Columbus, OH – The 2026 U.S. Trotting Association’s Board of Directors Annual Meeting kicked off on Friday (March 6) at the Hilton Columbus at Easton in Columbus, Ohio.
The first of the three-day assembly commenced with a meeting of the Communications/Marketing Committee followed by a Welcome Reception for the directors and guests.
On Friday morning before the meetings, Ty Higgins, the general manager for Ag Net Communications and featured speaker at the Communications/Marketing Committee meeting, hosted his weekly podcast from the Hilton. Higgins interviewed USTA President Russell Williams, USTA COO TC Lane and USTA Director Dr. John Mossbarger from Midland Acres farm for his podcast that was broadcast across the State of Ohio.
Higgins’ “Sell Local: Buying In to the Grassroots Outreach Model” presentation discussed target audiences and the challenges in promoting harness racing to those outside the industry. He emphasized how during his time at the Ohio Farm Bureau, the organization trained members and put farmers, not lobbyists, in front of the cameras to discuss everyday content, not corporate messaging.
Higgins explained how they built grassroots digital advocates and focused on transparency and normalcy. His advice to the harness racing industry included being transparent in promoting normal operations to the public that build trust, simplifying social media to reach audiences outside the industry, utilizing horsemen to tell the stories, and showing the horses as athletes. He emphasized that local outreach has more impact.
Dan Leary, Wendy Ross and Kyle Creditt made the USTA Communications Department’s “What We Tried, What We Built, How We Did and What We Learned to Help Us Move Ahead into the Future” presentation.
Leary discussed the HarnessRacing.com Show that had a full schedule for the first time in 2025 and how the USTA has utilized technology, pre-race/event promotion, social media influencers as well as race replays and additional graphics to create awareness and boost social media numbers. He described how efforts will continue in 2026 with some new opportunities to monetize some of the USTA’s social media efforts through sponsorships and advertising.
Ross talked about that growth, which included 50 million impressions, 12 million video views and 1.5 million engagements that led to 15,000 new followers on USTA social media platforms.
Creditt concluded the presentation explaining to the committee how these efforts have contributed to increasing the visibility and building the brand of harness racing, and why that strong branding is essential in growing the sport.
The Annual Meeting reconvenes Saturday (March 7) with the following schedule:
8:30 a.m. – Registration Committee
10 a.m. – General Opening Session
Noon – Recognition Luncheon
1 p.m. – Racing Committee (includes Driver/Trainer, Fairs, Pari-Mutuel, Regulatory)
3 p.m. – Finance Committee
Sunday (March 8) schedule:
9 a.m. – Rules Committee
10 a.m. – Closing Session