Morgan:News:2010:Bronze Edition: March 2006

Friday, March 31, 2006

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Morgan:News:2010 |IOC| #1596
LOWRY WINS CANADIAN OLYMPIC COMMITTEE AWARD POSTHUMOUSLY

The man who was in Vancouver just last summer to survey the city for use by the Canadian Olympic Committee during the 2010 Winter Games has been awarded the COC's Leadership in Sport Award posthumously at the 33rd Annual Canadian Sport Awards ceremony held in Toronto this evening.

The award, which went to the COC's former Executive Director of Sport, Mark Lowry, is a lifetime achievement honour presented annually to an individual or organization which exemplifies Spirit of Sport values as well as demonstrates groundbreaking organizational leadership, innovative practices, influential communications, cutting edge sport marketing or positioning of the sport sector.

Lowry, 51, died in his sleep at his home in Ottawa October 24. He had been suffering from pancreatic cancer for the previous two years. He was well known to many at the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC), and was instrumental in working with VANOC senior vice-president of Sport, Cathy Priestner, to implement the "Own the Podium - 2010" program.

"On behalf of the Lowry family, I would like to thank the Canadian Olympic Committee for nominating Mark for this prestigious award -- the highest honour that a Canadian sport leader can achieve," Mark's wife, Jennifer, said in accepting the award. "I know being honoured by this community, one that he cared about so much, would have touched Mark deeply. For Mark, winning this award is a testament to his dedication and passion and I hope that his success will inspire future sport leaders."

The winner of the award was selected by a seven-member jury consisting of Canadian athletes, sport leaders and members of the media. Nominations for the Leadership in Sport Award were submitted by sports associations and individuals across Canada. The other finalist for the award was Chris Wilson, a member of he Board of Directors for Esteem Team Association and Speed Skating Canada.

"Mark Lowry passionately believed that sport in Canada is going through the most exciting period in its history," said COC Chief Executive Officer Chris Rudge. "Mark was a driving force in bringing about the changes and the focus that frame our current environment. The recent successes of Canada's athletes and National Sport Federations at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games stand as a testament to his vision."

Lowry joined the COC in June of 1997 as the Executive Director of 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.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on March 31, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1595

Here are three more moguls we ran into today:

FIRST PHASE OF HIGH-SPEED WIRELESS NETWORK COMPLETED FOR VANCOUVER

Inukshuk Wireless says it's completed the first phase of installing its new wireless broadband network, with service available in 20 centres across Canada, including Vancouver. But it is coy about saying when, or even whether, Whistler will be included in the list of 45 communities it intends to service by 2008. Built in conjunction with VANOC telecommunications sponsor Bell Canada and Bell's partner in this project, Rogers Communications, the Inukshuk wireless network is based on Internet protocols and allows for portable high-speed computer communication services. Subscribers can used the Internet and other applications, such as low-cost long-distance voice-over-internet calls, video streaming and a batch of data applications, without being tied to a desktop computer. The network uses existing cell-phone towers that belong to either Bell or Rogers, to connect their customers to the Internet while providing secure data transmission. Inukshuk is a joint venture of Bell and Rogers.

BC GOVERNMENT WORKSHOP MONDAY TO FOCUS ON IMPROVING HEALTH BEFORE 2010

The BC Healthy Living Alliance, a big health-promotion group in BC that's working with a C$25 million budget from the BC government, is scheduled to meet Monday in a Vancouver seminar called "Let the Games Begin: Building a Healthier BC for 2010 and Beyond". The day-long session, which is to include George Abbott, BC's minister of Health, and Ken Dobell, who is a director of VANOC's Board and "special adviser" to BC premier Gordon Campbell, as well as with experts from across the province, to discuss how health priorities, can be aided by -– or become –- public policy. The Campbell government has pledged to increase the average resident's health by the time of the 2010 Winter Games.

VANOC DANCER WEATHERS COLD, DAMP AND CONFIDENTIALITY FOR TORINO EVENT

Conditions weren't exactly healthy for some of VANOC's performers in Torino. VANOC's penchant for secrecy over preparations for its public events, among other things, has again been underscored by comments made by one of the dancers at the 2010 portion of the Torino Closing Ceremonies. The dancer, whose name we'll keep to ourselves, says today in a report that the call to audition came last fall and those who were selected had to sign one of VANOC's infamous and detailed confidentiality agreements to get the job (every supplier, contractor and consultant to the 2010 Games has to sign a similar agreement). The agreement prevented any disclosure of the segment's content, or even, for that matter even the location of the Greater Vancouver warehouse where the dancer, the rest of the nine-member Vancouver-area troupe, and star performer, Avril Lavigne, rehearsed. The dancer also noted one situation which won't be repeated in 2010, simply because VANOC's Opening and Closing ceremonies will be held under the BC Place roof. Rehearsals of VANOC's segment in Torino were carried out in surroundings so wet there were puddles through which the dancers splashed only a day or two before the event because a cold rain drenched the open-air stage at the Stadio Olimpico.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on March 31, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #1594
DESIGNERS CALLED AS 2010 VENUE ICE RINK CONSTRUCTION PROCESS IS LAUNCHED

The process of constructing yet another 2010 venue has begun. This time, the prime actor is the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation.

The Parks Board, working with the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC), has begun the process of building the first of two new, Olympic-sized ice rink at John Hendry Park, at Trout Lake, in central east Vancouver. This one will replace an aging NHL-sized rink that the parks board has been maintaining but never had sufficient money to replace, but the cost of it was covered by the Olympic-projects portion of last fall's capital-projects City referendum. The rink will be used as a practice arena for the 2010 Games. After the Olympics, the facility will be converted to a new community ice arena. In addition, the 2001 Park Board Community Centre Renewal Plan says the existing Trout Lake Community Centre as a high priority renewal project.

The second new rink is scheduled to start the same sort of process later this year for the Killarney area, in south-east Vancouver.

The first step in the process is to see who's interested in designing the new arena. The Board is looking for professional design consultants who want to provide "full architectural and engineering services associated with the new Ice Rink and schematic designs for a future replacement Community Centre." Those who apply by April 11 will be shortlisted, and those remaining will be given a detailed Request for Proposals.

Board planners say "the design of the facility will require an integrated design team with expertise in the design of both an Olympic-calibre ice rink facility as well as a multi-purpose community recreational facility." The rink will be about 3,200 square meters (about 34,400 square feet) and will include change-room facilities, a lounge, seating, an ice-conditioner room, a skate shop, the ice plant, the mechanical and electrical rooms and public washrooms.

In order to get the Expression of Interest documents for the application, you have to contact the Purchasing manager directly.

RESOURCES

Cindy Mercer, Purchasing Manager,
Phone: 604.257.8417
E-mail: Cindy.Mercer@Vancouver.ca
Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation,
2099 Beach Avenue, Vancouver, BC V6G 1Z4

A brief overview and photo map of the park. The current rink and community centre are the buldings in the lower left corner of the park.
vancouver.ca/parks/info/planning/johnhendrymasterplan/index.htm

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on March 31, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1593

Here are three moguls we ran into today:

FURLONG MEETS WITH NEWFOUNDLAND PREMIER AND RECREATION MINISTER

VANOC CEO John Furlong, who is today launching the RBC Flag Tour in Halifax, met yesterday with the premier of Newfoundland & Labrador, Danny Williams, and with his minister of Tourism and Recreation, Tom Hedderson, who had released their province's annual budget the same day. There has been no word yet on what the three officials may have discussed, and neither VANOC nor the premier's office have released any information about it; in fact, the premier's office didn't even let reporters know the meeting was to take place. It is known, however, that Furlong has intentions of having each Canadian province sign a protocol agreement similar to that signed with Quebec about supporting the 2010 Winter Games. Furlong later participated in a meeting with St. John’s Francophone community leaders and spoke about the Games to a large group of staff working for RBC, VANOC's major financial sponsor. There were also two keynote speaking engagements for him, one was to about 150 people at the St. John’s Board of Trade luncheon, the other to 50-person reception with Sport Newfoundland. Meanwhile Aliant Canada, itself a second tier telecommunications sponsor for VANOC and a division of VANOC's major telecommunications sponsor, Bell Canada, donated C$20,000 in a joint announcement with Sport Newfoundland to KidSport Newfoundland & Labrador. KidSport is a national organization whose aim is to provide sport-registration grants to the youth of poor families across the province. The actual cheque was giving to Hedderson an a dinner earlier.

OREGON MAGAZINE REPORTS VANOC'S TORINO PRESENTATION WAS "MASTERFUL"

Reviews of VANOC's eight-minute presentation during the three-hour closing ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics are still drifting in, due to the production time require by some media. The latest is contained as part of a Vancouver-as-tourist-destination article in the April issue of Oregon Magazine. The publication covers one of VANOC's prime geographical markets for US visitors to the Games. Author Fred Delkin writes about Conde Nast's choice of Vancouver as "The Best City in the Americas", then adds, "Further certification of Vancouver’s value has been provided by the International Olympic Committee, which named the city as the site for the 2010 Winter Games. If one watched the 2006 Winter Games closing ceremony televised from Italy, you saw a masterful welcome to the world stage by the BC Olympic officials."

VANCOUVER 2010? YES! LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!

