A year ago this week my staff at the Bedford Agency was feverishly talking to partners, coaches, players and families about basketball! Basketball in the summer, in OKC? ….you better believe it. You see the Bedford Agency was embarking on producing and hosting a great event for Oklahoma City, the Jay Bilas Basketball Skills Camp. Jay a long time ESPN hoops analyst, hoops junkie, attorney and voice of college basketball had hosted this popular camp with co-founder John Searby in previous years in his hometown of Charlotte. But with success and popularity grew opportunities and Jay & John were looking to expand the camp towards the Midwest and West Coasts, while at the same time I was launching the Bedford Agency.
And so, a marriage was made and the two parties were off to the races! Camp Director, John Searby’s initial quote helped kick start the excitement as we brought this elite camp to the campus of Southern Nazarene University in the OKC Metro in 2017 “We are excited to expand the Jay Bilas Basketball Skills Camp to the OKC Metro area and excited to partner with Bryan and The Bedford Agency,” said John Searby, co-founder and camp director, Jay Bilas Basketball Skills Camp.” The experience of The Bedford Agency and Bryan’s understanding of sports in the OKC market made them the top choice to be our partner.”
Reflecting back to last summer’s Jay Bilas Basketball Skills Camp, I am struck with a few things that stood out was we embarked on becoming the Sports Insights firm we strive to be today:
- Partnerships need trust! Meaningful partnerships like the Bedford Agency & Jay Bilas Basketball Skills Camp are forged with trust! Both Jay, John & I worked tirelessly to make sure that the goals, objectives and outcome desired were clearly established and that all parties were in for all the right reasons.
- Commitment to the cause! You see in both cases both parties understood their strengths and weaknesses, how to help each other and a commitment to success. Both parties put the players and staff first and it showed! With over 100 players and coaches attending the event, we knew we had to deliver a first class experience…and we did!
- Don’t be scared of something new! I appreciate John and Jay for their willingness to try something new. New partnerships with the Bedford Agency, new market to host the camp, new campus and facilities to conduct the event and new business model moving an entire operation thousands of miles away from home base takes some guts and they did it!
In all, I look back so proud of the 2017 Jay Bilas Basketball Camp and while we agreed to just host the 2018 Jay Bilas Basketball Camp in Charlotte this year, we all walked away knowing we were better people for the great experience we had together in OKC last summer. For more information on how the Bedford Agency works with brands, teams and properties through strategic consulting or events, please contact me directly at bryanpaulbedford@gmail.com
-Bryan