FISU Seminar: Champion’s Branding

GWANGJU – Many athletes use social media to communicate with their fans. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and co. are a great way to engage with the community. But not always do the stars use the unlimited range of social media in the right way. At the FISU Seminar student-athletes, coaches, and staff members learned the Do’s and Don’t’s of Personality. During a diverse two-hour seminar at the Athlete Village on Wednesday, delegation members were informed on how to build their image in media and social media and how to take advantage of it.

Former Korean student-athletes and members of the International Sport Cooperation Centre of Korea (ISC) Sol Tae, a volleyball player, and Jiyoung Lee, Olympic swimmer in Athens in 2004, led the session titled ‘How to build your personal branding in media – Personality-PR’ and developed by ISC Research Director Wonjae Lee. “We didn’t have similar projects when we were student-athletes. We are very honoured to present this seminar”, says Tae. Her colleague Lee adds: “It’s a really helpful programme, we need to continue developing it.”

The participants were excited: “I think it is pretty important to know how to speak in public”, says Finnish taekwondo athlete Suvi Mikkonen who finished in fifth place at the 2012 Olympics in London. She continues: “Especially for us people from Finland since this is not one of our best skills. As a top-level athlete I want to be prepared in case I win a medal.“ Shotgun shooter Yen-Chen Tsai from Chinese Taipei refers to the FISU slogan: “This seminar is my understanding of ‘Excellence in Mind and Body’.”

Max Länge (GER), FISU Young Reporter