SMA

THE STADIUMMANAGERS ASSOCIATION and participating in panels,with an occasional industry related lecturer invited.Today, they are major events, held yearly, providing vital sources of information, guidelines, and resources for the unique stadium industry.“It’s come a long way in 43 years,” says Pereira.“This past year,we were in Huntington Beach, California and we had over 400 attendees, from stadiummanagers to corporate partners, to students and facultymembers who are involved with stadium administration programs at their schools.” Pereira enumerates the SMA’s threefold objectives: “Network, educate, and involve.The network- ing is the primary function of the Association and it’s what our members tell us they value the most –the chance to get together,whether it’s on the phone or in person, and just share best practices, ask each other their questions, and develop those relationships -not only between the stadium managers, but also the corporate partners.” Corporate partners are an essential part of the SMA community.“We have a number of long-term corporate partners who manufacture and sell everything you would need in a stadium,”Pereira explains.“Starting from the design, you have architectural firms and engineers and construction companies; on into lighting and playing surfaces; seating, staging, security, concessionaires - the list goes on and on. So, it’s an opportunity to connect the stadiummanagers with these partners they will need when it comes to building a new stadium, or renovating a stadium; they will have those relationships and knowwho to call when the need arises.” “As far as educating,”Pereira continues,“when we get together at a Sem- inar,we try to put on a robust program to touch on a lot of different areas, so stadiummanagers can stay abreast of the latest trends, the latest best practices.And we bring in the resources we’ve been able to partner with to provide that in real time; then,when things come up, electronically.We can shoot out emails and webinars to make a 365-day-a-year engagement with the membership. “We also reach out to colleges and universities that have sports man- agement and sports administration programs.We reach those who are interested in the field, interested in the industry and give them exposure to it.They get on the mailing list for our monthly electronic newsletter; they have access to our directory, so they get the names and numbers of every- body in the Association if they want to reach out to people.They can come to the Seminar and sit in the sessions and network with the members. It gives the young people an opportunity to get a close look at what they AT A GLANCE THE STADIUM MANAGERS ASSOCIATION WHAT: A networking orga- nization dedicated exclu- sively to stadium operations WHERE: West Des Moines, Iowa WEBSITE: www.stadium managers.org