Triathlon America to hold their first conference: "The Business of Triathlon"

For those of you not aware, an organization was formed a couple months back called Triathlon America. Like any organization, it came together to fill a growing need...this "need" was the business of our sport.  If triathlon is to continue it's amazing growth, a couple things need to happen: races need bigger prize purses for the pros (more on that in future blogs) and the companies who service the sport all need to be on the same page.

According to an article by Dan Empfield from slowtwitch.com, Triathlon America came together one day at an informal meeting in NYC.  "In attendance were the corporate heads of Ironman, Life Time Fitness (and the owners of each of the Life Time Fitness events), Competitor Group, The Nation's Tri, Active.com, IMG, Tri-California, Champion System, and others."  Eventually they formed Triathlon America.  "Triathlon America has been founded by a coalition of industry leaders who saw the need for the triathlon business community to come together in an organization dedicated to promoting the sport and the business of triathlon."


As of now, the organization has been pretty quiet, although their first conference starts in a few days.  As I hear back from the event, i'll be sure to post some news and my views as well.  It's great to see that as USAT governs the triathlete, an organization is now formed to fill the need of the business community of our sport.  I hope that as the organization gains traction, "non-triathlon" companies come on board to get involved.  Eventually, someone needs to step up as a major sponsor to dangle some much needed prize money at these events.  


Check out their website; the list of members is pretty impressive...and if you have any direct knowledge of what's happening at the conference, please let me know.  I'll be sure to pass it on!  http://www.triathlon-america.com/

Are you ready to Swing??

My inspiration for today's post is an example of a product/business that has found the power of the triathlon community.  My relationship with this company started 20 years ago when i was a freshman at Providence College in Rhode Island and lived across the hall from a guy named Jon Mason.  Jon was a walk-on for the PC baseball team and an avid golfer.  We became friends and would spend the next 4 years seeing each other at random parties and other social settings.  As with so many other college friends, we eventually lost touch after graduation.  (This was before Facebook).  Fast forward 10 years and Jon successfully launched an all-natural hybrid energy drink company called SwingJuice.  His intent was to create a sports drink that wasn't loaded with all the crap in most of today's brands and add some essential vitamins and other natural ingredients.  What started as a drink only found on college campuses in RI is now making it's way through the New England/New York (and online) sports world.

After Jon and i met up again last year for the first time in 15 years, i brought him into the world of triathlon.  Being an athlete, Jon had attended and sponsored various road races, but never knew the true power of the community.  I truly believe it was only when i took him into my basement and showed him my gear (from my bike, to my multiple pairs of running shoes, to my wetsuit, and everything in between), did he realize just how committed to quality products triathletes are.  We are part of a sport where sponsorship and brand recognition is the cornerstone of the industry.  Think about what happens when you are running behind someone (for those of us not in the lead) during the last leg of a race...you are constantly focused on the sponsorship on the back of that person's singlet in front of you...or when the Kona champ is pictured crossing the finish line with their respective country's flag...their major sponsor is front in center.  Why do these companies pay top-dollars for this space??  Because we all run (no pun intended) right out and purchase whatever it was that the winner was riding on or wearing or drinking.  If it makes them fast, then why not me???

These images, along with my basement, smacked Jon right on the side of the head.  He realized, with very little convincing, that if he makes a good product, we will not only buy it but we will tell our friends (and maybe, our competition).  Well, let me tell you this...after sampling a few bottles last year, SwingJuice is now my energy drink of choice.  I tried it for a couple months, used it on some long runs and rides, and because it works for me and my stomach, Jon now has a customer for life.  SwingJuice may never be as big as Gatorade and it may not be the right drink for everyone, but Jon (as well as many other niche companies) has quickly realized that our community has certain needs...and if you fill that individual's need, you have our commitment and our wallet.  I truly believe our loyalty and how a product affects our performance (both positively and negatively), as well as our demographics, are why you will see many more companies focusing in on the triathlon consumer.  If it will make us faster, you have our attention.  Check out Jon's site and see if it's worth the switch...www.swingjuice.com

Building a community on LinkedIn.

About a year ago, i decided to hit LinkedIn pretty hard and build some quality connections.  As my network started to grow, i thought it was time to start a community of like-minded individuals...so i formed a LinkedIn group called: Triathlete Business Network.  My intent was to build a forum where triathletes could join and discuss anything related to the business world; triathlon or otherwise.  The only stipulation was that you had to be connected to tri in some way.  I sent out 20 invites and 9 months later, our group has grown to 547 members!!

The demographics of our group are very interesting...on the age-group side, we have many business owners and c-level execs.  On the pro side, we have current and former world-champions at every distance.  And on the triathlon-specific business side, we have founders and partners of just about every major multi-sport company.  If you can think of a major player in the world of triathlon, they are probably represented in our group.

I honestly did not think it would grow to the levels it has become.  I thought we'd have a major representation of coaches and age-groupers...well i'm completely wrong!!  We have coaches looking to instruct, nutritionists looking to give out advice, pro's giving open water tips...we are now starting to see a lot of entrepreneurs who are in the early stages of developing new products for our industry.  The discussions are amazing and center around everything related to triathlon.

What amazes me the most is how easy it is to talk with anyone in our community.  Do you think Tiger Woods or Alex Rodriguez or Payton Manning are joining LinkedIn groups??  Is David Stern and Roger Goodell responding to questions about the state of their sports through an open forum??  HELL NO!!!  Yet, we have their equivalents in our group looking to help out anybody with a tie to triathlon...simply amazing.  

If you have a moment, hop on over to our group...you'd be intrigued at what you see:  Triathlete Business Network on LinkedIn