EASM

On behalf of the European Association for Sport Management the local organizing committee invites you to submit abstracts to be considered for presentation at the 17th EASM Conference, to be hosted by the city of Amsterdam in September 2009.

Delegates are also invited to consider entering a Case Study competition in the spirit one of the sub themes of the conference ‘Best practice in sport facility and event management’. Conditions of entry will also be outlined below. Building on our previous EASM conferences, the organizers would like to invite presentations in three categories:

1. Research papers (conceptual or theoretical advance)
2. Working papers or professional practice papers
3. Early career research papers

Research papers

Research papers are typically submitted and presented by senior researchers who have significant research experience as evidenced by a substantial publication track record. Papers in this category will include the presentation of either substantial literature review/discussion (conceptual advance) or primary data analysis (theoretical advance). Abstracts submitted in this category will be submitted to rigorous double blind review. Presenters will be allowed 20 minutes of presentation time followed by 5 minutes of question time.

Working papers or professional practice papers

Working papers or professional practice papers can either be submitted by senior researchers (see above) or by senior sport management professionals. Working papers reflect and report on research in progress, the only difference with research papers being that there may not (yet) be primary data analysis to be reported. Working papers will also be submitted to double blind review. Professional practice papers are presentations about sport organizational and managerial practice, reflecting and/or reporting on success or failure of sport management. Professional practice papers will be reviewed by the local organizing committee and by the Chair of the Scientific Committee.

Early career research papers

Early career research papers are typically submitted and presented by early career academics including current PhD candidates in sport management. Presenters in this category are embarking on a research career in sport management as evidenced by an emerging publication track record. Early career researchers will present in groups of 2 (total session time of 30 minutes) and allowed 15 minutes of presentation and/or discussion time but there will be no separate question time. Early career abstracts and powerpoint outlines will be submitted to single blind review. Alternatively, early career researchers may choose to submit a brief paper in order to compete in EASM’s New Researcher Award, sponsored by Taylor and Francis. Follow the link to NRA for submission instructions (this link will soon be available).

Final acceptance and inclusion of any paper in the program and conference proceedings is dependent on receipt of conference registration fees from the presenting author. Delegates can only present one paper but can be second or third author on additional papers.

Submission of research paper abstracts

Submitted abstracts are required to adhere to the following rules:

• The abstract can only be submitted to the Chair of the Scientific Committee, Prof. dr. Hans Westerbeek at h.westerbeek@latrobe.edu.au
• The abstract has to be written in proper English.
• The abstract has to follow the APA style (5th edition)
• The length of the abstract is limited to 750 words not including references. Abstracts that exceed the upper word limit will not be accepted.
• Abstracts schould include the list of authors, their institutional affiliation, and the email address of the first author.

The abstract should use the following headings:

• RESEARCH PAPER SUBMISSION
• aim of paper and research questions
• literature review
• research design and data analysis
• results
• discussion and conclusion
• references

The submission deadline for abstracts is 11 April 2009.

Submission of working paper/professional practice paper abstracts

• Submitted abstracts are required to adhere to the following rules: The abstract can only be submitted to the Chair of the Scientific Committee, Prof. dr. Hans Westerbeek at h.westerbeek@latrobe.edu.au.
• The abstract has to be written in proper English.
• The abstract has to follow the APA style (5th edition).
• The length of the abstract is limited to 750 words not including references. Abstracts that exceed the upper word limit will not be accepted.

Abstracts should include the list of authors, their institutional affiliation, and the email address of the first author.

The abstract should use the following headings:

• WORKING PAPER SUBMISSION or PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE SUBMISSION
• research questions (working paper only) and aim of paper
• literature review (working paper) or organizational/managerial context
(professional practice paper)
• research design and proposed data analysis (working paper) or organizational/managerial practice/issues (professional practice paper)
• discussion of progress (working paper) or implications for sport and sport management (professional practice paper)
• references

The submission deadline for abstracts is 11 April 2009.

Submission of early career powerpoint presentation outline and 100 word abstract

Submitted abstracts and powerpoint outlines are required to adhere to the following rules:

The powerpoint outline and 100 word abstract can only be submitted to the Chair of the Scientific Committee, Prof. dr. Hans Westerbeek at h.westerbeek@latrobe.edu.au
Presenters are required to submit a 100 word abstract of the research project. When accepted the abstract will be published in the conference proceedings.

