Image source: Jak Howard
Esports industry conference ESI London takes place at Boxpark in Wembley on November 8th and 9th, with more speakers just announced including Excel, Guild, McLaren, Alpine F1, Blast, Betway and more.
ESI London 2021 was announced last month, and there are more event details here, but what of the actual panels? We’ve listed a handful of our favourites to look out for.
Post pandemic revenue streams – what lessons will stick from 2020-21?
Monday November 8th, 2pm-2.45pm
Monetisation opportunities have shifted during the pandemic, with many live events cancelled or moving to a hybrid format, though LANs and finals are starting to return.
So what trends can we expect to see? Blast CEO Robbie Douek, ESL Pro League commissioner Alex Inglot, Hotdrop founder and CEO Heather Dower and Team Liquid president and COO Claire Hungate discuss.
Esports business in the UK – the future is bright?
Tuesday November 9th, 10am-10.45am
The UK esports market is continuing to evolve and develop, with a host of names operating here, from ESL UK to Gfinity, Blast, Faceit, Fnatic and more.
Excel CEO Wouter Sleijffers, MNM Gaming director Kalvin Chung, LDN UTD founder and CEO Oliver Weingarten and Taso Advisory MD Ben Greenstone discuss.
Diversity in esports – is substantive change on the way?
Tuesday November 9th, 11.30am-12.15pm
This panel will look at how esports businesses can cultivate a more diverse space.
We now have more diverse tournaments like Valorant VCT Game Changers for women and minority genders (recently won by UK organisation Tenstar) – so how can companies create a more inclusive work environment or set up?
The topic will be explored by NUEL women and non-binary LoL product manager Anisah Munim, Blast esports product manager Tasha Jones, Morgan Sports Law head of partnerships Mitsouko Anderson, Lionscreed partnerships and community manager Oscar Asewando and Esports Insider marketing and media executive Riley Soley.
The student experience – how is esports revolutionising student life
Tuesday November 9th, 4pm-4.45pm
The esports education space in the UK is moving rapidly. Since Staffordshire University launched the first esports degree in the UK back in 2018, we’ve seen more institutions get involved, the Esports BTEC launch, colleges and universities open new facilities and more.
We also have more collegiate esports tournaments than ever in the UK, with the NSE, NUEL, British Esports Student Championships, Digital Schoolhouse and Adaplay, for example.
University of Warwick esports consultant Jack Fenton, International Federation of Esports Coaches head of research, learning and development Matt Watson and yours truly, Esports News UK editor Dom Sacco, will be speaking as part of this panel.
Sam Cooke, MD & co-founder of ESI, commented: “After over two years we are incredibly excited for ESI London’s in-person return, and to continue on our mission to drive the esports industry forward by facilitating thought provoking discussions with leaders across the industry.
“We know that conferences are an essential opportunity to network, and we look forward to sharing the exciting networking alternatives we’ve developed at BOXPARK for attendees to connect through unique and memorable experiences, and in doing so build lasting relationships.”
Get tickets, view the full agenda and see more info on the ESI London website here.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
