ASEC 2021 Round Up
The inaugural Adventure Sports Events Conference took place on Friday 19th November 2021 in association with the Kendal Mountain Festival. It was an international affair, with race organisers from across Europe attending to hear the conference speakers, share good practice and enjoy informal networking opportunities.
“We really enjoyed the conference and found the whole thing really informative and useful. We will definitely be looking at the way we do things and tweaking them to improve where we can. All the speakers and subjects covered were very interesting and relevant, and I’d be keen to attend again next year”. Chloe Rafferty, Loveswimrun
The conference was opened by Andy Towne, who provided a tour de force insight into the logic behind brand sponsorship. He posed the simple question, “Why do brands sponsor events”, and proceeded to eloquently answer with anecdotes and examples from his experience as an industry leader. There were many takeaways from this session, but the emphasis on how a successful event can drive brand awareness, which ultimately leads to consumer action (i.e., purchasing the sponsoring brand) was certainly the key message.
Next up, Lucy Scrase walked the conference through the steps Ourea Events has taken to run its events more sustainably. It was clear that this starts by measuring everything! Lucy’s presentation also sign-posted delegates to initiatives to help kick start their own sustainability journeys, such as Vision2025, Outdoor Friendly Pledge and ecolibrium.
Richard Warren stepped up next and delivered a fascinating presentation about the work of the Lake District Mountain Rescue Teams. As expected, it was a talk full of incidents and accidents from the Lakeland fells, many of which involved participants in organised events. The take-home message was the Adventurer Smart app to help inform members of the public about sensible decision-making and preparation before heading into the hills.
“Last Friday, I was at the Adventure Sports Conference organised by James Thurlow and Shane Ohly. It was a great day of best practice knowledge sharing on everything from timing and technology, stakeholder management and SOPs to sponsorship. There were representatives from the biggest event organisers in the UK, as well as plenty of smaller ones. We were all in a traditional sense “competition”, yet everyone was there to learn and share.” Sam Heward, Ultra X
Chris Mills took centre stage with the next presentation. It is probably fair to say that most event organisers are not digital experts, and what they do know is often learnt through trial and error. Whether we are thinking about websites, timing, tracking, safety management or communications, Chris was able to provide genuinely expert advice, and it was safe to assume that the whole conference took away many ideas for improved IT and digital services at their next event.
After lunch, Shane Ohly took the floor to discuss the new Purple Guide chapter about Adventure Sport Activities. This presentation shared some latest good practices examples taken from the Purple Guide and incorporated into Ourea Events’ operations. The focus of this session was how safety management is driven by leadership, systems and culture within an event.
"Attending the inaugural ASEC was a highly valuable experience which I'd recommend to anyone working in this event space. As well as reiterating the importance of several key points pertinent to my role as a Race Director, I learned several new things and came away from the conference with a rejuvenated sense of purpose and drive, thanks to a day spent networking with equally passionate, like-minded event professionals." Michael Jones, UK Event Director at UTMB®
Andrew Slattery gave a fantastic presentation, mixing humorous insights and sombre realities from his long career as a senior police officer. Posing the question, “What happens if the worst happens”, he explained the role of the police, the Health and Safety Executive, and the Coroner should they become interested in your event.
The final session of the day was from Sophia Reed talking about insurance for events. You could have been forgiven for thinking this wouldn’t have been an exciting presentation, but Sophia brought this important subject to life with real-world examples and practical advice for event organisers.
We'd like to thank the following organisations who contributed to the success of the conference:
And to our guest speakers:
Andy Towne
Lucy Scrase
Richard Warren
Andrew Slattery
Chris Mills
Sophia Reed
Thank you all for taking the time to attend. Eight months ago, we really had no idea how this was going to go! For us, just getting everyone together made the day such a success, with the opportunity to spend time together almost as valuable as the talks which were given.
We have made the presumption that many of you would be interested in coming back in 2022, and have already booked a larger room in the Castle Green hotel for Friday 18th November 2022.
Yours in adventure,
Shane Ohly - Ourea Events
James Thurlow - Open Tracking
ASEC 2021 Conference Organisers