Welcome to Around the Table, our regular look at the work Table Tennis England is doing to promote and support table tennis around the country.
Today we are following up our earlier edition on #TableTennisDay.
So how did #TableTennisDay go?
The feedback we have had from clubs, schools and businesses has been overwhelmingly positive, and we generated a lot of media interest and social media activity. In terms of raising the profile of our sport and encouraging extra participation, it was a great success.
What sort of events were organised?
All sorts! We were told about open days, tournaments, beat the pro, exhibition matches, world record attempts and numerous games in the ‘around the table’ or ‘choose your weapon’ mould. There were well over 200 events that we knew about – and there were 200-plus downloads of our online toolkit.
What sort of organisations were involved?
Again, a good variety. Clubs and schools were particularly active and there was a good sprinkling of workplaces too. County Sports Partnerships did their bit, and even some other National Governing Bodies got involved, including England Hockey and Rounders England.
What sort of media coverage was generated?
A lot of the local events were covered by their local media. Nationally, Sky Sports News visited events in Oxford and our main Table Tennis England event in Nottingham. They filmed interviews with Andrew Baggaley in Oxford and Desmond Douglas and our Chief Executive Sara Sutcliffe in Nottingham, plus footage from the events, and showed different segments throughout the day.
Also on TV, BBC East Midlands Today, BBC South, Made in Leeds and Notts TV all featured footage of the day.
An interview with Des was also carried on 40 BBC local radio stations on the evening, while there were separate items on BBC Leeds, BBC 3 Counties and BBC West Midlands.
So how many people took part in or were aware of #TableTennisDay?
We’re not sure of the audience figures for the TV and radio shows, but we do know that more than 1,200 tweets using the hashtag #TableTennisDay were used, reaching an estimated 4.7 MILLION unique users.
In terms of the number of people taking part in events, we estimate that could exceed 10,000 people.
So what’s happening next year?
We’ll be analysing the feedback we have had and contacting event organisers in the next couple of weeks to find out more information about how things went on the day.
We will look at whether the format and date is working well or needs any changes. Whatever we do, it’s fair to say we will be aiming to make #TableTennisDay 2016 even bigger and better than this year.