By Jon Levine, vice president, Global Experiential Marketing, Xerox
It’s late August – the weather is hot, back-to-school fervor is in full swing, and beaches are crowded. But for those of us in Global Experiential Marketing, it’s US Open season! As a partner and provider to the USTA, and as a tennis fan, I want to make sure we are doing everything possible to promote the world-class tennis taking place in Queens this year, and to ensure the fans and players get what they came for.
In our third year of partnership, we’re continuing to help the US Open work faster and better, simplifying their communications processes so they can deliver the best, highest-attended, annual sporting event worldwide. As their official document technology and services provider, we are helping the USTA in two key ways – first by networking printer communications for their staff and the press, allowing tournament organizers and media to focus on moving the matches forward. Second, Xerox continues to manage the production of the US Open daily draw sheet, a fan’s guide to all the action happening on a given day. By helping to produce and deliver 10,000 issues to the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center each morning, Xerox helps ensure a great fan experience during each of the 26 sessions.
This year, we are excited to participate in a brand new initiative, the US Open Social Wall which will prompt fans to generate content and share it on a 50 ft. wide plasma-screen wall on the tennis center grounds. Photos shared on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram will appear on this wall, giving fans the opportunity to see themselves in larger-than-life proportions, to exchange ideas and to engage with each other and with Xerox. The content will also appear online for those enjoying the tennis from home. Whether you are coming to the Open or connecting from home, I encourage you to join in our conversation by following us on @XeroxEvents and sending us your photos using #whyilovetennis for a chance to appear on the Social Wall. Visit www.xerox.com/usopen to learn more.
For those that are coming out to Flushing, we are thrilled to partner with the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) in celebration of its 40th Anniversary. As you may know, the start of the season marked out first year of global partnership with the WTA, and it’s fantastic that we’re able to work with both of our tennis partners simultaneously. We’ll snap fans’ photos right then and there with our Twitter Mirror and upload them straight away to the US Open Social Wall.
All in all, I think this is going to be our best year ever at the Open, not least because of the incredible tennis. With all we are doing to help the USTA, and all of the great enhancements we are serving up for fans, I’m proud that we are engaging the tennis world at both ends of the spectrum and I can’t wait to hear the chair umpire kick off the first match – “Ready, Play.”
