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- [00:02]
A
Dive into the dynamic world of high school sports. Whether you're a seasoned athletic director, a newcomer to the field, or simply curious to learn more about this exciting profession, this podcast is your go to resource for inspiration, education and a deeper understanding of the game changing decisions that shape the world of high school athletics. Welcome back to AD360. I'm Greg Vandermeen and as always, I'm joined by my co host, Scott Rosenberg. Today we're going to shift gears a little bit. We're looking ahead to some of the bigger events on the athletic calendar. The NIAAA conference in Tampa this year is coming up really rapidly in a matter of a few weeks from now in December. And these conferences can really be game changers for ads. But I don't think enough people talk about how to actually get the most out of them. So Scott and I are going to dive a little bit into that. But beforehand. Scott, how are we doing today?
- [00:52]
B
All good. Greg, how about you?
- [00:54]
A
You know, I'm doing great. We just had Halloween. That was fun. Sweat my tail off in my dinosaur costume for the Toy Story family theme and all went well. How about yourself?
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B
What dads will do for their families. Yeah, I did not dress up. My kids are a little older now, so I watch them enjoy themselves, have fun. And neighborhood's crazy with Halloween here, so.
- [01:15]
A
I think it's going to be even better when the boys are older and dad continues to dress up just for the embarrassment factor.
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B
Yes, sir. I can't make sure you hit record on that one.
- [01:26]
A
Awesome. So, Scott, if you don't mind, why don't we go ahead and dive in? You know, we're talking about, you know, December 12th through the 16th down there in Tampa. Whether you're a seasoned AD or someone who just stepped into the role. I think there's a lot that we can unpack about how to make this event the most valuable, but really kind of want to talk through it strategically in terms of like, how do you best approach it? So I'm going to hit you with our first topic to talk on, Scott. For ads that have never been to this show before, what can they expect?
- [01:59]
B
Yeah, you know what, Craig, I'm take one quick step backwards and I'm going to say, first of all, there's tremendous value in the national conference. I think there's tremendous value in each. Almost every state has their own conference, too. Sometimes it takes you as a newer ad, a little bit of time to get permission or to have it paid for to maybe hit up that national one, which May be some distance away and then maybe some costs associated with it. But I would say that is something that should be a goal of every AD in the country to at some point get to the national convention and obviously on a yearly basis to try and get out to their state one as well. So there's different approaches to that, but there's lots of professional development opportunities at these events, and I think that's a good path when you're trying to negotiate with your bosses, your board of education superintendent, whoever's going to give you permission to get there to say, listen, you know, like, I'm going to learn more. And there's also some formal classes that you can take that you can sort of document. The other thing I would do when I'm there is I would keep track of what I'm doing end of the night and just maybe have something to send back as a report to show the value in what you did. So something that you can send to your people who said yes, and if not, grab that from somebody who's gone and use that and say, look at all the AD my AD friend was able to do at the show that you didn't allow me to attend this year, but I'm hoping to go next year. So I know that's probably a lot, but there's. There's a mechanism and there's a need to really prepare your people to get permission in advance to attend these type of events once you're there and you had permission. These events, like international one, is big, right? And I think the key would be, how do I make it feel smaller? Almost like you're going to a big college or university and you say to your son, daughter, student, like, find a few things that are in your niche. Find a few things that really interest you, or find a group of people that really interest you and try and, like, concentrate there, because you can be overwhelmed with the. The number of opportunities. So plan in advance, see what's out there, see what's available, try and have in your head some things that you want to do and accomplish, and obviously be open and flexible to pivot and do something else. How about you?
- [04:28]
A
I. I really like the thought process where you kind of preface it in terms of, like, how do you even get permission for it? How do you show the value to, you know, whether it be your administration or even above that to be able to get it paid for? I really find a lot of value. And, you know, at the end of each day, decompress for a few moments. They don't have to be like full on essays but jot down some notes of some key takeaways. So then that way when you're going back and you're talking to the brass, you can tell them, hey, here are some things that I'm bringing back from this. This was really beneficial. I think this is something we should do in the future. And then last one that I'll touch on that I think is a great point because it is such a large event. You know, it's like you're going to Disney World for the first time. You're not going to be able to just do it all at once.
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B
Right.
