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The circus has left town. Leaving behind an abandoned trail of ticket stubs and empty beer cups, hazy recollections of celebrity sightings and behind-the-ropes parties, and everlasting memories of cold and the best damn slam dunk contest ever.

NBA All-Star 2016 won’t be the last big event to hit Toronto. This year alone we have the World Cup of Hockey, 104th Grey Cup, and IIHF World Junior Championship opening rounds to look forward to. They join an already amazing highlight reel of annual events like TIFF, Pride Toronto, and Caribana. But the magnitude of what we witnessed was somewhat unprecedented and educational.

Every cool venue in town was the site of some sort of official or unofficial NBA event. Restaurants, galleries, event spaces, hotels, and even a certain performance venue. Casa Loma held a Jordan party. An unindentified Bridal Path home was rented for LeBron & Drake’s bash. A championship boxer held court at a certain venue on King Street for his own private dance party.

Media of all sorts descended upon us. The massive and traditional TV networks, newspapers, magazines, and radio. As well as the global and agile digital and social networks. International social reach exceeded even the Super Bowl. It was like a mini Olympics impact-wise. The legacy of holding such an event is measured in exposure, economic, and excitement. There is, however, an important benefit for consideration. That is of key lessons learned for marketers.

It was a bit surprising to hear how many people were surprised about the impact of All-Star Weekend. One business leader told me they flat out missed the boat. Another asset holder realized they could have leveraged their property better. While I can’t claim any particular expertise to leveraging NBA All-Star events, we did have some great success, but there still is lots of learning to be taken from an event like this. Learning that can be applied to the next major event window.

Whether you are a brand or a charity, you should be planning ahead and examining what’s happening in your markets over the next two years. Yes two years. Whether you will be an official rights holder or not, the first step to success is planning ahead. But before we talk about planning, you may wonder if I’m advocating guerilla marketing. I’m not recommending ambush. I am personally, however, supportive of activities that contribute to the investors of an event.

Let me explain. Ambush is when Brand B, the non-rights holder of a major festival, runs a promotion entitled Win a Trip to the Big Party, in attempt to diminish the equity if Brand A’s official rights relationship. No, what I’m suggesting is that if Brand B decides to buy tickets, buy hosting packages, market to tourists to attend the festival, stage an adjunct event, or create B2B transactions, then I’m all for it. Why? Because their efforts help generate returns for the tourism boards, government agencies, and visitors associations that often underwrite so much of these events. Often to an amount much much larger than the sponsor. But I digress, and any more of this and Bill Cooper will be hanging me in effigy.

Back to the educational part of the NBA All-Star experience. We’ve all witnessed the opportunities such a big event brings. Now is the time to be looking ahead. Your number one success factor will be lead time. But future planning on its own isn’t enough, and sometimes time isn’t on your side. Then you need other resources. I will use the teachings of one of my early mentors for this one. He was a crusty old print broker who taught me every single day in the first five years of my career. One of his favourite messages was the time-money axis. In his own words, anything a client wanted could be done – they just took time and money. The less time you have, the more money you needed. He was right.

But in today’s marketing ecosystem, I think money has been equaled by clout, channel, access, and influence. So in your planning, you don’t have to be deterred if you have money and/or some combination of the newer ingredients for marketing success.

If you’re thinking about upcoming major events that you want to leverage, you need to plot a militaristic strategy. Take a thorough look at where the event will be held, where the primary hotels are, convention facilities, public spaces. Overlay on your map the most appropriate entertainment venues, dining attractions, and unique event spaces. Now overlay on it all the human consideration. Traffic. Transit. Pedestrians. Parking. By the time you’re done you should have a five-star general-worthy battle map.

Keep it handy.

Now look at the different groups you want to influence. VIPs? Celebrities? Government Oficials? Speakers? Entertainers? Visitors? Residents? Industry Leaders? Events have many layers. They are more complex than icebergs. The live audience is very different based on rank, importance, industry connections, and customer relationships. In overly simple terms, the public is outside the ropes, and the rest are inside. Perhaps your plan is to talk to several groups. Perhaps you want to flip the ropes around. Perhaps you’re not sure. If you’re a charity who has never before worked with a big event, it can be daunting. Even for a major brand who has lots of global experience, perhaps you’re the new brand manager and don’t want to appear nieve. This is where you need to network like mad. Read about such past events. Talk with suppliers, venues who hosted previous versions, maybe even event attendees. The internet can lead you through this web faster than you can imagine.

When you’re done, pull your map out again and give it a closer look. You may now want to make some revisions.

