Morgan:News:2010:Bronze Edition: October 2005

Monday, October 31, 2005

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Morgan:News:2010 |Sports| #1274
ALPINE CANADA NOT EXPECTING SPONSORSHIP 'CHILL' FROM VANOC - ESSO MARKETING CONTROVERSY

The president of Alpine Canada, one of the most business-like national sports organizations in the country, says he doubts if the recently settled blow-up between the 2010 Organizing Committee and Esso Canada will affect sports sponsorship.

Some businesses that sponsor national sport organizations were just as surprised as anybody at the way the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) took Esso to task over a contest the oil company was running to promote Hockey Canada, another national sports organization. They were wondering if they should have a closer look at the wording of their own sponsorship agreements.

However, Alpine Canada's Ken Read says about corporate sponsorships, "We do not expect any chill Ð- in fact the market has been very active. Many Canadian corporations realize only a handful of corporations will be able to acquire Olympic rights. Many are active on an annual basis within sport, focusing their resources to support the development of high-performance programs. Some 'bridge' between Olympic and non-Olympic [sponsorship], often becoming [national sports organization] sponsors as well to gain access to athletes, events for annual client hosting and to be seen investing in athlete-development programs."

In fact, says Read, the sponsorship market has been so active for sports recently that, "I would propose that we are beginning to see a much higher level of interest in supporting our amateur athletes, as Canadian corporations realize this is something Canadians support -Ð that it is good for the motivation of youth, for nation building and community investment as well as good for business."

Read says it's important to keep the issue between VANOC and Esso in perspective, "The ownership issue [of rights] between Olympic and non-Olympic sponsors is not new. Each time Canada has hosted the Games -- 1976, 1988 and now 2010 -- the issue is closer to the surface, but for a national sport organization that is active in the market, these rights are closely monitored by all parties... We make it clear to our commercial partners that we do not own Olympic rights or imagery and work closely with them in the development of their PR activities and leveraging."

Read says that brand protection between VANOC and the national sports organizations (NSOs) is a two-way street, and he's happy to be on it. "VANOC has been extremely supportive, working to protect our properties as well. They have communicated to us recently that they are requiring all Olympic/Paralympic sponsors to clear image use of a sport with the NSO. This is an extremely effective philosophy, as it protects the NSO from any implied connection to athlete development or an individual athlete that may be conveyed through imagery or association."

Read notes that all winter national sports organizations were required to sign, back when VANOC's predecessor, the Bid Corporation, was preparing its bid, documents that made marketing and promotional boundaries clear. "A sport is permitted to promote all aspects of athlete development, programs, events right to the World Cup and World Championships. The Canadian Olympic Committee owns the Olympic Team and all rights associated with it. Typically, as is the case for 2010, these properties are seconded to the Olympic Organizing Committee."

Alpine Canada is running promotions to get people to attend its World Cup events in Lake Louise, Kitzbhel and Cortina, in association with its sponsors. Adds Read, "We use references to the Olympic/Paralympic Team, preparation for the Games and other imagery, but only in news content and never in connection with a commercial partnership."

Read says this may seem limiting to national sports organizations, but he says that "Each does receive significant direct benefit from the Olympic/Paralympic partnership, through 'Own the Podium', through Olympic/Paralympic preparation and finally through the support provided to the athletes, coaches, support staff and NSO through the Olympic/Paralympic Games Missions of the COC and Canadian Paralympic Committee."

BACKGROUND

The Business of Alpine Canada's Draw

Alpine Canada's upcoming World Cup events at Lake Louise is expected to attract the second-largest international TV audience for an annual sporting event in Canada. It's expected this time to be an accumulated audience of about 120 million for the five events, which are broadcast live to about 50 countries.

The event, from Alpine Canada's point of view, is an anchor to the western Canadian tourism market. It's an early season primer aimed at the C$350-million destination tourism market for skiers and snowboarder who travel to the Alberta Rockies. It's also, according to market research, one of the most significant drivers for the C$9 billion tourism market of western Canada.

This is one reason Travel Alberta, Banff-Lake Louise Tourism, the Fairmont Chateau at Lake Louise and the Lake Louise Mountain Resort have all stepped up their investment into the event significantly.

It's also a major corporate-hosting event, bolstered by the World Cup Business forum, now in its third year. The annual direct investment of the World Cup into the local economy is reportedly about C$7 million.

Alpine Canada has sponsors a several levels of its sport program: The Husky Snow Stars Skill Development program for children age five to 10); the Devonian Properties Rising Star camps, known as the MARS K2 for those aged 13 to 14); and the J1, for ages 15 to 16, plus the Canadian Alpine Championships, the Pontiac GMC Cup and Canadian Championships, the CIBC Coupe Nor-Am Cup and the Telus Canadian Disabled Alpine Ski Championship.

Alpine's sponsor tiers are in four levels, Platinum: C$1 million or more; Summit: C$500,000 to C$1 million; Champion: C$200,000 to $500,00 and Sponsor: below C$200,000.

In the past three months, Alpine Canada has added two new Summit partners: Husky Oil, moving up from Champion, and the company called Resorts of the Canadian Rockies. As well, it has recently signed two new Champion partners -- the accounting and management consulting firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers and Sun Microsystems. Alpine Canada is now working on two more partners in the coming weeks Ð one for the Summit class and one Champion class.

RESOURCES

Alpine Canada's website page listing its major corporate sponsors:
www.canski.org/e/html/services/e_sponsors.htm

This is the link to Esso Canada's contest, which, as of this writingg, has not yet been updated as a result of the company's negotiations with VANOC:

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 31, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #1273
FURLONG REPORTS NEGOTIATONS HAVE RESOLVED AMBUSH-MARKETING CONTROVERSY INVOLVING IMPERIAL OIL

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) says that after a day of negotiations on Friday, it and Imperial Oil have resolved their differences over how the oil company was promoting its Hockey Canada sponsorship.

John Furlong, VANOC CEO, said in a statement, "After working diligently over the past 24 hours, VANOC and Esso have reached agreement on modifications to the "Cheer On Canada/Torino, Italy" promotion so that it is no longer associated with the 2006 Olympic Winter Games and Canada's Olympic Team."

The issue was over a contest that Imperial Oil subsidiary Esso Canada was running to promote its sponsorship of the national sports federation, Hockey Canada. The main prize of the contest -- besides a return business-class trip for two to Torino, Italy, a hotel stay and C$3,000 in spending money -- included tickets to see Canada's "national" team play in Torino in February. No mention was made at any part of the contest about the Olympics.

VANOC's statement and the original complaint by VANOC, alleged in a prepared news conference in Calgary last week, made no mention in specific terms of what aspects of this incorporated ambush marketing, other than the relatively vague comment that the contest created "an association" with the Torino Winter Olympics.

The major point of contention, according to VANOC communications department representative Mary Fraser, was the purchase of Olympic tickets for promotional purposes, which she says violates rules of the International Olympic Committee, and the reference to the "national" team. "The only team representing Canada in Torino in February is the Canadian Olympic Team," she notes.

Fraser, who worked with the sports federation that represents Canadian freestyle skiing for 10 years before recently joining VANOC's communications section, says that all the national sports federations are "well aware" of what can be done or not done in reference to Olympic promotion.

Hockey Canada, however, earlier defended Esso's contest and the way it was promoted.

The news conference that brought the matter to light was held in the middle of last week's news cycle and, as a result, there were numerous stories that carried VANOC's point of view. However, the news release from VANOC that announced the resolution of the controversy was issued at 7:15 pm Vancouver time Friday evening. The timing relegated news coverage of the solution to small stories well buried in weekend newspapers and only minor coverage during the weekend news cycle.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 31, 2005

Friday, October 28, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1272

VANOC PREFERS BUSES TO VANCOUVER-SQUAMISH FERRY

As we understand it, VANOC isn't going to go ahead with the idea of a passenger-ferry service between Vancouver and Squamish, and is instead expected to use a large fleet of buses, many of which it is expected to store near the Cambie Bridge in Vancouver, to move people between Vancouver and Whistler venues during the 2010 Winter Games. The possibility of such a ferry has been on the table since 2002, when it was suggested in advance of the Vancouver bid being made to the International Olympic Committee. At the time, the ferry decision, part of a series of options that covered highway and rail work, was expected to cost C$270 million, with an annual operating expense of C$7.5 million. Various reports indicate VANOC won't finalize its transportation studies until it can incorporate the experience of the Torino Winter Olympics, which VANOC intends to observe starting in February, but dealing with the numbers of people travelling the highway in the morning is a major factor in the planning. While the Games are on, it's said that people in Vancouver going to Whistler will have to board a bus, and residents living along the highway will likely require a permit to travel it while the Games are on. It's expected that there will also be security checks along the highway.

VANOC CONTRIBUTION TO RICHMOND OVAL HOLDS AT C$60 MILLION
VANOC has again told Richmond, as planning for the new Richmond sports complex nears an end, that its contribution to the project won't exceed C$60 million, which is for the centrepiece of the complex: the long-track speedskating oval. The entire complex, due to be completed in early 2008, is expected to cost nearly three times the VANOC contribution, about C$178 million.

KODAK SETS UP TRIP-TO-TORINO CONTEST
Kodak, which is a corporate sponsor of the International Olympic Committee, today announced its ÔGo for the Gold' photo contest. It intends to give away four six-day trips to Torino, Italy, for the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games. The US company says the contest is open to anyone to submit a picture and story of "their greatest personal 'Olympic moment' Ð from scoring the winning goal on a recreational soccer team, to finishing a community-building project." Contest details are available on http://www.kodakgallery.com, and that's where submissions should be sent. In addition to the trip, the four grand prize-winners will receive a Kodak digital camera and "serve as on-site Olympic reporters for the KODAK Easyshare Gallery." Winners have access "to some of the best Olympic venues and will tell the story of their trip to the world in their own personal web page" in February.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 28, 2005

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1271

Here are three more moguls we ran into today:

MCW CONSULTANTS TO FIT UP VANOC'S NEW HQ

A Toronto-based, international, mechanical- and electrical-engineering firm, with offices in Vancouver, has won two separate contracts offered by the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC). The contracts, given to MCW Consultants, involved dealing with all of the mechanical and electrical work that VANOC needs done before it can move into its new headquarters in east Vancouver. VANOC has said it would like to obtain a LEED Commercial Interior Certificate as it readies the two new adjacent buildings for its occupancy. It took possession of the two empty office buildings in September and expects to be fully moved into them by early next year. One building is seven storeys with a total of about 117,000 square feet (or about 21,000 square feet per floor), and the other is a two-storey building totalling about 113,000 square feet (about 56,500 per floor). The buildings are secure and fully air-conditioned, but need to be fitted up with various plumbing, electrical, lighting, networking, garbage collection, recycling and security systems. MCW Consultants has worked on a number of large projects in the Greater Vancouver area over the years, including the International Airport upgrading, the UBC Life Sciences building and Canada Place. Throughout the company, it has more than 140 employees, about half in the Toronto office.

VANOC/ESSO BRAND-PROTECTION ISSUE HITS THE TOP NEWSCASTS
Once again, VANOC made the top of most BC radio and TV newscasts today, and again it was for its brand-protection policies, instead of how it's doing in developing the 2010 Winter Games. Those kinds of stories, which first emerged last summer as it tried to deal with a recalcitrant Vancouver pizza parlour's alleged infractions of its brands. and various other small firms, resonate strongly with news editors -- and negatively with the public. The fact that this time VANOC has taken on a major oil company and focused on Esso's offer of a trip for two, with spending money, to a Canada hockey game at the Torino Winter Olympics, hasn't lessened the interest in the concept, and it's added to the perception that VANOC can be a business bully. Few people in the public are even aware that VANOC has an interest in the Italian Olympics, that Esso is a competitor of VANOC sponsor Petro-Canada and the implications of that, fewer still get the concept of ambush marketing, and fewer still would understand why a couple of hockey tickets with an Olympic logo on them should generate all the rhetoric issued to date, and, apparently, planned. VANOC this time has also taken on an opponent with deep pockets, a lot of lawyers and a full-time public-relations team with a strong community-relations budget that includes long-time support of Hockey Canada. Hockey Canada has backed Esso's position, while the IOC has backed VANOC's. The International Ice Hockey Federation is run by Rene Fasel, who is also the chair of the IOC commission that supervises the IOC's 2010 franchise. The first shots of the Esso contest affair were made, ironically, about the same time as Fasel was giving a glowing report to the IOC executive board about VANOC's progress including, the fact that Fasel "drew particular attention to the good relationships between Vancouver 2010 and its local partners."

2010 FUNDING POTENTIAL AN ISSUE IN ABBOTSFORD MAYORALTY ELECTION
The possibility of money connected to BC government's support of the 2010 Winter Games has become an election issue in the race for the mayor of Abbotsford, a city east of Vancouver. The local issue as capital-expenditure referendum that's being put to votes at the same time as next month's municipal elections. An integral part of the city's three-year Capital Legacy Plan is a C$30-million sports multiplex. Some of the mayoralty candidates say it should be approved because there will likely be help in funding it from 2010 Games-related programs, such as 2010 LegaciesNow. Other possible candidates say it's just as much of a possibility that such support won't arrive.

RESOURCES

Our earlier story about the work to be done at VANOC's new headquarters:

'Organizing Committee mulls over the possibility of going green as it prepares its new headquarters'
[Morgan:News:2010:Number:1153; Published on Monday, August 29, 2005]

J. Martin, P.Eng.
Vice-Chairman
MCW Consultants
Suite 200, 740 Nicola Street,
Vancouver, BC V6G 2C1
Tel: 604.687.1821
Fax: 604-683-5681
E-Mail: Direct: JMartin@MCW.com
Office: mcw_van@mcw.com
www.mcw-ers.com

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 27, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Sports| #1270
HOCKEY CANADA CALLS VANOC'S BRAND-PROTECTION DEMANDS "HEAVY HANDED"

A rift has developed between Hockey Canada, which is one of the national sports federations that will be involved in the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, and the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC). The split is over the Esso brand-protection issue.

A formal statement issued late today, co-signed by Hockey Canada's communications director, manager and two co-ordinators, says, "It is unfortunate that VANOC has taken such a heavy-handed approach against a national sport federation, by going public today on an issue that Hockey Canada has been discussing and looking to resolve with VANOC on behalf of our premier sponsor, Imperial Oil."

The Esso campaign involves a prize of a return trip for two to see a Canada Hockey game at the Torino Olympics in February and $3,000 in spending money. VANOC CEO John Furlong said Wednesday in a prepared news conference that Esso had made "a big mistake" in setting up the promotion.

Hockey Canada says that Imperial Oil, Esso's parent company, has been a major sponsor of Hockey Canada for 23 years, and, as far is sports organization is concerned, "Imperial Oil has the right to use and promote the Hockey Canada trademark with Canada's national minor hockey development programs and Canada's Men's and Women's National hockey teams. Imperial Oil's association is with Hockey Canada and we believe that the Imperial Oil promotion and any commercial gain from the promotion would be associated to Imperial Oil's sponsorship to Hockey Canada and its National hockey teams."

Hockey Canada says Imperial Oil -- and itself, for that matter -- "acted in a manner consistent with previous promotional activities and with the legal commitments as agreed to between Hockey Canada, the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Vancouver 2010 Bid Committee."

Hockey Canada believes that the Imperial Oil promotion doesn't constitute "illegal or unethical advertising" and that the promotion "is a proper exercise of the rights Imperial Oil has acquired from Hockey Canada."

Hockey Canada says its corporate partners contribute to Canadian athletes, whether they are skating for the first time or whether they are providing "Olympic glory for all Canadians to participate and celebrate in."

The trio say that Hockey Canada "strongly believes" that Canada's national men's and women's hockey teams will be "a major contributor to the success of the 2006 and 2010 Olympic Games." To achieve this, it says, Hockey Canada requires the ability to market itself and its teams to generate the revenue necessary to attain this goal."

It also points out that the funding and support provided by Hockey Canada's partners, sponsors and licensees allows it to fund the development and organization of hockey throughout Canada, from minor hockey programs through Canada's National Men's and Women's Teams. "Without the financial support of these partners, Hockey Canada would be unable to maintain its tradition and history of excellence in hockey and provide all Canadians with great Olympic and international hockey memories," they add.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 27, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Business, VANOC| #1269
IMPERIAL OIL "SURPRISED AND DISAPPOINTED" AT VANOC'S CALL FOR END TO 2006 MARKETING CAMPAIGN

Imperial Oil says it'll have another look at its marketing campaign that's connected to Hockey Canada, but it's "surprised and disappointed" that the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) decided to take this heavy-handed action.

That's the official statement from the company after VANOC CEO John Furlong publicly accused it during a Calgary news conference this morning of making a "big mistake" by holding a marketing promotion contest that offers a return trip for two the Torino Winter Olympics and tickets for an Olympic hockey game where Canada is playing.

The tickets, VANOC says, contain trade marks and can't be used for promotional purposes without VANOC's written permission. Petro-Canada is an official sponsor of the Olympics through VANOC, at a value estimated to be C$63 million by VANOC. Furlong also claimed that VANOC had tried to get the attention of Imperial Oil for two weeks about the matter, but couldn't make an impression.

In a formal statement issued this afternoon in response to the VANOC demands that the marketing campaign be discontinued, Imperial Oil said the company "has recently been made aware of their concerns and has been in discussions with VANOC about the situation both through Hockey Canada and directly. In addition, Imperial is currently re-examining the marketing campaign at the centre of VANOC's objections and will adjust those areas where necessary."

On the other hand, it says, "Hockey Canada and Imperial Oil have diligently exercised our rights to associate ourselves with Canada's national hockey teams without in any way infringing the Olympic brand or its trademarks. Imperial's association is with Hockey Canada and not the Olympics. This marketing campaign also covers Canada's participation at the World Junior Championships in December 2005 and is similar to the company's Salt Lake City campaign, which was run without objection. Prior to undertaking this marketing campaign, Hockey Canada reviewed and approved all aspects of the promotion." The Canadian branch of the international oil company says it has been a strong supporter of hockey in Canada since 1936 and a sponsor of Hockey Canada for more than 20 years.

Imperial Oil points out that Hockey Canada is the sole governing body for amateur hockey in Canada and oversees the management of hockey programming from the entry level to participation in international competition, including World Championships, the World Cup of Hockey and Olympic Games.

Imperial Oil's statement says that, "along with all Canadians, is proud of Canada's national hockey teams, both men and women, when they compete abroad. It is our hope to share this pride with our customers and to continue our longstanding support for hockey in this country."

It adds that through Imperial's relationship with Hockey Canada, the company has been directly involved in supporting amateur and minor hockey development programs across Canada. "This direct support has helped Canada send its most skilled men and women hockey players to international competitions to represent all Canadians."

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 27, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1268

Here are three more moguls we ran into today:

IOC SAYS NO TO NATURAL TRACK LUGE AT 2010 GAMES

The IOC Executive Board, meeting at its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, has reportedly denied a request from the International Luge Federation for the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) to include natural-track events at the 2010 Winter Games. VANOC has begun the process of constructing an artificial track for luge events. The Board was meeting today in Lausanne, Switzerland. In other news from the Executive Board meeting, which was briefed on the status of VANOC today, the IOC reworked its anti-doping rules so that it will have secure ownership of all drug-testing samples taken during the Olympics for eight years. It's a method of catching any drug users who escape detection during a particular Games; technology later developed has sporadically shown that some people took drugs but the tests at the time couldn't catch them; when that happens, they were stripped of their medal and the person with the points or time immediately behind them is advanced in the record books. And the IOC executive says it will try once more to discuss the Italian law that criminalizes doping in that country, hoping it can be put in abeyance for the duration of the Torino Games. The meeting is scheduled for Friday.

NORWEIGAN TRIES C$11.70 FOR 2010 PIN
There weren't any takers for an E-bay auction of a 2010 logo pin owned by a Montreal seller a few days ago when the price was set at about C$5, but now a Norwegian using the pseudonym "Pinsy" is trying to get somebody to pay at least C11.70 plus shipping, which was the opening bid, for a similar pin. The auction, due to end October 30, is taking place on www.coubertin.com, and the lot number is 352019.

BC CROSS-COUNTRY TRIES 2010-RELATED TRAINING CAMP IN BC INTERIOR
The B.C. cross-country ski team is holding a small trial training camp this month in Blue River, in BC's mid-central Columbia mountain range about 200 kilometres due east of Williams Lake. So far, local officials say, four coaches, involved with alpine skiing, have visited the area to see if it would be suitable for summer training for the 2010 Winter Olympics. The nearby glacier, actively marketed by a local firm, Mike Wiegele Helicopter Skiing, is used for alpine events, downhill super G, giant slaloms, and free skiing, even in the summer.

BACKGROUND

The differences between natural and artificial luge tracks: Natural-track luge has no banking on the corners, so tracks can be built anywhere by packing down snow or making ice. The course is then outlined with cones, flags, hay or fencing. The average slope varies according to the location, but doesn't exceed 1.5%. That type of track requires sliders to do a lot more work to control the sled, but track maintenance is expensive.

The Olympic luge competition is called Artificial Track Luge. This type of luge uses banked curves like bobsleigh tracks and an average slope of 8% to 11% -- similar to a steep road. The sliders main goal is to be aerodynamic. Sliders often reach speeds of about 130 kilometres per hour (about 80 miles per hour).

The basic components of all tracks include start and finish areas, two straight-aways, left and right turns, and a curve combination such as an S-curve.

The word "luge" is French for sled.

RESOURCES

Mike Wiegele Helicopter Skiing, summer program:
www.wiegele.com/summer/heliskiing.php

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 27, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1267

Here are three moguls we ran into today:

IOC EXECUTIVE GROUP RECEIVES BRIEFING ON VANOC

The chair of the International Olympic Committee's Vancouver Coordination Commission, Ren Fasel, today gave the IOC's Executive Board in Lausanne, Switzerland, a brief overview of the Commission's project-review visit in September to Vancouver. He also discussed the preparations for another regularly scheduled project-review visit that's due to occur in January, and mentioned the third full Coordination Commission visit that's due to take place in June. During today's meeting at the IOC headquarters, he outlined what's being done in several areas by the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC), noting that VANOC is currently focused on: Games services, authority relations, aspects of sport, media & broadcaster services, transportation matters, technology and transfer of knowledge. Fasel drew particular attention to the good relationships between Vancouver 2010 and its local partners, the fact that construction work has begun and all venues are expected to be completed by 2008. He also spoke about the status of the Canadian "Own the Podium" initiative and what he termed "the very advanced state of Vancouver 2010's marketing program." The Executive Committee also received briefings today on the state of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and the 2012 Summer Games that were just awarded to London, England.

ALBERTA LAND DEVELOPER TO SPONSOR SKI-CAMP FOR 2010-BOUND ATHLETES
Devonian Properties Inc., a decade-old land developer of properties in Canmore and Fort McMurray, Alberta, says it has agreed to sponsor Alpine Canada's K2 Development Camp for three years at BC's at Panorama Mountain Village. The cost of the sponsorship was not disclosed. The camp, 18 kilometres west of Invermere in the BC Rockies, will be held from December 1 to 5 this year. Alpine Canada, which is the national sports federation that regulates the athletes hoping to attend the 2010 Winter Olympics' alpine events, holds the camp for Canada's top racers aged 13 and 14 to provide "intense and specific training opportunities early in the season." The sponsorship means the camp can continue to train athletes for high-performance competition beyond 2010. Athletes are expected to take part in slalom, giant slalom, super-G and skills training, in addition to drills, tests and exercises, both on and off the hill. Mark Sharp, National Technical Director for Alpine Canada, says, "If we can develop 40 athletes each year, in each province, that can finish close to each other on the race course, then we will have an incredibly strong pool of talent for the future and will be fit to compete against the world's best."

WADA PUTS PRESSURE ON GOVERNMENTS TO RATIFY ANTI-DOPING PLEDGE
Governments aren't moving fast enough for WADA chair Dick Pound, and he's offered an incentive. The Montreal-based World Anti-Doping Agency today urged governments to act quickly to ratify the International Convention on Doping in Sport that was adopted unanimously by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on October 19. WADA chair Dick Pound, who is also a director of VANOC, says, "Governments have assured the sports movement that they would adopt this convention in time for it to be in force during the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino. This is a very important demonstration of government commitment to our partnership in the fight against doping in sport." Thirty countries must ratify the Convention prior to December 31, if it's to become effective by February 1 and cover the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics. So, says, Pound, "WADA will create a special recognition for all countries that ratify the Convention by December 31st. We want to establish a permanent Wall of Fame in our headquarters for those countries who delivered on their promises made as early as two-and-half years ago and who have worked to make this Convention a reality." WADA has urged all of its Foundation Board members, including those from the sports movement, to encourage speedy ratification of the Convention. Pound will be requesting a progress report from its members at the forthcoming Executive Committee and Foundation Board meetings in November. Canada and the United States are both part of the 20-member Foundation Board.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 27, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #1266
FURLONG DEMANDS ESSO WITHDRAW MARKETING CONTEST THAT USES TORINO OLYMPIC TICKETS AS A PRIZE

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) has accused Imperial Oil's Esso division of ambush marketing by running a contest in which two tickets to a Torino Winter Olympics hockey game are part of the prize.

In a speech this morning in Calgary, VANOC CEO John Furlong said, "We respect Imperial Oil/Esso for their long-standing support and meaningful contributions to the development of Canadian hockey. I cannot believe that Esso would intentionally put at risk funding for Canadian athletes, sport and cultural legacies for all Canadians and the 2010 Winter Games. I think they have made a serious mistake and we're asking them to correct it by withdrawing the marketing campaign immediately."

