The IESF Global Esports Executive Summit 2021 (GEES21) came to a close today in Busan, South Korea, after two days of engaging discussion with some of the biggest names in the World Esports community. This year marks the Summit’s 6th year, and the 2nd year using an online/offline hybrid format.
The first day of GEES21 kicked off with a keynote speech from IESF President Vlad Marinescu under the title “Bringing our Communities Together,” which recognized the World Esports community as the “largest and freshest community on planet earth.”
Given the growth of the World Esports Family, and IESF being composed of a record 107 Member Federations, this was the biggest edition of the summit to date. From the stage, to the cameras, to the music – everything was bigger and better.
Many of the innovative details that brought GEES21 to life will remain valuable additions for future GEES and IESF events. Technology advances allowed for amazing presentations and speeches that were streamed both live and pre-recorded, while panelists participated in discussions from around the world both online and offline.
Hosted at the Busan Esports Arena, GEES21 had a great stage and all of the bright lights you would expect at the leading Esports executive conference, and questions for the Q&A periods and panels were harvested from the GEES event platform. IESF organizers expressed their gratitude to all of the participants and attendees for making such a valuable contribution to the world’s greatest Esports summit.
IESF will be releasing videos of the event on its Youtube channel in the coming days for those who were not able to watch the live event.
There were five (5) core areas covering the two-day event, each with a high-profile line-up of 38 speakers and panelists.
- Fostering Growing Relationships
- The Next Level of Esports
- Diversity and Inclusion in Esports
- Integrating Esports into Education
- Understanding the Esports Landscape
IESF General Secretary Boban Totovski said: “IESF extends our sincerest gratitude to our esteemed delegates, and we look forward to working with you all again soon. We are very proud that GEES21 provided international Esports leaders a platform to openly discuss the positive synergies in Esports, and are confident the Summit will inspire a better world for the future of the industry. We want to thank everyone who participated from the production team to our viewers online.We can’t wait to do it again next year welcoming delegates in real life in Busan, Korea.”
About Global Esports Executive Summit (GEES)
GEES21 took place live on August 31st and September 1st at the Busan Esports Arena in Busan, South Korea, and around the world with the hybrid offline/online format. The theme for this year’s summit is “Evolving and Adapting”, and after the success of last year’s event (also hybrid), participants from IESF’s over 100 member federations got to work discussing the most pressing Esports issues, and planning for the future of the booming industry.
Since 2016, GEES has gathered key Esports and sports stakeholders from around the globe to create an environment for discussion, education, and action towards Esports development through conferences, exhibitions, academic lectures, and networking events.
GEES21 has been supported by the Korean Ministry of Sports and Tourism, Busan Metropolitan City, and the Busan IT Promotion Agency.
About the International Esports Federation
IESF is the unifying body for World Esports. Founded in 2008 by nine-member nations, IESF is currently composed of over 100 Member Federations across five continents. IESF brings together all Esports stakeholders to achieve a united ecosystem for the development of sustainable and responsible gaming worldwide. The IESF Esports World Championship is the biggest multi-sport spectacle of Esports in the world. IESF also organizes the annual Global Esports Executive Summit in order to support the highest standard of Esports governance worldwide.
