A Virtual Experience on the Business of Collegiate Esports
March 23-24, 2021 | Online, Everywhere.

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CLUB SPONSOR

CSMG
EXHIBITOR SPONSOR

Skullz
NETWORKING SPONSOR

Beat the Bomb

Overview

Welcome to EBS University (EBSU), a two-day virtual conference on the business of collegiate esports, held March 23-24.  EBSU will go inside topics such as sponsorships, scholarships, recruitment, team operations, funding, platforms, streaming, production, facilities management, oversight and more. You’ll learn valuable insights, network with industry peers, and walk away with techniques to build, grow and monetize your collegiate esports programs.

AGENDA

Tuesday, Mar 23

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  1. 10:00 am — 12:00 pm

    Workshop - Esports 101: The Pillars of Collegiate Esports

  2. 10:00 am — 10:15 am

    Workshop 101 - How Did We Get Here? Esports Industry Evolution to Scholastic

  3. 10:15 am — 10:55 am

    Workshop 101 - Collegiate Esports - Governance and Oversight

  4. 10:55 am — 11:10 am

    Workshop 101 - Q&A with A.J. Dimick

  5. 11:10 am — 11:25 am

    Workshop 101 - Q&A with Activision Blizzard

  6. 11:25 am — 11:55 am

    Workshop 101 - Data-Driven Trends in College Esports

  7. 11:55 am — 12:10 pm

    Workshop 101 - Barnes & Noble College x AVGL Esports Case Study: Autumn Anarchy

  8. 12:30 pm — 2:30 pm

    Workshop - Esports 102: Creating and running a team 

  9. 12:30 pm — 12:50 pm

    Workshop 102 - Elite Competitive Programs - Directors, Structure, Execution, Support

  10. 12:50 pm — 1:35 pm

    Workshop 102 - Anatomy of a College Esports Program - Why Character and Culture Count

  11. 1:35 pm — 2:15 pm

    Workshop 102 - How We Built This - Case Studies From New Programs

  12. 2:15 pm — 2:30 pm

    Workshop 102 - How to Talk to Parents/Why HS Associations and Educators Matter in Scholastic Esports

  13. 2:30 pm — 3:20 pm

    Beat the Bomb/Networking Break

  14. 3:20 pm — 3:50 pm

    StreamHatchet Exclusive Data Research Presentation

  15. 4:00 pm — 4:20 pm

    Keynote: Gloria Nevarez

  16. 4:20 pm — 4:35 pm

    Hall of Fame

  17. 4:35 pm — 5:00 pm

    Keynote: Ahman Green


Wednesday, Mar 24

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  1. 10:00 am — 10:30 am

    Publisher's Perspective

  2. 10:30 am — 11:15 am

    Working with Partners – Panel: Maximizing Sponsorships in the Collegiate Ecosystem

  3. 11:15 am — 11:30 am

    Q&A: Twitch

  4. 11:30 am — 12:15 pm

    Panel: Strategies for Meaningful Change - Fostering Diversity and Inclusion in Esports

  5. 12:15 pm — 1:00 pm

    Lunch and Networking Break

  6. 1:00 pm — 1:45 pm

    Panel: Collegiate Esports & Licensing

  7. 1:45 pm — 2:00 pm

    Q&A: Gen.G

  8. 2:00 pm — 2:45 pm

    Fireside Chat: Gillette + HBCU Esports Alliance

  9. 2:45 pm — 3:00 pm

    Q&A: Learfield IMG College

  10. 3:00 pm — 3:15 pm

    Networking Break

  11. 3:15 pm — 4:00 pm

    Panel: Recruiting Esports – Understanding the Talent Pools and Where to Find Them

  12. 4:00 pm — 4:15 pm

    Q&A: FACEIT

  13. 4:15 pm — 5:15 pm

    Closing Session: Congress of Commissioners and CEOs

Hall of Fame

  • Kurt Melcher

    Kurt Melcher

    Executive Director of Gaming & Esports

    Kurt Melcher is the Executive Director of Gaming & Esports at Intersport, leading a team of esports and gaming industry veterans that delivers innovative marketing solutions, business strategy, investment intelligence and original production services to brands, publishers, leagues, teams, universities, and investment groups. The Intersport gaming and esports group is the driving force behind notable work for clients that include the NCAA, Warner Bros, Rocket Mortgage, Samsung, Smithfield Foods, Sony PlayStation, Red Bull, and 7-Eleven. Intersport’s gaming and esports group provides global turnkey gaming/esports solutions for brands, game publishers, and teams across production, broadcast, tournament, and tour design.

    Melcher served as the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) strategic esports advisor, leading the governing body’s research of the collegiate esports community and developing frameworks for how esports could potentially be incorporated into the collegiate sports model. Additionally, Kurt and the Intersport team work with NCAA member conferences to develop esports programming as well as individual universities to strategically onboard competitive and community esports programs, including areas such as administrative staffing and player recruitment, facility design and co-curricular initiatives.

    Kurt rose to prominence in 2014, when he made Robert Morris University (IL) the first university to recognize esports as part of the athletic department and offer athletic scholarships to gamers, helping legitimize the world of college esports. An athletic director and coach for more than 15 years, Melcher recognized the core educational elements involved in traditional sports and believesthe same holds true in esports.

    Melcher’s visionary program has been highlighted in several prominent news outlets, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Time Magazine, ESPN, NPR, HBO Real Sports, and in thedocumentaryfilm,“AllWorkAllPlay.” KurtalsobecameaTEDspeakerwhenhepresentedtheTEDx Talk “Gamers, The Rising Stars of Collegiate Athletics”.

  • Duran Parsi

    Duran Parsi

    Director of Collegiate Esports
    FACEIT

    Duran was in the esports space before the term “esports” was coined. Originally a StarCraft player Duran started his career by organising tournaments on his university campus which quickly expanded to form a league across all UC schools. The rapid growth and demand from students helped to forge Collegiate Starleague (CSL) which Duran co-founded in 2009. As the CEO of CSL Duran was responsible for onboarding universities and creating leagues and tournaments across multiple games in order to appeal to every competitive gamer. For over a decade Duran has been committed to developing the collegiate esports scene helping college campuses across North America to establish teams. Over 1,800 house teams have been formed across a number of games and platforms and now over $1 million is given away each year in scholarships. Duran now embarks on his next move heading up the newly formed collegiate esports division of FACEIT, the leading competitive gaming platform that is committed to evolving the grassroots competitive ecosystem. Duran will grow the new team and form collegiate programs for FACEIT’s partners helping them to build new international communities. 

Sponsors

For information on sponsorship opportunities, contact Andrew Katz:  [email protected]

Questions?

Contact Jenn Ocampo
[email protected]
203.899.8471

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