2023 SEAT - Hot Takes from Trak

By
Trak
July 19, 2023
5 min read
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The Sports & Entertainment Alliance of Technology (SEAT) Conference returned with a fresh take under the guidance of Josh Barney, who took over ownership amidst the carnage of the pandemic. 

The SEAT community got to experience Salt Lake City and some of the things that make the place special. Check out the Trak Happy Hour welcome from Gracies!

Trak’s hot takes:

  1. Top moments of the conference - when Barney got up and spoke.  His “intention” message and emotion helped show the sacrifices he made to lift SEAT back up with the help of some of his original cast and family.  Everyone could relate.

2. Davis Filipell (above), who has brought a lot of innovation to Teamwork Online’s industry job placement efforts, delivered a valuable keynote speech.  His takes outlined the tools and mindset needed to advance in today’s evolved digital landscape to succeed and stay ahead of innovation.

3. Business Intelligence round-tables showed how departments have evolved (or not).  B.I. team sizes ranged from 2 (multi-property group) to 20 with some big surprises with vendor reliance often filling in gaps.  These folks take on a series of systems-related tasks and problems and even today are still trying to come up with solutions for things like: “how do you get your team to login to CRM” and “how do I get executives to stop relying on PDFs for reporting.”  One group cited hosting a yoga session for executives with the goal of helping introduce them to analytics as a “come to the middle” approach to having a more data-driven standard. There has never been more of a need for interconnected technology to break down silos and alleviate pain points.

4. WiFi and SMS solutions in volume!

5. Look out for COSM!  Going into Jeb Terry (COSM CEO’s) panel, they had 2 people signed up for the tour.  Populous and COSM wowed the audience with it’s new-age take on bringing the game/exhibit/show to the masses through 8k-moving-to-12k technology opening soon at Hollywood Park and Frisco.  The experience itself was the talk of the town, which will open up a new world of fan/immersive experience.

6. This event highlighted the need and importance for face-time, interconnectedness and personal relationships to bridge the gaps, facilitated by the Kevin Bacon’s 7 degrees of separation (which gets boiled down to 1 or 2 in this space).  Highlighting the spirit of Jack Young. Jack was a legendary figure in the ticketing and sponsorship, Reynolds' first friend and contact in Utah, who assured him it was a special place and was willing to help and give back to all he touched.

The Utah Motorsports Campus concluding event was uniquely a thrill and huge hit featuring hot laps, drift car laps including tandem with another skidding car, fast go karting, food trucks and cornhole.  How do you top that for thrills?

Some of the Action:

Want to Know More? Click below to schedule a private one-on-one Trak Demo.