Morgan:News:2010:Bronze Edition: June 2004

Monday, June 28, 2004

Bronze Service is published regularly, but the most recent items here were provided to our subscribers by e-mail month ago or more. For more timely news that comes right to you, simply upgrade to our Gold or Silver service at Morgan:News:2010. Bronze is free for the use of news services and for non-commerical public use under conditions described at: Morgan:News:2010:Bronze . The archive dates refer to when a story was posted here, not the date of the story. To estimate when a story was first published, subtract one month from the archive date.

Morgan:News:2010 |Business| #339
CANADA TO "INFLUENCE" OLYMPIC DESIGN COMPETITIONS IN FUTURE

The president of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada says that the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee has agreed to a process that will let the GDC 'influence' the future course of Olympic design competitions.

Peggy Cady, speaking in Toronto where she is involved with the formation of Trade Team Canada, says that during her face-to-face and e-mail discussions with VANOC CEO John Furlong during the past week, he agreed to allow the GDC to "present formal guidelines" that, once approved by VANOC, will be included in the official Transfer of Knowledge Program of the International Olympic Committee. The guidelines, yet to be drafted, will make recommendations on how to conduct future logo-design competitions without raising the ire of international graphic design societies.

The Knowledge of Transfer Program is a formal process, only recently created by the IOC, to pass along knowledge gleaned by each Olympic Organizing Committee. It was partly in place for the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002, but the Vancouver 2010 is the first full beneficiary of the program.

"It's wonderful for us to be able to influence the future of design competitions among the Olympics, and how they'll work," said Cady, a professional designer based in Victoria, B.C. and who has only been on the job as president of the Canadian society for three weeks of her two-year term; she will have an additional two years after that as the Society's Past President, an executive position. "Canadians will get to influence the best practices of the Olympics for years to come."

She says, however, that even though the GDC was unable to convince VANOC to change the 2010 competition, and that she agreed to allow her organization's 2,000 professional designers to participate, she says the Society's ethics committee will not be asked to redraft the ethical rule involved "at this time."

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 28, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |IOC| #338
IOC 'NEWS' ABOUT 2010 LOGO COMPETITION SANITIZED OF CONTROVERSY

The International Olympic Committee's website news report about the 2010 Games logo competition contains no mention - at all - of the international furor it stirred among professional graphic designers, but then it doesn't comment either on the fact that the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee isn't going to do anything significant about the furor, either.

"All they [VANOC] wanted was a PR event," said a source close to the discussions. "And that's what they got."

The Graphic Designers of Canada (GDC) received e-mail and a wide range of other support from their international equivalents in the United States and Mexico, and stirred a controversy in Canada among its 2,000 corporate members, when it protested the ethics of VANOC limiting the logo-design competition to professional designers, but holding a contest instead of going through a standard Request for Proposal Process or paying them for their efforts.

However the rewrite of VANOC's news release, by the IOC's public relations department, about the matter makes no mention of any aspect of it, not even the fact that the VANOC release quoted GDC's president, Peggy Cady, as saying that following discussions with CEO John Furlong and his marketing advisers, that the GDC had agreed not to censure any of its members for taking part in the logo-design contest.

RESOURCES
========

The IOC's version of reality is here:
http://www.olympic.org/uk/news/olympic_news/full_story_uk.asp?id=870
GDC's letters of international support:
http://www.gdc.net/community/news.php?id=20&press=1&draw_column=3:1:2

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 28, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Paralympic| #337
2010 PARALYMPIC TORCH CEREMONIES EXPECTED TO BEGIN IN NOVEMBER 2009

Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic organizers are still years away from the detailed planning about the the Olympic torch ceremonies that precede each of the games, but if they follow the planning models and playbook currently in place, as they've so far indicated they are, the series of ceremonies involving the 2010 Paralympic Torch is likely to begin on or about Friday, Nov 20, 2009.

If you're interested in business, sports or developments and events that might occur in conjunction with the Paralympic Torch ceremony in Vancouver or Whistler, marking that date on your calendar would be part of your countdown.

That date is 112 days before the Paralympic portion of the 2010 Games begin, and today, 112 days before the Athens version of the 2004 Paralympic Games saw the Paralympic Torch ceremony begin at a special event in Athens. International Paralympic President Phil Craven and Athens 2004 Organizing Committee President, Gianna Angelopoulous-Daskalaki presented the Paralympic Torch Relay Schedule and the Torch Bearer uniform. (The main torch relay for the Athens Olympic Games begins June 3, 70 days before the start of the Olympic Games.)

Here's are some of the logistics involved if you're thinking about planning for the 2010 Paralympic version: The Athens Paralympic Torch is expected to begin its journey on September 9, eight days before the Paralympic Games begin in Athens. It is to then travel through 54 municipalities in Attica covering a distance of 410 km. The torch will pass a number of historical and cultural landmarks, which will offer photographic opportunities (note, however, that the Olympics Organizing Committees will be on the watch for ambush marketing). The flame is planned to enter the Olympic Stadium on September 17, to officially open the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games.

The duty of carrying the Athens torch is to be shared by 680 torchbearers including famous Paralympic and Olympic athletes, along with a batch of well-known personalities, plus members of the International and the Greek Paralympic Committees and representatives of Paralympic Games sponsors.

RESOURCES

Details of the Athens Paralympic torch relay and route:
http://www.athens2004.com/athens2004/page/legacy?lang=en&cid=21a8ec08864acf00VgnVCMServer28130b0aRCRD (If that long link breaks in your e-mail, simply copy and paste it manually into your browser, or try the one below. Note, however, that this short link is only good for three months):
http://tinyurl.com/ytffn

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 28, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #336
GRAPHIC DESIGNERS WIN CONCESSIONS BUT NOT CHANGES DURING ETHICS NEGOTIATIOINS OVER LOGO DESIGN

The Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee has refused to adjust its logo-design competition to deal with the ethical issues identified during meetings with the Graphic Designers of Canada, and the GDC says that despite the issue it will "not censure" its members if they decide to compete.

The GDC's decision followed an hour-long meeting last Friday between GDC president Peggy Cady of Victoria and immediate past-president Matthew Warburton of Vancouver with VANOC CEO John Furlong, VANOC's Executive Director of Government Relations and Communications, Jane Burnes, and VANOC Communications director Ali Gardiner. In addition, there were a number of follow-up e-mail exchanges between the two sides on during this week.

The meeting was called after Warburton interrupted Furlong's news conference the previous day to protest the competition because it required firms to speculate on whether they would get work, instead of going through a standard request-for-proposal process, as had been done for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt lake City.

The GDC, however, was able to achieve a promise from Furlong that in his reports to the International Olympic Committee that recommendations would be made about how to conduct such competitions in the future so that they would not raise the ire of national or international graphic-design organizations.

However, it does not appear -- at this stage -- that the GDC will have any structured input into those recommendations.

At issue was whether VANOC was a commercial or non-profit organization. The GDC's code of ethics for its 2,000 member firms across Canada prevents them from entering speculative competitions, such as VANOC's emblem-design contest, unless it is for a non-profit. Despite the fact that VANOC will be spending nearly $2 billion in the next eight years, the organization is legally a non-profit.

"Our members support our Code of Ethics regarding speculative work," said Cady. "We also understand the not-for-profit nature of VANOC and the general public interest of this event and will not censure member participation in the competition. We are encouraged that the GDC will play a role in the development of Olympic design competition guidelines and that Canadian designers will have a voice in international best practices for future Games."

Others close to the negotiations, however, said the GDC was simply unable to convince VANOC to changes is mind, and that each side received considerable support for their respective positions as VANOC prepared for a day-long conference on June 9 for designers interested in competing.

According a GDC insider, "What we've done is agree to disagree. VANOC basically identified a loophole in our policy, and our Ethics Committee will be directed to decide what to do about it. On the one hand, we're saying that it's not okay to be involved in competitions, but it is okay if it's a non-profit. That'll probably have to change in some way because we're sending mixed messages."

"We are encouraged by the enthusiastic response to this design initiative," said Furlong. "We've had hundreds of calls and e-mails and more than 200 people have already registered for the conference."

The GDC has also had similar support from its members and from other international designer organizations for its position.

The Vancouver conference, featuring design experts from previous and future Olympic Games, will thoroughly detail the unique history and significance of Olympic design and the values behind it, and outline the vision and emblem design expectations for the 2010 Winter Games.

"This is just the beginning of six years of tremendous design projects that will showcase the talent and spirit of Canada's design community to the world," added Furlong. "The new 2010 Games emblem will be one of the most recognized logos in the world in the coming years and will form the cornerstone of the entire look of the Games."

The winning logo design - to be determined with the help of a panel of international judges - will earn a prize of $25,000 and two tickets to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, but it is only open to professional Canadian designers. VANOC plans to unveil the new logo on February 12, 2005, which is five years out from the opening ceremony.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 27, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #335
CROOKS TO BE ONE OF MAIN SPEAKERS TO B.C. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AGM

Charmaine Crooks, one of members of the Board of Directors for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Organizing Committee, will be a keynote speaker as the B.C. Chamber of Commerce holds its 52nd annual general meeting and conference in Salmon Arm this weekend.

Crooks is scheduled to speak on Saturday at 12:30 pm. Premier Gordon Campbell is due to speak to the conference at 11:30 tomorrow morning,

Salmon Arm is a town in British Columbia's Okanagan region about 470 kilometres east of Vancouver.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 27, 2004

Thursday, June 24, 2004

Bronze Service is published regularly, but the most recent items here were provided to our subscribers about a month ago. For more timely news, please upgrade to our Gold or Silver service at Morgan:News:2010. Bronze is free for the use of news services and for non-commerical public use under conditions described at: Morgan:News:2010:Bronze .

Morgan:News:2010 |Business| #334
GERMAN PAY-TV OFFERS C$250 MILLION FOR 2010 AND 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES

2010:NewsWatch

The International Olympic Committee is still studying the bids it received last month for the European broadcast rights for the package of Olympic Games that includes the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver and Whistler, and it has yet to announce its decision or make any mention of the size or extent of the bids.

