Founder Lucky Socks Media | Ex BBC Sport, Children's & News | Children & Younger Audiences Expert | Digital, social media & programming strategy | Content & Leadership | Author of Izzy & the Tumble Thunder | Dad
A day of passionate people discussing the future of their sport at The Racing Foundation conference. I even sneaked in a 30 year-old music reference. My main takeout: it’s all about the storytelling. The Horse Racing industry is layered and complex. It has many challenges of perception around animal welfare, gambling and alcohol - as well as social accessibility. And while some of those are real and true, some are misconceptions, because the sport seems scared of its own shadow. But to secure itself as an industry, a sport and a social event for the next generation, the key will be to tell its stories better. From the people, to the sport, to the horses. It was a privilege to deliver the keynote speech yesterday on the secrets to engaging the next generation. From stories, to experiences to the product itself, it was a genuinely fascinating day full of knowledge, expertise and a room of warm, passionate people who genuinely care. Great to hear about the Wurzels, The Hundred and Prem Rugby from Rob Calder. And thanks to new friends Tom Baker Tansy Challis Rhi Lee-Jones Gabi Whitfield Lee Moulson and the many others I connected with yesterday. It was great to discuss how Lucky Socks Media and our new partnership with Russell James could play a part for Horse Racing. And hat tip to Asif (Ash) Mirza for working the room. Here’s to the next conversation. And if you need somebody with a human touch...
Are you Old(er) spice?
Your talk was an absolutely brilliant opener for this year's conference; it set the tone perfectly for the whole day and really got everybody thinking and talking.
Great presentation - everyone sitting around me clearly enjoyed it and found it thought provoking. Good to chat to you with other Racing Foundations the night before - to share our passion for the amazing sport of horse racing and bizarrely our dog stories! Thanks for your time and your insights.
Fantastic having you share your experience, insights, and getting people to look through the eyes of young people again. Much to do but the journey is going to be an exciting one.
What a thought-provoking keynote speech. Your canal run slide is genius in its simplicity; if an engagement strategy isn’t tailored to the age groups we want to connect, you miss the boat and something, probably digital, will rapidly take its place. You have convinced me Stuart - it can be possible to love a sport too much and I suppose the product is a target audience that cannot stretch to those discovering and changing young minds.
Great and engaging presentation, loved the older references!
Your's was an fascinating and insightful presentation (as was Rob Calder's) - I left inspired. I have fed back into a working group we have of young people within Spotlight Sports Group who we are leaning on to innovate in terms of how we relate to people of their age in our presentation of Racing - the two main bits of guidance were "we know too much about racing" and that a "relationship starts with a smile". Thanks.
It was a fantastic and thought provoking presentation. There were plenty of take aways, and lessons to racing on how we can engage people better. Thank you so much, really enjoyed listening.
Hugely enjoyable presentation, particularly enjoyed the references to Red Rum and The Grand National 👍🏻
Consultant | Business & Marketing | E,D,I |Hospitality & Events | Media | Horseracing & Sports | NED
2wA brilliant and inspiring presentation with lots of great examples of where we can engage young people better. Also featuring one of my favourite spice girls tracks! Thanks Stu. 🙏