Do’s and Don’ts in China
The World Games family already has its sights firmly set on the next Games in Chengdu. This year's IWGA Media Workshop focused on effective public relations for the 12th edition of The World Games (TWG), to be staged from 7th to 17th August 2025. About 60 media officers from the IWGA member federations attended the two-day meeting at IOC headquarters in Lausanne; about 20 of them took the opportunity to follow the workshop online. The workshop was organized by Anna Jacobson, IWGA Head of Communications.
During the exchanges, the focus was not only on developing strategies to gain world-wide attention for the competitions in the capital of Sichuan Province. Another challenge will be to promote and publicize the sports of The World Games within China as a whole.
For the IWGA, CEO Joachim Gossow welcomed the participants and got them in the mood for the tightly packed two-day programme. Gossow again emphasized the increased importance of social media and the opportunity to involve athletes in the communications to a greater degree. IWGA Vice President Max Bishop addressed the workshop participants on behalf of IWGA President José Perurena. Christian Klaue, IOC Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Department, welcomed the media experts ‘in his home’ and gave the support of the Olympic family.
Patrick Medley-Browne, IOC Social Media Localisation Manager, reported on the experiences at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing. He also gave examples of how athlete and fan engagement via social media can succeed. As examples of best practice, Chris Wells, World Archery, and Valentin Weber, International Fistball Association, shared how their federations effectively and efficiently get their messages out to fans.
Julian Gornall-Thode, General Manager of the Lausanne Office of the Shankai Company, provided insight into how social networks work in China and the rules of the game when foreigners seek proximity to the audience in the host country of TWG 2025. The company has extensive experience in China, and the audience took the advice on do’s and don'ts for successful communication very seriously.
Ursula Romero and David Taunton from IWGA host broadcaster ISB in Madrid gave a first glimpse of what a new platform could look like, broadcasting the signals from the Games in just under 900 days to fans of the sports on the programme as simply and easily as possible.
Two discussion rounds, in which the participants could exchange ideas in smaller groups, looked for answers to two questions: What are your own new ideas on how to interest the different target groups for the Games, and what kind of support do you expect from the IWGA for your promotion of the multi-sport event in China.
The feedback on the workshop was extremely positive. Valentin Weber formulated this on behalf of all the participants: "The presentations and discussions were very informative and right to the point. But what was almost more important for us was that we were able to exchange ideas and compare experiences with media officers from the other federations."
The World Games is a multi-sport event staged every four years by the International World Games Association, organised with the support of the International Olympic Committee. The World Games 2022 was held in Birmingham, Alabama, USA, 7-17 July 2022. 3,600 athletes from 34 sports and 100 countries took part in the Games. The 12th edition of The World Games will be held in Chengdu, CHN in 2025.
