Dear NASSM Community-

I welcome the opportunity to serve you as the President over the next year.  Along with Chris Green and George Cunningham, I extend warm congratulations to all of the recent NASSM award winners and to the organizers at the University of Ottawa for another excellent conference.

Over the next year, we will be continuing to pursue three main issues that have remained at the forefront of our organization for the past several years.  First, we continue to pursue the excellence of our journals and scholarly outlets, both the official journals of NASSM (Journal of Sport Management and Sport Management Education Journal) as well as the health and exposure of other related journals.  Both SMEJ and JSM welcome new editors (Lynn Ridinger and David Shilbury) who will continue to develop and enhance the journals, and the comprehensive list of sport management journals compiled by the journal taskforce is now available on the NASSM website.  We look forward to advancing the theory and practice of sport management through our scholarly outlets.

Second, we continue to pursue solidifying the logistics of the conference structure, altering the hosting system where we can have broader access to a wider array of cities.  This will increase access and potentially decrease costs of attending the annual conference, creating additional opportunities for fulfillment of the NASSM mission. 

Finally, we continue to pursue excellence in alignment with structure, strategic planning, and operations.  The committee tasked with providing options and advice toward the structure of the organization has provided its recommendations, which are now being put into action.  Further, a short-term strategic planning committee is being formed, that will provide guidance and action items for advancing the society over the next 5 years.

The fall executive council meetings will take place Oct. 23-24 in Orlando.  If you have any concerns or agenda items you would like to see addressed at that time, please feel free to CONTACT ME. 

Please also be sure to make plans to join us in Orlando, FL June 1-5, 2016 for the annual NASSM conference.  The specific information for this conference will be posted soon on the NASSM website and the call for papers will be extended in early September.

Have a terrific rest of your summer and best wishes for a successful and productive academic year.

Best to you all,

Marlene Dixon

Hello NASSM members,

Once again, the Student Initiatives were a success at the 2015 NASSM Conference and remain popular for student attendees. The 2015-2016 NASSM Student Board anticipates an equally successful 2016 NASSM Conference and we are excited for the opportunities ahead of us in the coming year. We have three new NASSM Student Representatives who are already building off of feedback received through email, social media, and conversations with students at the conference. We are brainstorming new ideas and improvements to current initiatives for the upcoming 2016 conference in Orlando, Florida. Throughout this year, Allison, Kyle, Kylie, and I will be working towards the student initiatives for next year. Thank you for the feedback already received by myself and the Student Board! Please continue to reach out to me and/or the respective board member for additional feedback of each initiative.

 One of the greatest parts of attending the NASSM conference is having the opportunity to (re)connect and build relationships with colleagues in sport management. These connections can happen in many ways, one of which is the faculty-mentor initiative. This year, Kyle Rich (Western University) will be coordinating the initiative which aims to connect student members with faculty at the conference. These connections can be a great way to facilitate discussions about current/future research, prospective jobs or career paths, or other issues that might be on your mind. Kyle is "stoked to be facilitating this initiative as it is a great opportunity to create networks with colleagues as well as gain diverse perspectives on the student experience."

 Allison Musser (University of Illinois) will be planning the student symposium. "As an attendee of the student symposium every year I've attended NASSM, I have personally seen how beneficial this event can be!  I'm excited to organize the event next year.  I have some ideas regarding topics, but am eager to hear from NASSM students what issues or questions they'd like to see addressed next year! Feel free to reach out via email  or ."

Kylie Wasser (Western University) is looking forward to planning the 2016 Orlando Student Social. "For the 2016 NASSM Student Social, we are excited to build off the successes of 2015 in Ottawa. My goal is to engage even more of our student members, particularly new and first year NASSM attendees. While plans are in the works, any ideas and feedback are always welcome via ."

 The 2015-2016 NASSM Student Board seeks to provide useful opportunities for sport management students and is open to any feedback and ideas that you may have to improve those opportunities and the student experience. If there are any new student initiatives or networking avenues you hope to see developed, please contact me. Have a wonderful summer!

 Natalie L. Smith, University of Illinois

Student President

The Publicity and Promotions committee is seeking a new professional committee member. Professional members serve a two-year term, or until a successor is named. For more information on the duties of the committee, please see the operating code.

If you are interested in joining this committee, please contact the P&P Committee Chair, Brianna Newland.