Event director hired for World Rowing events at Nathan Benderson Park

UNIVERSITY PARK -- Taking an international event with Olympic ties into your own backyard might be daunting, but Meredith Scerba is excited about the prospects and says it's just the start.

Scerba was hired by the Suncoast Aquatic Nature Center, Inc. to organize and execute the 2017 World Rowing Championships and the 2018 World Rowing Masters Regatta at Nathan Benderson Park

Her tasks will include procuring sponsorships, arranging hotels, travel and other logistics for rowing teams.

"I want to give everyone, not just rowing people, an experience around this event," Scerba said. She hopes to engage the community and help residents feel like they are a part of planning the event.

"It'll have international flavor, an Olympic piece and something to be proud of in your own backyard," she said. She also sees it as an opportunity to promote Manatee and Sarasota Counties as vacation destinations.

"The event hasn't been in the U.S. for 23 years," she said. "And beyond Sarasota-Bradenton, this is an opportunity to showcase our area on a world level. We're representing the U.S."

Scerba attended the 2015 World Rowing Championships in France where she met Virginia Haley, executive director of Visit Sarasota. While Haley wasn't a part of the interview committee who screened and hired Scerba, she was "very impressed" with her when they met.

"I fell in love with the fact that she's so detail-oriented," Haley said. "She knows events and knows the right questions to ask and she also has a very calm manner."

Elliot Falcione, executive director of the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitor's Bureau, was on the interview committee and said it was Scerba's people skills that impressed him most.

"She had the personality traits that will mesh with this region right out of the gate," Falcione said. "She's got leadership skills, she's a personable person that I think will build relationships quickly and lead the community."

Scerba knows exactly what she'll be doing as she prepares for SANCA's World Rowing events team.

"It's 24/7 rowing for the next two years," Scerba said.

She arrived in Florida on Sunday and is already enchanted by the sunshine, weather and Nathan Benderson Park. She's originally from North Carolina but spent the last decade working in Cleveland for the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission.

During her tenure there, she organized the 2013 National Senior Games, which she described as the "senior Olympics." More than 11,000 athletes participated in 26 sports, the event had an estimated $36.1 million impact on the Cleveland area and Scerba was tasked with raising roughly $4.1 million for the event.

For organizing the World Rowing events, Scerba estimates she'll need an additional six to ten staffers to help her plan the event, including a marketing and communications position, an operations staff and a director of partnership. She hopes to bring on the latter member of the team before the beginning of 2016.

"The clock is ticking and the pressure is on," Scerba said. "I want to make this the best world championship to date."

Scerba wants to bring on the director of partnership soon because the SANCA team will need to raise several million for the 2017 event. She said she hasn't finalized the fundraising budget yet, but expects it will be under $4 million.

Some of the heavy lifting for the event was done when SANCA submitted its application for the World Rowing Championships in 2013. Venues chosen for World Rowing events are evaluated by FISA, the governing council for the World Rowing Association, to assure the venue and surrounding area has a rowing facility with the proper specifications and enough lodging for teams and attendees.

"A number of hotels have already been booked for athletes and I feel we are in good standing with the hotel situation," Scerba said. Haley said when hotel information was submitted as a part of the 2017 World Rowing Championships bid package, about 50 percent of the hotels were in Sarasota County with the remaining 50 percent in Manatee County.

Haley confirmed several teams have already booked hotels in Sarasota County and both tourism bureaus are carefully planning other events around the Sept. 23 to Oct. 1, 2017 timeframe to assure hotels are not over-booked. But hotels also have their own management system to take care of potential overbooking.

"No hotel gives us all of their inventory," Haley said. "They keep some rooms for their loyal customers."

Paul Blackketter, President of SANCA, said the focus is on providing enough options to the rowing teams. Teams provide price ranges and general information about what they want in lodging facilities and Scerba will help them find the proper accommodations.

IMG Academy will provide some lodging for teams in 2017 and Blackketter said this helps some teams feel more at home while they're in Sarasota to compete.

"What we're trying to do is provide more options to teams so they have a wider variety to choose from," Blackketter said. "IMG does provide the dorm-like atmosphere athletes are used to."

Scerba's position is temporary and her tenure depends on Nathan Benderson Park's future event prospects.

"I'm confident we will prove ourselves in 2017 and 2018," she said. "And I feel confident we will be awarded more major events."

In the meantime, Scerba will be busy assembling her team, finding housing and getting settled. Her husband, Matt, is working on selling their home in Cleveland and as soon as he does, he'll join her in Sarasota with their 14-year-old rescue cat Lucky.

Janelle O'Dea, business reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7095 or follow her on Twitter@jayohday.

This story was originally published October 14, 2015 at 6:03 PM with the headline "Event director hired for World Rowing events at Nathan Benderson Park ."