I’m a firm believer in getting right to the point, so I’m going to start this column off by making one thing perfectly clear: The 2022 BSM Summit IS taking place in New York City on March 2-3, 2022 at the Anne Bernstein Theater. If you’ve thought about attending the show, tickets are on sale at BSMsummit.com. If you’re unable to travel but still want to enjoy the show, we also have a virtual ticket available. Regardless, we will proceed as scheduled, and do all we can to bring people together safely to learn, network, and celebrate the industry.

I don’t believe in telling anyone how they should handle their personal decisions involving vaccinations. We’ve all read plenty of information and have listened to enough medical experts to form decisions about what we each feel is right for us. However, the Anne Bernstein Theater in accordance with New York State guidelines requires anyone attending to be vaccinated. If you’ve not taken that step, I respect your choice, but I don’t make the rules. This means you won’t be able to join us inside the theater. You can still enjoy the show virtually though. I’m looking forward to the day when this isn’t a conversation, and we can interact without worrying about each other’s medical choices. But since it is part of life in 2022, I want to address it so there’s no confusion on what is and isn’t permitted.

Putting together this conference hasn’t been easy. Finding speakers and creating a variety of sessions that appeal to a mixture of executives, programmers, market managers, talent and agents across the sports media industry is always a challenge, but that’s an area I excel in. I’m very happy with the group we’ve put together for March’s event and can’t thank everyone enough who’s agreed to give their time to be part of the show. However, being a predictor of how NY state and the United States will handle Covid developments is a whole other issue.

The last time I hosted the Summit was in late February 2020. A few weeks later, the world changed. Because of the risk factors and the uncertainty of so much, we skipped doing a live show in the first quarter of 2021. I planned initially to move the conference to a virtual event in September 2021, but when I shared that news with clients, friends, and industry peers, it was clear that doing a virtual only event wasn’t the same for everyone. The enthusiasm for it wasn’t high.

I learned that it mattered to a number of people to experience this conference live. They wanted the ability to network, learn in person, and meet others who they’ve read about. Coupled with Zoom overload and industry professionals being confined to homes and offices as a result of Covid rocking the nation, people wanted to get out, interact, and pick up ideas and information to get better.

So we changed gears. I moved back the show to March 2-3, 2022 and decided to launch a hybrid event. We’d do the Summit live in NYC, but also for the first time, present it virtually since I anticipated some wouldn’t be comfortable traveling and others who didn’t live near NY may want to check it out remotely before making plans to attend in person down the road. Another added benefit, we’d be able to provide an online pass to all attending in person so they could watch the show on-demand later. I often get asked for video of the event or specific materials from it. Now, that option will be available.

As the summer and fall months passed, everything looked to be on track. The world wasn’t normal like it was in 2019, but people were attending games, going to stores and the movies, and flying on planes to do business or enjoy time away.

Then came November and December 2021.

The news about Omicron started to pick up, and everyone rightfully so began to take caution. Mask mandates were installed again, cases were rising, and it appeared the country might be in for a bad second wave. Fortunately, this virus was weaker, and the impact less severe. In the weeks that have since passed, people have been more vocal about living their lives as they wish while being as safe as they can. The risk of getting sick has not gone away but the fear of it being deadly has changed. Just look at the past week’s attendance in Los Angeles and Kansas City for NFL playoff games.

Having been to NYC a few times over the past few months, and having traveled to other cities for work projects, I know there are ways to do things effectively while also being safe. This business rapidly changes, and it has gone thru a massive wave of challenges over the past two years. If I can gather a number of smart people in a room to share insight, ideas and examples to help others run their businesses better then I’m going to do what I can to help.

I’m not telling anyone how they should feel about this. If you’re not comfortable coming to the show and being around others, or flying on a plane or sleeping in a hotel in another city, that’s understandable. I respect how you feel. But I also know there are others who have different views and I’m going to respect them too.

So we move forward and continue to work on putting together a fun, informative two-day experience for all who join us. I’m excited to add Kevin Graham, PD of KNBR in San Francisco, Rod Lakin, PD of Sports Radio WIP in Philadelphia, Raj Sharan, PD of 104.3 The Fan in Denver, Dave Tepper, PD of Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 in Denver, and Sandy Cohen, VP and Director of Sales for Union Broadcasting in Kansas City, Louisville and Wichita to this year’s show. I’m equally grateful to Westwood One, Good Karma Brands, Hubbard Radio, Benztown Branding and Beasley Media Group for signing on as Summit sponsors. The industry support for our 2022 show has been outstanding and it truly means a lot. We have only a few opportunities left, so if you’re interested in being associated with the Summit, drop an email to Sales@BarrettSportsMedia.com.

I will be announcing this year’s recipients of The Mark Chernoff Award and The Champion’s Award in the next few weeks. Those two will join Traug Keller as our 2022 winners. Traug has already been revealed as this year’s recipient of The Jeff Smulyan Award. I’ve also got a few additional speakers to announce who will contribute to our Sports Betting, and GM panels, and one or two additional surprises as well. If all goes according to plan, we’ll release the full show schedule next week.

Not to be forgotten, I’ll be sharing details soon for a special contest for college students to earn a few free tickets to the show. I’ll also be revealing the winners of the email and social media contest I announced over the past few days for industry professionals.

I know it’s been a chaotic time for many across the industry. I’m not promising you we’ll solve every issue facing the industry during the course of two-days together in NYC, but I’ve always believed that smart people recognize the benefit of being around and listening to other smart people. If you only see a path to success based on the way it’s designed inside your company, you’re closing yourself off to other possibilities. If you can gain insight from others to avoid one or two pitfalls or gain one or two tips to do something better, isn’t that worth your time?

Each time I go thru the planning of this event, I’m reminded of how much some people care, and how little others don’t. I don’t host this show to get rich, boost my ego or strengthen my professional relationships with clients or potential partners. I do it to try and help brands and bring people together. There’s a lot of great people doing great work in this industry, and if we can spare two days to learn from them and recognize some of the greats who’ve paved the way for us, that benefits us all. If you agree, I’ll see you in 28 days in NYC or in our virtual room on March 2nd and 3rd. Now back to counting and designing images for next week’s BSM Top 20!