The World Skateboarding Federation announced that registration is now open for the first-ever Global Skateboarding Summit. The three-day summit will be held at the Conrad Hotel in Istanbul, May 22-24, 2015. The purpose of the Global Skateboarding Summit is to bring together skateboarders, organizations, groups, federations, and associations, for the first time, in an effort to collaborate, organize and create a meaningful direction for the sport of skateboarding while supporting its athletes.
As the IDF is affiliated to WSF, we would be happy to see a big attendance from downhillers at this meeting. Registration fee is free for athletes, and it is important that Downhill skateboarding is well represented at this meeting. IDF president, Cyrille HARNAY will be attending the meeting and will introduce Downhill skateboarding and streetluging to the IOC and sport accord members that have confirmed to come to Istanbul(Turkey).
Designed to be an annual meeting to help support skateboarders globally and further the growth of skateboarding, the summit will be packed with top tier speakers from the global skateboarding and international sports community. An exhibition area will be available for companies to share merchandise, activities and connect with the largest collection of global skateboarding athletes, retailers, manufacturers and brands. There will also be valuable networking and one-on-one meeting opportunities for attendees.
With the potential of skateboarding being included in the Olympic Games, the summit will serve as a platform for discussion on a global strategy to create an internationally agreed upon format, scoring system and a unified network of qualifying events.
In addition to top level speakers, including Vlad Marinescu, general director of SportAccord (World Association of International Sport Federations) and Joe Ciaglia, CEO of California Skateparks, Christian Wassmer, who is in charge of the IOC/IF Recognition Process, will be in attendance along with other global industry leaders, international federation representatives and national Olympic committee members from more than 18 countries so far. Over the next few weeks, WSF will be confirming the full roster of international speakers, as well as the full conference agenda, so be sure to check the website frequently for updates.
The summit will work to set the parameters to hold the first-ever General Assembly of all skateboarding entities worldwide and to review and come to consensus on the structure for one world governing body. Other summit topics include identifying ways to further develop skateboarding federations by providing support, organizational guidance and assistance to interested members and countries; providing support for the building of credible competition-style skateparks; supporting skateboarding as a mechanism for social change in communities globally; and creating educational materials and programs to support these efforts.
To register as an attendee or exhibitor, visit www.worldskateboardingfederation.org. The summit is expected to sell out and there are very limited exhibitor spaces, so be sure to reserve your spot early.
