The International Sports Heritage Association (ISHA) is pleased to announce sponsorship opportunities for their 44th Annual Conference hosted by the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in Nashville on October 27-29, 2014.  Conference delegates will experience stimulating education sessions, a trade show, entertaining social events, and superb networking opportunities with their colleagues in the sports heritage industry.  Showcase your company to numerous delegates from around the world by becoming a corporate sponsor of the 2014 Conference.

Bronze, Silver and Gold Medal packages are available, each including conference registration or an exhibitor package, advertising opportunities in ISHA publications, and recognition in the Conference brochure and signage.  There is also an attractive option to sponsor a conference session, providing the opportunity to promote your company directly to delegates by taking the stage for 10 minutes at the beginning of a session.  This option sold out for the 2013 Conference hosted by the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in Denver last October.

We’d like to again thank Grey Flannel Auctions, Display Studios, Visit Denver, and the Canadian Association for Sport Heritage for signing on as Bronze sponsors for the 2013 Conference.  Visionary Moments, AutoNation, The MediaPreserve, Grey Flannel Auctions, Mystic Scenic Studios, Rich Clarkson and Associates, Cambridge Seven Associates, The Crowley Company and Dimensional Innovations all sponsored Conference sessions.  Special thanks go to Sparta Pewter, sponsor of the ISHA Communication Awards; to the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame, sponsor of An Evening of Champions keynote speaker, Charles Sampson; and Selago Design, who sponsored a conference attendance grant.

For package information, click here: Sponsor Packages

 

DENVER — Tickets to the 2014 Colorado Sports Hall of Fame (CSHoF) Induction & Awards Banquet have been sold out, CSHoF Chairman Brian Cook announced on Monday.

“This caps off a tremendous amount of work in preparation for the event,” Cook said. “The public support which we receive from around the state is truly gratifying.”

The 50th annual CSHoF Induction and Awards banquet, which is the longest running yearly dinner and award banquet in Colorado history, will be held once again at the Denver Marriott City Center Hotel on Thursday, April 17. The banquet will begin with a reception at 5:15 p.m. and features dinner and the awards program from 6:30-9:30 p.m.

“We have always had great support, and revenue from this sellout allows us to continue making significant contributions to our charitable youth sports programs within our state,” Cook said, adding that the final tally of tickets sold was over the 850 mark.

The 2014 Class of the Hall of Fame Inductees are Otis Armstrong, Todd Helton, Andy Gambucci, Darian Hagan, Dorothy Mauk, and the late Forrest “Frosty” Cox.

This year’s star co-emcees/presenters are Dave Logan and Susie Wargin.  Jake Schroeder will be singing the national anthem.

Other award winners are 2013 Male Athlete of the Year Peyton Manning; 2013 Female Athlete of the Year Mikaela Shiffrin; 2013 College Athletes of the Year Barbara Szabo and Kapri Bibbs; 2013 High School Athletes of the Year Elise Cranny and Christian McCaffrey; and the 2013 Athlete With Disabilities Award winner, Cody Field of Special Olympics.

“We could not do this without the great support of our sponsors,” Cook added.

Major Sponsors of the CSHoF are Gatorade / King Soopers, Wells Fargo, Sports Authority, AT&T Mobility, The Denver Post and the Denver Broncos Football Club.

For more information regarding the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame, including Hall of Fame Banquet, Golf Classic, Museum and Stadium Tour information, please call the CSHoF at 720-258-3535, or visit its website at www.coloradosports.org.

The Design and Project Management company behind such projects as MLB All-Star FanFest and Seattle Mariners Hall of Fame and Museum joins forces with Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum to design and build exhibits at new 10,000 sq. ft. facility.

 
St. Marys, ON (February 27, 2014) – The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum has selected BaAM Productions of Toronto, ON to plan, design, fabricate, and project manage the museum’s public spaces and exhibits. Since moving to its current location in St. Marys, ON in 1994, the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum has expanded to include four baseball fields, walking trails, and a museum. A new 10,000 sq. ft. museum is now entering its next phase of development at a site selected for its proximity to Beachville, ON where the first documented baseball game was played.

