Columbus, OH — The 2022 U.S. Trotting Association’s Board of Directors annual meeting kicked off on Friday (March 11) with the Marketing and Communications Committee presentation.

The agenda included a look at 2021, the Year in Review, by USTA staff members Dan Leary, Wendy Ross and Kyle Creditt who made the presentation. Then Leary gave a brief summary of the USTA’s first year of publishing the Breeders Book Stallion Directory and how it will be sold and marketed starting in year two.

Committee co-chair Ashley Tetrick presented a proposal on how to utilize the website HarnessRacing.com to promote harness racing and expand the audience for the sport. USTA/Mark Hall photo.

The final presentation was made by committee co-chair Ashley Tetrick, a proposal on how to utilize the website HarnessRacing.com to promote harness racing and expand the audience for the sport.

Tetrick described how after college graduation she took a job as an outrider and found it difficult to find information about harness racing.

“I graduated from Purdue University…and I had a lot of bills to pay so I ended up as an outrider at Balmoral Park, which ironically, I feel kind of fed my urge for information within harness racing,” said Tetrick, who is on the recently formed Electronic Marketing Committee. “I couldn’t figure out where to go for basic, everyday information.

“When (USTA) President Russell Williams informed Jim Miller and me about this acquisition of HarnessRacing.com, it was really interesting to me because this is a really incredible opportunity to create exactly where that information, simple, immediate could lie. Our goal with the Electronic Marketing Committee…was to figure out what is HarnessRacing.com supposed to be.”

Citing her experience as a pharmaceutical representative, Tetrick explained how her company focused on consumer marketing and how HarnessRacing.com needs to focus solely on that.

“As a pharmaceutical rep, I was a liaison between the consumer and my firm,” said Tetrick. “The number one thing that I think is necessary…is that separation between trade media and consumer media.”

Dan Leary discussed the changes in the organization’s Communications Department over the past two years as well as providing a recap of the first year publishing the Breeders Book. USTA/Mark Hall photo.

In the USTA presentation, Leary discussed the changes in the organization’s Communications Department over the past two years as well as providing a recap of the first year publishing the Breeders Book and the plans for the options of Hoof Beats subscribers to include it or not with their subscriptions.

The Year in Review presentation featured several short videos demonstrating how the USTA utilized them and graphics on social media platforms, what the approach is to covering racing and developing feature story ideas, and how the USTA “traveling team” used technology to produce exciting videos and capture unique photos.

The USTA annual meeting continues on Saturday (March 12) with the Board of Directors opening general session, the annual Recognition Luncheon, and the Racing, Registration, and Finance Committees.