Sport Industry Private Dining Club Hears From Michelle Dite
Michelle Dite, who recently took on a new consultancy role as the race director for The Boat Races, joined CEOs of governing bodies, sponsorship heads of major brands and agency chiefs at the Sport Industry Private Dining Club, hosted by Integro Entertainment & Sport, on Thursday evening.
Dite talked about transferring her 17 years of agency experience to The Boat Races through her consultancy business ThinkCanDo, the challenges facing London 2017 and the development of the Invictus Games movement.
“I’ve grown up in the sport industry, which I’m pretty proud of. There’s a lot of commercialism involved in sport now, and a lot of entrepreneurial spirit, which is fantastic.”
Speaking to Sport Industry Group’s executive director Alex Coulson at Fredrick’s, Angel, Dite talked candidly about her career, including her time at London 2017.
“Things happened, it didn’t work out, but London 2017 will be great,” commented Dite. “It’ll be a great spectacle, it will happen, it will happen well. I’m still very passionate about it.”
Dite joined The Boat Race on 1st June following Ann-Louise Morgan’s departure to join the Commonwealth Games Federation. Dite oversees all aspects of The Cancer Research UK Boat Races including the organisation, sponsorship, broadcast and logistics throughout the season.
“The Boat Race is one of the most iconic events in the sporting calendar. One of the biggest partners of the race are the BBC, which delivered that a peak audience of 4.9 million people tuning in for the Men’s Boat Race, and 3.2 million watching the Women’s Boat Race. It’s huge, but it’s not without it’s challenges. Very little has changed to its rules since 1829, isn’t that wonderful?
“There’s some real rich heritage that you don’t want to change, but there’s an opportunity to evolve. 2016 was the first year technology was used to time the race, for example, and there’s room for it to further its work in this area as per other major events we all experience.”
Dite started her sporting career as an England Hockey international and now has a history of delivering large-scale sport events. At Fast Track she delivered the UKA televised events for 14 years – transforming it into a commercial success story – and led the creation of a number of events including the Paralympic World Cup and School Games.
Looking at how the industry is moving and progressing, Dite also expressed her delight at the innovation being shown throughout the sector, from new events to established, traditional sporting venues.
“The events industry has moved on a lot, some of the things people do in their leisure time is crazy! There’s some brands and agencies that have come up with some fantastic new events, you can now go and get electrocuted for fun at Tough Mudder or have coloured powder thrown at you at The Color Run, there are some very interesting ideas for the industry. It will be interesting to see how it moves on.
“The more traditional events also continue to evolve, Wimbledon is a fantastic example. The work that it’s doing with technology and fan interaction is first class, and obviously did very well at the BT Sport Industry Awards as well. I also never thought I’d see the UEFA Champions League final streamed live on YouTube either, so there’s some very different dynamics cropping up in all aspects of the industry.”
When previously head of events at CSM Sport and Entertainment, Dite was responsible for the event management and project delivery of the inaugural Invictus Games, and is now an advisory commission member of the Invictus Games Foundation.
“The Invictus Games has changed lives, and it’s changed mine. It’s given me a whole new perspective on life. They are an incredible bunch of individuals, and fantastic performers. There’s a real mix of personalities. In nine months we went from a blank canvas to an incredible show, we really didn’t know that the event would deliver such a great impact! We created our own rules and categories, and the most remarkable thing happened. The camaraderie was amazing.”
The Invictus Games Foundation and Sport Industry Group are working together to help create career opportunities for wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women in the sport industry.
The initiative, which was announced at the BT Sport Industry Awards 2016, is calling for organisations across all sectors of the industry to give the talented men and women of the Armed Forces a platform to reach the next stage of their careers. With a number of agencies, brands, media and rights holders already signed up to the initiative, Dite also encouraged more to sign up to give a serviceman or woman an opportunity.
“They are all great communicators and leaders, and very dynamic individuals. They can be briefed and will get the job done, and they’re no different now. They are still those people, still have those skills, but often find it challenging to break into business to find their next careers. With some support, they will flourish.”
The invitation-only members club meets four times a year at some of the best venues in London, providing top level representatives from across the sport industry with the opportunity to network and socialise in an informal and relaxed setting.
To find out more about the Sport Industry Private Dining Club, hosted by Integro Entertainment & Sport, or the Invictus Games Foundation initiative please contact Alex Coulson, executive director, Sport Industry Group, at alex.coulson@benchmarksport.com.
