Morgan:News:2010:Bronze Edition: December 2004

Friday, December 24, 2004

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Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #759
2010 COMMITTEE TO TAKE CLOSE LOOK AT COMMERCIAL AND PEDESTRIAN TRAFFIC PATTERNS IN WHISTLER AREA

The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Organizing Committee will undertake a detailed study of transportation issues in the Whistler area early in 2005, to establish a baseline for planning how the 2010 Winter Games and the preparations leading up to them will impact the area, and for its own operational planning.

VANOC has held a series of meetings in the last few months with the staff of the Resort Municipality of Whistler to figure out what information is needed, and what information is available now. As a result, VANOC will commission the survey, to be done by an urban planning firm yet to be chosen, to investigate and provide "a realistic overview", according to VANOC sources, of the movement of goods and people in and out of the Whistler area during this coming February and March. As much as possible, VANOC wants to know how people and goods move in the area on a daily basis during that period, which corresponds to the time in 2010 when the Olympic and Paralympic Games will be held there.

The study is to particularly look at the flow in, through and around Whistler of commercial vehicles moving goods, the use of non-public parking lots and pedestrian flows, the flow of commercial vehicles and goods into and around the Creekside and Function Junction areas near Whistler, and the flow of such goods between Function Junction, which is south of Whistler, and Pemberton, the village to the north of Whistler. The Function Junction area is near where the Whistler Athletes Village and Whistler Olympic Broadcast Centre are to be built.

The new information will be incorporated into a final report that will also include a review of existing traffic-pattern and parking-lot usage studies done of the area for other purposes by Whistler and by the provincial government's Ministry of Transportation, which is responsible for highway and major secondary road planning and use.

VANOC says it expects to have hired the contracting firm by January 21, with the first draft of the report to be in its hands by March 1, with the final report to it by March 28.

VANOC also says the contract being offered will clearly prevent the contractor from mentioning in any marketing context that it has a relationship with the 2010 Committee.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on December 24, 2004

Thursday, December 23, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #758
CLOTHING AND LUGGAGE CONTRACTS FOR 2006 TEAM CANADA OFFERED BY VANOC, COC

The Vancouver 2010 Organizing Committee is working for the first time with the Canadian Olympic Committee to contract with businesses that are interested in supplying clothing and luggage for the 2006 Canadian Olympic Team.

The two organizations are looking for contractors to design, produce and deliver a
complete clothing and luggage package for the 2006 Canadian Olympic Team of about 500 people, or work in a combination with other firms to produce a portion of the package, such as particular types of clothing or luggage. VANOC is involved because, under agreements between the International Olympic Committee and its national representative, the Canadian Olympic Committee, VANOC is taking over the marketing rights to the design and branding of everything to do with the Olympics generally in Canada until after the 2010 Games are done. And that includes clothing and luggage for the coaches, officials and athletes from Canada who will be taking part in both the 2006 Winter Games and, eventually, the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.

This particular clothing and luggage contract, however, is just for the 2006 team. However, under the terms of the deal being offered by VANOC, the supplier (or suppliers) eventually chosen will also be expected to deal with the retailing aspects of a line of clothing and luggage that's similar, but not identical, for Canadian consumers as well.

VANOC wants the clothing and luggage to have a unique "look", and it has to be high quality, fashionable and "responsibly produced" from two points of view: social -- that is, no sweatshop labour -- and environmental, that is, the suppliers will need to show that pollution is controlled during the manufacturing processes, and that the materials won't harm the environment in any other way.

VANOC and the COC will have final approval over the design specifications, which haven't yet been finalized, and they expect to be working with the suppliers to do that. The general theme, however, is red and white, with black and gold as accents. Suppliers will not be allowed to put their own brands on the exterior of the materials unless they do a separate deal with VANOC for that marketing right.

Besides the 500 members of the Canadian Olympics team, there will also be overruns needed of the materials to deal with various size ranges, as well as additional requirements for orders from representatives of Sport Canada, various related sports organizations and volunteers connected with the Olympics or the team. VANOC estimates there will need to be at least 100 sets required for VANOC itself and the COC people who will be attending the Games as observers and planners.

The Olympic organizations say the suppliers have the option of outlining firm pricing for the requirements, and they can also propose sponsorship arrangements by which the clothing and luggage would be supplied for free in exchange for marketing rights to the materials carrying the Olympics and Canadian logos. Those rights, which VANOC speculates may even be larger than the cost of the materials themselves, would include being able to say they were "Official Suppliers" to VANOC, the COC and Team Canada and be identified as such on the websites of VANOC and the COC, as well as in news releases and at any special public events the organizations decide to hold. If the suppliers decide they don't want the marketing rights, VANOC says it will pay for the materials, but the suppliers will be contractually bound not to say anything about their relationship with VANOC, the COC or the Olympics.

The window of opportunity for bidding on the contracts closes January 19, with the contractor being picked by February 16; the contract has to be fulfilled by next November.

BACKGROUND

Here's the specifics of what VANOC and the COC are looking for, with minimum quantities of 500 unless otherwise noted: For usual wear - coats, pants, shirts, sweaters, long underwear, boots, scarves, hats and gloves, with 1,000 pairs of socks. For podium wear: ski-type pants and jackets, touques and headbands. Semi-formal wear for functions and events: shirts, pants, skirts, shoes, belts, jackets. For around the athlete's village: long- and short-sleeved T-shirts -- a thousand of each type -- track suits, fleece jackets and ball caps; travel wear: pants, shirts.

Luggage: a duffle-bag style with wheels, a backpack and a fanny pack.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on December 23, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #757
OFFICE-SPACE PLANNING PROJECT TO TAKE PLACE OVER NEXT FEW MONTHS

The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Organizing Committee says it expects that to be moving its headquarters from the two floors of an office tower in downtown Vancouver by this time next year, because it'll be too crowded, and it's about to begin a four-month project that will plan its office-space requirements from 2005 until 2011.

VANOC procurement officer Jim Birnholdt indicates that the current office space of 40,000 square feet on the 4th and 5th floors of 1095 West Pender will likely be too full by the time the space's lease expires on December 31, 2005, and it will need to find new office space -- preferably contiguous, but it's willing to look at various floors in a cluster of nearby buildings -- by that point. The space must be in Vancouver's downtown core.

VANOC, now divided into about 60 functional areas, intends to develop and document a master leasing plan to ensure that it will have enough space to accommodate 1,200 employees by the end of 2009, but its requirements will plunge drastically after the Games in February and March of 2010, to the point where it will be down to about 25 personnel by April of that year. That document, it realizes, will have to build flexibility into itself.

The Organizing Committee will shortly be contracting an experienced interior designer to help with the planning -- the RFP for the designer was published today -- and the designer will be asked to deal with establishing the office space planning standards for individual and common areas, space requirements by year, the need various departments will have to be adjacent to each other, as well as furniture standards.

BACKGROUND

Here are the staffing levels expected by VANOC at the end of the following years:

2004 - 60
2005 - 150
2006 - 175
2007 - 340
2008 - 680
2009 - 1,200
2010 - 25

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on December 23, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #756
WEST VAN HIGHWAY PROTESTORS RESUME FIGHT; BEIJING HAS 600+ ENTRIES FOR MASCOT CONTEST; 2006 OLYMPICS COVERS BUDGET SHORTFALL

Here are a few more moguls we ran into today...

The people behind the political environmental protest about the path that will be taken by rerouting the southern end of the Vancouver/Whistler Sea to Sky highway through West Vancouver as part of the 2010 Winter Games support project continues to fester away. They have now posted a website detailing their concerns, and it includes a link to a protest form that can be filled out and e-mailed simultaneously to both B.C. premier Gordon Campbell and the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Organizing Committee. They claim that " 2.5 km stretch of highway being planned... will destroy sensitive and rare ecosystems at Eagleridge Bluffs and the Larson Creek Wetlands and obliterate portions of the Baden Powell Trail..." VANOC is not in charge of the project, but improving the highway was part of the promises made to the IOC by the BC government. The decision to build the highway through the area, instead of the protesters' preferred tunneling route, was made last summer.
The contest -- yes, it looks like the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Organizing Committee will be doing a similar contest -- to design the mascots for the Beijing 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games has closed and it has attracted about 600 entries since the competition began last August. The Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee says it will use "strict procedures" to evaluate and select its Olympic mascots. The criteria require that the mascots have Chinese characteristics, embody the Olympic spirit and be appealing, particularly in the commercial sense. The winning design will be announced next June, three years from the start of those Games.
Associated Press reports that Torino 2006 Winter Olympic organizers will receive enough funds from an Italian public agency to cover the Games' budget shortfall of about US$243 million. The agency AP believes is involved is Sviluppo Italia, related to the Italian Government's ministry that promotes business development and investment, is to provide the transfer. Games organizers, who can't receive the money directly from their government, have to deal with the overrun before they can approve the provisional budget for the Games.

RESOURCES

The Eagle Ridge protest website:
http://www.eagleridgebluffs.com

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on December 23, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #755
ALPINE'S READ URGES CORPORATE CANADA TO MAKE A 2010 DIFFERENCE; PYEONGCHANG BACK IN OLYMPICS RACE; GE POWERS TORINO ICE SPONSORSHIPS

Here are a few moguls we ran into today...