Now that you have an understanding of what could happen in your region and who will be involved, you still need to think about how you can get involved. What do you do if you feel your brand or organization  is too small to play? Well there is an APP for that, but you can skip the APP Store – I will share the secret with you. It’s called leverage. Perhaps you have access to venues that outsiders won’t. Or volunteers. Or goodwill. Or media relations. I know of one charity who scored a pretty great cross-promo with the NBA, all due to their request of a middle man to set up a meeting.

If you feel you need to get more drastic, then take some risks. Rent every limo for the entire week. Book off the three best restaurants. Sound like a business blockade? No, it’s just being a first mover.

Is that too aggressive for you? Okay create a fundraiser and invite visiting celebrities to be a key part of it. Make sure they understand how important the cause is in that region. Position yourself as a local expert or a media channel or an information provider. All it takes is a little packaging of the expertise you already have.

The bottom line is the bottom line here. Major events can provide amazing impact for you brand, business, or cause. The sole reason that your tax dollars and resources are utilized to lure them in is to provide benefits to your organization, employees, customers, and suppliers. Lasting benefits. So there is no reason you shouldn’t take advantage of these opportunities.

Ready for tipoff?

@CdnSponsorForum @MarkHarrison3 thanks for for an incredible first #CSFX experience! #inspired

This was one of my favourite tweets received after CSFX16 came to a rocking conclusion on Saturday. Rocking? How rocking? I’m talking Sam Roberts surprise live appearance rocking. CSFX is headed to the JUNO Awards in 2017, and Roberts, along with guitarist Dave Nugent, shocked our delegates with a sneak peek of what’s to expect.

CSFX16 was indeed truly inspiring. Call me biased if you will, but I was thoroughly inspired, and the sentiment was unsolicitedly shared with me by so many delegates, it could have been the conference theme. With fifty moving speakers, three hundred motivated delegates, and the unprecedented buzz of the NBA All-Star all around, CSFX16 had everyone soaring!

Now comes the hard part. Keeping that amazing feeling. Translating it into your every day. Unleashing it into action. It’s time to turn inspiration into perspiration. But how?

Well, let’s look at the ingredients that inspired you so thoroughly. Was it a great presentation or panel? Perhaps it was a key slide or message from several speakers? So let’s begin there. Make a list. Type out the notes you took. Number how many jolts of inspiration you took in. If it was twelve or more, then great. If it was less, you need to build the list. Now calendarize each jolt of inspiration to the Wednesday of the next 12-16 weeks. Yes Wednesday. That’s Humpday. This will get you over the hump. Then every week I want you to reflect on that inspiration. Re-read your notes. Peruse their presentation. Look up the speaker online and see what she has said recently in the Twitterverse. Send her an email or a LinkedIn request to stay in touch. Don’t let it slip.

The second ingredient probably came from some memories you had from the weekend. Whether it be a networking event, one of the presentations, an NBA All-Star event, or your meeting Sam Roberts. Share those memories. Write a blog. Curate something for Instagram. Develop an internal presentation to share key learnings. Putting your own spin on these memories will not only ensure they stay in your mental archive for a longer time, but also add to your motivation to achieve greater heights. At that moment, when they happened, you were ready to climb a mountain. Don’t you want that feeling back again and again?

The final ingredient was undoubtedly some of the amazing people you met. I was blown away by how many people came in from all across Canada for this year’s event. I guess I shouldn’t have been. I know you made a ton of great contacts whether it be through the CSFX16 basketball tournament, a bus ride to the NBA All-Star Practice, or sharing a roundtable. Now comes the easy part. Staying in touch, building a lasting relationship, growing your network, establishing lifelong alliances. You have our app. Our app has you. Put it to use. Make a list of fifty – yes fifty. Or at least twenty-five. I prefer fifty, people that you want to stay connected with. Every day do something incredibly simple. Say HELLO. Thank-you Adele for bringing that word back into culture, community, and business. It’s a great word. So every day, send a note, make a call, send a handwritten note, extend a lunch invite, or hookup when you’re in one another’s hometowns. It’s that easy. One a day. The next fifty business days. Your business network has just exploded.

I don’t need to wrap up this blog with a corny message about hard work and how it pays off. But what I can say is this. If you follow just one of the suggestions above, or two, or all three, you will generate a far greater return on your time and resources invested in CSFX, than you could possibly imagine. I know personally I wish I could stop time and stay suspended in the magic of February 11th to 13th. I can’t stand waiting over a year until CSFX17 in Ottawa. But I have to. Sadly it only comes once a year. But I like trying to keep that feeling year-round.

