December 20, 2007 – Meet top sport business executives and sport leaders in Canada as they provide their expertise and knowledge to delegates attending Sport Events Congress 2008 scheduled for April 27-29 at the Hilton Lac-Leamy in the national capital region.

Congress Line-Up
The Congress features an impressive line-up of keynote speakers and panelists and session topics, including sessions specifically tailored to the sport community. The 2008 Congress will be the #1 professional development event of the year! If you are a marketing manager, event manager or CEO\ED with a national, provincial, multi-sport or major games sport organization, you cannot miss this event! In 2007, a record number of representatives from the national sport community attended the Congress – register NOW!

Registration Information
Members of the national and provincial sport system can attend the entire 3-day Congress at a special rate of $99 + GST (if registered before January 21, 2008). This special rate includes conference materials, PRESTIGE Awards luncheon, Sport Events Exchange (see details below) and all networking and social events. Register on-line at www.canadiansporttourism.com.

Sport Events Exchange
Sport Events Exchange is a business-to-business marketplace where events rights holders and municipalities and suppliers meet one-on-one to explore hosting opportunities. Participants are assigned brief appointments to conduct their business meeting. During the Exchange, sport organizations may promote their conferences, AGMs, workshops, competitions, etc. to potential host cities who are enthusiastic about maximizing the tourism benefits associated with hosting sport-related activities in their area. By establishing contact with local sport tourism executives, sport organizations may have access to additional funding or hosting grants available from cities & municipalities. Marketplace participants will also have additional opportunities to interact via a networking lunch that will be integrated into the marketplace.

Testimonials
Here’s what members of the sport community have been saying about Sport Events Congress:

“Excellent variety of sessions offered. The Sport Events Exchange was an excellent way for our association to connect with potential venues and organizations who expressed interest in hosting future events and conferences/meetings. It’s a great way to introduce NSOs to other aspects of sport, namely the business of sport tourism.”
– Tamara Medwidsky, Football Canada

“Access to the CSTA Sports Exchange and has increased our ability to recruit hosts for our Canadian Championships. Since taking advantage of these resources I have found that it is often the municipal tourism office that will motivate the local softball community into submitting a bid for some of our championships that are more difficult to place.”
– Diana Thibodeau, Softball Canada

“As a member of the CSTA, AthletesCAN really benefits from the opportunity to hear from experts in the field of event marketing and sponsorship – a great event!”
– Jasmine Northcott, AthletesCAN

‘As a sport federation rep it’s a fantastic opportunity to have access to all these tools that have been designed to help us capitalize on the economic benefits associated with our events…and to have all these Canadian city reps here, wanting to learn more about our sport and hosting opportunities, is a huge bonus!’
– Anonymous

‘I found as a sport representative attending for the first time the event had much to offer and excellent opportunities to network with key organizations. Our sport will be returning next year better prepared. Thank you for the great hospitality.’
– Rick Przybysz, Canadian Broomball Federation

More information
For more information, visit www.canadiansporttourism.com or contact: Krista Benoit, Marketing Manager – CSTA (kbenoit@canadiansporttourism.com) or Rick Traer, CEO – CSTA (rtraer@canadiansporttourism.com).