Dear Subscribers,

As Fall leagues start to wind down and preparation for winter begins, we hope that you and your teams continue to celebrate the wins and work through the challenges that our industry continues to face. Know that the SSIA is here to help you along the way!

In this month's newsletter, we will announce important conference announcements and registration deadlines (Early Bird ends November 1st!), remind you to submit your annual member data, share the links to the Pre-Conference Webinar Series with Randy Dean, welcome a new member, and highlight a sponsor and partner. 

If you have questions or comments, or would like to be highlighted in a future newsletter, please contact Krissy at krissy@ssia.us.

~ Your SSIA Team

We are excited to return to our IN-PERSON format for REUNITE 2022, the 12th Annual Sport & Social Industry Association Conference in Los Cabos, Mexico! This all-inclusive experience is the premier opportunity to learn, network & collaborate with those inside your industry. 

This year will again feature specific “learning tracks” for different types of attendees with 60-90 minute seminars geared towards Management, Sales or Operations! Don’t miss out!

 Early Bird Registration for Conference Attendees ends on November 1st! Prices increase from $400 / attendee (for SSIA Members only) to the following if booked after November 1st:

• Tier 1: $500
• Tier 2: $450 (10% discount)
• Tier 3: $400 (20% discount)

Don’t forget that the first attendee is FREE for SSIA Members, Platinum Sponsors and select Partners! (The Conference rate for additional sponsor and partner attendees is $500 / attendee.) 

Visit www.ssia.us/conference to register today!

We are officially sold out of our room block at the Hard Rock Hotel! If you have not booked a room yet, but are still planning to attend the conference, HAVE NO FEAR!

We have several options listed below that will still allow you to attend the 2022 Conference! PLUS, we are still honoring the $200/attendee rebate to those who tried to book a room prior to the October 1st deadline and were unable to do so. We are also still offering the $100/attendee rebate if you book your room on or before November 1st. 

1. Book a room at the Hard Rock directly online at www.hardrockhotels.com/los-cabos or through third party websites such as Expedia or Priceline.
   
   IMPORTANT: Once booked, please forward your booking confirmation to krissy@ssia.us. It should include the number of rooms booked, confirmation number, arrival and departure dates.  
    

2. Stay at the Hard Rock’s sister hotel, Nobu, which is directly next door and only a 4-minute walk between hotels. The nightly rate is $601.66/night and includes all taxes and fees. Although Nobu is not an all-inclusive resort, it is a great option for those looking to bunk up with 3 or 4 to a room.
   
   IMPORTANT: Please keep in mind that if you are staying at Nobu, you will need to purchase three (3) Hard Rock day passes at $125 / day / attendee in order to access the conference, receptions and events. The Hard Rock has agreed to count the Tuesday evening reception and Friday half-day conference seminars and closing as one day. The passes include all meals and beverages while on site at the Hard Rock.
   
   Once booked, please forward your booking confirmation to krissy@ssia.us. It should include the number of rooms booked, confirmation number, and arrival and departure dates. Krissy will then connect you with the Hard Rock directly to reserve and purchase your wristbands, which will be provided to you upon check-in at Nobu. 
   
   Click HERE to book your room(s) at Nobu. Contact Estefania Muriel directly at ecravioto@nobuhotelloscabos.com with questions regarding booking.

• Please click HERE if you would like to be added to the Hotel Waitlist form. 

• If you booked through the room block, but something comes up and you cannot attend the conference, PLEASE DO NOT CANCEL YOUR RESERVATION THROUGH THE HOTEL (if prior to January 24th).

  • Instead, please contact Krissy Greenleaf at krissy@ssia.us or 352-514-3504 so that she can contact those on the waitlist who are hoping to book within the room block. Once there is confirmation that someone is interested in taking your room, Krissy will contact the hotel to provide a name change to the reservation. 

  • Once the name change is complete, the organization taking over the room reservation can reimburse the newly-confirmed organization directly via their preferred cash app or check.

