Play the Game 2007 gets thumbs up from participants

The survey was carried out by Kasper Lund Kirkegaard and Maja Pilgaard of the Danish Institute of Sports Studies (www.idan.dk).

“As this survey shows very clearly, participants in the 2007 Play the Game conference value the conference highly,” write Kirkegaard and Pilgaard in their summary of the evaluaton.

“They have a good impression of the conference as a whole, the presentations have been relevant and interesting, the secretariat worked well, and the speakers have received nothing but praise,” they continued. “The participants have an idea that the conference can give value to their daily work or studies.”

Positive towards Iceland
Hosting the conference in Iceland was also regarded positively, with support for staging the conferences in different locations on a biannual basis.

“Iceland as a host nation has also been a success. According to participants, the conference should be held every second year in the future and preferably in a new location each time.”

One area of concern was the duration with the conference, with one in five respondents deeming five days was too long. This too was cited as a consideration for Play the Game to consider for future conferences, as the finding would suggest that some participants did not attend as a result of the length of the conference.

In terms of the aims of the conference, Play the Game 2007 had three core objectives: to offer insights into international sport; improving the public debate about international sport; facilitating networking. While 86% and 87% of respondents felt objectives 1 and 3 had been met respectively, 67% felt objective 2 had been met, with 19% having no opinion on this matter and 9% responding negatively.

Feedback from the conference, both positive and negative, will help Play the Game in making preparations for future conferences, whether that be in terms of selecting a venue, deciding what areas to cover during the conference, or how to present certain sessions.

The evaluations are available in both English and Danish, with further comments regarding the organisation and staging of Play the Game 2007 always welcome at info@playthegame.org.

• Evaluation in English
• Evaluation in Danish

Click here to visit the Play the Game 2007 homepage