Business of Community Sport

Rix and Kay Business of Community Sport Conference 2008

The Sussex County Sports Partnership held the fourth annual Rix & Kay Business of Community Sport Conference at the University of Brighton, Falmer on Wednesday 24 September 2008.

Over 90 delegates from all over Sussex joined the ‘lively, interesting and imaginative’ evening including motivational speeches and informative workshops. Introduced by Gary Stevens, the two headline speakers Ann Daniels and Gary Brickley, inspired all with their stories of struggle, perseverance and triumph.

Ann shared her experiences as a Polar explorer recounting her journey as the first all women’s team to ski to the North and South Poles. She then described the groundbreaking Pen Hadow Artic Survey she will begin in February 2009 to assess the real impact of global warming on the Ice Cap. Ann’s story illustrated the importance of teamwork, strong leadership and persistence in overcoming the odds to succeed.

Gary had just returned from a momentous trip to Beijing where the GB Paralympic cycling squad reigned supreme, clocking up 17 Golds and 3 Silvers, just compare this to the achievement in Athens, of just 3 Golds! Gary shared some of his highly successful training methods and discussed how they can be applied to maximise the performance of players in any sport.

The engaging workshops were designed to help sports clubs to improve club development and business practices. Bruce Hayter and Andrew Griffiths explained the legal benefits of turning club’s in to a limited company. Will McInnes opened our eyes to the new world of social media and how it can be used to engage with the online communities to drive greater participation in sport. Valli Morison outlined the crucial role of volunteers in running sport and explained how we should look after them, defining our responsibility to them. Karen Coomber and Marie Tomblin gave delegates numerous options for boosting club coffers having identified many diverse sources of funding available for sport development.

The workshops gave delegates new ideas to develop their organisations and to help run them more efficiently, but more importantly the conference helped all to understand how sport and business can work in partnership to their mutual benefit.

The conference provided an excellent networking opportunity ‘with a good mix of people’ including sports professionals and clubs across Sussex. Attendance was free of charge for the first time due to the generosity of sponsors, Rix and Kay, Plummer Parsons, Juice FM and The Argus.

Partnership Director, Sadie Mason said “The vast majority of delegates rated this year’s conference as “very useful”. It is a wonderful example of how sport and business can work in partnership. I am delighted that the Sussex CSP is at the centre of its organisation and would like to thank our sponsors for their continued support.” For more insight into this year’s conference, please download the brochure.

The 2008 Business of Community Sport Conference Presentations:
Please click on title of the powerpoint presentation you would like to view.

Ann Daniels - On Top of the World (will be added asap apologies for any inconvenience)
Gary Brickley - Beijing Gold
Bruce Hayter and Andrew Griffiths - Charity Status - Why You Should
Will McInnes - Making Connections Through Social Media
Valli Morison - Volunteer Sector
Karen Coomber and Mari Tomblin - Funding Workshop - Tips and Sources

View photos from the event, click on the images to go to our flickr account

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