FIS Nordic LOC Seminar 2022

For the first time after three years, all FIS Nordic organizers were invited to gather and exchange at the FIS Nordic LOC Seminar 2022 which took place in Prague (CZE) at the beginning of October.

Over 70 participants from 26 Local Organizing Committees and National Ski Federations traveled to the Czech capital to attend the two-day event.

In addition to representatives of the Czech Ski Association, also FIS Secretary General Niklas Carlsson and the Race Directors of all three Nordic disciplines were present. Chika Yoshida and Sandro Pertile (Ski Jumping), Lasse Ottesen and Assistant Jan Rune Grave (Nordic Combined) as well as the new Race Director Cross-Country Michal Lamplot gave presentations and were available for a personal exchange.

As an introduction, FIS Deputy Secretary General Niklas Carlsson gave insights into the latest developments at the International Ski and Snowboard Federation and explained the importance of seeing sport competitions as events and how LOCs can effectively use those to present themselves to a global audience.

Carlsson also addressed the challenges of sustainability goals for organizers and gave an insight into the planned FIS Games.

In a second part, the participants split up into workshop sessions, in which they had the chance to exhange experiences about important operational topics in small groups and to find approaches to solutions.

The energy crisis, search for volunteers and the involvement of athletes in event marketing were just a few topics discussed by attendees.

The open exchange gave new insights into existing challenges and enabled the organizers to learn from each other's experiences.

The second part of the seminar began with a panel talk with Randy Ferguson. The Canadian brought not only experience as a speaker at major Nordic events such as the Olympic Winter Games, but was also able to present new perspectives through his work at the Union Cycliste Internationale.

In addition to ideas for successful marketing, Ferguson also gave tips for involving fans and viewers on site and successfully cooperating with television at live events.

In particular, the involvement of the fans was discussed intensively at the subsequent second workshop.

The first day of the seminar ended successfully with a joint dinner in one of Prague's most traditional restaurants in the heart of the old town.

On the last day, the Race Directors provided discipline specific updates, including presentations of the decisions made at the FIS Autumn meetings at the end of September in Zurich.

The direct exchange with other organizers, the opportunity for open discussions with FIS representatives and getting to know numerous members of the Nordic Family made the LOC Seminar 2022 an all-round successful event for everyone involved, who, thanks to the newly gained knowledge, are now ready to start another successful World Cup season.

With first steps taken to follow up on approaches from the workshops, the FIS Nordic LOC Seminar in Prague was the initial meeting on how to strengthen the connection between organizers and to improve operational matters.