The business-like president of Alpine Canada, Ken Read, told the Toronto Globe & Mail newspaper today that it's too late for corporate sponsors to make a major difference in how Canadians fare at the 2006 Olympic Games in Turino, Italy. But the national newspaper quotes him as saying that this is the time for corporations to get involved if they want to make a difference in the 2010 Games. “The corporate community in Canada gets it,” Read reportedly told the newspaper. “There's a lot of key players that understand what sports organizations need and that's the financial investment and the long-term investment.” One of the major sponsors of Alpine Canada is the Canadian bank, CIBC, which is one of the two Alpine Canada sponsors contributing C$1 million annually to the organization. The bank took out full-page ads in the newspaper, each would be worth about C$50,000 at full retail rate, to congratulate skier Thomas Grandi on his successes during the past week; Grandi wears a CIBC logo on his helmet. CIBC, it's understood, is in competition with Canada's Royal Bank, and possibly others, to land the coveted Vancouver 2010 financial institution sponsorship.
The Korean Olympic Committee has unanimously selected Pyeongchang as Korea’s candidate city for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, after considerable Korean internal political conflict. The Korean province of Muju was also after the nomination, but a report on facilities by the International Skiing Federation felt Muju's facilities weren't acceptable, which angered Muju political supporters. The KOC will ask its general assembly on December 29 to endorse the choice so the city, which narrowly lost to Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Games, can be registered with the International Olympic Committee in the summer for the first step in the bidding process. The decision of the IOC as to which of several cities wins the 2014 bid won't be made until 2007.
The Torino 2006 Winter Olympic organization has named its new Piazza Solferino ice-skating track the ''GE Ice Plaza'' in honor of one of the International Olympic Committee's major sponsors, General Electric. GE, which owns NBC, which in turn owns the U.S. broadcasting rights to the Italian and Vancouver Winter Games, is also a major international sponsor of the Vancouver 2010 Games. The American-based company provided a number of electrical generation and distribution systems for the 2006 Torino Games. These include 128 temporary lights to help film the Games and 130 permanent lighting operations, including the one inside the Torino Esposizioni complex where the Olympic ice-hockey tournaments are planned to be held. GE is also sponsoring ''Torino Ice 2005,'' the name for the events that will test Torino's Olympic venues for ice-sports starting next month, and it's also supporting an ice rink between two pavilions at the Italian Atrium complex. The Torino Games open in 413 days.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on December 23, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |IOC| #754
"ONE SCHOOL, ONE COUNTRY" PROGRAM FOR TORINO, POSSIBLY VANCOUVER WINTER GAMES

The International Olympic Committee says it will continue "The One School, One Country" project, begun in Nagano in 1998, for the Torino, Italy, 2006 Olympic Winter Games but it's not yet decided it will happen during Vancouver 2010.

“This program,” explains Roberto Daneo, the Director of Relations with the Authorities for the Torino Olympic Organizing Committee, “has the objective of educating young people in the culture of hospitality, of friendship and of exchanges among cultures.”

The program is expected to be in place for the 2010 Winter Games, however, spokesman Sam Corea says, "At this point, the status of the One School One Country project has not been determined for 2010. There will be ongoing discussions with VANOC, the Canadian Olympic Committee and 2010 LegaciesNow regarding the implementation of youth and education initiatives related to VANOC, as things continue to evolve."

The project’s primary goal, according to the IOC, "is to increase understanding and collaboration among peoples, and contribute to the strengthening of peace and friendship by establishing permanent relationships of co-operation and exchange in all the social, cultural, sports and tourism sectors that make up the city of Torino."

What that means in practice is this: The OSOC Project involves setting up a twinning program between the schools of the Torino area and the countries that will be taking part in the 2006 Olympic Winter Games. The project will try to aid what the IOC calls the "less-privliged" Olympic Committees in developing countries.

For instance, the first twinning program in Italy's case began with an agreement between the Torino high school Liceo Scientifico 'Copernico' and the Finnish Voyrinkaupungin Koulu institute in Vaasa. The themes of the Italian-Finnish relationship, set up in a videoconference between the offices of the TOROC and the school in Vaasa, include culture, tourism, the environment and winter sports. Other issues can be developed within the individual relationships established, depending on the interests of the schools involved. Thirty countries are ready to go involving the 91 schools in the Torino's alpine area of Piedmont enrolled, with at least 48 twin arrangements in process.

The project's organizers hope to eventually set up contacts in 85 countries.

BACKGROUND

Even though the One School program hasn't yet been flagged for official VANOC attention as yet, Vancouver 2010 has held preliminary discussions with the IOC about youth and education projects likely to be connected to the 2010 Games, particularly what VANOC calls the 2010 Olympic Youth Camp.

VANOC says that "intercultural understanding and friendly competition in a sustainable global community are the underlying themes of the proposed Camp. It will run for 18 days during the Games, from February 4 to the 21st in 2010. VANOC expects to invite 440 youth delegates -- that number is derived from two arriving from each country with a national Olympic committee, plus two from each Canadian province, as well as delegates from each region of British Columbia. Bursaries will be available "to encourage full participation of the IOC family." Activities, yet to be fully established, are planned to take place in urban, rural and First Nations locations, including Vancouver, Squamish and Whistler. Accommodations will be a combination of new and existing facilities including "gender-separate student lodgings,
dormitories and home stays."

The estimated cost per person is budgeted at C$124 per day with VANOC paying half. The per diem is for the Youth Campers' "accommodations, meals, daily programming, local transportation, tickets to sporting events and cultural programs." This aspect will cost VANOC about C$28,000.

About a year before the Youth Camp -- in February of 2009 -- VANOC says it intends to "engage delegates in a web-based preparatory program about Olympism and Canada." This program, it says, "will establish relationships between and among delegates and their Canadian hosts. They will meet online, exchange stories, participate in projects and share final planning for the camp."

VANOC says the camp is expected to include workshops and seminars on Olympic themes. The delegates are also to be invited to attend the Opening Ceremonies and all of the Games events, as well as to "explore British Columbia, experience First Nations traditions and cuisine, and participate in outdoor winter recreation activities. Camp delegates will be encouraged to share their daily experiences with their home communities through a Digital Diary Internet program."

RESOURCES

Salt Lake City's One School One Country portal page:
http://www.uen.org/utahlink/activities/view_activity.cgi?activity_id=7484

How the One School One Country program began:
http://www.city.nagano.nagano.jp/ikka/e-gakkou/country/chp1-1.htm

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on December 23, 2004

Wednesday, December 22, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |IOC| #753
WORLD ANTI-DOPING AGENCY NOW HAS 94% OF DUES IN HAND FOR 2004

The World Anti-Doping Agency says it has now collected about 94% of its US$10 million in dues from governments and the International Olympic Committee for 2004. This figure, it says, is the highest percentage of payments collected by the Agency in a calendar year since WADA was founded.

WADA’s budget is financed equally by national governments and the IOC, which matches the financial contributions made to the Agency by governments. WADA will have a number of lab and medical facilities constructed specially for the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver as part of the services that the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee provides to the Games, so the state of its financial health is important to VANOC.

The United States finally paid its dues of US$1.44 million this month, noting it's the second-highest amount paid to WADA by a government this year. The U.S. had reached an agreement with the Canadian Government whereby the two countries would pay 75% of the dues owed to WADA by the American continent, although by per-capita, Canada pays significantly more than the U.S. The American funds were originally due last June.

WADA amended its statutes this year to require that all governments pay their dues or be excluded from participation at meetings of the WADA Foundation Board or Executive Committee, as well as risk sanction from the sporting movement by being barred from hosting international events. As well, nations which did not make their WADA payments would not be able to host the Olympics, which made the settlement of money issues between US leaders and WADA crucial for New York’s 2012 Olympic bid.

The Americas are responsible for US$2.9 million of WADA’s budget. The US government pays half that, US$2.9 million, with Canada contributing 25%, or US$725,000. In addition to the monies collected for dues in 2004, WADA has also collected US$3.7 million for funds due in 2002 and 2003.

“We are pleased with the effort governments have made in 2004 to fulfill their financial obligations to WADA,” said Richard W. Pound, WADA’s president and a Board director of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Organizing Committee. “It seems the mechanisms are now in place for governments to pay in a timely manner, which will ensure that WADA has the resources it needs to carry out its responsibilities.”

Some countries are starting to even pay in advance. The Agency has also received US$460,000 in dues owed for 2005. The Oceania region, for instance, has fulfilled its entire financial commitment to WADA for next year.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on December 22, 2004

Tuesday, December 21, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Government| #752
RICHMOND CITY COUNCIL APPROVES REZONING FOR 2010 SPEED-SKATING OVAL SITE

City approves rezoning for Oval site

Richmond City Council has approved the rezoning of the property which will become home to the Richmond Olympic Oval, where the long-track speed-skating competition for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games will take place.

The Oval will be built on part of a 29-acre site owned by the City along Richmond’s River Road, between Hollybridge Way and No. 2 Road. The property, along with an additional 6.77 acres of dyke area, has been rezoned to a Comprehensive Development District, which allows for a wide range of uses.

A detailed master plan for the site will be developed this spring, following a public consultation process.

In addition to being used for Olympic competition, the complex in which the Oval resides is to become a multi-purpose sports, recreation and community facility. The project also includes a major new City Centre park and plaza surrounding the Oval on the prominent waterfront site, which is located along the banks of the Fraser River. The remainder of the site will be developed by the City to help fund the costs of the Oval project.

Council also amended Richmond’s Official Community Plan and City Centre Plan to designate the area as Olympic Riverfront, which will permit sport and recreation uses with some park area in some combination with a variety of uses.

RESOURCES

The Olympic Riverfront designation allows the following uses in connection with the sports complex:
Commercial, business, industry, institutional, residential, tourist, entertainment, exhibition, education, health and wellness, culture, arts community.

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

Morgan:News:2010 |Government| #751
KAMLOOPS EYES 2010 SKI JUMP, OVAL FOR 2011 INTERUNIVERSITY WINTER GAMES BID

City of Kamloops staff have just held a conference call with Canada Interuniversity Sport in Ottawa to learn about what Kamloops needs to do to make a bid to host the 2011 World Winter University Games. And it's thinking that one of the first major legacy uses of a Vancouver 2010 Olympic venue would include the WWU Games.

The WWU Games are held every other year, and involve about 1,500 athletic university students between the ages of 17 and 28, from more than 50 countries.

Kamloops has set up its own program office to entice these kinds of events to the British Columbian south-central city. Tournament Capital of Canada program co-ordinator Sean Smith hopes to submit a bid for the WWU Winter Games by March; the winning bid is expected to be announced by October.

