Josoor Institute completed the third round of its Training and Development Programmes and the final session of the Advanced Leadership Programme with great success. It is also gearing up for the start of its second cohort of Certificate and Diploma Programmes in 2017. The latest programmes ran in November and December, welcoming delegates from a range of Qatar’s leading sports and events organisations. The diversity of delegates presented a unique learning experience as they gathered insights from not only speakers but also from their industry peers.
Josoor Institute is a centre of excellence for the sports and events industries, inspired and developed by the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC). Josoor Institute’s educational and development offerings are presented at the highest international standards. This is guaranteed through Josoor Institute’s strategic partnerships, which include, Leaders, a global event, publishing and consultancy business in sport, the organising and delivery partner of the Training and Development Programmes.
The sessions delivered in November focused on upskilling sports and events marketers by focusing on digital marketing, brand building, media and communications strategies, fan engagement and new marketing best practices. The programmes featured five sets of offerings that began in September, including ‘Advanced Leadership Programme,’ that wrapped up after a set of monthly workshops tailored to sports and events industry leadership. Each edition discussed a variety of topics, with the last session in December concluding the set and focusing on developing MENA region professionals’ leadership and management capabilities. With the ever increasing challenges that leaders face to get results, the programme focused on developing the management capabilities of sports business leaders in the MENA region. The programme combined best practice from the global world of sport with business insights and academic rigor. The week long programmes in November also included ‘Professional Development Workshops’, that explored sports and events marketing. The programmes also included a ‘Masterclass’, which focused on ‘Best Practices in the Media Sector’ and was held for the SC’s community engagement. The November workshops also featured an ‘Executive Networking’ session that brought together senior executives to discuss the future of sports and events sponsorship in the region, and a student ‘Outreach’ session that explored the past, present and future of digital marketing and social media.
Speaking about Josoor Institute’s Training and Development Programmes, Mushtaq Al Waeli, Executive Director (acting) of Josoor Institute, said: “As we shift into the digital age, marketing strategies are starting to adopt new techniques and channels of communications to reach its audience. The workshops have shed light on the new approaches of reaching targeted audiences, explored in detail the most impactful social and digital medium and content formats to use. With the challenges that we are facing in the run up to the 2022 FIFA World Cup there is a real need to develop leaders in the sports and events industries, this is being tackled in part by the Advanced Leadership Programme. The learnings of the sessions were tailored to address the challenges of the sports and events industries in the MENA region."
The recent sessions on ‘Sports and Event’s Marketing’ saw dynamic debates between delegates who were able to share the knowledge and learnings gained from their working experience in the MENA region. The sessions focused on developing new ways to engage fans, and crafting creative marketing strategies and approaches. The sessions also tackled communicating effectively to a wider audience and learning how organisations deliver marketing campaigns through practical experience. The workshops attracted delegates from the Qatar Football Association, Qatar Stars League, Aspire, SC among others.
Sharing his experience of being a speaker at the workshops, Richard Kenyon, the Director of Marketing and Communications at Everton Football Club, said: “The benefits of workshops like these come from sharing good practice and gaining a different perspective from people coming from different organisations. The true value comes from learning from other people’s experiences and applying some of the gained insight to your own organisation. I was delighted to see high level of engagement from the delegates, I believe that everyone benefited from the discussions and debates that were carried in the sessions.”
The Outreach session took place at Northwestern University and saw students engaging in an interactive case study with Jeff Mirman, Head of Digital Strategy at Qatari Sports Investments, following a question and answer session.
The Executive Networking session featured a question and answer session with Richard Kenyon, Director of Marketing and Communications at Everton Football Club, and Will Chignell, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for America’s Cup. Thereafter, senior executives from Qatar’s top sports and major events organisations had the opportunity to meet one another and begin building stronger relations within these growing industries.
Josoor Institute is working on next year’s Certificate and Diploma Programmes. More information about the topics and the dates of the programmes will be announced soon. The programmes are delivered in partnership with Georgetown University, University of Liverpool and Leeds Beckett University.
Interested delegates are encouraged to visit Josoor Institute’s website www.josoorinstitute.qa and find out more about upcoming programmes. Additionally, they may contact delegate@josoorinstitute.qa for more information.
