BESLA Announces 2011 Conference Theme: "INCEPTION: Mastering Entertainment and Sports Paradigms in a Digital Universe"

NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association today announced the theme for its 31st Annual BESLA Conference, which will be held October 26 - 30, 2011 at the Marriott Resort & Beach Club in Kauai, Hawaii.

"INCEPTION: Mastering Entertainment and Sports Paradigms in a Digital Universe" recognizes the Internet's pivotal role in creating new linkages between performers, content distributors and consumers in ways unimaginable when the web era first dawned.

"A volatile economy, complex collective bargaining agreements and potential lockouts, as well as the adoption of web-based technology have revolutionized the way entertainment and sports professionals conduct business," explains Tamela Cash Curry, BESLA Chairman of the Board. "Either we re-align our business paradigms and use new Internet-based technology to build a competitive advantage for our firms or get behind."

"This year's conference will put special emphasis on helping practitioners learn new strategies to master the thicket of legal issues in the digital era of global entertainment and sports business," adds BESLA President Matthew Middleton.

The organization's annual conference has long-standing recognition as a bell-weather of hot trends and issues in the entertainment and sports industries. This year will be no different. Attendees will engage in topics such as: Trademarks in the Context of Hip Hop Culture, Tweeting is Not a Bird: The Impact of Social Media on Entertainment & Sports, and Open the Door, Give Me the Key: Lockouts and the Wide World Web of Sports.

As part of its tradition of recognizing leading industry figures, BESLA will honor Ron Sweeney, Law Offices of Ronald E. Sweeney and Jeff Harleston, EVP/ General Counsel at Universal Music Group as Hall of Fame inductees. Loretha Jones, President of Original Programming for BET Networks, will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award and sports agent Bill Duffy, Chairman and CEO of BDA Sports, will receive BESLA's Sports Humanitarian Award.

Established in 1980, the non-profit international organization of lawyers and other entertainment and sports industry executives actively supports a more diversified, expert and informed group of entertainment and sports industry professionals and has awarded over $250,000 in scholarships to deserving law students pursuing entertainment and sports careers.

For more information about BESLA or this year's Conference log onto www.besla.org.

SOURCE Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association