But the first indication of what the bidding range might be has come from Berlin. German digital pay-TV platform Premiere is reportedly offering e150 million (C$250 million) for the German and Austrian rights to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and the 2012 Summer Games. The deal would also include Internet and mobile rights. Were it to receive the nod, Vancouver could expect to receive about C$70 million.

In an interview with the German daily newspaper "Sueddeutsche Zeitung," Premiere's CEO, Georg Kofler, said the games, if awarded to the company, would be broadcast on up to 20 channels, with the main events broadcast free-to-air.

But Premiere, which generated C$1.65 billion in revenue for a net loss of C$353 million last year, would have to find cash for the deal. Kofler told the publication he would offer Premiere on the local stock market in 2005.

The IOC has already sold the US TV rights to the 2010 and 2012 Olympics to NBC for about C$3 billion; the 2010 Games are to receive about C$1.1 billion from that.

VANOC would not get all of the broadcast rights funding to spend up front, however. Under VANOC's operating agreement with the International Olympic Committee, the IOC withholds 5% of all broadcast money destined for VANOC, keeping it in a "retention fund." This fund, plus the interest it generates, is provided to VANOC once the Games have been held and it has grown to about C$20 million. Five percent of C$70 million is C$3.5 million.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 25, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Government| #333
CHILLIWACK APPROVES C$4,500 FOR OLYMPIC LEGACIES COMMITTEE WORK

The city council of Chilliwack, about 80 kilometres east of Vancouver, has approved a C$4,500 initial operating budget for the city's 2010 Olympic Committee as it begins exploratory work on how it can take part in aiding the Winter Games.

The committee is co-chaired by Terry Bodman, who was the 2003 president of Chilliwack's B.C. Senior Games Society, and former Supreme Court Justice William Davies. Subcommittees are being formed to explore the possibility of potential national hockey teams using the City's new arena to practice in advance of the games, and perhaps explore the possibility of using a cultural exchange with a 'twinning' of cities approach. The committee will consider concepts that have a payoff that could be short-term and long-term as they start to make decisions on what to follow.

Mayor Clint Hames says the funding will help the committee offset some expenses that may be incurred in its pursuit of economic opportunities for the city, and the council's endorsement will help ensure that City staff will be involved if those opportunities include city facilities.

RESOURCES
========

City of Chilliwack website:
http://www.chilliwack.com

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 25, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |General| #332
CLEARWATER A LITTLE CAUTIOUS ABOUT 2010 LEGACY COMMITTEE

It turns out that not every community in British Columbia is sold on the idea of setting up an Olympic Legacy Committee to see if it can entice provincial government funding for sports in their area.

There are about 85 such committees in communities across the province, stirred by the provincial government's promise to provide funding to worthwhile projects that support an Olympic theme.

But the village of Clearwater, about 80 kilometres north of Kamloops in B.C.'s central interior, held a formation meeting for just such a committee and hardly anybody showed up. The Clearwater Improvement District and the local Chamber of Commerce are both in favour of getting a committee going, but so far, that's about the extent of it, since neither organization has a mandate to support it otherwise.

They've decided to do a bit of marketing to see if anybody can be enticed to the next meeting, scheduled for June 8.

Other cities and towns in the immediate area -- Chase, Merritt, Ashcroft and Kamloops -- all have their own Legacy committees.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 25, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Business| #331
CONSTRUCTION'S SASHAW ON 2010 LABOUR DEAL: 'MORE THAN ENOUGH WORK TO GO AROUND'

The president of the Vancouver Regional Construction Association says the debate over whether the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee needs to reach a construction agreement with unions is misplaced.

Keith Sashaw, in an essay, says that "With or without a 2010 labour deal, the Lower Mainland faces a larger building challenge: Finding the resources to build the $13 billion in capital projects currently on the books."

The VRCA has a mixture of about 600 union and non-union firms as members.

Sashaw says, "Deal or no deal, there is more than enough work to go around, and the real pressure issue will be finding enough qualified workers to get it all done."

Sashaw notes that 2010-related construction "will only account for C$600 million, or just over 20% of major projects currently slated for the Lower Mainland [Greater Vancouver]." Other projects, he says, are either on the same order of size as the Games venue construction or are bigger.

"Let's not forget that in B.C., union and non-union workers have cooperated for years," he says, "and there is no reason to expect anything different for the rest of the decade, particularly in light of volume of work available. Both union and non-union sides came together to help support the 'Yes' vote in last year's crucial plebiscite [on whether the Games would be held.]"

Sashaw says "We have to set the bar higher, and we need to deliver on [sustainability] promises... Our job as British Columbians is to find the best way to build our Olympics, safely, on time and on budget."

RESOURCES:

VCRA's home page:
http://www.vrca.bc.ca/main.php

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 25, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Government| #330
ABBOTSFORD SCHOOL TRUSTEES TO ASK FOR HOLIDAY SHIFT IN 2010

School District trustees in the city of Abbotsford, east of Vancouver, will be sending a request to British Columbia's education minister asking that spring break in 2010 be changed to one of the two weeks in February when Vancouver hosts the winter Olympics.

Trustees say that such a move, to be requested of Minister Tom Christensen,is behind a belief that educators want to allow students to experience the Olympics, as well as take advantage of the "educational opportunities" the event presents. And it might be quite a bit less disruptive to the school system at the same time, since students and teachers alike will be paying attention to the Games.

Such a move, however, would have an effect on retailers and their suppliers and marketers, all of whom predicate a portion of their seasonal business on the timing of spring break for students, which normally takes place around Easter. It would also have ripple effects on a wide range of other businesses as well, as parents would need to adjust their schedules to deal with children who would not be in school during the period.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 25, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #329
NEGOTIATIONS WITH GRAPHIC DESIGNERS OVER LOGO COMPETITION TO CONTINUE

The president of the Graphic Designers of Canada, Peggy Cady, says her negotiations with the Vancouver Olympic Committee over the Society's ethics issue with the 2010 Logo competition are making progress.

Following discussions this afternoon between Cady and VANOC CEO John Furlong, Cady said,"GDC and VANOC had a very successful meeting. We are talking again on Tuesday." She would not go into further details while the negotiations were underway, however.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 21, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #328
COMMITTEE'S OFFICE MOVE NOW EXPECTED "IN LATE JUNE"

Officials at the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee expect that its move to its new offices at 1095 West Pender Street will now occur in late June.

The fourth floor - which will house 19 new executive suites, a supporting farm of 25 cubicles and two boardrooms - was to have been ready for occupancy by June 1 with the fifth floor, to house 50 cubicles and two boardrooms, ready by August 1. Each floor is about 10,300 square ft.

But, they say, the actual date of the move has not yet been chosen, although the move itself is expected to take three days to complete. The current space at The Landing in Vancouver's Gastown area, has facilities for about 40 people, and VANOC expects to be employing more than 1,000 by the time the Games begin. The current projection is that the new space will be filled within 18 months.

Details of the move are still being finalized. VANOC has asked a number of local moving companies to quote but has not yet selected one.

In the new space, VANOC says it will use as much of its existing furniture and supplies as possible --VANOC currently owns a limited amount of office furniture and has been seeking proposals for upgrading it -- along with its existing IT network with some upgrading. Cleaning service is to be provided by the management of the new building.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 21, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #326
GRAPHIC DESIGNER'S SOCIETY PRESIDENT TO MEET VANOC OVER LOGO-DESIGN ISSUE

The 2004 president of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada will be meeting with the CEO of the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee this afternoon to discuss her organization's ethical issues with the 2010 logo competition.

Peggy Cady says she has given VANOC the GDC's recommendations for the competition, along with a set of both national and international guidelines for competitions. "GDC," she says, "can not endorse the Olympic Emblem Competition as it is currently proposed." She added that she hopes John Furlong is "...open to making adjustments to the competition or the process. We feel that logo design competition is not an appropriate vehicle to use to build community spirit. Naming and choosing the 2010 mascot might be a better method to accomplish this goal. A design education project and scholarship legacy would be another viable option."

The meeting between Cady and Furlong was set up late yesterday after last year's GDC president, Matthew Warburton of Vancouver, protested Furlong's decision to hold a competition for designing the 2010 logo, with a cash prize of C$25,000 and two tickets to the 2010 Opening Ceremonies. Furlong was following International Olympic practices by holding a competition, but organizations representing graphic designers have increasingly called the concept into question, as they did in Salt Lake City. Warburton also said that 2010 Olympic representatives were in the audience last January when the GDC's annual general meeting heard a panel discussion by Salt Lake City graphic designers voice their concerns about the clash of the idea with professional ethics.

Cady says that there's a lot of work done by professional designers when they take on a logo-design project. "We feel the key to understanding the GDC's interest in this issue is that, in logo design, the initial research a designer does, the market evaluation, analysis, the interviews and discussions with the client, and, the 'creative ideas' - are the most important and the most valuable part of a logo-building process. It takes large amounts of time, effort and resources to do this part of the logo process well. After that, much of the work is mechanical. Clients pay us for our valuable knowledge, experience, education and talent. They get a key component to their business success from this transaction. A fair process is needed to ensure that designers are respected business partners."

Cady says she realizes that most designers across the country would be honoured to be involved in a project of the scale and significance of designing the 2010 Winter Olympics logo. "But, we also know that GDC members feel very strongly about our Code of Ethics. One of the key points of the Code of Ethics and of international competition guidelines is avoiding requests for speculative work."

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 21, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Government| #321
MISSION TO REVAMP TOURISM MARKETING STRATEGY WITH 2010 SEGMENT

The District of Mission is about to begin a significant revamp of its tourism marketing strategy, and a key component of it has to do with identifying business and tourism opportunities for Mission as a result of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.