It's not the city's first attempt; it bid on the 2007 Games, which were awarded to Torino, Italy, host of the Winter Olympics in 2006.

Smith says he hopes to work with the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics Committee on the bid, since VANOC's ski-jump venue and possibly the Richmond speed-skating oval could be used in connection with it, but he says he's not far enough along in the bid process yet to make the required phone calls. All the other sports involved in the WWU Games would be held in or around Kamloops. Kamloops' bid has also received support from the University of B.C. The 2005 University Winter Sports Games will be held in Innsbruck, Austria.

RESOURCES

Sean Smith
Program Co-ordinator
Tournament Capital of Canada
City of Kamloops
7 Victoria Street West
Kamloops BC V2C 1A2

Phone: (250) 828.3311
Fax: (250) 828.3578
E-mail: tccprogram@kamloops.ca
(Include "TCC Info" in the subject line or your e-mail may be deleted by the department's spam filter)

http://www.city.kamloops.bc.ca/tournamentcapital/

—

Canadian Interuniversity Sport executive list and contact info
http://www.universitysport.ca/e/contact/index.cfm

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

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #750
VANOC TO USE BID LOGO FOR NOW; VANCOUVER 2010, NOT WHISTLER TO TAKE HOLIDAY BREAK; NO MASTER MARKETING DEAL YET

Here are three moguls we ran into today...

From the What's Good for the Goose Department: According to the agreements between the International Olympic Committee and the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Organizing Committee, the 2010 Bid logo, which VANOC inherited from the 2010 Bid Corporation as its own logo until a new one could be determined by VANOC's controversial contest, is due to officially expire on January 1. So, we were idly wondering, what with all the hoo-hah and legal paperwork flying out of VANOC over protection of its brands and those of the Canadian Olympic Committee and the IOC, what arrangements for logo use have been made for the interim between Dec 31, when the IOC contract to use the Bid logo expires for VANOC and all of its Bid sponsors, and April, when its expected that the new logo will be made public? VANOC spokesman Sam Corea says, "VANOC will continue to use the current logo until the new emblem is launched. VANOC is not producing any new materials with the current logo and we have encouraged our partners not to launch any new uses of the current logo."
VANOC's headquarters in Vancouver will be closed for from Friday to January 3 inclusive, re-opening on January 4. The Vancouver 2010 Information Centre in Whistler will be open every day throughout next two weeks, with the exception of Christmas Day, Boxing Day and January 1.
The official word from VANOC: As of late yesterday, the International Olympic Committee was "still reviewing" the master marketing agreement between it and VANOC; the agreement is due to take effect on January 1 and authorizes VANOC do begin dealing with sponsors officially, among many other marketing initiatives between the date it takes effect and probably December 31, 2013, the end of the last full year before the following Winter Olympics.

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

Monday, December 20, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #749
ITALIAN WINTER OLYMPICS TO HAVE TICKET LOTTERY FOR POPULAR EVENTS; SPEED-SKATER GROVES LOOKS TO 2010; IS BC'S WINTER RECREATION GROWTH SUSTAINABLE?

Here are some moguls we bumped into today...

The first phase of ticketing for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, ended yesterday with some sports sessions oversubscribed. This will mean that when phase two of ticketing begins in February, some sessions will be listed as sold out. All sessions of figure skating, speed skating, the men’s ice hockey final and some sessions of ski jumping were more popular than expected. The seats for these events will be awarded using a random-selection process. Torino is recommending that when people buy tickets for potentially popular sports events, that they indicate an alternative as well. The Torino Winter Games involve seven different sports and 15 different disciplines, which will be played out in eight different competition venues. About 2,500 athletes, 650 judges and umpires, and 1.5 million spectators are expected to participate.
Canada's Kristina Groves of Ottawa, who now holds the third-fastest time for the World Cup in long-track speed-skating's three-kilometre race last month (4:06.77), says that Vancouver's award to host the 2010 Winter Games changed her mind about how much longer she'd be skating in high-performance competitions. Groves will be 33 in 2010, and she told Rob Brodie, a reporter for the Ottawa Sun newspaper, that, "I used to think 2006 would be it, but now my thought is that I would be finishing too soon. I've really just started to figure this thing out. If I'm still having fun, getting better and still enjoying what I'm doing, I'll stay around. It's more about trying to hit the end line, and I haven't come close to it yet. For sure, 2010 will be the absolute limit, but I'm going to take it one day at a time until then." On the other hand, she's still thinking she's got a whole batch of work to do before she can count on competing in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, and she says even that is "on the back-burner right now." She told him that, "Vancouver is (a little more than) five years away. It's the last thing on my mind right now. If long term was all you thought about, you'd forget about what you need to do to get there."
The influential travel section of the New York Times newspaper published a detailed feature Friday fretting about whether British Columbia's substantial growth in winter recreation, which it notes is partly attributable to the 2010 Winter Olympics, is sustainable. It it says that Land and Water British Columbia expects to sign four more agreements for winter resorts over the next 12 to 15 months, according to Bill Irwin, director of the all-seasons resort program for the agency, and it reports him saying that, like the recent approvals of the Jumbo and Revelstoke projects, "each one of those projects will be in the hundreds of millions of dollars." It also quotes Irwin as saying that another C$860 million in development is expected over the next five years at existing ski resorts, which the newspaper says is in addition to 2010 Winter Olympics developments.

RESOURCES ==

The full New York Times article is here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/19/travel/19bc.html?ex=1104037200&en=5cdf275c511f04ed&ei=5006&partner=ALTAVISTA1

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

Friday, December 17, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Paralympic| #748
IPC GETS GOOD BUMP UP IN TV AUDIENCE DURING ATHENS OLYMPICS

A study for the International Paralympic Committee of 17 countries, including Canada, shows there was cumulative TV audience of more than 1.8 billion people for the Athens 2004 Summer Paralympic Games. This involves the number of people watching each day, and then adding them up for the nine days of their Games.

Japan showed the largest such audience, 587 million, followed by France at 335 million, Germany with 310 million and China reporting 309 million, according to the study, which was discussed at the IPC's headquarters in Bonn, Germany.

The largest market shares for that type of audience, however, were reached in New Zealand (26.4%), Switzerland (21.6%) and Austria (21.1%). Of the 19 countries, Brazil broadcast the most hours, 168, with Spain in second place at 125 hours. Programmes covering athletics and swimming drew the largest audiences.

IPC Media and Communication Director Miriam Wilkens suggests that, “An audience of 1.8 billion in 17 countries is more than we had in total for the Sydney 2000 Paralympics. One has to keep in mind that the final study will include 38 countries, so we are confident that we will be able to see a clear augmentation of the cumulated TV audience. This development confirms that there has been a good growth in interest for the Paralympic Games.” The rule of thumb is that a Winter Games is about a third the size of a Summer Games.

Although the live broadcast of the Paralympic Opening Ceremony coincided with the middle of the night in some parts of the world, about 10 million Chinese and eight million Japanese enjoyed the event. Daily highlights programmes also attracted millions of viewers. German broadcaster ARD/ZDF reported that the highlights aired on Sunday, September 19, were watched by nearly 1.5 million. In Great Britain, the BBC attracted about two million viewers for its first Sunday Paralympic program, whereas 634,000 persons watch the summary broadcast in Spain on LA 2 and 784,000 in Poland on TVP2. Italian television reported an average of 600,000 viewers for their daily broadcasts of Paralympic highlights.

A total of 3,100 media representatives including more than 50 broadcasters covered the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games from September 17-28.

BACKGROUND ==

The countries involved in the first report were: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Canada, China, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Pan Europe, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland and Great Britain.

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

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #747
VANOC SEARCHES FOR SVP OF TECHNOLOGY; "AND THE OSCAR GOES TO... MARCH?"; LOOKING FOR VAVENBY

Here are a few moguls we bumped into today...

The Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee has begun its search for another of the inner management echelon, the senior vice-president of Technology & Systems. The position, which will pay between C$250,000 and C$300,000 per year, involves developing and managing all of the Internet, technology operations, broadcast services and meshing them with a number of major technology sponsors for the Olympics, and the administration of a C$400-million budget. VANOC is looking for people who have experience as the chief information officer or chief technology officer in a large, complex organization, or as a senior operations executive in a large telecommunication company; it's not essential but being French/English bilingual will help quite a bit. As we've seen in interviews with other VANOC senior vice-presidents, CEO John Furlong wants to ensure the people he hires really are team-players and strategic thinkers, with strong leadership skills. VANOC is back to using the Vancouver-based executive search firm of Ray & Berndtson/Tanton Mitchell for the headhunting.
You may not have really noticed it, but Hollywood's 76th Academy Awards moved from late March back to February 29, and the 77th instalment is set to take place this coming February 27. It's broadcast on the ABC American TV network. So what does this have to do with the 2010 Winter Games? Well, we'll get there in a moment. First, you should know that the 78th Oscar ceremonies would normally fall on February 26, 2006, but that's the same day as ABC's network rival NBC does the US broadcast of the Winter Olympics's closing ceremony in Torino, Italy. There will be a huge global television audience watching those ceremonies, and that would threaten the market share of the Academy Awards (or, more particularly, the size of the audience of its advertisers and sponsors), so the Academy has decided to hold the ceremonies on March 5, 2006. The Awards ceremony will return to its February slot in 2007 and probably stay there for 2008 and 2009. But (and we're finally here), expect it to move to late March again in 2010, to avoid competing with the 2010 Winter Olympics closing ceremonies on February 28.
From the Give Your Head A Shake Department here at Morgan:News:2010: Ian Tait, the director of Community Legacy Initiatives for 2010 LegaciesNow, was in the little town of Clearwater, in east-central BC, last week. It's part of his round-the-province tour of all the communities that might benefit from the millions of dollars being offered by the provincial government in connection with the build-up to the 2010 Winter Games. And he was must have been suitably impressed when Mike Wiegele said his heli-ski company is interested in developing a world-class summer alpine and cross-country ski training facility on the glaciers near Blue River. The project could cost C$2 million to C$3 million. But that particular he must have wondered if anybody anybody else who comes to the meetings was actually paying attention to what he was saying about grants for arts, culture or literacy projects and the Olympic Live Sites program, or even getting the concept. One of those who showed up to hear Tait's presentation stood up when he asked if there were any questions or suggestions for projects. Yes, the person said. They wanted to erect a forest fire monument at Louis Creek, a nearby village that suffered from a bad forest fire. She wanted to find out if there would be help available to set up the project. Another asked for special influence with provincial mapmakers, suggesting a project that combines culture, the arts and literacy all in one easily affordable package: "I'd like to see Vavenby back on the map."