Ever been the only person in the room who didn’t know one single other? It’s okay if you’re at the doctor’s office. But has this happened to you at a baby shower or dinner party? Worse, what about at a conference?

Personally it’s never been a situation that has bothered me. But for many the thought of walking into a room full of strangers is terrifying.

I’m assuming by now you’re registered, booked, and packed for the 2016 Canadian Sponsorship Forum Experience. Perhaps your excitement is being partially eroded by the FOBA. I just made this up, but I’m creating a phobia called Fear of Being Awkward. FOBA occurs when you’re standing in a reception, looking around at dozens of gleeful conversations happening and not one involving you. You feel like everyone else can see how alone you are, so no one is going to approach because they suspect whatever general ailment you have, it must be contagious.

So now you’re drowning in FOBA. You want to bury your face in your phone, but realize that will slaughter any hope you have of being approached. You’re slowly nursing your coffee, but the crummy little hotel-issued cup makes that impossible. You’re slowly performing a finger autopsy on your muffin, but realize there is a good chance a cranberry is now visibly stuck in your upper front teeth.

Suddenly an important looking group heads your way, only to then ask if you could take their photo as they have already selfied themselves beyond acceptable societal limits. Immediately after you finished the portraits while balancing all three of their cameras and your muffin and your coffee and your own phone, they have disappeared without so much as a handshake or an introduction.

Networking. Ugh. A four-letter word to many people.

But it doesn’t have to be. Networking is a skill to be learned, practiced, refined, and honed. Like public speakers, the best networkers are not born naturals, despite popular belief. Practicing networking will just add to your confidence.

When I network I tend to intuitively follow a few specific guidelines. One of the most important is to not show up at the event with the look of a mass murderer, also known as the about to miss their target salesperson. Nothing turns people off more than being pitched hard before the handshake is cold. Don’t believe me? Try it. I will bring the video camera.

Networking shouldn’t be about trying to find the big whale. Networking should be about sending out a vibe about who you are as a person. Be natural. Someone that people enjoy being around. The laws of attraction will result in the big fish coming to you and not vice versa.

Another key to networking is to act fast. What I mean is this. In almost any networking event you are bound to be in line or seated next to someone. At first glance, introduce yourself. Before you sit down or grab a spoonful of cherry tomatoes for your salad. Don’t wait and appear to be revving up your nerve. Go for it.

Get in quickly. Then get out just as quickly. If the other person wants to engage, they will keep the conversation going. If they don’t, you’ve saved yourself a ton of dignity because you don’t separate feeling like a loser. It’s easy to get in if you’ve done your homework.

Your homework should be done well before the conference. It starts with a short list of intriguing, but innocuous opening lines. Leading with “that opening keynote sucked” may be one to stay away from. As the opening keynote speaker, you can understand the bias in my advice. But you do need to have better game than “Have you been to the Forum before?” I suggest you laterally write up some opening lines and how you anticipate them to reply.

Be positive. Be upbeat. Be interesting. Don’t be trying to sell, recruit, or dare I say recruit for other reasons. One great way to be interesting is to know something the other person doesn’t that you can share causally and utilize to build a dialogue. For example, if you have seen one of the speakers previously. Or perhaps you watched them online before the conference. Drafting on the intrigue of someone else or something else provides a nice halo for your brand. Translation? I’m telling everyone my real name is Mitch Joel at CSFX. Check out our head shots to see this isn’t going to be that hard for me to pull off. I hope.

Now that you have a conversation started, get your foot off the gas and mind your GPS. Where can you take this conversation at a pace. Don’t rush through it because they aren’t the VP of Marketing for BIGCO! Savour the moment. Some of my peers have a natural (or conditioned) ability to make whomever they are speaking to feel like the most important human in the world at that moment. Other people will never know the colour of your eyes, because the minute they meet you it feels like they are looking past you for a better contact to slay.

Once you give one enjoyable and deep first exchange with someone, the next few will be even easier. It then becomes a multiplier effect because everywhere you turn for the rest of the event, you now have new friends you can lean on when the networking hits a roadblock.

Perhaps you are still too shy, despite reading this. You’re feeling you need a wingman. So go get one? Invite a colleague or supplier to the event. Jump on social media ahead of time and let other delegates know you are new and you would love to meet up Wednesday night for a drink or Thursday at breakfast to make new friends. I’m getting hammered on my SXSW social feeds by sales people wanting to meet me in Austin to pitch T1. Never. But if someone said hey I’m also from Toronto and headed to SXSW alone and would love to meet others from the 6, I would be my regular cruise director self.

