Envisioning Tomorrow: The Anticipated Saga of Innovation and Partnership at SponsorshipX Toronto 2024

In the vibrant heart of Toronto, as the city prepares to embrace the 2024 Rogers NHL®  All-Star, another momentous event is set to unfold. SponsorshipX Toronto, not just a mere conference but a narrative waiting to be written, is poised to explore the burgeoning future of sports marketing.

January 31st: The Prelude of Possibilities 

The story will commence on a crisp January evening. SPX Global's reception will be the first chapter, where delegates from across North America and beyond will converge. This evening will be more than a meet-and-greet; it will be a canvas for the first strokes of a rich dialogue about emerging trends, with a spotlight on innovative North American brands, including returning brands, ready to share their renewed visions.

February 1st: The Plot Unfolds

With the dawn of February 1st, the main venue will transform into a hub of intellectual and creative energy. Sessions, encompassing C-Suite Keynotes and ChalkTalks, will delve into the evolving narrative of sports marketing. A new sports marketing partner will articulate their strategic choices of a critical focus, juxtaposing this against a seasoned sponsorship collaborator, who will unveil a refreshed strategy informed by insightful analytics and evolving fan dynamics.

The afternoon will resonate with the voices of live podcasting, featuring entities like Daily Face Off and La Poche Bleue. These real-time discussions will extend the conference's reach, connecting the on-site energy with a global audience.

February 2nd: The Climactic Insights

Back at the main venue, Lunch & Learn sessions will offer a reflective interlude, digesting the morning's insights. The afternoon will unveil the complexities of fan behaviour, media trends, and the evolving landscape of sports marketing.

A session featuring new fan cohorts will provide fresh perspectives, echoing the diverse voices of an evolving fan base. The day will culminate in a networking event, where a celebrity keynote will symbolize the confluence of sports, marketing, and societal impact.

The Epilogue: Shaping the Future

Changemakers will share forward-looking narratives, sparking discussions about inclusivity and the future direction of sports marketing. Visionaries across the league will preview upcoming fan experiences while retired players-turned-entrepreneurs narrate their post-rink ventures.

The conference will not just discuss initiatives but will celebrate them. Announcements of new community programs and strategic partnership case studies will highlight sports' expanding reach and influence, shaping future participation and engagement.

As SponsorshipX Toronto 2024 concludes, it will be apparent that the delegates are not just witnesses but active contributors to a narrative shaping the future of sports marketing. This future is a tapestry of innovation, inclusivity, and transformative partnerships.

NHL® All-Star Thursday

Hyundai NHL Fan Fair™

The 2024 Hyundai NHL Fan Fair™ will be a four-day 300,000 square-foot family-friendly fan festival at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre South Building from February 1-4.

The 2024 Hyundai NHL Fan Fair™ will offer fans of all teams and ages interactive hockey games; a kids zone designed for hockey’s youngest fans; special appearances by current NHL® Players, NHL® Alumni and NHL® Mascots™; NHL® memorabilia and trophy displays, including the opportunity to take a photo with the Stanley Cup®, watch parties for the 2024 NHL All-Star Skills™ and the 2024 Rogers NHL® All-Star Game telecasts, the flagship NHL® All-Star Official Merchandise Shop; and dozens of other dynamic activities, all included with the price of admission. More details are available at NHL.com/FanFair.

NHL and the NHL Shield are registered trademarks and the NHL All-Star logo is a trademark of the National Hockey League. NHL and NHL team marks are the property.

VENUE ANNOUNCEMENT!

Team SPX is excited to announce that SponsorshipX Toronto will be held at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel - from January 31st to February 2nd. This landmark hotel will be filled with the perfect place to network, have an all-star gaze, and be at the center of it all. Will you? If you sign up for SponsorshipX, you will!

Welcome to Fairmont Royal York 

A million stories – one Fairmont Royal York. A stately landmark since its opening in 1929, the most luxurious hotel in Toronto is the gateway to your quintessential Toronto experience. Lovingly reimagined with impeccable style and grace, our majestic hotel is a beacon in the cosmopolitan downtown core. With expansive suites, a spectacular 18th-floor lounge and exquisitely designed spaces, Fairmont Gold offers a taste of boutique luxury surpassing anything Toronto has seen before. 

By Mark Harrison

Welcome to 2024. I wonder if we can label 2024 as the What is Old is New Year. 

What do I mean by that? Let's first look at what society has to say about this year. Depending on your beliefs, it is the Year of the Wood Dragon, an eight-year, or a Leap Year. Well, if not Julius Ceasar himself, most calendars will tell us the latter is true, at least for those who follow the Gregorian calendar. 

There are some comforting messages in the various forecasts for the year if you want to find them. It should be a year of reflection and introduction, a calmer year that will bring prosperity to those who stay focused. Prosperity of many forms, to be precise. 

The international headlines for 2024 will tell you that AI will continue to dominate business, that inflation curbing will be the focus for governments, and that the US election will have a significant impact on every region's politics. Travel will still be booming, while luxury goods will be looking to recover. 

