IF Seminars

How the latest in e-learning can best help you engage with your stakeholders & members

International Federations are responsible for providing support to various stakeholders in their relevant ecosystems. This often comes in the form of knowledge transfer and training directed both towards member associations as well as employees. In a world where technology and standard practices can change at rapid paces, as we have seen with the changes brought about by COVID, it is vital that IFs can both stay up to date with the industry’s latest market trends as well as be able to share that knowledge with the relevant parties in an effective way.

The ability to maintain stakeholders updated with a relevant skillsets and understanding can help IFs achieve their goals and provide a competitive organizational advantage. Better communication and transfer of knowledge can lead to more efficient and optimized processes, a clearer understanding of the organizations strategic direction, and a more engaged and involved work force.

Such capacities, however, can often be expensive and time-consuming for organizations. Facility rentals can be pricey and coordinating sessions through different time zones can get tricky. Here is where e-Learning may provide a viable solution for IFs.

By generating a scalable, accessible, and cost-effective educational platform, e-Learning can help IFs provide the adequate support and training to their member associations and employees. By creating immersive and active e-learning experiences, IFs can build online communities, monitor learners, increase knowledge retention and even generate income, all while creating an accessible and affordable platform that can ease the pains brought about by the mass coordination of training sessions.

In this seminar, our speakers will discuss the benefits that the latest solutions in e-Learning can bring to IFs, and will showcase practical examples from IFs who have recently set up an e-Learning platform in order to generate the best results for their organization

How to create plans to measure and reduce carbon footprints in sport events

Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our times, including for the sport community, and sport organizations can play a key role influencing behaviors via the measurement and reduction of their carbon footprint.

In 2015, the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda including Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and recognized the unique potential of sport to engage relevant stakeholders in sustainable practices. The SDGs are an urgent call for action for all governments and organisations to alter their present ways into a better, more sustainable and environmentally friendly way of functioning. Following the footsteps of the UN, the IOC made sustainability one of its 3 pillars in the Olympic Agenda 2020, providing a series of guidelines for IFs and NOCs to help them better understand sustainability.

With an increase in awareness, sport organizations and IFs are inching towards integrating sustainability into their own organizations and operations. For example, FIA has become carbon neutral by 2021, Paris 2024 committed to organizing the world’s first Olympic and Paralympic games with a positive contribution to the climate and the IOC aims by 2030 to move beyond carbon neutrality and make the Olympic games carbon negative.

So, how can IFs develop an effective sustainability plan to measure and reduce their carbon footprint? This is the question we will address in this IF seminar by providing best practices and case studies from industry experts and IFs.

Optimizing Fan Engagement: The Metaverse

Technology has been developing rapidly with each year presenting us with new phenomenon. The metaverse has been one such concept. Through the metaverse the internet will jump out of our pocket and bring us into an immersive 3D world which has the potential to completely redefine how we interact with the digital space. In this game-like world users will be able to learn, work, create, socialize, shop, watch live events, and much more. This immersive experience transcends to the sports landscape where fans can connect with their favourite sports in innovative and exciting ways.

The potential to use the metaverse by sport entities to boost its engagement is massive and very diverse. From additional revenue streams to better sport consumption, international sport federations can tap into a wide variety of use cases in the metaverse.

The metaverse can be used to expand events past just live games and teams or athletes could stream live digitally to fans in the metaverse. In the last few years, there have been some interesting initiatives by championships and sport clubs, like the sale of collectibles through NFTs and the Australian Open launching a tournament within the metaverse of Decentraland.

In our next seminar we will discuss matters such as:

What is the metaverse exactly? How will it impact the sports industry? Is it feasible to activate my sport in the metaverse? If so, how? The Seminar aims at answering the above questions by providing concrete examples and best practices from the perspective of Sport organizations, as well as specialised companies within the sport industry.  

Developing a brand strategy in the digital age – where to (re)start?

Developing a successful brand, whether it’s for specific events, competitions, or organizations, can bring about great benefits for IFs. From an increase in sponsorship value, to higher levels of meaningful fan engagement and building fan loyalty, the advantages of having an established brand can have an important effect in the development of a sport.

A brand strategy is the ‘big picture’ plans and tactics deployed by an organization to create long-term brand equity and competitive advantages from branding. It is the plan to actively influence the perception of your brand. It clarifies where the brand is headed, what you are trying to achieve, and provides a map and compass to help you get there.

In today’s digital world, IFs have direct access to their fan base which allows them to collect data that was not available before, and this represents a new frontier for sports branding professionals. Now, key metrics such as brand awareness and brand perception among many others, can be precisely measured and leveraged to guide your brand’s strategic direction.

During this session we will discuss how IFs can use analytics to develop a strong and data-driven brand strategy while simultaneously leveraging the specificities of their sport (history, tradition, emotions) and their audience . Our speakers will:

• Clarify the role of strategy in branding • Inform us of the benefits it can generate • Explain what key unit metrics where utilized in the creation of the their brand strategies and how they were collected • Show examples of brand strategies from different IFs and competitions

Olympic Heritage: how it works and why it is invaluable for the Olympic Movement and its key stakeholders?

Lausanne Olympic Capital and The Olympic Foundation for Culture and Heritage are delighted to present the next IF Seminar focusing on “Heritage”.

The seminar, organized in a slightly different format and with an exclusive behind-the-scenes visit of the vast collections, will be centered on the question Olympic Heritage: how it works and why it is invaluable for the Olympic Movement and its key stakeholders?

Witnesses to different Olympic eras, the IOC’s patrimonial collections form a unique legacy, which the Olympic Foundation for Culture and Heritage strives to continually expand, preserve and share. The heritage collections also present great opportunities for sport organizations to showcase their sport and the stories behind their athletes and accomplishments at various editions of the Olympic Games.

So, how can IFs contribute to heritage collection and ensure their stories are interwoven into the permanent legacy of various editions of the Games? How does the collaboration work and what is the advantage of the shared visibility that emanates from it? These are some of the questions we will aim to answer in this IF seminar by providing concrete examples and best practices from different IFs.

How to foster a safe and inclusive environment for all: Safe sport’s best practices for international sports federations

Sport is well-recognized as a positive tool to increase the well-being of athletes by allowing them to develop themselves and thrive in a healthy environment. IFs and Sport organizations play a crucial role in ensuring a positive and inclusive sport culture from grassroots to elite level by protecting everyone involved in sport from non-accidental violence, including abuse, negligence, and harassment. Without solid policies and practices to prevent and address harassment and abuse, the implications can be numerous for athletes and sports organizations, including health and medical consequences, athletes leaving the competition, reputational damage, and loss of sponsors.

To prevent inappropriate behaviours by coaches, officials, managers, and medical staff, the IOC has undertaken, under the Sport365 initiative, to raise awareness of the importance of the issue of safe sport and to give sports organizations and athletes the right tools to ensure that effective policies are in place.

While policies to safeguard athletes' rights are essential, they should be only a first step in the right direction to cultivate a culture change. For example, adopting procedures and codes of practices should follow to react correctly when problems arise and prevent such issues in the first place. In this regard, much emphasis has been put on training programs, complaint and support mechanisms, background screenings, athletes' involvement and advocacy campaigns.

This seminar will provide IFs and sport organizations with a better understanding of current best practices in safe sport and an insight into the perspectives of other industries in the fight against harassment and abuse.