Community Initiative and Sponsorship Tactics

We have two guests today: Kieran Sanford. Co-Founder of ForG4MERSake in London, and Baba Dioum, the Manager SOLO Esport in Dakar Senegal.

Our discussion included:

How Kieran and Baba each came to esports from different paths.

They each talk briefly about the state of esports in their home countries, the UK and Senegal.

Baba was recently invited to an esports conference hosted by the Royal Federation of Esports in Morocco in Casablanca. He describes how Morocco is working on the development of esports both in their country and across Africa including highlighting Rabat as “The City of Gaming”.

Kieran, one of the founders of ForG4ERSSake, describes the mission of the organization – “Bringing the Community Together for Gaming” – and how it got started. There was a need for a hub to help get young people off the streets. The organization does just that through events, teams, and venues. Their focus is on how gaming can create career opportunities in more than just content creation.

ForG4MERSSake has developed partnerships with many organizations to help them on their quest, including Barclays. He provides his approach to securing sponsors which revolves around getting out there and talking with everyone.

” Just try to go for it.  And do as much as you can to reach out to people. You’re not going to go anywhere just standing there and not trying to be proactive in the market. Just be out there and try to echo your story.”

Baba relates how his organization and approach in Senegal has done much of the same thing, showing that gaming can be a positive influence in many parts of the world.

Baba also talks about his organization SOLO Esport and how they learned that to create a true business it is important to look for different business models to be successful.

Both Kieran and Baba talk about the challenges that esports can face when working with audiences who speak different languages.

Next Kieran talks about how his organization works with influencers. Content creation can be a very lonely place to be. They manage most aspects of the streamer’s career so they can focus on what they do best: create content.

Baba relates the ongoing sponsorship journey for SOLO Esport, including how funding can come from various sources such as banks and the governments of France and Senegal.

And both weigh in on the question of whether the Olympics should include esports in their program in the future.

Episode Webpage: https://www.gamerschangelivespodcast.com/creating-community-initiatives-and-sponsorship-tactics-with-kieran-sanford-and-baba-dioum

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FEATURED IN THIS EPISDOE:

Kieran Sanford

Co-Founder of 4Sake an influencer management agency primarily within gaming & esports. Managing a range of influencers including streamers, content creators & professional esports players.

4Sake also have a community arm that they’re heavily focused in called “ForG4MERSake” which do events & workshops to help educate to young people on the industry and the viable career pathways & opportunities within it.

LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/kieran-sanford-675785b2

Email:  kieran@4sake-esports.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kieransanford01

Baba Dioum

A passionate gamer and a believer in esports, I am the Co-Founder of Solo Esport – the first professional esport club in West Africa and the President of the SENGAMES Association. I've been in the African esport scene since 2010, working to place Africa on the esports world map. I have in the last 12 years travelled to many countries, building connections, and collaborating with other esport associations and institutes.

My goal is to build the best esport team in Africa through Solo Esport by helping young talents reach their full potential and make their mark in the international scene. With Sengames, I want to establish the best esport events in Africa, in collaboration with other eSport actors. Esport is big opportunity and can be a great as tool for education and social change.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mamadoudioum/

Email:  baba.dioum@soloesport.sn

SOLO Esport: https://www.soloesport.sn

Facebook: https://facebook.com/soloesportclub

Twitter: https://twitter.com/_3thousand_

Instagram: https://instagram.com/soloesport

Twitch: https://twitch.tv/soloesporttv

The Royal Federation of Esport in Morocco: https://frmje.ma/

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PRODUCTION:

Creator and host: Tom Leonard (USA) - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomeleonard/

Producer: Reginald Nsowah (Ghana) - https://www.linkedin.com/in/reginald-nsowah-09352929/ 

ABOUT THE SHOW:

Play Games. Create Jobs. Change Lives.

This is a show about how to build an esports business from literally anywhere in the world where each week we showcase the journey of esports entrepreneurs and others to learn how they solved a particular problem that everyone will ultimately face.

In Season Two our theme is “Follow the Money”.

I am your host, Tom Leonard. I have a background in entertainment marketing. After working with many amazing esports entrepreneurs from emerging markets, they inspired me to create a show to tell their stories so that others can be motivated to create their own esports business. Gaming and esports can create jobs tackling the problem of global youth unemployment. Creating jobs from playing games. What could be better than that?

Thanks for listening to The Gamers Change Lives Podcast!