Mission is a town of 33,000 people on the north bank of the Fraser River, about 60 kilometers south-east of Vancouver. Michael Giesbrecht, Manager, Purchasing and Stores for the District, says the search is on now for a professional marketing firm to put the promotions plan together for the EDC.

The concept is to develop a three-year promotions plan for Mission's Economic Development Advisory Committee (EDC). The marketing strategy will be used for all future advertising and promotional efforts for the EDC. The project, according to Mission documents, "entail significant consultation with business owners, tourism operators, District of Mission Council and the public at large."

RESOURCES

Mission Contact info:

Michael Giesbrecht,
District of Mission
33835 Dewdney Trunk Road
Box 20
Mission, British Columbia
V2V 4L9
Phone: 1 (604) 820-3756
Fax: 1 (604) 826-8633
Email: mgiesbrecht@mission.ca

Giesbrecht says that companies interested in doing the work on the strategy can receive a PDF application and background material via e-mail by writing an e-mail note with "Request for RFP 04-006 Marketing Strategy" in the subject line. The closing is May 27.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 21, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #325
LETTERS OF SUPPORT POUR IN OVER GRAPHIC DESIGNER'S PROTEST OF 2010 LOGO COMPETITION

The stand of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada [GDC] to withhold approval of the Vancouver Olympic Committee's decision to host a logo design competition for the 2010 Games appears to have struck a nerve among designers.

The Society, which represents about 2,000 of the 3,600 graphic designers in Canada, has received copies of e-mails sent to VANOC from designers in Canada, Washington State and even Mexico urging VANOC to reconsider its decision, announced during a news conference last week in Vancouver. GDC spokesman Matthew Warburton, who protested the competition at the news conference, said today that he was "blown away" by the support given the organization's position.

Carmen von Richthofen, Executive Director of the Association of Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario, has written VANOC CEO John Furlong, saying that it backs the GDC's approach, adding, "We would like to make you aware that your proposed design selection process for the branding of the Olympic Winter Games is unprofessional, potentially economically harmful, not in the best interests of designers, and tantamount to requesting speculative work, that is, work for free."

Tan Le, Senior Design Director for Landor Associates of Seattle said in response to e-mail from Ali Gardiner, of VANOC's communications department, justifying the decision, "I would predict that the [Graphic Designers of Canada's] exclusionary Section 38 for nonprofit organizations was not originally intended for a project of this caliber or an organization such as VANOC. The spirit of that clause was written and intended more for traditional, funds-challenged nonprofits whose operating funds depend largely on pro-bono/donated services from a variety of professional services, including design. VANOC clearly does not fit within that category of nonprofits.... Your choice to selectively ignore the professional code of ethics for graphic designers – or worse, to twist a loophole intended for smaller nonprofits – is unfortunately, still inexcusable and unacceptable."

Marga Lopez, a member of the Mexican Council of Design (Quorum), wrote Furlong, backing the Canadian society's position that it's unethical for designers to do a speculative project for a commercial operation. "I believe that doing a competition of this nature is something that must not be taken lightly, and must be given the highest respect. Creating an identity for such an important event that represents not only the Olympic spirit but also the Olympic ideals of a whole country, is a project that must be tackled by the very best designers and marketing analysts in the country and not just as a competition of mere 'creativity'."

GDC president Peggy Cady, in an open letter to VANOC, says, "When engaged as design problem solvers for business and the community in general, our member designers charge a fee for their services to signify that an exchange of value has occurred. Occasionally, members are asked to provide speculative design solutions on project tenders or contests. These contests usually also state that these design solutions will play an integral role in a final selection process. As a result, designers find themselves in an untenable position, as they feel pressured to set aside time from contracted client work to provide solutions to projects and clients they have a less than clear understanding and knowledge of. Often, enormous commitments of resources are being requested, and for solutions that are never really relevant or even useful."

RESOURCES

The Graphic Designer's of Canada's official position on the controversy:
http://www.gdc.net/community/news.php?id=17&press=1&draw_column=3:1:2
Full text of letters over two web pages received by the GDC that have also been sent to VANOC:
http://www.gdc.net/community/news.php?id=18&press=1&draw_column=3:1:2 http://www.gdc.net/community/news.php?id=20&press=1&draw_column=3:1:2

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 20, 2004

Friday, June 18, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Paralympic|
OUT-OF-COMPETITION TESTING TO OCCUR UNTIL 2007 IN PARALYMPIC SPORT

The International Paralympic Committee, which is the International Federation for 13 sports, has contracted with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to do out-of-competition testing on its athletes around the world, including those heading for the 2010 Winter Paralympic Games in Vancouver.

IPC President Phil Craven said, "Out-of-competition testing is the most effective means of doping control. Signing this agreement with WADA is a further step towards the IPC's goal to make Paralympic sport free of doping."

However, the first term of the agreement expires on December 31, 2007, meaning it would have to be renewed in order to cover the 2010 Paralympic Games, which are held the month following the 2010 Olympic Games, but athletes aiming for those games and the competitions leading to it for at least the next three years will be included. The athletes of any National Paralympic Committee that has not signed the IPC Ant-Doping Code will not be allowed to participate.

As a result of the ground-breaking deal, the IPC will ensure that their member federations are subject to this type of testing. Until now, testing has only taken place at sanctioned competitions.

The agreement says that WADA, working with IPC officials, will manage both the out-of-competition testing and analysis of the samples.

National anti-doping organizations, or their sub-contractors, will carry out the testing on behalf of WADA, but it will be under the World Anti-Doping Code and the IPC Anti-Doping Code. That means that all Paralympic athletes competing at an international level, such as the 2010 Paralympic Games, World and Regional Championships and the like -- may be subject to out-of-competition testing.

A spokesman for the IPC says, "If an athlete is unavailable for testing three times during any period of 18 months, this will be considered an anti-doping rule violation resulting in two years of ineligibility, if it's the person's first violation."

The International Paralympic Committee is the international governing body of sport for athletes with a disability. It supervises and co-ordinates the Paralympic Summer and Winter Games and other multi-disability competitions, of which the most important are World and Regional Championships. The IPC's headquarters are in Bonn, Germany.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 19, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Sports|
NHL STILL HAS PARTICIPATION IN 2010 WINTER OLYMPICS ON HOLD

Bill Daly, the executive vice-president of the National Hockey League, continues to hold out hope that even if the NHL doesn't make the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics in Italy, it might still participate in the 2010 Winter Games.

The NHL doesn't much like midseason interruptions and a two-week Olympics participation by some of its major players in February, such as occurred during the 2002 Salt lake City Winter Olympics, would be fairly significant, affecting schedules, revenue and salaries.

Daly says the NHL is still not prepared to commit to the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy. The IOC spokesman for hockey, Rene Fasel, who also chairs the IOC commission monitoring the 2010 Games, said earlier that he would prefer to see the Turin games included in the current and difficult labour negotiations between the NHL and the NHL Players Association.

But a decision on NHL participation in the 2010 Games is still being left for later.

"It has to be something that gets resolved after we do [a new collective bargaining agreement]," Daly told a reporter for the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune today, where Daly was speaking to sponsors of the Minnesota Wild hockey team, "...I suppose it's possible we don't participate in Turin in 2006 and do participate in Vancouver in 2010."

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 19, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Government|
U.S. CONSULTATE BEGINS ENCOURAGING AMERICANS TO THINK ABOUT 2010 OPPORTUNITIES

The U.S. Consulate General's office has set up a web page on its corporate website that focuses on opportunities for American businesses interested in the 2010 Winter Olympics.

The web page urges U.S. businesses to make plans quickly for economic reasons. "Although the 2010 Games are still six years away," says the page, "many of the infrastructure and Olympic facility projects are being initiated in the short to medium-term. In addition, the overall level of economic activity in B.C. will expand in 2004 and beyond as a result of the Olympics generated stimulus. That growth will provide ample opportunities across virtually all sectors and industries."

The website adds that, "Now is the time to develop relationships with potential B.C. representatives, distributors, agents, strategic alliance partners, and end-users in order to take advantage of the multiple Olympics-related opportunities." The site tells businesses, under the 2010 Olympics heading, "The U.S. Commercial Service office in Vancouver can arrange appointments for U.S. companies with B.C. businesses to initiate or increase exports to western Canada..."

The U.S. Commercial Service in Canada also helps Canadian companies looking to work out arrangements with American companies, noting that it can help Canadians find "... qualified suppliers of U.S. goods and services."

RESOURCES

VANCOUVER CONTACT INFORMATION

Cheryl Schell, Commercial Specialist
U.S. Consulate General
1095 West Pender Street, Vancouver, B.C. V6E 2M6
Ph: (604) 642-6679
Fax: (604) 687-6095
E-mail: cheryl.schell@mail.doc.gov
Web Page listing contact info for other Canadian cities:
http://www.buyusa.gov/canada/en/3.html

Web page listing major Olympics-related projects for American businesses:
http://www.buyusa.gov/canada/en/vancouverolympics.html

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 18, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Government|
PENTICTON TAKES NEXT STEP IN BUILDING C$30 MILLION HOCKEY AND CULTURAL CENTRE

Penticton City Council decided Monday to begin the formal planning process for its proposed C$30 million South Okanagan Event and Cultural Centre, scheduled to open the summer of 2008, and -- the City hopes -- to be partially paid for by 2010 Legacy funds.

Penticton is in British Columbia's Okanagan valley.

The centre, which is to be built next to the Memorial Arena and the Penticton Community Centre, is to include two hockey rinks and be capable of hosting cultural events with a 2010 tie-in, and possibly used as a 2010 training centre by other countries.

Besides government funding, a major sponsor -- the speculation is Boston Pizza -- may contribute as well.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 18, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Government|
CANADA ANNOUNCES C$15 MILLION HYDROGEN FUEL RESEARCH FACILITY FOR 2010 TRANSPORT

A new C$15-million research facility and technology centre, which will be the new home of the National Research Council's Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation, is to be built on the campus of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

It's part of the Canadian government's investment in 2010-related projects and, in particular, the development of seven locations between Vancouver and Whistler before 2010 as part of the so-called Hydrogen-Highway concept to move people between the two cities using hydrogen-based fuel cells in public transport. And it follows the Olympic theme of environmental sustainability, according to the the federal government.