The contest, called "Cheer on Canada - Torino, Italy" is worded this way: "Italy is beautiful. Hockey is exciting. Put them together and you have one amazing, unforgettable trip. Every Esso visit is a chance to win a week-long trip to Torino, Italy from February 13-19... where you and a friend can cheer on Canada's National Men's and Women's Hockey Teams!" The contest's main prize is a return business-fare trip for two, C$3,000 in cash and "Tickets for 2 to see two Men's and one Women's hockey game in Torino, Italy." The contest started October 3 and is due to run to January 22. The Torino Games start February 10.

"Attempts to make such false associations with the Olympic Games undermine the rights of Canadian companies that have committed significant financial resources to become Olympic sponsors and support the ambitions of Canadian athletes," maintains Furlong. "We cannot expect Canadian corporations to continue to support our Games and our athletes if their competitors are allowed to derive the benefit of their investments."

That last remark is a reference to the fact that in June, oil company Petro-Canada, an Esso competitor, struck a deal to contribute cash and supplies worth C$62.5 million to VANOC over the next eight years to be a national sponsor of VANOC.

Esso has not yet responded to VANOC's public demand, but Furlong's prepared speech, deliberately made in a city that holds one of Esso Canada's major offices, and during which he was flanked by Dave Cobb, VANOC's senior vice-president of Revenue, Marketing and Communications and Olympic gold medallist Mark Tewksbury, would appear to indicate that Esso officials had resisted the idea of cancelling the contest in behind-the-scenes discussions held between VANOC and Esso before the speech was made. However, Furlong says the company won't return his call. "It's so incredibly frustrating that this company would not even talk to us. I mean, if they won't even talk to us, we're not even able to properly articulate how significant and how damaging this is to what we're trying to do."

VANOC's logic goes like this: Although the Imperial Oil/Esso contest does not use the symbols of the Torino 2006 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, the reference is "clear and in direct association" with the Games. A VANOC spokesman says, "The referenced dates are during the Torino Winter Games. The referenced hockey games are the hockey games at the Torino Winter Games. The tickets to those hockey games will bear various Olympic marks and accreditations." They note that VANOC's major sponsors have negotiated "exclusive association" with the Olympic brand and the Canadian Olympic team through the next four Olympic Games: Torino 2006, Beijing 2008, Vancouver 2010 and London 2012.

Gerhard Heiberg, Chairman of the International Olympic Committee's Marketing Commission, says, "Sponsors who support the Olympic Games provide funds, as well as goods and services, to the organizing committee of the Games and the national Olympic committees who prepare the teams. Put quite simply, the Games could not take place without them. It is important that we protect our partners and that only those companies that support the Games, associate themselves with the Games and its values. Those companies that claim to be Olympic sponsors, and who are not, are not just hurting the Games, but more importantly the athletes. These companies are undermining the future of the Olympic Games and the dreams of the athletes."

RESOURCES

Esso's "Cheer on Canada - Torino, Italy" contest:

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 27, 2005

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Government| #1265
BC/CANADA PLACE AT TORINO OLYMPICS TO OPEN LATER, CLOSE EARLIER -- NOW, HOW WILL THEY EAT CAKE?

The BC Government's Olympics Secretariat, the agency that's supervising and coordinating the government's interests in the 2010 Winter Olympics, has begun setting the dates for specific events at BC/Canada Place, which it is setting up for marketing the 2010 Games, among other reasons, at the 2006 Winter Olympics.

The multi-million building was only due to be open and in use for about four months, but that was back in May. That's now slipped to about three months, since it will open later and close earlier. Now, as the building is being readied for its trip to Italy, the Secretariat planners have begun thinking about how to feed people at these events, and others that are expected to be scheduled directly, or through its sponsors and users of the venue. So it's willing to make what it thinks is a sweet offer to a catering company. We'll get to that in a moment.

First the events: The Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, take place February 10 - 26, while its corresponding Paralympic Games take place March 10-19. British Columbia Canada Place, as its more formally called, is now due, under a C$240,000 project-management contract held by Golder & Associates, to open on January 15, which is about a month later than planners expected only last May, and is expected to close on March 20, which is 11 days earlier than last expected.

Events scheduled so far include;

British Columbia Canada Place Grand Opening: January 22, 2006
Torino Opening Ceremonies Event: February 8
Tourism Industry Nights: February 13 and 14
Sponsored Reception: February 24
Torino Closing Ceremonies Event: February 25

Organizers at the Secretariat say that the sophisticated log-house type of building, constructed in BC by Sitka Spruce Homes for C$4 million and then taken apart and shipped to Italy for assembly in downtown Torino, is supposed to include "the finest British Columbia building materials and create an environment to showcase the newest and most advanced British Columbia and Canadian technologies."

In addition, they say, "The concept of the Place is that it contains an exhibition so innovative and so stunning that visitors to Torino will be motivated to visit or invest in BC."

The idea, as well, is to use the location to showcase British Columbia and Canada when the building plays host to Canadian athletes, dignitaries, businesses and media, as well as be open most days to the public, a public which is expected to be highly interested in all things Olympic.

Now the offer: The Secretariat says it is looking for a caterer to hire. But not just any caterer. Instead, it wants one that's willing to provide "a taste of British Columbia" and offer "international-calibre food and beverage". But it also has to arrange its own access to a commercial kitchen in Torino, set up storage facilities and transportation, to be responsible for insurance, permits and all the other regulatory requirements to do its job, and to provide and pay all the staff it wants to use and look after their housing and transportation needs.

It is also instructed to obtain "donated or subsidized British Columbia-based food and wine" that would be served in the building as a method of providing the Secretariat with what is being euphemistically called "budget relief." It would also like the caterer to have the "flexibility to respond to on-call and last-minute catering requirements."

The BC Secretariat, funded by the Ministry of Economic Development, hasn't yet set a budget for this part of the project; they want to see what how the proposals come in. They also want the caterer to deal with all the risks of the project -- which may involve scheduling problems or delays, problems training staff, problems with inconsistent products and delays getting the products to the BC/Canada Place, and difficulties getting the necessary licenses required in Torino.

Oh, yes. It also wants the caterer to have a "willingness to provide a cash and/or value-in-kind sponsorship" for BC Canada Place. If we read that right, we're fairly sure it means the Secretariat wants all this and to at least get parts of it for free or, happy day, to be paid for it.

Documentation connected with the project does not indicate any quid pro quo, such as marketing rights, to offset these requirements.

We probably shouldn't use the phrase "glutton for punishment" to a caterer, but if this sounds like a deal, you should contact the BC Secretariat before November 17.

RESOURCES

Mail to:

BC Secretariat
Purchasing Services Branch
Box 9476, Stn. Prov. Govt.
Victoria, B.C. V8W 9W6

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 26, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1264

Here are three moguls we ran into today:

VANOC'S PIN MAKER GETS TO THE POINT

Regina Leader-Post newspaper reporter Bruce Johnstone has gleaned some additional bits and pieces about the recent lapel-pin contract that Laurie Artiss Limited (LAL) of Regina won earlier this week from the 2010 Winter Olympics. LAL had answered the Request for Proposal by teaming up with Aminco International of Lake Forest, California, which had the contract for the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002, to do merchandising and marketing. Pins connected to Olympics are purchased traded and sold by the millions. LAL, which has supplied the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) for 18 years, will be producing about 2,000 designs on themes that involve sport, history and culture over the course of the agreement with the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC). Initial pins, based on the 2010 inukshuk logo, will be ready for retail sales in December, followed by some ski and hockey pins connected with February's start of the 2006 Olympics in Torino -- VANOC, through a marketing agreement with the COC, has Canadian rights to the Torino Games. The company expects to set up a small office in Vancouver, likely in 2008 or 2009, to help with the pin requirements, and they expect to take on additional artists. The terms of LAL's deal aren't disclosed, but the company says it has made "a tremendous financial commitment to VANOC for the license," and so the company must sell a considerable number of pins to offset the commitment. Laurie Artis, the person who began the firm after leaving his job as an editor of the Leader-Post, is now retired and living in B.C. Karen Pasterfield is the president, and her husband Chris Pasterfield is the vice-president. The company's core business is supplying pins for "schools, churches and local sporting groups," which it will continue to maintain.

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SAID TO HAVE NIXED SEPARATE SPORTS MINISTRY
Globe & Mail reporter James Christie writes today that the federal cabinet has decided it won't set up a separate ministry of sport with its own budget, although the Martin administration says it's still considering the concept. However, writes Christie, Paul DeVillers, the former secretary of state for physical activity and sport, whom Martin commissioned to write a report on the concept, is convinced the decision has been taken. He tendered his resignation as Martin's parliamentary secretary on October 5 over the matter, so the Simcoe North Ontario MP could "be free to speak out on the issue." The federal ministries of Health and of Heritage are responsible for various policies and budgets dealing with sport, recreation, fitness and "active living."

SAMSUNG'S TORINO OLYMPIC AD CAMPAIGN TO START A MONTH BEFORE GAMES
Co-marketing campaigns by major Olympic sponsors continue to ramp up. Samsung Electronics, an international sponsor of the Olympics, says its major advertising campaign to support the 2006 Torino Olympics and its connections to it will begin in January, about a month before the Italian Games begin. "The company expects to place a range of television, print, and outdoor advertisements in a number of selected markets around the world," a Samsung spokesman said. The company had annual sales of more than C$64 billion in 2004. The advertising agency involved in Samsung's Olympic project is Leo Burnett, part of the French advertising company, Publicis Groupe.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 26, 2005

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Government| #1263
WASHINGTON STATE EXPECTED TO GO AFTER SPORT EVENT "RELATED TO" 2010 OLYMPICS

Washington State governor Christine Gregoire is expected to announce Wednesday morning "a major sporting event related to the 2010 Winter Olympics will be sought for Spokane." The city, in the state's north-central area, is about 250 kilometres southeast of Vancouver, B.C.

Her office will say only that the state is planning a bid to host "the highest-profile Olympic sporting event outside of the actual Games."

Gregoire met earlier this month with BC premier Gordon Campbell, but there was no word at the time about this development.

She's expected to provide word that the state's financial support will be given to attract the 2009 world figure-skating championships. Toby Steward and Barb Beddor, the husband-and-wife team that is bringing the 2007 U.S. National Figure Skating Championships to Spokane, are expected to be at the announcement in the morning.

BACKGROUND
Our earlier story involving the Washington State governor:

'BC, Washington State sign co-operation MOU
to focus on 2010 Olympics and related issues'
[Morgan:News:2010:Number:1221; Published on Tuesday, October 11, 2005]

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 25, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #1262
ORGANIZATION OF CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICE TO DEPEND ON PERSON HIRED TO RUN IT

The senior vice-president of Sport for the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) says the development of the Chief Medical Office for the Games will depend on who's hired to run it. And that, in turn, depends on who applies for the job this month.

Cathy Priestner, whose duties include supervising the development of the medical-support system at the 2010 Games, says the Chief Medical Officer, expected to be hired next month, won't start developing the office until they return from helping with the Torino Olympics. The job requirements include the CMO being on the International Olympic Committee's medical commission at the Italian Games.

The CMO is responsible for a vast array of medical and related procurement and how the Games health system integrates with the public and emergency health systems during the development of the 2010 Games over the next four years.

"Our goal at this point is to know who the individual will be," says Priestner. "And then, depending on who they are, we're flexible in how we would build into the position, and how we support the position. If a person comes in who's very operational and they're ready to start in February, that's a possibility. But it may be that there's a bit more senior-administrative support for them while they ease out of other commitments."

She notes that since the office is usually run by a senior physician, they have to decide how their practice or similar obligations will be handled while they work on the Games. "Depending on the individual, we'll establish an office that will work for them and for us."

Priestner says the person selected for the Office is a doctor specializing in sport medicine who has extensive knowledge of the medical profession and can work easily with a range of other types of medical practitioners but who also knows their way around the labyrinth of the Canadian medical bureaucracy. The CMO also works with the World Anti-Doping Agency, run by VANOC director Dick Pound in Montreal, in setting up testing protocols and facilities at the 2010 Games.

"We'll also have a position," she says, "that's more of a senior administrator. That person would typically not be a doctor, but might be the senior administrator of a hospital or that kind of work."

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 25, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #1261
FARNHAM GLACIER PROJECT: ONE DOWN AND SKI-JUMPING TO GO FOR 2010 ORGANIZATION

The CEO of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) says the fulfilment of a deal to open up Farnham Glacier in the Rockies for summer training facilities by winter athletes was a special VANOC project that started in the spring of 2004.

And VANOC, says John Furlong, is just as determined to similarly support Canadian ski jumping, to the extent that it's become another fund-raising side project of the organization.

Canada's top alpine ski racers, freestyle skiers and snowboard athletes are expected be able to use a C$2-million training centre on the glacier, which is near Invermere, during the summers between 2006 and 2010. That's thanks to a deal was confirmed yesterday when the Brockville, Ontario, family of Don and Shirley Green agreed to contribute C$1 million to the project.

John Furlong says, "We made the decision a year ago we were going to find that million dollars, and I approached a number of companies, including [the then-CEO of Molson's Canada, Dan O'Neill]. Dan is a senior corporate leader in Canada, and has spent the last several months looking for ways to help us get that money. We were closing in on some possibilities when he met with this family, communicated the vision we had for Farnham Glacier, and they agreed to support us. Our role in it was that we were not going to stop until we got that million, and we basically connected the dots. Dan O'Neill did the final sales job on the family, and the family is just in awe of what they've done."

Furlong says there is a similar project on which VANOC is still working, "We want to... elevate the need to support ski jumping. It's a sport that is not being nurtured that well, so we have similar plans to try to find somebody to help them. [Ski Jumping Canada] benefits from the 'Own the Podium' program, but they're a long way back from some of the other sports. Our job is to try to find them some new assistance, so they can have some hope that when we have the Games here, Canadian [ski-jump] athletes are in the middle of it all. We have a long way to go there, but we're trying very hard to give them a hand as well."

VANOC's senior vice-president of Sport, Cathy Priestner, agrees. "We're talking with individuals and with companies about the sport." She adds that the "Own the Podium" program has accepted an application this month by Ski Jumping Canada to help provide funding to support the sport, which, she says, will allow its athletes to compete in both the Continental and World Cup circuits, instead of just one of them, which is necessary for the sport to qualify for the 2010 Games. Some of the OTP funds will be used for operational costs as well. "We're hoping to be able to achieve the same sort of success as we did with Farnham. We feel strongly that if we can get [corporate] support for them, it would be in everyone's best interest."

Facilities exist now. The national Ski Jumping Training Centre, which develops Canada's high-performance ski jump athletes, and promotes the sport across the country, is based at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary. And earlier this month, the Alberta Government injected C$600,000 into the support for the facility, and additional funding from the organization that runs the facility was advanced earlier this year.

Furlong says he's trying to find funding that will give Ski Jumping Canada what he calls the basics. "We want them to be able to sustain themselves, and then upping the ante by giving them additional coaching and science to apply to their training as they go forward. We're just looking to find enough financial support to make sure their program has enough funds in it that they can maintain it. It'll be the basic needs first, and after that take care of some of the other elements that we're talking about." That, he indicates, involves funding research and scientific aspects of the sport.

Priestner says that beyond trying to find funds for ski-jumping and "Own the Podium", VANOC does not have other Farnham-like projects in the pipeline, indicating VANOC should be able to turn its full attention to developing the facilities for the 2010 Games, once those aspects are completed.

BACKGROUND

The local stakeholders of the Farnham Glacier project include the Regional District of East Kootenay; RK Heli Ski, which uses the area for winter skiing; Glacier Resorts Ltd., which is proposing the massive all-season "Jumbo" ski resort for the area; Canfor, the forestry firm that has logging operations which use the Glacier's access road, but which currently stops 3.5 km from the glacier, and the Ministry of Forests. The approval to proceed with the Glacier idea was approved by the BC government until 2007 to give the government time to decide if it would approve the adjacent "Jumbo" resort. If it did, further talks by those backing the Farnham project would have to take place with Glacier Resorts.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 25, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #1260
CORPORATE SECTOR CONTRIBUTIONS MAY EXCEED "OWN THE PODIUM" BUDGET GOAL

The senior vice-president of Sport for the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) says she's amazed at how quickly governments and the private sector have "got on board" the 'Own the Podium' program. And it's possible its budget goals may be exceeded.

Cathy Priestner was commenting on the fact that VANOC has nearly completed the C$55 million worth of fund-raising during its discussions and agreements with its major corporate sponsors, including C$15 million confirmed by Bell Canada's CEO, Michael Sabia, yesterday. "Own the Podium" is a program designed to funnel funds to specific sports with the aim of ensuring Canada is the top medal winner at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games and at least third in the 2010 Paralympic Games.

Cathy Priestner's report in 2004 to the Canadian Olympic Committee about how Canada should focus its development funds on winter sports events triggered VANOC's support, and helped to bring in the federal government. She says, about the corporate sponsorship commitments so far, "Everybody has looked at this and said, 'It's kind of a no-brainer.' which you would never have thought a couple of years ago, considering the kind of approach and attitude Canada was taking to [sport development]." But she gives significant credit to federal sport minister Stephen Owen. After she and other VANOC officials met with him last year, he was able to convince his cabinet colleagues to support the other half of the C$110 million budget of the Program.

Priestner says the public will be hearing "a lot more support from our corporate sponsors" over the next few months, but she declined to say how much commitment has been made to VANOC by them so far. "We're feeling very confident because the initial response to the Program by all of them is the same as Michael's."

The VANOC SVP indicates it's possible that contributions by sponsors may go over VANOC's C$55 million goal. "Our first objective is winter sports 2010, and we've never said we're going to stop there. But that's our first obligation. And if there is more, this Program evolves." She notes that the summer Olympic sports federations in Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee have now started a similar program. "They're not nearly as far along as we are; we would look at their needs and see what we could do. But our commitment at this point is to just get the Winter Program funded."

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 25, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1259

Here are three moguls we ran into while talking briefly with the CEO of Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games, John Furlong:

VANOC'S FIRST BUSINESS PLAN STILL IN PROCESS

The first of an expected three major business plans of VANOC is still not ready for prime time. Several VANOC executives about a year ago expected it to be completed last spring, but a decision was made in the spring to postpone its release to this fall. Now, VANOC CEO John Furlong says, "No, it's not ready yet. We're not all signed off on it yet. We're getting close, but we have some pieces that are not ready yet. I'm not sure what the timing status of it is, but we're not there yet." Under the planning projections made by VANOC management a year ago, the 2005 business plan, which has to be approved by VANOC's board of directors, the BC and federal governments and the International Olympic Committee, would have been fairly rough and, as one said, "with all kinds of caveats stuck on it." A second one would likely be tabled in 2007, with major elements fine-tuned thanks to the experience of the Torino Games, revenue forecasts from the then-finalized TV sponsorships covering Australia, India and Japan, and information from the IOC's knowledge-transfer program, plus establishment of the sponsorships in at both Tier 1 and 2, and as more costs could be nailed down, such as the outcome of the 2006 and 2007 capital construction years. The final business plan, which would be the one VANOC would use up to, during and after the Games, would be provided to Canada's senior governments and the International Olympic Committee for approval in late 2008 or early 2009.

ONTARIO FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT WITH VANOC IN NEGOTIATION
Furlong says his next goal on expanding the psychological ownership of the Games across Canada is to sign an agreement with Ontario that is similar to the one inked with Quebec earlier this month. And he added, without elaborating on the topic, "We're currently recruiting a partner relationship so we can get additional help in bringing the rest of the country together, but the immediate effort is going to be Ontario." He said, however, that the Quebec French media were intrigued with the Quebec signing ceremony for that province's framework agreement, noting that three French TV channels carried the event live. "It was huge in Quebec. Huge. It was very positive."

SPRING PR TOUR TO HIT ON 'CANADIAN GAMES' THEME
Furlong's major public-relations tour across Canada, due to begin shortly after the Torino Olympics end next March, will, he says, focus on a theme on which he's worked for some time. "The number one objective will be to communicate that this is about all of us [Canadians], and not a few. This is about the whole country, and about giving Canadians a real connection with the vision that we have about making this Canada's Games. We're going to try to drive the values of the Games in the schools and communities across the country, to really make Canadians feel a sense of ownership about what we're doing. We'll do that with our partners, and really elevate the type of excitement there is about the project."

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 25, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Business| #1258
THE 2010 GAMES IN YOUR HAND: THAT'S THE PREDICTION OF BELL'S MICHAEL SABIA

In 2010, your cellphone is likely to chirp -- or whatever ring-tone you've designated -- and it won't be a colleague or a friend on the line, it'll be time to watch the live video feed of your favourite athlete ready to start their event. And if you can't answer, there's a good bet that it'll go to the video equivalent of voice-mail.

That's the kind of speculative scenario raised as the result of some comments made to Morgan:News:2010 by Michael Sabia, the CEO and president of Bell Canada, who says Canadians will be able to watch 2010's Olympic Games on their cellphones and similar cellular devices.

"Yes, certainly. By 2010, having video on a handset will be a relatively common thing. And certainly, for these Games, it will be," he says.

Sabia, whose company is the telecommunications sponsor for the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC), has said earlier that the telecommunications technology Bell is supplying will be using Internet protocols throughout.

"We'll be bringing to the Games the latest technology the world has to offer, and it will be fully integrated, such that we'll be able to put together data, video and voice, and work those off common platforms. It'll be a kind of communications experience by the time we get to 2010 that will be, I think, quite unique in what we'll be able to do. We'll have integrated use of wireless phones and cellphones, with landline and video communications. I think the world will see Canadian technological capability that will be really second to none."

If video-phone coverage is going to be relatively common by 2010, what will be the state-of-the-art part that Bell has in mind? "I think the quality of how that's done, the interfaces that are drawn between data and information that's coming [from the Games] and how that's presented and interfaced into the video experience itself. I think there are going to be a lot of interesting things we'll be able to do. But, who knows? In our business, in the next four years, who knows what the next, next thing will be? Our commitment is to make sure that leading-edge telecommunications capability is right here."

Sabia says construction of Bell's infrastructure for the 2010 Games has already begun. "We're now in the build activity itself. We've done a lot of the engineering work. We're actually in construction in some places, and some facilities are largely done in Vancouver and Whistler. We believe we're in quite good shape, and everything is moving along quite well."

Bell's telecom structure is just going to be one piece of the technology puzzle that will be assembled to support the 2010 Winter Games over the next four years. Atos Origin, the huge networking company, will be moving its Winter Olympics team from Torino to Vancouver once the Italian Games are over next spring, so it can start planning the integration between Bell and Swatch, the Swiss timekeeping company that will be returning to its Omega brand as it sets up to deliver the times and scores for all events of the 2010 Games.

As well telecommunications, networking and information generation all need to funnel to the traditional broadcast elements of satellite feeds, TV, radio and the Internet.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 25, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #1257
MARKETING SVP OFFERS THOUGHTS ON TIER 2 SPONSOR LOGISTICS, THE STATUS OF 2010'S TORINO CEREMONY AND A COUNTDOWN CEREMONY IN BC

As we waited at the back in a crowd for a VANOC event to play out, we talked to Dave Cobb, the senior vice-president of Revenue, Marketing and Communications of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC). Here's what we discovered:

Cobb says he expects to sign one or two Tier 2 sponsors before the end of the year. "Our plan was not to have any of those until '06, but I think we will have some before then. I'm hoping to get a couple done before the end of this year, but if it pushes into the new year, well, then we're still well within our plans."
Cobb says the eight-minute portion of the 2006 Olympics closing ceremony that is to be used to promote the 2010 Winter Games to the world-wide audience that'll be watching will start with the traditional and ceremonial hand-off of the Olympic flag by the mayor of Torino, Sergio Chiamparino, to the new mayor of Vancouver, who won't be known until the city's elections November 19. (Incumbent mayor Larry Campbell is stepping down. Campbell's last meeting in Vancouver Torino's mayor was in March, 2004, when the two mayors, on behalf of their cities, signed a "Convention of Co-operation," described as "an official pact that will see the two cities sharing social, cultural and economic knowledge and experiences.") What happens after the flag exchange during the closing ceremonies, though, is still being kept secret. Cobb says the planning for the event is well advanced, but sidestepped a question about whether rehearsals for what he called "the creative piece" had started, preferring instead to say it was being "worked on." He added, "Our people are in close contact with the people at Torino already, to make sure the transition to our piece fits with the overall program." We asked if the event would be a video, a staged event like the 2010 logo launch, or some combination. "It'll be partly a lot of things," was all he'd say. "We're keeping tight-lipped about it because we want it to be a surprise."
Cobb says VANOC will "probably" do an event to mark the four-year-out anniversary -- February 12, 2006 -- of the start of the 2010 Games, but he notes that almost all of VANOC's executive and quite a few of the staff will be at the Torino Olympics to see how they are run at that time. "I don't think it's going to be a huge event [in Vancouver], but we've done something in Whistler counting down the years," he says. "There will be something we'll be doing, but as far as it being a countdown event, we won't be spending a lot of time on it." The logistics and the decision-making that's going into getting all those VANOC people there, set up with a place to stay and integrated into the Games process -- including all the accreditation necessary -- has become known in-house as the VANOC Observer Program. The planning for that, says Cobb, is "well underway."

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 25, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1256

Here are three moguls we ran into today:

VANOC SIGNS MAJOR SPONSOR IN AUTOMOTIVE CATEGORY

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) has landed what is expected to be its final Tier 1 sponsorship, to join such firms as Rona, HBC, RBC Financial Group and Bell Canada. It's expected to make the announcement about which firm has been awarded the sponsorship in the Automotive category within a few days. It has not yet signed any Tier 2 category sponsors, although it is in discussions with 10 to 15 firms. It's been developing the concepts for how to deal with the Tier 2 category, starting in the late spring, refined them during the summer and now has staff working full time on arranging them.

BC FABRICATOR ADVERTISES FOR STEEL WORKERS IN WINNIPEG
Here's some powerful evidence of the tough time Greater Vancouver construction firms are having in getting skilled workers for projects during a time that's to include the build up of the 2010 Winter Olympics. A steel fabrication firm, Lower Mainland Steel of Surrey, a municipality south of Vancouver, is running ads on Manitoba radio in an effort to attract workers for major projects. Ron McNeil is the company's co-owner and manager, which has a five-acre plant; the firm is also closely connected to Rand Reinforcing, which acts as the firm's placement division.

