ATHENS – Front Runners in Sports Management 3.0, a web conference organized by the award-winning ActiveMedia Group along with the Sports Management Society of Deree – The American College of Greece, takes place on Thursday, January 21, Friday, January 22 and Saturday, January 23. This unique sports management conference features leading industry professionals from both Greece and abroad.

During the free three-day conference, participants will have the opportunity to hear from distinguished representatives from the fields of football, basketball, athletics, motor sports, sports tourism, education, digital & social media, technology and corporate social responsibility, and develop their professional network in the field of sports management.

New additions to the roster of speakers

During the Front Runners in Sports Management 3.0 conference the Chief Sales & Marketing Officer of Sani / Ikos Group, Antonis Avdelas, will present, for the first time in Greece, the unique tennis academy Rafa Nadal Tennis Centre, developed by the Grand Slam-winning tennis legend, hosted at Sani Resort. Sani Resort, which was awarded by the World Travel Awards as “The World's Leading Family & Beach Resort” in 2019 and 2020, is an ecological sanctuary of 4,500 acres in Kassandra, Halkidiki, with five hotels and a luxurious private marina.

Moreover, the conference will include the following speakers: the CSR & Events Manager of the leading GameTech company in Greece and one of the fastest growing GameTech companies in Europe Kaizen Gaming, Ioanna Kozadinou; the General Manager of the Athens Marathon The Authentic, Dr. Makis Asimakopoulos, who will talk about the No.1 sports tourism event in Greece and the new era after the 2020 postponement; one of the top commercial directors in the Greek Super League, Leonidas Papavasilakis of OFI FC; the Real Madrid and EuroLeague legend and the F45 Madrid co-founder, Joe Arlauckas; the world champion in the 400m hurdles, four-time Olympian and Chair of the European Athletics Athletes Commission, Periklis Iakovakis; the long-term member of the U.S.A. Olympic Committee, Karen Irish; along with the former basketball player, sports journalist and dynamic reporter for EuroLeague, Theodora Panteli; the Head of Digital & 360 Advertising Director of one of the best digital agencies in Greece for social media, The Newtons Laboratory, Panos Alefragis; and Themistocles Karvountzis, Chief Strategy Officer of ActiveMedia Group, with the back to back title as Sports Marketing Agency of the Year in Greece, who will make an introduction to Sports Tourism and its niche markets.

Experienced executives of the global market will offer their knowledge. Prominent speakers at the conference also include representatives from the NBA and the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, the FIBA Basketball Champions League, Georgetown University, the innovative technology company Wait Time, Nielsen Sports, and Formula 1.

The conference will also host welcome speeches from the Minister of Greek Tourism Harry Theoharis, the Deputy Minister of Culture & Sports Lefteris Avgenakis, the U.S. Ambassador to Greece Geoffrey R. Pyatt, the President of the Greek National Tourism Organization Angela Gerekou, the President of the International Olympic Academy Isidoros Kouvelos as well as the Assistant Professor & Coordinator of the Sports Management Program at Deree – The American College of Greece, Dr. Stella Leivadi.

ActiveMedia Group’s Chief Executive Officer Akis Tsolis said, “Front Runners in Sports Management 2021 edition is switching to digital. In this fragile time, the 3rd edition of the conference in January 2021 is going to be a fully online experience, changing to a three-day conference format with an even bolder program and speakers from all over the world. The Greek philosopher Socrates said ‘Education, just like fertile land, brings all good things.’ In the exact same way, we want ActiveMedia Group to start in 2021, by offering education opportunities.”

The conference agenda is available online: https://bit.ly/3o3daet.

Speakers’ bios are also available online: https://bit.ly/2LDBDKn.

To secure your participation in the conference, log in and register online. Priority will be given to up to 500 available seats: https://frontrunners-sportsmanagement.liveon.tech/.

The conference is free to attend, as its purpose is to educate students and executives of the sports industry about the present and future of Sports Management in the post COVID-19 era. The web conference aims to trigger a dynamic start for and to properly prepare this very significant market, in order to build a stronger and healthier community. Ultimately, supporting the continuing education and training of the younger generation is extremely necessary and essential, now more than ever before, and is part of the organizers’ sustainable development and social responsibility.

The conference is produced by the experienced team of Active Media Group and the leading private educational institution in the country, Deree – The American College of Greece.