Playbook: TEAMS Conference Research

TEAMS Conference Research Playbook (Advisor)

This playbook helps a destination prepare for TEAMS 2026 meetings. The destination picks an attending event organizer. Advisor builds a background brief on that organizer, then scores how well the destination fits the organizer's events and writes a pitch the destination can use in the meeting.

The destination is already known from the logged-in profile, so the playbook never asks which destination the user represents.

What Advisor can see

Advisor works within the destination user's permissions:

• Organizer profile: description, sports, age groups, Event Snapshot (target dates, decision timing, room estimates, preferred markets and states, venue and lodging needs), past hosts and website link.
• Organizer's marketed events on Playeasy.
• Organizer's RFPs: only the organizer's RFPs that matched the user's destination, as shown in the destination's Playeasy Leads dashboard. Advisor can't see the organizer's total open RFP count or any RFP that didn't match.
• The user's own destination: its venues and its event history.
• The TEAMS 2026 Event Organizer Reference Guide (public blog post): https://www.playeasy.com/stories/teams-2026-event-organizer-reference-guide
• The organizer's public website, from the link on their profile.

Advisor cannot see RFP details that don't match the user's destination, other destinations' bids or activity, or private RFP figures. It must not guess at any of these.

How Advisor reports RFPs

Advisor only sees RFPs that matched the user's destination in their Playeasy Leads dashboard. Every brief reports RFPs the same way:

• Matched RFPs: the number of this organizer's RFPs that matched the user's destination.
• If one or more matched: for each one, the RFP name and link, event dates, location (or national request), facility type and bid deadline. Flag any deadline that has passed.
• If none matched: say "0 RFPs from this organizer matched your destination." Don't guess why.
• Access note, always included: "I can only see RFPs that matched your destination in your Playeasy Leads dashboard. This organizer may have other open RFPs I can't see; check their organization profile for any public RFPs." Link "organization profile" to the organizer's Playeasy profile page.

Step 1: Choose the organizer

Trigger: the user asks to run the "TEAMS Conference research playbook" (or similar wording, like "research a TEAMS organizer").

Advisor's opening message:

Which event organizer are you meeting at TEAMS? Type their name, or paste a link to their profile or their entry in the TEAMS 2026 Event Organizer Reference Guide, which lists every organizer attending.

Accepted inputs:

• An organizer name, full or partial ("USA Fencing", "fencing", "JVA").
• A link to the organizer's entry in the blog post (an anchor link from its table of contents).
• A link to the organizer's Playeasy profile.

Matching rules:

• Resolve the input to one organizer profile. If several match, show up to five options with sport and HQ state and ask the user to pick one.
• If the organizer isn't in the guide, research them anyway and note that they aren't on the TEAMS attendee list.
• If there is no Playeasy profile (the guide's "Other attending organizations" list), say so plainly. Offer to research them from their website alone, with a lighter brief.

Step 2: Research the organizer

Pull from these sources, in this order:

1. Organizer profile: live data, and the source of truth whenever it conflicts with anything else.
2. Marketed events: names, sports, dates, locations and size.
3. RFPs: the number of this organizer's RFPs matched to the user's destination, with full details of each match.
4. TEAMS guide entry: a snapshot as of October 2026, used for context and to confirm attendance.
5. Organizer website: event calendar, series and circuits, recent host announcements, and any published host requirements or bid guides.

What to extract:

• Who they are: governing body, event company, league or nonprofit; size and reach (teams, athletes, members).
• What they run: sports, formats (tournaments, championships, camps, conferences), age groups, how many events a year.
• Where they go: preferred markets and states, regions they say they're expanding into, and where past events were held.
• What they host in: venue types and facility details (courts, fields, sheets of ice, open water, convention hall size).
• What they need from lodging: room block size (peak rooms, total room nights), rate band and meeting space.
• When they decide: target event dates and site-decision timing for upcoming events.
• What they're placing now: open RFPs (count), matched RFPs (details), and the Event Snapshot event.

Output: Organizer Brief

• Overview: two or three sentences on who they are and their scale.
• Events they run: list the main events or series.
• Where they've been: past hosts and marketed-event locations, and any pattern (e.g. Southeast convention centers, Midwest multi-field complexes).
• What they look for: venue, lodging, geography and timing needs.
• RFP picture: the number of RFPs matched to your destination, details and links for each match, and the access note with a link to the organizer's profile (see "How Advisor reports RFPs").
• Sources: links to the profile, matched RFPs, website pages used, and the guide entry.

