Excutive Director Report
June 30, 2008

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Do you ever get the feeling that you have been missing the boat for an important opportunity? I have, and I really have as of late as we racked our brains trying to determine how to reach the millions of recreational skiers within the United States, particularly those who are young. Sometimes the answers are right in front of you and you just don't see them.

Enter a new generation of technology savvy youngsters. We have several within USA Water Ski headquarters. They include interns Torrey Richardson (University of Michigan) and Craig Widenski (University of Dayton); Competition Department members Brian Widenski and Brandon Wolf; and the Communications Department's Marissa Foglia. They are a brain trust, and all are particularly knowledgeable about social networks.

It is probably fair to say that some of us beyond 40 generally do not have an understanding of social networks and the implications they have. Two network examples are Facebook and MySpace. They are huge with immense opportunities for our organization.

Here is a brief overview of Facebook and its potential as it relates to USA Water Ski, provided by Craig Widenski and Torrey Richardson.

Facebook is a worldwide social networking tool designed to keep people in touch, as well as to aid in the introduction of new people. It connects nearly 4 million users by interests, hobbies, schools, and much more. USA Water Ski is taking advantage of the broad audience it reaches by creating its own profile, as well as a fan page. Although it will not require a great amount of maintenance, it will be a great tool to help get USA Water Ski “in the know” with the millions of Facebook members throughout the world. Due to the nature of the sport, there is a lot of segregation amongst each discipline, so this new fan site will be able to bring them all together to share information and stories.

As a FREE networking tool, the possibilities are endless. First of all, members of the fan page will be able to find new friends within the water sports world. For instance, as the 2008 GOODE Water Ski National Championships approaches, members of our site will be able to click on a link to see who will be attending the event. They can then go ahead and become friends with attendees with the hope that they will begin communication before the event rolls around.


Secondly, Facebook makes it easy for USA Water Ski to find new members through its advanced search option. When searching for new members, we can specify things such as gender, age, location and interests. Facebook will then pull up every person who fits that particular profile. After a search for 14- to 24-year-olds with an interest in water skiing, we were able to find 44,000 people!

The fan page will continually be updated with each week’s Executive Director's Report, as well as a selfupdating blog and a photo section. Big events, such as national championships, will also be displayed on the fan site to provide additional event promotion. Social networking sites function in a chain-reaction manner. To increase traffic, as we have just introduced the page to Facebook, we intend to host a photo contest with prizes from sponsors such as ropes, handles, and/or USA Water Ski apparel.

It is as simple as a few mouse clicks to become a fan of USA Water Ski on Facebook. First, you need to set up a Facebook account at www.facebook.com, and then you search for USA Water Ski fan page and click ‘become a fan.’

The Facebook fan page is up and running, and we are excited to announce a MySpace page will soon follow, providing members of MySpace an opportunity to become fans as well.

I saw the following on a ski site message board last week. It is an interesting speculation.
“As an ex-skier, ex-USAWS member, ex-collegiate skier back in the day, ex-private ski lake member who still time to time keeps up with the water ski folks, just to see what's up - it is my opinion that this sport is taking serious blows every year. Membership is dwindling and participation at tournaments is very low. In 10 to 15 years, this sport will be a novelty sport, done only by the rich. That is practically what it is now. And I really do hope I'm wrong about that. But the writing is on the wall. Sponsorships are only coming from boat dealerships, not corporations and there is no money coming from sources outside of the sport, which is critical to growth. I guess we'll see.”

Yogi Berra once said, "It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future." One of the principals I have learned about sport over the years is that all sports are constantly evolving. Will water skiing ever be like it was in the 1970s and ‘80s? Nope. Basketball is different today than it was in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Nothing is forever; nothing stays the same. We change with the times to accommodate the marketplace.

Rules change, equipment changes, technology changes. Water skiing and its disciplines will not die on the vine, but I suspect we will end up developing new disciplines as time goes by. Actually, today is an exciting time. A time to be creative and continue the fun of water sports in many ways. In times when things are flush, we seem to become complacent. Now is the time to be creative, and we certainly seem to have a creative mentality generally throughout the sport.

Speaking of message boards, forums and Web sites; I think we have a ton of good and often highly entertaining sites within this set of sports, including http://creakyrowboat.blogspot.com/. I don't know who Mr. Creaky Rowboat is (presuming he is a male), but I think he is clever, a bit profane and highly entertaining as he dialogues with himself throughout his site. CRB (Creaky Rowboat) speaks editorially in ITC (Improvised Tongue in Cheek) terms sometimes using this report to praise USA Water Ski and other times to take our notions to task. I think he does it WBMS (Without Being Mean Spirited). Good on him. I love reading it and encourage you to visit the site.

One further note generally regarding message boards – often they will run with partial information and leave a wrong impression as to what is actually happening. Sort of like my aunt has a moustache so she is my uncle. Looks can be deceiving; nothing is simple and there are all sorts of twists and turns in most circumstances. It is good to get the entire story before forming an opinion. By the way, my aunt doesn't have a moustache.

Now, on to the weekend (Oh My Gosh...it is July 4 weekend).

Steven M. Locke
Executive Director
slocke@usawaterski.org

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