In the past, we’ve outlined our signature GIS Global Summits and what they entail, but what about the students’ point of view?
Recently, host Mark Clemmit caught up with three former attendees on a webinar aimed at giving prospective summit-goers some insight ahead of our upcoming events in 2025.
To summarise, a GIS Global Summit is a sport-focused study tour in one of our global hubs, which are:
Whilst your on the summit, you’ll have action-packed days filled by industry-leading guest speakers, workshops, venue tours and live sport.
One of the students on the webinar was Katie-Leigh Scott, a UCFB graduate who currently works at Manchester City. Speaking on why she signed up to attend a GIS summit in the first place, she explained that it was a chance to, “Push yourself out of your comfort zone… to be part of different sports broadens your horizons. Knowledge is power in this industry.”
With free time worked into your schedule too, it’s also a great opportunity to visit a new city or meet your fellow students. Tom Lomax, who currently studies part-time on our MSc Football Business course, added: “I’m doing my course online, so I don’t really get to meet other students day-in day-out, so to be able to have a solid week surrounded by people with the same mindset was an opportunity I couldn’t miss”
It should not go without saying that establishing a relationship with other students is vital, with Katie-Leigh saying one of her biggest takeaways was: “The importance of people.”
“That’s not just the guest speakers,” she continued, “But the people sat next to you. Most of us want to work in sports, and the industry is so small that you'll probably cross paths at some point, so make a good impression and be authentic.”
Of course, it is also important to try and build a connection to the professionals you’re exposed to, with Poppy Kelly, MSc International Sport Management student, saying: “While I was on the summit, I tried to pick up as many contacts as possible.
“By name dropping GIS, you've earned the right to be in that room because you've invested in yourself, and contacts really take that onboard.”
To go up to and talk to these people is a choice that requires bravery and confidence, which are traits that the students credit host Mark Clemmit for helping them with. For instance, Tom explained that throughout the summit you get the opportunity to speak in front of the group consistently, which builds you up to present a project to some of the industry leaders we mention at the end of the summit.
These presenting and public speaking skills are a huge part of what students develop at the summits, with Mark underlining their importance.
“At some point, even as an introvert, you'll have to get on stage because otherwise, how are people going to know who you are? How will they know what you're passionate about? How are you going to sell a project or service that you want to sell? See it as an opportunity, because you never know who’s in the room and what they might take away from it.”
Seeing it as an ‘opportunity’ rather than something to be afraid of is a perspective Katie-Leigh has adopted too. On if she gained confidence at the summits, she excitedly said: “Absolutely, 100%.
“Public speaking is so important because sport is such a ‘people’ industry, and it's not always about what you say, but it's how you present yourself and how you say it.
“At the end of the summit, you actually get a chance to present, and on that, I used to say to people that you ‘have’ to present, but I've changed my wording to ‘you have the opportunity to’.
It’s a chance to showcase yourself, and it's definitely helped with my job because I present in front of senior leadership all the time now. Someone even asked me for advice on how to present recently!”
As well as the skills you develop whilst there, having attended a summit is a benefit in itself, with both Katie-Leigh and Tom saying their experience came up in job interviews. Poppy agreed, adding: “It's quite impressive to future employers to be able to say, ‘I've seen this in New York, or Toronto where they used this or that strategy’, and that gives you credibility.”
Poppy then gave one final bit of advice to students looking to attend a summit, which was to “Throw yourself into it.”
“Having invested, make the most of it. You're just as entitled to a voice in that room as whatever senior leadership is there, so take the opportunity with both hands and have those extra conversations.”
Bookings for our Melbourne summit in January are now open until Monday 25th of November. Expressions of interest with a refundable deposit are also open for the other upcoming summits, with bookings due to open in the near future.
To learn more about our summits, click here.
Article by Zak Anani