The facility, is parallel to, but not part of, the 2010 Games venue construction and, ironically, it will be part of the competition for construction firms and labour during the next few years that is causing the Vancouver Olympic Committee to rethink its budgets and venue construction plans to allay rising costs associated with the projected demand and shortages.

Federal environment minister David Anderson and the Stephen Owen, the federal Minister of Public Works and Government Services, made the announcement today, making no reference to the fact that many scientists and business people involved in the industry are split as to whether hydrogen-fuel cell technology can be mass-produced any time soon.

"This new NRC facility will be one of the first of seven nodes to be built in the Hydrogen Highway," they said, instead. "It will be the demonstration site for many innovative fuel cells systems and technologies being developed in time for the 2010 Vancouver-Whistler Winter Olympics."

RESOURCES

NRC web page providing background to today's announcement:
http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/highlights/0405hydrogen_e.html
Ballard Power Systems, a major Vancouver-area fuel-cell company:
http://www.ballard.com/

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 18, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |General|
A STREAM OF SMALL STORIES DEVELOPED OVER THE LAST FEW DAYS...

Tidbits we've gleaned in the last few days...

The B.C. government's campaign for the election May 17, 2005 is expected to include commentary about the need to keep the Campbell government in place for stability during construction of the 2010 Olympic venues. The Nordic and Sliding Centres are due to break ground about this time next year, depending on the outcome of a design bidding process this summer and fall.
The provincial government is expected to start making announcements this fall about how it will spend its C$40 million budgeted for Olympics-related projects this year. Premier Gordon Campbell said in Penticton that the government during the next six months will continue to develop benchmarks to assess what he says are "about C$400 million" worth of proposals for the fund, and "work towards creating partnerships with the federal government and communities" in connection with it.
VANOC CEO John Furlong says of the current search for senior vice-presidents of the organization, expected to be hired in the next month or so [Morgan:News:2010:Number:276:Published: 4/30/2004], that resumes have come in from a number of countries, not just Canada: "We're trying to make sure where we hire we are hiring people who are all driven by the same set of values. We want the people we hire to get as much as they can from the experience, but we also want them to give as much as they can to it as well." VANOC is also looking for a number of middle-management people and office help, too [Number:264:Published: 4/26/2004]. Furlong says there are two types of people applying, the type that says, 'The Games are coming and I want a piece of them.'," and the type that says, 'The Games are coming and I want to help make them successful.'." He says he's looking for the latter.
Here's some more of Furlong's Games philosophy, "I believe we can change the fortunes of a generation here [in Canada] if we do it right. I think we should settle for nothing less. If you decide these values are important enough that we can really change the way children grow up, the way families behave, the way businesses conduct themselves, we might be able to cause a whole shift in thinking of the importance of things that typically get us all bogged down."
Furlong says he still has concerns about the construction costs of the speedskating oval venue, to be built in 2006, in part because of a geotechnical report that frets about the foundation requirements on Burnaby Mountain of building a large flat surface that needs to stay that way for 30 years, and which might increase the construction cost by 20% unless changes are made either to the location or the building's use. But, he says, he doesn't have any similar concerns about any other of the venues... yet.
Furlong also told Vancouver Sun sports columnist Gary Mason that he eats and sleeps the 2010 Olympics, as well as works 16-hour days. Sometimes, he smiles, he doesn't sleep. "Do you ever have nightmares about it all?" Mason asked Furlong. "Just about every other night," was the reply.
The British Columbia Ready-Mix Concrete Association president Rod Owen-Flood says that the cost of concrete continues to rise in Vancouver as construction-demand projections, which affect 2010 venue pricing, continues to move upward. The price of ready-mix concrete is up about 4% in the past year. Forming prices have doubled to about $12 per contact foot in the last six months, Placing and finishing is up 5% over the last 12 months, rebar (the steel rods that reinforce concrete) is up an average 60% in the same time period. VANOC venue pricing is in 2002 dollars, but the provincial government has established contingency budget of about 30% of the total venue budget.
In [Morgan:News:2010:Number:232:Published:4/1/2004], we told you that Big Rock Brewery Partnership of Calgary was methodically making its way through the process of registering the trademark "Whistler 2010 Lager", and that it is still quite early in the process, even though the partnership started it last summer. The company has now decided to "voluntarily" abandon the registration process and the trademark. Big Rock, one of North America's largest specialty brewers, owns Kamloops Brewery and Whistler Brewing Company. Sales for the nine months ending December 31 were C$36.9 million. Speaking of which, lawyer Bill Stemp of Stemp & Company in Calgary has done a formal search, possibly for a client interested in sticking the number "2010" on a wide range of wares, from toys, sporting goods and clothing.
News media around the world are a-twitter over the influence Vancouver's geographical position might have on whether a North American or European city might win the 2012 Summer Olympics. Paris, London, New York, Madrid and Moscow were shortlisted by the International Olympic Committee today, with the collected wisdom thinking that it is more likely to go to a European city because North America's Vancouver got the 2010 Games. Geopolitical considerations of that sort by the IOC do not even show up on the radar, however, as the award of other games, sometimes back-to-back European cities winning.
The CEO of Austalasian Access, Andrew Gilkes, will be in Vancouver to speak to the Vancouver Board of Trade on June 2 during a luncheon about Olympic economic lessons from the Sydney Summer Games. The company's website is here: .
One of the top-level sponsors for the 2010 Winter Games is Visa, the credit card company. Derek Fry, president of Visa Canada, will be talking to the Vancouver Board of Trade on June 8 about Olympic sponsorship. He's expected to say, among other things, that Visa is setting up a partnership with Tourism Whistler to help promote the community internationally leading up to the 2010 Olympic Games. The deal will be similar to the one that Visa did with Sydney, Australia, host of the 2000 Summer Games. It would market Whistler as a destination to Visa cardholders around the world. Mid-sized companies will be given access to Visa-specific Olympic branding through a corporate-driven sponsorship aspect of the program.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 18, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |IOC|
(FEATURE) IOC APPROVES NEW POLICY ON SEX-CHANGES AFFECTING ATHLETES

The Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has formally approved a new policy allowing Olympic participants who have undergone a sex change to compete, and to do so under their new gender.

Since the policy takes effect immediately, it affects athletes intending to take part in the 2010 Winter Games, as well as Olympics between now and then. It was not immediately known whether the decision affects any athletes planning on competing in the 2010 Winter Olympics, but the policy clears the way for their participation.

In the IOC's history, there have only been rare cases of athletes who have competed under one gender and later in life undergone sex reassignment. Even more rarely, such an athlete has competed under the new gender. Such cases were dealt with individually by the national sports federations, but without any clear rules or direction from the IOC. "They have, however, been extremely rare and do not seem to have created a significant problem for sport in general," said an IOC spokesman.

However, he said, methods today are much better at flagging transsexuals, and that includes better treatment for the changes required, so the number of individuals undergoing sex reassignment has increased. The increase has become particularly significant after the introduction of legislation with respect to sex reassignment in many countries.

The policy followed the consensus proposed by the IOC's Medical Commission, during a meeting in Stockholm, Sweden last fall.

The main thrust of the new policy is that any "individuals undergoing sex reassignment of male to female before puberty should be regarded as girls and women" (female). This also applies to individuals undergoing female to male reassignment, who should be regarded as boys and men (male), said an IOC spokesman.

Individuals undergoing sex reassignment after puberty will also be eligible to take part in their new female or male competitions but there are some conditions:

Surgical anatomical changes have been completed, including external genitalia changes and gonadectomy
Legal recognition of their assigned sex has been conferred by the appropriate official authorities
Hormonal therapy appropriate for the assigned sex has been administered in a verifiable manner and for a sufficient length of time to minimize gender-related advantages in sport competitions.

The IOC says "eligibility should begin no sooner than two years after gonadectomy, however a confidential case-by-case evaluation will occur." In the event that the gender of a competing athlete is questioned, the IOC says the medical delegate of the national sports group affiliated with the athlete has the final word.

BACKGROUND

The increasing number of cases of sex reassignment, says the IOC, is increasingly affecting sport. Although individuals who undergo sex reassignment usually have personal problems that make sports competition an unlikely activity for them, it says, there are some for whom participation in sport is important.

The first international sports organization to address the issue was the
IAAF — the International Association of Athletics Federations — in 1990. An expert seminar unanimously recommended that any person who has undergone sex reassignment before puberty should be accepted in sport under the assigned gender.

Individuals who have undergone sex reassignment after puberty were considered to represent a more complex problem, since they have been under the influence of hormones under their former gender during their puberty. In particular, a male puberty would mean an influence of testosterone, which could, in theory, be of importance even after a reassignment to female gender. It was, therefore, recommended that any such case be evaluated on an individual basis by experts before a decision be taken by the relevant sports authority. These recommendations have served as guiding principles for the IOC when questions have been asked.

In recent years it has become apparent, says the IOC, that the recommendation to make a case-by-case evaluation of athletes who have undergone sex reassignment after puberty isn't working well. The IOC has been asked to explain what such an evaluation should include, and what requirements should be fulfilled before the athlete is allowed to compete under the new gender.

The IOC says the new policy is the result of updating the IAAF guidelines by a panel of experts. The most debated aspects have been:

For how long will the hormonal influence of the earlier puberty be of importance?
Will the testosterone influence on the muscular strength during male puberty ever disappear?
For how long should the treatment with female hormones last in order to be considered sufficient?
How can one make sure that the required treatment with female hormone does really take place?