TV SALES PROJECT TO RISE DUE TO ADVENT OF 2006 OLYMPICS
Here's a ripple effect of the strength of the Olympics broadcast contracts. Technitrol (NYSE:TNL) of Philadelphia, a technology company, says its Pulse subsidiary, which it bought just last month, reports that sales of televisions in Europe are "expected to strengthen into 2006 as a result of the Winter Olympics" that are to be held in Torino, Italy, starting in February. But, it also adds, that TV sales in that same financial quarter will also be bolstered by the effect of World Cup soccer matches.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 25, 2005

Monday, October 24, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #1254
GAMES IN A HURRY TO ACQUIRE 35,000 GOLD-COLOURED MEDALLIONS FEATURING 2010 LOGO

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) wants to have 35,000 gold-coloured, circular medallions made by the end of the year, which doesn't give the company that ends up doing it much time to make them.

According to a VANOC document, the five-centimetre-wide medallions are to have a front facade that "will present a unique image that honours some of the key participants in the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games." The document says that the design is to "include a central figure raised above the background face of the medallion and highly polished to reflect light and figuratively come to life."

The background and polished image are to be layered by various surface treatments or patinas of matte and gloss so that they "provide an illusion of depth."

However, the document does not say what image will be provided for the front; it's still being designed. The back face of the medallion, however, is ready to go: it will feature the Vancouver 2010 logo, as well as text in a circle around the outside of the logo that says "Olympic Winter Games, February -- Vancouver 2010 -- Jeux Olympiques D'hiver."

VANOC is being vague about what the medallions are for: however, the general idea is for VANOC "to provide a unique memento... to a broad group of participants." The medallions will not require engraving or a ribbon, but will need to be attached to an explanatory card measuring about 12 by 20 centimetres.

VANOC also wants 250 boxes for the medallions that have the 2010 logo either stamped or applied with the tone-on-tone process, plus another 250 boxes with the logo on the inside, so it shows when the box is left open, as in a presentation. It also wants 250 velvet pouches, with the VANOC logo on the outside, that will fit the medallion.

Companies have until November 4 to let VANOC know about their quote. The supplier will be selected, says the document, on Friday, November 11, which is a national holiday in Canada, with the company ready to start work on the approval process the following week. The company should be in production by November 21 with delivery on Thursday, December 29.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 24, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1253

Here are three moguls we ran into today:

VANOC TAPS REGINA COMPANY TO MAKE LAPEL PINS FOR 2010

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) has awarded its exclusive license to make lapel pins to Laurie Artiss Ltd. of Regina, Saskatchewan. The firm will manufacture, distribute and sell pins and accessories bearing the brands of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games. For the Vancouver 2010 pin program, Laurie Artiss will form a partnership with Aminco International (USA) Inc. of Lake Forest, California, to form a new company to fulfil unspecified licensing conditions. The terms of the deal were not released, however, a royalty is usually based on the quantity of the product sold at wholesale value. The pins will be available just barely in time for the Christmas retail season at stores belonging to the Hudson Bay Company, as well as in specific souvenir and gift shops in urban areas and ski resorts, starting in December. "Pins are one of the most popular, accessible and collectible products associated with the Olympic Winter Games," says Dave Cobb, VANOC's senior vice-president of Revenue, Marketing & Communications. Since 1988, when the International Olympic Committee officially recognized pins as Olympic Games memorabilia, about 30 million pins have been traded at Olympic Games just at pin trading centres run by IOC sponsor Coca Cola. Laurie Artiss was involved in the Calgary 1988 Olympic Winter Games pin program, as well as being a Canadian Olympic Committee pin supplier between then and 2004. Aminco has 28 years of experience and was the pin licensee for the Salt Lake 2002 Winter Games. The Vancouver 2010 exclusive pin license was awarded through a Request for Proposals process. The sale of Vancouver 2010 pins, and all officially licensed products, provide revenue to the Games.

BELL "OWN THE PODIUM" DEAL INCLUDES BRANDING ROYALTIES FROM TORINO MARKETING
There was a wrinkle to the Bell announcement it would be putting C$15 million toward the "Own the Podium" program: C$10 million of that will be from the funding it was directly providing as part of its sponsorship of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC). An additional C$5 million, also counted as part of its overall C$200 million support for VANOC as announced last January, is to be raised from the sale of "special Olympic-branded products" as part of Bell's marketing program for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.

ROCKIES SKI RESORT USES SNOW GUNS TO PREPARE FOR OLYMPIC-BOUND ATHLETES
The world's best ski-racers will train at Panorama ski resort, in the Rocky Mountains southwest of Banff, Alberta, starting November 4, preparing for the World Cup circuit and the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy. Canada, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Sweden are just some of the nations using the Alpine Canada-sanctioned race-training facility, which is expected to be tapped for training 2010-bound teams as well. Which is why snow guns are currently laying a base of machine-made snow on Show-off and Old Timer, preparing these runs for the event. First Tracks, a ski magazine, paraphrases Panorama's Snow-Making manager, Todd Partington, as saying Panorama is able to make snow on 40% of its terrain (over 2,800 acres and 4,000 vertical feet). Up to 70 snow guns can propel out the flakes at once, pumping up to 2,800 gallons of snow per minute onto the mountain, he said. He added that snowmakers control the type of snow that blankets the ski runs, based on what the runs are being used for. According to Partington, more water is used for building the snow base and on race-runs; less water is used for softer snow. The depth of snow accumulated from snowmaking is also dependent on the run. How much traffic the run gets, how steep it is and how much sun exposure it gets, all determine how much snow is needed on the run. "The steeper the run, the more snow that is needed, as more gets pushed off the sides," explained Partington. "We work with the groomers to determine when a run has enough snow, and depth can be anywhere from 30 cm on a flat run to 90 cm on a high traffic, steep run," he added. VANOC will be incorporating snow-making machinery for its Cypress Bowl facilities in West Vancouver.

RESOURCES

Laurie Artiss Ltd. Contact info:
www.thepinpeople.ca/contact.html

And for Aminco USA:

William Wu
President
Corporate Headquarters
Aminco International
20571 Crescent Bay Drive
Lake Forest, CA 92630
Phone: (949) 457-3261
Fax: (949) 457-3270

www.amincousa.com

A story written two years ago about the Olympic pin retail market:
www.sportsspin.com/categories/olympic/olympic_1.html

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 24, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1252

Here are three moguls we ran into today:

RCMP CITE 2010 "PREDICTABILITY" TO PITCH FOR SENIOR HR CONSULTANT

The RCMP is using "increased operational pressures flowing from predictable events such as the 2010 British Columbia Olympics" as one of several reasons it wants to spend up to C$500,000 to hire a senior project-management consultant. The consultant would work with the Canadian national police force's human-resource department and Project Management Office and RCMP headquarters in Ottawa "to ensure that the HR function delivers resources to meet the operational requirements of the business in a more efficient, effective and timely way," according to an RCMP-vetted document. There is, says the document, "a pressing need to ensure that the RCMP increases its ability to provide the right resources, at the right time, in the right place." The consultant would act as a "secretariat to the RCMP Business Transformation Leadership Office and the Integrated Project Management Team", and deal with "risk-and-issue tracking, impact assessments and mitigation strategies." It expects to hire the consultant in the last half of November.

VANCOUVER SCHOOL BOARD CONTEMPLATES ELEMENTARY "SHELL" FOR CITY'S OLYMPIC VILLAGE
The Vancouver School Board has approved a five-year capital plan that includes the possibility of an elementary school building constructed in the third year -- 2009 -- near the Vancouver Olympic Village athlete quarters. However the plan must first acquire provincial government approval, though not necessarily project-specific funding from that quarter. The buildings are expected to be designed for communal living for the athletes, but revert to standard, residential, apartment-style housing after the Games are finished. That, says the VSB, provides the opportunity to build a shell of a building as part of the Village that could become an elementary school afterward. The City of Vancouver will work with a private developer to deal with the industrial land between Cambie Bridge and Main Street, part of which will be used for an athletes' village during the 2010 Olympics. A school site is included in the plans, and the VSB suggests this might be away to get the building shell constructed for lesser cost to Vancouver than would otherwise occur. Planning for the school could begin about a year from now, with construction to start in 2008 and finished with the rest of the Village by November 1, 2009.

BELL RETURNS TO COSSETTE'S MARKETING FOLD
The use of the Cossette Communication Group, the Canadian-based international advertising and public relations agency, to work on today's Bell Canada announcement that it would contribute C$15-million to 2010's Own the Podium program, is making some sense now. We've learned that Cossette has again become lead agency for Bell Canada, which moved its English creative advertising, estimated at C$50 million, back to Cossette after a year with Grip Ltd., Toronto. All of Bell's media plus French creative, public relations, direct marketing, interactive marketing, business-to-business and other promotional material are already handled by Cossette. Vancouver-based Rethink, according to industry discussion, will be working with Cossette to develop English-language marketing. In essence, Bell was paying for the announcement's media relations and giving VANOC a marketing bump as it did so.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 24, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC, Business| #1251
BELL TO DESIGNATE C$15 MILLION TO SPORT RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY THAT SUPPORTS 2010 WINTER ATHLETES

Bell Canada said today it would provide C$15 million of its original sponsorship package for the 2010 Winter Games to help the Canadian Olympic Committee fund winter sport technological research through the "Own the Podium" program.

Bell's original sponsorship of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC), released last January, was valued by VANOC at C$200 million. It was mentioned at the time that Bell would be contributing to Own The Podium (OTP), but officials declined to say how much would be involved, although speculation expected it to range up to C$20 million.

OTP -- based on an extensive report written for the Canadian Olympic Committee by VANOC's senior vice-president of Sport, Cathy Priestner, and completed just as she started her 2010 job -- has a budget of C$110 million to be spent between now and 2010. It's goal is to make Canada the top medal winner at the 2010 Olympic Games, and the third-highest medal winner at the 2010 Paralympic Games.

The Bell funding is aimed at providing a major aspect of the OTP: to provide research and "development of innovative new technologies designed to improve athlete performance." A total of C$18 million over five years is budgeted for the so-called "Top Secret" section of OTP, a technological-research division designed "to provide Canadians with an edge over other countries in technology, equipment and training through applied research and development."

Bell president and CEO, Michael Sabia, who made the announcement, says Bell will provide the C$15 million in equal installments spread over five years. He added that while Bell has had discussions in general with the OTP staff about the directions of the research covered by the funding, he made it clear he is leaving it up to the OTP about how the money will be applied.

"We work pretty co-operatively with the national sporting federations and the Canadian Olympic Committee," he says, "and they're in the position to determine where the biggest contributions can be made, biggest advancements can be made, and where Canada is closest to having the potential to be on the podium or, indeed, to win a gold medal. What they're trying to do is match the technological issues with each one of those areas. We have talked with them about that, and are involved in it, but, clearly, they're the experts, and we're happy to support that.

Sabia says there are no telecommunications technology "in the specifics of Own the Podium." He added that there is a great deal of such technology involved in the Games, "but this [Own the Podium] has more to do with friction on ice and on snow, how to reduce wind resistance, and training techniques, and those are not things that telecommunications technology is focused on."

BACKGROUND

OTP documentation shows that "Top Secret" projects are grouped by theme and are expected to have impacts on more than one sport. They include research into air, ice and snow friction, training technology and techniques, injury prevention and sport-specific equipment.

Examples include wind-tunnel testing for skeleton, luge, alpine skiing, cross-country skiing and speedskating. The testing helps athletes learn the best body position and the aerodynamics of various suit materials, and designs can be examined. Video analysis of movement during a sport is being produced for research, there's new equipment provided to help coaches monitor athletes, and ice/snow friction research working groups have been formed to work on interrelated issues.

Paralympian sledge-hockey athletes are hoping that research on sledge sliding speed and new composites for sticks will also help their sport, skiers are focused on improving and tracking the dozens of types of wax that can be applied to their skis, and how the waxes interact with various types of snow, particularly the kind found in the Whistler area.

---

The announcement was made during what was, for VANOC, a relatively lavish media event staged at BC Place Stadium in downtown Vancouver, in a fourth-level reception area overlooking GM Place. Both buildings are venues for the 2010 Olympic Games.

The announcement, made by Bell Canada president and CEO, Michael Sabia, was backed by speeches from VANOC CEO John Furlong and VANOC's senior vice-president of Sport, Cathy Priestner; Lou Ragagnin, chief operating officer of the Canadian Olympic Committee; and by three Canadian Olympic athletes.

They were supported by a formal two-level stage, a triple podium on which the athletes could stand for news photos, a large solid blue backdrop to hold the logos of the organizations involved, and which incorporated a video screen roughly 10 feet by 25 feet.

The screen was used to feature two videos, one dealing in general with sports research. It was also used to show a slide photo of the federal government's minister responsible for Sport and the national government aspects of the 2010 Games, Stephen Owen, who gave a speech by amplified phone. Reporters were also provided with copies of the videos for TV newscasts, and technical support, including a teleconference, if they couldn't be at the event.

There were also a couple of emotional moments, one occurred as Priestner, during her speech mentioned Mark Lowry, the Canadian Olympic Committee's Executive Director of Sport, who died of cancer on Friday and who was one of the main people involved in setting up the "Own the Podium" program, and a similar moment happened during Ragagnin's speech, when he also mentioned Lowry.

Sabia and his senior executives arrived and left by limousine. Furlong left by cab.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 24, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #1250
VANOC MAKES INTRODUCTIONS THAT RESULT IN FUNDING FOR FARNHAM GLACIER SUMMER SKI CAMP

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) has helped make the introductions necessary to connect a wealthy Ontario family to the Olympic sports industry. The result: Canada's top alpine ski racers, freestyle skiers and snowboard athletes will be able to use a C$2 million glacier training centre in B.C. during the summers between now and 2010.

The training centre, located on Farnham Glacier in southeastern British Columbia east-southeast of Invermere, is expected to be named "Camp Green on Farnham Glacier Ð High Performance Training Facility," in recognition of the C$1 million contributed by the Don and Shirley Green family, from Brockville, working with the Calgary Olympic Development Agency (CODA), VANOC, Alpine Canada, the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association and the Canadian Snowboard Federation. One million dollars in matching capital costs is to be contributed by CODA, plus C$350,000 for annual operating costs. The facility, reviewed and approved by B.C. Land and Water Corporation, will open next summer.

VANOC CEO John Furlong says, "It has been a privilege for VANOC, together with Dan O'Neill [former executive for Molson's Canada], to have played a part in bringing this dream to reality. He said that VANOC "worked closely with Dan O'Neill to introduce the Green family to the project [and] thanks to the generosity and vision of Don and Shirley Green, and CODA's commitment to Canadian sport, 'Camp Green' will no doubt play a key role in Canada's success in 2010."

The new facility, being set up in an effort to boost Canada's performance at home in 2010, according to Don Green. "With this new training facility, it is my sincere hope that Camp Green on Farnham Glacier will help provide our athletes with one of the many pieces needed to help them achieve gold in 2010."

John Mills, president of CODA, the legacy organization of the 1988 Olympic Winter Games in Calgary says, "This project represents a multi-year effort to give our athletes access to cost-effective, year-round, leading-edge training facilities at home, and that is what our country must have if we are to attain the goal of becoming a world-leading winter sports nation by 2010."

This is not VANOC's first involvement in the project. VANOC's predecessor organization, the Vancouver 2010 Bid Corporation, along with CODA, 2010 LegaciesNow, the Canadian Olympic Committee and the national sports organizations, operated a C$1 million pilot project on Farnham Glacier in 2003, which was later termed "highly successful." Snowcats, machines that are traditionally used for winter operations at CODA's Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, were used with helicopters as transportation to training runs.

CODA will use the money and other support to complete the project, including construction of access roads and a base camp. Up to 40 athletes are to be housed in modern tent shelters, with access to good food and support services.

"Having Camp Green in Canada for snow-sport athletes is long overdue, and I am very appreciative of the efforts that have been made," said Thomas Grandi, two-time World Cup gold medallist in alpine skiing. "The Europeans have always had the advantage on us because they train on some of the best glaciers in the world. We have one in our backyard, and to be able to make use of it is important for the development of Canadian athletes."

The Farnham Glacier site (Camp Green) will provide an alternative to costly summer training for Canadian athletes, who have usually trained in Southern Hemisphere or on European glaciers during Canadian summers.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 24, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |IOC| #1249
COC'S EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF SPORT, MARK LOWRY, 51, DIES OF PANCREATIC CANCER

Mark Lowry, the Canadian Olympic Committee's Executive Director of Sport. Lowry, 51, has died in his sleep at his home in Ottawa. He had been suffering from pancreatic cancer for the past two years.

"We are devastated by the loss of such a passionate and knowledgeable sport leader, and offer our deepest condolences to Mark's family," said Chris Rudge, CEO of the Canadian Olympic Committee. "Right to the end, Mark dedicated his career to advancing the cause of athletes and sport in Canada. His lasting legacy will be the successes of the many Canadian athletes and coaches who benefited from the high-performance programs -- including the Own the Podium-2010 program -- which Mark helped to create."

Lowry's last public appearance connected to the 2010 Winter Games was last July, when he was in Vancouver to start the hunt for office space for his organization as part of the COC's official evaluation and preparations for the 2010 Games. And, at the same time, he had also supplied the COC with a draft competition schedule for run-up to the 2010 Games, but at the time he had declined to be specific about which international sports federations were so far signed up to hold sanctioned events at 2010 venues before the Games.

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC)and its telecommunications sponsor, Bell Canada, are to make an announcement about the "Own the Podium" program later today.

Lowry joined the COC in June of 1997 as the Executive Director, Sport with overall responsibility for Canada's participation at the Olympic and Pan American Games, athlete and coach programming and support to National Sport Federations.

Lowry leaves his wife Jennifer and his son, Brendan, 20.

The COC, in response to the wishes of the Lowry family, has established "The Mark Lowry Memorial Fund" to benefit Canada's Olympic athletes and coaches.

Private funeral services and a memorial service are being planned for this week in Ottawa.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 24, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1253

Here are three moguls we ran into today:

VANOC TAPS REGINA COMPANY TO MAKE LAPEL PINS FOR 2010

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) has awarded its exclusive license to make lapel pins to Laurie Artiss Ltd. of Regina, Saskatchewan. The firm will manufacture, distribute and sell pins and accessories bearing the brands of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games. For the Vancouver 2010 pin program, Laurie Artiss will form a partnership with Aminco International (USA) Inc. of Lake Forest, California, to form a new company to fulfil unspecified licensing conditions. The terms of the deal were not released, however, a royalty is usually based on the quantity of the product sold at wholesale value. The pins will be available just barely in time for the Christmas retail season at stores belonging to the Hudson Bay Company, as well as in specific souvenir and gift shops in urban areas and ski resorts, starting in December. "Pins are one of the most popular, accessible and collectible products associated with the Olympic Winter Games," says Dave Cobb, VANOC's senior vice-president of Revenue, Marketing & Communications. Since 1988, when the International Olympic Committee officially recognized pins as Olympic Games memorabilia, about 30 million pins have been traded at Olympic Games just at pin trading centres run by IOC sponsor Coca Cola. Laurie Artiss was involved in the Calgary 1988 Olympic Winter Games pin program, as well as being a Canadian Olympic Committee pin supplier between then and 2004. Aminco has 28 years of experience and was the pin licensee for the Salt Lake 2002 Winter Games. The Vancouver 2010 exclusive pin license was awarded through a Request for Proposals process. The sale of Vancouver 2010 pins, and all officially licensed products, provide revenue to the Games.

BELL "OWN THE PODIUM" DEAL INCLUDES BRANDING ROYALTIES FROM TORINO MARKETING
There was a wrinkle to the Bell announcement it would be putting C$15 million toward the "Own the Podium" program: C$10 million of that will be from the funding it was directly providing as part of its sponsorship of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC). An additional C$5 million, also counted as part of its overall C$200 million support for VANOC as announced last January, is to be raised from the sale of "special Olympic-branded products" as part of Bell's marketing program for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.

ROCKIES SKI RESORT USES SNOW GUNS TO PREPARE FOR OLYMPIC-BOUND ATHLETES
The world's best ski-racers will train at Panorama ski resort, in the Rocky Mountains southwest of Banff, Alberta, starting November 4, preparing for the World Cup circuit and the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy. Canada, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Sweden are just some of the nations using the Alpine Canada-sanctioned race-training facility, which is expected to be tapped for training 2010-bound teams as well. Which is why snow guns are currently laying a base of machine-made snow on Show-off and Old Timer, preparing these runs for the event. First Tracks, a ski magazine, paraphrases Panorama's Snow-Making manager, Todd Partington, as saying Panorama is able to make snow on 40% of its terrain (over 2,800 acres and 4,000 vertical feet). Up to 70 snow guns can propel out the flakes at once, pumping up to 2,800 gallons of snow per minute onto the mountain, he said. He added that snowmakers control the type of snow that blankets the ski runs, based on what the runs are being used for. According to Partington, more water is used for building the snow base and on race-runs; less water is used for softer snow. The depth of snow accumulated from snowmaking is also dependent on the run. How much traffic the run gets, how steep it is and how much sun exposure it gets, all determine how much snow is needed on the run. "The steeper the run, the more snow that is needed, as more gets pushed off the sides," explained Partington. "We work with the groomers to determine when a run has enough snow, and depth can be anywhere from 30 cm on a flat run to 90 cm on a high traffic, steep run," he added. VANOC will be incorporating snow-making machinery for its Cypress Bowl facilities in West Vancouver.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 24, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1252

Here are three moguls we ran into today:

RCMP CITE 2010 "PREDICTABILITY" TO PITCH FOR SENIOR HR CONSULTANT

The RCMP is using "increased operational pressures flowing from predictable events such as the 2010 British Columbia Olympics" as one of several reasons it wants to spend up to C$500,000 to hire a senior project-management consultant. The consultant would work with the Canadian national police force's human-resource department and Project Management Office and RCMP headquarters in Ottawa "to ensure that the HR function delivers resources to meet the operational requirements of the business in a more efficient, effective and timely way," according to an RCMP-vetted document. There is, says the document, "a pressing need to ensure that the RCMP increases its ability to provide the right resources, at the right time, in the right place." The consultant would act as a "secretariat to the RCMP Business Transformation Leadership Office and the Integrated Project Management Team", and deal with "risk-and-issue tracking, impact assessments and mitigation strategies." It expects to hire the consultant in the last half of November.

VANCOUVER SCHOOL BOARD CONTEMPLATES ELEMENTARY "SHELL" FOR CITY'S OLYMPIC VILLAGE
The Vancouver School Board has approved a five-year capital plan that includes the possibility of an elementary school building constructed in the third year -- 2009 -- near the Vancouver Olympic Village athlete quarters. However the plan must first acquire provincial government approval, though not necessarily project-specific funding from that quarter. The buildings are expected to be designed for communal living for the athletes, but revert to standard, residential, apartment-style housing after the Games are finished. That, says the VSB, provides the opportunity to build a shell of a building as part of the Village that could become an elementary school afterward. The City of Vancouver will work with a private developer to deal with the industrial land between Cambie Bridge and Main Street, part of which will be used for an athletes' village during the 2010 Olympics. A school site is included in the plans, and the VSB suggests this might be away to get the building shell constructed for lesser cost to Vancouver than would otherwise occur. Planning for the school could begin about a year from now, with construction to start in 2008 and finished with the rest of the Village by November 1, 2009.

BELL RETURNS TO COSSETTE'S MARKETING FOLD
The use of the Cossette Communication Group, the Canadian-based international advertising and public relations agency, to work on today's Bell Canada announcement that it would contribute C$15-million to 2010's Own the Podium program, is making some sense now. We've learned that Cossette has again become lead agency for Bell Canada, which moved its English creative advertising, estimated at C$50 million, back to Cossette after a year with Grip Ltd., Toronto. All of Bell's media plus French creative, public relations, direct marketing, interactive marketing, business-to-business and other promotional material are already handled by Cossette. Vancouver-based Rethink, according to industry discussion, will be working with Cossette to develop English-language marketing. In essence, Bell was paying for the announcement's media relations and giving VANOC a marketing bump as it did so.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 24, 2005

Friday, October 21, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1248

VANCOUVER CLEARS FOUR FIRMS FOR CITY'S OLYMPIC VILLAGE RFP

The City of Vancouver has approved the RFP process all four firms that expressed an interest in becoming the developer for the 2010 Olympic Village and, later, the southeast False Creek area that encompasses the Village. The Request for Proposal stage involves the four companies receiving a detailed brief on what the City and the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) expects from the development, including its timing. The firms approved include: Concord Pacific; The Millennium Group; Wall Financial; and a team comprised of the Windmill Development Group, Great West Life Realty Group and BCIMC. Concert Properties, a fifth firm that also submitted a response to the EOI stage withdrew the day following the announcement due to a perceived conflict of interest. A report to Vancouver City Council by staff, headed by Southeast False Creek project manager Jody Andrew said, "The evaluation committee is pleased to report that the four submissions reflect the efforts of four world class development teams, and all four submissions meet the evaluation criteria. As a consequence, all four teams are recommended by staff to be advanced to the next phase of the selection process." The detailed RFP will be structured using a triple bottom-line approach, according to the report, "specifically measuring the economic, social and environmental bottom lines of the respondents’ proposals against key sustainability criteria. The RFP will be a performance-based evaluation approach and will not require a detailed architectural design submission." The RFP is due to be issued before the end of October, and will include a deadline likely set within November.