If all else fails, I can let you know this. We build so much networking into CSFX, I don’t think you’ll be alone. But if you think you will be, let me know and one of my T1 colleagues will gladly introduce you to three delegates. From there you will have an awesome start and the perfect prescription to combat FOBA.

If you are joining us next week at the brand new, kick-ass Delta Toronto for the 2016 Canadian Sponsorship Forum Xperience, you need to come prepared. Only a rookie or a Denver Broncos fan would show up at the doorstep of one my events without properly preparing. This isn’t your Mom’s packing list for summer camp when you were nine years old and overly anxious about passing the early morning cold water swim test.

Nope. You’re an adult now. Regardless of whether you are coming from Victoria, BC or Victoria Street Toronto, you are on your own to get organized for the splash you are about to make. But, because the inner ringleader in me always wants to get out, I thought I would share with you some of my personal secrets for what you should pack.

In honour of our Moms, I am not going to use numbers. This pains me as I love using numbers, but hey did your Mom ever use numbers for her lists? Me think not! Okay, where to begin?

• Check your Uber app. If you don’t have it, load it now. Maybe take a couple of test runs to get your passenger rating up so you can get higher on the dispatch priority. Make sure it’s up to date and you have a valid credit card. Rumour has it that Toronto cabbies think this would be a great time to strike and show the world what an (in)hospitable city we are.
• Custom reserved seating sign. I’ve always daydreamed about this. If you want the best seat in the house for Don Mayo, Kim McConnie, or Mitch Joel, why not give this a try.
• A cold compress for your neck. Unless you’re Justin Orfus from my team, you are going to spend a lot of time looking up!

• Find room in your gym bag for your crossover dribble because our CSFX Delegate Basketball Tournament is going to be for industry bragging rights! You know that pressure you feel on a Par 3 during a corporate tournament when two foursomes are stalled behind you. That will seem like a Grade 3 gym class compared to the crowds at the NBA Center Court where we will be hosting our tourney. So come prepared.
• A cup full of decisiveness. Think about the challenge you will have selecting among these head to head speakers: Wrigley Canada’s Dan Alvo vs Labatt Breweries of Canada’s Andrew Oosterhuis, Metro’s Nancy Modrcin vs Holt Renfrew’s Alison Simpson, Canadian Pacific’s Mark Wallace and Crankworx’s Darren Kinnaird vs the women-only panel.
• Your autograph book. I know it’s not for you. It’s for your nephew in Saskatoon. He just happens to have the same name as you! Wow, so many coincidences.
• Your Emmy Award. Judy John won one for the #LikeAGirl campaign she spearheaded for Procter & Gamble. I’m sure she will show you hers, if you bring yours.

• Your Inner Maker. Mark Stewart, Chief Innovator at wonderMakr, isn’t going to let you sit on your hands during his session. No, you will need to get them out and ready to make, break, and shake your way to learning how to be innovative.
• A teammate for Saturday. If you haven’t taken me up in our special offer yet, you have no one to blame but yourselfie! Do you like my new word?
• Your best social media one liners. You will want to make your friends jealous when you’re up close and personal with the world’s best ballers during the NBA All-Star Practice on Saturday.
• Our app. We have saved a thousand trees this year and not printed a guidebook, so if you want to network with that person you met in lunch Friday, you will need our app to send him a followup note. His, and everyone else’s, coordinates will be right at your finger tips.
• Underwear. Yes it seems obvious, unless you attended Forum in 2012 when we handed out, you guessed it, underwear as a delegate gift.

• In those underwear, you may want to have your name, cell phone, and a “If found, please return me to the Delta Toronto” message.
• Thundersticks. Why would MH3, the hater of all Thunderstick promotions ever implemented, be suggesting you bring the very same. It’s simple. Our speaker lineup is worthy of much more than applause and I can’t imagine you doing the wave. Besides, that’s so baseball. So I think to really show your love, you need to bring a little extra. The choice is yours, bells, horns, freshly energized lungs. I will even admire your inflatabe clappers!

There really aren’t a whole lot of rules about attending CSFX, but bring your A-game. We are bringing ours!

Despite some shoddy reporting by the Toronto Star, Canada’s 150th is still happening. The article I am referring to somehow declares that as a result of one company’s failed effort to raise corporate funds for their initiative that the entire year is going to be a disaster. Really? So does that mean that if my local hockey team can’t get a sponsor, the NHL is also going to go bankrupt?