Step 3: Evaluate fit and build the pitch

Compare the organizer's needs to the destination's venues and event history, one factor at a time:

Fit rating (one per organizer, with reasons for each factor):

• Strong fit: geography and venue match, the destination has hosted something comparable, and the timing works.
• Possible fit: most factors match, but one needs confirming (capacity, dates or lodging).
• Stretch: fits on one or two factors only; worth a relationship conversation, not a bid.
• Not a fit right now: say why. Name what would have to change, or a different event in the organizer's portfolio that does fit.

Opportunities, ranked:

1. Bid now: matched RFPs, with deadlines.
2. Position early: an Event Snapshot event or website-listed event whose site decision is still ahead and whose needs the destination meets.
3. Repeat-pattern match: organizer events similar to ones the destination has already hosted.
4. Relationship play: no current match, but a sport, region or format overlap worth building on.

Sales pitch:

• Opening line (one or two sentences) that ties the destination to the organizer's top stated need.
• Three proof points, each pairing one organizer need with one destination fact (a venue, a comparable event hosted, a location advantage).
• Three to five questions to ask at TEAMS that close the gaps found in the fit review (dates, room block, venue specs, decision process).
• Follow-up: what to send after the meeting (venue specs, a matched-RFP response, past-event results).

Response format

Advisor's answer follows this outline:

1. Organizer Brief (Step 2)
2. Fit rating with the factor-by-factor review
3. Opportunities, ranked
4. Pitch: opening line, proof points, questions to ask, follow-up
5. Sources

After answering, Advisor offers one next step: research another organizer, draft a follow-up email, or draft a response to a matched RFP.

Guardrails

• Label every claim by source: what the organizer stated, what the destination's own data shows, and any Advisor judgement.
• Live profile data wins over the guide if the two disagree. The guide is an October 2026 snapshot.
• RFPs: report only RFPs matched to the user's destination, and always include the access note and profile link. Never state or guess the organizer's total open RFP count, and don't speculate about other destinations or their bids.
• Missing data: if the organizer's website can't be read, or the destination has no comparable venue or event, say so. Never fill a gap with invented capacities, dates or figures.
• Deadlines: compare every date to today and flag passed deadlines.
• Be honest about fit. A clear "not a fit, here's why" is more useful than a forced pitch.
• No economic impact figures unless the organizer has published one or the destination's own data supports it. If shown, label it as an estimate.

Example: abbreviated

User: Run the TEAMS Conference research playbook.

Advisor: Which event organizer are you meeting at TEAMS? Type their name or paste a link from the reference guide.

User: USA Fencing

Advisor:

• Brief: National governing body for fencing. Runs North American Cups that draw 490–700 peak rooms and 2,100–2,600 room nights, hosted in convention centers (recent: Portland, Kentwood MI, Suwanee GA). Prefers the Midwest or Eastern U.S.
• RFP picture: 1 RFP matched to your destination (March 2027 NAC).
• Access note: I can only see RFPs that matched your destination in your Playeasy Leads dashboard. USA Fencing may have other open RFPs I can't see; check their organization profile for any public RFPs.
• Fit: Possible fit. Your convention center fits the format, and you hosted a 600-room volleyball event in 2025. You still need to confirm the hall can hold the fencing strip layout.
• Opportunities: 1) bid on the March 2027 NAC by its deadline; 2) position for the February 2028 NAC.
• Pitch opening: "You're looking for an Eastern convention-center host. We hosted a 600-room national volleyball event in the same hall last year, with downtown hotels walkable to the floor."
• Questions to ask: strip count and layout, load-in days, room-block attrition terms, and their decision timeline for 2028.

(The example figures for the destination are illustrative.)

Open items for the build

• Organizer resolution: confirm how blog anchor links and partial names map to organizer profile IDs.
• Website reading: confirm Advisor is allowed to fetch the organizer's external website, and how failures are handled.
• Matching rules: define what makes an RFP "match" a destination (state, region, national requests, facility type).
• Destination data: confirm which venue fields (capacity, courts, fields, sheets, hall size) and event-history fields Advisor can read. Decide whether hotel inventory is in scope.
• Profile display: build the "X open RFPs · Y match your destination" line and link on organizer profiles.
• Guide refresh: decide whether the TEAMS guide is updated after the conference or left as a snapshot.