All posts tagged sports venue developments

The second edition of our ‘live’ event, the Stadia & Arena Asia Pacific conference and exhibition, took place September 28-30, 2015, at the Singapore Sports Hub’s Indoor Stadium and was lauded ‘an overwhelming success’ by all in attendance.

The 17th event for Stadia & Arena, the event was hailed a “really great conference” providing “invaluable contacts”, with nearly 500 high-ranking attendees representing just under 30 countries, including Australia, Cambodia, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, India, Japan, Kingdom of Brunei, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Qatar, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and the United States, for 2.5-days of networking, learning, knowledge-sharing and doing business.

One of the 50+ industry-elite speakers, Jason Hill, General Manager – Commercial at the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust, commented:

I was impressed with the operation… and enjoyed the experience immensely. Best of luck with 2016.

Delegate Masa Hayafuji, Assistant Chief – Stadium Development Group of the J-League (Japan Professional Football League), said:

I just want to show you my great gratitude for inviting me to the conference. It was great experience and I met a lot of people in this industry because of your support.

Another speaker, Greg Turner, General Manager at the STU Sports Park, commented:

…thanks for hosting the conference and everything you did to help organise it. I found it immensely useful and must say I wish there were more such conferences in the region.

Look forward to next year in Japan and hopefully I can present an updated case study on the Sports Park and what we are trying to accomplish there!

Literally billions of dollars’ worth of global sports venue projects were represented at the event, including groups currently involved in new major sports projects around the region. Those included Sports City Malaysia (hosts of the 2017 SEA Games), the Cambodia National Stadium, Haryana Cricket Stadium and Kai Tak Stadium Hong Kong, in addition to global venue operators and facility managers. Developers behind major new sports projects in Australia, China and New Zealand were also in attendance.

Jason Ng, Executive Director of MP Singapore Pte Ltd, our local event partner, said:

As more major international sporting events are held in the Asia Pacific region, there is an increasing need for venue management professionals to gain a better understanding of effective management and utilisation of sports facilities. Stadia & Arena 2015 created that opportunity. We are heartened by the many discussions and sharing of real-world experiences amongst the community.

Over 80 delegates attended a special ‘behind the scenes’ tour of the Singapore Sports Hub on the opening day.

The event kicked-off with an exclusive ‘behind-the-scenes’ tour of the Singapore Sports Hub’s facilities, which more than 80 delegates took advantage of. The tour was followed by the event’s Official Opening, with welcome speeches from Alad Chairman, Alan Levett, and Jason Ng, Executive Director of MP Singapore Pte Ltd, and rounded-off with a Regional Market Report that detailed the many projects currently under construction, in the planning stage or being proposed in Australia, Indonesia and Singapore.

Day II saw the start of the conference in earnest, with 50+ industry elite speaker sessions covering all aspects of sports venue design, operations, revenue generation and fan engagement. The day’s proceedings were brought to a close with an evening networking reception in the exhibition hall, which allowed delegates, speakers, sponsors and exhibitors the opportunity to chat in a more informal setting.

On the exhibition floor, which sported more than 40+ industry-leading exhibitors, attendees had the opportunity to network and meet with experts from across the entire spectrum of products and services for sporting events and venues, many of whom were exhibiting in Asia for the first time.

The event finale on Day III gave all visitors the chance to hear an insightful Closing Keynote from the Disney Institute’s Senior Facilitator, Wing Tan, during which he explained how as leaders in the sports industry it is important to understand that your fans are your ‘guests’ and the interactions they have with your stadium employees and third-party vendors will impact the overall fan experience.

As an alternative for delegates with a primary focus on Sports Turf, there was a special local site tour to learn about the importance of proper artificial turf maintenance from SMG Sportplatzmaschinenbau.

SMG Sportplatzmaschinenbau laid on a special local site tour to advise delegates on the importance of correct artificial turf maintenance.

With cities and countries from across Asia Pacific playing host to a plethora of major sporting events, including the 2017 SEA Games, 2018 Winter Olympics, 2018 Commonwealth Games, 2019 Rugby World Cup, 2020 Summer Olympics, 2022 Winter Olympics, 2022 Asian Games and 2023 SEA Games, plans are already well underway to host Stadia & Arena Asia Pacific 2016 in Japan. So please watch this space for further details…and keep checking back both on this website and the show’s website at: www.saevents.uk.com

A comprehensive review of the Stadia & Arena Asia Pacific 2015 event will be available in the 4th quarter/Showcase Special edition of PanStadia & Arena Management magazine, which will be published later this year.

Nearly 500 attendees networked, knowledge-shared, learned and conducted business during Stadia & Arena Asia Pacific 2015.