It’s too bad the Star didn’t do a little research before publishing such a ridiculous article. Because for all of those groups who are well underway creating amazing Canada’s 150th celebration events, this piece has caused an unnecessary level of concern by their stakeholders. Irresponsible is not a stern enough phrase for this piece.

Despite my readership being a little less than the Star’s, I do want to share the news that, last I checked, January 1st, 2017 is still scheduled to arrive. On time. Within seconds of December 31st, 2016 departing. With it will come a patriotic flurry of events, celebrations, and legacy programs.

If you haven’t gotten into the groove yet, now is the time. Our friends at ParticipACTION are launching a national activity challenge that already has two major corporate partners on board. You can connect with them to create a lasting legacy of a fitter country.

I read recently that CIBC has signed on as lead partner of Ottawa 2017, the group responsible for staging many of the celebrations in our nation’s capital. Given how CIBC leveraged Pan Am in Toronto this past summer, I expect to see them bring many smart strategies to the table to animate this partnership.

Have you heard of ONEFIVEOH? Check out their website. They’re inviting Canadians to share their greatest campfire stories in 150 seconds or less. How much more Canuck can you be than that?

Crashing into the 150^th celebration calendar, it was just announced last week that The Red Bull Crashed Ice final championship is heading to Ottawa for the first time. Apparently it’s estimated to have an economic impact of $10 million for the city. That’s nothing to sneeze at.

You can hear about more 2017 excitement at CSFX16. On February 13th (Activity Day), our CSFX 2017 partner, which I am not going to tell you about right now, is going to be a jewel event in Canada’s 150th crown. As part of the announcement there will be powerful business leaders, talented industry executives, a Canadian celebrity (or two), and a chance to win a VIP trip to the event… and CSFX17.

To stay connected to all things 150th, I suggest that you join the Canada 150 Alliance. The 150Alliance is an open network of groups, individuals and organizations, promoting action, engagement and impact around Canada’s 150^th and working to make the most of Canada’s sesquicentennial in 2017. Building the biggest database of 2017 organizations and projects in Canada, this digital platform will act as a hub for all 2017 activities.

If you have an exciting 150th project underway, send me the details and we will share with our audience via this newsletter or just post your comments.

Don’t forget that for Saturday, February 13th at CSFX we have a special opportunity for you to bring a teammate for free to Activity Day.

Maybe we can all find some time to let our Canadian media know what’s really going on.

1. It’s your best chance to be thrust right in the middle of the NBA All-Star 2016 and truly mix business with pleasure.
2. FOMO alert! We’ve got 300 of your peers and counting!
3. What does the woman who runs sports marketing for all of PepsiCo USA, the global sponsorship director of AIG, and the partnership marketing director of New Zealand Rugby Union have in common? They are all speaking at CSFX16. New Zealand Rugby? Huh? Did I mention their partnership director is a former WNBA player?
4. The people you meet at CSFX become more than just a network. They become friends for life, who remember you for more than the logo on your business card.

   

5. We guarantee memorable stories you’d never expect from a conference. Like the time one delegate took his competitive spirit to a new level during our ball hockey tournament, suffered a head injury, was cabbed to the hospital while I held him whimpering in my arms, had staples put in his skull, and still made it out to the evening networking event. I’ll refrain from sharing the others. For now.

   

6. With CSFX16 being on Family Day weekend, it’s almost like we created a holiday just for you to recover.
7. Want to hear from the Canadian woman named Top Chief Creative Officer and Top Creative Director in the World by Advertising Age? Leo Burnett’s Judy John will join us on Creativity Day for an insightful discussion. Your chance to hear firsthand the genius behind the Emmy-winning Like a Girl Campaign.
8. Rumoured to make surprise appearances include an award-winning performer, NBA legends, and Don Mayo.
9. Steph Curry obviously couldn’t accept our invite so we got the next best thing, Chip Bowers, CMO of the Golden State Warriors.
10. Partnerships have been known to start at CSFX. Even those between a sponsor and a property…(-:
11. Still behind on digital and social media? Twitter and Vine are in the house to help even the most ancient of us learn to type in 140 characters or create a purposeful six-second clip. Plus the man dubbed the “Rock Star of the Digital Age” by Marketing Magazine, Mitch Joel, will be on hand to share his view on The Future of Brands.

    

12. We don’t believe in BS. And neither do the female trailblazers in our women-only panel. Saturday afternoon, chat with women who champion empowered leadership and tell it like it is.

