The traditional IWGA Media Workshop took place virtually, via Zoom, on Wednesday 18th November. This way, 73 media and communication professionals from the international federations and some other multi-sports organisations were able to take part in the meeting – whether they were in Australia, Thailand, Switzerland or the United States.
The workshop was organised in three parts: Sport & Corona Crisis, Update on TWG Birmingham 2022 and News & Exchange of Ideas. The first part concentrated on the impact of the pandemic on the sports world, and on best practice and examples of how the IWGA and the international federations have coped with the situation in social media and in general. Representatives from Lacrosse, Sport Climbing, Floorball, Muaythai, and Archery showcased their new inventive ways of communication and participation during the crisis. Examples of these are virtual Archery events that had started already in May 2020, and the World Virtual Freestyle Floorball Cup.
The CEO of the Birmingham Organising Committee (BOC), Nick Sellers, opened the second part of the workshop by underlining the BOC’s unwavering commitment to deliver on their guiding principle: to make The World Games 2022 in Birmingham a once-in-a-lifetime experience for athletes, supporters and fans around the world. He confirmed that the BOC will be able to deliver a safe and inclusive world class event in 2022.
“Everybody wants to be back together, everybody wants to reconnect. And soon this pandemic will be in our rear-view mirrors. I believe that Birmingham, USA, and these World Games 2022 specifically, will become a global moment of reconnection,” he concluded.
Updates regarding TV production in 2022 were provided by Ursula Romero, ISB and Hagen Bossdorf, IWGA.
In the last part of the 3.5-hour workshop, IWGA Communication Officer Anna Jacobson presented a new concept for the traditional Athlete of the Year voting. Then Media Consultant Hermann Kewitz provided an insight into the new IWGA Archive, located at the archive of the Olympic Channel. Finally, Ben Isenstein from the Olympic Channel Services informed the federations about how they can cooperate with and benefit from the Olympic Channel.
“Following the feedback and a first analysis of this virtual event, we can rate the meeting with IWGA member federations and our main partners such as the Birmingham Organising Committee, the host broadcaster ISB and the Olympic Channel as a great success. The spirit of the workshop should inspire and motivate all of us to manage the challenges through a global pandemic and to prepare the upcoming edition of The World Games 2022 Birmingham, Alabama in the best possible way,” said Hagen Bossdorf, IWGA TV and Marketing Coordinator.
The World Games is a multi-sport event staged every four years by the International World Games Association under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee. The 11th edition of The World Games will be held in Birmingham, Alabama, USA, 7-17 July 2022. 3,600 athletes from over 30 sports and 100 countries will take part in The World Games.