From our If All You've Got is a Hammer, Everything Looks Like a Nail department: A Vancouver-based travel agency with an excess of adjectives has decided to catch the 2010 Olympics interest, not by promoting tours to Vancouver, but away from it. "With the upcoming Olympics in North America in 2010, Activa by Adventures Abroad is excited to announce two different limited-time-only special offers from $1,095: one to trek the verdant hills of the most recent host of the winter Olympics -- Italy; and one to explore the rugged islands of the spiritual home of the Olympics -- Greece," gushes the company's Martin Charlton today in a promotional blurb. He adds, unabashedly, "These first two separate special-offer tours -- to walk the lush, rolling hills of Italy or to hop around the sun-drenched islands off Greece -- must be booked by 16th April and depart from any gateway in North America."

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on March 31, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |General| #1592
1,600 INTERNATIONAL SPORTS LEADERS MEET AS HOST SOUTH KOREA PLOTS 2014 WINTER OLYMPICS WIN

One of the biggest events in the international high-performance sports community, the 15th General Assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committees, opened today in South Korea, and will last through April 7.

About 1,600 sports leaders are attending the meetings, which is part of South Korea's carefully staged plan to ensure its entry of PyeongChang, a county 160 kilometres east of Seoul, is chosen by the International Olympic Committee next year to host the 2014 Winter Games.

However, South Korea can't be overt about its intentions during the Assembly session; under IOC rules, PyeongChang and other bidding cities are not allowed to wage a major public campaign in favour of their bid before October. But, it's only the second time that an ANOC meeting has been hosted by an Asian nation, and the first was South Korea as well.

Kim Jin-sun, governor of Kangwon Province, which includes PyeongChang, says carefully, "We will do our best to let delegates of ANOC know that PyeongChang... is a perfect venue to host the 2014 Games, while strictly abiding by IOC ethics rules." That's also important to say; PyeongChang's official in charge of the 2010 bid was later involved in a serious ethics scandal over the way the bid was handled.

It is PyeongChang's second bid to host a Winter Olympic Games after it lost in July 2003 to Vancouver in bidding for the 2010 Winter Olympics. The South Korean city was first in the primary voting round, with more votes than either Vancouver or Austria's Salzburg, which is also bidding for the 2014 Games. However, South Korea was three votes short of winning the bid, so the voting went to a second round after the bottom bids were dropped, and Vancouver won.

Besides PyeonChang and Saltzberg, five other cities are bidding to host the 2014 Winter Olympics: Almaty of Kazakhstan, Sochi of Russia, Jaca of Spain, Sofia of Bulgaria and Borjomi-Bakuriani of Georgia. The list will be narrowed to three or four candidates during June's IOC Executive Board meeting. Following an evaluation process that runs from next February to April 2007, the host city of the 2014 Winter Olympics will be determined in the IOC Session to be held in Guatemala in July 2007.

While it may not be able to do it publicly, PyeongChang is doing its best to impress international sports officials who could influence the IOC vote in the background, and the marketing campaign began well before the current Assembly session. Since 2004, Kangwon province has hosted five big international winter sports tournaments -- the Asia-Pacific Curling Championships, the World Short Track Team Championships, the Short Track World Cup, the ISU Four Continents Figure-Skating Championships and the Snowboard World Cup. The city is also scheduled to host nine more tournaments and international events to February 2009, and hopes to attract nine more tournaments between 2007 and 2011, including the Ski Cross-Country World Cup and the Summer Ski Jumping World Cup.

The city that wins the 2014 Games bid will be incorporated into VANOC's planning, transfer-of-knowledge programs and its Closing Ceremonies.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on March 31, 2006

Thursday, March 30, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |Government| #1591
CITY CALLING FOR DEVELOPERS FOR A CHARACTER BUILDING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE 2010 OLYMPIC ATHLETES VILLAGE

The City of Vancouver has called for organizations interested in redeveloping and eventually either buying or leasing a peculiar old building in the southern middle of the 2010 Olympic Athletes Village to contact the City by April 25 if they want to be on the shortlist for the project.

And it's not just interested in hearing from traditional developers. Non-profits, societies -- whoever thinks they might have an interesting plan for the building, and can do the development work -- is welcome to answer the call. The structure will be used by the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) between November 1, 2009 and April 7, 2010, and then returned to the developer.

The Salt Building, a large, red, wood-frame industrial building at 85 West 1st Avenue, was built in 1931, 75 years ago, by the Vancouver Salt Company, and it has acquired over the years, a sentimental kind of old industrial character that the City, interested in its heritage aspects, wants to preserve to remind people -- and athletes -- who will be living in the area about the area's heavy industrial history. As a result, it wasn't included in the general developer Request for Proposals for the construction of the Athlete Village buildings. City planners felt it should be developed with a strong eye to its heritage, and on its own.

And, since the Olympics is to be a showcase for the city's ability to offer sustainability services to the thousands who will be attending the games, and the millions who will be watching features about the city on TV, whoever takes on the development job will need to aim for at least LEED Silver sustainability, but the City is urging would-be developers to consider going for Gold or, hopefully Platinum LEED in the way it handles water and energy use, among a batch of other items of interested to the LEED program. On the other hand, say planners, these objectives "may require modification to meet the heritage objectives of restoring the Salt Building."

The building is 1,440 square metres (about 15,500 square feet) on land that's 1,734 sq.m (18,665 sq ft); it's located on the southern side of the Athlete Village's Residential Zone, which is to include a variety of services for the athletes during the 2010 Games, such as recreation, leisure, religious, medical or administrative requirements of the athletes or the organizations that support them. VANOC supply operations and services will be to the west, and a transportation mall will be set up by VANOC to east.

The Salt Building is expected to be used by VANOC during its holding period for that sort of thing, and so the potential developer has to keep that in mind. But once the Games are over and VANOC hands the building back, with a little wear and tear, the developer can finish the structure as per its plans. And the City says it will compensate the developer for "all reasonable costs" incurred as a result of it not being able to use the building while VANOC has it.

The City wants the eventual developer to adhere to a long list of cultural, environmental and design principles that basically ensure the building will be restored to its former blue-collar glory, but be wheel-chair accessible and energy-efficient -- in fact, the City wants a 30% improvement in energy use by the building that its own bylaws require.

BACKGROUND

According to various researchers, raw salt was shipped to Vancouver from the San Francisco Bay area. The salt was unloaded at Burrard Inlet and brought by scow into False Creek, where the Vancouver Salt Company partly refined it by washing, drying, grinding, and sifting it into the coarse product used industrially for human consumption. The original market was as a preservative for the then-lucrative salmon fishery, particularly the area's Asian-Canadian fish-packers. Subsequent uses included other kinds of food-packing, tanneries, cold-storage plants, and highway ice removal. The gable-roofed eastern portion held four large brine tanks, and the shed-roofed western part became a dry storage shed. An additional roof was extended over the big delivery apron to accommodate machinery. By the 1950s, rail, and then trucks, replaced boats for shipping the salt.

The operation became the Arden Vancouver Salt Company in 1970, which and was later acquired by Domtar, a wood-products firm. By the late 1980s, the Salt Building was being used for paper recycling: first by Belkin Paper Stock Ltd., and then by Paperboard Industries. The building, which sits on stilts because, officially, it's on a City water lot, and technically below the traditional high-water mark of the area, is empty.

The land is pretty polluted, but the City is in the process of cleaning that up and bringing in new fill, and stabilizing the building's foundations (Stantec Engineering and Levelton Consultants were hired in January to assess the foundation work).

--

Here's the City's schedule for the Salt Building project:

Information session for those interested: April 6

Closing Time for Submissions -- April 25

Announcement of Short-Listed Respondents -- Early May

Issuance of RFP -- Early June

Deadline for RFP Proposals -- July 2006 1

Selection of Developer -- sometime between July and September

AREA DEVELOPMENT:

Road Construction and Site Services -- April 2006 to April 2007 II

Rezoning -- this Fall

Permitting -- This fall to Summer of 2007

Restoration Work -- Summer 2007 to Summer of 2009

Occupancy Permit expected to be issued by Summer of 2009

Olympic Village usage period -- Nov 1, 2009 - April 7, 2010

Salt Building Returned to the developer

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on March 30, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |Business| #1590
BC/CANADA HOUSE CATERER SAYS STAFF WITH "GREAT ATTITUDE" AND QUICK THINKING NEEDED FOR JOB

The president of Culinary Capers Catering, which won the contract to cater BC/Canada House at the Torino Winter Games, says the experience required quick thinking, a staff with a great attitude and stamina. She is now campaigning to be involved in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and with the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.

Debra Lykkemark, in a question-and-answer interview in the April issue of Special Events Magazine, says she took 10 of her staff people with her to Italy from mid-January until March 1 in the log-cabin-style pavilion. The contract was offered by the BC government's 2010 Olympics secretariat.

"We did 42 events at BC/Canada Place. Many of them were showcasing the province and the different municipalities making up the lower mainland of British Columbia. We also did parties for the coaches and athletes for Speed Skating Canada and Hockey Canada, as well as for corporations that support the games, such as Bell Canada and Petro-Canada. There was also a series of business-development luncheons and receptions organized by the Canadian consulate in Italy. Most of our parties were cocktail receptions for about 150 people; there were some days where we did up to six events in the facility. Our menus were a nice balance of West Coast-style hors d'oeuvre, Italian antipasto and Asian-influenced hors d'oeuvre, as Vancouver has a very large Asian population."

