Sports for Business Committee Meeting
Sports for Business Committee meeting
MINUTES
/29 march 2016
/12:00-1:30 pm
/lendlease Japan
Meeting called by / Andrew Gauci and Sally Townsend, Sports for Business Committee Co-ChairsType of meeting / First committee meeting
Note taker / Natalie Marshall, ANZCCJ Secretariat
Attendees
(in alphabetical order) / 1. Andrew Cox
2. Katherine Errington
3. Luke Eyes
4. Byron Frost
5. Toshiro Ishiyama
6. Kazuto Kimura
7. Cristina Merino
8. Keren Miers
9. Bruce Reinhart
10. Martin Spann
11. Ryann Thomas
12. Matthew Walker
13. Tad Watanabe
APOLOGIES / Andrew Davies (Changing Space), Ryo Hayakawa (AKSUS Advisors), Peter Kell (New Zealand Embassy), David Lawson (Austrade), Mick Lay (Mick Lay Motors), Catherine O’Connell (Molex), Mika Ono (AIG Japan Holdings KK), Chris Schaffner (Macquarie)
AGENDA
1. Committee Mission:
• Primary mission for the Sports in Business Committee. What are we trying to achieve?
• Members' expectations and roles.
2. Sporting Code Focus
• Determine and confirm a list of focus sports that the chamber will promote events around.
• Discuss candidate priority sports (suggested sports are Rugby (flagship), Soccer, Horse Racing, Swimming, Tennis, AFL).
3. Event Types
• Agree on a set of criteria for proceeding with events. This will become a guideline for the types of events that are appropriate for the Chamber to be involved in.
4. Stakeholder Engagement
• Determine who the key stakeholders who will participate and/or benefit from the activities of the Committee are.
• Identify sponsors (Japanese and Australian), airlines, hotels, stadium operators, government, food and beverage, etc.
5. Pipeline of Events
• Agree on how best to engage key stakeholders and sporting code administrators to list up a potential list of events.
• Discuss how we post relevant upcoming sporting calendars to Chamber website.
6. Discuss any upcoming potential key activities
• For example possibilities around Australian Open, F1 GP, Melbourne Cup & Spring Carnival, etc. could be of value to members
7. Rules of Engagement
• How often the Committee meets, where, etc.
8. Any other business
UPCOMING SFB EVENTS
2 April 2016 | 1:00pm – 3:00pm | Sakura Dori, Nihonbashi
Street Rugby at Nihonbashi Sakura Festival 2016 Sakura Dori, Nihonbashi
Briefing from Street Rugby Alliance on their new corporate sponsorship program
22 April 2016 | 8:00am – 9:30am | Shangri-La Hotel 27F
Breaking new boundaries - what bringing the Rugby World Cup to Japan means for the sport
Speaker: Murray Barnett, World Rugby's Head of Commercial, Marketing and Broadcast.
MINUTES
Discussion / OPENING AND COMMITTEE MISSIONSports for Business Committee Co-Chairs, Andrew Gauci and Sally Townsend, opened the meeting and welcomed attendees.
Andrew Gauci summarised the main purpose of the Sports for Business Committee as being to develop and strengthen Australian, New Zealand and Japanese business relationships through participation in sporting events and related activities and welcomed input from all Committee members on what they believe our purpose should be.
Asked why they had decided to join the Committee, comments from participants included:
1. Business development and sports development are not mutually exclusive. Some of our members are already using sports sponsorship and events for business.
2. Australia and New Zealand’s connection to sport is well understood by Japanese customers/investors. The ANZCCJ is well placed to leverage sports to increase business opportunities for its members.
3. Sport is a great way to break down business barriers. The big focus on Rugby in Japan at the moment and Australia and New Zealand’s strength in this sport puts us at an advantage over other Chambers.
4. Opportunity to get more involved with other Chambers.
5. Want Japanese consumers to associate Australian/New Zealand brands with certain sports (Rugby).
Action items / Person responsible / Deadline
Send Secretariat (Cristina Merino) comments or suggestions on the purpose of the Committee / All Committee members / 15 April
Circulate final mission statement to Committee Members / Secretariat / Next meeting
Discussion / SPORTING CODE FOCUS
The Committee discussed the pros and cons of having various sports as part of our sporting code, but concluded that we would have rugby and soccer as our core (Tier 1) sports, and would place all other sports (including the Olympics and Paralympics) under a Tier 2 or ‘opportunistic’ category.
Some of the sports discussed as belonging in Tier 2 were swimming, surfing, baseball, horse racing, AFL, tennis, golf, formula 1 – events surrounding these sports will be organised only if they are seen as presenting an opportunity or benefit for our members.
Action items / Person responsible / Deadline
Discussion / Event Types and Guidelines
Determine a set of guidelines for Committee events. The Committee agreed that Sports for Business events should:
1. Be affordable and inclusive in terms of pricing (0 to 8,000 yen range)
2. Offer members opportunities for networking and for engaging business partners
3. Allow for interaction between players and members/general public
4. Whenever possible, attract media coverage to achieve member brand exposure
5. Offer different timings (breakfasts, lunches, evenings) to allow participation by various members
6. All Committee events will need to receive approval from the Executive Council before going ahead and will be organised through the Secretariat. All event payments will go into the ANZCCJ’s official bank account.
Action items / Person responsible / Deadline
Work on modifying existing ANZCCJ event guidelines to create committee event guidelines / Martin Spann
Keren Miers / Next meeting
Plan an event around the Sunwolves – Waratahs game / Secretariat / Committee members / 2 July
Discussion / STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
Members noted that it is important to show commitment to the grass roots of Rugby (and other sports) and not appear too driven by business objectives
Suggestion to directly contact the top rugby league teams instead of going through the JRFU as a strategy.
There are opportunities for ANZCCJ members to support Japanese governing bodies (such as the JRFU) by attracting foreign supporters to their teams.
Action items / Person responsible / Deadline
Write to sports governing bodies such as the ARF and individual teams e.g. All Blacks to let them know about the committee and offer support / Secretariat / Next meeting
Contact Ian Scott (Rugby World Cup Ltd) and invite him to join the committee / Martin Spann / Next meeting
Contact Paul Hardisty (Adidas) and invite him to join the Committee / Matthew Walker / Next meeting
Identify prominent Australian and New Zealanders actively involved in sport who are currently living in Japan and invite them to become part of the committee / All members
Discussion / PIPELINE OF EVENTS
The Secretariat will work primarily with the Australian and New Zealand Embassies for the primary source of information on upcoming sporting events. The secondary source of information will be committee members.
Action items / Person responsible / Deadline
Draft a six month schedule of events and set up a sports for business events section on ANZCCJ website / Secretariat / As information becomes available
Committee members to notify Secretariat of any upcoming sporting events that they know of and facilitate introductions to key persons / All members / As information becomes available
Discussion / RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
1. Committee to meet every two months
2. Set up a mailing list to allow exchange of ideas and updates
3. Andrew Gauci (Lendlease) and Ryann Thomas (PwC) offered their offices as Committee meeting venues
SFB MEETING 29 MARCH 2016