RESOURCES
-------------------

The people taking resumes are Barbara Quelch, Lisa Kershaw or Patrick Reynolds at Ray & Berndtson/Tanton Mitchell, with Quelch taking the lead:
E-mail: barbara.quelch@rayberndtson.ca
The main number: 604.685.0261.
Where to find Vavenby:
http://maporama.com/image.asp?XgoPageName=XMLOUT&XgoUserID=ADF2530B8EF84440&XgoNbReq=3&XgoAnswer=Gif&sizex=370&sizey=263&CODE=COLIN

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

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #746
PROJECT MANAGER SELECTED FOR RICHMOND OLYMPIC OVAL

Richmond City Council has selected MHPM Project Managers Inc. of Vancouver to provide project management services for the design and construction of the Richmond Olympic Oval and City Centre Waterfront Park.

The long-track speed-skating oval is one of the major new venues of the 2010 Winter Games.Following the Games, the Oval will become one of the largest multi-purpose sports, recreation and community facilities in Canada.

MHPM, which will work with City staff, will be responsible for the development of the overall project schedule and its management, as well as cost control and tracking, advice on the construction approach given market conditions, and preparing, issuing and managing a range of road-, utility- and building-construction contracts.

The project, besides the oval, also includes a major new City Centre park and plaza surrounding the Oval on a prominent waterfront site along the banks of the Fraser River.

Founded in 1989, MHPM Project Managers Inc. has offices across Canada, including Vancouver. Richmond staff say that MHPM has extensive experience in providing a single point of responsibility for development, design and construction of facilities, and has worked on a variety of commercial, industrial and government projects.

MHPM was selected from four short-listed firms which were invited to submit proposals following the City’s call for Expressions of Interest. MHPM’s selection was recommended to Council by a panel made up of staff from the City and VANOC, the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

RESOURCES
-------------------

Vancouver Regional Office
Richard H. Harris, P.Eng., LEED AP, PMP
Vice President
E-mail: RHarris@Vancouver.MHPM.com
Phone: 604.714.0988, ext. 222
Fax: 604.714.0989
http://www.MHPM.com

Suite 310, 2609 Granville Street
Vancouver, BC, Canada
V6H 3H3

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

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #745
COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER RAKES 2010 ORGANIZERS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF BRAND-PROTECTION POLICY

Whistler's community newspaper, the Whistler Question, today published a stinging editorial complaining about the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee's zealousness in pursuing its brand-protection program, a day after VANOC CEO John Furlong was in Squamish.

The newspaper, which is well-read within Whistler, the venue for roughly half the 2010 Winter Games and all of the Paralympic Games to follow, recites VANOC's efforts to block Squamish chamber-of-commerce efforts to promote the Games with street banners, and notes the decision of an Okanagan winery and a coffee-bean supplier to relabel more than 4,500 of their products, named "Olympic Dream", that were designed to raise funds for a British Columbia athlete, Summerland's freestyle skier Kristi Richards, who is aiming to go to the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, and, ultimately, to Whistler for the 2010 Games.

The paper has a circulation of about 2,500 in Whistler and the editorial was also picked up by the Squamish Chief newspaper, which has a circulation of about 7,500.

As the signed editorial, written by Tim Shoults, puts it:

"Sorry. Silly us. We thought one of the primary goals of the 2010 Games was to promote B.C. athletes and help them succeed at the Olympics. That’s what the 2010 LegaciesNow program is about, surely. But once again, VANOC has proven itself so intent on protecting the brand that the concept of getting Canadian athletes onto the podium seems to have taken a back seat.

"It’s hard to believe VANOC has earned itself yet another public relations black eye, years before the Games even get off the ground. Was there really no other way to make this work other than saying “no”? Couldn’t “Olympic Dream” coffee have been given some sort of retroactive permission? (Couldn’t our highway banners have been tolerated, for that matter)? At the very least, we hope that VANOC makes an attempt to do right by these well-meaning people and comes up with the cost of changing the labels. Call it an Olympic legacy.

"We sincerely hope these are just growing pains for VANOC and not precursors of the Games to come. We also hope it’s the last we hear about an attempt to help promote the Games and Canadian athletes getting sidetracked by copyright issues."

The editorial concludes: "Let these Olympic copyright games end — please."

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

Thursday, December 16, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #744
LAWYERS RESET BRAND-PROTECTION COURT DATE; CSPS GIVES LIFE-MEMBER AWARD TO 2010 STAFFER; COFC PRESIDENT THINKS 2010 TO BE GOOD FOR PENTICTON

Some more moguls we bumped into today...

The B.C. Supreme Court case in which the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Organizing Committee is trying to shut down the website "Whistler-Olympic.com", currently being used by a German-based cell-phone content provider to sell ring-tones and sexually oriented phone movies, was today adjourned until next Tuesday without resolution. And even the Tuesday session itself is due to talk about available court dates, likely in the new year. Until last November 16, the day the lawsuit began, the domain name was used for the Whistler Olympic Real Estate website, which advertised investments in Whistler real estate, but it was apparently transferred to a German relative of a lawyer, Nikolaus Homberg, for the organization Algino Holdings in Brackendale, a village near Squamish on the road between Vancouver and Whistler. Nikolaus and Ingrid Homberg are listed as directors and officers of Algino Holdings.
A Canadian working as the Canadian Ski Patrol System representative for the health & safety group of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics Committee has been given a Life Member Award from CSPS. Dr. Michael Swangard, a retired doctor, is the 50th person to receive such an honour. He was also the third to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the province. The group with which he's working formulates plans that they hope will never be used -- they deal with emergency rescue work for athletes, officials, staff and volunteers during the 2010 Games and the events that lead up to them. Swangard joined the CSPS in 1974, has been a CSPS First Aid instructor and examiner since 1979, and he has been Canada's medical delegate to IKAR, the international commission of alpine skiing, since 1985. Swangard is still a member of the CSPS national medical advisory board and the developer, editor and publisher of the Pacific South Division News. He began working with VANOC earlier this year.
Joe Morelli, the outgoing president for the past year of the Penticton and Wine Country Chamber of Commerce, in the south-central interior of British Columbia, says he's in favour of the 2010 Winter Games. Morelli says, "I think the 2010 Winter Olympics are helping the whole province. It spurred the new [Penticton] event centre as an Olympic legacy building because there are dollars out there to be had for that building. The Olympics are going to help us keep going. It will put exposure on this province for the next five to eight years, pre-and-post Olympics."

RESOURCES
---------

CSPS's website showing the organization's structure:
http://skipatrolbc.com/about.asp

IKAR's website:
http://www.ikar-cisa.org

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

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #743
WADA CHAIR POUND RE-ELECTED; SALT LAKE PAPER URGES WOMEN'S SKI-JUMPING, NORDIC; WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES URGED TO BE INCLUDED IN SPORTS

Here are some moguls we bumped into today:

Richard "Dick" Pound, chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency and a director of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Organizing Committee, has been re-elected to a three-year term as head of the Agency. Pound says WADA, set up by the International Olympic Committee and headquartered in Montreal, caught 24 athletes accused of cheating this year, many of them at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.
The Salt Lake City Tribune newspaper has added its voice in support of adding women's ski-jumping and Nordic combined, which involves both ski-jumping and cross-country skiing, to the roster of competitions at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games. Salt Lake was the location of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. The newspaper, in an editorial today, is urging the United States Ski and Snowboard Association to fully support it as well, so that the International Ski Federation will strengthen its lobby of the International Olympic Committee to add the female versions of the sports when it and VANOC decide in about 2006 on the issue.
An international conference of 70 national delegations, 50 sports ministers and 200 high-ranking officials involved with Olympic and Paralympic sports has recommended that countries ensure that women athletes, particularly those with disabilties, be included in the development of high-performance athletes. The group met in Athens. Among those attending the conference were International Paralympic Committee president Phil Craven, IOC President Jacques Rogge, WADA president Dick Pound and UNESCO Director-General Koichiro Matsuura.

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

Morgan:News:2010 |Business| #742
NEW HAMSHIRE TRADE DELEGATION CITES 2010 GAMES AS REASON TO COME TO WESTERN CANADA

The American state of New Hampshire, on the country's eastern seaboard, is about to lead a a business and trade delegation to Vancouver, in part because of the 2010 Olympics, and Montreal.

The trade mission is scheduled for Feb. 13-19, which means it will arrive the day after many communities around B.C. will have celebrated the five-year-mark to the 2010 Opening Ceremonies.

Canada is New Hampshire’s largest international trading partner, with more than US$506 million worth of goods sold to Canada last year, accounting for 26% of the state’s exports. This is the first time the state is to lead a trade mission to western Canada, centred on Vancouver, with some excursions to Calgary.

"With the economic expansion taking place in the Vancouver and Calgary areas, now is a great time to expand New Hampshire’s reach to that part of Canada," said Dawn Wivell, director of the New Hampshire International Trade Resource Center. "Calgary is the fastest growing city in Canada with double-digit growth, and Vancouver, with the 2010 Winter Olympics, is already working vigorously to update and expand its infrastructure with about C$4 billion worth of projects."

