Adidas Grand Prix Marketing Director For CLM TV Sports Symposium, May 27, 2010, New York

Rich Kenah, Marketing Director of Global Athletics & Marketing (GA&M), organizers of the adidas Grand Prix in New York – the event where Usain “Lighting” Bolt first broke the 100m world record in 2008 – has accepted an invitation to be a panelist at the inaugural CLM TV Sports Symposium to be held at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, New York on Thursday May 27, 2010.

In 2001, after his retirement from competition, Kenah, a former USA Olympian and middle distance runner who won bronze medals over 800 meters at the 1997 World Indoor Championship and at the World Championships in Athens joined (GA&M) as Director of Marketing where he oversees sponsorship sales and marketing efforts for GA&M’s athletes, events and corporate clients. GA&M owns three of the top track-and-field events in the United States: the Reebok Boston Indoor Games, the adidas Track Classic and the adidas Grand Prix. The firm also manages top stars including Liu Xiang, Tyson Gay in addition to producing the grandest indoor meet in the world, the 100-year-old Millrose Games.

A 1992 graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Business with a degree in international marketing, Kenah was choosen by the event executives because of his expertise in sports marketing which is one of the major points up for discussion at the Symposium.

“One of the core strategies for sports administrators and those in the business sector in Jamaica has to be the development of Sports marketing strategies. They must find creative ways for our country to benefit financially from the successes of our athletes at the World Championship in Berlin and the Beijing Olympics,” says CLM TV executive Clement Hume.

“We are delighted that Rich accepted our invitation, as he can provide insights and expertise on marketing and branding from his involvement with successful athletics events like the Millrose Games, the Reebok Boston Indoor Games and the adidas Grand Prix” he said

Joining Kenah on the panel at the Symposium are Teddy McCook, Executive of the Jamaica Olympic Association & regional IAAF representative; Olympians Raymond Stewart & Grace Jackson; Devon Harris, a member of Jamaica’s original Bobsled Team and Bruce James, TV sports analysis and President of MVP Track Club, home of Olympic champions Shelly Ann-Frasier, Bridgette Foster-Hylton and former world record holder Asafa Powell. The Sports Symposium – the first event of this kind in the Diaspora – will discuss issues relating to ‘The Legacy of the Beijing Olympics and the World Championship,’ brand Jamaica and sports tourism. The symposium will be taped and edited for re-broadcast to TV viewers in the tri-state area in June 2010.