In conjunction with the 11th annual Tennis Forum in New York, the Tennis Industry Association will present a special session on “The Future Commerce Initiative” by renowned industry expert and thought leader Dan O’Connor. The session, which will deal with how tennis businesses can navigate the complexity of retail in today’s world, will be at the Grand Hyatt New York on Tuesday, Aug. 28, from 9 to 11 a.m.
O’Connor, the Managing Partner at Rockhurst Ventures LLC, is the 2018 Executive in Residence at Harvard Business School and the 2017 Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative Fellow. He works with many of the world’s most innovative brands, retailers and digital platform companies
“The world of retail is rapidly formalizing and fragmenting into several new business models at the same time,” O’Connor said. “The result is a new retail world populated with at least three generations: G1 (traditional trade), G2 (the ‘Walmart’ generation) and G3 (the Amazon or ‘digital platform’ generation). The largest digital platforms and retailers have already begun to reveal their next evolution/strategy—’Generation 4′ retail.
O’Connor offers advice on how to re-scale a company’s brand and business, “re-skill” the workforce and understand the capabilities needed for the future. This special session is free for TIA members and $75 for nonmembers, visit TennisIndustry.org/events.
On Monday, Aug. 27, the 11th annual TIA Tennis Forum will be in the Ballroom at the Grand Hyatt New York from 8 to 9:30 a.m. and will include the latest news and research about the state of the tennis industry, business insights, updates on grow-the-game initiatives including the U.S. Tennis Association’s Net Generation and recognition of the 2018 Tennis Industry Hall of Fame inductees.
USTA Chairman of the Board and President Katrina Adams will welcome attendees with updates on the U.S. Open. She’ll be followed by Tom Cove, the president and CEO of the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, who will present “Sports Industry Research Insights,” about the state of sports participation in the U.S., and how tennis fits into the overall picture. TIA Executive Director Jolyn de Boer will then present “Tennis Research Insights,” including data on tennis participation, equipment, retail sales and more. (Forum attendees will receive a summary report on key industry research.)
Kurt Kamperman, chief executive of the 100-court USTA National Campus in Orlando, FL, will give an update on innovation technology taking place at the campus at Lake Nona. Craig Morris, the USTA’s chief executive of Community Tennis, will update Net Generation and the USTA’s commitment to growing tennis participation.
TIA President Jeff Williams will introduce the Tennis Industry Hall of Fame. The two inductees for 2018 are Jim Fromuth, founder of distributor Fromuth Tennis, and the late Vic Braden, pro player, world-renown coach, author and sports scientist. Fromuth will be introduced by Pat Shields, CEO of Fromuth Tennis, and Braden will be honored by John Embree, CEO of the U.S. Professional Tennis Association.
The TIA Tennis Forum takes place during the USTA Tennis Teachers Conference/USPTA World Conference. While the Tennis Forum is free to attend, space is limited, so registration at TennisIndustry.org/forum is recommended.