Commissioner Sean O’Kane, of New Hampshire's Department of Resources and Economic Development, adds that "There are so many commonalties and synergys between New Hampshire and Canada, that this mission is ideal also for tourism businesses, cultural institutions and service providers."

Participating companies will receive customized one-on-one meetings based on their business’ specific objectives, airfare, business-class lodging and evening receptions sponsored by the U.S. Consulates in Montreal and Vancouver.

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

Morgan:News:2010 |Government| #741
COPPS CLAIMS FEDERAL SPONSORSHIP PROGRAM USED TO HELP VANCOUVER WIN 2010 WINTER GAMES

2010NewsWatch

A Vancouver community newspaper says former deputy prime minister Sheila Copps told its veteran reporter Charlie SMith that, in her opinion, the controversial federal sponsorship program played a key role in Vancouver winning the 2010 Winter Games.

In an interview with the Georgia Straight newspaper while promoting a book, Copps said that while she was the federal Heritage minister, she asked the sponsorship program, which is now the subject of Canadian judicial and parliamentary investigations over the way some of its money was handled, for funding receptions that were likely to be attended by International Olympic Committee delegates.

Smith reports that Copps, the former federal government minister responsible for the Olympic bid by Vancouver, explained that IOC rules place restrictions on visits to other countries to promote an Olympic bid. "So," Smith writes, "federal officials devised ways of approaching IOC members while they were in Canada attending sporting events," to effectively bypass the restriction.

Smith says Copps told him, "Actually, the sponsorship program helped us get the Olympics. Did anybody defend it? NO. They just said money has gone into Montreal. I know that when they had some of the world championships that came here, we would encourage sponsorship [officials] to host a reception so that we could hit up the IOC members while they were here.

Smith reports that Jean-Mathieu Dion, a spokesman for Heritage Canada, told him that the ministry had nothing to do with the sponsorship program, which was run by Public Workers and Government Services Canada. Smith notes, however, that the program was created to highlight the federal governments role in culture and sports, and that "its expenditures included C$250,000 on the World Weightlifting Championships in Vancouver in 2003; C$200,000 to the Molson Indy Vancouver in 2002; and C$17i5,000 to the Vancouver Canucks for the 2002-2003 season."

Smith says Copps explained to him that, "the federal government devised a strategy to woo IOC delegates from French-speaking countries. To accomplish this, Copps said she appointed a former Canadian ambassador to France, Jaques Roy, as a special ambassador for the Olympic bid, along with Raymond Chan, the now minister of state for Multiculturalism. On July 2, 2003, IOC delegates awarded the Winter Games to Vancouver by a three-vote margin. "Jacques Roy basically won us the Games, and nobody even knows his name," Smith reports Copps as saying.

Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee spokesman Sam Corea told the Straight that he was not aware that federal sponsorship program money was used to boost the Vancouver bid.

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

Morgan:News:2010 |Government| #740
BUSINESS BUREAUCRAT TAPPED TO RUN B.C.'S 2010 COMMERCE CENTRE

Brian Krieger has been appointed the general manager of the 2010 Commerce Centre. Launched in October by the B.C. government, the Centre's aim is to be a "one-stop information source connecting the business community with 2010 Winter Games-related information". Currently a virtual operation belonging to the BC Olympic Games Secretariat, the Commerce Centre is expected to develop in a way that will include at least one physical office location by late 2006.

Before his appointment, Krieger was the Director of Linx BC, the provincial government's so-called "Contact Center Attraction Team", a government job-creation project aimed at increasing the number of call centres in British Columbia. In 2001, Linx BC was named the Best Overall Economic Development Program by Business Facilities Magazine of New York, and in 2003 it was named Program of the Year by the International Economic Development Council in Washington. Kreiger has also won an award as British Columbia's Economic Developer of the Year for 2003. He was also general manager of Trade Team BC, a group of federal, provincial and Vancouver-area agencies that help Canadian businesses establish new markets outside Canada.

Kreiger, before being hired by the provincial government is listed as the principal in several business ventures ranging from automotive services to advanced electronics. He has a degree in Business Strategy and Marketing from the VAncouver-area Simon Fraser University.

Kreiger expects the 2010 Commerce Centre to add what he calls "a procurement engine" within the next two months, to allow businesses to sign up for e-mail notifications of the types of business opportunities that interest them. As he puts it, "From an economic development perspective, this should allow you to keep an eye on procurement opportunities that might suit the companies in your region. With that knowledge, you may be able to help those companies develop a stronger response using some of the tools you have access to that they might not be aware of."

RESOURCES:
----------

Brian Kreiger contact info:
Phone: 604.844.1806
E-mail: brian.krieger@gems4.gov.bc.ca

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

Morgan:News:2010 |General| #739
SEATTLE NEWSPAPER TOUTS EXPANSION OF SKIING, SNOWBOARDING IN BC AS LEAD-UP TO 2010 GAMES

2010NewsWatch

A feature article published today in the major daily newspaper of Seattle, a large American city just south of Vancouver, is touting the development and expansion of British Columbia's winter recreational resources, particularly those that focus on 2010-related issues.

The article, headlined "B.C. ski resorts are pulling out the stops", was mostly written by Steven Threndyle, a freelance writer who lives in Kelowna, in British Columbia's south-central Okanagan area. It was originally written for Tourism B.C. and distributed by that organization, while a local Seattle reporter, Greg Johnston, contributed.

According to the article:

"One of the biggest progressions in skiing and snowboarding [in B.C.] has been the development of halfpipes, superpipes and terrain parks. When the snow isn't dumping, this is where you'll find the future Olympians of 2010, training for halfpipe, boardercross and slopestyle competitions.

"Big White is leading the way with its Telus Park, which features a snowboarder/new-school skier playground that already is being touted as a pre-Olympic competition and training site.

"Serviced by its own double chairlift and lighted for night sessions, the terrain park features an Olympic-size 500-foot-long superpipe with 17-foot transitional walls that meets World Cup and X Games standards. There's also a standard-size halfpipe with 12-foot transitional walls, 400 feet in length, and a boarder/skier-cross course that can be tuned up to run regional, national and even World Cup events; yet that also can be tuned down for us mere mortals as well.

"The expanded rail park will feature segregated beginner/intermediate and intermediate/advanced lanes, so riders can learn at their own pace. Telus Park also benefits from snowmaking that augments Big White's copious 24-foot annual snowfall.

"As host to many events in the 2010 Winter Olympics, it's hardly surprising that Whistler/Blackcomb has the most highly regarded terrain park and halfpipe facility in the world. As host to the 2005 FIS Snowboard World Championships, a new superpipe will be built in the Base 2 area of Blackcomb, and it will be lighted from Thursday through Saturday for night-riding sessions."

RESOURCES
---------

Here's a link to the full article:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/getaways/203863_bcski16.html

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

Morgan:News:2010 |Business| #738
PRINCE GEORGE TO HOST MAJOR 2010-RELATED BUSINESS CONFERENCE TO SALUTE 5-YEAR MARK TO GAMES

The city of Prince George, in north-central B.C., will hold what it calls "The 2005 Winter Opportunies Summit", a combined set of four major business and government conferences from February 9 to 12, to "celebrate business, sport and culture in Prince George on the eve of the five-year countdown to 2010 Olympic Games Opening Ceremonies."

Prince George has consistently been among the most active and organized communities supporting the 2010 Winter Olympics. The conference is being sponsored by Initiatives Prince George, Pacific Sport Regional Centre and Prince George's Spirit of B.C. committee.

The Winter Summit event is expected to draw what organizers hope will be "hundreds of business, government, community, tourism and sports leaders to explore the unlimited opportunities for Prince George and northern B.C. as we create legacies and sustainability from the 2010 Winter Games."

A number of local, national and international speakers will take part, leading discussions about winter celebrations and festivals, creating commerce based on 2010 opportunities, sport tourism and the idea that athletes need a "playground to podium" model of development.

Key events include:

Commerce and Procurement, February 11: This conference is expected to offer northern B.C. businesses information about the 2010 Commerce Centre, which is an provincial government-sponsored web site launched in October to help funnel information about the Winter Games to businessess. The 2010 CC is expected to eventually procurement opportunities, procedures and evaluation, on vendor qualification criteria and on sponsorship, merchandising and use of 2010-protected logos, word-marks and slogans. The conference will also discuss BC Bid, the provincial government's public-sector procurement website, on which VANOC occasionally offers requests for proposals or invitations to quote, and "overall business opportunities created by the execution of the world's largest winter sports event," the 2010 Winter Games. As well, a long-time VANOC marketing-department staffer, Linda Harmon, will speak about how the value of the Olympic brand affects procurement by VANOC and the opportunities available in general to businesses in British Columbia for licensing and sponsorship.
Sport Hosting and Legacies, February 11: This conference is to explore and generate opportunities to see where opportunities lie for hosting sports and legacy-sports development emerging from the decision of B.C. to host the 2010 Games. Organizers have set up the conference themes to focus on how northern B.C. communities can prepare so they will be better able to take advantage of the economic and social momentum, which the organizers expect will be huge, that is likely to be created in the years leading up to the 2010 Winter Games, and begin planning on how this momentum can be extended beyond 2010. An afternoon panel discussion is expected to include Marion Lay, president of 2010 LegaciesNow, the organization set up by the provincial government to work with VANOC and the Spirit of B.C. communities throughout the province to fund sports, arts and cultural events. She is expected to outline the opportunities available though her organization, with a focus on how northern B.C. can directly benefit from the Games. A late afternoon session is to include Dale McMann, chair of the Prince George Olympic Action Committee, to outline how Prince George is doing in the process to recruit foreign teams to train and compete in Prince George.
SportMap Primer-Athlete Development, February 12, will deal with the development of sports in general.
Winter Cities Association Bi-Annual Conference and AGM, February 9 and 10, which is focused on issues for municipal governments that deal with wintry issues.