All those questions were addressed by the panel, which also sought advice from further outside experts, before the enclosed recommendations were made, and now confirmed by the IOC.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 17, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC|
FURLONG APPLAUDS ADDITIONAL FEDERAL FUNDING FOR HIGH-PERFORMANCE SPORT

The CEO of the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee, John Furlong, is among those who welcome the federal government's announcement that it will add another C$20 million in new funding to support major athletes in Canada as a springboard for Olympics in 2006, 2008 and 2010.

It is, he says, "important support for our high-performance athletes. Simply a great boost for Canadian sport. This is a substantial contribution for amateur athletes - a real commitment to building a successful future - and it will go a long way to helping Canadian athletes' pursuit of the podium in Vancouver and Whistler in 2010."

Stan Keyes, the federal government's Minister of State for Sport, and Minister of Canadian Heritage Helene Chalifour Scherrer, announced the investment at news conferences in Toronto and Quebec City.

The money is a one-year investment in the Canadian sport system. The government said it can be used to strengthen athlete development by supporting coaches, sport organizations, training centres and logistical items, like travel costs. Because of its timing and delivery, the funding can't be used directly for the Athens Summer Olympics in August, but the fact that it's on the horizon now allows sports organizations to free up funds being held in reserve. It is in addition to the C$30 million announced recently in the federal budget and brings the government's total investment to C$120 million for its 2005 fiscal year, its highest ever.

"This is a timely and welcomed investment that gets us started on the road to the 2010 Vancouver-Whistler Olympic and Paralympic Games" said Tom McIlfaterick, chief executive officer of the Canadian Snowboard Federation.

Chris Rudge, CEO of the Canadian Olympic Committee, was also positive:"We commend Minister Keyes for his efforts to support high-performance athletes and sport in Canada, and thank the government for their action in recognizing that support for our athletes is crucial for success."

The announcement timing was carefully organized for strategic public-relations effect. When the federal budget was presented earlier this year, sports groups had been led to believe there would be C$50 million it in it for them, but they could only express mild disappointment when they discovered only $30 million had been allocated. Now, only a few weeks later, the announcement of the top-up amount is prompting positive reaction and its attendant publicity, which moves that reaction out from under the distraction of coverage of other federal budget news just as the country is about to head into a federal election, expected for June 28.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 16, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Sports|
OLYMPICS 2010 SUPPORTER NAMED MANAGING DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL SKI AND SNOWBOARD GROUP

A man who has been a strong behind-the-scenes supporter and worker for Vancouver's 2010 Winter Games and the Olympics in general has been named managing director of the Canadian Ski and Snowboard Association (CSSA).

Dave Pym, who has been vice president of the CSSA since 2001, is now the senior staff person for the CSSA and the primary contact between it and the International Ski Federation.

Pym is part of Vancouver 2010's Alpine Working Group, he chaired Alpine Canada’s work on the Canadian selection for the Olympic Winter Games, and in other roles contributed to the International Olympic Committee's Olympic Results and Information Systems project from 1998 to 2001.

In his role with CSSA, Pym will be the person the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Organizing Committee deals with on skiing and snowboarding issues. His job is deal with his organization's staff and run fund-raising campaigns, among other things.

Pym has been a racer, coach and ski club president during the three decades he's been involved in the sports.

He's also quite capable of offering VANOC advice on other fronts as well.
Pym, in a career of insurance and risk-management, has dealt with major construction projects and the utilities industry. He was a founder, president and CEO of a national insurance and risk-management firm.

Recently, Pym has served as the managing director of the International Specialized Risk Management Division (ISRM) of Crawford Adjusters Canada, specializing in part in sports accident, liability and risk management issues.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 14, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Business|
KUNIN DOUBTS RAV LINE CANCELLATION WOULD AFFECT PREDICTIONS OF CONSTRUCTION COST INCREASES

The president of the consulting firm that put together workforce supply and demand studies for the 2010 planning says that if the Richmond-Airport-Vancouver rapid transit line fails to proceed, it will have little effect on forecast labour shortages.

That's because, says Roslyn Kunin, of Roslyn Kunin & Associates in Vancouver, the RAV line, though big, simply isn't big enough. "The RAV line is only about C$1 billion. But the estimates of capital construction between now and, say, 2015 range from C$7 billion to C$15 billion. So the withdrawal of the RAV line workforce simply wouldn't have much influence."

The amount of construction expected to happen at the same times as the venue construction and renovation for the 2010 Winter Games, coupled with higher-than-normal demand for building materials such as concrete and steel, is concerning VANOC planners that overall construction costs could escalate beyond Bid budgets, with a 20% increase currently being discussed by experts in the Lower Mainland.

Kunin notes those capital-expenditure figures are just for British Columbia. If the economy in the rest of Canada also improved during the venue-construction period, and, for that matter, if the American economy improved in the Pacific Northwest, where we also compete to an extent for supplies and labour, the shortages -- and thus the cost escalations -- could get even worse.

Kunin prepared two detailed technical reports in April, 2003 on workforce supply and demand for the 2010 Winter Games Human Resources Planning Committee. And she was also involved in the Spirit of 2010 Business Conference May 3, discussing labour supply and demand requirements with about 750 corporate participants, before the Greater Vancouver Regional District decided to not proceed with the project that would link Vancouver with its airport and the neighboring suburb of Richmond with an extension of the city's elevated rapid-transit system.

Kunin doubts that the line's cancellation -- and there are reports this week that it may yet be resurrected -- would even have a psychological effect, that could push demand and prices down simply because they were no longer being built into budgets on speculation of an effect.

"The people in construction that I've been talking to are looking at a much bigger picture. From their point of view, there wouldn't even be a feeling that demand was dampening with the disappearance of the RAV line."

However, she added, sardonically: "You could make the case that if we can't even put together the RAV line, what hope do we have for doing an Olympics."

RESOURCES

Final Report of the 2010 Human Resource Planning Committee: Maximizing 2010-Related Employment and Skills Opportunities in British Columbia: Connecting Labour Supply and Demand (December, 2003, 87 pages, 657 kb)
http://Morgan-News.com/2010/SupportFiles/2004-05/2010_HRP_Committee_Final.pdf
Kunin & Associates; Labour Demand to 2010:
http://Morgan-News.com/2010/SupportFiles/2004-05/2010_labour_demand.pdf
Kunin & Associates; Labour Supply to 2010:
http://Morgan-News.com/2010/SupportFiles/2004-05/2010_labour_supply.pdf
Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 14, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC|
COMMUNICATIONS ISSUES AT VANOC PROMPT LOGO DESIGN CONTROVERSY

It appears that a breakdown within the communications department of the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee resulted in an ethical controversy that may prevent about 2,000 of Canada's top designers from working on the competition to design the 2010 Olympic logo.

The controversy erupted during a Vancouver news conference by VANOC CEO John Furlong to announce a design competition for the logo, which he said would become "one of the best known sports marks in the world." And, he said, the process to develop it was the result of considerable collaboration.

Furlong had finished outlining for reporters a process that would invite designers across Canada to participate in a two-day design conference June 9 and 10 in Vancouver. The event would mark the start of the competition for the logo, which VANOC Executive Communications Director Jane Burnes said would be limited to professional designers aged 19 and over. Furlong said the winner of the competition would receive a prize of C$25,000 and two tickets to the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Games.

However, Matthew Warburton, the president of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada's National Secretariat, who was in the audience, told Furlong that his organization's code of ethics specifically prohibits Society members from doing work on a speculative basis. That, he said, would mean that for ethical reasons, the Society's 2,000 members across Canada would not be able to take part in the competition, since all but one of them would not be paid for their work.

The Society's handbook, "Graphic Design, a guide for buyers," says "A professional designer does not engage in speculative, uncompensated commercial projects." The concept is also an easily found section of its website, which notes, "Occasionally, members are asked to provide speculative design solutions on project tenders. These tenders usually also state that these design solutions will play an integral role in a final selection process. As a result, designers find themselves in an untenable position, as they feel pressured to set aside time from contracted client work to provide solutions to projects and clients they have a less than clear understanding and knowledge of. Often, enormous commitments of resources are being requested, and for solutions that are never really relevant or even useful."

Furlong, clearly taken aback, said that VANOC was simply following standard Olympic protocols when it developed the process of the conference and competition, and added later that he would "find it hard to imagine that we could afford to pay every one of the number of entrants expected." He added, "That kind of protocol doesn't exist anywhere in the Olympics." Beijing's competition last year for the logo symbolizing its 2008 summer games garnered more than 1,600 entrants and was run on the same lines.

Burnes, quietly furious with Warburton, said later that she too was blindsided by his comments because she said a member of her staff had discussed the competition and conference with Warburton during the planning stages. "He had every opportunity to talk about this. But now he's screwed his 2,000 members who might have wanted to take part. It's parochial and narrow-minded."

Warburton agreed that he received a phone call "about a week ago" from Megan Turnbull, a communications co-ordinator working with Burnes, and that it was a substantive one, "the call lasted about 20 or 25 minutes." During that time, Warburton said that while they talked about a number of aspects of what VANOC was planning, including aspects of the conference, but he said he felt he was clear in making sure she understood the ethical issues involved. However, he admitted, "I didn't belabour the part about designers being prevented from participating. I didn't belabour that."

Turnbull, for her part, says she and Warburton talked "about the idea of designers being rewarded", but she felt it was in the context of the prize and what was a reasonable size for the prize. She said they also discussed aspects of the conference but that she recalled no discussion about the ethical issues.

Warburton said professional designers have the ethical rule in place because it takes training, education and experience to become a professional graphic designer. "You can bet they [VANOC] wouldn't be asking architects to compete for the honour of designing the speed-skating oval without offering to pay them for their services." He said designers held a conference last January in Vancouver with their counterparts from Salt Lake City, which hosted the 2002 Winter Games, and they were warned about a wide number of issues and problems that stemmed from the emblem competition concept and implementation of the eventual choice of Salt Lake's logo design for what Warburton called "the exploding snowflake."

Burnes, when briefed on the what each party to the phone call felt had been said, and that it boiled down to a he-said/she-said issued, replied, "Well, what can I say? I can't make every phone call."