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A
You're going to have to kind of figure out, plan out, what do we want to get accomplished today. Who do I want to see speak, who do I want to try and catch up and network with, what vendors do I want to go and explore some possibilities with that are there. I think there's a lot to be said of. You don't have to do full on in depth research of breaking it down, mapping it out to every minute by minute, but take a look at the overall agenda and schedule and see where you want to be at specific times so you can maximize the value out of it. So there's certainly. It's like eating an elephant, right. You got to take it a bite at a time and you got to understand where you want to go with it. But there's a lot to really consume there and be able to just digest and bring back to your individual campus communities as well as your, your diversity department that you oversee.
- [05:58]
B
Yeah, totally agree. And yeah, maybe we should also throw in, make sure you take some time to relax, kick back, spend some time with your colleagues as well. Right. Like decompressing this time of the year is also critically important for people. So don't over plan at the same time and make sure you're building in like this year we're in Tampa, right. I'm sure it's going to be hopefully nice to walk outside for a little bit and get some warm, fresh air. If you're coming from a place like New Jersey to the show where it's starting to get cold.
- [06:27]
A
Absolutely.
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B
All right, love that. How about networking? You know, there's going to be a lot of people from across the country and lots of different capacities. So how might you approach trying to network and grow your network of people when you go to something like this?
- [06:46]
A
I think that's a great question because to your point, there's just so much there. You know, I think the social Events are always great to attend, just to where you can rub elbows with your colleagues, bump into people, meet them, see what they do. I really liked always kind of looking at the agenda of like speakers or the continued education pieces and seeing if maybe I could connect with them in on LinkedIn in advance and see if I could carve out some time to pick their brain. But really it's. It's a matter of being present, introducing yourself to folks, whether that be, you know, similar people that are in the same profession, athletic directors, administrators, etc. Or also just going around and meeting some vendors and seeing what they do and being able to build some connections there because they may not have a solution for something you're looking for, but they may be adjacent to something. You know, it's always good to build that Rolodex. And then it's also an opportunity for you to be able to go out and connect. There are some state association folks that attend these things, right. You know, and they're, they're kind of flying by and checking out some of the events. You might have an opportunity to rub elbows with some of your state association administrators and ask questions, learn a little bit more. I really think that the social element is very important, especially when you have some of those, like the ads, that have been there long term. They can give you some visibility and some insight and just really taking an overall look at the schedule of events and seeing who you would like to connect with, if they're a speaker, if they're hosting some type. Of course, I would always recommend trying to do some early reach out to see if you can set up some time. Hey, maybe we can chat for 10, 15 minutes. And if you're not able to or you're not comfortable in doing that, attend the social events, introduce yourself to people, learn about other areas within athletic administration, but also just people from different areas of the country. I mean, Scott, you and I have been talking for a couple years now, and some of the challenges you faced were similar to the ones that I faced or complete polar opposite was like, whoa, I never had to experience that. How did you navigate it? And you build out that network to be able to rely upon in future time so you could reach back out to them weeks, months, years later and like, hey, we met at this niaaa down there in Tampa. I'd love to pick your brain about this. I think it's really important to, to develop that social network, if you will. How about you, Scott?
- [09:02]
B
Yeah, I think I love the last part. You said the best. Which is connections and being able to leverage those connections for different reasons and at different times later on. So I love that. Listen, I'll be pragmatic in this one. One, wear your name tag. You're going to get a name tag and it's going to have probably like your name, I don't know, your school, your state on it. Always good to have that on and to check everybody else out as you're kind of like walking through, because maybe you'll find somebody interesting there. You know, I'm not a proponent of game day gear. I usually make fun of coaches who, like, you know, go to a coach's clinic, like they're ready to step onto the field. But I will say, I think, like, wear your logo gear for your school there, because again, like, there's just so many people, maybe it'll bring out an automatic connection. I'm an alumni of that school. I'm now in AD three states away, but I'm an alumni of that school. Or you know what, I went to school near that school or I went to college with a guy who coaches or a woman who coaches at your school. Right. There could be some instant connection if you can quickly recognize where that person is coming from. So I would say wear a name tag, put on some gear that represents your school. I think that's kind of a smart approach to it, along with all those other things that you mentioned.
- [10:24]
A
I like that idea too, because it. It's visibility, right. You know, you're kind of, I guess, for lack of a better example, you're trying to advertise where you're from, you know, and you want people to be able to engage with you. And it's a lot easier when you attend shows like these and conferences like these. If you and I had never met, and I'm walking by and I glance down and I see your name tag or I notice the logo. It's. It's an instant icebreaker. You know, you can sit there and be like, oh, hey, Scott Rosenberg, I've heard about you. Positively only.