CONSULTING FIRM HIRED TO WORK ON CULTURAL STRATEGY CONNECTED WITH OLYMPICS
North Sky Consulting has been hired by the City of Vancouver to help develop a a strategic arts-and-culture program and investment plan for Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, for C$75,000, as part of the area's enhancement connected with the 2010 Olympics. The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) is not directly involved, however. The firm will be working with a steering committee made up of representatives from the Arts Now program of 2010 Legacies Now; the Vancouver Agreement Economic Revitalization and Employment Strategy Task Teams; the Cultural Services Branch of the British Columbia Ministry of Tourism, Sport and the Arts; the British Columbia Ministry of Community Services; as well as City staff from Planning, Park Board and Cultural Services. The Arts and Culture Strategic Framework and Investment Plan consultancy will be coordinated by the City's Office of Cultural Affairs, and supervised by the Steering Committee. The City is being used as a pipeline for senior-government funding grants totalling C$75,000 from the Vancouver Agreement through the federal government's Western Economic Diversification Canada (C$25,000), Cultural Services Branch of the BC Ministry of Tourism, Sports and the Arts (C$25,000), and ArtsNow (C$25,000), a division of 2010 LegaciesNow.

VANOC BROADCASTER TO WORK UP WHODUNNIT SERIES FOCUSED ON WHISTLER
CTV, the Canadian television network that won the right to broadcast the 2010 Winter Olympics, says it will start filming a new murder-mystery TV series next month about discovering who killed a fictional Olympian who won a gold medal at the Torino Olympics. The one-hour drama series, entitled "Whistler", is due to launch next March, right after the Torino Winter Games finish. It will be aimed at the 15-to-40-year old demographic, and is budgeted at C$1.5 million per episode. Producers Sam Feldman and Janet York of Boardwatch Production, which is working with Blueprint Entertainment on the series, is hoping to eventually provide a four-season plan that will take the series right up to the launch of the 2010 Winter Games, thus capitalizing on the building interest of the Games between now and then. Although the series will ostensibly be about the 2010 resort municipality, the actual filming will occur in Langley, with outdoor scenes of Whistler and its surrounding mountains added as necessary, because, ironically, the producers felt the work on the Sea-to-Sky highway that connects West Vancouver and Whistler, underway as part of the BC government's promises to the International Olympic Committee made during the effort to get the Games, made it too difficult for production scheduling.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 21, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Paralympic| #1247
VANOC PARALYMPIAN DIRECTOR INDUCTED TO TERRY FOX HALL OF FAME IN TORONTO

The Canadian Foundation for Physically Challenged Persons today inducted Patrick Jarvis, one of the directors of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC), to the Terry Fox Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Toronto.

Jarvis, who is also the president of the Canadian Paralympic Committee, was honoured for "a lifetime of outstanding work for athletes with a disability."

Jarvis, 47 and from Calgary, was recently nominated for a member-at-large position on the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Governing Board, an international posting. The former Paralympian also represents the IPC on the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games Coordination Committee.

The Terry Fox Hall of Fame is a program of the Canadian Foundation for Physically Challenged Persons.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 21, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |General| #1246
U.S. MAGAZINE SAYS PLANNING IS KEY TO ENSURING A GOOD OUTCOME FOR OLYMPIC HOST CITIES

An editorial by the senior writer of the American-based "Amusement Business" magazine, Steve Cameron, says that the difference between an Olympics that's good for a host city, and one that's bad, is planning, not the event itself.

His column, headlined "Olympics don't have to be a dash to financial disaster", appears in the current issue of the noted business publication that bills itself as covering the "out-of-home entertainment industry," and regularly covers the business side of large, professional entertainment events. It has a paid circulation of 8,000 and a pass-around circulation of about 24,000.

Cameron, who lives in Scotland, suggests, "It has become fashionable among sports economists to pooh-pooh the Olympic Games as hyped, monstrously expensive to stage and a drain on local taxpayers who get little in return."

He discusses cities such as Montreal, which he notes is often used as a model of Olympic mismanagement, then adds, "Frankly, I don't buy it. Certainly it's true that staging an Olympics, summer or winter, is not only expensive but inconvenient for locals who must endure years of construction chaos, transportation renovations, etc... What I don't think... [the] number crunchers can do, however, is walk the streets of most Olympic cities and find a majority of people who wish the Games had never come."

Cameron says that as for the nuts and bolts of staging the Games and having something to show for it afterward, "Well, that simply comes down to good planning. Sure, cities can build useless venues and spend a dozen fortunes doing it -- but that's on them. They blew it, pure and simple," he notes.

"The trick," he says, "is to pick up that magic Olympic spirit and let it zing through your population, all the while using the momentum of the Games to renovate your city, beef up its infrastructure and improve the overall quality of life... I agree with the economists who say that hosting the Olympics costs tons of money and some cities have gotten it wrong. Or parts of it, anyway. Where we differ, however, is on the notion that the Olympics are doomed to be disasters. The host city that does it right gets every prize: attention from the world, glamour aplenty, incredible pride and, finally, a better place to live once the cameras leave town."

He concludes by suggesting that, "Smart people win in every business, and that includes the Olympic Games."

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 21, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Business, VANOC| #1245
BELL CANADA, VANOC, EXPECTED TO ANNOUNCED
SIZE OF BELL'S CONTRIBUTION TO "OWN THE PODIUM" ON MONDAY

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) is expected to make a "major announcement" Monday, but it appears it won't be about its own operations this time.

The announcement is connected with its support of the Canadian Olympic Committee's "Own the Podium" program, for which VANOC had agreed to use its influence to help raise half of the C$110 million budget from private companies, with governments covering the rest. VANOC CEO John Furlong in July said that almost 80% of the funding had been secured by that point with commitments from the governments of Canada and British Columbia, and VANOC’s major sponsors.

Furlong is to be on hand for the announcement, and with him will be the president and CEO of Bell Canada, VANOC's telecommunications sponsor, Michael Sabia. It's expected that Bell will finally be announcing the amount of its support to the "Own the Podium" program. The size of its contribution was arranged as part of Bell Canada's C$200 million sponsorship of VANOC but when the announcement of that was made early this year, Bell and VANOC would only say the contribution was "significant." Olympic officials in Canada speculated later it could range up to C$15 million.

Sabia will be arriving in Vancouver over the weekend from New Brunswick, where he was setting up the funding for C$1.5 million university chair in nanotechnology, and after a busy week in which he reorganized the duties of senior executive Steven Wetmore to make him Bell's group president of corporate performance and national markets. Wetmore was in Vancouver last January to discuss Bell's C$2-milion contribution over four years, another part of its VANOC-related support, but at that time the funding was going to the Vancouver Agreement, which is to help improve Vancouver's downtown eastside as part of the City of Vancouver's commitments to the International Olympic Committee. And, last week as well, Sabia announced he had hired an executive from his major competitor, Telus Mobility president George Cope, to run Bell Canada's basic phone, Internet and television operations, starting in January.

The "Own The Podium" program, co-authored by VANOC's senior vice-president for Sport, Cathy Priestner, was completed last year, just as she began her job with VANOC, and called upon all the organizations involved in the development and support of high-performance sport in Canada to unite under a common vision of funding the things that were needed to recruit, develop and support athletes in the Winter Olympic's 13 major winter sports so they can place as high as possible in pre-Olympic contests, such as World Cup events, and then convert their placements into medal performances during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

The "Own the Podium" program's C$110 million budget is to be spent on specific Winter sports during the years between now and 2010 to help with the necessary support, technology and training to make Canada the country winning the most medals in 2010. In order to accomplish that goal, Canada would need to win a total of 35 medals, compared to the 17 it won during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, when it ranked fourth.

VANOC's media-relations department was beefed up in the last couple of weeks, but Cossette Communications, a Quebec-based, international public relations company with offices in Vancouver, was hired to represent VANOC in helping with the media support of the announcement.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 21, 2005

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1244

Here are three moguls we ran into today:

MORE WINTER OLYMPIC CELL-PHONE GAMES ON THEIR WAY

More cell-phone games featuring athletic celebrities are going to appear shortly before the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino. The games are aimed at achieving two goals: making money and marketing the Olympics. NBC Sports, which is broadcasting both the Torino and the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, and a software publisher, AEGF Mobile Games, have teamed up in a deal with US skier Bode Miller, who is slated to go after his first Olympic medals in Italy. They've signed a two-year, international, exclusive license to create and publish Bode Miller skiing games, with the first one to arrive in January, for mobile communications devices such as cellphones and PDAs. Under the deal, NBC Sports and AEGF will use Miller's name and likeness, as well as his "creative input," to develop mobile games for his fan base -- which is described as "avid" -- as well as for the public. The game will be funded, branded and marketed by NBC Sports, as it thinks Miller will do particularly well at Torino. Ken Schanzer, president of NBC Sports, says there will be more such games on the way, "We look forward to introducing more games based on a variety of sports in the coming months." The deal was negotiated for Miller by Lowell Taub of the SFX Sports Group. AEGF Mobile Games was formed by Abandon Entertainment, Inc. and GF Capital Management and Advisors, LLC, an investment firm.

VANOC LOOKING FOR STAFFER TO SUPPORT ITS OFFICE TECHNOLOGY
VANOC will soon be hiring some internal-technology support, but the main part of the work won't be the usual "I pressed F-11 and the screen went dark" response. The new support staffer will be available to help staff deal with their landlines, cell phones and voice-mail, particularly when the entire head office moves from the downtown Vancouver business core to east Vancouver in the new year, as well as handling issues with staff Blackberries, handling e-mail and related communications as new staff arrive or move on, teaching new people how the technology works and how VANOC internal policies are related to it, tracking various communication-equipment inventories, and, of course, handling help-line type requests connected with desktop computers, laptop computers, printers and Microsoft software.

VANOC TO HIRE VIK MANAGER NEXT MONTH
Also slated to start work about the beginning of November: a manager to track the implementation of the various Value-in-Kind (VIK) agreements that VANOC has reached with 2010 sponsors Hudson's Bay Company and Petro-Canada and Rona and "other suppliers." VIKs are materials or services that are provided by sponsors instead of, or along with, cash, as it's less expensive for sponsors to provide them than their retail equivalent in cash. VIK arrangements also cross what VANOC refers to as Functional Areas and that, too, has to be managed. In this particular case the VIK manager reports to VANOC's Financial Services director, but works closely with the Marketing department, since the sponsorship agreements are set up there, and with the International Olympic Committee, which has its own set of sponsors that provide VIK, and with VANOC's auditors to ensure the VIK arrangements are properly recorded. There's quite a bit accounting, contract-management, valuation, invoicing and database-management that's associated with the VIK, so someone with a Canadian accounting designation -- CA, CGA or CMA -- is expected to be hired.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 20, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1243

Here are three more moguls we ran into today:

WHISTLER TO HOST ALPINE CANADA'S CHAMPIONSHIP SKI SERIES

One of the major sports organizations involved with the 2010 Winter Games, Alpine Canada, says Whistler Mountain has agreed to host the federation's 2006 Pontiac-GMC Canadian Alpine Ski Championships. That's the location where the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) will be holding its giant slalom and slalom events; the events were originally set to take place on nearby Blackcomb Mountain, but moved in a decision approved last January by VANOC's board of directors. The Canadian Alpine championships are a national race series designed to help high-level skiers get competitive-racing experience for international competitions in giant slalom and slalom. The junior and senior group participants, who can be as young as 15, compete against their peers and against members of the Canadian Alpine Ski Team. Two athletes are awarded C$5,000 the following season after point totals are considered. A total of C$40,000 in prize money is awarded to club and provincial team athletes.

ITALY WARNS OFF OLYMPICS AMBUSH, PARASITE MARKETING
So far, the only things that have surfaced about what VANOC has done on brand protection: it's registered 88 trademarks, issued some tough-sounding letters, initiated an occasional court action, produced a batch of pamphlets, created an official "Logo and Official Marks Policy" and offered a batch of personal persuasion. The Torino Winter Olympics organizing committee, TOROC, however, has a stronger point of view. It has just launched a print and TV advertising campaign that will run between now and December in Italy. It uses humour to get across its point that Olympic brand protection in Italy will be taken darned seriously in the run-up to the Games, which start February 10, as well as during them and after them. The campaign is based on a new Italian law, approved in August, which provides fines of up to e100,000 (about C$140,000) for unauthorized use of the brands, or for ambush marketing or parasite marketing connected to the use of the Torino or Olympic trademarks. Violations are determined by the Guardia di Finanza -- Italy's commercial police -- by Italian state police and by the country's Carabinieri -- Italy's para-miliary police -- all of whom have the authority to confiscate any products, sales goods or materials distributed in violation of the law, which is in force until the end of 2006.

"RARE" 2010 OLYMPICS PIN FAILS TO SELL ON E-BAY
You can buy all sorts of odds and ends on E-Bay, including, it turns out, a "very rare Olympic pin for the 2010 Vancouver games." The seller, who apparently lives in Montreal, goes by the moniker of "octobre72", started the bidding at C$5.84 (plus $3 shipping) and adds, somewhat breathlessly -- and we're quoting exactly here -- "The pins were release in a very limited edition from one of the sponsors of those olympic games. (BELL) Hurry up and don't hesitate to bid on this magnificient piece of history that will bilt in value has the games comes buy. Please bid with confidence since my 100% feedbacks. the pin says ''Bell'' on the back of the pin, the logo is printed. DON'T MISS THAT CHANCE TO BE ONE OF THE FEW TO HAVE ONE OF THIS PIN!!!!!" Oooo-kay... let's just turn down October72's volume for a moment while we have a look at the fuzzy, out-of-focus image of the pin on the website page. The bidding, by the way, ended 24 hours after it began and there were no takers. We asked VANOC how many of Bell's pins are in circulation to see how "rare" they are, but they, um, found more important things to do. Since we've seen them handed out like candy at events, we suspect there are quite a few of these "rare" pins around.

RESOURCES

Definition of "ambush marketing": This term originally referred to activities of companies who tried to associate themselves with the Olympics, without paying a sponsorship or licensing fee, but now refers to that type of marketing at any major event. The BC government has agreed to buy up all the billboards for some distance around all of VANOC's competition venues during the 2010 Winter Games to ensure the competition of VANOC's sponsors don't take advantage.
Definition of "parasite marketing": This term refers to companies who are shut out of an event but which run ads featuring athletes attending the event. The shut-out firms set up a celebrity-endorsement contract before the event begins so they can capitalize on news coverage of the athlete at the event itself, and claim, as Nike once did, "Our athletes are on the field and using our products... it makes perfect sense to communicate that fact to our customers. We don't ambush market. We're within the rules of what we can do." On the other hand, FIFA, the international soccer federation, recently threatened to sue 600 companies from 50 countries that were doing that sort of marketing during a World Cup soccer event, and that included Nike and Pepsi.

RESOURCES

VANOC's formal ""Logo and Official Marks Policy" in a 92k PDF file:
http://www.vancouver2010.com/NR/rdonlyres/E105800D-700D-4ACA-9D9B-1A15053BB694/0/Respecttherings_EN.pdf

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 20, 2005

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Government| #1242
WHISTLER AGREES TO BUILD VANOC'S PARALYMPIC SLEDGE-HOCKEY RINK

Whistler Municipal Council has voted unanimously to bite the bullet and accept the C$20 million offered by VANOC to build a Paralympic sledge hockey venue in Whistler, even though they're not yet sure how it's going to look or how to pay for it.

The decision, which involved a lot of negotiating and debate, solidifies the location of one of the major competition venues for the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC), and it also locks in yet another chunk of VANOC's squeaky-tight capital budget.

Whistler council has also voted to continue exploring the two concepts proposed for Lot 1 (from Eldon Beck and from a local business group), along with potential commercial components on Lot 9, and to decide as soon as possible whether a referendum is needed for the project.

Council has also asked Whistler City staff to continue working on the cost of twinning the Meadow Park Sports Centre for a practice facility, so that public will have a better understanding of the costs associated with that fallback position should a referendum be needed.

VANOC has agreed to amend its Venue Agreement, reached in 2002 to increase its contribution by C$8 million, so the funds can be applied to construction of a practice facility, if the RMOW cannot proceed with the development of an arena. That would allow the municipality to plan a facility and test public support to pay for it without risking the loss of potentially developing a second practice ice surface at Meadow Park. The amendment to the deal, however, is subject to approval by the Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia. VANOC told Whistler staff that while it understands Whistler's challenges, it prefers the municipality build the Paralympic sledge hockey facility.

VANOC, as the debate over the idea flowed through the summer and into the fall, had begun holding talks with Squamish and nearby Pemberton about the sledge-hockey rink if Whistler turned the project down. Those talks are now on hold.

The International Paralympic Committee and the Canadian Paralympic Committee have also told Whistler that while their desire for a compact Games is important, it has to be "balanced with the practicalities of all associated costs and the long-term needs of the community." An additional ice surface is critical to the success of the Paralympic Games, council was told, as the teams need to have access for practice.

During the Whistler council meeting, staff discussed the budget of a bare-bones arena, two innovative options that keep with the design standards of the village, and the idea of twinning the sports centre.

The current estimate for the open-air concept from Eldon Beck, which was supported by the Advisory Planning commission, is C$32 million, which includes a leisure ice sheet that could contain an internationally sized ice sheet. It is to have a permanent, tensile membrane roof open on the sides, a two- or three-storey, 3,510 square metre building on Lot 9 that would contain the refrigeration plant, ice resurfacer, public washrooms, two dressing rooms and a Paralympic overlay of temporary seating, dressing rooms and other temporary VANOC space.

The removal of the temporary use aspects and bringing the landscaping to standards after the Games is part of the project. Staff pointed out that ice quality is always a concern in an open-air facility, so further technical research was going to be needed to deal with the requirements of humidity, refrigeration, ventilation and the like, to ensure it would work for the Paralympic athletes.

The current estimate for the comprehensive facility development proposed by a local business group was C$33.4 million -- both estimates are the costs estimated to the last quarter of 2007, using a cost-escalation factor. The date was chosen because that's when the rink is expected to be completed. The business group's proposal also incorporated a spectator area within a larger commercial and institutional development. It would have a terraced garden roof that could be used as spectator seating for summer events and end walls designed with retractable windows.

A bare bones arena, which staff note would not meet village design guidelines, green standards nor the goal of enhancing the vibrancy of the village, would cost C$27.7 million. Twinning the sports centre with a practice facility is estimated at C$l0.2 million.

As developing a sledge hockey facility will require anywhere from C$7 million to C$15 million beyond the C$20 million VANOC contribution, staff were also asked to work on how to pay for the additional budget.

There are a number of options. Whistler, for instance, could cancel other capital projects and re-assign the funds, it could borrowing money from reserve funds, which is allowed under the BC government's relatively new Community Charter, it could raise taxes or it could borrow the funds.

A C$10-million loan over 25 years works out to an annual debt repayment of C$683,433, but that would mean a C$59-per-year increase to residential taxes and a C$143-per-year increase to business taxes, based on an average single family home valued at C$1 million and an average business valued at C$750,000. However, the provincial government and the taxpayers must approve long-term borrowing by a municipality, either by a process known as a "counter-petition", or a referendum, or both, if the counter-petition process fails. A referendum would take four to six months to conduct.

Staff also noted that events, programs and sponsorship for the project may generate some revenue but until the facility specifications and a program over several years are developed, potential sponsors are not likely to get involved.

Whistler councillors Melamed and Lamont told council that they would only consider borrowing money to build a facility if the majority of the community voted to do so in a referendum. Councillor Melamed pointed out that Council had committed to remain fiscally responsible while staging the Games. Depleting reserves or going into debt to finance the facility, he said, was not fiscally responsible.

However, councillor Davies stressed that the risk in building a facility and incurring a debt is acceptable, given the benefit to the community and the current economic difficulties, though he wanted Council to commit to not using or increasing property tax revenues to fund the facility. Rather, he thought, council should pressure the provincial government for financing.

Councillor Wade wanted to make sure the project would not be restricted to the two concepts presented, but that the final design and program would be based on financial model and a pro forma.

In the end, Council accepted Councillor Wells' suggestion that they vote on the staff recommendation and add Councillor Melamed's amendment to continue exploration of the twinning of the sports centre.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 19, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #1241
VIDEO PRODUCTION FIRMS URGED TO CONTACT VANOC FOR UPCOMING WORK

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) intends to hire at least one video-production company, probably connected with a communications firm, to help it produce a wide range of promotional, inspirational and instructional films.

And other video-production firms might be hired under short-term contracts for specific video projects, depending entirely on how the responses to VANOC's request outline the interest level.

Companies have until November 3 to let VANOC know if they're interested. The supplier, which can be a firm that heads up a team of consultants, will be chosen on, says VANOC documents, Friday, November 11 -- although that's Remembrance Day, a statutory holiday in Canada -- and the winner should be ready to sign the contract and start work the following Monday.

Noting quietly that the Olympic Games are more than "the world's greatest sports event," VANOC officials report they are also "one of the world’s most breathtaking creative and cultural events."

And, it appears, they want VANOC's story told that way to the public by videos that can be used in all kinds of ways, from combinations with speeches to stand-alone productions. As one cheerful VANOC document puts it, "In today’s age of global communications, interactive technologies, and remarkable film and production innovations, each organizing committee gains new tools with which it can tell its story, and reach the world. Videos -- short films -- have become one of the most emotive and powerful ways in which organizing committees can showcase their nation’s character, creative and production talent and their overall vision for the Games."

Initially, VANOC wants video-production firms to work on three specific projects, with theme videos expected to be no more than about five minutes in length and instructional ones no more than 20 minutes. They're to be done in high-definition and in French and English where there is language involved.

It wants a theme-based promotional video to be available for the Torino 2006 Games -- which start February 10 -- and afterwards for VANOC "presentations, media distribution and general external communications." At this stage, they are estimating it will be five minutes long and that firms should budget for their proposal to spend about C$220,000 to do the necessary work on it. In this case, planners say, the video will likely require a mix of new, original footage and licensed footage obtained from the BC and Canadian governments, and from Olympic and Paralympic Games films. These videos will also require licensed music. The point of this video was expressed this way by VANOC: "It must create a highly emotional response with audiences [and] must leave the audience inspired, impressed and interested in taking part."
It wants customized promotional videos. In these cases, various the main theme video will be edited in various ways so it can be customized for specific audiences or events. "Very little, if any, new footage will be required." These will be used to promote the Games to specific audiences, such as delegates attending international conference, industry groups, sponsors and "stakeholder" groups.
It also wants "two to three" videos for internal use to provide "information, instruction and inspiration to staff and partners." Partners, in VANOC's case, involves various levels of government, various Olympic groups and VANOC sponsors. These videos, planners indicate, will include "significant scripting, and may require some low-cost filming", such as interviewing employees or recording how VANOC does things operationally. Related to this, in the lead-up to the Games, are "employee orientation and training" videos. These, reports VANOC, "will generally need to provide VANOC or Games information in an inspiring, memorable way." Firms submitting proposals for these are being told to estimate the videos will be about 20 minutes long and that they should figure on them costing about C$20,000 per video.

Other videos VANOC anticipates producing have more uses than just marketing to the general public or being instructional, however. They also include films for:

Informing partners, communities, industries and the like about VANOC's plans. For example, a video about VANOC's transportation plan, which has been in the works for the last few months, might be produced and used at community open houses in Vancouver, Richmond and Whistler;
Presenting by VANOC's major sponsors at various events;
Documenting the planning process, so-called "milestone events" that occur before the Games, and logistics or experience videos during the Games for the International Olympic Committee's Olympic Games Knowledge Services, which means they'll be viewed for years by other cities hosting the Olympics, such as London in 2012; and
Enhancing events, which would be videos that are part of an overall event, show or ceremony.

Having said all that, VANOC will be doing a lot of the creative for these videos. VANOC has three major departments with which the video-production team will work: Image, Creative Services and Communications. It will be these department staffers who will provide a detailed creative brief, which will provide "all necessary background and information about the Vancouver 2010 brand -- its essence, attributes, personality -- graphic standards, video objectives, the key messages [for the audience] and creative considerations."

The brief is expected to also provide "hard details" such as budgets and timelines, the overall plot or story to be told. However the music and the film content will largely be the responsibility of the production company to "develop and propose" to VANOC for approval.

In general, the grander the theme, the more the contents will be left to the production company, but the narrower the brief -- such as for instructional videos -- the more the videos will be based on "on highly structured direction" from VANOC. On the other hand, the grander the theme, the more likely the production company will be asked to provide some preliminary sketches and potentially even VANOC CEO John Furlong will be involved in the initial approval process.

For each video, VANOC says the production company can expect that "VANOC will have a collaborative physical presence" at both the production and post-production stages.

Somewhat surprisingly -- considering this is a standard feature in VANOC supplier contacts these days -- there is no mention that the people involved with the firm winning the deal might have to undergo a detailed security check.

BACKGROUND
==========

How much power does an Organizing Committee-sponsored video have, when you have a good-sized marketing budget? Chinese producer Zhang Yimou has won awards for his video for the Beijing 2008 Summer Games, which VANOC describes as "stunning." And, they point out, the videos for the Athens 2004 emblem launch were "dramatic", with music composed by Academy Award-winning Greek composer Vangelis. Torino 2006’s series of promotional videos, according to VANOC, "each create excitement around the Games through unique imagery, story-telling and music."

RESOURCES

A three-minute digitized video promoting the Athens Summer Olympics -- you'll need Windows Media Player to see it -- is on the Internet at:
http://athens2004.com/Files/files/Videos/emblem%202004.wmv

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 19, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #1240
VANOC, VANCOUVER CITY BEGIN THE HUNT FOR DESIGN ENGINEERS TO RENOVATE COLISEUM AND AGRODOME VENUES

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) and the City of Vancouver have teamed up to start the process of renovating two of its major Vancouver-area venues.

The process will lead to a choice late this year of the engineering consultant team it will hire to design the major upgrade to the ice plants and refrigerated ice slabs at the Pacific Coliseum and Agrodome Arenas at Hastings Park.

Both facilities are located on the Pacific National Exhibition grounds in east Vancouver; VANOC earlier this year hired contractors to work on replacing the Coliseum's seating.