And the attitude/stamina part? "The key thing was to take people with a really good attitude, lots of stamina and who could multi-task. We didn't know if we would be twiddling our thumbs or working 18-hour days. They had to be ready to step in -- washing dishes or bar-tending or making floral or helping with kitchen prep. They also had to be prepared to live in tight quarters. We had five people in one apartment and four in another. I told them, "This might be the toughest thing you ever have to do, or it might be the most fun -- I don't know which." I was very fortunate in the team that I picked, because it turned out to be a lot of business. We were really busy every day."

Lykkemark told the magazine that, as a supplier, it was important for a firm to be able to handle something as intense as the Olympics, while still being able to handle existing clientele. "I think this is key to being successful in the long term. If your company is not strong enough to take good care of your customers at home, you will end up losing some of your clientele to other caterers if you have to turn down business or if you take business at home that you cannot handle."

The quick thinking component: It turned out to be tough to import food products from Canada into Italy, so the firm sourced a lot of its supplies in Torino. It was also tough to find the quality of items it wanted for the table settings, but finally found what it wanted in Milan.

Among the BC Secretariat's offer requirements: The caterer had to arrange access to a commercial kitchen, storage facilities and local transportation in Torino, responsible for insurance, permits and any other regulatory requirements necessary to complete the project, and provide a full staff complement, including wages, accommodation, transportation and living expenses in Torino at the caterer's expense.

BACKGROUND

"The Opening Night party, with an initial guest list of 250, attracted over 400... dignitaries, local and international officials and tourism professionals over the course of the evening. Some highlights of the menu by Culinary Capers were herb prawns presented on pipettes filled with lemincello, vine-ripe cherry tomatoes stuffed with crisp bacon and romaine lettuce, with a dollop of house-made mayonnaise and cranberry tapenade on a shallot biscotti with Gorgonzola." -- Culinary Capers commentary.

RESOURCES

Culinary Capers Catering
1545 W. Third Ave.,
Vancouver, BC, V6J 1J8, Canada;
Phone: (+1) 604.875.0123
Fax: (+1) 604-875-8861
Toll Free: 1-888-396-0777
E-mail: info@culinarycapers.com
www.culinarycapers.com

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on March 30, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |Paralympic| #1589
THE 2010 PARALYMPICS: SOME LESSONS LEARNED, OTHERS MAY FOLLOW

The director of the Paralympic Games of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC), Dena Coward, is quoted in the latest issue of Whistler's Pique Magazine, as saying that she is already dealing with one of the lessons learned by watching the Torino Winter Paralympic Games earlier this month.

The weather during the Torino Games turned warm unexpectedly, turning paths among venues muddy, and making it difficult for athletes and spectators alike to navigate wheelchairs. TOROC responded as quickly as possible to put down mats which worked, although not well. Reporter Andrew Mitchell quotes Coward as saying that, "Our best learning so far [in accessibility] was to be at the Nordic venue and see the matting and pathways they created because of the weather. We believe our weather could be similar at that time of year, so we will have to plan for mud."

Coward says that VANOC has retained consultant Brad McCannell of Vancouver to examine venue plans to ensure they’re accessible. McCannell is President of Canadian Barrier Free Design, whose work at making the Vancouver International Airport accessible to people with disabilities has won him awards.

Another lesson taught VANOC involved ensuring the 2010 Paralympics have enough sponsorship, says Coward. All of the six Tier 1 sponsors of the 2010 Olympics agreed during the negotiations that they would also sponsor the 2010 Paralympics as well, which wasn't the case in Torino or previous Games. There were a lot of similar sponsors for Olympics and Paralympics in Salt Lake City and Sydney, but the decision to sponsor both events was optional in those Games.

Tim Gayda, VANOC’s managing director for sport, is also quoted in the article as saying, "The new venue consultant will ensure accessibility when a venue is brand new, but it’s more challenging when you’re using an existing venue, so that’s where we’re going to have to apply some serious thought over the next little while." All of the Paralympics for 2010 are to be staged in Whistler.

Timing Flats on Whistler Mountain is to be used the base area for Alpine events, and accessibility is one of the challenges for VANOC, according to the report. Only a two-lane residential road goes to the area, and travelling from the base at Creekside is considerably longer and steeper than the journey to the Sestriere base area. And, unlike Sestriere, there’s no chairlift into the Timing Flats that can be used by spectators, athletes, coaches and other officials.

The article says that one of the main concerns of Brian MacPherson, CEO of the Canadian Paralympic Committee, involves ensuring that athletes can get to the venue, but he believes VANOC has figured out a way to accommodate disabled spectators, as well as those who are not.

MacPherson told the reporter it's normal that getting to alpine venues involves a lot of walking, "but (VANOC) has... years to figure out a way to get people to the events... These are details that can all be worked out, providing we get to work on them early enough. For example, there is a paved road to the timing flats which is already more than they had at Sestriere. If a path is steep, you can always put in switchbacks. The answer’s there, and it will likely be a combination of things."

MacPherson also suggests that, for athletes, accessibility in Torino was a bigger issue than expected. "Accessibility, from my point of view, was less than desired," he is quoted as saying, "which genuinely surprised us because there’s stuff you have to know, and have to plan for and implement long before the athletes start to arrive. Anything on the main track, from airport to athletes village, from athletes village to venue -– everything between those points should be 100& accessible for every disability that’s part of the Games, and that’s not what we saw there. Once you’re off the track, like the tourist stuff in town, going grocery shopping, you have to manage your expectations as a person with a disability. Every country and city is different, and not all are equally accessible, but any venue connected with the Games needs to meet a certain standard."

He told the magazine that a public campaign in Torino was underway during the Paralympics to "Drop The Gap", making the city more accessible to people with disabilities. "I talked briefly with a volunteer distributing flyers for the campaign, and she pointed out how the curbs were all raised at the city intersections, making it impossible for people in wheelchairs to move around older sections of the city without assistance."

In contrast, most of the curbed intersections in Vancouver have wheelchair ramps incorporated into their design, or retrofitted, for years.

McPherson also told the magazine that his organization is solidly behind plans to keep the Paralympics entirely in Whistler, even though Hockey Canada speculated that because of the popularity of sledge hockey during the Torino Games, perhaps the gold medal contest should be moved to a much larger venue in Vancouver to accommodate more fans. ""The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, sports and athletes," says McPherson. "I can tell you that a compact Games with all sporting events in a 20-minute shuttle ride from each other will be unprecedented, and welcomed by athletes around the world, Having it compact will benefit everybody – athletes, coaches, officials, spectators, and media alike. It will also benefit the Games. This will create exposure for the sports and the athletes like nothing else we’ve seen."

McPherson says only about 3% of the estimated 700,000 Canadians who have a disability that still allows them to participate in sports are registered with sport organizations; the equivalent figure for the able-bodied side is about 33%. He notes that national organizations that represent disabled sports are increasing their athlete-development programs for 2010 at the national, provincial and local levels. In addition, he told the magazine, efforts are being made to ensure that Canada will be able to field one or more athletes in every category. That's why the Canadian Paralympic Committee launched a national "Feel The Rush" campaign earlier this month: to encourage more participation in sport at the local level, which in turn will help to identify athletes with Paralympic potential.

MacPherson says in the article, however provincial governments in Canada are proving to be obstacles. "By and large they do not champion Paralympic sports within the provinces or give them an equitable share of funding," he is quoted as saying. "Right now, we’re working to educate provincial government officials that they need to take a leadership role in integrating able-bodied and Paralympic sports within each province, and give them an equitable share of available sport funding."

For his part, Mitchell, the Pique Magazine reporter, concludes, "Having been to the Paralympics, I now look at Whistler a little differently. For the first time ever I noticed that the Village Gateway stairs off the taxi loop, an area that was just renovated, has no obvious wheelchair ramp. There’s a ramp down in Village Square but no ramp up. Many local shops and restaurants are raised off the Village Stroll, and it’s not always immediately obvious where the ramps and elevators can be found. Some efforts are mixed. For example most of our municipal buses are designed to be wheelchair accessible, but not all of them. Most of our taxis are not specifically designed to accommodate wheelchairs. Whistler-Blackcomb and the Whistler Adaptive Sport Program have made it easier for disabled athletes to access chairlifts and the gondola, but still acknowledge that they have a long way to go to become completely accessible."

RESOURCES

Brad McCannell
President
Canadian Barrier Free Design
E-mail: <brad@barrierfreedesign.ca>
Phone: 604.838.6927
Fax: 604-883-0450

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on March 30, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1588

Here are three moguls we ran into today:

TABLOID DISHES ON RICHMOND/VANOC OVAL CONTRACT

The Vancouver Province newspaper reports this morning that, using a Freedom of Information request, it obtained a copy of the contract between VANOC and The City of Richmond that covers the construction of the 2010 speedskating oval, for which VANOC is paying Richmond C$60 million. The tabloid's article, by reporters Kent Spencer and some research by David Carrigg, about the terms of the agreement, and its choices of interviews with others, is written in alarmist tones. However, it also published a point list of the main terms of the deal, concluded October 24, which the paper paraphrased for its reader. The terms mentioned in the point list, written in tones a little less inflammatory than the main article, appear to be straightforward, given VANOC's time and budgetary requirements, and the fact that the oval is built into a much larger sports complex, budgeted at C$178 million, before taxes, by Richmond. In the tabloid's words, the contract says Richmond "must accelerate construction if work falls behind schedule. Richmond would be required to hire more contractors, labour and machinery at its own cost; the facility must be "substantially completed" in 27 months... VANOC will pay no rent or property taxes 'at any time,' including the 15 months it occupies the building prior to the 2010 Games; Richmond will receive no sponsorship rights, forcing the city to recast its revenue projections, because a preliminary budget had predicted revenue of C$32 million from naming the stadium, [and from] sponsorships and grants; ...the city's contribution 'will be acknowledged with permanent signage to be erected,' [for which Richmond pays]; VANOC has the right to supplement city employees with its own volunteers and non-unionized contractors. The city must use its 'best efforts' to avoid labour disputes; the city is liable [for], and must indemnify VANOC [from], any environmental claims, including third-party claims; ...Richmond is responsible for the design, exterior plaza, most operating costs, building equipment, insurance, site servicing, landscaping, storm and sanitary sewer, drainage and 'normal building security.'; the city will provide indemnity [at least] C$10 million per liable incident; VANOC has the right to terminate the agreement if its funding is not available or the International Olympic Committee decides not to hold the 2010 Games." The article claims the contract also adds that if the complex is somehow destroyed before delivery, "the Vancouver Olympic Committee will require Richmond to rebuild it in time for the 2010 Games.'

