Five months ahead of 15th edition of SPORTO Conference, the biggest event of its kind in Southeastern Europe, the first speakers have been announced. In (S)Portorož we will be joined by Sam Seddon (IBM), Carsten Thode (Synergy), Ian Mollard (Curiosity 360 Productions) and Kike Levy (Facebook).
Sam Seddon manages IBM’s sports rights agreements in the UK which include Wimbledon and England Rugby. He has responsibility for managing the client relationship year-round and for all the services that IBM provides to The Championships. He also oversees the digital strategy and award-winning marketing and innovation program. During the Championships he manages a team that is 180 people at peak on site. Seddon was recognised in 2015 by Information Age as being one of the UK’s top 50 data leaders and influencers. In 2017 his marketing campaign at Wimbledon was recognised by Campaign Magazine as the “Best Digital Innovation” of the year.
Ian Mollard has over 25 years of experience in the sports event industry working with clients including the NBA, adidas, Nike and Budweiser. In recent years he has focused on the production of Sports Presentation at a series of world stage events which have included the 2017 IPC & IAAF World Athletics Championships, the London 2016 and Rio 2016 Olympics & Paralympics, the 2015 World Handball Championships, the 2015 European Games and the Invictus Games (London 2014 and Orlando 2016). At London 2017 IAAF World Championships, Curiosity 360 Productions brought to life the adorable character “Hero the Hedgehog” who won the hearts of the audience. The “Hero the Hedgehog” mascot activation was awarded “Entertainment Experience of the year 2017” at the BT Sports Industry Awards.
Carsten Thode is the Chief Strategy Officer at Synergy, one of the leading sports and entertainment marketing agencies with clients including Bose, Under Armour, Accenture, BMW, Mitsubishi, BP and Just Eat. Synergy’s industry-leading blog and Now New Next, their annual look at the key themes, trends and insights from sport and entertainment marketing, are must-reads for everyone in our industry. Thode started his career as a strategy consultant for Marakon Associates, working on clients including Diageo, Schweppes, Boots and Lloyds TSB before spending seven years at Reuters in roles including Global Sponsorship Manager for Reuters’ golf and F1 sponsorships. He was also Head of Strategic Relationships at Manchester United.
Join us in (S)Porotrož. Book your spot here.
SPORTO will also host the representative from Facebook, the key social networking platform for rights holders and brands. In (S)Portorož we will be joined by Kike Levy, Sports Strategic Partnerships Manager at Facebook (South Europe). His previous experience include roles at Twitter and Infront Sports & Media.
Follow our digital channels for further updates connected to the SPORTO 2018 speaker line-up. 15th edition of the conference will take place in Portorož, Slovenia (22 – 23 November 2018). “SPORTO Summer Early-Bird” registration is open and available till June 30.
