17 January 2006 - Progress made with the 2nd Phase of the FITA "Think Tank"

Progress made with the 2nd Phase of the FITA "Think Tank"

Lausanne - 17 January 2006

After the first set of discussions for the FITA Think Tank last September, President Dr. Ugur Erdener went on with the process and ran the 2nd phase of meetings last week-end at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne.

More than fifteen FITA officials, administrators or athletes, coming from member’s associations of all the continents, met together to discuss the future of FITA. Moreover, Kelly Fairweather, IOC Sports Director, and Robert Fasulo, ASOIF Director, brought their expertise into the discussions. There were also two representatives from the FITA Sponsor, Meteksan Systems who provided an external business approach to the discussions.

The process of the Think Thank is really to gather ideas from all backgrounds in order to construct a strategic plan that will lead to breakthrough achievements for the organization. FITA must determine the vision, objectives and tasks of the sport of archery, ensuring its development and continued growth through to 2012 and beyond.

Along the various sessions of the two days meeting, the discussions concentrated on five key areas of activity: identity, events, promotion, partnerships and growth. Key questions rose such as: How can we brand the activity of doing archery and include everybody who shoots arrows in the world? How can get a better quality among the top events and the top archers? Should we simplify or diversify our disciplines? How can we attract more people to watch archery on TV? Although some work already started to improve the sport of archery, such as the 2006 World Cup, the whole purpose of the Think Thank is to find true answers that will make a breakthrough in the future of FITA. These discussions will continue until the presentation of a strategic plan at the next Congress in 2007.

President Dr. Erdener was happy with the progress made during this 2nd FITA Think Tank meeting. He said that “This is an excellent opportunity for representatives from all horizons to meet in an informal atmosphere and share their opinions. It is also important to have the input of experienced persons such as Kelly Fairweather and Robert Fasulo. “We must benchmark ourselves externally and think ‘outside the box’ ”.

This Think Thank process is lead by TSE Consulting, an international management consultancy firm specialized in offering consulting services to cities and countries and training services for sports organizations. The director from the Lausanne office Lars Haue-Pedersen, and all his staff, have become experts in challenging FITA people to create a bright vision and a plan for 2012 and beyond.

FITA Communication

Didier Miéville