VANOC originally budgeted the renovations work for both buildings in 2002 dollars at C$23.1 million. However, VANOC wants the design team to also give it a better cost estimate as the design work finalizes this coming spring so it will know what to expect when the construction tenders are offered. The Coliseum is a VANOC competition venue -- it'll be used for short-track speedskating -- but the Agrodome will not be used for competition; it'll be used for figure-skating training.

The design teams will be doing the structural, electrical, mechanical and refrigeration engineering work to complete a detailed design for contractors who will be chosen next year to do the work.

VANOC's doing this in its usual two-step process. It and the City are starting with an Expression of Interest to find out what firms feel they're qualified. That process is expected to end October 26. That list of firms will be shortened to "not more than three." Those on the short list will be handed a formal Request for Proposal document that will provide the outline of the necessary scope of work in considerable detail, and the winning team will be selected from the response to that document.

In this particular case, VANOC is working with the City of Vancouver, as the owner of the buildings and it, in turn is using the Hasting Park Capital Works Committee (HPCWC) as the structure for dealing with the upgrades. The HPCWC has representatives of VANOC, the City and the Pacific National Exhibition on it. In short, it will be the HPCWC that does the administration of the project for VANOC. It's also expected the City's Vancouver Park Board, which has its own trustees and staff, will also be involved.

VANOC venue planners note that each venue is fitted with a standard North American-sized ice rink, which is smaller than that required for an Olympic venue. "In order to be able to host the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, each venue will require structural modifications and ice-rink enlargements to meet Olympic dimensions of 61 metres long by 30m wide so as to be able to host both short-track speed skating and figure-skating training [as well as] competition for the Games."

That work is going to require significant renovations to the existing buildings, to the refrigerated ice slabs and both of the ammonia-based refrigeration plants will be replaced, "possibly with an amalgamated central plant located in the Coliseum building."

VANOC expects that the work itself will be completed in two phases so as to minimize the interruption to the business that each of the venues normally do. The Coliseum is primarily used for Western Hockey League games, which are held every four or five days during the winter, with occasional rock music shows and trade shows interspersed.

VANOC is about six or seven months behind on this project. Planners as of a year ago originally expected the design phase would start last spring and earlier this year revised that to start this fall. But the RFP is expected now to be issued in November and the winning design team will not likely be chosen until late November or early December. In any event, planners want the design of both sections of the work -- the ice sheet and refrigeration plant -- to be done at the same time.

The expansion of the ice sheet is expected to be completed next summer, and the refrigeration plants replaced by the summer of 2007. Since construction is expected to start with a call for tenders next June -- that would bring the project back to its November, 2004, schedule -- it means the design work will have to be completed by about April or May.

RESOURCES

Coliseum's commercial background information, including photos and current layout:
http://www.pne.ca/venuerental/pacific_coliseum.htm

Agrodome's commercial background information, including photos and current layout:
http://www.pne.ca/venuerental/agrodome.htm

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 19, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |General| #1239
UNESCO UNANIMOUSLY BACKS INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION AGAINST DOPING IN SPORT

The International Convention Against Doping in Sport has been adopted unanimously by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization General Conference meeting in Paris for its 33rd session.

This is the first time a legal instrument aimed at eradicating doping is both binding and universal on governments that sign it. The Convention draft was developed with input from representatives of 95 countries and the financial contribution of nine counties: Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Island, Japan, Norway, New Zealand and Sweden. The Convention will go into effect once it has been ratified by 30 Member countries, which officials say would be preferable "before the next winter Olympic Games" scheduled for February in Torino, Italy.

UNESCO officials, in a briefing after the vote, said that it was a global response to a global problem. It supplies governments with a legal framework dovetailing their efforts in the fight against what one official called, "a scourge that flouts the ethical and social values of sport while putting the health of athletes at risk."

Meanwhile, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), run by Dick Pound of Montreal, one of the directors on the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC), welcomed the decision "with great satisfaction."

“The adoption of the Convention by UNESCO is a strong signal of the commitment of the governments of the world to the fight against doping in sport,” said David Howman, WADA’s Director General in a speech shortly afterward. “The drafting of this Convention in just two years was a world record for international treaties. We warmly commend and thank UNESCO for facilitating the process, and we look forward to the treaty coming into force and the ratification by each government before the opening day of the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin.”

According to WADA statistics, 181 countries have signed the Copenhagen Declaration on Anti-Doping in Sport, a political document through which governments show their intention to implement the World Anti-Doping Code through ratification of the UNESCO Convention. More than 570 sports organizations have already adopted the Code.

Until now, many governments could not be legally bound by a non-governmental document such as the World Anti-Doping Code, the document that synchronizes anti-doping regulations in all sports and all countries of the world

The last Olympic Games, in Athens in 2004, revealed a record number of doping cases. Furthermore, in France, according to the Conseil de prévention et de lutte contre le dopage (CPLD), nearly 5% of all samples taken last year from professional athletes showed use of illegal substances or procedures.

While doping by professional athletes is often headline news, there is little talk of the use of doping agents among amateur athletes or the general public, although this too is growing steadily, says UNESCO officials.

According to a European Commission study in 2002, nearly 6% of all clients of fitness centres in several European countries admitted to taking doping agents to enhance their performance. A survey by the University of Quebec discovered the same year that 26% of amateur athletes questioned had used substances banned by the Olympic Committee at least once in the last 12 months.

The International Convention Against Doping in Sport fills a gap, says UNESCO. Most of the existing standard-setting tools, whether national, regional or international, emphasize repression and anti-drug testing. But they say, these are methods which, according to experts, are limited in their effectiveness. Others, such as the 1988International Olympic Charter against Doping in Sport, are not legally binding across borders.

The new Convention goes beyond testing and sanctions. It urges countries and sports organizations to “undertake, within their means, to support, devise or implement education and training programs on anti-doping”. That's in order to raise public awareness of what it feels are "the negative effects of doping on health and on the ethical values of sport," as well as provide information on the rights and responsibilities of athletes and on testing procedures. Countries who sign the treaty are also required to promote “active participation by athletes and athlete support personnel in all facets of the anti-doping”.

The new Convention also stipulates that athletes be subjected to the same rules and regularly tested, with uniform sanctions for any infraction.

The Code and international standards establish the technical and operational aspects -- such as prohibited substances, therapeutic use exemption, laboratories operations -- along with established universal rules and procedures concerning all the dimensions of anti-doping testing. The Convention calls for a procedure that would quickly urge all countries to approval the list of prohibited substances and the exceptions, as drawn up and regularly updated by WADA.

Also included are protocols cover no-warning, out-of-competition and in-competition testing,” as well as to “facilitate the timely movement of duly authorized doping control teams across borders when conducting doping control activities." Signatories are also required to "promote cooperation between testing laboratories" and to “mutually recognize the doping control procedures and test results management, including the sport sanctions thereof, of any anti-doping organization that are consistent with the Code.”

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 19, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Business| #1238
RBC'S ECONOMIST FIGURES CONSTRUCTION SKILL SHORTAGES TO HAVE MOST IMPACT ON 2010 CAPITAL SPENDING

RBC Financial's chief economist says the major pressure on the 2010 Olympic capital budget over the next year or so will be from widespread construction skill shortages caused by a lengthy list of non-residential construction projects.

Craig Wright made the comments this afternoon to a Vancouver Board of Trade luncheon and, even though RBC Financial is the financial sponsor for the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC), that linkage was not mentioned in his speech, and he spoke mostly about much larger economic influences on the BC and Canadian economy.

He says that BC has made the transition from its "dismal decade to its dynamic decade," and that RBC is not expecting the Olympics, which has only a C$620 million capital budget and which accounts for less than 10% of projected capital spending on an estimated 500 projects in the next four years, to cause a "boom-bust" cycle of pre-2010 capital spending, followed by post-2010 economic declines. That's because, he says, he expects governments and others to focus on investment in infrastructure.

However, he said in an interview later with Morgan:News:2010, "When people first started looking at the impact of the Olympics, the economy was weaker than it is right now, and what we've seen is the surprising strength in British Columbia has arguably moved it up against full-capacity pressures, so there are some strains appearing. That's where the skill shortage is. It's not unique to BC, it's mostly Canada-wide. It is something that has to be worked off."

Wright adds that immigration, both from outside the country to BC and from other provinces in Canada, will help offset the skills shortages faster than training and apprenticeship programs only just hitting their stride in the province. "BC has a number of release valves, particularly on the immigration side, whether through continued gains [to BC's population] from the international side, or further gains on the interprovincial side, and perhaps we will see further gains in immigration targets overall. There are some offsetting factors." Wright estimates there are now about 50,000 people flowing into the province a year from a combination of international and interprovincial flows, and BC is creating about 50,000 jobs a year.

On the other hand, Wright agrees that BC's construction industry is "particularly stressed." He sidestepped questions about economic impacts on the concrete-and-rebar type of construction that will affect a few of the 2010 venues, such as the Richmond Sports Complex where the speedskating oval is to be built and the Vancouver Olympic Village, and had nothing to say about economic impacts on large renovation-type projects that involve the rest. He says some of that pressure will be eased by immigration and job changes, particularly if the Greater Vancouver area's robust residential housing construction market eases, in which case some of those construction workers will move to the non-residential projects and help offset the shortages that he expects will continue to afflict 2010 construction.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 19, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Sports| #1237
SLED DOG SPORTS FEDERATION READY TO BE PART OF 2010 OLYMPICS -- AS SOON AS IT'S ASKED

The president of the International Federation of Sled dog Sports (IFSS) says all that's needed for the sport to be on the 2010 Olympics roster is an invitation from the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC).

Tim White says his organization is ready to be involved. "We are ready to take any action needed. Two nonexclusive options are that the [International Olympic Committee] would include sled dog racing at their own initiative, or the [VANOC] would request this, based on present and historical importance of sled dog activities in Canada and in Canadian aboriginal culture." He says he'll be in Vancouver next week while on his way to take part in races scheduled for Seoul, South Korea, and will be talking to local race organizers, "to see what they suggest or offer to move our agenda ahead," but, he indicates, meetings with VANOC officials have not yet been set up. White is based in Grand Marais, Minnesota.

White adds that, from his organization's point of view, it would be straightforward to work up an Olympic-style event with plenty of good teams. "Canada and the US are two of three countries with the longest history in the sport and the most activities and participants; Norway is the third. We discussed some of the details of possible Olympic disciplines and races with [International Olympic Committee Marketing Commission Chairman] Gerhard Heiberg in February 2004 in Oslo. In any race there would probably be 10 to a dozen participant countries. Depending on qualification and other criteria, of course... Canada would be certain to be included." There are about 40 countries that are members of the IFSS.

However, says White, even though the Federation has all of the qualifications for participating in the Winter Games, there's no process set up yet to have the sport included in the 2010 Games, and the time is getting short to do it. "There is no formal defined process or algorithm at this point... The sport, and IFSS as its representative governing body for IOC recognition, complies with all of the explicit requirements to be included on the Winter Olympic Program."

White says it wouldn't take much in the modification of existing venue plans in the Whistler area to make room for the sport. "Trails would be similar to [those used for] cross country and biathlon, and we could possibly use some parts of the same trail systems, depending on scheduling. The start-finish arena or area would also be similar or the same, with the capacity for 15-20 simultaneous starts in view of the spectators. We implemented such a program in Dawson City, Yukon, at the Sprint World Championships in March last winter."
There have been interest over the decades in having the sport on the program. There were official sled-dog demonstration races in 1932 in Lake Placid in the United States and 1952 at the Winter Olympics in Oslo. In recent years, he says, there have been sled-dog races held officially either as part of the organizing committees' cultural program or unofficially in working with host cities, such as the Calgary Olympics in 1988 which had races in nearby Canmore, as well as in the Olympics at Lillehammer, Albertville and Nagano.

RESOURCES

International Federation of Sleddog Sports website:
http://www.sleddogsport.com

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 19, 2005

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1236

Here are three more moguls we ran into today:

HENNIGAR HIRED AS CURL BC'S EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

The organization that supports curling in British Columbia, Curl BC , has hired a business executive with strong ties to the speedskating community as its new executive director. Ian Hennigar of Victoria replaces Linda Moore, who resigned September 30 after 19 years with the organization. Hennigar will begin work at the Curl BC office in Vancouver on November 1. He is a former national-level speedskater with a degree in sports administration and extensive practical experience. On the sports side, he was the executive director and provincial coach of the Ontario Speed Skating Association, chair of the Ontario Executive Directors' Council, board member of the Ontario Sport Organization Council and Charities First Ontario. He has also organized a range of provincial, national and international events and world championships. On the business side, he is the owner of a sport-marketing company that ran the merchandise program for the Canadian Olympic Association and is editor of an international speedskating journal. Curl BC president Judie Roberts says her board is confident that Hennigar's experience "will contribute greatly to Curl BC's goal of increasing [the sport's] participation numbers 20% by 2010. Ian's... familiarity with high-performance events will be an asset as we move towards the Vancouver Olympics.”

ITALY LAUNCHES OLYMPIC TRUCE PROCESS
The Italian Winter Olympics open in 115 days, and the Italian government marked the date by starting the process that will ask the United Nations General Assembly to endorse the Draft Resolution on the Olympic Truce on November 3. The presentation, at the Italian ministry of Foreign Affairs, involved a number of speeches by various national government officials, and included the CEO of the Torino Olympic Organizing Committee. The main concept in the Resolution is the suspension of every world conflict, in the name of the Olympic ideals, during the dates of the Games, so that teams from warring nations can compete in the various sports on the Olympic calendar. The Italian proposal also refers to the Millennium Declaration adopted by the General Assembly in 2000, praising the joint efforts of the International Olympic Committee and the United Nations in the fields of human development, the eradication of poverty, health promotion, the fight against AIDS, basic education, equal opportunities and the protection of the environment. Italy hopes to surpass the previous record for endorsing the Olympic Truce, that was supported by 190 countries. There are 191 members countries of the current Assembly.

TROPICS EYES DOGSLEDDING AS ENTRANCE TO 2010 GAMES
If the international sport federation that supervises dog-sled racing gets its way, the sport would be considered for the 2010 Winter Olympics. If musher Devon Anderson and his dogs get their way, they would win the World Championship Dog-Sled Races, scheduled for Belgium in December, for, of all places, Jamaica. If the federation and Anderson get their way, they'd be in contention in a 2010 alpine venue against Canadian mushing teams and those of a number of other countries in the world. The International Federation of Sleddog Sports is a member of the General Association of International Sports, which is a collection of 88 international sports federations and various other associations, and is an official organization of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). A decision on the sport's inclusion is not expected for a year or two yet.

RESOURCES

The International Federation of Sleddog Sports:
http://www.sleddogsport.com/

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 18, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1235

Here are three moguls we ran into today:

FCB WORKING ON HUDSON BAY ADS FOR 2006 OLYMPICS

The big ad agency of Foote Cone and Belding (FCB) in Toronto is said to be nearing completion of a TV-and-print advertising campaign for 2010's retail sponsor Hudson's Bay Company. The campaign is to promote the Bay's connections with the 2006 Winter Olympics, which start in February. The Bay's 2006 involvement was part of the deal, valued at C$100 million, that was reached last spring between the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) and the Bay. Only sponsors are contractually allowed to promote their involvement with Olympic Games. Among other things, the Bay has supervised design of the Canadian Olympic team's clothing and luggage for the 2006 Games. That was completed early last summer, a short time before the contract for the advertising went to FCB.

SNOWBOARDER REBAGLIATI TO START FILMING HIS MARCH TO 2010 NEXT MONTH
Canadian snowboarding Olympian Ross Rebagliati, a gold-medal winner seven years ago, is hoping to start next month filming his training to get to the 2010 Winter Olympics for a "reality" show with the working title of "Back on Board." The production work is to be done by TVNW Media Group, a Canadian television production company based in North Vancouver that focuses on high-performance sports and which has strong-willed Olympian medallist Adrian Metcalfe of England at its helm. Rebagliati is starting from the beginning again, competing first in North American snowboarding events so he can gain enough points to compete on the World Cup circuit, and then eventually qualify for the Olympic Games. Metcalfe, who was the head of sport for the UK's Channel 4, has either produced or directed live Olympic Games television coverage, and he wants the firm wants to focus on the 2010 Winter Games and the lead-up to it. According to the Rebagliati team, "It is essential that filming begin in November, the start of the North American snowboarding season. A camera crew will live in Ross and Alexandra Rebagliati’s house in Whistler in a suite designated for the crew. The crew will follow Ross... through the snowboarding season... until late March or early April." A broadcaster and the duration of the program are still being discussed. TVNW Media Group's earlier clients and projects included the International Triathlon Union World Cup Series, FIS World Cup Skiing and the firm is the host-broadcaster for the Vancouver Whitecaps Soccer Club. The firm has also produced more than 90 hours of programming for Canadian sports cable channel, TSN.

LUMBY FIRM HOPES TO SELL WOODEN DISPOSABLE UTENSILS TO 2010
Four men in BC's Okanagan-area town of Lumby are hoping to interest VANOC in ordering wooden disposable cutlery as an alternative to plastic knives, forks and spoons from their factory in a former bake shop when it opens for business next year. The company, called Aspenware Inc, was founded in 2003 by a 70-year-old business man, Robert Bigsby, and three high-school teachers from nearby Vernon, Claus Gerlach, Michael Allen and Bigsby's son, Terry. In a nine-step process that includes lamination and a wax sealant, the utensils are made from aspen and birch trees our of small wood pieces that would normally be burned as waste from logging operations. They are hoping to start production with more than a dozen employees next spring, and bolster their large-event experience by working with organizers of the the Sovereign Lake World Cup, but are also hoping to sell to caterers, airlines, colleges and universities. The younger Bigsby and Gerlach, who are well known to BC's Interior Logging Association, are both involved at their school with BC's WoodLINKS program, which recruits and certifies high school graduates for work in the wood industry.

RESOURCES

Aspenware's website contact page:
http://www.aspenware.ca/contact.html

TVNW Media Group's web page that outlines the executive team:
http://www.tvnwmediagroup.com/people.php

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 18, 2005

Monday, October 17, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1234

Here are three moguls we ran into today:

KAMLOOPS HOSTS AUSTRIAN SKI TEAM AS JAPANESE POSTPONE KIMBERLY TRAINING

The Austrian National Ski Team has contracted with Sun Peaks ski resort near Kamloops in BC's south-central interior, to use the facility for 2010-related training, starting November 5, for about two weeks. The resort opens to the public on November 19. The deal calls for the team to train there in early November each year between now and 2010. Other national ski teams are prevented from using the facility during the time the Austrians will be there. Meanwhile, the Japanese Women's Hockey Program has decided to skip its planned development program in Kimberly next month for the skiers aged 17 to 21 who are aiming to be on the country's 2010 Olympic team. It has rescheduled the acclimatization program for November 2006.

VANOC TO USE "OLYMPIC PIXIE DUST" TO ATTRACT CONSTRUCTION WORKERS
A lengthy story on Friday in the National Post newspaper about construction-industry job shortages and how difficult it is to find a number of specific trades and professionals, includes a brief quote from Steve Matheson, senior vice-president of Venues for the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC). Reporter Jason Kirby paraphrases Matheson as telling him that VANOC is considering creative ways to lure skilled labourers to work for the contractors that will be hired to build or renovate VANOC's venues facilities when much of the work will be done next year. He quotes Matheson as saying, "We're using a little Olympic pixie dust to appeal to them, maybe with tickets to medal events and things like that."

RICHMOND POLITICIAN PLUMPS FOR OVAL "CONSORTIUM" POST-GAMES
Municipal elections will occur throughout BC in November, including in all the jurisdictions where VANOC has venues. As a result, there has been scattered political commentary. All of the major politicians in all of the venues support the Games -- there is no controversy from that point of view. But, for instance, Bill McNulty, one of the politicians running for his fifth term as a municipal councillor of Richmond, where VANOC's speedskating oval is just starting construction as part of a much larger sports complex, says that, if re-elected, he'll continue to push for what he calls "a consortium" to operate the complex after VANOC is finished with it. He adds, "The biggest issue with the Oval, in my opinion, is post-Games. How do we keep it viable and making money?"

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 17, 2005

Friday, October 14, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #1233
SLIDING CENTRE CONSTRUCTION PROCESS BEGINS WITH EOI FOR FIRMS TO BUILD ICE PLANT, NEARLY 100 KM OF PIPING

The Venues department of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) has begun the process for hiring a firm for one of the major projects at the C$55-million Whistler Sliding Centre on Blackcomb Mountain.

VANOC is asking for expressions of interest from firms who'd like to be considered for installing the big refrigeration unit and the 96.5 kilometres (60 miles) of one-inch pipe (2.54 centimetres) that will deliver the coolant through the curved, U-shaped track. The track, which will be covered with a relatively thin film of ice when it's completed, will be used to for the luge, bobsleigh and skeleton programs when the Games are held, but it will also be used to train athletes in advance of the Games, and become a permanent resort after them.

The refrigeration plant will be state of the art, according to Venue department officials, but the technology involved is widespread and well-understood. The plant will have a capacity of 1,400 tons of refrigerant and use a pumped liquid-ammonia recirculation system with evaporative condensers.

Once VANOC has compiled the list of firms, after November 12, it will shortlist three of them to receive the full Request for Proposal kit, which will have complete specifications for the way the plant and the track piping should be built. The RFP is expected to be issued in late November or early December.

As usual, the directors and officers of the company that eventually wins the contract will have to undergo a full security clearance procedure, including a criminal records check.

The company selected will also be working with the technical commissions of the luge, skeleton and bobsleigh federations, who have also been involved in the design. The technical commissions are also involved in overseeing the construction work as well.

Work began on the Sliding Centre last spring. This season's work has involved grubbing, site servicing, grading, and construction of the venue-access road, as snows build up, design, planning and engineering will continue but the construction site will shut down for the winter, and resume with a full construction season starting next spring.

BACKGROUND
==========

Why use liquid ammonia instead of brine to cool the track? Because liquid ammonia is easier to pump and retains its temperature more efficiently; the savings by ammonia over brine in this type of situation is about 200%.
Ammonia alarms are installed as part of the construction of the plant and, usually the plant operates without personell normally in attendance.
Computers monitor the operating conditions along the track at each evaporator, which are roughly 30 meters apart. The temperatures and other data are reported to the refrigeration plant control room where they are analyzed for rising and falling trends, compared to ambient temperature and solar radiation on the track. The computers then adjust the compressors that pump the coolant.
Bobsleds weight about 1,300 lb. (about 590 kilograms) and luge sleds weigh about 200 lb. (about 90 kilograms). The track has to be built to withstand a bobsleigh when it developes nearly five times the force of gravity as it rounds some of the corners at speeds of up to 85 miles per hour (about 135 kilometeres per hour)
VANOC has collected detailed solar, wind and temperature studies for the area, because they were required in the track's design phase to figure out the impact of these elements at various curve locations as the sun moved across the horizon and as the azimuth changes throughout the sliding season.

RESOURCES

A worker spritzes water on the Calgary Olympic luge track as part of its maintenance. The piping is buried in the track, just below the shotcrete surface, which is stained white:
http://www.viewcalgary.com/peter/luge/images/trackSpritz_1110.jpg

Other workers repair gouges made in the ice after each run:
http://www.viewcalgary.com/peter/luge/images/trackwork_1014.jpg

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 14, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1232

Here are three moguls we ran into today:

VANOC DIRECTOR OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS TO BE HIRED BY MONTH'S END

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) is expected to strengthen its technology function later this month by hiring a director of Telecommunications. The new staffer is being brought on to be responsible for the "design, provision and operation of voice, data, video, broadcast, radio, wireless and cell communications services." VANOC has to work closely with various firms -- in particular telco sponsor Bell Canada and networking IOC sponsor Atos Origin as well as various government departments -- to provide these services. The new director will be responsible for strategic planning, the management of the external corporate relationships, as well as negotiation, contracting, budgeting and overall control of outsourced agreements. The responsibilities also include supervising VANOC's telecommunications requirements for television and radio broadcasting, which use, among other things, microwave telecommunications for relay links. The person will also be in charge of telecommunication teams, which are expected to involve a number of disciplines, that will be staffing VANOC facilities and sporting venues on the telecommunications technology side.

IOC DEAL PRODUCES WORLD'S FIRST OLYMPICS CELL-PHONE GAME FOR TORINO
Emerging technology, telecommunications, marketing and the Torino Olympics merged today with the announcement by iPlay that it has arranged the exclusive right to develop a mobile-phone game based on the 2006 Olympic Winter Games. IPlay is a division of Digital Bridges Limited, headquartered in London, England. Paul Maglione, senior vice president of Marketing and Publishing for the company, noting it will be the first time a mobile phone game has ever been developed for an Olympics, says the game will be released in February, just before the Italian Games start. As he puts it, the game "will capture the excitement and passion of the 2006 Olympic Winter Games on mobile, allowing mobile phone users worldwide to test their skills at a number of signature Olympic Winter Games disciplines, including downhill skiing, ski jumping, curling and bobsleigh." The structure of the agreement involves iPlay providing the game as a subcontract to International Sports Multimedia, which is a brand-management firm that specializes in sports marketing. ISM, in turn, has negotiated a license with the International Olympic Commission to provide "interactive entertainment software." ISM has produced the official videogames for the Olympics at Sydney in 2000, in Salt Lake in 2002 and Athens in 2004.