 
Working alongside Hall of Fame and Museum staff, the board of directors, Marklevitz Architects Inc., and an active volunteer base in St Marys, BaAM will be responsible for designing all aspects of the visitor experience, including the hall of inductees and interactive exhibit galleries. BaAM will be engaged in the early stages of the project to advise the site committee and Marklevitz Architects Inc. during the design and build of the new facility as well as to collaborate with the Museum on their collections assessment and interpretive planning.

 
BaAM is uniquely poised to explore the intersection of sport and culture at the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. For more than twenty years, BaAM has worked with teams and leagues to create fan experiences and has also been designing and developing museum exhibits. This means BaAM understands sports from a unique perspective. Projects like the Science of Hockey, Hockey Heritage North, and the Seattle Mariners Hall of Fame and Museum have combined BaAM’s experience creating traditional museum spaces and exhibits with the firm’s deep understanding of the passion and accomplishments of sports teams, leagues and players. In creating MLB All-Star FanFest, BaAM’s team of designers and project managers work on an ongoing basis with the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, the Negro Leagues Museum and players from the All-American Girls’ Professional Baseball League to effectively tell the stories and celebrate the personalities behind baseball and the culture that it inspires. The event is often referred to as “Baseball Heaven on Earth.”

 
BaAM is thrilled to collaborate with the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum on this truly exciting endeavor and to work with a committed volunteer base in order to create a national museum that is truly special for the region and baseball fans everywhere. “BaAM’s extensive work with professional sports clients in cities throughout North America has confirmed for us that sport is an integral part of the cultural fabric of each place that we visit,” said Gary Myers, Vice President – Creative of BaAM Productions, “and we look forward to continuing to share these stories from the Canadian perspective.”

 
BaAM Productions
BaAM is a design and project management company that creates unforgettable experiences. We work
closely with clients in the cultural and sports sectors on a diverse range of projects – from the epic to
the intimate. BaAM’s clients include Parks Canada, Ontario Heritage Trust, Cupids Legacy Centre,
Bruce County Museum and Cultural Centre, National Hockey League, Major League Baseball, 100th
Grey Cup Festival, the CN Tower and the Olympic Spirit Group. Follow us on Twitter
@BaAMProductions and www.baamproductions.com to stay up-to-date with all of our exciting projects
and events.

 
Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame
Since its inception as a non-profit, charitable foundation in 1982, the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum has been dedicated to preserving Canada’s rich baseball heritage. Although founded in
Toronto, the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum was relocated to its permanent home in St.
Marys, Ontario in 1994. The Hall of Fame strives to make Canadians proud of the game’s long history
in their country. A select group of baseball legends – including pro ballplayers, amateurs, builders, and
honorary members – have been enshrined in the Hall. For more info, please visit http://baseballhalloffame.ca.

 

For more information, please contact:
Christine Kerr, Vice President
BaAM Productions
[email protected]
(416) 234-7266

 

Aimee Roy, Communications Manager
BaAM Productions
[email protected]
(416) 234-7260

The six members of the Class of 2014 are: Lin Dunn (coach), Michelle Edwards (player), Mimi Griffin (contributor), Yolanda Griffith (player), Jasmina Perazic (player), and Charlotte West (contributor). The Class of 2014 will be formally inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame on June 14, 2014 in Knoxville, TN.

With the addition of the Class of 2014, the WBHOF will recognize the 1976 USA Olympic Team for their contributions to the game in a display at the Hall entitled “Trailblazers of the Game”. The 1976 team will join the All American Red Heads, Edmonton Grads, the Former Helms/Citizens Savings/Founders Bank, and the Wayland Baptist Flying Queens as the only five groups recognized as “Trailblazers of the Game”.

Call (865) 633-9000 to purchase you tickets to the 2014 Induction Ceremony.

