Northstar Meetings Group has announced that the TEAMS ’20 Conference & Expo—the world’s largest gathering of sports-event organizers—will be an all-digital “Virtual from Houston” experience that connects event organizers, destinations and sports-industry thought leaders from across the U.S. and around the globe.
Participants in the immersive online experience from Oct. 19–22 will include the gatekeepers to the 90.4 million room nights and $32.3 billion in direct spending that is generated by sports-related travel annually. The personalized experience will bring the TEAMS Conference & Expo to attendees’ homes and offices while also providing new options for participation at economical price points.
“We’ve been working hard during the past several months to engineer a digital experience that will be the category leader for the sports-event industry,” says Timothy Schneider (pictured left), founder of the TEAMS Conference & Expo and the chairman of the Sports Division of Northstar Travel Group. “Thanks to the support of our tremendous community of sponsors and exhibitors, TEAMS ’20 Virtual from Houston will be a dynamic evolution of the TEAMS Conference & Expo.”
Registrants will be able to participate in sports-specific educational content and one-on-one meetings with sports-event organizers and host cities, venues and suppliers as part of an interactive online trade show that will feature more than four hours of programming per day. The event will also showcase venues, athletes and sports celebrities from throughout the Houston and Harris County area.
“While we would have preferred to welcome TEAMS attendees in person, we are delighted to host the TEAMS Conference & Expo as an online experience,” says Janis Burke (pictured right), CEO of the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority. “This has been a challenging year for all of us in the sports-event industry,” adds Burke, who also chairs the Sports Event & Tourism Association, “but TEAMS ’20 Virtual from Houston will help all of us get back on track as we look forward to brighter days in 2021 and the years ahead.”
TEAMS ’20 will continue to be the home of unrivaled sports-industry networking opportunities, including the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee’s Olympic & Paralympic Sportslink. The National Congress of State Games and affiliated state-games organizations from across the U.S. will also be participating in TEAMS ’20 Virtual from Houston.
Each day of TEAMS ’20 will include a compact, fast-paced schedule that will feature presentations from a variety of sports-organization leaders, keynote speakers, panel discussions, breakout sessions, one-on-one appointment sessions and networking functions that are designed to develop and deepen business relationships. TEAMS ’20 will also offer a core of programming available at no charge for those who have been displaced from the sports-event and hospitality industries during the coronavirus pandemic. Each day will conclude with the announcement of a SportsTravel Award winner as TEAMS honors the organizations, events and individuals who have gone above and beyond to help their communities during these difficult times.
“The networking that always occurs at the TEAMS Conference & Expo has never been more important than it is now,” explains Schneider. “As many organizations and individuals in the sports industry undergo wrenching transformations, our commitment is to continue to provide TEAMS as an innovative forum that can help propel the future success of our colleagues and our industry. We want everyone to know that they’ve got a friend in the sports-event industry.”
For more info on TEAMS ’20 Virtual from Houston, visit TEAMSconference.com or call (310) 954-2525.
Northstar Travel Group is the leading B-to-B information and marketing solutions company serving all segments of the travel industry including leisure/retail, corporate/business travel, corporate and sports meetings, incentives, hospitality, and travel technology. Northstar is the owner of well-known brands including SportsTravel, Successful Meetings, Meetings & Conventions, Incentive, M&C China, Business Travel News, Travel Procurement, The Beat, Travel Weekly US, TravelAge West, Travel Weekly China, Travel42, Axus Travel App, and Web in Travel.
The company produces more than 80 face-to-face and digital events in 13 countries in retail travel, hospitality, corporate travel, travel technology, sports travel, and the meetings & incentive industry. Leadership events include The Business Travel Show, the largest corporate travel event in Europe; The Meetings Show, the largest meetings industry event in the UK; Web in Travel; CruiseWorld; Global Travel Marketplace; the EsportsTravel Summit; and the TEAMS Conference & Expo, the world’s largest gathering of sports-event organizers. In addition, Northstar owns Phocuswright, the leading research, business intelligence, and event producer serving the travel technology industry. Northstar Travel Group owns the Burba Hotel Network, the leading producer of hotel investment events globally, including ALIS, the largest hotel investment conference in the world produced with the American Hotel & Lodging Association in Los Angeles each year. Northstar is also the majority shareholder in Inntopia, the leading SaaS e-commerce software, CRM database marketing and predictive analytics business serving the mountain destination, golf, activities, hospitality, and specialty destination travel markets. Based in Secaucus, NJ, the company has offices in New York, NY; Stowe, VT; Denver, CO; Edwards, CO; Burlington, VT; Los Angeles, CA; Costa Mesa, CA; Lombard, IL; and global offices in London, Singapore, Beijing, and Shanghai. Northstar Travel Group is owned by funds managed by EagleTree Capital. For more info, visit NorthstarTravelGroup.com.
The Harris County-Houston Sports Authority maintains the facilities and services the debt of the world-class professional sports venues it was created to build. To support this primary mission, Houston Sports serves as a leading proponent for attracting sporting events to Houston and for promoting the city as a home for sports-related activities, to ultimately enhance Houston’s economic development and bring better quality of life for its residents. The Sports Authority also created the annual Houston Sports Awards to honor the area’s outstanding athletes and the Houston Sports Hall of Fame. For more information, visit HoustonSports.org.