The post-pandemic era will continue, and businesses and business leaders must address challenges beyond their profit and loss statements. Mental health. Housing. Personal freedoms. War. Terrorism. Civil unrest. The list seems endless because it is. 

Perhaps I am naive to suggest this is exclusive to the post-pandemic era and has probably been the norm through every significant historical period. When people talk about how fast things are changing, an appropriate retort could be that things are constantly changing. Fast. 

So perhaps we need to look at this year of yours, 2024, which features an extra day and challenges that businesses face as the same challenges that have always faced business. While we may align on what is new and old, we probably agree that our approach to the old cannot be the same. How best to tackle 2024? Is having an extra twenty-four hours going to provide the personal breakthroughs we crave in our lives? I doubt it. 

Let me propose an approach worth considering; although, at the risk of painting me old school or not innovative, pushing those risks to the center of the table, it seems 2024 is our year to focus on our strengths. Those strengths are the attributes and approaches that have allowed us to get to where we are today. All too often, we overlook the wins in our career and focus on the losses when, in fact, we've had a pretty kick-ass journey to get us where we are today. 

In addition to focusing on our strengths, how do we double up on providing our most valuable forms of support, products, mentorship, and content to our audiences, followers, clients and colleagues? This concept is another form of dealing with our strengths, where we rediscover our proven process and sought-after contribution. Naturally, this foundation of leveraging our strengths and delivering our proven value leads to a discussion regarding the audience we serve. 

To achieve disciplined focus for 2024, consider making your priority audience your most loyal audience, specifically those who have supported us for as long as we have helped them. In addition to our current loyalists, where have those long-term cohorts we have been neglectful in our connection with over the past few years been? Laying fault for not being in touch at the feet of the events of 2020 is undoubtedly a disguised excuse at best. There will always be new people to meet and connect with; however, they should be a second priority to your tribe. 

The most excellent part about this foundational approach in 2024 is that it will be genuine to you. It will feel that way because it is. As someone with a pet peeve with the word authentic, I will even allow it to be highly original. However, if you follow this direction too literally and assume that it means you should run out and buy a flip phone to put in your combo lock briefcase, then I want to reset your GPS.

What you do and the value it creates for the audiences you have long supported need to be delivered in an entirely new way. Technology, advancement, and innovation give you the tools to lean into your old in a new way. In a way that is entirely more human than you could have imagined because of the humanity embedded in the DNA of your approach. 

You should not view AI platforms, bots, metaverses, and blockchains as something from a strange planet. Instead, they are the calculators, digital assistants, joysticks, and databases of the future. None of those latter four concepts should feel remotely intimidating, as AI is rolling through every aspect of your work life. Rejecting AI would be like dismissing having a mobile phone, a computer, or even a fax machine back in the day. 

As we value the impact of Machine Learning on our future, we should consider how it can help us deliver on the strengths of our past. AI, and many of its applications, are a new solution provider to work through data, complexity, and situations that may bog our minds down and distract us from what we should be doing past and leaning into our foundation. 

After so many years of being told to pivot, adjust on the fly, and revisit strategy daily, we can inhale and pay attention to our signature approaches. We have new tools that will make it more manageable to keep us on track and remove the distractions that prevented us from doubling down on the essentials. I know this reads like a tale of opposites, and that is intentional as opposites attract to create the force field of power for your year. 

By adopting an approach that encourages you to sharpen the tools that have made you the warrior you are, you will soon be celebrating that 2024  becomes a personal leap year. 

Hi Freinds,

Register in advance for this event:

Sponsorship, on average, accounts for 12% of a brand’s marketing budget. Global sponsorship spending by brands was USD $97.4B in 2022 and spending is projected to grow to USD $189.5B by 2030.

Sponsorship is ripe with opportunity, and it’s a fast moving, fast changing space.

Join us as we share our annual Global Sponsorship Trends Report; the trends we’re tracking through our global sponsorship practice as we head into 2024.

Details:

Date: Thursday, January 18, 2024

Time: 5 pm CET / 4 pm UKT / 10 am ET / 9 am CT / 7 am PT

Duration: 35-minute presentation followed by Q&A

Presenter: Me (Ian Malcolm, President and CEO, Lumency)

In our first webinar of 2024, we’ll walk through the nascent trends we’re seeing through the lens of our global sponsorship practice, and the trends that aren’t new, but that are gaining momentum.

These are trends you need to be aware of as you execute strategy, make decisions, and allocate resources going forward.

We hope you can join us.

Please forward this to any colleagues or friends that you think would get benefit from this session.

Register in advance for this event:

Best, 

IAN MALCOLM | President and CEO

LUMENCY / TORONTO | Smarter Sponsorship 

http://www.lumency.co 

For our Xperience Pass and February 2nd Day Pass holders, we are taking all of you to the Hyundai NHL® Fan Fair. We will start with exclusive presentations in the Scotiabank Visa Theatre and then let you explore 300,000 square feet of brand activations. 

All pass holders are invited to our Opening reception on January 31st at the Fairmont Royal York.

Now you know what the "X" stands for in SponsorshipX!

MH3