    

13. There’s a lot to prove in the CSFX Delegate Basketball Tournament on Friday. We have our own private court at NBA Center Court, where you’ll be in the thick of all the NBA All-Star festivities. And in honour of Steelers LB James Harrison, not everyone gets a trophy.

    

14. If you’ve attended in the past, then there’s nothing left to say.
15. Our app. Look! Somewhere else to post 2:00-am-drunk-with-a-CEO selfies. #networking
16. When do you think will be the next time Toronto will host the NBA All-Star? Rhymes with forever!

Whoever came up with the phrase Actions Speak Louder Than Words probably didn’t realize they were creating the rallying cry for our entire industry. Especially given experiential marketing probably didn’t exist at the time. So hopefully they will be flattered that we have ironically taken their words literally and fashioned a vital form of business communications from them.

Day III of CSFX16 is an action packed day. It should be since I am asking you to attend a conference on the Saturday of a holiday weekend. But then again I am inviting you to spend it with some pretty active people. The highlight of which will be the NBA All-Star Practice. We have great seats reserved for you to watch the best basketball players in the world get warmed up for the All-Star Game.

We also have great seats for you to watch the All-Stars of our industry share with you their best game plans for implementing experiential and sponsorship marketing programs. Immerse yourself in their worlds as they demonstrate how they connect with consumers and stakeholders alike.

Another highlight of the day is our women’s-only panel. This was first deployed at our CSFX15 event and is the brainchild of former WTA CEO Stacey Allaster. So many of you implored me to ensure we had it become an annual feature that I not only agreed, but doubled the time allocated to it. For young female leaders in our sector, this panel promises to be the most important 90 minutes of your year. You need to be there. Tell your boss. Bring her as well.

For those looking for digital activation, Twitter is fielding an All-Star group of their own which will sure to trend highly among our attendees. Back by popular demand to lead the panel, Christopher Doyle has developed and executed media strategies for some of the most enviable sports properties, like FIFA Women’s World Cup and 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. He’s joined by Jared Kleinstein, who stumbled upon and turned Tebowing into a mini-craze, award-winning Head of Brand Strategy, Jamie Michaels, and TJ Taylor Adeshola, Twitter’s Content Partnerships Manager for Sports.

Gregory Hegger’s passion for live music may be fuelled by a self-confessed terrible singing voice. At least at Virgin Mobile, he’s able to live out any musical dreams by bringing to life Virgin’s major partnerships with Osheaga and the Squamish Valley Music Festival.

One speaker whose executional talent took her to the world stage is Rogers’ Alexandra Orlando. She dedicated over 15 years to rhythmic gymnastics and represented Canada at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Sherida German has taken media partnerships to a whole new level, having negotiated the largest co-marketing initiative in Shaw’s history with Johnson & Johnson and recently gave CFL fans unprecedented behind-the-scenes content and virtual experiences for the Grey Cup.

I’m banking CP’s Mark Wallace grew up playing with some intensive train sets as a kid. He’s been in the railway business, a business predicated on flawless timing and execution, for almost 20 years.

Having evolved Crankworx from an exclusive high-performance event into a massive celebration of endurance, we knew Darren Kinnaird would be perfect for a workshop on Activity Day.

We’re wrapping up the day with someone who has clearly made an impact on PepsioCo and its consumers, having started her career as a Sales Representative in Australia before climbing the ranks and moving abroad to Thailand, back home to Australia, and then ultimately around the world to become Senior Director, Sports, PepsiCo North America Beverages.

In any business you must have a sound strategy and devise creative solutions to problems. But at the end of the day, if you don’t execute with greatness, you’re sunk. All that preparation, focus, and concentration is out the window. The moment of truth is all anyone will remember.

There’s a reason in Hollywood the final words before the camera rolls are Lights, Camera, Action.

The BIG idea.

How many times a year are you asked to deliver one? Something ownable. Never been done before. Out of the box. Bigger than Movember/Christmas Miracle/Ice Bucket/Like a Girl combined. On a shoestring budget. In ten days.

Sound familiar?

Under ideal circumstances, being creative is a daunting challenge. It requires a clear understanding of the business problem. The necessary background information to understand all critical circumstances. Precise clarity on what needs to be achieved to classify the endeavour as a success. Time to ideate, collaborate, and evaluate various options. Talent from diverse backgrounds and experiences.

If those conditions exist in your world on a daily basis, you should safeguard them at all costs. More than likely only some exist. You’re not alone. Which is precisely why we decided to dedicate Day II of CSFX16 to Creativity.