• Understand the history, development, and current market status of Smart Phone and Tablet devices and their interaction with cloud-based applications
• Learn how to customize your own "suite" of productivity-related applications to get much greater usage and capability from your devices, including now better integration with Microsoft 365 and Google Suite
• Set up a “Productivity Home Screen” that allows you to seamlessly launch your most powerful productivity apps and services without the inherent “distraction” that often accompanies these devices
• Learn about useful peripheral devices that will extend the range of capabilities beyond the device itself as well as extending battery life and usage
• Understand the range of applications and possibilities in several "extended productivity" areas, including reference, real estate, finance, travel, shopping, health, and more

• Understand the nature of e-mail & information overload in today's workplace
• Have a strategy for “splitting” work, personal, and junk/spam e-mails for greater efficiency
• Use a very simple “rule” for managing all incoming e-mail that allows for both greater speed and prioritization of those messages and embedded tasks
• Learn how to convert e-mails quickly into tasks, contacts, and calendar items
• Use embedded functions inside of your e-mail that allow you to “automate” certain common activities/messages
• Greatly reduce distraction by setting up special notifiers and adjusting internal settings in both Outlook & Gmail
• Build a personal file “infrastructure” that can assist in achieving greater organization and possibly even “e-mail ZERO”!
• Better manage both sent and received CC's, Forwards, and Replies, to reduce confusion and increase communication capabilities.

The Annual Member Update was due on October 22nd. If you have not submitted yours, please do so ASAP! 

We are excited to relaunch the annual member update initiative, as the collection for 2019 and 2020 data was put on hold due to the pandemic. This information allows us to understand the basics about our members and to build bigger, better, more valuable member benefits in the future. Additionally, this information will allow us to continue the publication of the SSIA Industry Report, which is released every 5 years. Click HERE for the 2010 Report. Click HERE for the 2015 Report.

Keep in mind that the completion of this survey is an SSIA membership requirement. This survey should be completed by owners or managers, as it asks about 2019 and 2020 total stats and focuses on all the leagues, events and tournaments you offered (so be ready with basic reports on players/participants by sport/event for all leagues that ended in 2019 and 2020). It also includes follow-up questions from last year's COVID Industry Impact surveys. Only SSIA staff including Krissy Greenleaf and Galen Beers will have access to individual survey data.

VERY IMPORTANT NOTE - If your business owns/operates multiple clubs and/or separate markets, you will need to complete separate forms for each. For those with many clubs/markets, there is a way to enter this information in a spreadsheet that we can share (email info@ssia.us if you want to learn more about that). 

What will the update be used for?

• Build a better understanding of the SSIA/Social Sports Industry 
• Establish the SSIA as the go-to destination for information, trends and statistics about the Social Sports Industry 
• Create/iterate valuable internal member benefits i.e. industry reports, trends benchmarks and sponsorship opportunities 
• Grow awareness and external member benefits such as industry articles and PR efforts 

1. This is a requirement for all members.
2. Each member needs to fill out one form for each club/market they operate.

With some software knowledge on the team, we started adding tools to our website to help run the leagues. Creating an online management platform in-house was one of the key ingredients in Underdog Sports Leagues’ evolution from a handful of teams to an innovative operation offering eight sports to 30,000 members in both Seattle and Portland. 

In 2009, League Lab was born as a separate company to offer the tools we built for Underdog to other clubs. We still share offices with Underdog, and work alongside a league that runs year-round. We’re proud to be a software shop, but our roots are still firmly planted in the challenges of making games happen and providing a great experience for players.

Never ending experimentation, testing, and constant upgrades are the reason we call it a “lab”… we’re still learning, and we’re getting better every day. 

We know what it takes. Put our experience building sports software to work for your organization.
 

If your league management platform just isn’t cutting it, here are 7 reasons you should switch:

1. Identify how being prepared and having an EAP can minimize poor outcomes
2. Identify components of pre-event meeting
3. Identify key components needed for effective EMS communication
4. Identify common situations that require an EAP

The USCAH is an independent, collaborative partner for athletic organizations, here to minimize risk exposure for participants and liability for their member organizations through online certification, training and coursework. 

Click HERE to view the comprehensive course list or contact Kevin Gorey at kgorey@uscah.com or 401-741-9788 to discuss customizable options. Visit www.uscah.com to learn more. 

SSIA pricing is $10/user (versus $20/user), and the USCAH pays an additional 10% in residuals from this purchasing program to the SSIA.