The Utah Office of Tourism is a premier sponsor of the Tour of Utah. A cycling race that was owned and managed by Larry H. Miller Sports and Entertainment (LHMSE, includes the Utah Jazz, Salt Lake Bees). The Utah Office of Tourism worked with LHMSE to build a cohesive partnership with the Tour of Utah to promote Utah Tourism initiatives during the national and international event.
LHMSE held a partnership summit for all the sponsors of the race. It included multiple booths to learn more about event activation plans and how each sponsor could maximize the value of the relationship and the 10 day event.
David Williams who manages the partnership for the Utah Office of Tourism has been in charge of the relationship for 5+ years. This year, the LHMSE group implemented Trak Software to help manage the execution of the complex partnership.
“Learning about it at the Sponsorship Summit and about the commitment that Jazz had made to it, that was the most exciting part of the entire event” - David Williams
Before Trak, David and the LHM Group would exchange hundreds of last-minute emails. Forcing both teams to be reactive to each activation element.
"Before [Trak] it was really difficult to look ahead and anticipate everything, it helped me plan better. Before it was reactive, and all I did was reply to e-mails to provide approvals." - David Williams
The Tour of Utah is a multi-stage race across the entire state of Utah. To say this is a complex event is a huge understatement. The Office of Tourism's partnership included multiple signage points, hundreds of give away items, and multiple on-site engagements that all needed to be exchanged and coordinated between the two parties.
Both groups struggled to manage approved and final media files. Whether that was video vignettes or promotional items; using email as the source of truth and asset management, made it difficult for both parties to keep things straight.
With Trak, both groups embraced the comprehensive planning, collaboration, and impact that an organized "to-do" list provided the partnership. The improved communication and collaboration on each asset improved David's ability to hit deadlines; allowing his team to work strategically to execute and plan the entire partnership.
“It’s really easy to learn, if you’re used to reading email on your computer, you can figure it out. Our team picked it right up" - David Williams
Both sides of the partnership used the tool to automatically notify each other of updates on items using the commenting feature. No longer did they have to research and type an entire email to deliver a quick update.
Attaching approved items using the tool, removed the problem of chasing down email threads and disparate attachments. Both groups could now see the exchange of proofs and ultimately the final approved asset resided within the context of the inventory item.
Trak and the LHMSE group reduced the number of emails exchanged by more than 50%, while simultaneously increasing the amount of collaboration and communication and helping ensure full execution. Both groups were prepared to execute the entire partnership; including the multiple start locations and multiple finish line events. The Utah Office of Tourism's signage and activation elements looked great and reached the national and international audience.
Williams' offered these open-ended comments after utilizing Trak:
“It will make their clients lives' easier, their clients should be thrilled they come up with a solution that will save them time and make their lives’ easier, you should have seen how many emails I received from them last year” 'Why couldn’t we have had this thing 5 years ago?" - David Williams
