“If you want to change sport from the ground up, you need some pretty big balls.” MOVE Congress 2019 keynote speaker Markos Aristides Kern uses the name of his successful start-up Fun With Balls in a cheeky way, and that is exactly how it’s meant to be. Markos is one of the grassroots sport sector’s most dynamic entrepreneurs, winning at award for best innovator in sports tech in Toronto earlier this year.
Markos will share the secrets to gamifying physical activity on 17 October in the morning’s plenary session in a presentation that could change how you see the future of grassroots sport. And you can even test his new multiBALL technology in our brand new Innovation Alley during the breaks.
We spoke to one of the hottest speakers on the global conference circuit about what he’s looking forward to most at the MOVE Congress and why he has succeeded in reaching people who have never been interested in traditionally organised sport.
What are you looking forward to at this year’s MOVE Congress?
Markos Kern: Times are changing fast and sports also needs to reinvent itself. For that reason, I’m looking forward to meet with the thought leaders and innovators at the MOVE Congress to discuss how sports can stay relevant in an ever more digital world.
What are Fun With Balls’ most popular and marketable innovative products?
Markos Kern: I think our main point behind all our products is that we managed to fully merge sports and gaming into a highly attractive experience. This means we actually make people move who never considered participating in a sport while making the facilities much more profitable than before.
Who are your main customers?
Markos Kern: Our main clients are operators of sports facilities, schools, malls – anybody who’s interested in gaining more footfall and commercialising their location better. Our products provide a real solution to a big problem.
How can gamification be a game-changer for grassroots sport and physical activity participation in general? And how has Fun With Balls changed the game for squash and racquet sports in particular?
Markos Kern: Real gamification gets anybody hooked to being active in an instant. One hour or more can feel like a few minutes, making it easy even for couch potatoes to get their workout. This enables sports and their operators to keep up with other activities and the ever declining attention span of today. In squash, this is a game-changer already due to the high average age and aged image of the sport. All of the sudden a trip to a squash centre becomes a highly desirable activity for a young target audience.
You have broken through into the public eye this year, with a lot of international speaking engagements to follow. Has this year been a game-changer for you?
Markos Kern: It has indeed. We’ve grown our start-up from a small company with 8 people to now 23 and we’re still hiring. This year marked an important milestone for us with many governments and institutions also realising the great potential of gamification to solve a big problem in society. We’ve expanded internationally and launched multiBALL, a system that can easily be installed by anybody in schools, gyms and other locations. And we’re just getting started.
Catch the tech wave with Markos at the MOVE Congress 2019 and get ready to experience multiBALL for yourself!
Click here to book your ticket
Who is Markos Kern? Watch the video below from Chicago earlier this year.
A game-changer with the “balls” to make a difference
“If you want to change sport from the ground up, you need some pretty big balls.” MOVE Congress 2019 keynote speaker Markos Aristides Kern uses the name of his successful start-up Fun With Balls in a cheeky way, and that is exactly how it’s meant to be. Markos is one of the grassroots sport sector’s most dynamic entrepreneurs, winning at award for best innovator in sports tech in Toronto earlier this year. Markos will share the secrets to gamifying physical activity
MOVE Congress summer offer ends soon
Budapest is still sizzling in the European heatwave and so is our MOVE Congress summer offer. But by Sunday the tables will turn, the Southern Hemisphere will start basking in the spring sunshine - and those who have snapped up a MOVE Congress pass for only €250 will be smiling like a sunny emoji wherever they are. This week is the last chance to save on your MOVE Congress ticket. Save €50 on your 3-day pass or €20 on our new
What we learn here can influence decision-makers back home
Interview with Youth Sport Trust Chief Executive Ali Oliver. “This movement represents everything that we believe in – the right of every child to move and the importance of that in their day-to-day lives.” When Youth Sport Trust Chief Executive Ali Oliver led our Active School Communities plenary session at the MOVE Congress 2017 in Birmingham, she underlined the importance of prioritising physical education and new, innovative ways of getting kids active at school and out of school hours. It is a
2 months to go – don’t miss our strongest speaker line-up yet!
With 2 months to go until the MOVE Congress in Budapest, ISCA is delighted to announce that Dr Fiona Bull MBE, from the World Health Organization, will be our first keynote speaker on 17 October and set the scene for one of our strongest conference programmes yet. Following the keynote session, featuring gamification experts Markos Aristides Kern and Rocket Beans TV active storyteller Gino Singh, Dr Bull will lead Track 1 of the MOVE Congress ‘Game-changers connecting physical activity and health’. Kate
The conference is at your fingertips with the MOVE Congress 2019 app
If you’ve secured your seat for the 9th MOVE Congress in Budapest, you can literally have the conference at your fingertips with our official app, powered by Whova. Keep up-to-date with the latest additions and updates to our programme, speakers, side events – including our new Innovation Alley exhibitions and presentations – and contact fellow participants before, during and after the event. How? Step 1: To download the app, you first need to register as a MOVE Congress participant. Step 2: Receive your download
Hong Kong Olympic medallist Amy Chan our latest confirmed speaker
Amy Chan Lim-chee is a former elite athlete who is now changing the game for sport for development and women in sport leadership as the Chair of the Hong Kong Elite Athletes Association and Executive Manager of the Racing Development Board of the Hong Kong Jockey Club. She is also our latest confirmed speaker in our track Discovering new perspectives on physical activity promotion among school children on 18 October at the MOVE Congress in Budapest. Chan first enjoyed success in
LazyTown star to kick off Day 2 of the MOVE Congress
Nobody fits the description of “game-changer” in sport and physical activity better than someone who transforms into a superhero and sets out on a mission to move the world. This transformation was all in a day’s work for MOVE Congress 2019 keynote speaker Magnús Scheving – an Icelandic entrepreneur who created his own TV show, LazyTown, and starred in it as healthy lifestyle superhero Sportacus. A former gymnast, PE teacher and self-described “flaming ball of energy”, Scheving noticed a gap in