Some 200 Sports Tourism Professionals Convene in Chicago for Meetings Held by the National Association of Sports Commissions and United States Olympic Committee

CHICAGO, IL--(Marketwired - Oct 6, 2014) - Some 200 members of the National Association of Sports Commissions gathered here for the NASC semi-annual meeting in late September hosted in conjunction with the USOC's Olympic SportsLink conference.

Programming for the semi-annual meeting included: Fall 2014 Module for the Certified Sports Event Executives (CSEE) program, NASC Market Segment Meetings, and NASC Board of Directors meeting.

Daniel Diermeier, Ph. D., from the University of Chicago, presented the four-hour CSEE module on Crisis Management to 126 NASC members. The program focused on the key issues in a crisis situation and managing the flow of information. 

At the conclusion of the module, nine participants earned their CSEE credential. New graduates are as follows:

Laura Garratt, CSEE, San Mateo County/Silicon Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau
John Giantonio, CSEE, Casper Area Convention & Visitors Bureau
Pete Harvey, CSEE, Buffalo Niagara Sports Commission
Nick Hope, CSEE, Al J. Schneider Company
Gen Howard, CSEE, Louisville Convention & Visitors Bureau
Alison Huber, CSEE, Wisconsin Dells Visitor & Convention Bureau
Lisa Pacheco, CSEE, Sports Williamsburg
Matt Robinette, CSEE, Richmond Region Tourism
Marva Wells, CSEE, High Point Convention and Visitors Bureau

"The most recent class of certified sports event executives joins an elite group of only 140 sports tourism industry professionals across the country who share the CSEE credential," said Don Schumacher, executive director of NASC.

The NASC Market Segment Meetings, created in 2006 to offer destinations with similar market size and organizational structure a platform to share ideas, was led by professional facilitator Adrian Segar. Over two days, 178 NASC members participated in discussions on the hottest topics including local organizing committees, hotels, sports services, marketing/sponsorships, the bid process and bid fees, industry trends, facilities and facility management, economic impact, and creating events.

Current plans are to hold the 2015 NASC Market Segment Meetings in conjunction with the 2015 USOC SportsLink Conference. Dates and times for next year's meetings will be announced in winter of 2015.