Deputy Director General Lin Che-hung present awards to participants of the “Taiwan-Brand International Sports Events Online Vote”

The “2021 Fun Sports in Taiwan Exchange and Sharing Program” was held by the Sports Administration, Ministry of Education on October 12th in Taichung. Held both physically and online, it displayed the diverse faces of Taiwan-brand sports events.

In her speech to the opening ceremony, Hsu Hsiu-ling, Director of the International and Cross-strait Sports Division, Sports Administration, said that the Fun Sports in Taiwan event series kicked off with an international forum in early March this year. Following on, 20 brand training courses have been held, attended by over 2,000 people online. Even though most of the international sports events that were to be held in Taiwan have been cancelled or postponed in the epidemic period, internet technology and creativity has been used to give Fun Sports in Taiwan a rich harvest. Lin Ting-fang, Director of the Program to Optimize International Sports Exchange Activities, discussed integration of “athletes,” “sports events” and “sports equipment” from the starting point of “brand,” to make effective use of Taiwan’s advantages with the aim of building the Taiwan Brand International Sports Events. 

This Exchange and Sharing Program conducted discussion from various angles. The morning session began with the 2017 Taipei Universiade, inviting Michael Tu, CEO and Chairman of Interplan Group, the unit that oversaw the opening ceremony, to share his organizing experience and, on the theme of city marketing, lead everyone in discussion of the success factors for large-scale events. “Through the power of the crowd, let things with more value gain better opportunities,” founder of Backer-founder Lin Ta-han, talked about Taipei Universiade crowd participatory marketing from the angle of crowdfunding.

Also, journalists who reported on this summer’s Tokyo Olympics or Paralympics were invited to discuss the new challenges faced when participating in international sports events amidst the epidemic from the “media angle”. In addition, the Center of Industry Accelerator and Patent Strategy (IAPS) and four of its startup teams discussed sports innovative technology, giving everyone an all-new sports life experience and giving them a better understanding of the industry chain formed by combining sports and technology, creating unique value and highlights for sports events.

In the afternoon session, Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore members of the APEC Sports Policy Network (ASPN), shared experiences of organizing sports events such as the Australian Open, Osaka Castle Triathlon, Okinawa Marathon, Malaysia Moto GP and Singapore Marathon. The organizing units of the top 10 events in the “Taiwan Brand International Sports Events Online Vote” also generously shared their experiences of event organizing. Sports Administration Deputy Director-General Lin Che-hung presented awards to the winning event organizers. Lastly, the MOU signing ceremony between HYPE Sports Innovation and IAPS was held, bringing the day’s activities to a perfect close.