There will also be an opening reception for delegates on Februrary 10, including welcoming speeches, a luncheon speech the next day by John Furlong -- who is a former resident of Prince George and now the Chief Executive Officers of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Organizing Committee -- an evening reception and addresses by Olympic summer athlete Graeme Hicks from Albury-Wadonga, Australia, who will speak about how his community took advantage of opportunites provided by the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000. Hicks set up the infrastructure for the Albury-Wodonga Festival of Sport and coordinated it for more ten years, initially voluntarily, and then on a professional basis. He also developed Olympic business opportunities, pre-Olympic and Paralympic Training impunities, and cultural reunions around those aspects of the Olympic Games. This culminated in more than 400 athletes and officials from seven countries training for the 2000 Games in the area.

Also, at the same luncheon at which Furlong speaks, Prince George mayor Colin Kinsley will outline the city's aspirations in supporting the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games and where he sees opportunities for the city and its people.

The Prince George conferences' closing ceremonies will be held at the City's Exploration Place, featuring fireworks, hot chocolate and the beginning of the five-year Countdown to the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver and Whistler.

RESOURCES:
----------

The registration page for the Winter Summitt conferences outlines their per-seat costs and specific dates of the events, along with links on the side to detailed descriptions of the various conferences.
http://www.wintersummit.ca/registration/

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

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |General| #737
EBERSOL MORE SERIOUSLY INJURED THAT FIRST REPORTED, AS SON BURIED FOLLOWING PLANE CRASH

NBC officials now say that the injuries of Dick Ebersol, the chairman of NBC Universal Sports and the man in charge of the 2010 Olymic broadcasts for the major U.S. market, are much more serious injuries than originally reported.

Ebersol was injured in a plane crash November 28 but, they say, he continues to recuperate. Ebersol's 14-year-old son Edward, known as Teddy, was killed when a chartered plane crashed in bad weather in Montrose, Colorado; the pilot and a flight attendant were also killed.

The family held a memorial service today in Litchfield, Connecticut, for family and friends of Teddy, who was 14. They have set up a fund for contributions to the Litchfield County Association for Retarded Citizens. Teddy was a volunteer worker for that organization.

Ebersol was to have attended the service, though friends and colleagues said he was still unable to walk and that he will not be able to stand on his own for several more weeks. Initial reports said that Ebersol had fractured his sternum and three ribs, but its now revealed that he also cracked his pelvis, fractured his coccyx, or tailbone, and broke six vertebrae. Another Ebersol son, Charles, sustained less serious injuries to his back and a burn on his arm when he pulled his father from the wreckage.

There's no word yet on when the normally hard-working Ebersol will return to work at NBC. In his absence, his duties at NBC Sports are being handled by two executives.

Ken Schanzer, the president of NBC Sports, is managing the day-to-day work of the division, and Gary Zenkel, the executive vice president of NBC Olympics, is managing the network's Olympics business. NBC has the rights to the next Winter Olympic games in Turin, Italy, in 2006, as well as the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver and the rights to the 2012 Summer Games. A host city for that Olympiad will be announced next summer.

Ebersol has been the key executive in all of NBC's Olympics coverage. He negotiated all the Olympic rights deals for the network and has served as the chief producer on the network's Olympic telecasts. He had met with 2010 Olympic executives only a few days before the plane crash.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on December 15, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #736
LAPEL PINS, LIKELY FOR 2010 LOGO, ORDERED FOR APRIL 1; VANOC STOCKS ITS OFFICES; POCO SETS UP 2010 TASK FORCE

Here are some more moguls we bumped into today:

VANOC is looking for quotes on 177,000 of various types of lapel pins in hard and soft enamel, as well as pewter, apparently for the launch of the organization's new logo, but that's not yet confirmed. According to VANOC quote documents, the initial artwork for the pins' design will be provided on a confidential basis to the vendor on Monday, January 24. VANOC requires the pins to be delivered on or before April 1. The quote window closes next Monday. The senior vice-president of Marketing, Dave Cobb, said earlier that it was unlikely the logo would be made public on February 12, as part of the ceremonies marking the five-year mark before the Games's opening ceremonies, as VANOC's own planning earlier this year forecast, because of the difficulties in getting the mark registered for copyright protection throughout the world, and that it would likely be the spring before it could be made public. The existing Bid logo, under IOC marketing contracts, was due to expire December 31.
VANOC is also on the hunt for a company to provide it with general office stationery supplies -- but not things like office paper or computer-related supplies, such as printer toner. VANOC says the firm will become the "primary supplier of general office stationery supplies on an "as-and-when requested" basis for use by VANOC personnel." The contract notes that there are about 50 employees now, and that will grow to several thousand by 2009, which means the requirements will grow along with the labour force. In this particular case, the proponents are being asked to list what is, for them, the top 25-selling supplies and provide the costs and volume discounts available for each, bearing in mind that a low environmental impact of the supplies is also a requirement, as its part of the undertakings VANOC outlined to the International Olympic Committee during the bid phase. Those kinds of products usually carry the Canadian Environmental Choice eco-logo. The contract offered contains what is now a standard gag-order clause; the winning firm is required to say nothing to the media about any aspect of the contract, and it can't market the connection it has with VANOC.
A new task force to investigate benefits from the 2010 Olympic Games to the municipality of Port Coquitlam has been set up, and it is to be chaired by municipal councillor Michael Wright. The 10-member task force's mandate is to investigate economic development, tourism, arts and legacy opportunities for the city. Wright expects the first meeting will be held next month. Those on the committee include Andy Nord, David Plume, Jack Say Yee, Linda Baillie, Peggy Hunt, Rene Chadwick, Sean Cairns, Sherry Carroll and Vic Schindelka.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on December 15, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #735
INTRAWEST BUYS UP ALPINE HELICOPTERS; SKIP HANNA LOOKS TO 2010 CURLING;

Some moguls we bumped into today...

Intrawest Corporation, which owns some of the Whistler venues of the 2010 Winter Olympics, has exercised its five-year-old option to buy the 55% share of Alpine Helicopters that it didn't already own. Alpine runs one of the world's largest heli-skiing tourist operations. Alpine in turn, owns Canadian Mountain Holidays, which offers heli-skiing and heli-hiking vacations in southeastern British Columbia. It also operates helicopter charter services to the tourism and forestry industries. Intrawest originally bought 45% of Alpine in February 1999. Alpine was privately owned and the value of today's transaction wasn't released, but Intrawest, which is public (IDR:NYSE; ITW:TSX), estimates Alpine is expected to generate annual revenues of about C$75 million. Intrawest own Whistler Blackcomb, one of 2010's ski-sports venues.
The big prize at this week's Canada Cup East 'cashspiel' curling playoffs is making the grade for next winter's Canadian Olympic Trials, but Ottawa's Jenn Hanna has her eye on Vancouver's Olympics, not Italy's. Hanna, 24, is the skip of a team that hopes its play is good now as it has been in Ontario all season -- so it will have momentum going into next month's regional Scott provincial championship, where it has a chance at a trials spot. The Canada Cup East attracts the top teams in Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces. Hanna says her equally young team is fashioned to give them years of experience by the time they get to the 2010 Winter Olympics.
South Korea's Pyongchang, which lost to Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Games, got a boost from the international skiing federation FIS today, which ruled that a competitive Korean location, Muju, wasn't eligible for ski track construction as part of a potential bid for the 2014 Winter Games because of the amount of environmental impact it would have. Pyongyang is also in the running to bid on the 2014 Games, which won't be decided until the International Olympic Committee meets in Guatemala in 2007. Vancouver's 2010 Olympic Organizing Committee, because of the way the IOC's knowledge-transfer system works, would play host to the winner of the 2014 Games, which will also have a hand-off part in the 2010 Closing ceremonies. The officials of the province in which Muju resides, however, isn't taking the decision lying down, and referred to the province in which Pyongchang resides. 'The two assessments should have been only on the standards of official installations but the FIS report considers only the analysis of the environmental impact from developing courses," they claimed. "We can’t help but suspect there must have been something behind closed doors that brought about this result. The same kind of environmental damage can be expected from some planned courses in Kangwon. Hence the report is neither objective nor fair." The Korean government is to make a decision on which two provinces will represent it in the 2014 competion December 29.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on December 15, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Government| #734
BRITISH COLUMBIA OFFERS C$12 MILLION FOR ARTS EVENTS CONNECTED WITH 2010

British Columbia premier Gordon Campbell says C$12 million in funding for the arts in connection with the 2010 Winter Olympics is to be made available to organizations in communities across the province.

“Welcoming the world in 2010 provides a unique opportunity to celebrate the creativity, vision, and diversity of British Columbia’s artistic community,” says Campbell, adding, “Music, literature, performing arts, visual arts, First Nations art and all forms of creative expression have deep roots in B.C.’s culture and economy, and the ArtsNow program will give communities and artists a chance to strengthen that rich tradition across our province.”

The first phase of ArtsNow, administered thorough 2010 LegaciesNow president Marion Lay, involves C$4.25 million in three separate programs entitled Creative Communities, Catalyst and Innovations.

Lay adds that “ArtsNow will go a long way to prepare B.C.’s talented arts community in order that we can help showcase our diversity leading up to and beyond 2010. When the world arrives here in 2010, we want it to discover that a world of arts and culture is already here.”

The deadline for applications for the Catalyst and Innovations programs is January 31.

RESOURCES
---------

ArtsNow funding applications are on the 2010 LegaciesNow website:
http://www.2010LegaciesNow.com

You can also phone 604.659.1400.

BACKGROUND
----------

ArtsNow, a division of 2010 Legacies Now, is aimed at supporting B.C.'s arts-and-culture sector. 2010 LegaciesNow is a not-for-profit society that works with community organizations, non-government organizations, the private sector and government to support sport & recreation, arts, literacy and volunteerism.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on December 15, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Torino| #733
LATEST SOFTWARE ROLLED OUT FOR 2006 ITALIAN GAMES

Atos Origin, the huge international Belgium-based company, known as a systems integrator, that manages the information-technology underpinnings for Olympic Games has just begun to distribute the software that will be used to communicate results for the 15 sports at the 2006 Winter Games in Torino, Italy.

