ESI Next Gen, the new conference focused on esports in education, has revealed the initial speaker line-up and agenda for its inaugural March event.
B2B esports events and media company Esports Insider (ESI) and the University of Warwick have teamed up for the one-and-a-half day conference in Coventry, promising interactive sessions, workshops, networking and insights.
ESI Next Gen will take place on March 22nd and 23rd at the University of Warwick Esports Centre, which in other news recently announced a separate Warwick Valorant Invitational and partnership with Chillblast.
The UK has steadily increased the number of esports-focused qualifications on offer, with almost 40 esports courses now available across the UK, now providing three-year degrees or higher education courses. This has led ESI and Warwick Uni to put together ESI Next Gen, to bring together leaders from universities and colleges from across the UK and beyond, alongside professionals from both the esports and games industries to discuss the skills the industry can offer young people.
There will also be interactive workshops for students looking to get into the industry.
You might already know that we are working with @esportsinsider to host ESI Next Gen, a one-and-a-half day conference with networking and insights over March 22th-23rd.
— Warwick Esports Centre (@esportscentre_w) February 1, 2023
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ESI Next Gen is set to welcome over 250 attendees, with 30+ speakers across more than nine live sessions.
The Esports Coaching Academy will host a ‘Pathways to Building a Career and Business in Grassroots Youth Esports’ workshop, which will provide attendees with insights and resources on the grassroots esports industry and how to build a career and business in it. Topics will include the current landscape of youth esports, career pathways, business opportunities and best practices in grassroots esports.
The event will also kick off with a networking social and the final of Lions Clash, a Valorant tournament for UK universities and colleges, followed by an evening reception on 22nd March 2023, allowing attendees to register early, experience a live esports event, and network.
The news comes after the similar Esports in Education Summit took place in Nottingham earlier this month, an event that broke attendance figures for the fifth consecutive year.
ESI Next Gen speakers
Speakers this year include educators and industry executives such as:
- Meg Daintith, Talent Acquisition Manager at Electronic Arts
- Phil Bale, Operations Manager at Ubisoft Leamington
- Kalam Neale, Head of Education at British Esports
- Gina Jackson OBE, Founder of Skillfull
- Ólafur Steinarsson, Co-founder & COO at Esports Coaching Academy
- Mikayla Sinead, Founder & CEO at Bridge Network Group
- James Fraser-Murison, Director of Esports at Queen Marys College
- Becky Wright, Senior Partnerships Manager at NSE
- Dr Bianca Wright, Curriculum Lead: Immersive and Associate Professor at Coventry University
- Shahneila Saeed, Programme Director for Digital Schoolhouse
Sam Cooke, Managing Director and Founder at ESI stated: “We are delighted to be working with the University of Warwick for our first inaugural ESI Next Gen. This event will provide a great opportunity to explore and promote the collaborative relationship between the esports and video game industries and educational institutions, so as to create a strong foundation for the new emerging talent.”
Jack Fenton, Head of Esports at University of Warwick added: “This is a huge landmark for Warwick as co-creating the ESI Next Gen concept has been an exciting strategic goal for both us and for Esports Insider. I know that this will be the Esports Centre’s biggest and most impactful event to-date and we’re really proud to be acting as a catalyst for the creative and digital sector. I can’t wait to see the collaboration that spins out of this event!”
There’s more info on the ESI Next Gen event web page, including the full agenda and ticket info, with students and groups offered discounted rates.
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.