RESOURCES

The portion of the website of the Graphic Designers of Canada dealing with speculative projects:
http://GDC.NET/for_business/design_resources.php?id=5&press=1&draw_column=3:1:2
The portion of the Designer's website dealing with its Code of Ethics:
http://GDC.NET/for_business/ethics.php?id=1&press=1&draw_column=3:1:2

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 13, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC|
CANADIAN-ONLY DESIGN COMPETITION FOR NEW LOGO TO START WITH TWO-DAY CONFERENCE

The Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee has launched a Canadian-only national competition for a new logo "to symbolize the magic of Canada's 2010 Winter Games."

VANOC CEO John Furlong said the Committee will invited professional designers and design students from across the country to a conference at the Pan Pacific Hotel's Crystal Pavilion on June 9 and 10, to brief them on the values it wants the emblem to embody. He and B.C. premier Gordon Campbell will introduce the conference on June 9, which is mainly an evening session, while following day will involve a number of speakers and a panel discussion.

The design competition, Furlong said, "will draw our attention to the power of this project that we've been working on." He added that the logo, "will be the cornerstone of the look of the year 2010 as we go forward... it will be very important to the look and feel" of the Games.

Furlong, noting that the existing Bid Corporation logo has to die for contractual reasons, said that VANOC will not be able to do any marketing until January 1, 2005 under terms of its operating agreement with the International Olympic Committee. As a result, he said, "invitations will start going out tomorrow and for the rest of this week" to every designer in Canada to attend the conference and take part in the competition.

The conference will have an entry fee of C$150, and C$50 for students, but no entrance fee or payment is required to enter the design competition itself. Furlong said the conference fee is designed to recover costs, and that each participant would also receive a copy of "The Olympic Image: The First 100 Years," a 448-page coffee-table type book written by Canadian
by Wei Yew, who has written a number of design books, and published in 1997 by Books Nippon. It's currently out of print but for sale for US$90 on Amazon.

An international design panel will be set up to review submissions, and that "VANOC and the International Olympic Committee will choose the winning design." Furlong later said that the IOC would have to "sign off" on the design but that "I wouldn't say it's a veto."

Furlong said that the winner of the design competition would be announced, "early in the new year", which VANOC marketing consultant said would be February 12, exactly five years from the opening ceremonies. The winner would receive C$25,000 and two tickets to the opening ceremonies of the Games.

Furlong said the logo was destined "to become one of the most recognized logos in the world over the next eight years." He added, "For athletes and volunteers, the Olympic Games are a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. That's exactly how a designer must feel about creating an Olympic Games emblem. After all, no other piece of work in a design portfolio will get the sort of international attention that comes from designing a logo for the world's greatest sporting event."

According to the process, which Furlong said was still being worked out, the design competition is open only to Canadian professionals. This includes, according to VANOC documents, "The competition is open to Canadian design, advertising or creative professionals, firms, agencies, organizations and individuals engaged in the development of brand identities, visual communications, marketing and imaging strategies. Canadian students enrolled in post-secondary design programs are also eligible. All entrants and individuals involved in the creation of a submitted design must be Canadian and at least 19 years of age as of the date the entry form is completed." Nineteen is the age of majority in British Columbia. People associated with VANOC, the Canadian Olympic Committee or the International Olympic Committee are barred from entering.

Communications spokesman Jane Burnes said the age restriction is necessary "because of the legal ramifications involved." VANOC would be buying all of the reproduction rights to the design that is eventually chosen, and she said, "we'd have to own the logo." Furlong said the judging criteria were still being worked out, as were the members of the judging panel.

Furlong said the competition is being restricted to Canadians because, "These are Canada's games and it's important that Canadians design it."

The logo-design conference will hear from design experts involved in previous and future Olympic Games -- Sydney Summer Games 2000, Salt Lake City Winter Games 2002, Athens Summer Games 2004, Torino Winter Games 2006 and the Beijing Summer Games in 2008.

VANOC says the logo for the Paralympic Games, which follow the Olympics by a month, will not be involved in this process and, in fact, won't even get going until after the Olympic games logo is decided. "Once the new 2010 Olympic Winter Games emblem is chosen, VANOC will determine the best design development process for the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games."

RESOURCES

VANOC's new website section dealing with the logo design contest and the design conference. Some design entry and competition details will not be available on the site until June 10:

http://www.winter2010.com/design/
The direct jump to the agenda for the design conference (it can also be reached by following the links on the address above):
https://secure.dll1.com/v2010/agenda.asp
Amazon's entry for the book "The Olympic Image":
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0969443277/104-4353632-4263109?v=glance

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 13, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC|
COMMITTEE BEGINS COPYRIGHT PROCEEDINGS ON FIVE PHRASES, 6TH BY THE COC

The Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee has begun reserving several more trademarks with the Canadian Copyright Board.

VANOC, through its law firm, Borden Ladner Gervais of Vancouver, has requested the Copyright Board trademark the phrases "Winter 2010", the French equivalent "Hiver 2010", "Canada 2010" and "Vancouver 2010". These have all been published in the Board's Gazette, Volume 51, issue 2581 and the comment period will expire June 14.

In addition, VANOC spokesman Sam Corea says "Info2010" has also been reserved as it will be the trade name of the game results reporting system used by VANOC during the Games. However an informal search of the database, which was updated May 11, did not show this mark as having yet been registered.

As well, the Canadian Olympic Committee has asked the Copyright Board to reserve the phrase "Whistler 2010", though its law firm of Sim Burney in Toronto. The phrase was gazetted in Volume 50, issue 2576.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 13, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC|
NEWS CONFERENCE TODAY MARKS END OF COMMITTEE'S HONEYMOON PERIOD

Reporters at today's news conference by the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee to announce the logo design contest noticed a slight chill in the air as the honeymoon period for VANOC ground to an end.

Reporters questions to CEO John Furlong and his communications staff - primarily Jane Burnes, who says she has now moved from her role as Communications Director for the B.C. Government's Olympics Secretariat to work on contract with the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee, and Sam Corea - were noticeably sharper and less forgiving.

On the other side, Furlong, though he continued to be as affable and willing to answer all questions as he has been in the past, he smiled less and worked harder at it, and less likely to offer further openings or additional information beyond the questions asked. And the staffers were bristling and edgy at times during the 45-minute session at the Wosk Centre in downtown Vancouver.

Certainly in part the VANOC crew were disappointed that their carefully orchestrated announcement about a celebratory logo-design contest and conference for designing a key marketing aspect of the Games's image was crippled by the comments of Matthew Warburton, the Vancouver-based president of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada, who flagged ethical issues with the process that VANOC, following Olympic protocols, had used for the competition.

Recent stories in various media have speculated on the possibility of rising construction costs, and so reporters are now routinely asking about costs of various aspects of the Games. For instance, Furlong was asked how much the design conference would cost. He readily replied, however, that most of the cost would be recovered from the fees charged to attendees, but said there would be what he called "a small upfront" cost of arranging the conference.

But the decision of VANOC to tell the International Olympic Committee's Commission overseeing the 2010 Games that geo-technical issues may force it to move the Speed-Skating Oval from Burnaby Mountain where it would be used as a legacy building for Simon Fraser University's high-performance athlete section and not pass that information along to the public until the story broke five weeks later, also left a crispness in the news conference air. "That was an issue that only important to you," Furlong said brusquely to one reporter who questioned VANOC's transparency in the matter. "It was never a problem with the IOC. They said that what we were doing" - reviewing the location on a number of fronts for a decision that's not expected to be made until late summer - "was just fine with it."

But Furlong, when asked if he intended in the future to discuss troubles that VANOC might be having as well as the positive aspects, relaxed somewhat and replied, "Of course I will."

He also responded after the news conference to reporters questions about the B.C. Federation of Labour urging an accord between it, the construction unions, the B.C. Government and VANOC to ensure labour peace on the venues. He sidestepped the question, saying only that VANOC intended to collaborate with many groups, including labour, and that it had discussions with "construction and tourism" and that none had indicated anything other than willing to help ensure the Games were successful.

One minor note: the news conference materials provided to reporters, including a news release and fact sheet were, for the first time, also provided in French and Corea, as he welcomed reporters, briefly welcomed them in French as well, though the rest of the news conference was conducted in English and there was no other translation facilities available.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 13, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC|
COMMITTEE BOARD TO MEETING JUNE 16

The next meeting of the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee's Board of Directors is sent for June 16, according to VANOC CEO John Furlong.

Furlong did not confirm this, but the agenda is expected to discuss the status of VANOC's move to its new location at 1095 West Pender Street in Vancouver, the status hiring vice-presidents to handle the main organizational aspects of the Committee, the status of the Speed-Skating Oval review and the status of the venue work at the Callaghan Valley near Whistler.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 13, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Business|
GRAPHIC DESIGNERS SOCIETY PREXY SAYS SETTLEMENT OVER ETHICS ISSUE COULD BE RESOLVED

Matthew Warburton, the president of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada, says it's possible there's a negotiated settlement of the ethical issues it has with the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee.

Warburton says that his primary concern is that professional designers not enter the VANOC logo-design competition without being paid "a reasonable fee" for doing so.

But he says, he would no longer be concerned about the competition -- and the 2,000 members of his organization, including some of the top graphic designers in Canada -- if a fee could be negotiated.

Warburton said he didn't want to put a number on that fee ought to be, but said that he was pleased that VANOC CEO John Furlong indicated he'd be willing to listen further to Warburton's concerns about the process.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 13, 2004

Friday, June 11, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC|
FURLONG BUMPS UP LAUNCH DATE FOR LOGO CONTEST

The CEO of the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee, John Furlong, has apparently decided to bump up the time for the launch date of a public contest to create and choose a logo for the 2010 Winter Games.

