The 2013 Reno Pinewood Derby – Retribution

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Kyle

Today, Access Pass & Design will be competing once again in the Corporate Pinewood Derby at Reno Toyota put on by Dolan Automotive Group and the Boyscouts of America.

Last year our car hit the chop block, and while beating our trash talking garbage truck foes, the Glenn Group, we still were forced to endure the bitter taste of defeat, and it stung. After our loss, we went in seclusion, and immediately went into training, training that deserves an 80’s montage theme.

We stayed up for nights reflecting what went wrong, recalculating our math, aerodynamics, and double-checking our weight displacement equations. Our sleepless nights eventually paid off.

We found out what went wrong and spent the last year creating the future of Pinewood Derby cars. Today, we will be unveiling our sleek and sexy contribution to this time-honored tradition that is known at Pinewood Derby, which can be dated back to 1953. It is a true gentleman’s sport that incorporates science, advanced physics, master carpentry, and genuine frivolity. As it just so happens, our employees are masters at all of the above.

After demonstrating our knowledge of complex physics, wood crafting, and little plastic wheels, hopefully Reno Toyota will let us make some event passes for next year… ?

Want to challenge us to a race? Are you competing? Any good stories about your Pinewood Derby experiences? COMMENT BELOW!

Access Pass & Design
Our credentials. Your confidence.

5 Takeaways from Canadian Music Week (aka “How to survive Toronto in March”)

Posted on March 29, 2013 by Cecil

1. First and foremost – Canada has some great musicians!

Canadian Music Week (CMW) is much like SXSW. There are hundreds of bands and close to fifty different venues, and the music takes place over the course of four days. It’s hard to take it all in, especially if you’re there to work, so research who you want to see beforehand. Toronto is a big city and the venues aren’t necessarily close to each other. Also – it’s cold.

On the flip side. Kayla dragged me to see some “skater punk pop” (up until then I thought that was some kind of soda). Turned out I really liked it. So going with the flow is good too.

2. Attend the Digital Media Summit – you’re already in Toronto after all!

The Digital Media Summit takes place in the two days leading up to Canadian Music Week. Tons of great insights into the future of digital media in music.

Nicola Smith (@Nicola_smith22) of Engauge gave a great presentation on the future of connecting the physical to the digital. Exciting – physical to digital is very much in the spirit of what we’re doing connecting our passes to digital experiences.

There’s some cool new tech out there that allows for really creative uses of location, social sharing, and physical / digital media (like digital paper for example). So, come a few days early, attend the Digital Media Summit, and stay ahead of the game!

3. It’s amazing how many artists go around without business cards.

Management – keep your artists stocked up on marketing materials. They may not realize that they are, by default, the CMOs of their careers. But everyone else does.

Musicians need to be savvy business people or they will continually miss opportunities.

4. Conversely – some artists got really creative with their marketing.

Jordan McIntosh (upcoming country music singer) BOUGHT A BOOTH. In a room full of vendors, a booth full of young, handsome, country musicians playing acoustic sets really catches the eyes and ears.

Kind of the opposite of guerilla marketing – and it worked.

Billy (Wilhelmina) the Kid (songwriter) had the craziest guitar case we’d seen. Hard to forget – and thus so was she.

Additionally, lots of artists are using our VIP backstage passes as merch items! Change VIP to “FAN PASS” and sell it. Or hell – leave VIP on there. Even if you’re not at the stage where you need security credentials, your fans don’t care – they’ll want a backstage pass anyway.

5. Exciting developments in the use of Location Based Services (LBS).

Like artists writing albums that are only available while the listener is physically within a certain location. Imagine walking through New York’s Central Park, listening to your favorite band’s music. The song changes as you move from the ice skating rink to the zoo. Crazy cool! Talk about a visceral way to connect fans to the minds of the artists!

That’s it!

But wait, as an encore (we heard you chanting it – don’t lie) here are some of the cool bands we stumbled upon at Canadian Music Week.

Ben Cardilli
BOY (Cecil really liked this one – go figure)
The Boom Booms (Kayla really liked them)
Madison Krebs
Savanah
The Treasures
Rachel Sermanni
Jordan McIntosh
Billy the Kid

Then there was this other band – The Pretty Unknown – all the way from Reno, NV. We couldn’t seem to get away from them

~ Cecil

p.s. many thanks to Heart for the tickets – fantastic show ladies!!!!