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B
Concern.
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A
But it becomes that instant icebreaker to where you can really, hopefully be able to develop some good relationships.
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B
It's like the opposite of going on vacation. Right? And first of all, when you, when you're from New Jersey, everybody wants to leave. So when you're on vacation, you find people, like, everywhere from New Jersey. Sometimes you don't want that. Like, when you go away, you just want to separate and get away here. I think you want people to know who you are.
- [11:24]
A
Absolutely. Absolutely. So next One I got for you. You know, there's going to be a mix of athletic directors that attend this event. You know, there's going to be some that have been 30 years on the job, some that are. It's their first year. How do those different perspectives shape the experience?
- [11:42]
B
Well, I think first of all there's. There are different activities based on like at first, second, third year type people versus some of the veterans and some of the things that you might want to attend. But I don't. I think I. I think about when I would. We would have like club or activity fairs in school and we'd have like freshmen going to a club or activity fair versus a senior checking out the clubs or activities that were offered at our school. And I remember like kind of recommending to our freshmen. You really have to check out as much as you can, see what they're about, maybe test the waters a little bit and understand what is available to you now early on. And then as you get a little bit older, concentrate a little bit more on the things that are meaningful to you. Groups of clubs or activities or people that you know are more like you, things like that. So I would say, you know, your perspective on the number of things you might attend may differ based on how long you've been there. Maybe you've done those workshops in the past. You know, maybe there's ones that you have to attend every year, like legal issues. But then there's other ones that you've seen that maybe you don't need to get to if you've been there for a long time versus ones you may want to check out the earlier in your career that you attend. Something like this. How about you?
- [13:05]
A
I think that's the exact best way to really approach it is you, you got to have a little bit of a game plan towards it. You've got to be able to take in what you're getting from different perspectives. There's a great value of talking with people that have got decades of experience on the job as there is talking with someone that's year one. Because everyone has a different unique ecosystem that they're within. Everyone has their own unique challenges that they're seeing on a day to day basis. But we also have a lot of commonalities. So I think that there's the fresh approach of like a newer ad rubbing elbows with them and learning more about how their approach to it is because it's a fresh set of eyes, if you will. You may have been on the job for 10 years and you bump into Somebody that's been doing it for 18 months and you're chatting about a, a common issue that you're both facing and you hear their perspective and you're like, I did not think of it that way. And it's just a fresh set of eyes. And then the flip side of that is, you know, you're green, you haven't seen everything yet. And you start chatting with an AD and kind of just asking, you know, some of your experiences, give me some of your good war stories and hearing about them like, whoa, oh man, I hope I never encounter that. And they're probably going to give you the grizzled answer. I guarantee you're going to encounter it and be like, well, how did you, how did you approach this? So I, that it is a good mix of being able to try and spend time with the novices as well as the experts.
- [14:28]
B
I think it's a really good segue to the next thing I was going to ask you about, which would be like the breakout sessions, the LTIs that are offered at the conferences and how do you decide? There's a bunch of those too, right? I know we talked a little bit about planning ahead, but how do you decide which sessions to attend? Does that maybe differ based on how many years you've been in AD or how many times you've been at something like this?
- [14:52]
A
Yeah, I think that's a great question and I think that it's, I'm going to give you multiple answers, like one. First of all, you hit the nail on the head plan in advance. Take a look at the LTIs that are being offered, see if it fits within an area that you're looking to get, whether it be continued education or you're growing a program. Maybe it's an area that you're concerned about that you haven't seen yet, but you think it's going to come down the pipe. Really kind of take a good look at them. I, I took a look at the list this year of some of the, the, the courses being offered and you know, I always lovingly say I'm a meathead with a masters because of my, my sport performance background before I was an ad, and one of them that popped out to me was, you know, the importance and the administration of interscholastic strength and conditioning programs. You know, if you don't currently have a program, how do you go about building it out and you can learn more about that? You know, other ones that kind of popped out to me were like the college bound student athletes and the Role of the AD in this ever changing landscape. You know, how do you best advise these folks while also not stepping on your own toes and possibly creating problems for yourself? You know, in the new age of what college athletics has become, it can give you some good guidance and then you know, in terms of just like best practices and learning more. I really like the one that stuck out to me. And you and I had talked about this before, just like recruiting, hiring mentors, mentoring and retaining coaches. You know, that's an ever present issue that I as an AD would always be open to new ideas of how we do that and then last couple ones, like I always like hearing other perspectives on how you build a character based program. You know, everyone has their flavor of how they do it, but I always like to listen to others and kind of what they've instilled in that. And obviously, you know, general sessions are always great, especially if this your first time attend the general sessions, especially if it's your first time, you know, take on the, the orientation session, I guess, for lack of a better term, to learn a little bit more about it and then just give yourself time to network and meet people. That's, that's kind of my takeaway and planning. How about you?