The abstract has to be written along the lines of the following example.

The research aims to identify factors that are critical for children aged 6- 12 years in regard to selecting a favorite sporting team. Focus group research among junior members of a professional football team was used to develop a survey instrument. This instrument was used to survey junior members of professional sporting teams in three different sporting codes. Preliminary data analysis (principal components analysis) shows that five different factors emerge (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). Follow up research will be conducted using a more substantial international sample. (word count 87)

Abstracts should include the list of authors, their institutional affiliation, and the email address of the first author.

Presenters are also required to submit a powerpoint outline of their presentation consisting of text only (pictures can be added at the conference). The outline has to be written in proper English. Please note this is an outline only! Presenters will still have to bring their final presentation to the conference!

The outline needs to contain (a maximum of) 8 powerpoint slides (Arial font size 24).

Powerpoint outlines of more than 8 slides will not be accepted. It is anticipated that presenters will use this outline during their presentation at the conference as well. Presenters are advised to limit their final presentation to 8 slides given the maximum of 15 minutes presentation time. The outline should consist of the following slides:

1. Title of the presentation and name/institution of presenter(s)
2. Background to the research (the information on this slide will reflect on the most important theory and models that underpin the research)
3. Aim of the research and research questions
4. (proposed) Research methods
5. (preliminary) Results
6. Discussion of progress and/or results
7. Concluding statements
8. Most important references

The submission deadline for abstracts and powerpoint outlines is 11 April 2009.

Case study competition: Best Practice in Sport Facility and Event Management

As active supporters of EASM 2009, the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) is proud to be the sponsor of this case study competition. The three best case studies will receive a Ministry of VWS Best Case Study Award to be presented at the conference dinner, and a selection of the best case studies (including the winning three cases) may be published((*1) in an (English) case study book, supported by the Ministry and published by the leading sport (management) publishing house in the Netherlands and Belgium: Arko Sports Media. Case studies will be presented as separate chapters and as such, authors will be able to claim their contribution as a book chapter. The judging panel for the competition will consist of:

• A senior staff member of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport
• A senior editor of Arko Sports Media
• A leading facility or event manager
• Two members of the Scientific Committee Amsterdam 2009
• The Chair of the Scientific Committee

(1) When a sifficient number of quality case studies is received

The following guidelines are offered for authors interested in entering the competition.

• The case study has to be written in proper English.
• The case study has to follow the APA style (5th edition).
• The length of the case study should be no less than 4000 words and no more than 6000 words not including references.

The structure of the case study should broadly be based on the following outline:

• Title of the case study.
• Introduction: what the case study will be about (case objectives), what the reader can expect.
• Background to the case: introduction to the organization(s), the main players, the organizational context and the wider external environment context, and how and where this is relevant to the case.
• Describing the main issue(s): what is the focus of the case study, what is being analyzed and considered, what the issues at play are, and how these issues will be dealt with by those in charge (the main players). The case study is likely to increase in quality if authors are able to present comprehensive statistical data that offers scope for analysis later in the document (for example: longitudinal financial, human resource, attendance, trend, or other performance data).
• Critical analysis (by authors) of the main issues: positives and negatives, rights and wrongs, if possible supported by statistical data and preferably based on best practice literature!!
• Discussion of best practice: what can be considered best practice and what not, comparing this case to other examples, what were the critical moments of truth, who made the right and wrong decisions.
• Conclusion: how this case is an example of best practice in sport facility and/or event management. What we can learn from the case, and how this information can be used in the sport industry.
• 5 questions that can be used to guide critical discussion of the case in an educational setting.
• Full reference list

Submissions should include the list of authors, their institutional affiliation, and the email address of the first author.

Case studies can only be submitted to the Chair of the Scientific Committee, Prof. dr. Hans Westerbeek at h.westerbeek@latrobe.edu.au

Authors are requested to send an intention to submit email by the 1st of June 2009 to Prof. dr. Hans Westerbeek at h.westerbeek@latrobe.edu.au in order to allow the publisher to plan for potential publication.

The submission deadline for case studies is 1 August 2009.