The day will be hosted by T1’s award-winning Chief Creative Officer, and one of my key business partners, Graham Lee. Graham and his creative team at T1 are mission critical to ensuring that we develop ideas that scale to build business for our clients. Ideas are the most valuable currency in our industry, and your ability to create, or access creativity, is directly linked to your organization’s market worth. Graham will headline an all-star cast guaranteed to fill your mind with provoking concepts.

We’ve got a panel of CD’s from some of the best agencies in Canada. Dave Diamond of Diamond Integrated Marketing, who recently won the CMA’s Best of the Best award for #TDTHANKSYOU. Plus Matt McCoubrey of Mosaic, just-announced gold winners of Event Marketer’s Experience Design Awards for both Best Collection of Technology Interactives for Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference 2015, as well as Best Pop-Up Store for the Diet Coke Get a Taste Style Bar. And then there’s SDI Marketing’s Luke Kinmond, whose Rogers Hometown Hockey has won the nation over by celebrating local communities and the game through the cross-country hockey festival.

To get the day off to a rocking start, I’ve convinced brand guru and digital marketing rock star Mitch Joel to join us. He’s been named top “insert prestigious marketing award here” many times over. And he co-launched a music label with Juno and MuchMusic award-winning acts. Any one else feel lazy yet?

If not, Alison Simpson is sure to do the trick. Beyond driving the Holt Renfrew, Holt Renfrew Men, hr2, and Ogilvy brands, she’s completed almost 50 marathons and ultramarathons. Seriously.

Honoured to have Judy John, CEO and CCO of Leo Burnett Canada grace our stage. Her team created the #LikeAGirl campaign last year for P&G Always. The one that won awards around the world, including Canada’s first Titanium Lion at Cannes.

If there’s anyone who’d celebrate the machines taking over, it would be wonderMakr’s Mark Stewart. He’s the imagination behind a smile-activated photo booth vending machine, a selfie-taking vacuum, and several other experience-driving contraptions that brands never dreamed they needed.

A proudly iconic Canadian brand, Roots has successfully promoted the spirit of Canada’s heritage globally through James Connell’s innovative approach to digital marketing and music partnerships.

From date nights at the store to fashion week sponsorships, Metro Ontario has been wooing new loyal customer segments through Nancy Modrcin’s knack for creating unexpected brand experiences.

For far too many years I thought I was the most creative person around. I eschewed brainstorms. Poo poohed group sharing. Shat on others’ thoughts. All the while not realizing how great the opportunities were that was passing me by. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to learn at this stage in my career that creativity is a result of collaboration, inspiration, and dedication. Dedication to process and dedication to discipline that’s required to generate the Big Idea. It’s not luck. It’s not (just) booze. It’s not a sudden lightning bolt or stroke of genius. The thunder will come eventually, but only when the heavy lifting has been put in.

A big part of the pursuit of greatness is learning from the best. I can’t promise you that Creativity Day will make you a creative guru. In fact I can assure you it won’t. But what I can promise you is a day that will illuminate what’s been successful for others, so you can apply that to your own box, you’re so eager to think outside of.

Recently I made my return to the squash court for the first time in five years since a disruptive knee injury. Though not cleared to play, I’ve decided to take some tuneup lessons before participating in a winter house league.

What does squash or my wonky knee have to do with the Canadian Sponsorship Forum Xperience (CSFX16)? A lot.

For CSFX16, presented by T1 and hosted by the NBA, we have decided to forgo our annual approach of programming the event to an overall conference theme, but rather feature a unique daily focus. Each day of our event February 11, 12, and 13, 2016 at the Delta Toronto will effectively be a mini-conference unto itself. We took this approach, knowing that sometimes it’s difficult to commit the time to attend a multi-day event. For those who are attending the entire show, I’m hopeful the variety will spice things up for your Xperience.

Now back to squash. Day 1 of CSFX (February 11) is Strategy Day, and my new squash pro quickly reminded me of the value of strategy. In assessing my game he told me essentially that my power was useless without strategy. In his words, Squash is like Chess. You need to play under control and get your opponent off-balance, attacking them all over the court. Most importantly he said you need to finish every shot or chess move, before moving onto the next.

That’s sage advice because finishing what you start is a savvy strategy whether you’re on the court or planning a marketing campaign.

If you’re looking for similar advice I can send you to my squash pro or you can take a look at our speaker lineup for Strategy Day at CSFX16. It’s packed with speakers and content that will equip you with new insights, data, and key learnings to help you shape your program strategies for a long time to come.