- [17:04]
B
Yeah, I mean, I think first of all for anybody new need to understand that most of these sessions or formal LTI classes are run by athletic directors themselves. So you're getting true perspective from somebody who is on the job or who was on the job. And it's not just like theory and a college professor teaching something to you. It's somebody who's rolled up their sleeves and who's done that job and has probably found a way to do something either different, novel or better than a lot of people across the country have if they've been sort of accepted to present at an event like this. So you really are getting some excellent, excellent people who are the speakers and who are running these sessions that again, you can network with. Also great to follow up with people like that who are leaders obviously in their own states, their own areas and across the country as well. And maybe it'll inspire you to want to do that at some point as well in the future as you get more seasoned as an athletic director. And yes, specifically like courses, there's just so many that it makes sense to spend a little bit of time. I think ad conference.org has some of it just as an FYI that you can go see schedules and some of that on there. There was a networking one, there was a legal issues One that I noticed talking and trading ideas, which was more of like a hodgepodge of a whole bunch of stuff out there as well. Just kind of stuck out to me as I was taking it quite well, but tons of opportunities. And again, I would go ahead and take a closer look before I attended.
- [18:48]
A
Absolutely. You know, let's, let's talk a little bit about the vendor hall. You know, how do you go about navigating all the vendors? There's so many different exhibits. How do you approach what you want to see while at the same time not just getting like an information overload?
- [19:05]
B
I think it probably varies on the person. Me, I say overload. Like, that was maybe one of the most enjoyable parts when I was an athletic director of the show was the vendor area. Like, I honestly looked forward to that every single year because there were always things again that I could find that would be great for my school, my program, my athletic department. There was all the new stuff, new gadgets, new toys, new shiny objects. Right. Like all the cool stuff that's new out there. And then of course, there's gear, which I love, cloth and clothing and I love my, you know, buying the nice stuff for my teams and my coaches and myself. So I say, if you going to overload anywhere, do it in the vendor area. If you're not ready for overload, then maybe pick a couple verticals and say, like, hey, you know, I'm really looking for branding stuff for my school and I really want to come back with some information on branding or technology. Right. Or I know I want to bring digital ticketing to my school in the next year and what vendors are there that I can talk to to compare notes and maybe set up some meetings afterwards on a specific type of product overload.
- [20:23]
A
I love it. The netfi, the net fishing approach. Right. I was a little bit mixed bag for me because like one, I would go in there with an agenda of, okay, here are some needs. Whether it was we need new equipment, what, what different vendors are there? What are the price points? How does that operate technology, as you noted, like, what are we looking to do? Do we want to launch a streaming platform? Do we want to be able to. To dive in further to what is offered through our technology portfolio within the department? But then also I did like to just go around and see the new because it may not be something that fits in immediately, but it's also in the back of my mind of like, okay, how could we do this? Wait a minute. I remember seeing something about this at the ad show. I Want to go back and investigate this a little bit further. So I kind of took a similar approach. I always was, I'm going to get my, my meal done before the dessert, right? So like I had my to do list and then I was going around and just perusing like there's a ton of sweet stuff to look at from the vendor hall perspective.
- [21:25]
B
There is. You know, I was thinking too, and probably it may not apply to a lot of people maybe listening, but sometimes there's show specials, right? And sometimes, like if you can get some permission in advance and be like, hey, I need like $3,000 that I can kind of make a contract with or agree to with somebody there, maybe I can get a really great deal. There are vendors who will be like, show special, right? And you can do it. Or at least they might say, if you grab this within two weeks of the show, if we contract within a week after the show, I'll give you a better deal. So there's, there is that too. I don't know that you're going to get the school credit card to bring with you. That could be dangerous. But maybe if you get some permission in advance to like, hey, you know, I might want to spend a little bit money when I'm there. That never hurts.
