From Tuesday, May 24 to Thursday, May 26, the Innovation Institute for Fan Experience (IIFX) will host its first in-person FANCENTRIC International Conference & Expo at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. The FANCENTRIC Conference & Expo will bring together leading thought leaders, subject matter experts and vendors from all aspects of the sports and entertainment industry. Leading up to the Conference & Expo, IIFX will be highlighting speakers and their experience in the industry. This week, IIFX would like to showcase some key additions to the conference agenda.
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Matt Kenny serves as Executive Vice President of Operations and Events for the Kansas City Chiefs. In his fifth year with the Club he is responsible for the fan experience at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, including parking and logistics, event operations, guest services, and the club’s relationships with concessions and merchandise partners. He also oversees Arrowhead Events, the non-football revenue-generating arm of the Chiefs, the team’s training camp and is the club’s main point of contact with the Jackson County Sports Complex Authority. Additionally, the security, stadium operations and facilities functions for Arrowhead Stadium and The University of Kansas Health System Training Complex report to him. Kenny serves as the executive committee for the KC 2026 World Cup bid, and as a board member of the Kansas City Sports Commission and the Stadium Managers Association.
Dr. Lindsay Gietzen is a University professor and program director where she specializes in simulation and educational evaluation. As a physician’s assistant, she practiced in emergency/trauma medicine in Detroit, Michigan and then specialized in neurological surgery, leading a team that developed and performed many procedures for the first time in the United States. She is a Member of the Michigan Academy of Physician Assistants, American Academy of Physician Assistants, Physician Assistant Education Association, and Director at Large of the Association of Neurosurgical Physician Assistants. Lindsay is currently serving an appointment to the American Council onEducation, where she is an expert faculty evaluator for military medical programs on behalf of the Department of Defense.
Ryan McConnell is the lead product manager for Kantar’s North American MONITOR suite of syndicated consumer insights products. His role is to lead the strategy, content, and innovation plans for MONITOR’s business, which has been helping brand marketers understand the attitudes, values, and motivations of American consumers for 50+ years. Ryan began his career in marketing and advertising as a media planner at Ogilvy & Mather in 1999. After a stint as a consumer strategist at Carat, Ryan earned his master’s degree in journalism at NYU and worked as a reporter for MLB.com and Advertising Age prior to joining The Futures-Company – which later became Kantar – in 2008. In March 2020, Ryan’s passion for sports marketing led him to spearhead the creation of Sports MONITOR, a fan insights service that helps brands connect with modern fans.
Chris Yigit is the Technology Partnership Manager for AutoVu™, the automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) solution from Genetec™, overseeing strategic technology partnerships, integrations and alliances. Chris joined the company in April 2010 and has been instrumental in growing the AutoVu product line ever since.Chris began his career as an applications engineer at Loctite Canada and then at Matrox VideoProducts where he held various managerial positions spanning over 10 years. Chris holds aBachelor of Engineering from McGill University in Quebec, Canada.
Philippe Bourdarias has 20 years’ experience in the sport industry and the organization of major sport events. He started his sport career in Spain where he contributed to the development of Beach Soccer, first for “Octagon”, an international sport agency, and then for “FIFA Beach Soccer”. Philippe then joined World Rugby where he spearheaded the global event strategy and organization of over 100 events including seven Rugby World Cups. He was also a driving force behind the development of Rugby Sevens which culminated with its inclusion in the Olympic Games in Rio 2015. Philippe also worked with the UCI where he headed-up the Sport department. In 2019, he transitioned over to the world of Esports joining Zwift, an award-winning cycling and running virtual platform to lead their Esports Strategy, where he created the cycling esports discipline in partnership with the UCI. Philippe joined One Plan in 2021 to lead the development of the company in the sport and major event sector.
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These industry leaders will join the diverse group of individuals who will be speaking at the FANCENTRIC Conference. The speakers highlighted today will be joining confirmed speakers Larry Olmsted, Russ Simons, Lee Zeidman, Kim Stone, Mario Coutinho, Jim Mercurio, Paul Turner , Scott McCartney, John Petrone, Shawn Trell, Nick Spampanato, Pat Christenson, Julie Giese, Jeff Keas, Brian Herbert, Laura Edell, Eric Golebiewski, Daniel Heal, Dr. Todd Harple, Lisa Furfine, Jennifer “Jae” Pi’ilani Requiro, Dan Donovan, Kasia Hanson, Matt Pasco, Dr. Tilman Jolly, and many others.
Discounted rooms are available through the IIFX FANCENTRIC block through 5/6/2022. Rooms with competitive rates are available at all Caesars properties through Caesars.com.
Visit the official FANCENTRIC website to learn more about conference details, sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities. To register, you can purchase a FANCENTRIC Conference ticket HERE.