The Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association (BESLA, today announced the program for its 29th annual Conference, which will be held October 21- October 25, 2009 at the Aruba Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino in Palm Beach, Aruba. Always a popular draw for A-list attorneys, entertainment managers and performing artists, BESLA’s conference is an internationally recognized bell-weather of hot trends and issues in the entertainment and sports industries. Appropriately, the theme of this year’s BESLA conference is “Disrupters’ for Change in an Era of New Possibilities,” which shines the spotlight on individuals, events and technological advances – past and present -- that have leaped past the status quo and ushered in profound changes, thus serving as effective, positive "disruptive" forces in the entertainment and sports industries.
“BESLA is very important to our community. It opens doors and connects lawyers and executives from all over the world,” states Ed Woods, BESLA Chairman of the Board. “The conference gets us to focus on the current matters at hand that effect our clients and how we can better serve them.”
For nearly 30 years, BESLA has gained respect as an organization that supports a more diversified and informed network of entertainment and sports industry professionals. BESLA’s conference is a much respected event because of its top-notch panels and round-the-clock networking. The annual conference offers entertainment and sports professionals and members of the legal community the opportunity to “reset” in a thoughtful, relaxing environment; to examine people, events and technologies that have shaped the entertainment, sports and legal industries; to profit from the exchange of this knowledge; and to frame a responsive approach as “disrupters for change.”
As part of this focus, BESLA will honor Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who gave the iconic black glove fist salute in support of human and civil rights while receiving their medals at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. The organization has also invited Tony Dungy, the first African-American head coach to win the Super Bowl, to receive its Lifetime Achievement Award. BESLA will also debut its “Green in the Spotlight” initiative in Aruba. The Green Day line-up features a panel that presents compelling business reasons for going ‘green’ as well as eco-friendly actions that attorneys, managers and their talented clients are taking to demonstrate that ‘going green’ is smart business and empowering. Techniques for drafting and negotiating ‘green’ clauses into agreements and how they contribution to a positive bottom line also will be discussed. The ‘greening’ concept also underpins the Student Scholarship Luncheon, which will feature the winners of the BESLA Brief Legal Writing Competition. Law students entering the competition for scholarships may submit either a written essay or a video or slideshow presentation expressing a green point of view toward the essay topic. BESLA has awarded over $110,000 in scholarships to deserving law students seeking careers in the entertainment and sports industries.
With the recent sudden celebrity losses that the industry has faced, the conference also puts timely focus on the crucial importance of multi-dimensional practice skills such as estate preservation and management. Another panel will center on the hotly-debated artist performance rights legislation (Give the Drummer Some!!! The Legislative Beat on Performance Royalties and Copyright for Artists).
BESLA ‘s conference entertainment line-up features a pre-Halloween “Thriller Throwback” dance as a tribute to arguably the most positive, ‘disruptive’ force in entertainment history - Michael Jackson, whose 1982 ‘Thriller’ album and video releases shattered sales records and pioneered global digital music and entertainment marketing.
For more information on joining BESLA or attending the 29th Annual BESLA Conference log onto www.besla.org.
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