ROYAL BANK CUTS C$500,000 CHEQUE FOR "OWN THE PODIUM-2010"

RBC Financial Group today gave a C$500,000 donation to the "Own the Podium - 2010" program as part of its sponsorship arrangement with VANOC. The 2010 Organizing Committee pledged to raise C$55 million for the project through its private-sector negotiations, and the federal government promised matching funds. The donation, which was made by RBC regional vice-president, Glen Kelsey, in St. John's, Newfoundland, was timed to coincide with today's launch in Halifax of the RBC Flag Tour, a marketing program to help raise Canadian awareness about the 2010 Winter Olympics. "Together with the Vancouver 2010 team," he said, "we are excited to be going on the road to help share the spirit of the Games and inspire more athletes to go for gold." Own the Podium 2010 is a sport technical program designed largely by VANOC senior vice-president Cathy Priestner as a way of reaching the goal of Canada being the largest medal winner at the 2010, and to place in the top three at the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games. VANOC CEO John Furlong, who was in Halifax, said the donation was, "a fitting start to the RBC 2010 Flag Tour, which now sets off across the country to share the inspiration of our Olympic and Paralympic athletes -- raising those same flags we are now honoured to fly in Vancouver and Whistler on behalf of all Canadians." During the tour through to May 14, RBC and VANOC senior officials, as well as Canadian Olympians and Paralympians, are scheduled to schools, community groups and business organizations to mark Canadian achievement at the Torino 2006 Winter Games, and talk about the 2010 Winter Games. At each stop of the RBC 2010 Flag Tour exhibit, the exit display will feature a large banner with a regional map of Canada. Visitors will be encouraged to sign their name on the map and give a voluntary donation to the Own the Podium 2010 program. When the tour ends in Vancouver on the weekend of May 12, all of the regional banners will be assembled to create a map of the entire country, full of signatures.

VANCOUVER COUNCIL PONDERS ANNUAL BUDGET

Vancouver City council, during April, has to finalize a balanced budget for its 2006/7 fiscal year, but there appears to be little potential that its decision-making would adversely impact Olympic-related expenditures. Staff has circulated a draft of dozens of potential changes and approaches council might consider on Tuesday if it wants to hold the budget to about the rate of inflation -- or not -- and virtually all of it has to do with aspects of City operations that have nothing to do with preparations for the 2010 Games. In part, that's because most of those preparations have already been decided in how it will be funded over the next year, in particular, and through longer-term capital programs approved by voters last fall. City staff have also offered possible places to cut, if the councillors are of the mood and there are some peripheral Olympic-related items at risk if that were the case. The City Manager's department, for instance, has suggested that Council, if it needed to reduce expenditures somewhere, might consider reducing her consulting budget by C$14,000 for various 2010-related activities. However, the manager, Judi Rogers, who is also a VANOC Board member, has told council in the report, "Reducing the Olympic consulting budget may impact planning efforts in 2006. Funding requirements may need to be adjusted in 2007 and beyond as planning efforts ramp up." The Civic Grants department says Council would save C$348,650 from the C$1 million allocated earlier if it reduced cultural grants, but notes, "The City’s intent is to become a cultural centre of excellence leading up to the Cultural Olympiad and Olympic Arts Festival." Officially the 2010 cultural Olympiad has already begun. And the Parks Board says Council could reduce its budget by C$302,150 by cutting back on operating hours at some of the recreational operations, such as community centres, which are already heavily used. However, it adds, that would reduce access to those buildings, and noted, "With significant construction scheduled on a tight timeline for the Olympics, some facilities will already be closed."

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on March 30, 2006

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1587

Here are three more moguls we ran into today:

VANOC SPONSORSHIP APPROACH DIFFERS BETWEEN CASH AND VIK

Dave Doroghy, the director of Sponsorship Sales for VANOC, says his organization's approach to sponsorship differs whether VANOC primarily wants cash or value-in-kind -- such as "human-resources services, wine or construction products" -- from a sponsorship in exchange for granting marketing rights and other considerations. "VIK becomes a bit more complicated than when you go to the marketplace and ask for cash. Our sponsorship department is very much in tune with all of our departments to determine what we need to stage the Games, and how to go and get it. It's a complex process that's collaborative, and we won't approach companies until we've given a lot of thought as to what we need." Doroghy describes VIK as a "big word around the 2010 offices." VANOC has not yet signed any third-tier sponsors -- those will be basically suppliers, but is expected to do so over the next few years. Doroghy says if companies feel they could supply VANOC with what they think it needs, they should contact him, the senior vice-president of Revenue, Marketing and Communications, Dave Cob, or Cobb's Sponsorship Department vice-president, Andrea Shaw. And, Doroghy adds in passing, that he feels VANOC CEO John Furlong has been the organization's "most successful sponsorship salesperson."

400,000 TOURED SAMSUNG PAVILLION IN TORINO

The BC/Canada pavilion in downtown Torino estimates about 100,000 people toured it while it was open during the 2006 Winter Olympics. But it turns out the most popular pavilion on the Olympic grounds belonged to Samsung, an international sponsor of the International Olympic Committee. About 400,000 people circulated through its building, which held 578 events and allowed 2,400 athletes and their family members to make free calls. Of those who were there, 11,092 used their feet on what Samsung called The Giant Phone Game -- they competed by stepping on oversized mobile-phone keys. Samsung has been involved since 1997 in the Olympics, although it has not yet signed on to support 2010. Companies such as Cheil Communications of Seoul, South Korea, Edelman of Milan, Italy and New York, and Javelin of Surrey, in the United Kingdom, helped create and market the pavilion. The concept first appeared during 2000 Summer Olympics in Australia. Samsung was a also a presenting sponsor of the Torino 2006 Olympic Torch Relay. It has been involved with the Games since 1997.

2010 GAMES PART OF OFFICE TOWER INVESTMENT DECISION

An American investment firm has bought a high-quality office tower in Vancouver, and it says it did so in part due to the increased profile the city has because of the impending 2010 Winter Olympics. Chicago-based LaSalle Investment Management said today it purchased 777 West Broadway, a 7,000 square metre (75,000-square-foot), 12-story office building with retail on the ground for about C$26.6 million. The building not in the central business district, but on the secondary Broadway business corridor. LaSalle's senior vice-president, Peter Martin, says that there is strong demand for triple-A properties but limited supply, and, he adds, with Vancouver as host of the 2010 Winter Olympics, “We are seeing increasing demand for all property types. [The Games] provide a lot of international exposure to our market."

RESOURCES

Some details and a photo of 777 West Broadway:
tinyurl.com/zadgr

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on March 29, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |Business| #1586
RETAIL CLERKS' TRAINING OFFERED TO IMPROVE SERVICE IN BC BEFORE 2010

Retail BC, a Vancouver-based organization, has launched "Canada's first comprehensive retail skills development program" to help train store clerks provide better service in British Columbia during the lead-up to the 2010 Winter Games.

Retail BC's PEAK program was developed in partnership with the federal government's Western Economic Diversification Canada, the BC provincial government and "with the support of MasterCard International." A total of about C$94,000 of government funding is involved. The program's name is an acronym, which stands for 'performance, empowerment, attitude and knowledge.'

Mark Startup, president and CEO of Retail BC says the program is aimed at helping "position retail as a first choice career option." The cost of taking part in one three-hour module is $69 per person, or a store can bring in a PEAK trainer for $800 per module to train company staff; the program's goal is to train about 25,000 people over the next few years.

Carol Skelton, minister of Western Economic Diversification -- and also Canada's National Revenue minister -- adds, "Our investment will contribute to the growth of BC's thriving retail sector... It will also better prepare the BC tourism industry ahead of the 2010 Olympic Games."

Rick Thorpe, BC's minister of Small Business and Revenue says the program "will raise the bar for retail service delivery in British Columbia."

The program offers nine skills-training courses: three in customer service, three in sales and three that deal with development of management and staff.

The programs will be delivered by training organizations throughout BC, including Advanced Corporate Training, JobWave, WCG International, BC Community Futures Development Corporations, Business Improvement Associations, Chambers of Commerce and other groups interested in the delivery of retail training. Retailers need only register on the retail PEAK website to find courses available in their community or to invite a trainer in-house.

So far, says Startup, the Squamish Chamber of Commerce, Lansdowne Centre Mall in Richmond, near where the 2010 speedskating oval complex is to be built, the Lougheed Town Centre in the Greater Vancouver municipality of Burnaby, have signed on to deliver the program throughout the year.