Access Pass & Design
Our credentials. Your confidence.

Inspirations On The Open Road – The Path To The National Sports Forum

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Kyle

We are extremely proud of Danny for taking the next step in his public speaking career. Read on for the story of how he presented at the National Sports Forum this year, in what was his 9th year in attendance. 10-year jersey coming in less than 365 days Danny! We’ll be there for you!

Over the summer of 2012 I received an e-mail from the National Sports Forum in the middle of the week with a request for speaker applications for the 2013 Forum in Orlando. As a would-be 9 year alum I became excited for the opportunity and began to ponder what I might share at the sports industry’s marquee networking event.

I had plans for a 60 mile training ride the following weekend and decided to sort my thoughts out then. As I began the ride on a Starbucks buzz, I began to think of some of the winning attributes that earned me the business of the biggest names in sports including Nike, Boston Bruins, Red Bull, OKC Thunder, Texas Longhorns and the New York Yankees.

Words like perseverance, persistence, passion, and presence came to mind. By the time I finished the ride I had seven and coincidentally they all started with the letter “p”.

I sent an e-mail to my friend Dave Mullins at GMR Marketing the following Monday, who replied, “I love it. Here are three more”. The end result was the “10 Principles of Success” and we agreed it was a winner. I was selected to speak at the 2013 National Sports Forum in Orlando, Florida for an exhibitor breakout session on Monday, January 28.

To spice up the presentation I used a few first-hand success stories that landed me deals with some of the biggest teams and brands in the land. In addition, other seasoned NSF vets such as Dan Migala, Bonner Paddock, and Brian Gainor have inspired me with their stories and insights to think differently for different results. I shared tidbits of their methodologies in my presentation.

To keep the audience engaged I broke my presentation into 3 parts – Pre-Game, Half Time, and Post-Game. At each break I offered a book to anyone who answered first, and correctly to simple sports trivia questions. That was a big hit!

After my presentation several people lined up to say thanks, which was great. When other folks asked how it went later in the day I could only tell them how it went based on the feedback from those who attended. It was all positive. And thank you to those who replied to my follow up e-mail, post-Forum…

Special thanks to my trustee counterparts of Access Pass & Design, Kayla Guseman and Cecil McCumber, for rocking the RFID booth demo and overall enthusiasm for getting involved with the Forum. Thank you Brian Byrnes of the OKC Thunder for my breakout session intro, Ron Seaver for your friendship and support, and all the inspirational sports marketing influencers.

~Danny Heinsohn

Below are some of the testimonials Danny received. Awesome feedback from a great group of attendees!

Of all 5 breakouts I attended, I got the most out of yours. You were concise and to the point. Your content was applicable with good real life examples from your personal experience. Well done!

- Max Lebovitz, Pogoseat.com

The thing that I thought you did a really good job of, was being able to relay your past experiences with your clients in a way that any person, regardless of what they sold, could learn from.

- Marc Simone, Coyote Promotions

Of the four breakout sessions that I attended, yours was the most impactful.

- Mac Yates, Inflatable Images

I was honored to be in your breakout. Thank you again for giving your time, to help the rest of us in the industry to get just that much more out of everyday.

- Ed Prescott, Infinity Vip/ Infinity Pro Sports

I truly enjoyed your presentation.

- Dr. Susan B. Foster, Professor, Sport Business – Saint Leo University

I enjoyed your 10 P’s of Selling, and I thought the handout was excellent with room for notes on the back. I’m passing that on to our sales team.

- Connie Barry, BIG INK Display Graphics

To view Danny’s presentation:

http://www.slideshare.net/DHeinz7/2013-national-sports-forum-breakout

Danny’s 10 Principles to Success

1. PASSION

Be enthusiastic, be authentic and sell yourself.

2. PRESENCE

You gotta pay to play! There is no substitute for face time.

3. PERCEPTION

Create memorable impressions.

4. POSITION

Know the score. Among the rest of the market, how do you rank?

