In the News

Sharon Nevins' foray into the world of sporting events began with an ordinary bike ride. Nevins, an avid cyclist and an independent fund-raising and marketing consultant, was hitting the trails one day with Dr. Dror Paley when the orthopedic surgeon asked for her help.

Would she organize a bike race to generate awareness for Sinai Hospital's International Center for Limb Lengthening, Paley asked.

No stranger to the world of event marketing, Nevins has chaired many galas, including Zoomerang, the Maryland Zoo's annual fund-raiser. So she dug her feet into planning the Save-A-Limb Bike Tour, Trail Run and Walk, to be held Sept. 3 at Oregon Ridge Park.

But what Nevins and others have discovered is that organizing a sporting event requires even more advanced planning than other types of events.

For one, you have to get a permit from the police department.

Another challenge: Sporting events that raise money for charity are on the rise. That means organizers are all chasing the same sponsorship dollars, venues and athletes.

Running and walking events alone raised $656 million for charity in 2005, according to USA Track & Field Inc. The figure marks a 14 percent increase over 2005 and is the biggest single-year increase since the Indianapolis organization began its annual charity survey in 2002.

So how can a sporting event organizer make his or her event a success and stand out in the crowd? Pick a good media partner, plan for logistical challenges, think creatively to win sponsors and round up the volunteers, experts say.

If you're planning to hold an event yearly, it's a good idea to get feedback from attendees, said Lee Corrigan, whose sporting events firm Corrigan Sports Enterprises organizes the Under Armour Baltimore Marathon and the Toyota Pro Beach Volleyball Tour.

Staff at the Baltimore company asks marathon participants to fill out a survey with their feedback. If you plan well, 90 percent of the attendees will be thrilled and 5 percent of the complaints are worth reviewing to find out how to improve next time around, Corrigan said.

And for the remaining 5 percent? These are people who probably won't ever be happy, no matter how well you plan.

"You have to have a thick skin," to run a sporting event, Corrigan said. "No matter how well [the event] is run, somebody is going to be upset."

So here are some tips for satisfying that 90 percent.

1. Be prepared for logistical challenges.

One night during last year's LPGA Championship, a major thunderstorm blew into Havre de Grace, blowing the roof off a hospitality tent and forcing the groundskeepers to work around the clock to ready the lawn for the next day's tournament at Bulle Rock Golf Course.

If you're holding an outdoor event, assume that you will have bad weather, said Alice Miller, executive director of the LPGA Championship.

Maintaining the safety of your guests should be your top priority, organizers say. So LPGA officials make sure its crew of volunteers has a weather warning system in place to communicate an incoming storm, as well as an evacuation plan to help direct people off the course. "That's what I lose sleep over," Miller said of bad weather.

Tom Amatucci, organizer of the Baltimore Women's Classic 5K, chose the Baltimore Museum of Industry as his event's starting point because the museum has a pavilion, which can protect runners from the rain before and after the run. The race was held most recently June 25 at the BMI.

"We chose [BMI] because it does have back up -- rain or shine," Amatucci said.

If your venue does not have a covered area, make sure you have plenty of tents, said Dave Cooley, a partner at Charm City Run LLC, which has offices in Bel Air and Timonium. In 20 years, Cooley has only had to cancel two events due to weather.

Organizers of larger events say parking is another challenge. Officials at the LPGA, which attracts 100,000 for the four-day event, count on nearly 7,000 parking spots onsite and offsite.

But the issue is not just providing enough parking spaces, it's handling the logistics. If you have offsite parking and are running shuttle buses to the event, make sure they come frequently, Miller said. Buses should come no more than a couple of minutes apart.

Someone needs to oversee the shuttle operation and make sure guests are loaded onto the buses in a quick and timely manner. While in the past the LPGA relied on volunteers to handle the task, this year officials decided to hire a professional parking management and transportation firm.

2. Round up the volunteers -- and train them well.

Organizers of big events say they could never run a successful event and raise money for charity without an army of volunteers.

One staff member at the LPGA is dedicated solely to overseeing 1,600 volunteers. Similarly, the Constellation Energy Classic golf tournament relies on nearly 1,000 volunteers.

But overseeing that many volunteers requires a well-thought strategy.