One of the directors of Retail BC's Board, Paul Dragan, owner and manager of Reckless Bike Stores in Vancouver, says, "There was a gap in retail training that the PEAK program can now fill."

Retail BC suggests it represents 3,000 retail companies within BC. It says BC's retail industry generates more than C$50 billion in sales per year, and employs more than 255,000.

RESOURCES

This is the website where retailers are to sign up for the program:
www.retailpeak.com

This is Retail BC's website:
http://www.retailbc.org

Tel: 604-736-0368 or toll free 1-800-663-5135
Fax: 604 736-3154 or toll free 1-877-222-9966
E-mail: inquiry@retailbc.org
1758 West 8th Ave
Vancouver, BC V6J 1V6

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on March 29, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1585

DASH AWAY WITH 2010 PACKAGE TOUR

Dash Tours of Regina, Saskatchewan, a 25-year-old company, has begun offering packaged tours for the 2010 Winter Olympics that range from C$5,999 plus tax per adult -- based on four-person occupancy at a Delta hotel -- to C$25,999 per person before tax including airfare within North America, and it appears to be quite profitable. None of the packages, which are based on varying lengths of stays up to 18 days, include Olympic tickets. There are about 24,600 hotel and motel rooms in Greater Vancouver, and the industry estimates about 800 more will open by 2010, but at last word, more than 20,000 of them had been pre-booked by VANOC over the last 18 months for various Games requirements. Ticket packages are not expected to be offered by VANOC until the fall of 2008, to catch that year's holiday-season buying period. Hotel prices in Torino, Italy, on average, doubled during the 2006 Games, with occupancy averaging about 90%. Jet Set Tours and other companies are expected to eventually offering packages as well.

RBC TO GIVE CHEQUE TO CANADA MUSIC ACADEMY AT 2010 FLAG TOUR LAUNCH

RBC, the financial sponsor of VANOC, says it will "celebrate Olympic spirit and bring culture and sport together through its support of Canada's best musicians and athletes." VANOC and RBC start the cross-Canada RBC 2010 Flag Tour in Halifax this weekend, the same weekend as the Canadian Juno music awards are held, to give "Canadians a taste of the excitement and spirit of Vancouver 2010." And, an RBC spokesman adds, "In recognition of the need for ongoing training and education for all Canadian athletes and artists alike, RBC will make a donation to MusiCan, the music education program of the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. VANOC CEO John Furlong will be there for the speeches and cheque presentation on Friday. He'll be sharing the podium with the recipient of the cheque, Academy chairman Ross Reynolds.

VANOC EVENTS TO BE PROTESTED OVER HIGHWAY ROUTE

From our Quote without Comment Department: "Time is quickly winding down to the start of logging at Eagleridge Bluffs. We expect it to begin in earnest in April, with the government's completion date for logging the entire overland route-right-of-way to be just a few short days after the start. This memo is being sent to assure all Coalition supporters and all concerned Canadians, that the Coalition is as committed to this fight as ever, to do what is right for British Columbia. The betrayal by our government and the madness of the overland route have galvanized us as never before. We have a responsibility to Canada and to the rest of the world to prevent this pending tragedy. We will be advertising in the media to get our message out. Our focus continues to be on holding our government and VANOC accountable for their promises to the world of a sustainable Olympics, the greenest Olympics yet. In order to keep this promise, our government must choose a route which will protect all of the values that the overland route will destroy. The obvious two optional routes are the four-lane divided tunnel and the addition of a third lane to the existing highway. The latter could save the taxpayer in excess of C$100 million over the cost of the overland route. We are at all times making it clear that we support the Olympics, and we state this often. We expect to attend the most prominent government and Olympic events over the next two months. Our banners and signs will make great press and our show of solidarity in the face of imminent chain saws and logging trucks, if it comes to that, should gain us great support across Canada and internationally. Please keep in mind that we will not be asking anyone to break the law. Safety is a primary concern and we do not want anyone to go to jail. At the same time, with democracy having failed us, we have to stand up and make it clear to our government that we will defend this land we love and that we so believe in. We will be making as loud a statement for the restoration of the democratic process as we can." -- a note distributed March 20 by the Coalition to Save Eagleridge Bluffs. The bluffs are part of the southern section of the Sea-to-Sky Highway upgrade between West Vancouver and Whistler.

RESOURCES

Dash Tour's website, set up last February, to market its 2010 Olympic offers:
www.2010tourpackages.com/

Dash Tour's website:
www.dashtours.com

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on March 29, 2006

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1584

Here are three moguls we ran into today:

VANOC TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETING ABOUT NORDIC VENUE

VANOC has scheduled an open-house style meeting in Whistler at the Spruce Grove Field House on Thursday evening so the public can have a look at and comment on the building plans for the Whistler Nordic Centre venue. VANOC staff will be on hand to talk about the details of the proposed venue buildings and facilities, and answer questions from those who attend. The meeting is part of the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District's development-permit process. VANOC gave a formal briefing for the Board about the status of the project on February 27. The buildings, which have been designed and are scheduled to begin construction shortly, have already been tendered in a process that's just coming to an end now. The Development Permit is scheduled to be brought to the Regional Board's April 24 meeting for a decision on whether to proceed.

VANCOUVER PARK BOARD EXPECTED TO OK 2010 ATHLETE VILLAGE PARK

The Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation is expected to approve on Monday the design of a small park as its current part of the construction of the 2010 Olympic Athletes Village. The 0.8 hectare (two acre) area, nicknamed Hinge Park, is directly west of the Village's core, and north of a small inter-tidal island that is to be built out into the creek to offset the loss of fish habitat caused by the Village's development. Parks Board general manager Tilo Driessen says rainwater will be collected, at first from throughout the Village and later from other areas of the southeast False Creek development, and taken to a wetland-type stream, where it will be cleaned through natural processes and discharged into False Creek. "Managing rainwater as a resource rather than a waste product is a key feature of the sustainability strategy," Driessen says. And he adds, "Key to the successful integration of sustainability concepts into parks is to design them as park features that serve multiple purposes, also including traditional park uses. The rainwater wetland, for example, will not only convey and cleanse rainwater runoff, but also provide habitat for a variety of native plants and animals, and attract park visitors with its scenic properties." Driessen expects the park to be completed and open to the public in the first half of next year. By the way, Vancouver City's planning director will be showing Chicago mayor Richard Daley and 11 Chicago City Commissioners and business executives on a trade mission around the site of the new Olympic Village as part of a larger tour of specific areas of the city over the next couple of days.

HBC SKETCHES BANNER PLANS

Jerry Zucker, the new CEO and Governor of HBC, VANOC's major retail sponsor, has moved to squelch rumours about mass closures of stores under his holding company. Significant numbers of closures could have had an effect on VANOC's fledgling royalty revenue stream. Zucker, which bought controlling interest in the Canadian firm as of March 1 says, "We intend to grow HBC's five formats by improving our portfolio, not through mass closures. That's just not in the cards, and anyone speculating that it is, is not informed on my vision for HBC. In fact, a number of previously targeted closings will not proceed as these locations are being revitalized and rebranded." He then went on to talk about how various stores under the Zellars, Home Outfitters, Designer Depot and Fields banners would be spruced up or revamped, but the key banner, The Bay, was not among that list. Zucker added, somewhat cryptically, that, "HBC continues to pursue a strategy of closing or renovating stores that are less than an identified square footage, or otherwise under-performing locations. In the last five years, this has resulted in an average of 10 closures per year and a total of 45 renovations. HBC anticipates closures and renovations in 2006 to be consistent with these figures." All told, HBC has about 550 stores across Canada under a variety of banners. HBC has Olympic boutiques set up to sell clothing connected with the Team Canada 2006 and other 2010-branded material, in Hudson Bay, Zellers, Home Outfitters and Fields stores in Canada. VANOC gets a royalty on every item sold.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on March 28, 2006

Monday, March 27, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1583

Here are three more moguls we ran into today:

VANOC TO SOON HIRE VOLUNTEERS CHIEF

VANOC has begun looking for the person to run its volunteer workforce. The organization estimates it will need between 25,000 and 28,000 volunteers to help host the 2010 Olympics and Paralympics, which involves recruiting, training and organizing them. The Program Director of Workforce (Volunteers) Planning and Operations is the official title of the new position and its part of the Human Resources division of the organization. VANOC hopes to start interviewing applicants for the job in early April. The job, according to VANOC, requires the person to be the "key lead motivator" for the volunteer force, as well as be its advocate during VANOC preparation meetings, and during meetings with "community organizations, corporations, sponsors and partners." It will also require the person to figure out a "workforce strategic plan and directing all department operations, budget preparation, and Games-time operations" and well as prepare "functional plans, operational plans and associated annual fiscal budgets." And, the job will also require them to establish "the standards of quality, efficiency and cost-effective use of volunteers." One of the key requirements for the job is to develop, implement and manage how the volunteers will be accredited, since everybody who works for VANOC has to be granted individual access to specific areas of the venues, part of the Games Management System. HBC, VANOC's retailing sponsor, had said earlier that it would outfit the volunteers as VANOC requires.