NISGA'A GETS C$16,625 LEGACIESNOW GRANT TO HOST TRADITIONAL WORKSHOPS
ArtsNow, a section of 2010 LegaciesNow, has awarded C$16,625 in a grant to the he Gitmaxmak'ay Nisga'a Society, an aboriginal cultural group in Prince Rupert on BC's northwest coast. The Society intends to use the money to offer three traditional cultural workshops for young people of the Nisga'a band, which lives in the area along the Nass River, to the east of Prince Rupert and north of Terrace. The young people, which are said to make up about 25% of the band, will be taught traditional practices involving the use of regalia, drum-making and cedar-paddle carving. Part of the idea is to "raise awareness regarding the customs and traditions" of the Nisga'a, which in 2001 became the first aboriginal group to reach a treaty with the federal and provincial governments for more than 100 years. The funding is part of an program in which about C$800,000 is being provided to 69 organizations in 23 communities across B.C., bringing the overall total grants from Arts Now to C$1.5 million in 42 communities. Olga Ilich, BC's government minister responsible for arts funding, says, "We are building lasting legacies in arts and culture, heritage and education in communities across the province."

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 14, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #1231
CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER TO BE HIRED IN NEXT FEW WEEKS
TO SET UP MEDICAL AND ANTI-DOPING SERVICES

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) is expected to hire its Chief Medical Officer, one of the organization's major roles, by about the end of this month or early November.

The timing is driven in part by VANOC's requirements for the job, but also because the person hired must become a member of the International Olympic Committee's Medical Commission until their role in the development and hosting of the 2010 Games ends, and must also take part in the Torino and Beijing Olympics as a member of that Commission to ensure they have a chance to see how those Games are run, medically. The Torino Winter Games start in February; the Beijing Summer Games are scheduled for 2008.

VANOC's CMO, who will ultimately report to senior vice-president of Sport, Cathy Priestner, will be charged with supervising two major functions: providing medical services and overseeing doping control. Both involve a wide range of support services.

On the medical side, the CMO is to be responsible for planning as well as overseeing the construction and operation of first-aid stations at all of the venues, for ensuring there is a first-response medical team available in the "field of play" area, which the Olympics defines as the sport areas used by athletes, as well as mobile medical services available for spectators.

The Officer is also to be in charge of setting up and supervising the medical clinics that will be located at the two Athlete Villages, one in Vancouver and one in Whistler. The clinics will support a variety of medical disciplines. The CMO is also responsible for recruiting, selecting, and training medical staff for the clinics and the medical teams at the venues and the two Villages.

The job also involves contracting for air and ground coverage by emergency medical services (EMS) of events during the Games, allowing for emergency helicopter evacuations, for instance, as well as ambulance access to the venues and Villages.

Other aspects of the CMO's job are to deal with the selection and supervise procurement of medical equipment and supplies and the logistics of getting them to the right places.

Another aspect of the job involves working with health-care services in the communities where the venues and the Villages are located to ensure there's adequate surveillance for diseases and that there are back-up EMS teams available while the Games are on.

In addition, the CMO will also be charged with developing the protocols for any clinic or hospital services required by the so-called Olympic family, which involves VANOC staffers and volunteers, employees of its sponsors or partners in hosting the Games, and personnel of the International Olympic Commission, national or international sports officials or others supporting national teams at the Games. Since many of the sports teams will have their own medical specialists with them, the CMO is also responsible for ensuring there's integration of services between the VANOC medical teams and the medical teams of the national Olympic committees.

The CMO job also involves co-ordinating VANOC's medical side to support disaster-response under BC's Emergency Management system.

On the doping-control side of the job, the CMO's work entails the work necessary to plan, construct and operate the central doping-control lab as well as the doping-control stations and related services at each of the sports venues and the two Villages as well as at "nearby accommodations". The job also involves setting up the protocols that involve the athletes and handling of various samples provided by them under the IOC and rules of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The Agency is headquartered in Montreal and run by Dick Pound, a member of VANOC's board of directors. Both the lab and the stations have to be certified to IOC standards. Among other things, the CMO's office will be responsible for contracting the services of IOC-approved laboratory staff, and for recruiting, selecting and training doping-control staff.

The CMO, besides setting up a working relationship with WADA and the BC government's health system, will also be discussing matters with the Canadian Centre for Ethnics in Sport (CCES), an organization headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, that promotes drug-free sport, among other things and has the ability to enforce the concept.

Just last month, CCES penalized Canadian bobsleigh athlete Guilio Zardo, said to be one of the world's best brakemen, for refusing to submit to an out-of-competition doping-control test last April, banning him from the sport for two years, and preventing him permanently from being eligible for federal government support funding. Zardo abruptly quit the bobsleigh team last April.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 14, 2005

Thursday, October 13, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Business| #1230
OREGON SKI RESORT WOULD GO AFTER SKIERS, SNOWBOARDERS "DISPLACED" BY 2010 GAMES -- IF IT COULD

A major ski resort in Oregon is urging the US government to allow expansion of the resort so it can take market to skiers and snowboarders "displaced" by the 2010 Winter Olympics in Whistler.

Dave Riley, the vice president and general manager of the Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Resort, says, "The reality is that Oregon has not been able to capitalize on winter tourism at the level of California, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, or British Columbia because of [US] Forest Service reluctance to approve the necessary amenities and facilities on federal lands at the base of the existing winter sports areas."

In a letter to the Senate Subcommittee on Trade, Tourism, and Economic Development, Riley adds, "Even if Oregon does not pursue an Olympic bid in the future, we can best take advantage of the displaced visitors who would have otherwise gone to Whistler by developing the amenities on Mt. Hood between now and 2010 that are necessary to influence their vacation-destination choice. We can use the exposure that the Olympics will bring to the northwest [of the US] to expose the international tourist to the new facilities, if constructed by 2010."

Riley says that the weather patterns and snow quality on Mt. Hood are "no different" from those of Whistler. "We share the same Pacific-zone conditions." He'd like to see, for instance, " A village or villages constructed on Mt. Hood to be able to host a delegation of 6,000 athletes and officials," as well as better roads to the resort and better Nordic facilities.

Riley also has some general advice for the state's businesses interested in making money from the 2010 Winter Games. He suggests that Oregon-based companies focus on the through traffic heading for or from the 2010 Games. They should, he says, "capitalize on the drive traffic through the I-5 and I-84 [highway] corridors of spectators traveling to and from the Games. There could be 15,000 or more spectators from the intermountain west and California traveling through Oregon on their way to and back from the games. Boarder crossings will have to be expedited for automobiles as well as air-travel passengers."

He also suggests that Oregon businesses set up shops in Vancouver and Whistler to take advantage of the tourist influx, adding that, "Oregon Welcome Centers should sell official Olympic merchandise, and Oregon businesses [could] offer discounts and incentives to those that show their Olympic merchandise to generate incremental repeat business."

Mt. Hood is a dormant volcano, which last erupted in 1805. It's located about 75 kilometers east-southeast of Portland. At 3,426 meters [11,239 feet], it is the highest peak in the state.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 13, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1229

Here are three moguls we ran into today:

IOC EXECUTIVE GET LATEST BRIEFING ON 2010 STATUS OCT 27;

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) will brief the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee on the status of the Games's preparation in the late afternoon of Thursday, October 27 at IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. The briefing will be done by the head of the IOC's commission that oversees the 2010 Games, Rene Fasel. VANOC's not the primary event on the IOC's regular meeting agenda -- a session on the impending 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, faced with another budget crunch, and a session with the IOC's Athletes Commission takes the focus -- but, for the first time, VANOC is not the last agenda item. As Games briefings are always done by seniority, VANOC follows a briefing on the Beijing Games, but is ahead of the first such briefing by the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, which was chosen earlier this year.

WESTPORT INNOVATIONS JOINS HYDROGEN HIGHWAY PROJECT
The North Vancouver hydrogen-fuel stop on the so-called Hydrogen Highway, which is said by John Tak, President of Fuel Cells Canada, to be "instrumental in demonstrating sustainable transportation" to the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC), got another boost today. A BC company with the technology to support engines that use hydrogen fuel, Westport Innovations, says it will join the consortium of companies and the federal government in the C$18.3 million Integrated Waste Hydrogen Utilization Project (IWHUP). The IWHUP is expected to demonstrate that use can be made of an untapped source of the fuel: hydrogen given off as the by-product of a sodium-chlorate manufacturing plant in North Vancouver. The purified hydrogen could be used to fuel a fleet of up to 20,000 hydrogen-powered vehicles. However the demonstration project will only involve a handful of vehicles. VANOC is currently thinking of using a handful of buses, powered by either hydrogen, natural gas or both, as a small part of its fleet to ferry athletes and officials between venues. IWHUP participants include: Clean Energy Fuels, Dynetek Industries, Easywash, GWL Realty Advisors, Hydrogen Technology & Energy Corporation, Nuvera Fuel Cells, Powertech Labs, Questair Technologies and the TransLink division of the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority. VANOC is not sponsoring the Hydrogen Highway initiative; but the federal government's idea is to make a technology-impact statement to tourists who will be coming to the Games.

IOC, VISA SOON TO START RUNNING OLYMPIC SUPPORT ADS FOR 2006 GAMES
While the Torino Olympic Organizing Committee muses about cutting back on marketing expenses to help Italy out of a debt crisis, the International Olympic Committee and one of its major corporate sponsors, Visa, are about to launch their Olympic support campaigns. The IOC is using a series of famous and respected people, such as South African statesman Nelson Mandella and Italian opera tenor Andrea Bocelli, to head up another of its "Celebrate Humanity" series of TV spots. Saatchi & Saatchi, the IOC's New York ad agency, developed the ads for the broadcasters around the world that have the rights to the Italian Olympics. The ads invite people to join them in celebrating the Olympic spirit, spoken over shots of sporting events. There have been similar campaigns for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympic Games and Athens 2004 Olympic Games. Meanwhile, Visa is scheduling ads produced by the ad agency of Gray London and developed by Hungryman which use humour to promote the Games. The ads focus on three truckers that keep stopping at gas stations to accumulate enough points to get Olympic Games tickets.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 13, 2005

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Government| #1228
OLYMPICS SUSTAINABILITY PROMISE BEHIND NEW BUSINESS AID SOCIETY FOR VANCOUVER'S DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE

The governments of Canada, British Columbia and Vancouver have launched a new non-profit organization as part of a social commitment made to the International Olympic Committee by the governments and the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC).

The Building Opportunities With Business Inner City Society (BOB) is funded through the Vancouver Agreement and VANOC telecommunications sponsor Bell Canada to be part of a project to improve Vancouver's troubled Downtown Eastside neighbourhood, located only a few blocks from the stadium that will hold VANOC's opening and closing ceremonies.

BOB, say organizers, is designed to be "a one-stop-shop to promote business development, mentoring, employment training and small-business loans programs, gradually expanding to include a wider range of services and initiatives."

The Vancouver Agreement, reached two years ago, includes a "principle of revitalization without displacement." Its board of directors include several business executives, including VANOC's vice-president of Sustainability, Linda Coady; an advisor to 2010 LegaciesNow, Brian Dolson; and the president of a company that's been strongly supportive of VANOC, David Podmore of Concert Properties, a real estate developer, and a representative of VANOC sponsor Bell Canada.

Stephen Owen, the federal government's Minister of State for Sport and the minister responsible for the Canadian government's portion of the 2010 Olympics, says, "We are creating a new structure that brings community leaders from all sectors to the table -- governments, community, and businesses -- to create jobs and support economic revitalization in the Downtown Eastside."

Western Economic Diversification Canada, a federal agency, is providing C$2.47 million to support BOB operations, while the Province of BC has provided C$3.25 million for the Vancouver Agreement employment strategy, which is to be implemented through BOB. The City of Vancouver is providing the society with a lease subsidy, leasehold improvements, as well as management and administrative support. Bell Canada, as part of its Olympic commitment, has pledged to invest C$2 million in the economic revitalization of the Downtown Eastside over the next four years. Over the next two years, C$300,000 of this contribution is to help develop a business strategy and implement it through the society

BOB board chair Lee Davis, who is also president and CEO of Vancity Capital Corporation, says that, "One of our immediate priorities is to implement a cluster strategy that will bring business and industry leaders together to identify ways of attracting investment, supporting existing Downtown Eastside businesses, and creating employment for area residents."

RESOURCES

The founding directors of the Building Opportunities With Business Inner City Society are:

Lee Davis (Chair), President and CEO, Vancity Capital Corporation
Pamela McDonald (Vice-Chair), director of Public Affairs and Community Relations, Bell Canada
Brian Dolsen (Secretary/Treasurer), Advisor, 2010 LegaciesNow
Linda Coady, VANOC's vice-president of Sustainability, who was hired by VANOC this past summer
Leonard George, director of Economic Development, Tsleil-Waututh (also known as the Burrard Band) of North Vancouver, one of the four host aboriginal groups for the 2010 Games
Christopher Gora, Associate, Farris LLP, a law firm
Wayne Kennedy, branch manager, G&F Financial Group (a section of the Gulf & Fraser Fishermen's Credit Union); and vice-chair of Vancouver's Strathcona Business Improvement Area
Carol Lee, CEO and founder of Linacare Laboratories Inc, a Vancouver-based skin-care products manufacturer located in the Downtown Eastside
Fred Leonard, co-chair of the Downtown Eastside Task Force, Vancouver Board of Trade
David Podmore, President and CEO, Concert Properties Ltd.
Joel Solomon, president, Renewal Partners Company; executive director of Endswell Foundation

BOB's interim CEO is Ms. Sandie Romanczak, of North Sky Consulting, former Deputy Minister of Tourism for the Yukon.

The founding board meeting took place June 29. Participation in BOB is open and voluntary "to those who share the common goal of improving the social and economic conditions in the Downtown Eastside through business growth and investment," according to organizers.

--

Business Cluster?
Membership in the Downtown Eastside business cluster -- a self-help network of companies and other organizations -- would provide participants with a number of benefits, according to organizers, including:

Increased access to procurement opportunities.
More opportunities for business development, particularly enhancing partnerships, collaborations and co-operative ventures.
Greater opportunities to reduce costs through resource-sharing.
Improved access to "critical market information, innovation, technology, research and development."
"The opportunity to develop and access pools of specialized skills, expertise and value-added products"
A "collective focus on addressing the challenges" of doing business in the Downtown Eastside.

RESOURCES

The Vancouver Agreement's website:
http://www.VancouverAgreement.ca

The Vancouver Agreement Economic Revitalization Plan:
http://www.vancouveragreement.ca/Attached%20Documents/dtes-workplan-nov04.pdf

The Vancouver Agreement Employment Plan:
http://www.vancouveragreement.ca/Pdfs/InitialEmploymentStrategy.pdf

Vancity Capitals' bio page on BOB Board chair Lee Davis:
http://www.vancitycapital.com/about/ourteam/default.asp

A biography of Leonard George, in PDF format:
http://www.anac.on.ca/Documents/leonard%20george%20bio%202%20_2_.pdf

Christopher Gora's biography:
http://www.farris.com/lawyer.aspx?LawyerKey=19

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 12, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1227

Here are three moguls we ran into today:

TORINO OLYMPICS STILL SHY OF BREAK-EVEN ON TICKET SALES

Guiseppe Gattino, Media Relations director for the Torino 2006 Winter Olympics, told a media briefing today that only 58% of the one million available tickets have so far been sold -- those Games are 121 days away. He said seats are available for all sports but only in "limited numbers" for ice hockey and figure skating. The break-even mark set by the Torino Olympic Organizing Committee is 80%. "We're satisfied with the [number of] tickets sold right now. We would be fine selling 800,000 tickets for our budget but we want one million. We want the venues to be full." The remark was made during discussion of ripple implications to the Italian government's proposal earlier this week to reduce TOROC's e1.3 billion budget by e16 million as part of a general government cost-cutting measure required by the European Union to get Italy's debt ratios in line with its policy requirements. The possible reductions, which are some ways from being finalized, could include reduced marketing, reduced custodial requirements and some personnel reductions, but those categories are expected to be revamped.

SPORTS VIDEO FESTIVAL TO PROMOTE 2010 IN ITALY
Speaking of Italy, here's another example of things going on with the Torino Olympics that might give you ideas of what's to come as the countdown for the 2010 Winter Games nears the zero. In this case, it's a festival of about 900 (count them!) sport-related movies and short features that will be open to the Italian public. It is scheduled to take place in downtown Torino from October 25 to November 1. The significance of the dates is that it's about 100 days before the 2006 Games begin. It won't be a major focus, but among the various quick shows will be promotional material for the 2010 Winter Olympics. The event is organized by the Federation Internationale Cinema Television Sportifs, an organization recognized by International Olympic Committee, that has 94 member countries. The festival includes meetings and workshops, as well as the sporty shorts. Vancouver is currently holdings its 24th annual film festival, which has been underway since September 29, which wraps up Friday, and which draws about 150,000 people to watch about 300 films. You can always tell when it's running because many of your friends and colleagues become quite anti-social -- and bleary-eyed -- as they try to take in as many movies and related social events as possible. Now consider the concept of a festival three times that size, for a shorter period.

EDMONTON'S 2007 CURLING EVENT PRELUDE TO 2010
Keep an eye on the 2007 men's world curling championship, which was awarded to Edmonton late last week. World Curling Federation vice-president Les Harrison notes that the event will be the first qualifying step towards the curling events at the 2010 Olympic Games. The 2007 women's curling event is to be held in Japan.

RESOURCES

Some of the Italian Olympics sports-movie festival features are on the web at:
http://www.sportmoviestv.com

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 12, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Torino| #1226
ATOS ORIGIN SAYS ITS MAIN NETWORKING SYSTEM IS READY AT THE TORINO 2006 OLYMPIC GAMES

Atos Origin, the computer-networking sponsor for Olympic Games through to 2012, confirmed today that its main technology centre in Torino, Italy, is operational and ready to go.

There are 121 days before the 2006 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games begin, but Atos has been running a number of support systems already as preparations for the Games, including installation of the so-called Olympic overlay, continues until the beginning of the Olympic Games on February 10.

Claude Philipps, Atos Origin Olympic Winter Games Program Director and the person expected to be in charge of the information-technology section for the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver and Whistler, said that all the major technology tests were completed, although he added that there will continue to be intensive testing.

"At Game time, the Main Technology Centre is the heart of the IT operations," said Claude Philipps, Atos Origin Olympic Winter Games Program Director. "It is from here that all the systems are run, the IT security monitored and results disseminated to the media worldwide. We will continue testing all the systems, as well as the processes and our people, right up until the start of the Games."

During the Olympic Winter Games, Atos Origin's staff will monitor the IT infrastructure and systems across all 28 of Italy's competition and non-competition venues from the centre for the Olympic Games, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The 250 IT staff that work at the Centre include sport experts, security specialists, integration engineers, developers, database administrators specializing in Oracle and SQL databases, as well as systems architects.

One of its primary responsibilities is to ensure that the results and athlete information gathered by Swatch, another IOC Games sponsor, is accurate and transmitted to the 10,000 media representatives expected to gather in Torino, to the Torino 2006 official website, to the world news agencies, as well as to the estimated three billion TV viewers expected to watch the Games around the world. The team will also provide IT support to the technology teams located at each of the Olympic venues in Torino and in the neighbouring mountains. A similar setup is expected for Vancouver and Whistler.

In Italy's case, the technology centre is located in the main Torino 2006 Organizing Committee headquarters building. It's a big office: it spreads across 570 square meters and will house 153 positions, 102 for IT and 51 for telecommunications.

The Centre:

Tracks the Games' sporting schedules and scoring systems;
Provides a digital map of the Torino and mountains area, indicating which venues are currently in use, and what technology is available or offline;
Tracks technology problems through software monitoring that posts alerts for a wide range of faults, from deliberate hacking to improper attempts to connect computers to the system;
Tracks the TV feed from all sport venues, monitoring the broadcast results

The Atos Origin contract with the International Olympic Committee is the world's largest sports-related IT contract. Atos Origin's 2010 involvement is expected to include consulting on information technology, systems integration, operations management, information security and software-applications development for the Olympic Games. At Torino, Atos is directly managing about 10 technology suppliers.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 12, 2005

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1225

DELTA CONSIDERS AIRPORT LEASE EXTENSION

The City of Delta, a municipality south of Vancouver, has decided to begin discussions with the operator of the Boundary Bay Airport, a dormant regional airport, to extend its 27-year lease up to another 20 years. Alpha Aviation says it needs the extension because it wants to upgrade the facilities, including a proposed a new 40,000-square foot terminal building, before the 2010 Winter Games and potential investors feel the current lease, which expires in 2032, isn't long enough to give tenure to the investments. Alpha plans to hold public meetings at the airport to discuss its plans, and to work with Delta's municipal government in the planning. The airport could be used to take pressure off the nearby Vancouver International Airport by handling regional and local aircraft during the lead-up to Games, during the Games, and as they end. The idea is that airport would then continue in operation as a general-aviation airport following the Games.

VANOC'S QUEBEC DEAL GETS HO-HUM FROM MAJOR CANADIAN DAILIES
The story last week about the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) reaching its first work-and-promote agreement with a Canadian province other than BC was a pretty good story for those following the development of the Games. But it didn't attract much attention in the general press. News databases report only a dozen English-language versions of the story were picked up by various publications and four of those articles were BC newspapers in Vancouver and Victoria. The others that carried the story included the National Post, which picked up a Canadian Press article about it, the Calgary Herald on page 9, the Kingston (Ontario) Whig-Standard on page 28, the Montreal Gazette on page 16, the Ottawa Citizen on page 6 of the "C" section and the Windsor (Ontario) Star on page E7 -- that was a column of short stories in the sports section.

ITALY PROPOSES CHOPPING 2006 OLYMPICS BUDGET BY C$22.8 MILLION
The Italian government today proposed cutting about C$22.8 million from the C$3.7 billion budget of the 2006 Winter Olympics, which is set to open in four months. The concept seems to have taken the Torino Olympic Organizing Committee by surprise. The budget cut is the Torino Olympics portion of a C$31 billion cut across Italian government expenditures that was required by the European Union to bring the country's debt ratios into line. The measures must be approved by the end of this calendar year, two months before the 2006 Games open.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 11, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Business| #1224
OREGON SPORTS AUTHORITY PLANNING TO ENTICE 2010 ATHLETES TRAINING FOR GAMES

The city of Portland and the Oregon Sports Authority are planning to send an Oregon delegation to meet with the mayor of Vancouver to "further discuss the economic collaborative opportunities offered to each city by the Vancouver Olympics," according to Drew Mahalic the CEO of the Authority.

And, he says, the Authority’s former Chair, Randolph Miller, traveled to Seattle specifically to meet with the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) to "forge a business relationship whereby each entity agreed in principle to cooperate with each other for mutual benefit."

Mahalic says his organization recognizes the economic potential available to the entire Northwest region of the United States from the 2010 Games. "Our plan is to develop both a state-of-Oregon plan and to work with [the U.S.] border states to develop a Cascadia plan for the Northwest designed to capture a part of the multi-billion dollar economic impact these Olympic Games will bring to Vancouver."

Mahalic says one of the Authority's main targets "are the 2,550 Olympians and Paralympians who will be highly interested in acclimating themselves to the Pacific time zone of our region, our altitude and weather, and the Northwest terrain and culture. For the snow sports, Oregon and Cascadia have a brilliant selection of mountain slopes that can serve as magnificent training sites for at least seven of the 15 Olympic sports. Oregon and southwest Washington also offer a strong selection of ice-rink venues to accommodate training needs for figure skaters, speed skaters, hockey teams, and curling teams. The plan of the Oregon Sports Authority is to use its relationships with the [US] national governing bodies of specific Olympic and Paralympic sports so that they are aware of and are encouraged to have their teams train in our ice rink facilities."

He also says the Authority has plans to build "partnerships among airlines, Amtrak, bus coaches, and travel agencies to ensure that Oregon is marketed as a convenient tourism destination prior to and after the Vancouver Olympics."

And he says, even the Authority's Board of Directors will be involved, saying it will use "the power of its Board of Directors who are corporate leaders for the world headquarters of Nike, the world headquarters of Columbia Sportswear and the U.S. headquarters of Adidas. All three of these giant apparel companies have a vested interest in the success of the Olympics and Olympic athletes. Strategic plans will be explored for athletes, coaches, judges and tourists who have an affiliation with any of these corporations to visit Oregon as part of their Olympic visit."

Next year, he says, he hopes to have the funding for a full-time manager in charge of doing this work. "We hope to forge a partnership with the [US] federal government and all the [corporate] partners to fund a dedicated two-year position... that would focus solely on developing the network and partnerships required to fully leverage the economic potential that is available from the 2010 Games."

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 11, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Government| #1223
BC 2010 SECRETARIAT HOPES 2010 BUSINESS NETWORK TO BE LAUNCHED BEFORE YEAR-END

The BC 2010 Olympics Secretariat, the provincial government organization responsible for, among other things, the 2010 Commerce Centre website, reports that the long-touted 2010 Business Network is "anticipated to be operational later this year," according to Jane Burnes, the Secretariat's director of Special Projects.

The Network is to include:

A database of companies that want to do Olympic business;
An opportunity for companies to build new business relationships – to find potential partners, suppliers and new clients;
An ability for companies, including international firms, to post a detailed business profile and search listings to find the business relationships they need to do business around the Games.

She also reports on two aspects of a Tourism BC market study done two years ago about anticipated visitor flows involving the Games in 2010:
Currently about 40% of visitors from other parts of the US to BC travel through the Pacific Pacific Northwest, about 30% of BC’s overseas visitors also visit the Pacific Pacific Northwest.
About 25% of incremental visitors to the 2010 Games are expected by the study to be from overseas, 35% from the Pacific Northwest states of Washington State, Idaho and Oregon, and 40% from other parts of the US.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 11, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Business| #1222
PACIFIC NORTHWEST TOURISM OFFICES START TALKS ABOUT 2010 OLYMPICS TOURISM MARKETING

The tourism commissions of Washington State, Oregon and Idaho have begun "preliminary conversations" to discuss potential joint marketing programs in conjunction with the 2010 Olympics, according to Todd Davidson, Director of the Oregon Tourism Commission.