5. PERMISSION

You don’t get what you don’t ask for.

6. PERSISTENCE

Persistence PAY$!

7. PERSONALIZATION

Clear, CONCISE, refined.

8. PERFORMANCE

It’s all about execution. Go above and beyond expectations.

9. PARTNERSHIP

A partnership mentality will lead to organic growth.

10. PERKS

Get involved!

Access Pass & Design
Our credentials. Your confidence.

2013 National Sports Forum – Insights from a veteran

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Cecil

The 2013 National Sports Forum is here – and a number of the Access Pass & Design team will be in attendance this year, venturing across the country to sunny Orlando, FL. Don’t worry – we’ll struggle through. Danny Heinsohn, our veteran of the forum, shares his insights on how the forum has been instrumental to his success.

Thanks for your thoughts Danny, and for the rest of this year’s attendees – don’t forget to stop by booth #157 and find out how you could win a new pair of Skullcandy Headphones !

Since 2005, The National Sports Forum has been the cornerstone of my success in sports business.

In 1999 I graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering when a career in the sports industry wasn’t even a thought. But after surviving brain cancer two years later, I began to play by a different set of rules.

In August of 2002 I began working at Access Pass & Design as a service and sales exec for the concert / touring industry. A long-time player in the music industry, Access Pass & Design works with the biggest names in the business such as American Idol, Jay-Z, Linkin Park, Coldplay, Alicia Keys, Live Nation, and Van’s Warped Tour, to name a few.

But in 2002, we had as many sports clients as I can count on one hand and I had next to no sales or marketing experience. I quickly figured out a lot of things and in the summer of 2004 I took a leap of faith to break away from the concert / touring market and build our business and presence in the sports industry from scratch.

Fast forward 8 years: Access Pass & Design now works with over 100 sports properties among MLB, NFL, NHL, NBA, NCAA, NASCAR, IRL, NGBs, Extreme Sports and corporate brands. We like to consider our passes as good luck charms; every year we find our clients playing in the biggest championship games.

I invite you to attend my first ever breakout session at the 2013 National Sports Forum, “It’s not what you sell, it’s HOW you sell.” I will be sharing stories from seasoned NSF vets such as Dan Migala, Bonner Paddock, and Brian Gainor. Learn how delivering and executing ideas will put you in the win column.

I look forward to seeing you there!

Danny Heinsohn
Client Development

Access Pass & Design
Our credentials. Your confidence.

A New Year’s Expectaions From Our Sales Team.

Posted on January 15, 2013 by Kyle

Seth’s Spot
I am always humbled by the enormous support and loyalty our customers have shown Access Pass & Design throughout our 10 year history and this year is no different. 2012 ended with 24% growth over 2011 and we’ve grown not only as a family but also in the spiritual sense. We’ve learned how to manage the busiest year we’ve ever had and have restructured things internally to handle the volume with the highest degree of customer service, fastest turn times and best quality in the business, all at the same time!

I’m super proud of who we’ve been and I’m even more excited about who we’re becoming. This year we plan on embedding NFC/RFID technology into our passes so that they will deliver exciting, engaging and interesting mobile experiences (pre, during and post event), adding more value to event sponsors and to the event attendee both.

Stay tuned and watch as we continue to innovate and deliver exciting technologies that will change the live event space forever.

Danny’s Dish
A decade milestone in anything is a great time to reflect on years past to appreciate the things you’ve accomplished and obstacles you’ve overcome. 2012 was that decade milestone for me at Access Pass & Design and what a ride it has been. Record breaking sales numbers, new market breakthroughs, and exciting development initiatives in fan engagement are a few highlights that come to mind from 2012.

The stage is set for a remarkable 2013 with the release of my book, refreshed charity initiatives, professional speaking engagements, and ideas in motion that will increase brand awareness and drive revenue for all. As the saying goes, “A rising tide lifts all boats”.

Carl’s Chord
I’m excited as this year gets off to a great start working with music icons Matchbox 20, Journey and Coldplay as well as friends from Evans Hardy & Young, Chloe Productions, The Voice, and many others… “Bring It On”!

Megan’s Missive
I’m looking forward jumping into the conference market with both feet in 2013.