TORINO OLYMPICS BECAME A HOTEL BOOM

The numbers are in, and the Torino Winter Olympics meant it was just about standing room only at the city's hotels during the Games, even though the average room rate was twice as expensive as normal. That's according to the figures gathered for Hotelcompset by MKG Group, a European hotel-chain consulting firm, and published today. The Games, which took place February 10-26 pushed the Torino hotel industry to post record monthly performances. They had an occupancy rate that jumped by 35.7 points to 91.6%, and an average room rate that nearly doubled, from an average of e105.20 (C$147.56) during the previous 12 months to e189.50 (C$265.75) during the Games, all taxes included for both figures. The monthly growth in revenue per available room (RevPAR) was exceptional: up 222% during the month. Those results pushed the annual RevPAR up by a record 16.5% over the previous 12 consecutive months. Here's how the Torino hotel results compare to other major European sporting events. Greece, which hosted the 2004 Summer Olympic Games, recorded a monthly RevPAR jump of 137% in August 2004. Also in 2004, the European Football (soccer) Championship in Portugal showed a 70% increase last June.

"OUR COUNTRY'S SUCCESS GOES BEYOND SPEEDSKATING OVALS..."

Quote without comment: "The countdown is on: it is just 1,418 days to go before the Winter Olympics, an event that will greatly benefit Surrey and the Vancouver region overall. The Lower Mainland will soon become an international centre of athletic excellence, in a setting that offers natural beauty, a rich cultural life and all the ingredients needed for economic success in the 21st century. The Greater Vancouver Area is, indeed, Canada’s Pacific gateway to long-term prosperity. And yet, as the marvellous performances by our Canadian Olympic and Paralympic athletes demonstrated so clearly in Torino, the ultimate measure of success will not just be in welcoming the world, but in taking on the world’s best—and winning. The Canadian results at this year’s Winter Games were truly inspiring, creating a sense of pride from coast to coast to coast. I’m sure we all look to the 2010 Games with a growing sense of anticipation and optimism. But our country’s success goes beyond speedskating ovals and ski slopes. The Canadian economy continues to deliver a gold medal performance each and every day." -- James Flaherty, Federal Canadian Minister of Finance to the Surrey Chamber of Commerce on March 27.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on March 27, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1582

Here are three moguls we ran into today:

2010 OLYMPIC VILLAGE DEVELOPER TO BE KNOWN BY APRIL 4

The City of Vancouver is expected to reveal by April 4 the name of the developer consortium that it has chosen to construct the buildings that will become the 2010 Olympic Athletes Village. Three consortia have been bidding for the project, which is to first construct dorm-like interiors for the buildings for the 2010 athletes and then turn the rooms into regular apartment complexes after the Games are finished. We've also learned that the kitchen areas of each unit are to be delivered without appliances -- and the Olympic overlay done by VANOC to ready the rooms for the Games is unlikely to be providing them, so that the space can be used for a small recreational area, probably separated from the rest of the unit by a demising wall, to achieve greater liveability. Athletes, for the most part, will be eating at a common mess hall. The units are expected to be as large or larger than any previously built by an Olympics. And, it's expected that one feature of the Village project will be that the new building that is destined to become a community centre after the Olympics is over is to be built to at least a Gold LEED environmentally sustainable level. The entire complex has been promised by VANOC to be built to at least a LEED Silver status, although the fact that it's built on an industrial wasteland that is being cleaned up, and there are a number of civic features, such as environmentally sensitive heating and water treatment, that all support the point structure that counts toward Silver. That land clean-up work is underway now, under several City contracts and once the land has been compacted, roadwork excavation is to begin. The developers have told the city that in order to deliver the buildings to VANOC by November, 2009, they will have to begin foundation work by next spring at the latest, which means the developers will be working with the City on the roadwork and utilities as the chosen developer and the City complete the legally necessary rezoning steps.

FURLONG, GUSHUE TO LAUNCH RBC-SPONSORED "FLAG TOUR" APRIL 1

VANOC CEO John Furlong will launch the big travelling flag exhibit mounted by VANOC financial sponsor RBC in Halifax on Saturday, April 1, a day later than first planned. Also featured at that stop is expected to be Winter Olympian Brad Gushue, whose Newfoundland team won a gold medal in curling during the 2006 Games in Torino. The RBC 2010 Flag Tour will be stopping at major cities across Canada in a public-relations tour designed to raise awareness for VANOC's concept that the 2010 Games, though held in Greater Vancouver and Whistler, should be considered "Canada's games" by the public. The tour, which is primarily oriented to the public, will also carry a component geared to small and medium-sized businesses, in keeping with one of RBC's main sponsorship-activation concepts. RBC will host what it calls "Olympic Business Development Seminars" wherever the exhibit sets up, to talk about how firms can do business connected with VANOC and its operations; business that RBC hopes to underwrite. The tour -- which doesn't yet have plans to stop in Newfoundland & Labrador, Prince Edward Island, nor Saskatchewan, but will hit Ontario twice with stops in Toronto and Ottawa -- is expected to finish with an exhibit from May 12 to 14 at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

BOUNDARY BAY AIRPORT 2010 PARKING PLANS TO PROCEED

Alpha Aviation, a company which has plans to upgrade the Boundary Bay airport in the municipality of Delta so that it can, in part, be used to help with the expected crush of private aircraft traffic when the 2010 Winter Olympics are held, has won a requested extension of its lease until 2050. Delta is south of Richmond, where the 2010 Olympic Oval and the International Airport are located. The lease extension, from 2032, was a key part of its business plan for upgrading the disused airport. The extra time will allow it to seek long-term investment funds. Alpha plans to spend at least C$10 million on the airport grounds between now and 2010, including at least C$1 million of its own money per year, or face fines from the leaseholder, the municipality. Federal and provincial grants are also expected, and Delta will contribute C$410,000 that it has been holding since the funds were provided for airport upgrades by governments in the mid-90s. The useable portion of the main runway, first built during the early part of World War II, is 3,540 feet (1,079 metres); Alpha says it wants to restore the original length of 5,700 feet (1,743 metres) so corporate jets can land. Other plans include a new terminal building with 3,700 square metres (40,000 square feet) of commercial space, customs services, hangar space for fixed-wing maintenance and offices for flying schools.

RESOURCES

The story we first wrote about the Flag Tour:

'RBC, VANOC to start cross-Canada tour March 31 to promote 2010 Games '
[Morgan:News:2010:Number:1550; Published on Monday, March 13, 2006]

--

The dates and places the tour is scheduled to stop:
www.rbc.com/sponsorship/rbcflagtour.html

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on March 27, 2006

Friday, March 24, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #1581
AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE CONCEPT OF SPONSORSHIPS THROUGH THE EYES OF EXECUTIVES FOR VANOC AND 2010LEGACIESNOW

[Editor's note: In this feature, we closely report on how three senior industry executives, two of them closely connected with the 2010 Winter Olympics on the seller's side and the third who is closely connected with the buyer's side, perceive the value of sponsorships -- and how companies can create that value. We'll also learn how some VANOC sponsors are activating their sponsorships now, nearly four years away from the Games. /Peter Morgan]

===

Two of the key negotiators in British Columbia connected with sponsorship packages related to the 2010 Winter Olympics have consider able advice to offer businesses about what to look for and how to create value from them. And their advice comes at a time when the 2010 Games organizers are considering how to fill 35 or 40 sponsorship and supplier categories for materials needed by the Games. There may even be one more Tier-1 sponsor.

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) is looking for between 12 to 15 sponsors at the Tier 2 level at a range of between C$15 million and C$50 million, and about 25 to 30 official suppliers. Airlines, hotels, couriers, perhaps Canada Post, food, office furniture, hospitality have all been mentioned as possibilities. The company's awarded exclusive marketing rights to the categories will also have the right to associate themselves with the 2010 Olympics and its logo in Canada.

Dave Doroghy, Director of Sponsorships for VANOC, and Susan Archibald, Director of Marketing and Revenue Generation for 2010 Legacies Now, a Vancouver-based BC society set up to spread the benefits of the 2010 Winter Games throughout British Columbia, have considerable experience on how sponsorships work. Doroghy, who came to VANOC from the Orca Bay organization, owner of the NHL Vancouver Canucks that supplied VANOC's Dave Cobb, senior vice-president of Revenue, Marketing and Communications, has worked in the sponsorship industry for about 20 years, starting with Rick Hansen's Man in Motion Tour in 1986. Archibald has 25 years experience in marketing, she also worked with the Man in Motion tour and came to 2010 Legacies Now from the Mark Anthony Group wine distribution firm.

A third expert is Ian Howard, president of Leverage, a Vancouver-based sponsorship consultancy, that he founded 30 years ago, and during that time he has advised organizing committees that stage Olympic Games about the inner workings of sponsorships.

Archibald says industry statistics show that sponsorship deals, and in particular, sports sponsorship, is growing much more quickly since the mid-1990s than other types of marketing, at an average of 8.7% per year to the most recent data, acquired in 2004. It is annually surpassing traditional advertising spending (6.9%) and sales promotion purchasing (5%), and is approaching the C$10 billion-per-year benchmark for North American spending by the latest data, in 2003. Extrapolating from the trend, it should be about C$12.5 billion about now. About 70% of sports marketing spending is through sponsorships. Many of the major companies in Canada, and in British Columbia, regularly use sponsorship as part of their marketing.

She says that there are three main things companies should consider when they are thinking about sponsoring, or are being approached by an event for sponsorship: understanding the value of the sponsorship packages, carefully thinking about the kind of resources and work that needs to be put into a sponsorship package to make it work for a company, and the kinds of "activation" creativity that will be necessary; how the sponsorship should be used in various ways, at various events.

