Excutive Director Report
February 18, 2008
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I don’t know if you have noted it yet or not, but 2008 is Leap Year. We have a Feb. 29
this year, so we have more time to spend in the workplace devoted to efforts for the
water sports community.
1. An interesting observation was made as I arrived late last year. It was that within our
sponsorship efforts some feel that we have not graphically demonstrated return on
investment by demonstrating a direct increase in the bottom line of our sponsor
partners. While you may think this is a criticism of our marketing group, it is actually a
commonly held opinion throughout the sporting world (i.e., I have heard the same while
I was with USA Triathlon and USA Tae Kwon Do, and the folks at the USOC hear it as
well). Trends change. Where it once was enough to hang banners, place ads on
television, and generally provide logo presence, now it is important to create and
implement programs to actually drive buyers to showrooms and/or use other
mechanisms that sell product. From a sponsor’s perspective, these programs
demonstrate pretty graphically that a sport is vibrant, and the sponsor’s presence in our
marketplace will be profitable.
So, the reasonable question is how are we changing our approaches with our sponsor
partners? Here are some examples:
• USA Water Ski offers sponsors and their retailers the opportunity for local and
regional E-Blasts to our members for special promotions. These e-mail blasts to
USA Water Ski members might promote a major tournament that the sponsor is
involved with, a boat show or special sales event for one of the sponsor’s dealer,
or a boat owner’s reunion helping to promote our members' participation in these
events and increase sales. This year we are doing more frequent e-mail blasts to
our entire membership that promote new product releases, special promotions
and significant news from USA Water Ski sponsoring companies.
• All USA Water Ski members receive four pages of sponsor coupons that afford
special discounts to our members for these sponsors’ products. These coupons
can be redeemed at the sponsors’ retail locations, thus helping to drive our
members into these businesses. Some of these coupons have codes for online
purchases as well. These incentives for our members to make purchases with
these sponsors are trackable methods that the sponsors can measure as a direct
result of their alliance with USA Water Ski. These coupons also have the added
benefit of being a privileged discount by virtue of belonging to USA Water Ski so
they double as a membership retention benefit. New for 2008, these coupons are
available online at www.USAWATERSki.org in the “Members Only” section,
making them more available to our members and increasing the business they
generate for USA Water Ski sponsors.
• At several of USA Water Ski’s major events and national championships, USA
Water Ski works with sponsors to provide exclusive privileges to the sponsors'
customers through special hospitality areas. This allows the sponsors to interact
with their regional customer base to allow for the one-on-one interaction that is
key to endearing customers for continued loyalty.
Several new special events of this nature are already being planned for USA
Water Ski’s major events that will be exciting enhancements for both our
members and sponsors.
• In 2007, USA Water Ski sanctioned 1,004 tournaments and events of which 269
were grassroots or basic skills clinics. This was an increase in 72 event sanctions
over 2006. These grassroots and basic skills clinics are bringing new skiers and
riders into the sport, and enthusiasts that train for tournaments are inclined to
participate more frequently and purchase equipment more often. The
infrastructure that exists for these programs provides great opportunities for
skiers and riders to increase their commitment to towed water sports, helping to
perpetuate their participation for many years. Aggressive efforts are underway to
increase the number of these opportunities to help grow the number of future
enthusiasts.
• Our efforts with advocacy for waterways access will assist sales as we help more
venues remain open or be created for water sports enthusiasts. We will strongly
publicize that effort. The more venues, the more outdoor participants there will
be, and the more product that will be purchased.
• And, most importantly, we are asking our sponsors how we can best assist.
Sponsors know their businesses best, and working collaboratively with them will
surely bring creative approaches for us to help execute and demonstrate the
vibrancy of our sports.
2. Miscellaneous Items of interest. A week ago, Tiffany Mills of the Membership
Department had minor surgery in an outpatient clinic. Unfortunately, during the
procedure, an artery was nicked and caused internal bleeding. Tiffany was quickly
diagnosed with the problem and was taken into a second surgery to resolve the
internal bleeding issue. The second surgery was successful, however, Tiffany landed
in intensive care for a day and later in regular hospital care. She returned home
Tuesday evening, and we are told she will be back to work in around two weeks.
In the same light, Mel Hanson suffered a set back last week after having the flu,
fainting at home, landing on tile in a face plant, cracking several teeth, getting them
repaired, and showing up for work later that week. Quite a week for Mel!
There will not be an executive director’s report next week, as I will be traveling to Utah
this Sunday for the Water Sports Industry Association (WSIA) Summit. Steve Upp,
USA Water Ski’s business development director, as well as Dave Clark and Leon
Larson, also will be making the trip to the Summit. I am looking forward to meeting
with the many members of our industry. Later in the week I will move onto Wisconsin
and Think Tank. Sherm Schraft along with Mike Hanson, Traci Baylon and Mel
Hanson also will be in Wisconsin, along with a sundry collection of skiers from the
frigid North.
Think Tank will be my first experience in meeting a large group of USA Water Ski
members, so I am excited about the trip to Wisconsin Dells.
Have a good weekend
Steve Locke
Executive Director
USA Water Ski
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