The FIS Council appointed several new Committee Chairmen following the FIS Congress in Vilamoura (POR). FIS Newsflash is proud to present the initial thoughts by thee of them as they embark on their new tasks:
Editor’s note: we skipped comments from the speed skiing chairman
Tom Kelly, new Chairman of the PR and Mass Media Committee
U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) Vice President, Marketing Communications, Tom Kelly, was named chairman of the International Ski Federation's (FIS) Committee for Public Relations and Mass Media. Kelly will serve for a two-year term.
“I'm honored to be named Chairman, together with Vice-Chairman Ignacio Valenzuela (SPA). I'm especially proud to follow the late Kuki Bergant, a great sport journalist, and Elizabeth Hussey, one of our sport's great historians.
The PR and Mass Media Committee has recently seen a real strengthening of its membership with marketing and communications professionals from the national associations. To engage these professionals for the overall benefit of our sport, I have two primary goals over the next two years:
1. Develop more active, year-round participation from the committee members; and
2. Focus the national associations, together with FIS, on more modern, pro-active means of blending marketing, media and communications to increase global public awareness of our competitions and athletes.
Specific ideas for doing this include our tentative plan to convene a TV and media workshop not just to talk about TV rights, but to talk about how TV and media can be used as a platform to promote the sport. And, I would like to foster closer collaboration among the national associations on the World Cup by, for example, utilizing the travels of top athletes from Austria or Germany to the USA (and vice versa) for promoting our sport.
I feel this comes at a very good time with FIS, which is expanding the professionalism of its own communications department. At the same time, I plan to work very closely with our Vice-Chairman on all committee matters. I will also be very active in communicating with the committee and seeking input on issues and topics.â€
In other decisions from the FIS Council meeting last month in Portugal, Howard Peterson (Soldier Hollow, UT) was renamed chairman of the Committee for Advertising Matters, Bill Slattery (Buffalo Grove, IL) held onto his leadership role as chairman of the FIS Snowboard Committee. USSA Freestyle Program Director Polly-Jo Clark (Heber City, UT) was re-named chair of freestyle's NorAm Cup SubCommittee while USSA Nordic Director Luke Bodensteiner was chosen chairman of the Subcommittee for Popular Cross Country. Around two-dozen USSA officials serve on various FIS committees.
FIS, based in Oberhofen, Switzerland, conducts its Congress (convention) every two years. The organization, which met in Miami two years ago, held its 2006 Congress in Vilamoura, Portugal.
Source: FIS & USSA
