Executive Director’s Report

What will be the biggest table tennis event in 2000? A. The World Championships; B. The Olympic Games; or C. Chicago’s 2000 Ping Pong Festival. Hint – come visit the Windy City in August to find out!

On April 26th, The City of Chicago announced that it will run a six-week citywide "Ping-Pong" festival. The Daley administration, via the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, will place over 300 tables around the city over the six-week period and recruit an army of over 300 volunteers in what is likely to be the largest table tennis event in the history of our sport!

Lois Wiessberg, Deputy Commissioner of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs, expects over half a million people to participate in the festival. She has history on her side. Last year the city successfully ran its internationally acclaimed "Cows on Parade" festival. The Chicago press is already labeling the Ping-Pong festival as an encore to last year’s event.

What does the festival mean for table tennis? I see tremendous opportunity to assist the City of Chicago, in a consultant’s role, in order to showcase the professionalism and internationalism of our sport. Additionally, since so many people already enjoy table tennis, we have the ability, through competition, to help the city of Chicago pull together the many diverse peoples of the city under the umbrella of activities and competitions.

Last weekend I flew to Chicago to meet with Ms. Weissberg and her staff. Accompanying me was Larry Gajderowitz of Escalade Sports (Escalade Sports is the registered owner of the trademark "Ping Pong"). Together we discussed how we could help the city of Chicago achieve its goals and I was personally very impressed with Ms. Weissberg and her Staff’s goals, ambitions and understanding of how to run a major event. Chicago already has a long list of local sponsors ready and willing to help. Interestingly, the Ping-Pong festival will have a large cultural and historical element attached to it. Not only does Chicago want to engage its residents, but it also wants to make the festival an endpoint destination for many national and international tourists.

What is USA Table Tennis’ role you ask? With our "know how," Chicago has made us a "presenting sponsor," and I will have a seat on the Ping-Pong festival committee. USA Table Tennis will help Chicago activate and educate the volunteers needed to oversee the competitions. We will also work to bring top athletes in to perform exhibitions and work with our membership in Chicago to stage a national or international tournament.

What happens after the festival? The city of Chicago Parks and Recreational Department is very interested in establishing a permanent youth program in 5 to 10 of its facilities. They are looking for advice on how to establish a program that has staying power and allows participants to become engaged in our sport.

Interestingly, many other smaller towns have approached the City of Chicago and cities across America with the common goal of replicating the successful "Cows on Parade" festival. If we can assist Chicago and prove that table tennis is a great choice for a festival theme, we are in a great position to have a successful festival theme centered on "Ping Pong" as a working marketing platform.

I look forward to working with the City of Chicago in the months ahead and encourage you to visit the city and participate in the festival. July and August were supposed to be catch-up months for USA Table Tennis. We will now have to place catch-up on the backburner and work with Ms. Weissberg’s office to make this event a smashing success.