Show Preview: Sport and Technology: The Conference 2007 - June 2007  

Delegates wishing to attend Sport and Technology: The Conference 2007, only have seven days left to register their places.

The London headquarters of global satellite communications provider Inmarsat, well known for its World Rally Championship and Volvo Ocean Race sponsorships, will host the panel-based conference on Friday 29 June 2007.
Key representatives from major broadcasters, sports properties and technology companies have joined the speakers’ panels at the third edition of Sport and Technology: The Conference which this year is being sponsored by Servecast, Jalipo, ICG and The Sports Recruitment Company. The conference will be an interactive forum that will encourage debate between the speakers and audience members.

Convergence

Derek Wyatt, Member of Parliament in the UK government (pictured below right) will take part in the opening panel discussion of the day, looking at the issue of Convergence. Wyatt is Chairman of the All Party Internet Group and also Chairman of the All Party Rugby Group at Westminster. His fellow panellists are Andrew Brown, Chief Operating Officer, Racing UK; Hyacinth Nwana, Managing Director, Mobile Media Solutions, Arqiva; Peter Lewinton, Head of Sport, Virgin Media; and Rhys Beer, Head of Broadband, Setanta Sports, all of whom bring a wealth of experience to this timely discussion.
The panel, moderated by Tony Singh, Senior Associate, Spectrum Strategy Consultants, will address issues such as: What is convergence? What does it actually mean to the consumer? How does convergence actually benefit the consumer? What value can technology companies offer consumers? How can technology be used to enhance consumer experiences? And how will technologies such as VOIP and Mobile TV have an impact on sports fans?

Digital Rights Protection

A growing number of sports organisations including the English Premier League have initiated legal action against social networking website You Tube/Google, claiming copyright infringement.
Against this background, the social networking phenomenon will be discussed on the second panel discussion of the day: ‘Protecting Digital Assets in Sport and the Rise of Social Networking Sites’. The panel of experts will discuss which digital assets are actually owned by sports rights owners, why sports organisations need to be protected, what the main types of security breach are, who the innovators in digital security are, which online security systems are best, why P2P is potentially such a threat, how anti-piracy measures are affecting digital production and how rights owners are protecting themselves against social networking sites.
Ze'ev Rozov, CEO, of social networking site Sportingo and Umberto Righetti,  Commercial Director of grassroots online sports network SportingPulse, will be joined on the panel by Christopher Stokes, CEO of digital policing company NetResult, Andy Nobbs, President and Managing Director, of digital tracking service Teletrax and Ciaran Quinn, Vice President, General Manager Europe of DRM solutions company Entriq. Rachael Church-Sanders, Editor of Sport and Technology will moderate the discussion.

Stadia as Studios

Attending a sports event is becoming a truly multimedia experience with spectators expecting much more from their match day outing than just a seat and a sandwich. Venues in return are providing entertainment around events through increasingly utilising technology that can boost their revenues at the same time.
These areas will be addressed at Sport and Technology: The Conference 2007 in a session entitled: ‘The Stadium as a Television Studio’.
Screen Digest’s Tim Westcott (the former editor of Television Business International) will lead a discussion between venues and technology suppliers on topics such as: Should broadcasters and technology companies be involved in the design of a stadium? Are providing good sightlines and hiding unsightly cables more important than technology access? Are television audiences generally catered for more than the venue audiences at a live event? Should sports be more flexible in accommodating broadcasting and IT needs? How are developments in HDTV affecting lighting? How is technology being used at venues to enhance spectator experiences (WiFi, VOIP, smartseats etc)? What do spectators now expect from their match day experiences? And how can venues monetise technology?
John Beattie, Stadium Manager at Arsenal FC’s Emirates Stadium (pictured above right), Peter Mckenna, Stadium Director at Croke Park Stadium in Dublin, David Wood, Managing Director of sports production company Input Media and Gilles Page, Senior Lighting Designer Sports at Philips Lighting will share their own knowledge and experiences with the audience.

Technology versus Referees

Sam McCleery, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for PVI Virtual Media Services (pictured right), has joined Sport and Technology: The Conference 2007’s final panel of the day. McCleery is responsible for many seminal achievements that have revolutionised sports broadcasting over the years, including the introduction of the electronic 'yellow' first down line to CBS Sports (for its coverage of American Football) and many virtual advertising/product placement techniques that have been adopted globally in broadcasting.
McCleery joins a range of experts on the final panel discussion of the day, that will be held at Inmarsat’s headquarters in London on Friday 29 June, entitled ‘Technology versus Referees’.
Former referee Stuart Cummings, now Match Officials Director of the Rugby Football League, Chris Kelly, Umpires and Match Operations Manager at the England and Wales Cricket Board, Martin Bland, Head of Refereeing Services at ProZone Sports and Dr Mike Caine, Sports Technology Lecturer at Loughborough University (who has worked with Adidas on line-crossing technology in soccer balls), will debate the subject of whether technology will ever replace human referees.
The panel, led by Kevin Roberts, Editorial Director of SportBusiness International, will also seek to answer questions such as: How has technology been utilised to replace or assist referees to date? Should technology ever be used to assist refereeing in football/soccer? Do referees welcome technology in their sports? Do fans and athletes generally think third umpires and video referees are a good thing?

Addresses and Cocktail party/Charity Raffle

Sport and Technology: The Conference 2007 will feature an afternoon Opening Address by Mickey Charles, President and CEO of realtime sports wire service The Sports Network and a Closing Address by Doug Gardner, Managing Director of Avaya’s FIFA World Cup Programmes 2001-06. Delegates will also enjoy an evening cocktail party and a charity raffle, both of which have been popular at the event since its inaugural edition in 2005.
Tottenham Hotspur legend, Steve Perryman MBE (pictured right courtest of Getty Images Sport/Clive Mason), now Director of Football at recent Wembley visitors Exeter City FC, will be the drawmaster at the charity raffle which will include prizes such as a FIFA World Cup football signed by Pele and donated by Avaya and an Ashes Tour signed Australian bat donated by the ECB. Perryman holds the Spurs record for most appearances in the league, FA Cup, League Cup and Europe. In a long, successful career Perryman also won more medals than any other player at Spurs with two League Cups, two UEFA Cups and two FA Cups alongside the honour of the Football Writers' Player of the Year in 1982. In 1986, Perryman was awarded the MBE for services to football.

Register now at www.sportandtechnologyconference.com and join an extensive list of senior industry executives at the must-attend event of 2007 while seats last!

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