In the Opening Panel, Klaus Dittrich, Chairman and CEO of Messe München, addresses the participants directly in the livestream and gets straight to the point. It is „not an everyday greeting for an event of Messe München." In the run-up to the event, the coronavirus pandemic had led to the cancellation of numerous events, including ISPO Beijing, OutDoor by ISPO, the ISPO SDG Summit and the ISPO Digitize Summit. And this exactly in the anniversary year.
But right now there must be a platform for the ailing sports and outdoor industry, because the need for networking, exchange and perspective is currently greater than ever in the industry. With the opening of the ISPO Re.Start Days, a completely new platform created within a very short time, which enables the industry to be linked virtually and digitally. Because after Covid-19, it is likely that "nothing will ever be the same again.“
Dittrich also asks the crucial questions to which answers are to be found in the next two days: How can people and companies overcome the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic? How has the coronavirus crisis affected sports and outdoor activities? Where do companies have to break new ground and where are the crisis phenomena only temporary? What are the current findings from expert studies and industry surveys? More than 100 top speakers, industry experts and personalities will discuss these and many other questions in keynotes and panels with more than 1,000 participants.
Finally, Dittrich clearly emphasizes once again what he hopes for from the speakers and participants. The ISPO Re.Start Days are a unique opportunity to find solutions, to find a way out of the crisis and to break new ground, he said, "Take advantage of this opportunity".
In the following opening discussion Klaus Dittrich welcomes the double Olympic champion in track cycling Kristina Vogel and the extreme mountaineer Jost Kobusch. Kristina Vogel is on screen, Jost Kobusch is standing next to Klaus Dittrich, of course with some distance.
Both guests symbolize new beginnings. Kristina Vogel, who has set several world records in her career, but was abruptly taken out of the athlete's life in 2018 due to a training accident. She suffered paraplegia and then had to start her own life again. She alkss about the bad training accident and how she realized for the first time that she could no longer move her legs. But she cannot change that today.
That's also their most important message: "You can't change what's in the past, but you can change what's in the future. It's in the DNA of every athlete to push themselves forward and keep going."
In the sports and outdoor industry, it is now important to use this athlete mentality to find a way out of the crisis. Their final message is simple: "You shouldn't waste time thinking about how to overcome the crisis. In the end, you just have to do it. Just do a restart."
Jost Kobusch is an extreme mountaineer and has already achieved and experienced a lot in his career, some see him as a pioneer who could push the boundaries of mountaineering further, others as a life-weary mountaineer. The reason for this? He wanted to climb Mount Everest solo in the winter of 2019/2020 and failed for the time being, but the failure of the expedition does not prevent Kobusch from sticking to his motto "setting off into the unknown" First ascents, i.e. completely new routes, are his hobby - preferably in winter. The new, the unknown and the unconventional is what excites him. He does not ask himself the question, "Can I fail?", but "What can I learn?"
His motivation remains the same, even in times of the coronavirus pandemic, above all the fun. In these times, when he can no longer start expeditions, it would be all the more important for him to attract attention. For himself, his mission, his values: "This is an excellent time to draw attention to yourself, to question yourself and to reinvent yourself," Kobusch concluded the opening discussion.
Participating in the live digital conference is easy. All information on ticket purchase, registration and the procedure is summarised in the linked article.
