Olympic Games “Media Crisis Management” discussed at 1st ANOC Digital Communications Seminar in Prague, Czech Republic

The maiden summit of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) has successfully concluded in the Czech Republic following three days of engagement, presentations and policy amendment proposals in Prague.

The global sports media gathering was attended by 74 heads,  coordinators and directors from 51 National Olympic Committees from all five continents.

The International Olympic Committee and ANOC Secretary General Gunilla Lindberg addressed the participants;

“The first ANOC Digital Communications Seminar has been a great success and we thank all the NOCs for their active involvement. Not least, the Czech Olympic Committee, led by President Kejval, for their fantastic hospitality and organization”.

Madam Lindberg said that the seminar proved just how much experience and expertise there is within the NOC family.

“We can all grow stronger when we work together. Every NOC is different, but they also share many similar opportunities and challenges. By hosting Seminars like this, ANOC is able to give NOCs the platform to share ideas and exchange knowledge so that they can learn from each other on how to become more effective in digital communications.”

Over the three days, a series of breakout groups were also held to give delegates the opportunity to discuss and debate key issues related to digital communicators including  athlete retention, pre and post Games and effective editorial strategies, to crisis management and measurement of success.

Among the delegates was Director of Communications for the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) Yaw Ampofo Ankrah, who delivered a presentation Media Crisis Management.

He touched on how teams can  learn more about how to improve their digital communications platforms.

“Depending on your audience and their expectations, we can always forecast ahead but we cannot be certain of any definite outcomes.

For example, with over 200 million citizens and close to 300 athletes expected to compete in Paris, Team Brazil would be expected to have a large, robust media team.

Big with a flexible strategy ready to handle any crisis would be an apt description for Brazil, but Ghana on the other hand, would have only one media officer at the Olympics due to the much smaller delegation of athletes and officials”.

There were also   presentations from the National Olympic Committees of Poland,  Brazil, Italy, New Zealand, Azerbaijan, Portugal and the Czech Republic.

Most of the content dealt with issues that may arise on the road to Paris and how to engage fans and athletes pre and post Games.

The Seminar sponsors *Socialie and Salesforce* also engaged and delivered presentations, case studies on how NOCs can benefit from their services.

Delegates were given the ANOC Paris 2024 Social Media Handbook which is aimed at supporting NOCs maximise their social media performances.

ANOC concluded the seminar by providing more details on the ANOC Video Project that will be delivered during Paris 2024 and will allow NOCs to generate more organic content for use across their platforms.

Already more than 50 NOCs have joined the programme, and three studios are going to be built near the Olympic Village.

The first videos will be produced from 19 July, with Sportall, partner for ANOC.tv, helping to produce the content.

Source Yaw Ampofo Ankrah, Communications Director GOC