VANOC marketing consultant Linda Harmon said May 3 that the contest would likely be launched in mid-June [see Morgan:News:2010:#285, May 3, 2004], but Furlong to make the launch announcement tomorrow morning and explain the details of the contest. The current logo, which the Bid Corporation designed early in its mandate and which is still being used by Bid sponsors, must be retired this year, according to the terms of the Corporation's agreement with the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The winning logo will become one of the most recognized brands in Canada almost overnight, and will be used on all manner of Olympic marketing materials at least until 2012, when VANOC's rights to use Olympic slogans and marks will revert to the International Olympic Committee.

The general idea of the contest, which has been used successfully in other Winter and Summer Games, is expected to follow the plan in the next paragraph, but this will not be confirmed until Furlong makes the announcement tomorrow and describes Vancouver's process in detail:

VANOC will likely host a conference for would-be designers to provide the concepts the logo should embody and that it should speak to the world about the Games, that the logo will be part of how the world, through international marketing and branding of souvenirs, will perceive and remember the Games. A prize for the winning design is likely to be offered. The designers of previous successful logos may do presentations for the conference. Logo designs would be submitted to a judging committee, which would then select a shortlist. Some thought will be required to create a winning entry since several of the symbols most associated with the Olympic Games are copyright protected and can't be used. These include the interlocking rings, the torch and the words "Olympic", "Olympic Games" and Olympiad." The designers of the shortlisted logos would then be invited it make any last-minute adjustments to clean up their designs. The VANOC board would rank the final designs. The ranked list would then be presented first to the International Olympic Committee for approval and then announced on February 12, 2005, at the five-year mark before the Games' opening ceremony. After the competition is completed, VANOC would host an exhibition of the entries that may travel across Canada.

When Beijing, which is hosting the 2008 Summer Games, launched its contest last year, it received about 2,000 entries.

Besides being used ubiquitously, the logo may even end up on B.C. vehicle license plates. On the two previous occasions that the Olympics have been held in Canada, the host provinces have both issued special license plates. In 1976, Quebec commemorated the Summer Olympics in Montreal by stamping the Games’ logo onto the plates issued to every motorist. In 1988, Alberta issued special license plates featuring the logo of the Winter Games being held in Calgary that year with the slogan “XV Olympic Winter Games.”

RESOURCES

Beijing's logo exhibit:
http://en.olympic.cn/08beijing/qingdao/2003-11-18/127438.html
http://en.beijing-2008.org/74/68/article211616874.shtml

London, England's 2012 logo samples:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/photo_galleries/3242020.stm

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 12, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Government|
BC GOVERNMENT REFUTES "20% OVER-BUDGET" RUMOR ABOUT VENUE COSTS

The top spokesman for the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee refutes suggestions VANOC thinks the 2010 Game venues will be 20% over-budget, pointing out that preliminary designs haven't yet been done, let alone costed.

Jane Burnes, now the executive director of communications and government relations for the B.C. government's secretariat overseeing the Games, says, "Meeting the timelines and budget set for the Vancouver 2010 Games are top priorities for the Organizing Committee. That's why we are using 2004 as a planning year, reviewing and refining our entire Games delivery system, to make sure we are on track and have realistic budgets in place."

The 20% figure was contained in some media reports discussing VANOC's review of the high-performance skating oval venue slated for construction on Burnaby Mountain adjacent to Simon Fraser University. The Vancouver Sun newspaper, for instance, attributed the statement to VANOC CEO John Furlong, but Burnes says, "At no time did Mr. Furlong make that statement."

VANOC is considering a number of options, one of which is moving the oval to other locations, following a geotechnical report of the land on which the oval is to be built. VANOC has consultants reviewing all of the venues on a timetable so that firms interested in designing the projects are working from similar data.

There is speculation, since VANOC has so far declined to release the geotechnical report, that it felt the oval could be built there provided extra foundation work be done to stabilize the structure.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 11, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Business
Government|
TELUS, B.C., SPONSOR ECONOMIC-DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP SERIES FOCUSING ON 2010 AND B.C.'S INTERIOR

Telus Communications, the B.C. government and the Economic Development Association of B.C. (EDA) today begin a series of economic workshops in the province's interior to talk about ways in which the 2010 Games and development can influence each other over the next few years.

The workshops are part of a program called Ramp Up!, which Telus spokesman Karen Dosanjh says, "is designed to build upon existing economic development initiatives and help deliver a sustainable long-term economic road map for British Columbia."

The program was co-designed by Telus, the Ministry of Small Business and Economic Development and EDA. Frank Knott, an internationally recognized authority on "regional economic development, and cluster strategy development and implementation," is taking part in the sessions.

Dosanjh says that "Extensive research is also being conducted into lessons learned from previous Olympic-host jurisdictions about leveraging opportunities associated with the Games for long-term economic development," and that this will complement the community's input at the sessions.

The results of the sessions, which she calls "a road map", will be developed "by combining national and international research on economic, political and market trends with British Columbia's strengths and economic development initiatives. The goal is to identify the most profitable and sustainable areas for focus in today's global economy."

Dosanjh says that "In the early fall, the road map, and recommendations for next steps, will be presented at public events throughout the province."

BACKGROUND

Telus says the workshops will take place as follows:

May 11 - Workshop for the West Kootenay region in Nelson
May 13 - Workshop for East Kootenay region in Cranbrook
May 25 - Workshop for the Vancouver Island/Coast region in Campbell River
June 14 - Workshop for the Northeast region in Fort St. John
June 16 - Workshop for the Cariboo region in Prince George
June 18 - Workshop for the Thompson/Okanagan region in Chase

They're still working on the date and location of the seventh workshop, for the Northwest region. The Lower Mainland of B.C, which includes Vancouver and Whistler, and the southern part of Vancouver Island, which includes the provincial capital of Victoria, are not included, says Dosanjh, because the focus is on the province's smaller communities.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 11, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Government|
CANADIAN MILITARY CHIEF MEETS WITH GREEK COUNTERPARTS FOR 2010 SECURITY PLANS

The head of Canada's armed forces has met with Greek defence officials Monday to discuss security for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

The Greek Defence Ministry said Gen. Raymond Henault held talks with deputy defence Minister Vassilis Michaliolakos, who briefed him on the security planning for the Athens Summer Olympics, which will be held three months from now, from August 13 to the 29. The Athens games are designed to be about three times as large as the 2010 Games.

They also discussed NATO's deployment in Afghanistan, where both countries have forces.

According to a Defence Ministry statement, Henault requested Greek information that would help him with security planning for the 2010 Olympics.

Greece is spending about C$1.65 billion on Olympic protection that will involve more than 50,000 police and soldiers, and includes assistance from NATO and the European Union.

The Vancouver Bid Corporation, which budgeted C$1.4 million on security of its own, which doesn't include military costs that are paid for by Ottawa, has already discussed preliminary security concepts with the Canadian military and factored it into its own planning.

The RCMP, it says, "will lead an Integrated Public Safety Command Security Planning Group with other agencies. This single body will have overall responsibility for coordination of security during the Vancouver 2010 Games. A Central Command Centre, headed by the RCMP, will coordinate all security during the operational phase of the Games. Agencies operating under the unified command system will include the RCMP, the Vancouver Police Department, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), the Canadian Forces and other local public safety agencies."

VANOC planning documents suggest that 8,500 security personnel will be deployed on a typical Games day in 2010.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 11, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Labour|
BC FED, CONSTRUCTION UNIONS TURN UP PRESSURE ON VANOC, BC GOVERNMENT

The B.C. Federation of Labour and the heads of B.C.'s construction unions, already rebuffed earlier in their calls for a contract to build the 2010 Winter Games venues, turned up the pressure on the B.C. Government and the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee another notch today.

BC Fed president Jim Sinclair told a news conference in Vancouver that B.C.'s choice is to negotiate a labour accord to ensure labour peace between now and 2010, or face construction delays and cost overruns.

As he put it, "We can actually do an excellent job here and all feel good about what we're doing here, We're obviously encouraging the other partners in this and the Olympic Committee to sit down and have a conversation with us. We can decide if we're going to build a games that runs smoothly, on time and on budget, like the successful Sydney Olympics, or we can see the construction delays, poor management and cost overruns that plagued the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and are harming the Athens Olympics today."

Sinclair didn't mention that the Athens games were delayed due to governmental disorganization and infighting during the first three years after Athens was awarded the games. Nor did he mention that Games venues at Calgary, Los Angeles and Salt Lake City, one of the most successful recent Olympics, were completed without project agreements."

Philip Hochstein, chairman of the 2010 Construction Leaders Taskforce, says "While project agreements can be dressed up to sound appealing, taxpayers should beware. At their core, these agreements can be nothing more than force monopolies, whereby suppliers - unions -are granted exclusive agreements to provide services - labour - to customers: governments or taxpayers Other forms of project agreements attempt to impose work rules or social engineering conditions that ultimately drive up costs and reduce productivity." The Construction Leaders Task Force involves senior executives from 19 of B.C.’s largest construction companies.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 11, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Business|
SURVEY SHOWS VALLEY RESIDENTS MORE HOPEFUL AND OPTIMSITIC ABOUT 2010 GAMES EFFECTS

A marketing research study of 1,823 residents done in January in the Fraser Valley and Fraser Canyon regions of British Columbia, from Surrey to Boston Bar, shows that there is a rising sense of optimism about the 2010 Winter Games, and that more people are hopeful about how it will help them.

Peter Reek, general manager of CV Market Research, which did the study with Twentyten Communications, a division of the strategic-marketing firm Irving and Company, said the firms used the sense of optimism immediately after the Games were awarded last summer to Vancouver as their benchmark. The survey was done in January, but the results have only recently been released.

"We've found that one in five views the 2010 Winter Olympics more positively than they did immediately after the announcement last July," he said. He noted that 71% said their opinion had remained the same. The respondents were also asked if their opinion had become more negative. Nine percent overall said that was the case. The companies say they intend to do the research on a regular basis.

