click on the images below to learn about the different fundraisers our members are hosting on platforms such as GoFundMe and Rallyup.com.
Chicago Sport & Social Club and Dallas Sport & Social Club
Houston Sports & Social Club
Beach City Sports
Underdog Sports Leagues
United Fray
ZogSports
SSIA sponsors and partners have also shifted their focus to help during this time. From turning their attention to the production of PPE equipment and creating software that more easily supports online gaming, to helping answer member questions about chargebacks and insurance premiums, they have really stepped up to support our members. Not all heroes wear capes!
One of our sponsors, OpenSports, is now working with SSIA members to launch their eSports tournaments and leagues! Their modern app and website, which is already supporting trivia and bingo style events, allows for:
Easy eSports tournament and league set up
Registration
Automatic seeding and advancement of players
Centralized communication
Simple inputting of scores
Very interactive experience
Having an app means gamers don't need a PC running next to them in order to check-in to the tournament, input scores, easily see who they are playing next, view an upcoming opponents’ stats, and see where they are in the tournament bracket. The real knockout feature is the beautiful, modern touch-and-drag view of the different brackets (i.e., quarter finals, semi-finals, finals) which updates live and propagates to all attendees’ devices the moment scores get entered.
Co-founders Alicia and James are setting up live demos with interested groups who want to see the brand new, easy-to-use interface! To set one up, just shoot a message to Alicia at alicia@opensports.net.
In response to the CDC's recommendation to wear cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain and to help slow the spread of the virus, SSIA Sponsor, Ace Apparel & Promotions, and SSIA Partner, Light Brothers, are now offering custom cloth masks.
Light Brothers is offering masks that are 100% cotton, two-ply and reusable. They come in black and can have a 1-color logo added to the front. The delivery time is approximately 4 weeks. Most of their customers are ordering them in lots of 5,000 for $1.25 each.
"These are in high demand," said Russ Kiefer, who co-owns Light Brothers with his father, Harry. "We will need to work fast to be able to get these in a timely manner."
Contact Russ or Harry at 412-886-0300 or lightbrothers@comcast.net.
Check out Ace Apparel's mask options below.
"We are trying to keep our factory employees working and have repurposed our production to make face masks," said Marc Mathios, owner of Ace Apparel & Promotions. "They can be washed and used over and over so they will have longer economic value."
Contact Marc at 718-731-1550 or marc@ace-promo.com.
2020 Conference Recap
It's taken a little while to get back on track with our 2020 Conference de-briefing, but it's finally complete!
First of all, we'd like to say a BIG THANK YOU to our Conference Planning Committee (Brian Irving with Chicago Sport & Social Club, Kristi Herold with the Sport & Social Group, Chris Giebner with Club Sport and Felix Goodson with VAVi / CLUBWAKA) and Conference Staff (Galen Beers, Krissy Greenleaf and Bethany Jahn). We'd also really like to thank the Events Committee for putting on the Team Challenge, along with all of our sponsors, partners, seminar speakers and YOU, our attendees!
It's hard to believe that we were all hanging out in Mexico just two short months ago, but hopefully this 2020 SSIA Conference video that was filmed and edited by Fungi Media puts a smile on your face today. Check it out HERE.
Pictured from left to right, Top Row: Attendees at the General Session; Social Star Awards trophies; Middle Row: Team Black crushing it at Tug-O-War during the Team Challenge; EC member and owner of United Fray, Robert Kinsler, with 2020 Keynote Speaker and author, Cameron Herold; Nikki Hartel with Chicago Sport & Social Club representing Team Yellow in the Giant Jenga portion of the Team Challenge; Bottom Row: Attendees raising a glass at the Social Star Awards show; the ladies of the Social Sports Industry
Thank you to everyone who completed the post-conference survey, and thank you to Brian Irving for summarizing the results into an easy-to-read document for us all! Click HERE to check out the results.
Finally, we pulled the names of the winners from the $500 Customer Service Awards Cash Drawing. Congrats to the following participants!
Stephanie G. from Jax Fray (not pictured)
Megan B.
DC Fray Playing in her basketball league
Rosie E.
Pittsburgh Sports League Posing with her kickball team, Booze On First
Welcome New Partner
Wilson Sporting Goods is pleased to offer to all SSIA member clubs a fully online discounted equipment buying program, with deep discounts on products across all sports categories. Discounts range from 20-50% off depending on product, with custom logo options available and an easy online ordering system with free shipping.
A percentage of each sale is donated back to the SSIA for future programming. Sports covered are Volleyball, Basketball, Football, Softball, Soccer, Tennis, Baseball, Golf and Dodgeball. Wilson is the largest and oldest sports equipment manufacturer in the world, in business for over 100 years.
Join the 40 SSIA members who have already opened an account! Learn more about the program by emailing Blake.Rus@Wilson.com.
Congratulations!
Congratulations to Jess M. from Houston for winning the $100 Visa card from the Social Sports Network's Nationwide Egg Decorating Contest! She has participated with Houston Sports & Social Club since 2016, and enjoys playing in their kickball, dodgeball and softball leagues, along with attending their Field Day, Splash Bash and St. Patrick's Day events.
"This contest definitely brought some fun into our home," Jess said. "The prize money will most likely go towards groceries and snacks. Having my 16 and 14 year old at home all day, everyday, has truly multiplied the amount of groceries and snacks we need to have around. Getting back to playing is one of the things I am most looking forward to joining again once quarantine is over!"
Thank you to the Sponsorship and Marketing Sub-Committees for organizing this contest, and thank you to Sandra Pollard with Houston Sports & Social Club for the idea!