The roll-out comes after months of testing at the labs it built in Torino. Atos Origin is expected to negotiate an extension to its Olympic services contract, which currently expires at the end of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, for the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. If it does so, it will also be building an integration lab on the west coast, to deal with the then-current methods of networking, the types of services -- such as TV-cell phones -- and types of computers that will be available. Much of what it will be using is not yet on the market. The Torino 2006 Organizing Committee expects to start using the systems for event planning next month. The Torino Games open 421 days from now.

This is the second roll-out. The systems that help TOROC deal with accreditation, transport, health services and accommodation planning in the build up to the Games, which are just over a year from now, were distributed earlier.

Also applications, such as the INFO2006 intranet -- officially known as the commentator information system and central results depository -- are also running, some of them reused from the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics.

TOROC is to use the newest systems for hotel booking, planning and transportation. Atos also deals with technology security issues, such as dealing with possible places where viruses and hacker attacks can enter, and what to do about them if they are detected. Atos said Athens's concepts, which seemed to be successful, are also being used in Torino.

Atos also works with Olympics sponsors and partner organizations -- Kodak, Lenovo Computers, Omega timekeeping, Panasonic equipment, Samsung cell phones, Telecom Italia, Nortel networking and Eutelsat satellite on training support staff that integrates the systems with the Olympics, as well as testing disaster-recovery plans.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on December 15, 2004

Tuesday, December 14, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #732
WNC WON'T BE READY TO REPLACE CALGARY SKI JUMP NEXT SEASON; SEARCHES CONTINUE FOR SENIOR COMMUNICATIONS, HR; VERNON CONSIDERS "NOW" FUNDING PROJECTS

Three more moguls we bumped into today...

When we interviewed the senior vice-president of Venues for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Organizing Committee, Steve Matheson, he said that work on the Whistler Nordic Centre, now in the design stage, would be split into three components, one for each of the three construction seasons between 2005 and 2007, when it's to be completed. But there are no plans to rush the Olympic ski jump into use for training Nordic athletes, now that the Canadian Olympic Development Agency has decided to close down its Olympic ski jump in Calgary after this winter season. VANOC spokesman Sam Corea says, "According to our sport and venues department, the goal is to have the entire Nordic Centre ready for the fall of 2007, not any time sooner." CODA's annual contribution toward Canada's ski jumping and Nordic combined programs, in addition to capital expenditures, had been at about C$700,000 each year - C$300,000 in direct programming costs and C$400,000 in facility operations. The decision will affect nearly 80 athletes. Three national team coaches on the CODA payroll will not be retained at the end of the season in their current role. CODA has provided about 80% of the funding spent in support of Canada's national teams and the facilities they use. About $25,000 will be available as a one-time grant for six athletes affected, and there are now discussions about where they will continue their training. Sites mentioned include Park City, Utah, or various places in Europe.
Search firms are being used to help VANOC look for a senior position in Communications. It was advertised as a director of Communications, but that may be adjusted. The search process continues for the senior vice-president of Human Resources to replace Jeff Chan, who apparently left under the terms of an non-disclosure agreement.
Vernon officials are thinking about applying for 2010 Legacies Now funding for upgrading the community's Multiplex, Performing Arts Centre and the Vernon Recreation Complex auditorium. To qualify for the funding, announced in late November, a project must be a one-time capital initiative accessible to the public and that meets a need in the community. The program will fund up to 50% of the cost of an eligible project, up to a maximum of C$330,000, and projects must be completed by March 31, 2006, the provincial government's fiscal year-end.

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

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #731
SOUVENIR PACKS ARRIVE AT SPIRT OF BC OFFICES; VANDERHOOF GROUP RANKS IDEAS FOR 2010 PROMOS; CBC TAPS MURRAY TO PRODUCE 2010 BROADCAST

Three moguls we bumped into today...

Packages containing a flag, banner and quantities of "Spirit of BC" pins all sporting the new organization's new logo, have begun arriving at the offices of the chairs representing Spirit of B.C. Committees. The material is available for souvenir handouts and other promotional uses around the province.
The community group in the town of Vanderhoof, just west of Prince George in B.C.'s central interior, has voted on three concepts to pursue with its Spirit of B.C. committee: use products made from BC beef, produce or wood whenever possible, investigate how much it would cost to build an outdoor arena and consider sponsoring local athletes who could potentially compete in 2010.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is getting its ducks in line in the event it wins the bid in February to broadcast the 2010 Winter Olympics. It's asked veteran television sports producer Derik Murray, who's most recent concept was CBC's Making the Cut program, a quasi-reality show about hockey players getting a chance to be considered for play in the National Hockey League. Moore has worked in Toronto's sports-TV industry for the past 20 years, and had just moved to Morgan Creek, near Langley in B.C's Fraser Valley east of Vancouver, when CBC asked him to produce the 2010 Winter Olympics broadcast. Moore worked for CBC on the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens -- it was his sixth Games. He began his Olympics career with the American TV broadcaster, NBC, in 1988, he won an Emmy, the TV equivalent of the Oscars, for his work at the Seoul Summer Games.

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

Morgan:News:2010 |Government| #730
2010 LEGACIES NOW POINTS COMMUNITIES TO CONSIDER ARTS, CULTURAL EXPANSION BEYOND 2010 GAMES

The 2010 Legacies Now concept of setting up ripple effects from the cultural and arts pillars of hosting the 2010 Winter Games continues to get further away from the Games as the centrepiece for its activities.

Representatives from 2010 Legacies Now, who are visiting most of the communities in British Columbia to outline the provincial government's approach to the local 2010 committees that originally set themselves up spontaneously in the past year to get ready for activities related to the Games, were in Duncan, on the east coast of Vancouver Island.

They they offered information about the programs available for general sports and recreation, arts and culture, literacy and volunteering leading up to the time period in which the Games will be held, but continuing past them.

Community Legacy Initiatives director Ian Tait told a crowd of local politicians, library staff, recreation managers, regional district staff, people from the Cowichan aboriginal groups and Spirit of B.C. chairs that there was a total of $40 million expected to be in the pot for distribuiton, but that only the $20 million from the province was immediately available; the federal government's $20 million had not yet arrived. Tait also says there would be a number of other programs, but that communities should look past the Games when thinking about their plans.

The arts and culture component, called Arts Now, will award $12 million between now and 2007 to communities for improving their arts. Arts Now director Lori Baxter told the meeting that, "This opportunity came about because of the Games but it isn't about the Olympics. It's about building arts and culture."

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

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #729
VANOC UNLIKELY TO FILL SKI-JUMPING FUNDING GAP; MARKETING PLAN STILL NOT FINALIZED; IOC, VANOC REJIG REVENUE-SHARING

Three moguls we bumped into today...

The Canadian Olympic Development Agency, which runs Calgary's Olympic Park, was the main funding agency of the Nordic combined and ski-jumping programs in Canada but, as we reported last week, it's dropping support for those programs. The spokesman for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Organizing Committee, Sam Corea, says VANOC's not in a position to fill in the funding gap. per se, but left the door open for some possibilities. "VANOC's focus is to organize the Games of 2010 and have the venues ready early. Through sponsors of the Games, some may be interested in athlete-funding programs. We understand that the ski jumping and Nordic combined sports are trying to raise more funds to support their development and training programs. As far as I know, VANOC is not stepping in to fund what CODA is unable to no longer support."
Remember VANOC's master marketing plan? The one that needs to be approved by the International Olympic Committee so that when VANOC is supposed to receive control over its marketplace on January 1, so it can start officially dealing with sponsors on its own? The marketing plan agreement is not finalized yet. The discussions, with senior vice-president of Revenue, Marketing and Communications, Dave Cobb, have been taking place by phone and electronically.
It appears that a new formula is being developed between the IOC and VANOC about the way broadcasting revenues are handled for VANOC and future Games Organizing Committees in other cities. The IOC has not yet completed all the negotiations with various broadcasters. But IOC Olympic Games executive director Gilbert Felli is suggesting that Vancouver is what he calls a "transition city" in this retooling of the Host City Agreement. He added, "We have not been able to announce the amount because we do not know how much Turin will receive. The reason for doing the change is to say that we are giving a guaranteed amount of money to an organizing committee. It's very hard for them to plan otherwise." The 2002 Salt Lake Winter Games received US$443 million in broadcast revenues. In the bid book it submitted to the IOC, Vancouver offered what it felt was conservative US$400 million, but under the new terms, Vancouver could see upwards of half a billion dollars, using the Salt Lake figures plus inflation.

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

Monday, December 13, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #728
ABBOTSFORD PLANS EVENTS FOR FEB 12; WHISTLER 2010 INFO CENTRE OPENS DAILY; ROYAL HUDSON TOOTING FOR A TORCH

Three moguls we bumped into today...

