TIA's President, Jon Muir, on the state of tennis as we wind down 2012 -- he touches on, among other things, the growth of the sport, issues of communication and advocacy, industry research, and what the plans are going forward.
Here's the section on communications:
"The TIA continues to expand our advocacy and awareness efforts for the sport and opportunities for our industry to network and deeper engagement in key areas. In late August, the TIA held its first-ever Tennis Show at the Grand Hyatt New York, in conjunction with the USTA Tennis Teachers Conference. Forty tennis companies participated with nearly 400 attendees overall. This included our 5th Annual TIA Tennis Forum and the induction of Nick Bollettieri into the Tennis Industry Hall of Fame. Plans are under way to increase the scale of the Tennis Show for 2013, providing a broader opportunity to showcase this great sport and industry.
"The TIA continues to improve our own website, TennisIndustry.org, and will be expanding our communication efforts within the industry (to reach every facility, every tennis provider, every retailer) directly going into 2013. In addition to our regular updates in RSI magazine, we want to continue to build a stronger network for our monthly and quarterly e-news updates so that we can further align on key messages and efforts. We encourage everyone to go to TennisIndustry.org and sign up for our email updates, you can also find basic industry information and news that we have continued to improve and make more easily available.
"In 2012, the TIA reconstructed our bylaws to ensure our own (non-profit) governance has a clearer structure and greater transparency. We also utilized this opportunity to allow for legal expansion of the TIA to form our new TIA Retail Division. This is a great step forward for the TIA to more formally increase engagement with tennis retailers and provide stronger tools and awareness to support the business of tennis retail. In addition to allowing for the formation of other "divisions" of the TIA, the new bylaws structure allows the association to consider its opportunities for international expansion and revenue growth.
"In mid-October, the TIA held its first-ever Tennis Facility Owners and Managers Conference on Hilton Head Island, SC, bringing key tennis facility personnel together with industry experts for a weekend of business learning and networking opportunities.
Read: See the entire message here.
(Photo Credit: Image by TIA)