"Let's start with a couple of fundamentals, with sports sponsorships," she suggests. "Obviously you're buying something, so there's a sponsorship fee, so you need cash, and there's usually a VIK (value in kind) component. But what are also critical are activation dollars, and many companies don't think about what it's going to cost to make a sponsorship work for the firm. Those are complementary activities: sales promotions, advertising, hosting opportunities, and on and on. Those costs could be up to three times the overall sponsorship fee being paid. And, to be frank about it, if you don't put these activation dollars against the sponsorship, you don't know the cost of it... You need an activation strategy and the resources for it." Howard adds that ignoring the execution costs, or not having enough money to execute the sponsorship, doesn't make business sense, "It's like buying time for a television advertising campaign, and not budgeting money to make the ads. It's just crazy."

From Doroghy's perspective as one of the main people at VANOC who sells sponsorships, it's equally important to understand the drivers of the companies VANOC is targeting, by researching them ahead of time. "With the Internet, the National List of Advertisers and annual reports, to help you develop the information, there's really no excuse for you to call on a company without understanding what they're market is, and understanding about what they sell or do. Before we even get into packaging the sponsorship, we have to understand what companies are after. There's nothing worse than somebody calling to sell you and they don't understand your business. Research, research, research. Make store visits. Use the company's product ahead of time. I can't put a package together until I understand what their business objectives are."

Doroghy says VANOC uses a collaborative approach. "We try to determine the answer to the question of how we can help them. And I listen, listen, listen. When I get to a meeting, I like to talk, but I always try to tone myself down and do more listening, so I can come out of that meeting knowing what the next step is going to be, and what are the key points they were trying to tell me that I can zero in on, and use as a hook to get this company involved. The days of having a prepared presentation and flipping through to your last page, and saying 'This is what the deal looks like', the halcyon days of the early 80s, are long over. The market has become so much more sophisticated now."

He also says its important from his point of view to understand the decision-making process, to know how much authority the person you're meeting with has, and when they have to take it to the next level. "Is it a city decision, a regional decision, a Canadian decision, an international decision? Landing a company for a sponsorship is a complicated process with big companies. Maybe you have to do research on that person you're meeting. If the companies want signage, make sure you put that in the deal. Eventually you can pull the deal together, but you can't do that until you've been to a lot of meetings where you're just listening."

Doroghy says making a sponsorship deal is akin to a dating relationship. "It might be five, six or seven meetings before a deal starts to get crafted. The first meeting you have is really to determine whether a second meeting is necessary. The second meeting might take place at a more senior level. Eventually you might end up in a marriage... And just like any relationship, you have to figure out how to satisfy each others' needs."

He says that in VANOC's world, it can often take the better part of a year to conclude a sponsorship. "There are lots of moving parts -- of VANOC's parts and of the target company's parts -- the deals are fairly complex. At Orca Bay, we were mostly in the renewal-of-sponsorships business. Initial sales are time-consuming; it's a lengthy and important process. It's important that both parties understand what they're getting into."

Archibald says its critical that a company's values match the values of a sponsorship. "There really isn't much value in buying the property unless that's the case." She says it's also imperative to figure out some way of measuring performance of the sponsorship. "The ROI is difficult to do, but there are all sorts of ways to do it."

Companies must also count on the management of a sponsorship property. "If you buy a sponsorship for a year," she says, "you're only going to get a year's worth of value. What you really need is a three- or four-year deal. By year two, you're starting to tweak things. By year three, you've really got it starting to sing. It's really important to understand the long-term investment you need to make, and that's why we think about what we call the value match. It's a commitment that you're making, and a partnership that you're forming."

Ian Howard, of Leverage, agrees, and connects the concepts to the six- and seven-year sponsorships offered by VANOC to its Tier-1 firms. "One of the oldest adages in this business is that you either buy a sponsorship early and maximize the value of the sponsorship, or you buy late, and minimize the cost. The theory of this is that the earlier you're in, the more benefits you can acquire, and the later you're in, you're at the point where the event organizers are trying to bring in the last dollars and maximize their yield. It's at that time that the pricing of the sponsorship usually becomes more flexible. You can save up to a third by doing that. In the one sense you're getting a discount, but on the other hand, you're getting what you're paying for, which isn't much activation time. The corollary of that is that you never buy in the middle."

Howard, though, doubts that VANOC will need to discount much by the time it's near the end of its sponsorship sales period. "It's the so-called creme de la creme. But I don't doubt that other pressures will come into play -- budgets will rise, for instance -- and 2010 will not stop looking for additional revenue."

Howard says that during the next three years, to about early 2009, companies will buy a sponsorship from VANOC, and pay about the same price. "It's not a huge thing to understand that those who bought in 2006 have until [December 31, 2010], to realize the benefits from that price." He also recommends companies, during the negotiation phase, trying to expand the scope of exclusivity of the sponsorship, and to carefully define what rights sponsoring firm gets from the sponsorship. "Even in super-sophisticated events like the 2010 Games, there is an area of flexibility where one can negotiate the benefits and rights." That's done, he says, in part to further eliminate competitors, noting that IOC sponsor for 2010, Coca-Cola, considers instant coffee to be a competitor. He also points out that the benefits lists offered by Archibald or Doroghy isn't necessarily definitive, and suggests firms think about what he calls "off-list benefits" that might reasonably be included in the deal, to see if the organization will include them, preferably without additional cost. "In many cases, they're willing to do that, and I've seen sponsorship contracts where as much as 25% of the package has been structured after it's signed."

Howard also urges sponsoring companies to consider their post-event strategy. All of the VANOC Tier-1 sponsors, for instance, have marketing rights to December 31, 2012; while the rights of those in Tier-2, at least so far, expire at the end of 2010. "What are you going to do after the Closing Ceremonies," Howard asks, rhetorically.

Archibald says companies do sponsorships for components from a long list of reasons: to drive sales, building a brand, product sampling, to rise above the clutter of other advertising and marketing, community involvement, customer relations and defining and activating within a target market. "We [in the sponsorship industry] saw a lot of that going on in the lead-up to the bid, there was a lot of Telus/Bell Canada, RBC, HBC stuff going on."

To put it another way, companies should be proactive, not reactive, when it comes to deciding on sponsorships, and chose a marketing strategy that's best for them before looking for a sponsorship, so that executives know what they want to do and why they want to do it. And those concepts should be evaluated against what a particular sponsorship is offering.

Archibald says customer retention is also one of underlying reasons companies use sponsorships, and she gives RBC's decision to become a Tier-1 sponsor of the 2010 Olympics as an example of this. "RBC's objective is to become the source of information for small-business. That's a British Columbian objective; it's not yet a national objective. What they're trying to do is underwrite all the small-business activity around this major event, and for other sponsorships that it does. Their solution to all this is to link small-business clients to all the key events that are taking place in the community, around business-building opportunities. That's why the sponsor business and economic-summits that are taking place, along with sponsorship of Small Business Week, sponsorship of the Small Business Guide, which outlines how small-business opportunities can be garnered from the Olympic Games, and sponsorship of the [2010 Legacies Now] Olympic Speaker series." The Olympic Speaker series is part of a transfer-of-knowledge program connected with the Games, where experts from around the world come to speak on what they've learned about business opportunities in their country leading up to and after the Games. "RBC's name is on that," Archibald says. "And in private-client functions, it's a key transfer of knowledge and relationships. Ultimately, that allows a clients to build a business strategy, which RBC underwrites. It's a creative way of looking at sponsorship."

She says the Vancouver law firm of Bull, Housser and Tupper, is another example that's connected indirectly to the 2010 Games. "They knew they couldn't afford a sponsorship with VANOC. But the partners wanted to be part of the excitement, so they talked with us and we created an opportunity for them. They felt an obligation to give back to the community that won the Bid for the Games. They wanted to be involved, but they couldn't be a direct sponsor, so what could they do? They started by looking at some developing athletes and following their journey through to the Olympic Games. Creative. Lots of leveraging. Then they wanted to find a way to engage their clients and prospects. They're solution was to sponsor the BC Figure Skating Association. This wasn't a donation. They created a relationship, a partnership with the Association. The clients, prospects and staff are meeting athletes, they're hearing athlete diaries as they're travelling around the world for competitions leading up to 2010. They're going to the rink and watching them train. They were getting clinics on the judging system before the Torino Games, One of the people who created the new judging system sat in the same room as Bull Housser's staff and clients and talked to them about how to understand the system, so when they watched it on TV, the knew what the commentators were talking about. They were able to share all that with friends and family, and with prospects, and there was this huge relationship established. In late March, they're all going to be jumping on the ice with the athletes, who will do a mini-clinic. Their family, their friends, their children are going to be out there and skate with the Canadian Team members they saw compete in Torino, along with all the other people who are aspiring to be on the podium in 2010. That's a creative sponsorship. It cost $25,000, which is huge money for the Association, but not a big investment for Bull Housser and Tupper."

