In this month's newsletter, we will provide important reminders about the 2022 SSIA Conference and upcoming knowledge share calls, highlight a sponsor, and share exciting updates about the SSIA website.
If you have any questions or comments, please send them to krissy@ssia.us.
~ The SSIA Team
Conference Reminders
The 2022 SSIA Conference is a little over 7 weeks away! 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!
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!
Book a room at the Hard Rock directly online atwww.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.
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.
A few important items to note:
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.
It's Awards Season!
Everyone's favorite part of the conference is back and it is time to nominate your peers and even your own team for recognition in the 2022 Social Star Awards!
This year the award categories that will be voted upon are:
Best Industry Collaboration - To include multi-club sponsorship programs, purchasing programs, events or other collaborations that may exist. This category is meant for positive and out of the box ways in which multiple SSIA clubs have worked together in collaboration.
Best Video Campaign - In-house (i.e. produced by club employees only that do not have a professional background in video production.)
Best Video Campaign - Professionally produced
Industry Impact Award - Given to the person(s) or organization(s) that has/have contributed the most to the industry in terms of knowledge share in the last year.
Best Marketing Innovation - This category highlights those clubs that are trying and creating some new way to market their club, leagues or events - (i.e. Social Media, experiential marketing, grass roots or other formats)
Philanthropy Award - This category highlights what clubs are doing to give back to their communities is a tangible, community serving and philanthropic way. (The winner of this award will be determined by the EC).
Product/Program Innovation - Given to the organization with the most innovative product, league or event offering.
Legacy Award - For owners and staff that have served the Social Sports Industry for 10+ years (Benchmarks to be recognized every 5 years after Year 10). If you have any employees or owners that are at a milestone year, please submit their names to be recognized.
Partner of the Year - Which SSIA partners have done the most to engage and advance our industry, working closely to deliver value to the membership. (The winner of this award will be determined by the EC).
Click HERE for the details and to submit your nomination. DON'T FORGET: You are welcome to nominate your own club!
The deadline to submit your nomination(s) is midnight EST on January 10th. Membership voting will be held January 24th-31st. Email surveys@ssia.us with questions.
The Champions Awards and Customer Service Awards are BACK this year!
The Customer Service Award is designed to recognize the outstanding customer service achievements of member clubs and the hard work of you and your teams.
We all know the challenges to deliver our services day in and day out in our unique industry. This award program gives an opportunity for your club to improve the quality of your leagues and your club's customer satisfaction while benchmarking yourself against industry-wide data.
How does your club stack up against others and what best practices can we all learn by working together?
This year clubs will be awarded across three categories
Customer Service Award
Platinum Customer Service Award
Best Club Sport Leagues & Best Club Events (Across each tier size)
To participate and be recognized for your club's hard work, follow these easy steps:
Krissy will customize a survey and link for the club (and each of their participating markets) to send out
Clubs will send the survey and a standardized email to all of their 2021 participants (ccing a board email for tracking) between today and Jan 24th
Clubs will report the size of the send and Krissy will track responses and share anonymous data with the Awards Committee for award processing!
After the data comes in and sorted, each club will get a report with their raw data, their NPS score, and their ranking on an anonymous numbered list of other participating clubs.
To ensure consistent data and maximize the value of this award for participating clubs and the industry overall, we continue to have the following rules:
The email must go to all 2021 participants. Cherry picking specific leagues, sports, or events is not allowed.
No "lobbying" of club members is allowed (the standardized email cannot be edited and you cannot tell your members you are "competing" for a prize)
No social media posts requesting submissions can be used
Clubs must reach a minimum response rate by Midnight Jan 24th, based on their club size, to qualify for the "Best Of" or Platinum level awards (Tier 1: 100 for sports responses and 50 for events responses; Tier 2: 135 for sports responses and 75 for events responses; Tier 3: 200 for sports responses and 125 for events responses)
Clubs will be able to resend the survey email (with 2nd subject line) one time and if further responses are needed, can reach out to the awards committee and Krissy for further discussion. Krissy will keep participating clubs informed of their response rate.
The Board, Staff and Awards Committee are extremely excited to extend this member value to all clubs. If you have not participated in this award before, now is the time to jump in and champion the great work you and your team are doing!
SSIA Website Updates
We are excited to announce that the SSIA website has been enhanced!
The Membership Page format has been updated, and now includes markets, sports offered, and links to all member websites and Facebook pages.
Menu items and pages have been rearranged to create better flow when visiting the site.
The Membership menu item was changed to Members, and the Become A Member tab was moved under About, along with the Social Sports Network link.
The Members tab now includes the link to Current Members and the Locker Room link.
The Conference tab was moved from under the previous Membership menu and now is its own menu item with a tab to the current conference and a tab to past Awards winners.
Please visit www.ssia.us to check out the changes. The next project that we will be working on is revamping the Locker Room. Keep an eye out for updates and let us know if you have any comments or questions by emailing krissy@ssia.us. Thanks!
SSIA Sponsor Highlight
Jump into 2022 with Baden Sports! Baden Sports has you covered for all your team sports needs: Basketballs, Soccer Balls, Kickballs, Backyard Games and more! Whatever you’re looking for, we’ve got you covered!
Tuesday, January 4th from 4-5pm EST - As COVID numbers are increasing again and some cities are requiring masks for indoor facility use, we wanted to bring everyone together for an open discussion to see how clubs and players are handling the changes.
Calendar invites were sent out earlier this week. We hope you can make it!
Book a room at the Hard Rock directly online at 
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.
The Champions Awards and Customer Service Awards are BACK this year! 
