The National Thoroughbred Racing Association’s Marketing Summit, to be held
September 21-23 at Red Rock Casino, Resort and Spa in Las Vegas, will feature a
special 90-minute session on September 22 called “Reaching a New Generation.”
The workshop will be moderated by John Della Volpe, founder and president of SocialSphere Strategies and director of polling at Harvard’s Institute of
Politics, and will focus on tactical strategies that racing can employ today to
engage and retain new fans.
Joining Della Volpe in his presentation will be five members of a newly
created NTRA online marketing task force composed of active bloggers,
handicappers and online contributors.
“The presentation will be a living, breathing Web 2.0 collaboration with some
of racing’s best fans,” Della Volpe said. “We have scoured the Internet for
racing’s most ardent supporters, then we created an online community and gave
them an assignment: Develop a plan to market the sport to a new generation of
fans. Over the course of about six weeks, the group will be spending dozens of
hours meeting, debating, and challenging each other’s assumptions — the results
of which they will present to the industry at the NTRA Marketing Summit.”
The three-day conference will also include a Monday luncheon speech and Q&A
session with NTRA President and CEO Alex Waldrop; a Tuesday roundtable
presentation by the NTRA’s Horseplayers’ Coalition; and updates on several NTRA
programs and initiatives.
“We look forward to a lively and provocative gathering sure to provide many
timely and relevant strategies for the year ahead,” said Keith Chamblin, senior
vice president-communications and industry relations for the NTRA.
The Summit will begin with registration, a welcoming reception and a private
handicapping tournament for attendees on September 21. Following a full day of
sessions on Monday, the Summit will conclude with a half-day session on Tuesday.
Registration for the NTRA Marketing Summit can be done online at www.ntra.com
($250 for NTRA members; $400 for non-members), and accommodations at Red Rock
can be reserved at a special $125 a night rate by calling (866) 767-7773 by
August 21.
For additional information on the Marketing Summit, contact Michele
Ravencraft of the NTRA at (859) 422-2657 or via email at mravencraft@ntra.com.