(ATR) Camiel Eurlings tells Around the Rings the Olympic body "cannot afford" to miss capitalizing on the new wave of social media to reach the youth.
The IOC member from the Netherlands has a big job on his hands to help spearhead new initiatives to widen the appeal of the Olympics and its values.
Appointed chair of the commission in May amid the whirlwind of changes brought by Thomas Bach’s reforms, the panel meets for the first time in November in Lausanne.
Eurlings told ATR the commission would be "very energetic" and "extremely ambitious" in setting its targets to develop a concept around new media and social media platforms. It will work closely with the new Olympic Channel Commission, headed by U.S. IOC member and USOC president Larry Probst.
"There is a new challenge in maximum use of social media to boost the interaction with the younger generation," he said.
Eurlings said the keynote speech made by WPP chief Martin Sorrell to the IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur last week, in which he urged the IOC to embrace the technological revolution, "opened the eyes of many."
The former KLM chief executive plans to harness the expertise he has gained in the aviation industry where the Dutch airline is "number one in the use of new media for communications."
"I am always very proud of that. We had some top-notch people. Together with the Nikes and Apples of this world we were in the first league of companies. It really interests me a lot," he said.
On the work ahead for the communications commission, Eurlings added: "I have really pushed for it together with some other people in the IOC because we cannot afford to miss this wave.
"It’s happening now. It’s going very fast. Who knows where it will bring us?But if we don’t start right now in creating a channel and a platform that is a natural place to be for the young generation on the digital highway then we miss it and then go out of their view."
Eurlings said he was looking forward to receiving the input from IOC members and also commission officials from outside the Olympic Movement such as Randi Zuckerberg, the sister of Facebook founder Mark.
Zuckerberg, formerly the chief spokesperson for Facebook, was one of 300 individuals named to 20+ IOC commissions in May.
The commissions are set to meet in the middle of November in Lausanne.
Reported by Mark Bisson
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