- [22:19]
A
Love it.
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B
So, Greg, what about vendors specifically and maybe like new athletic directors? You know, you come in as a new AD and you may be inheriting some vendors that the former AD had tremendous relationships with, but you want to get the opportunity to maybe meet that person, you know, that guy or woman in person and start a new relationship with them. So like, what would your be advice on something like that, going to one of these events?
- [22:49]
A
I think it's a great question and one that's super important, right? Because many times in the day to day stuff that we're dealing with as athletic directors, you're utilizing different products and you have point people that you want to develop good relationships with. You know, one, it's, it's always very beneficial to have those strong relationships because it's, it's a world of chaos as an ad. There's always going to be some type of emergency thing that pops up. And when you develop a strong relationship with your vendor, you kind of have that proverbial bat phone to them, right? Like, I got to call the red line. Like we got something going on here. Can you help me out? So it is a little bit self serving, I'll be honest with you. But at the same token, you build that strong relationship yourself and not just kind of go on the coattails of the your predecessor. You can call in favors, you know, and what I would do in advance of the show is kind of look at your list of vendors that you currently work with and ones that you may not have had much contact with, but they have a high level of enthusiastic importance of what you do or you want to learn more about their product and what more they can do. Reach out to them. Hey, I'm going to be at the Niaaa. Do you have 10, 15 minutes for us to chat? Would love to first of all introduce myself in person. But then two, I got a few questions I'm hoping to be able to answer. If you're not comfortable with doing that, certainly carve out the time to go and visit their booth and maybe if they've stepped away, you can talk with one of their colleagues and be like, can you let them know that Greg from ex high school showed up and would like to to catch up with them a little bit. Here's my number. You know, try and develop that relationship. Because I think that that is a phenomenal one to ask Scott, because it is of great importance where you're always going to have some issue. Your equipment didn't get delivered on time, you're up against the wall. Who do I call? You don't want to necessarily just go through support. You want to have a good relationship with your direct contact. I think it is very important to be able to set some time aside, reach out to them, start developing your own relationships. Because also too in the ve they may go to another vendor at some point and they may be able to get you a better deal and you want to be able to keep in contact whether what they're doing or they have a new product line that they're working with. I think it's always good to develop those relationships, especially from like a continued education standpoint about products you're using. But what about you? What are your thoughts on that one?
- [25:02]
B
Yeah, listen, whether it's at the like the state show or the national, most likely somebody from those companies is going to be there. Especially more local or state shows. Again, forming those bonds or relationships early on with those people is is really important. Schedule it in advance. If you can again, reach out, schedule it in advance. Make them buy a cup of coffee when you're there. Let's sit down and let's meet. Figure out where their vendor booth is. This is pretty big. So like, hey, if I already have a list of like what numbers I'm looking for. Shameless plug Playon NFHS network vendor booth, 1301 and MaxPreps is 1407. I can do that, right? 1301 for PlayOn NFHS network, GoFan and then Max Preps is 1407. Why not know it in advance? It'll just like as you're trying to walk through and navigate that vendor hall, know where you're going in advance. It never hurts. So schedule something out in advance, plan to meet with them, figure out where they are, and go from there.
- [26:09]
A
So since Scott was able to put in that plug, he will be doing an autograph session.
- [26:18]
B
Greg, I look taller on camera. Yes.
- [26:21]
A
That's great. Well, I think this has been a great episode of just kind of providing some insight, some visibility of how to plan for this event. Hopefully many of you that are tuning in listening to this got some good takeaways and are going to be able to attend the show. Certainly encourage you. As Scott said, come by see us. We'd love to chat with you to, to, you know, first of all, just meet you, learn more about what you're all doing, see if there's ways that we can assist you as well. But overall, a great episode, Scott, really appreciate you joining me again on this one.
- [26:48]
B
Yeah, we had fun. And hey, maybe you want to be on the podcast with us. Come see me.
- [26:53]
A
Yeah, absolutely.
- [26:53]
B
Come talk to me at the vendor booth and we'll get you on a podcast soon. It's a lot of fun.
- [26:59]
A
Fantastic. Well, folks, if you like what you heard, make sure you follow us on Spotify, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get podcasts from so you don't miss any new episod. And with that said, from A.D. 360, I'm Greg Vandermayd.
- [27:10]
B
And I'm Scott Rosenberg.
- [27:12]
A
Until next time, folks. Thank you.