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FEATURES
Successful seminar marks 40 Years of AIPS America
By Jairo Giraldo Jiménez
AIPS America Training Committee
Atrue celebration of sports jour- nalism in the Americas took place on November 23, in the city of Bucaramanga, Colombia, to commemorate the 40th anniversa- ry of AIPS America, formerly known as the Federation of Sports Journalists of America (FEPEDA).
The event was held alongside the an- nual meeting of the AIPS America Executive Committee and an Inter- national Sports Journalism Semi- nar. AIPS President, Gianni Merlo, opened the ceremony with a brief speech related to the current state of our profession. This was followed by greetings from former AIPS America presidents Juan Facuse, Carlos García, and Gabriel Cazenave.
EMOTIONAL MOMENTS The ceremo- ny, which was broadcast live on the regional television channel TRO, witnessed emotional moments when Juan Manuel González received the Abelardo Raidi Award for the Life and Work of a Journalist, and colleague Felipe Zarruk was presented with a diploma for achieving fourth place in the 2022 edition of the AIPS Sport Media Awards.
SPECIAL GUESTS Under the presi- dency of Carlos Julio Castellanos, the seminar was officially opened by the highest authority of the city of Bucara- manga, Mayor Juan Carlos Cárdenas. Alongside Castellanos were the mem- bers of the AIPS America Executive Committee: Nicaraguan Moisés Áva- los as vice president, Mexican Alber- to Rico as treasurer, Venezuelan Luis Vargas as secretary, and Ecuadorian Wálter Saltos as director. Also present were Bolivian Fernando Nurmberg
as vice president for South America and Guatemalan Érick Álvarez as vice president for Central America and the Caribbean.
Special guests from Colombia includ- ed Faiver Hoyos Hernández, President of ACORD Colombia and member of the AIPS America Honour Tribunal; Estewil Quesada, a member of the fiscal commission; and Jairo Giraldo Jiménez, from the training committee.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING The Executive Committee and the Bureau of the International Sports Press As- sociation of America (AIPS America) convened at the Neomundo Interna- tional Convention Centre in the city of Bucaramanga, studying initiatives aimed at consolidating the association in the coming years.
Parallel to the executive sessions, which included representatives from nine countries in the Americas, at- tendees participated in a series of ex- hibitions and conferences on the cur- rent state of sports journalism on the continent and its implications in the era of digitalisation, Artificial Intelli- gence and social media.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Fifty jour- nalists and communication students
attended the international conference on Artificial Intelligence and sports journalism conducted by specialist engineer Adonai Vega. From Paris, Vincent Amalvy, Director of Special Operations and Major Events at AFP (Agence France-Presse) delved into the world of AI to clarify concepts and guide today's sports journalists on the virtues and benefits of this new ap- proach to communication.
SOCIAL MEDIA Moisés Ávalos, press officer for the Olympic Committee as well as the Football Federation of Nicaragua, the first voice in baseball broadcasts on the programme “Tu Nueva Radio Ya” and host of the tel- evision programme “Fantasticos De- portes 13,” analysed the alternatives in the face of the invasion of social me- dia. Luis Vargas, Secretary-General of AIPS America and press officer for the World Boxing Association (AMB), discussed the forced changes that the media is undergoing.
AIPS America EC Members: Hugo Hidalgo, Ecuador; Fernando Nunrberg, Bolivia; Wal- ter Saltos, Ecuador; Moisés Avalos (atrás), Nicaragua, Carlos Julio Castellanos, Co- lombia; Luis Vargas, Venezuela; Alberto Rico, Mexico; Erick Alvarez, Guatemala.
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