The chair of the Spirit of B.C. Committee in Abbotsford, a city in the Fraser Valley east of Vancouver, says that a number of events are being planned for the community on February 12, to mark the date that's exactly five years before the start of the 2010 Winter Games. Christine Wiebe says the events will include a flag-raising ceremony at city hall and then a walk, possibly led by Olympians and Abbotsford finalists from the TV series "Canadian Idol", such as Shane Weibe, to a jazz and blues festival the downtown area of the community. Christine Weibe has been working in the area in connection with the 2010 Games for several years. Meanwhile, Sandra Goosen, the chair of the Spirit Committee in the town of Mission, across the Fraser River from Abbotsford, says it will have an announcement early next month about similar events there, but that no specific events have yet been finalized. Spirit of B.C. committees throughout the province connect with the 2010 Games through 2010 LegaciesNow, a provincial government organization that looks after the cultural and arts aspects of the Games.
The Vancouver 2010 Whistler Information Centre is opening its doors seven days a week during the winter. The Centre will start operating daily from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm Pacific Time as of Monday, and will continue the schedule through April 2005, when it will return to its usual five-day-a-week schedule. The Centre provides information about the 2010 Winter Games to anybody who walks through its doors. It's been open since January 2002 and has had more than 102,000 visitors to date. The majority -- 57% -- are people living outside the Lower Mainland area, which includes Greater Vancouver, and outside of the Sea to Sky Corridor, which is the route between Vancouver and Whistler. That includes national and international visitors. Lower Mainland residents make up the second largest portion, about 36% of total visits. Residents of the Sea to Sky Corridor, which is not as heavily populated as the Greater Vancouver area, comprise about 7% of total visits.
Don Evans, the executive director of the West Coast Railway Association, which acquired and is now raising funds to restore a famous old British Columbian steam engine, the Royal Hudson, says some discussions have been held with the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Organizing Committee about using the Hudson during the Games's torch run. The Royal Hudson plied the route between Vancouver and Whistler for years, carrying tourists, until it was finally retired a few years ago. About C$170,000 of the C$500,000 to repair the engine has been raised, with renovation work set to begin this coming spring and finished about a year later.

RESOURCES

Everything you ever wanted to know about the Royal Hudson:
http://www.wcra.org/hudson/

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

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #727
SUMMERLAND PONDERS ITS OLYMPIC DREAM; CARDIAC SCREENING RAISED AT IOC; INTRAWEST ENCOURAGING CHINESE SKIERS TO WHISTLER

Three moguls we bumped into today...

A corporate project to raise money in British Columbia's Okanagan area for a potential Canadian Olympic skier has apparently run afoul of the brand-protection policies of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Organizing Committee. A specific blend of coffee, and two local wines, each bearing the "Olympic Dream" slogan, are supposed to change because of the word 'Olympic,' according to the local chair of the Spirit of B.C. Committee, Janice Perrino. Whether the name will change, however, is currently being debated. Beanery Coffee of Summerland and Sumac Ridge Estate Winery are selling the products to help raise money for popular Summerland skier Kristi Richards, in part because that's exactly what her dream is: to be in the Winter Olympics. Beanery Coffee contends that although VANOC is claiming it has rights on the use of the word, it isn't going to change its label because it hasn't been contacted by VANOC or related organizations, and the word 'Olympic' can be found in common English-language dictionaries, along with 'Olympian', 'Olympiad' and 'Olympus.' The coffee is being distributed to 22 retail outlets in Summerland, some of whom have wondered aloud if they should have it on their shelves. The Sumac Ridge wines are available at the winery and at liquor outlets in the community.
Someday, and perhaps by 2010, Olympic athletes will be screened to ensure their hearts can handle the workload of competing. The medical segment of the International Olympic Committee today adopted the so-called "Lausanne Recommendations", a consensus paper on the prevention of sudden cardiovascular death in sport. The decision followed a two-day meeting held at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, by the IOC's Medical Commission. The meeting of the ad hoc working group on Sudden Cardiovascular Death in Sport coordinated by Professor Erik J. Meijboom of the University Hospital Centre in Lausanne, brought together a group of experts from the medical and sporting worlds. They noted that more than 90% of non-traumatic sudden death of athletes is related to a pre-existing cardiac abnormality that nobody knew about. The purpose of these recommendations is to identify, as accurately as possible, athletes at risk and let them know. The Recommends introduce the concept of cardiovascular pre-screening in sport and that involves four elements: the personal history of the athlete, their family history, a physical examination and an electrocardiogram.
Intrawest, the big publicly traded winter resort company that owns Blackcomb and Whistler Mountain ski areas, where some of the events for the 2010 Olympics are expected to be held, is making a major push into China, in the hopes of encouraging wealthy vacationing skiers there to come to Whistler. There are an estimated 1.5 million skiers in China. Most who come to Canada for skiing holidays go to resorts in the Rocky Mountains of eastern British Columbia and western Alberta.

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

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #726
DESIGNER FOR WHISTLER ATHLETES VILLAGE SOUGHT AS VILLAGE DETAILS OUTLINED

Whistler's new Athlete Village Development Corporation, the organization that will shepherd construction of the 2010 athlete's village in Whistler, has begun looking for a firm to do the master site planning for the village and likely for its adjacent media centre. The Corporation is run by a Board of Directors that includes a number of developers and representatives of the municipal staff.

The consulting firm that wins the competition will also deal with engineering consulting services for the Village, which will be built in the Lower Cheakamus precinct south of the resort at an estimated cost of C$95 million.

The Village will house athletes and officials attending all the mountain-related events, as well as look after the entire group attending the Paralympic Games, which will be held entirely in the Whistler area. After the Games, the Village is expected to become a permanent Whistler neighbourhood. The AVDC wants the Village to have what it calls "leading-edge planning and building practices." The corporation estimates the planning, design and permitting work will take between a year and 18 months from the time the the planning contract is awarded.

Besides the expected expertise, the AVDC says it also wants the candidates to have experience in dealing with "environmentally sensitive design and energy saving methodology including 'Green Building' design standards", as well as experience in mountain-resort planning and design.

The Village will include housing, an athlete centre as well as community and commercial facilities, such as support services for the people living there. Construction is due to start in the spring of 2008 and be completed by November, 2009. As it's finalized, the the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Organizing Committee will install what it calls the Olympic Overlay. This includes temporary Games facilities, such as tents for group dining, as well as a medical clinic, some training facilities, security and the like, as well as extra parking spaces for Games officials and the Olympic family, which includes sponsors representatives.

Some preliminary work has already begun or is underway now. It includes the field survey, a geotechnical review and the terrestrial ecosystem mapping that provides a preliminary environmental inventory.

BACKGROUND

The documents that provide an overview of VANOC's expectations of the Athletes Village in Whistler shows that it will be more than "a place which offers more than just a bed and meals for its residents – also offered are a variety of recreational and entertainment activities to provide a friendly, multicultural environment for the athletes to relax and enjoy their stay." It will also be patrolled by security forces around the clock during the time it's in use.

The village site is expected to be divided into four main sections, including the: a residential zone, an international zone, several operational areas and the transportation and parking areas.

The residential zone will house up to 3,000 athletes and team officials from more than 70 nations in a mix of single-family, townhouse and apartment units. A portion of the Athlete Village could be temporary units, and VANOC and the Development Corporation expect it will house a permanent athletes centre.

Dining facilities, a medical clinic that will include anti-doping facilities, a fitness centre, a number of meeting spaces and equipment storage areas are expected to be housed within the national Olympic Committee team-services area.

The international zone involves of a variety of commercial areas to service the village population, such as a barber shop and hairstylist, a post office, a coffee house, a film processor, a calling centre, an Internet café, a drycleaner and other similar services.

Team welcome ceremonies will take place in a central plaza on the first day of each team’s arrival. This ceremony is expected to be accompanied by the raising of that nation’s flag.

Operational areas are situated in a "back of house" location that provides access to the logistics yard, the cleaning and waste compound, the housekeeping services section and the technological infrastructure that deals with computers and networking. Fit-out and maintenance personnel are also expected to use some of the space within the operations area.

The transportation and parking areas are expected to provide drop-off points for teams, guests, media and the village's workforce.

Immediately following the Olympic games in February, 2010, the Athlete Village will host all of the Winter 2010 Paralympians in March, 2010. WVDC officials expect the design firm to accommodate all of the accessibility requirements of about 1,500 Paralympic athletes and officials travelling to competition venues within the Whistler area.

An Athlete Centre that can handle at least 300 athletes as well as associated training and support facilities is part of the Athlete Village legacy plan. This Centre is intended to provide permanent accommodation for Canadian high-performance athletes, and to support the area so that it can host World Cup and World Championship events. The Centre will provide support facilities such as workout rooms, classrooms, gymnasium, dining, treatment rooms, office space and daycare.

Here is a list of the functional areas required within an athlete village as listed in VANOC documentation:

AREA A
External Permit Parking
External Guest Parking
Motorpool Parking
Driver's Lounge
Bus Mall / Athletes
Vehicle Screening Area

Area A Sub-Total square footage: 270,000

AREA B
Accreditation Centre
Mag and Bag
International Zone
Media Centre
Security Command Centre

Area B Sub-Total square footage: 115,000

Area C
Dining Hall (Athlete)
Dining Hall (Workforce)
Food Prep/Handling/Storage
Casual Dining

Area C Sub-Total square footage: 25,000

AREA D
Residences (services for the national Olympic Committees from various countries)
Polyclinic/MRI/Dental
Team Storage
Training Area
Village Operations

Area D Sub-Total square footage: 500,000

Area E
Materials Handling
Housekeeping
Cleaning/Waste
General Site Storage
Maintenance
Fit-out/Ops
EMS Staging
Technology

Area E Sub-Total square footage: 120,000

Site Total in square feet: 1,030,000
Site Total in square metres: 95,690

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on December 9, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #725
ITQS OFFERED TO HEADHUNTERS, PERSONNEL AGENCIES FOR STAFFING REQUIREMENTS

The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Organizing Committee has issued invitations to headhunter and personnel agencies to quote on conducting searches for various categories of positions ranging from executives to temps.

The VANOC documentation on for both the executive searching and for the office staffing are similar. The Committee wants the chosen agencies to "conduct the searches for various categories of either senior management and executive-level positions or other staffing, and to "assist VANOC in its personnel needs on an 'as and when required' basis."

Much of the staffing demands in the near term will be an expansion of VANOC's marketing and construction sections. Over the coming months VANOC says it will be recruiting for the following departments that are just now being set up: Marketing, Communications, Creative Services, Licensing & Brand Management, Revenue, Venue Development & Construction, Environment & Sustainability, Human Resources and Finance.

In general, once the firm chosen has found candidates for a particular position as detailed by VANOC, the resumes and profiles are given to Renee