Davidson says there is potential opportunity for the Pacific Northwest states in several key areas:

Positioning the Pacific Northwest as a training site for the Olympic athletes "seeking to acclimate" to the snow and other conditions that are similar to those of the 2010 Olympic venues in Whistler.
"Reaching out" to the thousands of reporters who will be doing feature stories on things associated with the Olympics, but who won't be receiving accreditation to attend the Olympics. The idea, already discussed in a number of BC communities and their tourism operations and particularly in Vancouver and Whistler, is to help the reporters generate "lifestyle stories" about the areas where the Games will be held. A large number of reporters from all types of media take advantage of the interest in the 2010 Winter Games as they near or as they run, to do features on Olympic host communities. Those stories, if the reporters are given the right type of public-relations aid, would help tourism marketing for those areas.
Exploring opportunities to build travel packages with international tour operators that would use Pacific Northwest international air service, such as PDX’s air service on Lufthansa Airlines of Germany from Frankfurt; Northwest Air Lines from Tokyo, Japan; and Mexicana Airlines from Guadalajara and Mexico City, Mexico. The idea is to bring contestants and attendees alike through the Northwest and encourage them "them to spend some discretionary time [in some or all of the three states] either before or after the competitions."

He says, however, Canada/US border restrictions that are to be imposed by the U.S. Government before the 2010 Winter Games continue to pose two main challenges to tourism marketing efforts:

"The first of these challenges is found in our visa-processing requirements," he says. "The August 2003 requirement that nearly all visa applicants appear in person at a U.S. embassy or consulate has increased the workload at many visa-issuing posts." He says additional staff have been hired since then, in some locations "major delays continue to occur due to shortages of personnel or office space. I am concerned that delays in visa issuance are [already] acting to deter prospective international visitors."

Davidson says the second challenge is found in the U.S. requirement for biometric passports, which involve electronic scans of the eye, face, or finger. Biometric passports, as they're called, will help with the concept of increasing U.S. security while lessening wait times at customs. "However, there was a looming deadline of this October 26 for the [Visa Waiver Program] participating countries to begin issuing these new, high-tech passports containing biometric identifiers. It was believed that, at best, only a handful of the 27 Visa Waiver countries would be able to meet the October 26 deadline. It was also questionable if the U.S. State Department would be ready to start issuing biometrically enabled U.S. passports by that time. This deadline has now been extended by one additional year and an additional biometric identifier – a digital photograph – has been added to the choices."

Davidson says that "uncertainty about these deadlines in the marketplace only discourages travel to the U.S. and could have a crippling effect on future travel bookings for this coming fall and beyond." He says that Congress’s decision to extend the October deadline was "critically important to our tourism trading partners and the more than 13 million Visa Waiver Program visitors that can continue to travel uninterrupted to the United States."

RESOURCES

The Visa Waiver Program (VWP) enables nationals of selected countries to travel to the United States for tourism or business for stays of 90 days or less without obtaining a visa. The 27 VWP countries are: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

RESOURCES

The VWP website:
http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/without/without_1990.html

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 11, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Government| #1221
BC, WASHINGTON STATE SIGN CO-OPERATION MOU TO FOCUS ON 2010 OLYMPICS AND RELATED ISSUES

The BC provincial government and the Washington state government have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that focuses on the 2010 Winter Olympics and a number of other areas of mutual interest.

The agreement, signed Friday in Vancouver by BC Premier Gordon Campbell and Washington's governor, Christine Gregoire, pledges that the two governments will work co-operatively on common goals in the areas of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, trade, the environment, tourism, technology, education, and transportation. The two leaders "will also meet periodically to review issues of mutual interest and to monitor progress," according to BC officials.

Washington State officials says the agreement, for them, will deal with "business opportunities associated with the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver."

Gregoire said, "There are limitless opportunities for co-operation between the province and the state. With the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, I am particularly interested in opportunities for Washington State businesses. I have already appointed a 2010 Olympic Games Task Force co-chaired by Congressman Rick Larsen and Sid Morrison. With their leadership we will continue to position Washington businesses to support British Columbia so they may have a successful event."

Larsen, a House of Representatives Democrat whose area of responsibility includes the Blaine border crossing into BC, and Morrison, a House Republican, were actually first given their appointments a year ago last month under then-governor Gary Locke. Washington State will offer help with housing, expedited border-crossing as well as business and technical support, Gregoire said of the Task Force's current work. Larsen said last April that border-crossing issues were key for him, saying at the time, "With the 2010 Olympics, it's important that the State Department and Homeland Security get this right. We cannot have a situation where legitimate Olympic travel is being stopped."

Gregoire said discussions with Premier Campbell, though preliminary, are a first step toward "a meaningful role" for Washington to play in the Olympics. "From housing to expedited border crossing to business and technical support, Washington State has much to offer in support of Vancouver as host of the Olympics."

She added, "We want to be the best neighbour possible for our friends in British Columbia. That includes playing a vital role in the success of Vancouver as the host city to the 2010 Winter Olympics."

Gregoire also said that she encouraged co-operative tourism marketing efforts between Washington State and British Columbia as an Olympics-related part of the MOU. "We have learned that people in Europe and Asia are very interested in travel to the Northwest and that we should strongly consider marketing Washington State and British Columbia as an excellent two nation destination."

Premier Campbell plans to visit Washington next, however, no date has been set.

RESOURCES

Our story from last year about the set-up of the Washington State 2010 Olympic Task Force, with links to bios of the two chairs involved:
http://www.morgan-news.com/2010/archives/2004_11_01_Bronze.htm

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 11, 2005

Friday, October 07, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #1220
NEW QUEBEC FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT EXPECTED TO BE "FIRST... OF MANY SUCH AGREEMENTS"

The wide-ranging Framework Agreement reached October 3 between the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) and the province of Quebec is just the first in a series of similar agreements VANOC is to make with other provinces in Canada.

The Agreement, which opens up a whole new area of business opportunities and competition, stems from a meeting between VANOC CEO John Furlong, Quebec Premier Charest and other government officials in Montreal about six month ago, during which VANOC and Quebec agreed they'd work to become partners in delivery the Games. Said Furlong, "This Agreement is the first of what I hope will be many such agreements with each of the provinces and territories of Canada."

In a Montreal ceremony this morning, Charest said he feels "good today in signing this historical agreement today, and allowing this to happen, because it sends a very powerful precedent to future sporting events in Canada."

BC Premier Gordon Campbell, who attended the event by teleconference, said, "We want these Games to be the best reflection of Canada that we can possibly make them, and it is really, critically important that the Province of Quebec have a leadership role in making sure that takes place... It's important that people realize these are Canada's Games."

Campbell said that Quebec athletes will be "front and centre" during awards ceremonies at the Olympics, and that "it is all the people of Quebec that this agreement embraces." And, he added later, "Quebec's participation will make them a stronger Games, and Canada's full participation, from coast to coast, will ensure the world sees our country as it truly should; a country that is born out of duality, a country that respects one another, and a country that celebrates excellence on an on-going basis."

Furlong told the group, "For us, Canada's Games must be meaningful for every citizen. We have to bring the message of the Games to every home in Canada." He said this Agreement helps bring that idea to life. "The Games will benefit from Quebec's experience in many, many ways." But, he also notes, four billion people are expected to watch the 2010 Games. "The Games are a formidable platform to communicate to the world about Canada's linguistic duality and our cultural services," he said, adding that with the Agreement, "We're taking a giant leap forward."

The Quebec Agreement says VANOC, in mounting the Games, "intends to take advantage of the opportunity to promote Canada’s linguistic duality and cultural diversity and, in that spirit, considers it desirable to collaborate with Quebec in order to benefit from its expertise, primarily in French, in various areas related to the fulfillment of [VANOC's] mission." That includes using Quebec support of French-language support and terminology in development various materials for the Games. Quebec will also use its influence, "to promote co-operation between Quebec civil society organizations and francophone community organizations across Canada."

The six-page agreement contains specific and general areas of co-operation between VANOC and the Quebec government, including sport, culture, the French language, economic and technological development, public markets, volunteers, employment opportunities and job training.

For instance, the Agreement says that, with working groups to be set up as needed and an annual review of results:

VANOC will establish a permanent office in Montreal "in order to ensure a significant presence and a high visibility for the Games in Eastern Canada, along with a permanent link with Québec society. Québec agrees to support the establishment of the Montréal office under terms to be negotiated with VANOC."
In sport, VANOC and Quebec "agree to work collaboratively to ensure that certain newly constructed or upgraded Quebec facilities that meet the standards for sports included in the Games be made available for the training and preparation of Canadian and foreign athletes between now and the Games, and beyond 2010."
VANOC also agrees to work jointly with Quebec to "use [VANOC's] best efforts to ensure a Quebec representative is designated to sit on the 'Own the Podium' Steering Committee." The Own the Podium program is a 110-million project of the Canadian Olympic Committee to focus support on Canadian athletes in specific key sports heading for the 2010 Games, and the Program suggests that, "half the medals won by Canadian athletes in 2010 will be in disciplines where Québec athletes have historically excelled." VANOC has committed to raising half of the funds, while the rest comes from government sources.
In the economic section, VANOC and Quebec's Ministry of Economic Development, Innovation and Export agree to ensure Quebec business knows about VANOC opportunities available through Quebec's public tendering systems in the areas of "products, services, expertise, or technology," and that the tenders, in French and English, will be available with "timely access." And, VANOC says it will work with Quebec's Human Resources department, the body that co-ordinates the Quebec public service’s hiring and human-resources development activities to share "its linguistic and technical expertise in French-language tendering under terms to be negotiated."
The Organizing Committee and Quebec also agree to focus on culture, with the Framework Agreement promising they will begin "developing programming that showcases the dynamism of Quebec artists, arts organizations and cultural industries and, in so doing, reflects the specificity and vitality of Quebec culture in various fields, particularly the arts, literature [and] heritage." In addition, VANOC and Quebec will "negotiate and conclude a specific agreement establishing the terms of co-operation, including financial co-operation, to develop programming for the years preceding the Games, and during the Games themselves, both as part of the Cultural Olympiads and the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic arts festivals."
The Agreement says the two will collaborate on the "recruitment and training of Quebec volunteers for the 2010 Games, mainly by taking advantage of major sporting events held in Quebec." And, they will aim to recruit mainly French-speaking youth in Quebec for "volunteer and paid positions who will support, under terms to be negotiated later, VANOC during the delivery of the Games."

Also involved in this morning's signing ceremony were Quebec's minister of Education, Leisure and Sport, Jean-Marc Fournier, and the Quebec minister responsible for: Canadian Intergovernmental Affairs, Francophones within Canada, the Agreement on Internal Trade, the Reform of Democratic Institutions and Access to Information, Benoît Pelletier, as well as Dick Pound, International Olympic Committee Member, head of the World Anti-Doping Agency of Montreal and a member of VANOC's Board of Directors..

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 7, 2005

Thursday, October 06, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Government| #1218
ALBERTA PROVIDES C$600,000 TO SUPPORT CANADIAN SKI-JUMPING THROUGH TO 2010 OLYMPICS

The Alberta Government said today that it would put C$600,000 into the Ski Jumping Training Centre at the Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, Alberta, so that Canada’s ski jumping and Nordic combined athletes would have a place to train leading up to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

The provincial funding, provided through the Alberta Lottery Fund to the The Calgary Olympic Development Association (CODA), will pay for "urgent safety and infrastructure improvements" to the 20-year-old ski jumping complex at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, currently the only major ski-jumping facility in the country. With the funding, says government officials, 'the landing bowls will be rebuilt, safety improvements implemented, and summer training facilities enhanced."

Gaming Minister Gordon Graydon said, in making the announcement, which has been in the works for months, “This C$600,000 investment from the Alberta Lottery Fund will allow the athletes to prepare for the 2006 and 2010 Olympic Winter Games right here in Calgary. We are also proud that the road to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver and Whistler passes right through the province of Alberta, and that the legacy of 1988 Winter Olympics will continue to live on in Alberta.”

CODA estimates it will cost up to C$200,000 annually to operate the modernized training facilities for the next four years leading up to the 2010 Olympic Games.

CODA president John Mills says that new funds will help “CODA operate the complex so that Canadian athletes will have the opportunity to train for 2010. With modern training facilities, this partnership gives new life to the sports.”

Facing cost pressures and aging facilities, CODA said late last year it would discontinue funding for the two Olympic sports, and make a final determination of the future of the ski-jumping training centre in Calgary this year. Since then, CODA decided to spend C$110,000 making immediate capital upgrades, and allocated C$80,000 for operational costs so that training could take place from June through October in advance of the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Italy.

Over the summer, CODA worked with the two national sport organizations, senior governments, the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) on the issue.

CODA claims the sports of ski jumping and Nordic combined in Canada have made major strides forward in the last five years, and are the healthiest they have been since the 1980’s. For the first time in more than a decade, Canada fielded a ski-jumping team of four athletes at the World Cup level in 2004, and will do so again this season.

Brent Morrice, the president of Ski Jumping Canada says that more than 1,000 athletes are introduced to the sports each summer in Canada, and the development program now has more than 80 athletes training year-round at Canada Olympic Park. “The support of the Alberta Government and CODA is a giant step towards our goal of not only having Canadian athletes represent our sports at the Olympics for the first time since 1992, but to also win a medal,” said

Morrice, and Ski Jumping Canada officials have begun the process of selling sponsorships and acquiring program funding to ensure athletes have the coaching, financial and technical resources needed.

Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined Ski Canada say they have developed a strategic plan to prepare Canadian athletes to compete at the 2010 Games in Vancouver, and are hopeful funding will be available through the Canadian Olympic Committee's "Own the Podium" program.

VANOC, saying it was worried about the ability of the sport to sustain itself in a business-like way, has been planning to make the ski jumps at the Whistler Nordic Centre temporary.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 6, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1217

Here are three more moguls we ran into today:

VANOC, QUEBEC REACH "FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT"

Quebec Premier Jean Charest and Vancouver 2010 CEO John Furlong have reached what they are calling a "Framework Co-operation Agreement" between the province of Quebec and the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC). VANOC has reached similar agreements with, for instance, the aboriginal host groups for the 2010 Games, and the federal and BC governments. It's also reached one with the City of Vancouver and various agencies working in the relatively poor neighbourhood called the downtown east-side, called the Vancouver Agreement. These types of agreements describe, in general terms, how both parties will work together to support the Games. Furlong has often said that he wants the 2010 Games to be perceived as Canada's Games, not Vancouver or Whistler's Games. The announcement will be made tomorrow morning in Montreal. BC Premier Gordon Campbell will take part in the announcement by speakerphone, VANOC Board Member Richard Pound, who is an International Olympic Committee representative and who also runs the Olympic's World Anti-Doping Agency out of Montreal, will also be on hand for the announcement, along with Quebec's minister of Education, Recreation and Sports, Jean-Marc Fournier, and the province's Minister responsible for Canadian Intergovernmental Affairs, Benoit Pelletier.

CANADA POST PUTS ITS STAMP ON TORINO-BOUND ATHLETES
Promotion of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Italy, which in Canada is co-ordinated by the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC), will be boosted starting this month by Canada Post. The agency says that envelopes for its domestic Priority Courier and Xpresspost Prepaid services will feature athletes of the Canadian Freestyle Ski team and the Canadian Speed Skating team. Canada Post sponsors both teams. The agency has produced what it thinks should be enough to last until the 2006 Games begin. So, while quantities last, the envelopes will feature colour action pictures of long-track skater Clara Hughes, moguls skiers Stephanie St. Pierre and Jenn Heil, and aerials competitors Jeff Bean and Deidra Dionne. The Canadian Speed Skating team has about 65 high-performance athletes who train year-round, but Canada Post also sponsors those particular athletes, in addition to its overall sponsorship of the organization. Bob Waite, senior vice-president of Communications and Stakeholder Relations at Canada Post, outlines the business aspect: "As these envelopes travel across the country with their exciting new look, they will bring increased visibility to Canada Post, the individual athletes and Canada's teams." Canada Post has sponsored the skiers since 1999; it began sponsoring the speed skaters in 2003.

AMERICAN TV NETWORKS CONSIDER IMPACT OF TORINO OLYMPIC COVERAGE
The highly competitive morning shows of America's TV networks have started planning the adjustments they'll make to offset ratings turmoil that accompanies the viewer draw of NBC's coverage of the 2006 Winter Olympics next February. NBC's top-rated "Today" show plans to play a large role in the network's exclusive coverage of the Games, not only during them, but also in the weeks beforehand. The show also recognizes that the bump in ratings during the Games is offset by a slump following them, and competitor ABC's "Good Morning America" knows that. According to industry analysts, "Today" had its worst season since the mid-90s after last year's Athens Summer Games, and the Summer Games are more popular than the Winter Games.

RESOURCES
Background on Quebec Premier Jean Charest:
http://www.premier.gouv.qc.ca/general/biographie/biographie_en.htm

Background on Quebec's sport minister, J-M Fournier:
http://www.assnat.qc.ca/eng/Membres/notices/e-f/fouj2.shtml

Background on Quebec's intergovernmental affairs minister, Benoit Pelletier:
http://www.assnat.qc.ca/eng/Membres/notices/o-p/pelb3.shtml

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 6, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1216

Here are three moguls we ran into today:

RICHMOND POLITICIANS FRET ABOUT OLYMPIC EFFECT ON HOUSING

Some local politicians in Richmond are pointing to problems with an apartment building and claiming the issue has to do with the influence of the 2010 Winter Olympics. The tenants of Richmond Gardens, which has 240 apartments, had been told by the new owner, a company called Amacon, that it required them all to leave so it could renovate the aging block. Richmond, which is a venue municipality for the 2010 speedskating oval, has intervened, and city officials say Amacon may change its mind about what will happen. However, Richmond municipal councillor, Harold Steves, claims that Richmond Gardens is an example of what happened before Expo 86 arrived in Vancouver: low-income tenants were evicted when rooming hotels or apartments evicted low-income tenants for renovations in the expectation of getting better clientele from the people the Games attracts. With the 2010 Olympics on its way and Richmond being a venue city, Steves said history could repeat itself. The City of Vancouver has put in place bylaws that make it expensive or difficult for apartment owners to do that, but Richmond does not have such a bylaw.

TURGEON SLIDES INTO RONA MARKETING PLANS
Downhill Olympic Canadian ski champion Melanie Turgeon is leaving the slopes after 23 years, but she'll continue to represent 2010 Olympics sponsor Rona, the renovations supply firm, in various marketing initiatives. "Mélanie Turgeon is a superb example of courage and determination in sports and we support her decision to retire from competition," RONA president and CEO Robert Dutton says. "RONA has always been proud of our association with Mélanie. In fact, we’re very happy to be able to continue our relationship with her by welcoming Mélanie as RONA Ambassador for our Olympic Program." As part of Rona's sponsorship arrangements with VANOC, it is also a Canadian Olympic Team Partner for the 2006 Turin, 2008 Beijing, 2010 Vancouver and 2012 London Olympic Games. Turgeon, who is bilingual in England and French, finished 41 times among the top ten skiers, including four times at world championships and once in the Olympics -- at the Salt Lake City Games in 2002, where she took eighth place in the downhill. The Canadian athlete will turn 29 this month; she has been bothered in recent years by back problems. She said she recently realized that, "My back is still strong, but [can no longer] support the weight of competitive skiing."

Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z...
Hilton Hotels, which is one of the sponsors of the US Olympic Committee, says it will modify the 160 dorm rooms for resident athletes at the USOC's training centre in Colorado Springs to ensure they get good sleep. The changes will be based on recommendations by Dr. Mark Rosekind, a former NASA scientist and president of Alertness Solutions. "Sleep is so important and so basic that it could make the difference between winning the gold or the silver at the Olympic Games," said Dr. Rosekind, who was awarded the NASA Exceptional Service Medal for his work with pilots and astronauts on combating fatigue. "The proper amount of sleep can boost an athlete's performance as much as 30%." The renovations are supposed to "optimize the sleep environment" for U.S. Olympic athletes. The two main ones involve replacing the bed and the alarm. Hilton says it will install "a complete bedding system designed exclusively for Hilton. It has a plush-top mattress to reduce tossing and turning and to improve circulation while sleeping. The hotel will also install the "world’s easiest to set" alarm clock in each room. The cube-shaped clock radio automatically adjusts for daylight savings time and includes a connector for MP3 and CD players. The idea is to "relieve athletes' anxiety about waking up on time."

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 6, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Business| #1215
VISA LAUNCHES INTERNET VIDEO GAME TO PROMOTE ITSELF AND THE TORINO 2006 WINTER OLYMPICS

The latest Olympics marketing project by the Visa credit-card organization, a major sponsor of the International Olympic Commission, is an Internet-based video game of the Winter Olympics.

Tom Shepard, executive vice president, Global Marketing Partnerships and Sponsorship, Visa International, puts the business rationale for it this way: the video game is a way of "...providing a fun and entertaining means for consumers worldwide to engage with our brand." The game is called "Visa Championships - Torino 2006", and you can see from the title there's lots of room for sequels.

Visa has already reached a deal to be a sponsor connected with the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, but has so far kept the focus of its main marketing on other Games. In Vancouver and Whistler, its Olympics marketing has involved relatively low-key co-marketing arrangements through its membership and the chambers of commerce.

In "Visa Championships-Torino 2006," winners generated from among residents of the 23 countries attending the Olympic Winter Games in Torino, Italy, compete in an international championship. The prizes are chances to win ThinkPad notebook PCs from Lenovo Computers, and DVD home-theater systems from Panasonic, both of which are also TOP-level sponsors of the Olympics. Players can also win a trip for two to the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games.

Players compete in three virtual Olympic winter sports: bobsleigh, giant slalom alpine skiing and snowboard cross. Similar to an athlete's build-up to the Olympic Winter Games, players in Visa's game must progress through multiple preliminary rounds and then compete in a national competition. In each country, the player with the lowest combined time across all three sports will travel to Torino, Italy, as a guest of Visa to attend the Olympic Winter Games and compete head-to-head against the other country winners on February 15. The championship games will be played on Lenovo computers. Players have to be 18 on December 15 to qualify. The preliminary rounds begin on today, and the national competition runs from November 15, through December 15 in all countries.

The Visa brand is ever-present in the game: Visa-sponsored Olympic athletes, from the Team Visa athlete program provide coaching tips to players. At the start of the game, players receive a virtual Visa payment card with preloaded Visa sponsorship funds that can be used to purchase virtual performance gear.

Lenovo, a Chinese-based company that recently bought IBM's personal-computer division in New York, provides the desktop and portable computers used by Olympics Games staff. It has not yet signed a deal that would allow it to do the same for the 2010 Games. Panasonic's sponsorship of Olympic Games involves providing professional broadcast equipment and support for the coverage of events, and by designing sporting venues where audiences can take in the sights and sounds of the games with huge video screens and big audio systems.

RESOURCES

Only residents of the following 23 countries, which are also the ones that will take part in the Torino Olympics, are allowed by Visa to take part in the Visa video-game championships: Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Uruguay, the United Kingdom and the United States. The game is available in 13 languages - Chinese, Croatian, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Kazak, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Turkish and Ukrainian.

RESOURCES

The Visa Championships - Torino 2006 game and competition rules are at:

http://www.Visa.com/visachampionships

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 6, 2005

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Government| #1214
C$800,000 TO FUND 69 GROUPS FOR 2010 ARTS PROGRAM

2010 Legacies Now says it intends to award almost C$800,000 in funding to 69 organizations in 23 communities across the province though its ArtsNow division. The awards are part of the 2010 Olympics cultural-legacy program.

The major social and cultural aspects of the Games are being supervised by the BC government through various channels, including 2010 Legacies Now, an independent agency. The idea of the program is to build artistic capacity in the province in advance of the 2010 Games to connect with the Cultural Olympiad, a concept of the International Olympic Committee, that occurs during the lead-up to the Games.

Marion Lay, President and CEO, 2010 Legacies Now says that, "At 2010 Legacies Now, one of our priorities is to build legacies at the community level that will last beyond 2010. This support through Arts Now will increase BC's capacity for artistic excellence now and in the future."

BC's Tourism, Sport and the Arts Minister Olga Ilich, concurs, adding, "Through Arts Now funding, we are building lasting legacies in arts and culture, heritage and education in communities across the province. These grants will help ensure every region of the province benefits from the cultural opportunities resulting from hosting the Games."

This latest round of funding brings the overall investment so far from Arts Now to C$1.5 million in 42 communities around the province.

Jim Smith the producer of Eponymous, a cultural management agency, says, "There is a gap that currently exists in the Vancouver performing-arts ecology, which is the absence of a contemporary-dance series of larger-scale works by both local and national artists. Works of this scale are regularly presented in other Canadian cities such as Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto." He adds that the support of Arts Now, "will go a long way to help develop such series."

The deadlines for the next round of applications is January 16 for the Catalyst component, and January 31 for the Innovations component.

RESOURCES

The complete list of organizations receiving ArtsNow funding is in a 76k PDF file here:
http://www.2010legaciesnow.com/Images/Arts/Descriptions%20Recipients%20June%202005%20edited%20FINAL%20by%20communities.pdf

ArtsNow home page:
http://www.2010legaciesnow.com/Content/ArtsNow/Arts%20Now%20Home.asp?langid=1

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 5, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Business| #1213
CONCERT PROPERTIES WITHDRAWS FROM SELECTION PROCESS ON 2010 VANCOUVER OLYMPIC VILLAGE

Concert Properties, under pressure about the optics of its expression of interest, has withdrawn itself from consideration to be the developer of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Village.

The move comes less than 24 hours after the City of Vancouver published a list of five development teams that had responded to the formal Expression of Interest, the first stage in the multi-stage process for becoming the developer of the Village to be funded by the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC).

Concert Properties president and CEO David Podmore, who has been a strong supporter of the Olympics since the early days of the Bid Corporation, says, "We said two years ago that we would not bid on any business opportunities directly or indirectly related to VANOC and, even though Vancouver's Olympic Village will be under the control of the City, and not VANOC, we have decided to withdraw in the spirit of avoiding any perception of potential conflict of interest."