The day will feature speakers from DAVIDsTEA, Wrigley, CIBC, and the Canadian Olympic Committee. You’re going to hear a lot about transformation in big organizations. How a brand evolves a twenty-year-old partnership, in an era where it seems three years is the unofficial shelf life for partnerships in too many executives’ minds. You’re going to hear how a major property has obliterated international standards and set a new bar in national partnership revenue, activation, and integration. You’re going to understand how a multinational has been able to align disparate internal departments, procurement and marketing, to create a powerful and thoughtful approach to sponsorship. Every brand is chasing millenials and you have a chance to engage with some great marketers, including the one beer brand that has really shone at cracking the code and experiencing how they did it.

Many of our Day 1 speakers I know personally. If you haven’t met Kristina Schaefer, this is your opportunity to hear from a woman who has literally hopped the globe helping the biggest of brands navigate the biggest of properties. I have only met Visa’s Zaileen Janmohamed once, but am thrilled she is willing to make the trek from San Fransisco to Toronto because her expertise in Sponsorship Intelligence is quite unique on the continent. I get to work daily with the marketing team headed up by Rachel MacQueen from AIR MILES and am excited you will get to see their unique take on building brand love.

Our friends at the NBA are delivering us an All-Star speaker in Emilio Collins, their EVP of Global Marketing Partnerships. If you think you’ve got a busy development job, try overseeing the NBA, WNBA, USA Basketball, the D-league and all its teams and all its partners. Whew. I’m honoured Emilio even has time to sit with us during his crazy All-Star Week schedule.

No Strategy Day would be complete without data and insights. The Canadian Sponsorship Landscape Study will be presented for the ninth time, and our Most Valuable Property Study, done in conjunction with Ipsos, will appear for the fourth time. To cap the day will be IMI’s infamous Don Mayo, who could probably present for the entire day on his own, but in only an hour will certainly deliver a year’s worth of strategic gems from real life global case studies.

The last strategic challenge of the day will be some high-profile networking at the IMI International Happy Hour to wrap February 11th up. Start working on your best move now!

If you’ve never attended CSFX, T1’s annual conference formerly known as the Canadian Sponsorship Forum, then my next few blog posts are for you.

Today marks the first in a series of CSFX previews that I’ve decided to prepare for you to devour. Today I will whet your appetite as to what CSFX is all about. Then over the next few weeks, I will add to the sizzle with some tasty bites of the meaty content and savoury networking you can feast on next February.

Of course if you’re not hungry for my cooking, you can always resort to the best way to get a good recommendation. Regardless of whether it’s a restaurant or a business conference, ask somebody who has already been. The odds are unbelievably high that you know, not one, but several industry peers who have attended this amazing fete in the past. They will enthusiastically share what over three thousand others know. CSFX isn’t a conference that talks about being a great conference, it’s a conference that lives it.

I think it’s important to begin the CSFX story with you by focusing on the Why versus the What. For clarity sake I will let you know the When and Where: February 11, 12, 13, 2016 at the brand spanking new, super beautiful, unbelievably appointed, conveniently located Delta Toronto. If those dates sound familiar to you, you’re not only a shrewd marketer, but also a sports fan, as those days are right smack in NBA All-Star Week. Which makes sense given our CSFX16 host is none other than the National Basketball Association!

Having an annual host is central to the Why. Why did I think Canada needed another conference? Why did I decide to enlist my colleagues to embark on this labour of love? Why did we decide to partner our forum with a major event every year? Why does any of this matter to you?

We didn’t start CSFX because we felt Canada needed another experiential marketing and sponsorship conference. No. We started it to create a platform for learning, to create an opportunity for sharing, to create a venue for inspiration. As marketers our number one enemy is our desks. The more time we spend in our offices or boardrooms the less strategic and creative we become. Over time our senses become dulled, our skills eroded, and the passion we had for pursuing our life’s work is in a distant rearview mirror.

However being a smorgasbord of motivation is just the beginning for us. We concocted an event that combines endless amounts of proprietary research, unparalleled speakers addressing the most topical issues of the day, and networking that is curated to ensure even the most introverted of introverts will leave with a pocket full of business cards. (I personally volunteer as host, match maker, and cruise director.)

I have a passion for connecting people. I have an endless thirst for knowledge. I have endless admiration for the best work, people, campaigns, and brands in the sponsorship marketing world. So if any of that translates into the Why of CSFX, the mission of our event, and a sneak preview into the value of attending, then you and I share something very powerful in common.