The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame is pleased to announce the
names of its eight inductees for 2014. Those that will be inducted
into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame on Saturday, May 31,
during the twenty-fifth annual ceremonies in Knoxville, Iowa, are:

 
Drivers: Dave Blaney, Bobby Davis (Jr.), Mark Kinser
Owners-Mechanics-Builders-Manufacturers-Car Sponsors: Chuck
Merrill, George Nesler
Promoters-Officials-Media Members-Event/Series Sponsors: Dave
Argabright, William “Windy” McDonald
Pre-1945: Larry Beckett

 
According to National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum Foundation
executive director Bob Baker, “We are very proud of the work done by our
72-member National Induction Committee each and every year, and this
year is no exception. I think modern sprint car fans will be very pleased
with this year’s line-up of inductees. We look forward to our very special
twenty-fifth induction banquet on the Marion County Fairgrounds in
Knoxville, Iowa, on May 31.”

FAR HILLS, N.J. – Pamela Green, the president of Wake-Robin Golf Club near Washington, D.C., the oldest African-American women’s golf club in the country, summed up the struggle to achieve equality in terms any golfer could appreciate: “We’ve played a mighty long par five.”

Green was one of many speakers who talked about overcoming adversity to play the game she loves during the African-American Golf History Symposium on Feb. 22. The event took place in conjunction with the opening of the USGA Museum’s newest exhibit, “More Than a Game,” which celebrates the historical importance of African-American golf clubs and their contributions to the expansion and development of golf in the United States. Through presentations by representatives of these pioneer clubs as well as a panel discussion with former players, the symposium demonstrated how these clubs helped break down racial barriers through golf.

The event began with presentations by Renee and Larry Powell, the children of the late William “Bill” Powell, the visionary behind Clearview Golf Club in East Canton, Ohio. Clearview, founded by Powell in 1946, is the only public golf course in the United States designed, built, owned and managed by an African American, and his children continue Powell’s legacy of leadership by sharing the gift of golf with everyone, regardless of race or ethnicity. A short film by Moxie Pictures, which is also featured in the exhibit, illuminates the courage and dedication displayed by Powell and his family.

Larry, now Clearview’s superintendent, grew up working on the golf course alongside his father and discussed the challenges of keeping a golf course in impeccable condition. Renee, a longtime LPGA Tour player who is now the head professional at Clearview, stressed the symposium’s role in ensuring that “everybody knows what the history of all golf is about, not just one color of golf.”

Individuals representing other trailblazing clubs echoed Renee’s words in their presentations. Author and historian Dr. Larry Hogan, an authority on the former Shady Rest Golf and Country Club in Scotch Plains, N.J., along with a trio of people affiliated with Langston Golf Course in Washington, D.C. – PGA professional and general manager Louis Tate; Green of the Wake-Robin Golf Club; and David Ross of Royal Golf Club – described the emergence of courses specifically for African Americans as “a place for us.”

As with many elements of desegregation, the challenges black golfers faced were not overcome simply by a change in law. At Langston, although blacks were allowed to play beginning in 1946, the club could not afford the security needed to protect them from potential violence.

Drawing 200 attendees, including a large contingent of students from the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore, the only historically black college in the United States to offer a PGA golf management program, the question-and-answer segment provided lively interaction between the speakers and audience. Humorous anecdotes about the role golf played in their early lives, such as stories told by Madelyn Turner, an accomplished junior player in the 1960s, were coupled with more somber reflections on the discrimination players faced at hotels, restaurants and country clubs when they traveled to tournaments. Renee Powell, the second African American to compete on the LPGA Tour after Althea Gibson, recounted that she was often assumed to be an employee rather than a competitor. She was sometimes asked, “Are you here to work?” to which she responded, “I said yes, I’m here to play golf.” However, a sentiment echoed by all was that their love of the game was never affected by the bitterness they encountered.

