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CHARLESTON, SC — The inaugural Tennis Owners & Managers Conference (T.O.M. Conference), presented by the Tennis Industry Association April 3-4 in Charleston, S.C., brought together leading experts in club and facility management and programming to provide practical information and key “takeaways” to help tennis facility owners and managers become more competitive and profitable.

A capacity crowd of more than 100 attended the T.O.M. Conference, which was held at the Charleston Marriott. They heard from speakers and panelists that included top executives at national tennis and health companies, successful tennis club owners, experts in legal and financial matters, a promotion expert, a retail consultant, club membership and compensation experts, tennis programming and coaching professionals, sports research experts, and more.

The keynote speaker at the conference was Cliff Drysdale, an ESPN commentator, former pro player and 2013 inductee into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Drysdale also owns a tennis management company, Cliff Drysdale Tennis, which now manages 26 locations. He hit on a theme that other speakers and attendees also addressed when it comes to managing a tennis facility: “The main challenge is getting the right people, the right professionals, the right leaders,” Drysdale said. “It takes a very special talent. You have to deal with the politics of the club, you have to be able to teach, and more than anything, you have to be a promoter.”

“The Tennis Owners and Managers Conference offered a full schedule of important topics that tennis clubs and facilities are dealing with today,” said TIA Executive Director Jolyn de Boer. “We were pleased to not only have such high-level presenters, but also to get a high degree of audience participation throughout the day-and-a-half conference.”

In addition, TIA “Software as a Service” business partners were on hand to speak with attendees about some of the latest technology available to help club and facility management. Conference participants also attended an evening session in the Legends Sky Suite at the Family Circle Cup women’s professional tournament.

De Boer said plans for a second Tennis Owners and Managers Conference in 2015 are being considered. “The feedback we’ve received for this inaugural conference has been overwhelmingly positive,” she said. “There clearly is a need for this type of information and networking among tennis facility owners and managers, to help them better compete in this business environment.”

For more information about the Tennis Industry Association, visit TennisIndustry.org. To see what attendees had to say about the inaugural T.O.M. Conference, visit TheTomConference.com.