The first Fantasy Sports Trade Association Member Meetup on May 1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago set the standard for future FSTA events around the country, combining blue skies, great camaraderie and a Chicago Cubs victory!
More than 40 FSTA members gathered on a rooftop just outside Wrigley Field to watch the Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers 1-0. Not only was the baseball game a draw for our members, it was also a chance to meet new members as well as reacquaint with people they hadn’t seen since the last FSTA meeting held in Las Vegas this past January.
For FSTA chairman Peter Schoenke, it was a chance to do all of that and keep tabs on Cubs rookie Addison Russell, who Schoenke has on his own fantasy team. Russell delivered the game’s only run with his first major league homer.
“More networking is always good, ” said Schoenke, the president of Rotowire. “You can meet with new customers and existing customers. At our conferences, they’re awesome, but it’s hard to meet 400 people. At an event like this, you’re able to have some good conversations. ”
That was a sentiment echoed by Jay Correia, owner of DreamCo Design, the sponsor of the first FSTA Member Meetup. “I know most of the people, but there were certainly some new faces, ” said Correia. “There are people that I’d been speaking with over the phone who I haven’t had the opportunity to sit down with and talk. This event allowed us to do that. ”
The Member Meetup’s initial success means that it is something that will be expanded to other cities. Both Schoenke and Correia said future Member Meetups would be worth the trip to attend and a great opportunity to meet other fantasy sports business leaders in a more casual setting between conferences.
“The Member Meetup sold out pretty quickly, which shows how valuable it is for our members to meet and indicates how much they enjoy getting together, ” said FSTA executive director Meg Van Petten. “The event itself was a great success, both because it was a great day to be out at a ballgame and because our members enjoyed the chance to see each other, catch up on a little business, and show their support for FSTA. ”
“One of the great things about FSTA is that even though fantasy sports is a big business, it’s a small community of people, ” said Schoenke. “It isn’t like that in Hollywood or Silicon Valley. Here, you can meet the key guys and get access right away. Hopefully, we’ll take this model and do this in a lot of other cities. ”
“Our conference has its value, but this type of setting has value as well, ” said Correia. “I’m really looking forward to the next Member Meetup, wherever it may be. We all love sports, and we should be enjoying the journey along the way. There’s no better group of people than the decision makers of FSTA. “