Podmore said he wanted to make it clear that his company, which shares a chairman, Jack Poole, and a Board director, Tony Tennessy, with VANOC, did not submit a proposal to the City: "We only expressed in writing the interest of Concert and its partners -- the Musqueam Indian Band and VanCity Enterprises -- to obtain additional information so that the company could fully understand the scope of the project and, if short-listed by the City, decide then whether to proceed with a proposal." Vancouver City Manager Judy Rogers is also on the VANOC board of directors.

The decision to submit the EOI, however, fueled a front-page story in the Vancouver Sun newspaper this morning that recalled the number of times Concert Properties officials, including Podmore, had said the company would not be involved. VANOC said it had put measures in place to prevent any actual conflict, and it has senior, independent officials that becomes involved in such ethical questions. But it has yet to make any official comment on the EOI issue.

Podmore added that, "It was never Concert's intent to create any controversy around questions of conflict-of-interest. That's why we sought assurances from the City that it had control of the project, and that VANOC would not be involved in the selection of the developer. However, given the reaction to our request for additional information we have decided to withdraw our expression of interest."

Podmore's decision also withdraws its development team, not all of whom were named in the City's list, but they included VanCity Enterprises and the Musqueam aboriginal group, one of the four official host aboriginal groups of the Olympics. It's not immediately clear on how their roles will evolve as a result of the decision.

Other major players involved in the team, however, said that the process that was used by Concert had such stringent need-to-know protocols in place to offset the issue of conflict-of-interest that it sometimes interfered with normal business logistics, and that they were unaware this afternoon that Concert intended to pull out. But they felt that the underlying reason for the move would be an attempt to avoid being tarnished by the controversy, and that Concert had plenty of other opportunities to persue.

The decision leaves four development teams in the running: Concord Pacific, The Millennium Group, Wall Financial and Windmill Development. A decision on a short list -- and this may be it -- is to be made by Vancouver City Council on October 18. The firms would then be provided with formal Request for Proposal documents, and given a date in late November to reply. City council will then make a final decision in early January, based on the response to the proposals, on which consortium should do the project.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 5, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1212

Here are three moguls we ran into today:

WOMEN'S SKI JUMPING FOR 2010 GETS CANADIAN PUSH

Organizers hoping to add women's ski jumping to the 2010 Winter Games roster felt they gained added ammunition following a stellar performance by a 13-year-old Canadian, Atsuko Tanaka of Calgary, at Park City, Utah, during the second day of Continental Cup competitions. Her jumps gave her a combined score of 233.5 for first place. Two women from Park City followed her: Jessica Jerome ended with 231.5 and Lindsey Van was in third place with 230. Park City Record newspaper reporter Adia Waldberger says, "The win gives proof to FIS officials that other countries can win besides the U.S. and the European powerhouses of Austria, Norway, Germany and Slovenia. Within Canada, the win was also vital. Recently, the Canadian jumpers' sponsors have threatened to pull money based on the assertion that Canadian women can't win. Tanaka's win was the second Canadian win in two months." One of the prime drivers to get the jumps into the Vancouver Olympics is Women's Ski Jumping USA president DeeDee Corradini, who keeps in touch with Cathy Priestner, the senior vice-president of Sport for the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Corradini is quoted as saying, "The fact that Canada took first place is important, because the Canadians are submitting the proposal to include women in 2010, which is fantastic, but to have a Canadian take first elevates the importance that we need to get women in the Vancouver Games." The Canadian Snowsports Association and the United States Ski and Snowboard Association have both publicly supported a proposal to include women ski jumping in the Olympics. The proposal still has several levels of approval to leap.

HYDROGEN-POWER INDUSTRY WIDENS 2010 PROMOTION
Design Engineering Magazine of Toronto says in an article that the fledgling industry that's focusing on hydrogen-powered transportation and related matters is working on several aspects of using the tourist draw of the 2010 Winter Olympics to demonstrate its technology as part of the Games' sustainability theme. VANOC is not overseeing this; it's an independent industry-government initiative. Article author Treena Hein reports in the current issue that, the two-hour drive along the highway between Vancouver and Whistler, "will be dotted with hydrogen fueling stations." And Hein reports that QuestAir, which produces gas purifiers for hydrogen fueling stations, expects to be involved with fueling stations along the Highway. Ballard Power, she reports, expects it will "have commercially viable fuel cell technology that meets federal Department of Energy standards by 2010, and that it is hoping the BC and federal governments will support the cost of 15 to 20 of the hundreds of buses required by VANOC to transport athletes, officials and the media between venues and Olympic Villages will be fueled by Ballard's hydrogen fuel cells during the Games. Hein says Ballard "has already achieved a reliable -20 degrees Celsius cold start, with a goal of -30; they also want to improve fuel cell life from a present 2,200 hours to 5,000." And, the magazine reports, "Powertech Labs plans to supply hydrogen gas, carbon storage tanks and trailer units for the tractor-trailers transporting the tanks. This company also already plays an important role in vehicle development by providing tests for all components of hydrogen technology (e.g. regulators, filling connections, and flow-meters)."

DHL OUTLINES AGGRESSIVE 2006 OLYMPICS MARKETING IN US
DHL, an American-based international courier company, is aggressively marketing its relationship with the US Olympic Committee, which it already sponsors, as the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, nears. DHL has set up a second sponsorship, with the US Paralympic Committee to provide courier services and logistics help. It will extend that to include courier services between the USOC and the dozen or so national sport organizations involved in the Olympics. And, says DHL, it will also promote the fact that it will be carrying awards, medical equipment and team clothing for American athletes at the Games, and will launch what it calls "Olympic Spirit Cards," a contest aimed at "young Americans" with a prize of a trip for two to meet members of the American sports teams going to Torino. DHL will also have on-site shipping kiosks in Torino for all goods that U.S. athletes need to ship home or to their next competition, as well as shipping centers at USA House, the USOC's business and hospitality center in Torino, and the Olympic Athlete Village. And, it's also setting up an employee-recognition program, DHL U.S. employees will have the opportunity to work at the DHL shipping centers in Torino throughout the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 5, 2005

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1211

Here are three moguls we ran into today:

VANCOUVER TO ROLL OUT INFRASTRUCTURE DESIGN OF ATHLETE VILLAGE AT PUBLIC MEETING

This month, the City of Vancouver will offer another in its series of public information sessions about the current planning status of the Southeast False Creek area, which includes the 2010 Olympic Athletes Village. The session is scheduled for four hours in the late afternoon and early evening of Wednesday, October 12 at the Vancouver Public Library lobby. This session will focus on the infrastructure design, such as the energy system, storm-water management, how the streets will be organized, and waterfront design. The City is in early stages of a process to select a developer for the site.

BELL OFFERS PLUM PR JOB TO "LEVERAGE" OLYMPIC SPONSORSHIP
Bell Canada, the telecommunications sponsor for the 2010 Winter Olympics, is looking for an Associate Director of Corporate Communications with a lot of leverage to be based in Vancouver. Bell says that "Leveraging Bell’s national partnership with VANOC for the 2010 Vancouver and Whistler Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, specifically in the area of media relations and events, will be central this role." The person's principal responsibility is to write and produce "major corporate collateral" for western Canada as well as prepare executive bios, appointment notices, talking points, backgrounders, news releases, briefing binders, presentations, white papers and speeches. But, says Bell, "As a member of the Olympic team, [the person is to be] a primary force behind bringing the Olympic spirit to life through innovative, engaging public-relations plans and programs that fully leverage Olympic opportunities with all Bell stakeholders." And the person will also be managing "branding initiatives and opportunities for the Olympics, working with Bell’s national brand team."

WHISTLER SNOW TURNS OUR THOUGHTS TO END OF CONSTRUCTION SEASON
Whistler got its first dusting of snow September 26 and got more in the last couple of days, and while that's heartening news for skiers and snowboarders, it's a harbinger of the end of the first of three major construction seasons for the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC). Whistler Blackcomb, the main ski resort, is expected to resume operations in November. However, project managers for the Whistler Nordic Centre in the nearby Callaghan Valley, and the Whistler Sliding Centre, north of Whistler itself, have begun preparations for closing up construction for the winter, which is usually marked by heavy snowfalls. They have spent this first season clearing and grubbing the sites, setting up access roads and establishing compound pads, along with some initial site servicing. Starting next spring, the main construction work on the venues will begin, and be completed during the third construction season, from the spring to the fall in 2007. Some initial construction work is to be done in the Cypress Bowl venue, but the main work there will also be done next year.

RESOURCES

A photo of Whistler Mountain, taken October 3:
http://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/weather/snowreport/index.htm

Whistler 5-day Alpine Forecast from Environment Canada:
http://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/weather/forecast/alpine

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 4, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Government| #1210
FIVE MAJOR DEVELOPER TEAMS INTERESTED IN BUILDING VANCOUVER OLYMPIC ATHLETES VILLAGE

Five development companies, which have set up working partnerships with architects and other operations, have asked to be considered to provide the buildings of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) Athlete Village in Vancouver.

Seventeen firms attended a briefing session on the project last month at Vancouver City Hall.

One of the five teams asking for consideration has a lot of ties to the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC), which will be part of the team deeply involved in the way the Village will be organized.

The developer teams that submitted expressions of interest to the City of Vancouver are, in alphabetical order:

CONCERT PROPERTIES. This is a B.C.-based developer with 16 years of experience developing and acquiring multi-family and seniors housing, hotels, commercial and industrial projects. It has joined with VanCity Enterprises, an offshoot of VanCity Credit Union, and the Musqueam Indian Band, one of the four host aboriginal groups of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Concert said on October 29, 2003 it would not be involved in the Athletes Village due to the potential conflict of interest. "Concert will not be involved in any Olympic project. Period. Full stop," was the exact quoteat the time, from its chairman and CEO, Jack Poole, who is also chairman of VANOC's Board of Directors. Concert had seconded or volunteered several senior staff of the firm to help work on the Olympic bid and prepare the Bid Book that led to Vancouver winning the Games.

However, the City of Vancouver says that since the City has now taken sole responsibility for the development of the Vancouver Athlete Village, and will be exclusively reviewing, evaluating and selecting the developer team, such a conflict no longer exists.

Concert Properties is a property developer owned by a number of British Columbia union and management pension funds. Its chairman and CEO is Jack Poole, who was the CEO of the Vancouver 2010 Bid Corporation, which was VANOC's predecessor, and who is currently chairman of VANOC's Board of Directors. He has described himself as the "interface between the Board and VANOC management," and has said on several occasions that the VANOC board keeps VANOC management "on a short leash."

Also on the Board of Concert Properties is David Podmore, the company's President and CEO. Podmore was appointed on June 23 last year by VANOC CEO John Furlong to what Furlong at the time called a "volunteer capital-works committee" to help VANOC work on how the 2010 Games venue-development program was to be handled and delivered. At the time, Furlong said that committee would work directly with senior vice-president of Venues, Steve Matheson. Furlong said Matheson would, "have the benefit of meeting with an experienced committee of community leaders, people who will have no interest at all in Olympic construction. People who will be there solely to help us be successful. We need to give them time to look at all these issues, and review them, and give us the guidance to do the right thing as we go forward."

Also on Concert's board of directors is Tony Tennessy, where he is listed as as Chair of its Audit Committee and Member of the Compensation Committee. The former president of the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 115 is also one of the 20 directors on the VANOC board. He was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Vancouver 2010 Bid Corporation.

VANOC, ready for the conflict-of-interest issue, is said to have put procedures in place to keep things at arm's length. VANOC has two ethics officials: Allan McEachern, a retired Chief Justice of British Columbia, is Ethics Commissioner for VANOC, and Martin R. Taylor, a Queen's Counsel and a retired Justice of the British Columbia Court of Appeal, is Deputy Ethics Commissioner. Neither are being compensated for the job. McEachern's first major job was to oversee issues involved in the selection of Bell Canada as the telecommunications sponsor for VANOC last year.
CONCORD PACIFIC GROUP: a developer of urban, master-planned residential communities. It says it will be working with Walter Francl Architects, whose work includes the Vancouver Community College rapid transit station. The team also includes Hancock Bruckner & Wright Architects, which has worked on a number of Vancouver's landmarks including the Opus Hotel and the Bayshore Gardens. Concord Pacific also controls a large section of land in the north-east corner of False Creek, across from the proposed site of the 2010 Village.

As of last June -- and plans may have changed by now -- VANOC considering the block for a staging area connected with the various events that will be taking place during the 2010 Winter Games, including the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and various sports. There is also a Concord site just east of the Plaza of Nations, also across False Creek from the Village, which could become either residential or commercial, depending on planning decisions. However, VANOC is thinking about using that area as a dock for shuttle boats to ferry 2010 athletes from the Athletes Village to nearby BC Place for the opening and closing ceremonies.
THE MILLENNIUM GROUP: a diversified Vancouver-based real estate developer that has been in business for about 60 years. Its projects include the City in-the-Park community -- a seven-tower, 15-acre master planned project, as well as the Edgewater in West Vancouver, L'Hermitage development in downtown Vancouver -- which involves residential, retail, non-market housing and a hotel component -- a large new community in Burnaby's Brentwood town Centre, and various projects in Europe and the Middle East. Millennium's team includes Gomberoff Bell Lyon & Architects Group and Merrick Architecture. Merrick is currently working with VANOC in designing all of the buildings for VANOC's Whistler Nordic Centre on behalf of Sandwell Engineering, the lead firm on that project.
WALL FINANCIAL: A B.C.-owned and -operated public company (TSX:WFC) with more than 40 years of experience building skyscrapers as well as single and multi-family housing developments throughout the Lower Mainland. It has teamed up with Hotson Bakker Boniface Hadden Architects. That firm has been the lead architect for the design of the City of Vancouver's Southeast False Creek Concept Plan, is working with Urban Design Architects for VANOC's speedSkating oval project under the direction of the lead agency there, the Cannon Design Team. and Hotson Bakker has also been the coordinating architect for federal government's highly successful Granville Island section of False Creek for the past 27 years. Hotson Bakker also partnered with Sandwell Engineering to take part in the City's parallel process of doing the integrated site services for the Vancouver Athletes Village earlier this year, but lost out to Stantec. Hotson Bakker was also involved two years ago in evaluating the Salt Building, a heritage structure that will form a centrepiece of the Olympic Village, but is not included in this current development process.
WINDMILL DEVELOPMENT GROUP: This development firm with an environmental track record is building two mixed-use projects in Calgary and Ottawa aiming at LEED Gold standards, and the Dockside Green project in Victoria aiming at LEED Platinum. It is to work with Great West Life Realty Group and the British Columbia Investment Management Corporation, as well as Busby Perkins & Will Architects, a Vancouver architecture firm whose work includes One Wall Centre -- the tallest skyscraper in Vancouver -- and the Mount Pleasant Community Centre in Vancouver. As part of an agreement with the Olympics, the governments of Canada and British Columbia each agreed to contribute C$55 million to a Legacy Endowment Fund. Its primary purpose is to contribute to the ongoing operation of the Whistler Nordic and Sliding Centre and the Richmond Speed Skating Oval. The fund was also to be used for athlete and coach sport development programs at the facilities. The trust funds were managed by BCIMC as of last November.

A City of Vancouver staff team is still in the process of reviewing the expressions of interest. By mid-October, Project Manager Jody Andrews says he will bring the staff team's recommendations to City Council to create a shortlist of three, and perhaps four firms. Those that are short-listed are to receive a detailed Request for Proposal set of documents to provide their detailed ideas on how the Village is to be developed and built in time for the hand-off to VANOC in the summer of 2009.

Last month, Andrews said the final decision on choosing a developer would be made by December, to ensure there was enough time to work with the city on the zoning aspects in the first two months of 2006, but he now says a final decision on the developer is expected in "early 2006."

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 4, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1209

Here are three moguls we ran into today:

NBC'S 2006 OLYMPICS AD SALES STALL

Nobody is expecting NBC to lose money on advertising sales for the 2006 Winter Olympics, which start next February in Torino, Italy, but the Peacock Network hasn't been having that good a year in selling advertising as it is, and industry reports suggest that's having an effect on sales of Olympic programming. NBC, which has the exclusive right to broadcast the Games in the U.S., has reportedly sold only about 65% to 70% of its inventory so far, according to executives interviewed by Media Daily News, and industry publication. Because of the way Olympic broadcasting and TV advertising works, there is a lot of time available for advertising -- known as inventory -- during the Games. When NBC is doing well in selling advertising in prime time leading up to the Games, known as the upfront, it can use that as leverage to persuade advertisers to also buy Olympic ad spots and decrease that inventory though better deals on prime-time purchases. The publication reports the network is "close" to a number of Olympic marketing deals that will be announced soon. Some of those deals are part of bigger United States Olympic Committee sponsorship deals, which allows advertisers to use the marks and logo of the USOC. Advertising and sponsorship agreements are worked out with the International Olympic Committee some years before the Games begin -- that's happened in the last couple of years for Vancouver. IOC sponsors of Summer and Winter Games include Coca-Cola, Eastman Kodak, General Electric (which owns NBC), John Hancock Insurance, McDonald's, Omega, Panasonic, Samsung, Visa, and technology companies Atos Origin networking and Lenovo Computers. This kind of advertising accounts for about half of NBC's Olympic-related revenue.

COC AND SPONSORS GO BACK TO SCHOOL
Now that the Canadian school year is back in session and settled in, the Canadian Olympic Committee and 2010's financial sponsor RBC Financial Group staged a media event this week to publicize the start of the 19th year of the Canadian Olympic School Program and garner some marketing for themselves to parents. The event took place today at Lord Kitchener Elementary School in Vancouver, with the help of Maelle Ricker of Whistler, a 1998 snowboarding Olympian and 2006 Olympic medal hopeful. The project involves a free, Internet-based resource for teachers, developed with the help of teachers, that offers information about the Olympic Games and Canadian athletes as a way to "educate, motivate and inspire students." It is focusing for the moment on the Canadian athletes heading for the Winter Olympics in Torino.

VERNON, CHILLIWACK FAVOURED FOR INTERNATIONAL ICE HOCKEY CAMPS
Denis Hainault, director of operations for the 2006 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championships, is quoted in the Morning Star newspaper in Vernon as saying that of the 18 BC communities that sent him offers to host 10 hockey camps, those of Vernon and Chilliwack rose to the top. "Interestingly, they both had the same architect," he told the newspaper. That would be McDonnell Quiring Lunde Neumann Architects of Vernon. Hainault and IIHF World Junior Championship general manager Stuart Ballantyne were in the Okanagan town, in south-central BC, examining the town's four-year-old C$15 million Multiplex rink, where the Russian junior team will begin practicing on December 18. Russia will play against Switzerland December 23 in an exhibition game. The Championships will be played in Vancouver just after Christmas. An estimated 500,000 people will attend the hockey tournament games and the various community events linked with the championship.

RESOURCES

Olympic School Program website:
http://www.olympicschool.ca

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 4, 2005

Monday, October 03, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #1208
STANDING OFFERS FOR CONSTRUCTION CONSULTANTS OFFERED FOR 2010 VENUE WORK TO 2007

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) has decided to set up a series of standing offers for various types of construction consulting services as it builds or renovates its venues over the next two years.

That period covers the bulk of venue construction and renovation work VANOC proposes to do.

It has begun asking for the offers to become involved in the 2010 projects from civil, structural, mechanical and electrical engineers, architects, quantity surveyors and other types of surveyors. Companies from throughout the world are invited to contact VANOC by October 18.

It seems like VANOC's a bit late in getting the call out. If accepted, the deal with a consultant would expire October 1, 2007.

VANOC is still working on a wide range of plans for its venues -- these involve construction of competition venues or their renovation, as well as non-competition buildings, such as warehouses or outbuildings. Its idea is to set up standing offer contracts construction consultants that are interested in being on-call. This would allow VANOC to call for the services as the need arises, by simply making a change order to the standing offer contract.

That would give VANOC flexibility, and it would also cut down on the administrative overhead of repeatedly tendering for those services for each project, or aspect of it. It would also considerably limit the amount of public discussion and information about what it's doing and how it's doing it.

VANOC says the type of work it envisions under the program would include design, estimating costs, administering contracts and perhaps peer-review services. It says it's possible for a firm to subcontract some of the work under the deal, but it doesn't anticipate the type of work that would need subcontractors.

As usual, the consultants finally chosen by VANOC would undergo "comprehensive security screening" by the RCMP or other security services connected with VANOC. There's also a clause requiring consultants to vest all intellectual moral and property rights of whatever they create to VANOC without additional payment, but the proffered deal would also require the consultant to turn over any third-party intellectual rights as well, including trade secrets, if need be, if they are connected to any of the work products a consultant is providing VANOC.

Another clause requires the consultant to maintain C$5 million professional liability insurance coverage during the period, plus "for a period of six years following completion of the services."

Normally, VANOC contracts include a gag order that prevents companies from using the contract relationship for promotional reasons, but this time, VANOC has also issued a gag order for any company proposing to be a part of the process. According to the offer its making to consulting firms, "Proponents will not make any public announcement, or any communication with the media, in connection with this."

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 3, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #120

Here are three moguls we ran into today:

WEST KOOTENAYS PRODUCING AMENITIES BOOK FOR 2010 NATIONS

The Nelson Daily News reports the West Kootenay area of BC, including the City of Nelson, is assembling what they're referring to as a 'bid book' in an effort to entice national Olympic teams to train in the area for the 2010 Winter Games. The book is to be a description of the amenities available in the West Kootenay area, with the idea of sending the book to the countries participating in the 2010 Games. The newspaper quotes Roy Heuckendorff, the Executive Director of the Nelson and District Chamber of Commerce, as saying, "Our community is developing business plans and brainstorming what we're going to do collectively," he says. "We're really trying to approach this thing on a regional basis, as opposed to community by community. So we're identifying the assets that we have -- things that may be relevant to say, the Italian ski team if they want to come and train here, or the Russian ski team or anyone else we can help."

US BACKS CANADIAN PROPOSAL FOR WOMEN'S SKI JUMPING AT 2010 GAMES
The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association, America's national governing body for Olympic skiing and snowboarding, said Saturday it will support a Canadian proposal for including women’s ski jumping in the Nordic Ski World Championships and the 2010 Winter Olympics. CSA, the Canadian national association for skiing and snowboarding, is drafted a proposal to the International Ski Federation (FIS) supporting inclusion of women’s ski jumping in the World Championships, and directing the FIS to submit women’s ski jumping to the International Olympic Committee for inclusion in the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. Any eventual Olympic decision would be made by the IOC, but would also require the support of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC). The 17-member FIS Council is expected to review the CSA proposal at its November meeting in Switzerland. And, if approved there, it is to be presented to the full FIS Congress at its May meeting in Portugal. Meanwhile, A ski event at Park City, Utah, is being touted as one more step in the process of getting women's ski jumping included as an Olympic sport. The 2005 International Ski Jumping AutumnFest Continental Cup competition is one level below a World Cup event, but the competition will include athletes from 11 nations. This will be the second time women have competed in a Continental Cup; the first time was a year ago at the same mountain. The event also includes Nordic combined competitions.

TRAVEL FIRM, CRUISE LINE SET UP FUNDRAISERS FOR PARALYMPICS
A travel company based in Richmond, one of the venues for the 2010 Winter Games, and an international cruise-ship firm, Carnival Cruises, have set up a promotion designed to raise funds for the Canadian Paralympic Committee. Avion Cruise and Tours is run by businessman Santos Wu, whose son, Walter, is a multiple Paralympic medallist in swimming. He's set up Cruising for Charity: For every ship cabin sold on double occupancy and a minimum of eight cabins per group, Avion will donate C$80. And Carnival Cruise Lines will match Avion's contribution. Wu says athletes often have to forego expenses such as college or university, or have trouble finding work that's flexible enough to accommodate a rigorous training schedule. The 2010 Paralympic Winter Games will be held in Whistler.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 3, 2005

Morgan:News:2010 |Government| #1206
RICHMOND IN LAND-ACQUISITION TALKS WITH CPR AS BUSY ROAD CLOSES FOR 2010 OVAL CONSTRUCTION

The City of Richmond is scheduled to close tomorrow a part of River Road until next summer, as part of the project to build the 2010 Winter Olympics speedskating oval complex. The closure, from Hollybridge Way to No. 2 Road, allows for the road to be realigned.

City planners say Richmond has reached a tentative agreement to purchase the Canadian Pacific Railway corridor, which is in the area, from No. 2 Road to Capstan Way and this is having a ripple effect on the reasons for closing River Road. The discussions with CPR continue; the cost of the purchase has not yet been released.

Meanwhile, changes in the scope and construction schedule for the Richmond Oval project mean that preloading activity is now required to begin in October on the existing section of River Road between Hollybridge Way and No. 2 Road.

The CPR land acquisition, described by the City as "critical," and "a key objective of the City Centre Transportation Plan" allows the City to build North Loop Road, a new road for moving traffic into, out of and through the City Centre. Putting the realigned section of River Road onto the rail corridor will allow River Road to tie into the planned City Centre ring road network. However, due to railway transition requirements that involve its customers, the City would not be able to get onto the corridor until early near year.

City officials said they considered keeping River Road open, as it is quite busy, but to do that, an $800,000 temporary road would have to be built and then be replaced a few months later, once the rail corridor is available.

When the section of River Road from Hollybridge Way to No. 2 Road reopens next year it will curve southward just east of No. 2 Road and run along the current CPR corridor until it links up with Hollybridge Way at an existing railway crossing.

There's more work being done on the 2010 Oval site in advance of the preloading. That includes removing the remaining trees, including a line of oak trees, along River Road between Hollybridge Way and No. 2 Road. City staff say that many of the trees are in poor health and can't be transplanted. However, for Olympic and Richmond sustainability reasons, the City will be taking cuttings from the trees for replanting, will be using wood from the trees for community use and will be planting two new trees for each tree removed.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on October 3, 2005

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