Report on Interski International Presidium meeting in Frankfurt 14 -17 October 2018
By Dave Renouf
With members of the Interski Presidium spread around the globe, organising World Interski is a collaborative project with some unique challenges. In this piece, Dave Renouf provides an insight into how the organisers bring the event together. Dave wears two hats; he represents BASI as our International and Educational Manager, and his other hat is that of Vice President of Interski International. As a member of the presidium, he is closely involved with the preparations for the World Interski Congress in Bulgaria in 2019.
The Interski International Presidium meets every month via a Skype call and is able to review and share the workload through this medium. This requires at least a couple of meetings face-to-face per year to ensure that we can plan the strategies to cover the work required and delegate responsibilities. In Frankfurt, the Interski Presidium got together with two specific areas of work to cover:
1. The first was to ensure the workloads and tasks for the actual World Interski Congress event that is to be held in the Bulgarian resort of Pamporovo in March 2019 is all going to plan. There were many updates and adjustments to ensure as many of the “bases” are being covered by having a number of contingency plans.
Looking down the demo slope in Pamporovo
For the first time, Interski International asked all the nation members to submit documentation well in advance of the actual event to outline what each nation is planning to present in their lectures and workshops. This will allow for better planning and also for all nations to gain a preview of what each nation is focusing on in their presentations. These “abstracts” are going to be published on the Interski 2019 website in due course. There were updates from the Organising Committee on logistical tasks so that the anticipated 1500 world-class instructors who come from thirty nations across the world have a smoothly organised congress in the Bulgarian mountains.
2. The second task was to look at the future strategy and ideas for Interski and its structure. Feedback gained from the member nations, who adhere to at least one of the international pillar Associations (IVSI, ISIA, or IVSS) as well as Interski International itself, shows that they wish to gain more value through the planned co-ordination of all the future events that each of the Associations organises. The result of the Interski Presidium discussion is that each of the Presidents of these Associations is to confer with their respective Presidiums and feedback to the Interski Presidium. These discussions require time for each of the Presidiums to deliberate so that they themselves are answering to their specific membership audiences. As the saying goes, ‘it’s hard (if not impossible) to please everyone’! Nevertheless, we must endeavour to achieve as many of their wishes as possible.
Overall the meeting in Frankfurt consolidated a team working in a positive atmosphere for a fantastic congress in Pamporovo. So best wishes to all the nations’ teams around the globe for a great period of preparation and training. We look forward to seeing you all soon.
View of the demo slope from the base area