The International eSports Conference (ESCONF) takes place in 2009 from May 26th - 27th in Cologne (Germany). 

The fifth annual  „International eSports Conference" is the most important conference for the eSport and gaming community worldwide. It consists of three main elements: Conference, Matchmaking and Networking.  Lectures, discussions and workshops will present the most important issues and innovative developements from the international electronic sports (esport) market.  The focuses of the conference is to conceive eSport as a disciplinary sport; to give some new economic impetus to current developments; to view future technical standards and to promote dialogues and interactions among the participants from different countries. More than 150 participants and 30 Speakers from Germany and abroad will be expected at this year's eSports Conference 2008 in Cologne.

Followed companies attended at this years ESCONF:

Abit, AC Entertainment, Arvato Systems, Belgian eSports Federation, Brainpool, Connect & More, Dansk eSport Forbund, Digital Dreams, Donau-Universität Krems, Dota League, EA-Magazin, eFever, Electronic Arts, Elektronischer Sportverband Österreich, EMP Merchandising, Entire Entertainment, ESNation A/S, E-Sportbond.nl, E-Sports Promotion Group GmbH, Fnatic, Fragster, Freaks4U, GamesMarkt, Gamevibes BVBA, GIGA TV, Global Games Media, Hoorai GmbH, Ingame, IT-University Copenhagen, Köln 99ers, Kölnmesse GmbH, Korea e-Sports Association, Korea Game Industry Agency, G-Culture & e-Sports Promotion Team, Krawall GmbH, Marchreiter Communications, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism - Cultural Content Industry Office - Game Industry Division, Mousesports, multiBC, mystical Lambda, n!faculty, Ngize, Osborne Clarke, Plantronics, Plazamedia, Readmore, Samsung Electronics, Sellando, SK-Gaming, Solstice Gaming, Sport+Markt, Sportsmengroup, Stadt Köln, Station 54 Community Management GmbH, Sweetwater, Swiss e-Sports Federation, Tom Putzki Consulting, TriplePoint GmbH, TSV Bayer Dormagen 1920 e. V., Turtle Entertainment, Universität Duisburg-Essen, Universität Stuttgart, Universität zu Köln, Watrin & Schmidt Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH, Webnews GmbH.

The presentations of followed speakers are now for download available:

Jens Brämer "The Use of Sport Simulations in the course of training of professional teams"

Rolf Kretschmann "Quo Vadis, Digital Sports Games?"

Konstantin Ewald "Aimbots and Wallhacks before the court"

Ari Wegter "The Tipping Point of Esports"

Ibrahim Mazari "Being a lobbyist in gaming"

Noha Park "The entire overview about eSports in South Korea - today and tomorrow"

Michal Blicharz "Poland's internet cafes as a deliverer of eSports stars"

The presentations can also be found here: Speakers, Lectures and Program

After two interesting and exciting days, the „International eSports Conference (ESCONF)“ has successfully closed with its extraordinary program last Wednesday. Supported by the main sponsors Electronic Arts, Samsung and the World Cyber Games, the ESCONF has established itself as the global event from Cologne that features topics of eSports and gaming communities. “We have excellently succeeded in the further process of internationalizing the ESCONF. More than 20 percent of our attendees come from foreign countries”, says Frank Sliwka, CEO of Global Games Media. “All decision makers of the eSports branch were present. The highlights of this year’s ESCONF were the agreement on founding an eSports World Association and the intense exchange of experiences with the representatives from South Korea. The new parts of the ESCONF – eSports Connection and the several workshops – had a good return and indicated the event’s high potential to be realized in upcoming years.”

25 international first-class speakers brought out their positions on the current development of eSports and offered multisided insights into their respective field of activity with their speeches and discussion rounds. Given this, one could be informed e.g. by Konstantin Ewald (Osborne Clarke) of the procedure of the very first law suit of eSports history or worth information about lobbying by Ibrahim Mazari (Turtle Entertainment) or a presentation by Noha Park (Korea e-Sports Association) about the backgrounds of eSports in South Korea.