Host City Expanding Glasgow Event -- Conferences & Conventions

(ATR) Host City welcomes the continued support of EventScotland, Glasgow Convention Bureau and Glasgow Life for its 2019 Expo & Conference on November 25-27.

Host City 2019, the largest meeting of cities and sports, business and cultural events, will have an expanded, interactive event format. Organizers say this year’s edition will have full run of the Technology & Innovation Centre over two floors, greatly increasing the size of the marketplace of stands and number of attendees.

"Host City Expo & Conference has grown in size and quality every year in Glasgow since 2015, and the expanded format in 2019 will be a step change for the development of this crucial platform for all stakeholders in the hosting of major sports, business and cultural events." Matthew Astill, CEO of Host City, owner Cavendish Group said in a statement.

The 2019 edition will take place over two full days after kicking off with a welcome reception on Nov. 25.

"Scotland is synonymous with the Host City Conference and I’m delighted to be continuing our support to secure its return to Glasgow in 2019 with an expanded format," said Paul Bush, Director of Events at VisitScotland, in a statement. "The Conference and Expo is an excellent chance for event professionals from across the world to come together to share best practice as well as discuss the opportunities and challenges facing the industry."

Host City Asia Announces Speakers

Host City Asia announces the first wave of confirmed speakers for its second edition at Beijing’s Four Seasons Hotel on April 11.

Hiromi Kawamura, the Public Relations Secretary for the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee, and Laszlo Vajda, Senior Operations Advisor for the Minsk 2019 European Games and a Senior Expert for the Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee, are two of the early entries to the speakers list.

Organizers say 200 international event rights owners, Asian event hosts, organizing committees, and experts are set to participate under the conference theme of "Faster, Higher, Stronger: Growth through Event Hosting".

Agenda topics include the impact of AI, big data and blockchain on the events sector, integrating event infrastructure planning into city plans, and how to engage young people in sports and culture events.

With a mix of panel discussions, keynote addresses and case studies, Host City Asia will highlight the issues and opportunities facing everyone in the major events business.

A First for LawAccord at SportAccord 2019

The LawAccord conference program will be running for a full day for the first time at the next SportAccord in Gold Coast, Australia.

The program, entitled "Key Opportunities, Challenges and Threats to Institutional Sport – From Within and Without", is set to take place on May 6.

"Hosting SportAccord in Gold Coast has presented a wide variety of conference opportunities for the LawAccord programme this year," Nis Hatt, Managing Director of SportAccord said in a statement.

"With so many influencers and stakeholders in the region, it was felt that a full-day’s conference followed by a networking cocktail, would give delegates more news and current thinking, and provide the perfect platform to discuss the day’s business and insights in welcoming surroundings."

Francesco Ricci Bitti, Acting President of SportAccord and President of ASOIF, will provide the welcome introduction and opening for LawAccord. Among the speakers will be Malcolm Speed, former CEO of Cricket Australia and the International Cricket Council, Craig Reedie, President of WADA, Benjamin Cohen, Director General of the International Testing Agency and Matthieu Reeb, Secretary General of the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The Gold Coast edition of SportAccord, which runs from May 5-10, will host more than 50 conference sessions with around 100 international speakers and panelists taking part. Besides LawAccord, the four other conference streams include: The Summit, CityAccord, MediaAccord, and HealthAccord.

SPORTELAsia Registration Still Open

Online registration is open until March 3 for SPORTELAsia 2019, which is March 5-7 in Macau.

"SPORTELAsia is the ideal environment for the SPORTEL Community to come together to do business in the Far East and across Asia Pacific," SPORTEL CEO Laurent Puons has told Around the Rings.

"It is a unique opportunity for SPORTEL participants to meet the leading sports business decision makers from Asia who do not attend any of SPORTEL's other events."

Among those who are attending are representatives from Spain's La Liga, the NBA, the International Table Tennis Federation, Dentsu, and Infront.

The program includes a session devoted to esports, entitled "The Rise of Esports - Opportunities for Growth".

SPORTEL has launched its new cost effective and flexible exhibitor package with opportunities starting at €3,000 ($3,389).

Soccerex Adding New Event for 2019

Soccerex is adding a new event for 2019 while also returning to China and the USA.

The organization, which describes itself as the global leader for the business of football, will be coming to Oeiras, Portugal for the inaugural Soccerex Europe on September 5-6.

The event will unite key rights holders and businesses from across Europe and the rest of the world and will provide European football with an important in-market gathering ahead of UEFA’s 2020 European Championships.

Soccerex will also be returning to China and the USA in 2019, a year after inaugural events in both countries

Soccerex China 2019 will take place on May 23-24 in the coastal city of Sanya, in China’s Hainan Province while Soccerex USA will return to Miami, Florida for a second straight November.

"2019 looks set to be a spectacular year for Soccerex – we are thrilled to be building on the success of our events in China and the US by continuing to provide the industry with vital business platforms in these two vibrant markets and I am really excited to be bringing Soccerex to a new country with Soccerex Europe in Portugal, home of the European Champions!," Soccerex Co-Founder Rita Revie said in a statement.

Book your place for Soccerex China before March 23 and save more than 40% from the final rate. Click here to sign up.

Other Conferences:

March 27-28: SportsPro OTT Summit Asia in Singapore

April 11: HIVE Esports Business Conference in Berlin

April 30-May 1: SportsPro Live in London

May 28-29: THE SPOT in Lausanne

June 24-26: Los Angeles Sports Summit

Aug. 29-31: Sport India 2019 in New Delhi

Sept. 4-7: VISTA 2019 in Amsterdam

Sept. 10-12: Esports Business Summit in Las Vegas

Nov. 18-20: Sports Business Japan/Stadia & Arena 2019 in Saitama

Dec. 10-12: Regional SportAccord Pan America in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Written by Gerard Farek

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