From the Publisher Rewarding Communication and Marketing Excellence Published by Australian Leisure Media Pty Ltd, 102 Taiyul Road, North Narrabeen, NSW 2101 (PO Box 478, Collaroy, NSW 2097) AUSTRALIA ABN 32 092 549 721
Tel: 02 9970 8322 Fax: 02 9970 8355 E-mail: leisure@ausleisure.com.au www.ausleisure.com.au Twitter: @AusLeisure Facebook: www.facebook.com/AusLeisure Editor Karen Sweaney Publisher Nigel Benton Design Australian Leisure Media Pty Ltd Administration Bill Gillies
Advertising Inquiries Nigel Benton Tel: 02 9970 8322 Email: nigel@ausleisure.com.au James Croll Tel: 0488 090 904 Email: jcroll@ausleisure.com.au Printed in Australia by Newstyle Printing Co Pty Ltd Suite 112, 330 Wattle Street, Ultimo NSW 2007 Tel: 1300 773 438 www.newstyleprint.com.au The annual subscription cost is AUS $90 (inclusive of GST) in Australia, New Zealand and throughout the Rest of the World. Members of AALARA, ALFA, ASSA, EVANZ, Exercise Association of New Zealand, Sports and Play Industry Association and the VMA receive the magazine as a membership benefit. The views contained in Australasian Leisure Management are not necessarily those of Australian Leisure Media Pty Ltd or the Editor. While every care is taken with advice given, Australian Leisure Media Pty Ltd and the Editor can take no responsibility for effects arising therefrom. Views expressed by contributors may be personal and are not necessarily the views of their employers or professional associations.
© Australasian Leisure Management, 2018. ISSN 1446-1374
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Australasian Leisure Management is an Australian product, Australian owned and printed in Australia.
It is again a pleasure to feature and to have recently announced the winners in our third Communication and Marketing Awards. Featured on page 52, the Awards recognise excellence in communication and marketing across the leisure industry and we feel they are a small way to encourage operators, organisations and governments in reaching out to guests, customers and members as well as those with a stake in the industry.
The Industry’s new Employment Nomenclature
The People page in Australasian Leisure Management is one of this magazine’s most popular features, with reader feedback indicating how people value finding out about appointments and movements in the industry. Over recent issues it is interesting to note how new job titles are emerging in the industry, roles such as: Insights Officer; Integrity Manager; Chief Experience Officer and Athlete Wellbeing Manager. These new titles reflect a changing industry. Integrity roles reflect the need for sport to maintain high standards and be able to withstand scrutiny during a period of increasing pressures relating to gambling and match-fixing while wellbeing roles mark requirements to sustain athlete welfare. This industry is often seen as being about the delivery of experiences – in attainment, entertainment and enjoyment. This explains why such roles are increasingly important while the need for all operators to have insights into their customer/ member base accounts is now, more than ever, vital for the industry. As technology, consumer demand and integrity roles become increasingly mainstream, it may be worth considering other roles that will emerge in the coming years.
The Participation Challenge
At a time when there are enormous challenges to attaining levels of physical activity and sport participation, the rise of eSports presents an interesting new form of competition. The exciting and fast growing phenomena is seen as having the potential to exceed traditional engagement in elite sports – resulting in leading sports developing eSports brands. Even the International Olympic Committee is looking at including video games in future Olympics. Recently IOC President Thomas Bach and Olympic officials met with eSports stakeholders with a “very open mind” to consider inclusion – a considerable shift from a few years ago when Bach himself touted physical education in schools by stating the need “to get the couch potatoes off the couch.” Offering his personal opinion, Bach said elite eSport gamers “prepare and compete in a way, and with physical demands, which can be compared to the ones in more traditional sports. “You need long-time concentration, you need quick reaction, you need tactical understanding, you need to be not only mentally fit but also physically fit.” While it might be easy to dismiss eSports participation as merely twiddling your fingers and thumbs, its acceptance does raise the issue of what constitutes ‘participation’. In sport, participation is, distinct from spectating, one of active involvement at an elite or community/social level, and this can include roles such as that of coach, manager and trainer. By contrast, participation in the arts is not necessarily one of activity but is based on the creative process being one of engagement with the audience that is often incomplete without physical interaction. Nigel Benton, Publisher