(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Q: As a Head of the Media & Broadcasting Committee - what is your special anticipation for the 24th Men's Handball World Championship in Qatar in terms of media?
As we are getting closer to the Opening Ceremony of the 24th Men's Handball World Championship, the excitement is growing and thousands of people from all over the world are gathering here in Doha for a unique celebration. We are expecting media from all over the globe, so we are taking all the necessary steps to ensure that their experience will be memorable, always keeping in mind, to provide them with the top-level media services and superb hospitality, in order to make their job easier.
Q: How huge is the global media interest in the event?
Over a thousand journalists from all over the World have been accredited. We fully acknowledge the important role that media play all over the world. They are the messengers who deliver to the worldwide audience the handball action of the Handball Championship happening in Qatar. This is exactly why we have gone the extra mile to make sure that we will be providing the media with fully prepared facilities.
Q: What kind of facilities and working conditions can the media representatives from all over the world expect in and around the three newly built venues?
We are proud to offer facilities that are in the best quality in every aspect. Lusail offers the Media with the facilities such as: media tribunes, main operational hub, press conference halls, main media centre (MMC); where volunteers and staff are delighted to assist them, and a restaurant. The MMC is the headquarters of the Media Operations during the 24th Men's Handball World Championship. It is located at the ground floor and the mezzanine level of the Lusail Multipurpose Hall. Outside the MMC, the media accreditation centre is located, which includes the Guest Pass Office.
The Media Centres in Al Sadd and in Duhail venues offer similar services. All venues are prepared to the highest international sport competition standards. And they will be available for the Media three hours before the beginning of the first match and two hours after the end of the last one. Media will be transported from their hotels to the venues and back and also from one venue to another through an organised, prepared transportation schedule.
Q: For the first time ever at a handball World Championship an organiser provides a Main Media Centre. What makes this area so valuable for all media representatives and which service will be provided?
The Main Media Centre at Lusail and the Venue Media Centres offer a wide array of services that supply all Media representatives with information needed. We have ensured that the level of services is of the highest.
We have established a Main Media Centre Info Desk, which is located at the entrance of the MMC, it will provide support for all media service matters, general information, specific media information, finding locations inside and outside the venue.
The Media Transport Help Desk, located at the Main Help Desk, provides assistance with transport related questions/issues and information about the timetable of the shuttle buses.
The Media Work Room provides 400 working stations in 2 levels equipped with cabled Internet connections, free Wi-Fi, PCs and printers. Pigeonholes, where specific competition (cumulative statistics, flash news etc) will be available as print outs in specific spots at the MMC and at competition venues. This information will also be available electronically on the INFO website. The Press Conference Room, located on the Ground floor of the MMC, has a capacity of 140 seats. Nikon & Canon Service Desk provides camera repair, maintenance and loan services to accredited photographers. We have also taken into account that during the short breaks between competitions the Media will need some time to relax and enjoy some time off their hectic schedules.
We have therefore arranged for a Media Lounge, located on Lusail's second floor, which will offer catering services to the media, complimentary coffee, tea and juices will be available throughout the day. Also we have the Media Restaurant, located at the Lusail's at the second floor dedicated only to the Media.
During the championship, the Media Tribunes offer a spectacular and unobstructed view of the venues, making sure that the Media will enjoy the best level of services possible. There are two types of media tribunes, tabled and observers' (non-tabled) seats.
There are 240-tabled seats and more than 520 observers' (non-tabled) seats. Tabled Seats have power and LAN cables in addition to a WiFi as well as shared 17" screens showing the broadcast feed from BeIn Sport main broadcaster.
Q: Like at Olympic Games journalists have the opportunity to improve their work by using an Info System and a picture library. What is the intention to implement those systems?
For the first time in the history of the Handball World Championship, the News Service will provide a web-based news and information system called INFO system published in English and Arabic. It is to assist accredited media in covering the competitions. This service is usually offered at multisport global events, such as the Olympic or the Asian Games.
The INFO system will contain competition results and schedules provided by statistics, as well as news, biographies, historical records, team profiles and other useful background information. Hard-copy reports, such as results reports will be distributed to the pigeonholes at the MMC and also at the journalists, broadcasters in venue tribunes in addition to the Venue Media Centres. Flash quotes, press conference highlights, previews and reviews, will also be available for media and broadcasters at competition venues and the MMC.
The purpose of the photo service is to provide media with images from the Qatar2015 event for print or online viewing purposes. The libraries are updated on a daily basis during each match with photos from all three venues.
'FIND PHOTO' feature will help media to search with keywords such as participating countries and athletes. Even though all images are under Qatar2015 copyright, images can still be downloaded in both low and high resolution for editorial purposes to promote both The State of Qatar as the host country and Handball sport.
With the help of the most recent technology, We will provide a 360 virtual tour for all three venues where the Championship will take place.
Q What other activities have you planned for the media?
The 24th Men's Handball World Championship is a unique opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to Qatar's 2030 Vision. We don't only want to demonstrate our venues but to show the world a glimpse of our cultural heritage in Qatar. We have prepared tours around the city of Doha, to ensure that the media gets a taste of Qatar.
Q: How can this sport-specific content provided by Media & Broadcast promote handball on a global scale?
Sport is not only statistics, scoreboards and achievements, It is much more. We wanted to demonstrate, that behind every successful story, there is the human element. We, at Qatar 2015, will offer to the World Media sport news and stories that will enhance their reports . It will offer an insider's view of what will be happening during the 24th Men's Handball Word Championship.
We have built all this time a sports communication strategy based on the human factor of handball: the heroes, the protagonists and their stories.
A storytelling developed around the players, the coaches, the teams, whereas at the same time, we have been supporting local and international media with the latest updates on all handball events taking place in Doha.
We have been producing handball stories in the form of press releases, website uploads, newsletters content organising our material in a geographical way.
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