The Constellation Energy Classic relies on a top-down approach to direct volunteers. Tournament staff train six chairpersons who oversee 30 coordinators. Each coordinator is responsible for a different committee, Executive Director Joe Rotellini said. One committee might be in charge of picking up players and their spouses, another might be in charge of managing the corporate hospitality tents, and another to arrange transportation for the players and their spouses.

After organizing volunteers into committees, hold regular meetings so that everyone can keep track of the progress being made. Amatucci also advises assigning someone to take meeting minutes. "You have to conduct it like it's a business," he said.

You should also ask volunteers what they would like to handle. When people are giving up their time, "you can't assign based on your opinion" of what they would be good at doing, Amatucci said.

But what if the volunteer doesn't appear to have the skills for the task they want to tackle? For instance, say you have someone who wants to write up marketing materials but he isn't the most skilled writer. Have him put some of his thoughts in bullet form, and pair him with a writer who can put together a draft, Amatucci said.

Don't say, "Hey, you can't write."

"There's a lot of tact [required] with volunteers, as you can imagine," he said.

3. Develop creative ways to get publicity.

Spreading the word about your event is crucial if you want to attract attendees and sponsors and raise cash.

One of the first things you should do is find a media partner that would be a good fit for your event.

Don't wait too long to get a media partner, Nevins said. After securing permits and a venue, you should start finding a media partner and devising a media strategy.

A promotions director at a news organization might get as many as 20 requests a day, Nevins said. Get information as early as possible about your event into the hands of the media groups you are targeting, she said.

If they get information too late, they won't have the available airtime or space to devote to your event, Nevins said. Find a media partner whose target demographic is the one you are targeting for your event, Corrigan said.

Don't approach a conservative talk radio station to sponsor an extreme sports event or pro-beach volleyball, for instance. A better choice for an event like that might be a rock radio station that targets 18- to 34-year-olds.

Events that are raising money for lesser-known causes, such as limb restoration, might benefit from securing a well-known athlete to the event. This means contacting a talent agency to find a celebrity athlete. Nevins got Bob Roll, a former Tour de France racer, to emcee the post-race barbecue.

She approached Roll because he is well known among cyclists and thought he would be a good draw. "Know your community and your audience," Nevins said.

4. Use innovative ways to woo and retain sponsors.

Racing organizers are all going after the same corporate cash. So don't just go after the town's five biggest companies, because everyone else is chasing their dollars, too.

The strategy for finding the right corporate sponsor is similar to finding a media outlet: Find one whose demographic and goals are similar to yours.

Amatucci got New Balance Athletic Shoe Inc. to sponsor his women's race. He noticed the sportswear apparel company targeted women with its products and its goodwill programs. The Boston-based firm hosts a program called Girls on the Run, for girls between 8 and 13 years of age, designed to help them learn about healthy living while preparing for a 5K run.

Sponsors also need proof that they will get a marketing boost from sponsoring the event. One strategy is to go after businesses located close to where you will hold an event. Runners might pour into a neighboring restaurant post-race, for instance.

For Nevins' Save-A-Limb event, she promised retailers and restaurants in the Hunt Valley/Cockeysville area that they'll have 500 cyclists and 200 runners in their backyard. That's how she got Dick's Sporting Goods and Outback Steakhouse, which is supplying all the food for a post-race barbecue, to sponsor the event.

Nevins also told managers of Dick's Sporting Goods in Hunt Valley that she can drive traffic to their store. On the day of the race, salespeople at Dick's will wear T-shirts with numbers that correspond to those sported on racers' bibs. Racers whose numbers match that of salespeople will get a goodie bag.

You also need to offer sponsors some perks. If your event will feature well-known athletes, offer top sponsors a chance to mingle with them.

Nevins offered one of her sponsors, Ethan Allen Furniture Galleries, the chance to pick up Roll from the airport in exchange for paying his transportation. (Celebrities will often give their time, but you have to pay their transportation costs). Organizers of major golf tournaments offer top sponsors a chance to play with the pros.

To keep sponsors coming back, make sure everything runs smoothly in the corporate hospitality tents. That means making sure the electricity and air-conditioning work and that the food and drinks keep coming. Other upgrades for a sponsors' tent at the LPGA included plasma screens and wireless Internet access.

Also make sure the sponsors' tent has prime viewing of an event. For a golf event, that might mean putting the tent on elevated ground so they have a good view of the fairway.

Since the best event marketing is word-of-mouth, organizers also advise treating your vendors just as you would sponsors.

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