Former PGA Tour players Bill Bishop and Calvin Peete stressed the importance of getting the next generation involved in golf. Finding golf at age 23, Peete’s relentless practice on a local softball field, sometimes in the middle of the night, allowed him to become an outstanding ball-striker who later finished first in the PGA Tour’s driving-accuracy category every year from 1981 to 1990. Peete recalled the night that a neighbor called the police during one of his 2 a.m. practice sessions. They showed up and watched him, occasionally calling out, “Nice shot, Calvin!”

Bishop, who was initially prevented from turning pro due to The PGA of America’s Caucasian-only clause, emphasized giving back to the next generation: “Once you reach your goal, try and help someone reach their goal.” His work with aspiring young players at Freeway Golf Course in Sicklerville, N.J., the first predominantly black-owned and operated 18-hole championship course in the country, furthers the panel’s shared goal of exposing youngsters to the game that changed their lives.

The symposium and exhibit are part of the USGA’s ongoing commitment to making golf more accessible while providing a platform for stories that are critical to the development of the game and the preservation of a more complete history of golf.  Following the symposium, attendees mingled with the speakers in the USGA Museum as they viewed the new exhibit.

“More Than a Game” will be on display for two years, and the public is invited to visit the USGA Museum between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday. For more information, visit www.usgamuseum.com.

The 2013 ISHA Conference provided numerous opportunities to build relationships, tour other facilities, and learn from the experts how to more effectively design and operate sports halls of fame and/or ISHA2013_b-14museums.  As your professional association we’re committed to providing you with a strong, relevant conference that responds to your needs. We’re pleased to share that the results of the Post-Conference Survey indicated the conference successfully achieved its goals:

  • 94% of survey respondents plan to attend this year’s conference in Nashville.
  • 100% said they planned to attend a future ISHA conference.
  • 100% of respondents who attended the conference rated it very good to excellent overall
  • The most important factors influencing the decision to attend were
    • Desire to meet and network with colleagues
    • Topics/speakers and the educational content of the program
    • Dates of the conference
    • 75% of attendees made the decision to attend the conference six months to a year before the conference. So you should consider making your plans for the 2014 Conference in Nashville very soon.
    • Respondents indicated that the topics they would most like to learn more about were:
      • Emerging technologies
      • How to engage Hall of Famers
      • Educational and special event planning
      • Marketing initiatives

Thank you to those of you who responded to the survey.  Ensuring that the ISHA conference provides content to enhance your operations is a top priority for the association. It is a wonderful way to network with your peers, learn from others, and generate new ideas on how to better tell your story.  We hope to see you at the next ISHA conference in Nashville, October 27-29, 2014.

For anyone who wonders about how other organizations deal with everything from budgeting to fundraising to exhibits and tours,  please consider joining the ISHA Survey committee. Your insights would be a valuable addition in our efforts to create relevant and meaningful surveys for our membership.

When Nike awarded Nuance International the contract to work on the creation of the Nike Running store in Bucktown, near downtown Chicago, we were excited and ready for a challenging project. The store is in an old brick building that was formerly a neighborhood pub, surrounded by small, unique restaurants and shops. As with many projects in older buildings, there are often “surprises” that show-up as the timeline unfolds. Our team dealt with each surprise with strong teamwork, utilization of contingency plans, and thinking on their feet.

The greatest challenge for Nike and its partners in the installation of the components designed for this store was the timing of the roll-out. It’s like a beautiful dance – and the Nike Project Manager in charge is the choreographer. Our role included painting an intricate mural on the walls and ceiling, producing a moveable message board to be viewed from the window facing the street, fabricating and outfitting several museum-quality cases to display the newest types of shoes, artistic painting on a column, and other assorted tasks.

Our installation and mural-painting team performed in an outstanding way to complete our parts of the project as scheduled, working weekends as needed. The Nike Designer and Project Manager were very pleased with our project management process, as well as the final results. The local store manager and his crew are also delighted with their new neighborhood store! We are looking forward to future projects with Nike! Our team knows that, “Just Do It” can apply to Nuance International as well as to Nike!