Ispo's Re.Start Days digital conference kicks off

What will the sport equipment and outdoor activity industry look like in a post-Covid-19 world? To answer the question, German trade show Ispo has organised the Re.Start Days event. On June 30 and July 1, Ispo, a leading European organiser of sport industry events led by Klaus Dittrich, is holding a series of paid online conferences featuring a number of key industry decision-makers. Re.Start Days is not an online trade show, but a platform for a shared debate on the future of the sport equipment and leisure industry.

The event’s first day will focus on post-Covid recovery, and will analyse the challenges faced by sport retailers, as well as the priorities brands need to concentrate on after the lockdown period and given the health protection measures still in place in Europe. A market study by Accenture and the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI) will provide information on sector trends. Bangladeshi social entrepreneur and Nobel Peace prize winner Muhammad Yunus will speak at 2.45 pm on June 30, adding his influential voice to the proceedings.

On the second day, event participants will have a choice of themes, as Re.Start Days will feature 20 conferences on three essential themes for the industry: digitalisation, focusing, among other issues, on the latest digital innovations, the future of marketplaces and direct-to-consumer commercial opportunities; sustainability, focusing on how to build a sustainable supply chain and to create societal value; and health and well-being, focusing, among other issues, on the booming running sector and the fitness market. Significantly, the conferences will end on Wednesday night with an address by Kris Tompkins, former CEO of Patagonia and a conservationist who is extremely active on environmental issues.

Re.Start Days replaces the cancelled 2020 Ispo summer trade show, originally scheduled, for the second time, in Munich. The trade show’s next physical edition is planned on January 31 to February 3 2021.