Here is how the measure of enthusiasm for the Games breaks down by community. The question "My optimism of the 2010 Olympics has become more positive since the announcement":

Port Coquitlam: 22%
Pitt Meadows: 19%
Delta: 19%
White Rock: 22%
Maple Ridge: 21%
Langley City: 22%
Langley Township: 16%
Mission: 24%
Abbotsford: 23%
Chilliwack: 18%
Kent - Harrison: 18%
Hope - Yale - Boston Bar: 25%

The survey also measured whether people thought the 2010 Games would have a positive or negative effect on their jobs. About half - 53% - said they doubted the Games would have any effect on their jobs. But of those who figured there would be an impact, most said it would be positive, while only 3% said they felt it would be negative. As you might expect, those communities that were closer to the Vancouver-area venues of the Games were more optimistic on this front that those farther away.

Here's how they answered the question, "I believe the 2010 Olympics will have a beneficial impact on job opportunities in my community."

Port Coquitlam: 52%
Pitt Meadows: 46%
Delta: 50%
White Rock: 50%
Maple Ridge: 43%
Langley City: 43%
Langley Township: 45%
Mission: 43%
Abbotsford: 49%
Chilliwack: 35%
Kent - Harrison: 29%
Hope - Yale - Boston Bar: 27%

The research also shows that nearly half the residents in the Fraser Valley feel that their quality of life will improve as a result of the games coming to Vancouver. "There is clearly a momentum gaining among B.C. residents," said Twentyten Communications director, Eric Petersen. "This survey is an indication that enthusiasm about various factors – real estate, employment, and quality of life - should continue to build as the Games approach."

The survey found that 40% of residents outside the Greater Vancouver area expect the games to have a positive impact on property values. The municipality of Port Coquitlam in particular was especially optimistic about the impact on property values, with 50% of its residents believing there will be a positive affect. Here are the results to the question "I expect the 2010 Olympics to have a positive effect on the quality of my life."

Port Coquitlam: 51%
Pitt Meadows: 39%
Delta: 49%
White Rock: 50%
Maple Ridge: 48%
Langley City: 50%
Langley Township: 44%
Mission: 36%
Abbotsford: 61%
Chilliwack: 50%
Kent - Harrison: 47%
Hope - Yale - Boston Bar: 42%

The margin of error in the survey's results is plus or minus 2.2% overall. That is, if every household in the area were surveyed, the results would be within 2.2 percentage points of the survey's results, 19 times out of 20. However, the margin of error is greater within specific communities, because of the smaller sample size taken within those communities. For most communities the margin of error is about 10%. However, for Maple Ridge and Langley District, the error was about 6%, and it was 7% in Chilliwack.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 10, 2004

Tuesday, June 08, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |IOC|
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE TO RECIEVE 2010 VIDEO-CONFERENCE REPORT THIS MONTH

The International Olympic Committee will hear a report from Vancouver's Olympic Committee by video conference this month about the current status of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games preparation. Also included in the presentation will be the chair of the IOC's commission which is overseeing the games, Rene Faisel.

The Executive Committee will get the report at its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. The briefing is scheduled for 45 minutes late in the afternoon on Tuesday, May 18. The executive committee will be getting updates from all the games currently in preparation around the world as part of a three-day meeting, and Vancouver's will be the last in the series.

The meeting is expected to be told by VANOC CEO John Furlong about issues with the skating oval's location and may hear about construction-cost escalation problems, but also it is expected to be told about progress on preparations for the Nordic and Sliding Centres near Whistler, and the status of other venues.

The briefing will come about three hours after the IOC announces its short list for the cities bidding for the 2012 Summer Games, and is expected to follow a VANOC board meeting, scheduled for the middle of May.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 7, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Government|
WHISTLER CONSIDERS TWO INDUSTRIAL AREAS OVER CALLAGHAN VALLEY AS ATHLETIC VILLAGE SITE

Whistler is no longer considering Callaghan Valley as the site of the proposed 2010 Athlete's Village, and is now focused on the pros and cons of two industrial-grade locations on either side of Whistler.

One, which appears to be favoured at the moment, is near a landfill area, across from the Whistler's industrial park, about 5.5 kilometres south of the village. The other is on undeveloped land between the subdivisions of Alpine and Emerald, about 5 kilometres north of the Whistler.

The Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee has been waiting for Whistler to make up its mind about where the proposed Village, one of two to be built by VANOC for the Games, is to be built.

Mayor Hugh O’Reilly, who notes that the Commission overseeing construction of the Games had comments on the locations when they toured them at the beginning of April, says Whistler staff is preparing reports for council so it can make a decision in late June or early July about the final location.

The rejection of Callaghan Valley for the village, which is where the Nordic and Sliding Centres are to be built for the 2010 Games, came following a series of community meetings about the matter and was due in part to concerns about the Athletes Village being used at the basis for resident-restricted permanent housing for up to 8,000 people in the area following the Games. The B.C. Government also promised to provide Whistler with 120 hectares (300 acres) of Crown land prior to the Games, to be used for resident-restricted housing. Because of land and housing development pressures on the Whistler area, the consensus was that housing should be near Whistler and added to it, rather than start a separate community.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 7, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC|
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR NORDIC, SLIDING CENTRES TO BE PUBLISHED THIS MONTH

The Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee is expected to publish later this month formal Requests for Proposals for designing the new C$60 million Nordic and C$31 million Sliding Centres near Whistler.

Forty-three companies expressed interest to VANOC that they'd like to work on the Centres, the first major venue construction project undertaken. [Morgan:News:2010:#248, April 30, 2004]

Design and construction of both venues will need at least one consulting team with expertise in general site engineering and the specialized expertise required to undertake a detailed design of the facilities for the various events. VANOC says it expects the projects will follow the stipulated-sum design-bid-build construction process.

Construction of the Nordic Centre is expected to begin either late this year or early next, and be completed by October, 2007. Temporary Olympic facilities on the locations are expected, according to VANOC, to be set up in June 2009, and completed in January 2010. The Sliding Centre will be located at Blackcomb Mountain on a bench near the Lower Gear Jammer ski run, above the Excalibur Base II station.

The Nordic Centre design is expected to be adjusted slightly to accommodate the fact that cross-country races now begin with mass starts, as opposed to having skiers to do the course one at a time. Mass starts require larger starting areas. As well, VANOC is working on various options to deal with the concept that that the slalom and GS courses, as proposed, may need to be made steeper. The bobsled and luge track, however, is expected to be the steepest in the world once its built.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 7, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Government|
WHISTLER MULLS OVER CHANGES TO PARALYMPIC SLEDGE-HOCKEY LOCATION

The Whistler municipal government is mulling over the possibility of putting an addition on the existing sports and recreation centre in its Meadow Park location for the Paralympic sledge hockey arena, instead of building a C$40 million multi-plex centre in Whistler.

VANOC has budgeted C20 million for sledge hockey, which must seat at least 3,500. Besides the difference in funding, a facility built at Meadow Park would be community-oriented, while a facility in the village could have additional uses and might present more opportunities for corporate partnerships.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 7, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC|
COREA SAYS CURRENT SPEED-SKATING REVIEW PROCESS "NOT ABOUT MOVING VENUES"

The communications director for the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee, Sam Corea, says the current process of figuring out what to about the location of the C$44 million speed-skating oval's location is "not about moving venues."

As Corea puts it, "The venue discussions currently being undertaken by VANOC in 2004 are part of the evolution from bid committee to Games Organizing Committee. It is VANOC's duty to continue to review and refine our entire games-delivery system to make sure we are on time, on budget, meet international standards and provide post Games legacies. This process is not about moving venues. It is our duty and obligation to continue to review all plans before we reach the design phase of the new venues and before construction begins."

Corea points out that even the Bid Book said it's common for plans to change from the Bid Book to the implementation. "Could we move the Oval? It's possible, but it's not a certainty. What we have to do is be responsible in how we approach this work. People are counting on us to be responsible. Our government partners - who are making the venue investments - have told us quite clearly what our budget is." In addition to providing the land, SFU is to contribute C$3.2 million to the capital costs .

Any change in a competition venue from the Bid Book would have to be approved by the International Olympic Committee, the international sport federation that's involved, and the owner of the location or the site it's on. Corea says, "The goal of all competition venues for 2010 is to ensure that the venues meet the needs of the athletes, the International Olympic Committee and international sport federations. We also want to make sure the venues have sport and community legacies beyond the Games."

Corea says finding the location for a building necessary to house a speed skating oval was a challenge.

The SFU Oval is to be a new 400 metre track housed in a 23,450 m 2 facility. The multi-purpose building is to be designed to be the home of both summer and winter sports and will include a four-lane running track around the perimeter of the speed-skating oval.

Ancillary facilities will include a sprint chute, lockers, timing and other athlete-monitoring equipment, fitness-and-strength training studios and classrooms.

Some of the main design concepts will be aimed at ensuring good television coverage of the Olympics events and include a level floor, state-of-the-art ice plant and "exceptional" air conditioning and air flow controls. Extensive viewing areas will also help to increase public interest in speed skating.

In addition, says VANOC, "The new oval will host athletes and coaches from around the world, and include the latest in sport medicine, sport science, testing, equipment and training tools."

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on May 7, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |General|
MAJOR CALIFORNIA PAPER PUBLISHES TRAVEL ARTICLE ABOUT 2010 OLYMPICS

The Sacramento Bee newspaper, of Sacramento, California, has published a 1,023-word travel article with the Vancouver/Whistler 2010 Olympics as its main theme.

The newspaper has a circulation of 283,000 during the week, and it's in what eventually will be one of the prime marketing areas for the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee.

Under the title of "Vancouver's Olympic planning: It's all downhill", travel editor Janet Fullwood offers potential tourists a breezy and positive look at the Vancouver/Whistler area, along with a general overview of the games and its geographical setting.

The 2010 Games, she notes, "...will be the first to be held in a seaside locale since Oslo, Norway, in 1952. Opening and closing ceremonies, to be staged in a renovated, 60,000-seat BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, will be the first ever, summer or winter, to be