A Note from the SMA President.
Bennett, Gregg
Merry Christmas!
It was good to see everyone in Orlando. It seems like the Sport
Marketing Association (SMA) has come a long way over the past decade. It
also appears that our organization is very healthy. Of course, Dr. Eric
Schwarz should be credited with working so hard to make the organization
viable and healthy across the past three years. Eric cares very deeply
about SMA, our mission, and philosophy and he has worked with dogged
determination to make sure that the organization continues to grow and
thrive. He has pushed, sometimes even shoved, all of us to work hard to
make SMA a successful organization. Like all of us, I am very thankful
for his service and commitment to SMA.
Schwarz and Dr. Bill Sutton hosted the recent conference in
Orlando. There were several highlights at this session, including the
Veeck Address delivered by Pat Williams, whose personal anecdotes and
experiences with Veeck made this particular address special. The
academic sessions were very strong and there were a plethora of
networking opportunities for students.
It was also announced at this year's conference that Dr. Nancy
Lough will become the first female President of SMA after my term. We
all welcome and look forward to Nancy's leadership in the coming
year! I am also very thankful for Nancy's leadership as the editor
of Sport Marketing Quarterly (SMQ) the past three years. The journal has
continued to be the major journal in the sport marketing discipline and
we have maintained our close relationship with the publisher, Fitness
Information Technology, due to Nancy's leadership.
In this regard, Dr. Daniel Funk has agreed to serve as the next
editor of SMQ. Dan is a strong scholar who will build on the foundation
and work very hard to make the journal even stronger during his tenure.
We all look forward to supporting Dan and SMQ as the journal strives to
become more prominent globally.
SMA's Executive Board is filled with strong, creative, and
hard working scholars who want to aid our progression as leaders in
sport marketing. Steve McKelvey (Industry Relations), Khalid Ballouli
(Academic Affairs), Andrea Eagleman (Student Affairs), and Joris Drayer
(at large) have taken the reigns to guide the organization through this
term. Thanks so much to past board members Kim Miloch and Bill Sutton
for their service to SMA. Joris was reelected as the at large member and
he is also leading the awards committee as it continues to develop
different ways to honor our membership. I look forward to some of the
announcements we will have regarding ways to recognize your
accomplishments.
Planning for the 2013 conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is
already well underway. The conference will take place October 22 26,
2013, and the theme for the conference will be "Broadening the
Landscape of Sport Marketing." Please visit the updated SMA website
for more details and plan to join us in New Mexico for a great event.
Eric Schwarz commented that things have come full circle at the
conference in reference to my involvement. It does seem like a long time
ago that I began constructing what would become the Sport Marketing
Association. That may mean that I am just old rather than things coming
full circle. Either way, I am very proud of what we as an organization
have accomplished, where we are today, and what we will become. The
organization certainly looks a lot like what I had envisioned back in
2001. Please plan on helping the organization continue to grow and
thrive, and do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions,
concerns, or ideas. I look forward to serving you this year.
Dr. Gregg Bennett
President, Sport Marketing Association