On the other hand, says Archibald, part of Bell Canada's rationale for sponsoring the 2010 Winter Games is cause-related, and it dovetails with a promise that VANOC needed to make to the IOC for political reasons that evolved out of the makeup of the council of the host city, Vancouver, which was strongly aligned with left of centre and socialist causes. "Bell is up against a big challenge, with Telus, and they want to make sales in the west. They want to sell their devices for communicating to all of us, but they also want big sales: to governments, big business, universities, municipalities. They have lots of solutions, but this is one I'm particularly proud of: support the Downtown East Side of Vancouver. That's a philanthropic kind of sponsorship. They've 'partnered' with a number of other companies, including 2010 Legacies Now, but also Burton Snowboards, which supplies all the equipment for Downtown East Side youth, the drug-addicted on the streets. They've never had anybody offer them pride. They're provided an opportunity to go to the VANOC snowboarding venue, Cypress Mountain, and learn how to snowboard. For Bell, the sponsorship is a calling card to those officials in the city who have struggled with an issue in the downtown east side for years, and have never found a good solution. This one is working. And so Bell has created a relationship with people in the City, and introducing their sales people to the people in the City, who know the people who award the contracts for the business stuff that Bell wants to do, to drive up sales. They're following this same strategy in cities around the province. They're in Prince George now."

Howard, the consultant, also notes that being involved in a sponsorship, such as those connected with the Olympics, allows sponsors to do activation deals with each other. "There's a collegial atmosphere among the people involved with various sponsors," he says. "They go to meetings together, they get to know each other, each will have its own team. If you get to know these people, there are frequently opportunities for one to work with another in parallel to the sponsorship. For example, suppose you are working for Boston Pizza, and you buy a sponsorship. At 2010, there will be hundreds of thousands of pizzas. A method of working with the other sponsors is to go to them and say, 'Here are some coupons for you to distribute to your people for Boston Pizza'.

2010 Legacies Now's Archibald notes that Bell became the title sponsor of 2010 Legacies' mall displays that discussed the benefits of the games on a grassroots level, that went on a tour of BC communities last year. "Bell came to us and said they loved the project, but asked if they could do something additional. So we set up meetings with the business associations, where the BC government ministers or local government officials and small-business leaders in the communities where the tour went, and they talked during the luncheon about Bell was spending C$200 million on the Games. Why? Because Bell wants their business; they want to establish a relationship. And Bell is extremely happy about that project."

VANOC's Doroghy says a successful sponsorship works both VANOC and the sponsor. "It's a two-way street. You always want deals that make people feel good. I was glued to the TV set during the Torino Games, and I thought all of the 2010 sponsors activated well with their creative. You saw commercials on TV that were innovative and compelling, especially for the Olympics. Those two beavers of Bell's ads. I was watching the TV at my friend's house, and he calls his friends and says, 'Quick, Gordon and Frank are on. We haven't seen this one!' When a sponsor takes a property like the Olympics, and gets creative, running a fantastic campaign around it proceeding our Games, I think that's great activation. Bell did a great job of that."

Doroghy also says that when VANOC launched its logo about a year ago, VANOC wanted to get the word out. Bell ran a campaign in the newspapers starting the next day, which included a coupon that could be redeemed at one of their stores for a VANOC emblem pin. "That doesn't sound like the biggest promotion going, but it was important to us. And in the next 10-day period, 125,000 Bell pins were distributed through Bell stores across Canada. Store visits went up significantly, and that translated into sales for them. We got the word out, Bell got people visiting their stores, and this is four-and-a-half years in front of the 2010 Olympic Games. It was a smart activation."

He says VANOC also loved the fact that HBC made available the Team Canada uniforms in its stores during the run-up to the Torino Olympics. "We felt proud when the athletes marched across that field in Turin wearing that merchandise, and people could buy it in stores across Canada, that's a fantastic partnership." And, the RBC's Olympian program, in which Canadian high-performance athletes are invited to work in Royal Bank branches and are given flexible hours so they can train, is also held up by VANOC as a good example of activation. "When they get back from the Olympics, they come back to work at the Bank as ambassadors and speakers, and are given jobs when they retire from their athletic career."

Doroghy says General Motors, another VANOC major sponsor, "will be running a sustainability campaign highlighting their hybrid cars for 2010, and that they'll save us fuel as we stage the Olympics." And Rona, VANOC's renovations sponsor, "will be running programs that will demonstrate how they are building the venues in part with their products."

These are all business solutions, he notes, and a far cry from erecting some signage and putting a name on the back of a brochure. As he puts it, "All of our sponsors are doing great jobs. Some of them already have, and some will be coming out in the future."

RESOURCES

A list of BC consultants that deal in sponsorships, along with their contact info:
www.sponsorship.ca/list/table.html#bc

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on March 24, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1580

Here are three moguls we ran into today:

OLYMPIC/PARALYMPIC FLAGS RAISED IN WHISTLER

Whistler Mayor Ken Melamed, City of Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan, sit-skier Brad Lennea and volunteer coach, Phil Chew, raised the Olympic and Paralympic flags in the Resort Municipality of Whistler today. VANOC's Chief Financial Officer, Rex McLennan, chief Leonard Andrew of the Lil'Wat aboriginal group and the Conservative government member of Parliament, James Moore also took part in the event.

MT. WASHINGTON FUNDING COMPLETED FOR PHASE 1

Funding for Phase One of the Vancouver Island Mountain Sports Centre on Mount Washington on central Vancouver Island has been completed, now that the federal government, through its Western Economic Diversification Fund, has sent $100,000 in previously-promised funds. Vivian Dean, chair of the Vancouver Island Mountain Sports Society says that the $674,000 funding for the first phase, about C$330,000 each from the provincial and federal governments, means that the project manager has begun work. The society's Nordic centre is developing the facilities to improve its chances at getting national Olympic ski teams to consider the area for practice during the lead-up to the 2010 Winter Olympics.

WIRELESS CAMERAS USED FOR HD BROADCASTS AT TORINO

One of the advanced-technology systems used for the first time at the Torino Winter Olympics involved wireless transmission links for high-density television broadcasts. The company involved, Link Research of England, completed development of the first units to use the system in late 2005 and began delivering them to customers, and among the first to roll -- literally, in one case, since it was a new semi-trailer packed with the latest equipment for HD news-gathering -- went straight to the Italian Olympics. Intel SRO, which is Link Research's distributor in Italy, provided and support. It was also involved in the project management of some ambitious productions that used multiple feeds from wireless cameras and cameras mounted on board vehicles, such as live streaming transmissions from helicopters used by TV crews at the Torino Olympics. The systems are designed for live sports coverage, but will also be used to cover concerts.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on March 24, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |Paralympic| #1579
IPC REPORTS TORINO GAMES HAD NO VIOLATIONS OF ANTI-DOPING RULES

The International Paralympic Committee reported officially today what was widely suspected: there were no violations of its strict anti-doping rules during the Torino 2006 Paralympic Winter Games.

A total of 242 doping tests were conducted during the testing period, which begin on the day of the opening of the Paralympic Villages and end on the day that the Villages close. In Torino's case, that was from March 4 to March 22.

Andy Parkinson, the IPCs Director of Medicine and Science, says the clean Games also had a clean run-up, “Not only were there no anti-doping rule violations in Torino, but we also experienced no anti-doping rule violations in the pre-Games out-of-competition testing program.”

The testing conducted at the Games was wider, deeper and significantly greater than what was conducted at the Salt Lake 2002 Paralympic Winter Games, which measured 97 samples.

BACKGROUND

The breakdown for anti-doping rule tests during the Torino 2006 Winter Paralympics:

Out-of-Competition Urine Controls: 59
Out-of-Competition Urine + EPO Controls: 28
Out-of-Competition Blood Controls for Human Growth Hormone: 16

In-Competition Urine Controls: 71
In-Competition Urine + EPO Controls: 32
In-Competition Blood Controls for Synthetic Haemoglobin and Blood Transfusions: 36

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on March 24, 2006

Thursday, March 23, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |IOC| #1578
TORINO TECHNOLOGY SECURITY SYSTEM PUMMELLED, BUT HELD, SAYS ATOS ORIGIN

Paris-based Atos Origin, the networking provider charged with running and guarding the Olympics' computer connection infrastructure in Torino, today reported there were no significant malicious attacks or disruptions during the Olympic Games' 16-day stretch.

More than three million "events", as AO calls them, took place during the Winter Games, and 158 of them were deemed major, 10 critical. Some intrusion attempts included authorized users unplugging host computers to connect their own laptops and users trying to log in as administrators, which would give them access to the operation of the underlying system software.

To reach its end-of-Games without the system breaking, Atos used access control, network segmentation and segregation, identity management and real-time security monitoring to prevent hacking attempts. The company said it also used a risk assessment leading up the Games that involved 52 attack scenarios.

Securing the network is crucial, especially considering that hundreds of media needed to connect with it to get information about the Games and to transmit news.

"In an environment providing real-time information to media, any security incident, triggered with malicious intent or not, can have disastrous consequences," said Patrick Adiba, executive vice president of Major Events for Atos. "For a highly visible event like the Olympic Games, the challenge of IT security is not only to prevent unauthorized people from accessing the systems, but to control the activity of authorized people inside the games' network."

Atos will be responsible for information-technology security at the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver and the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on March 23, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1577

Here are three moguls we ran into today:

VANOC-STYLE ATHLETE FUNDING PROGRAM CONSIDERED BY LOCOG

VANOC has set a precedent and the London Summer Olympic Games has noticed. VANOC and the Canadian Olympic Committee figured out a way -- it's called the "Own the Podium - 2010" program -- to funnel private corporate sponsor money raised as part of Olympic sponsorships to elite Canadian athletes. VANOC and the federal government each agreed to pledge C$110 million over five years for the project, and VANOC's portion of the funding is coming from side deals it worked out as it rounded up major corporate sponsors for the 2010 Games, in exchange for marketing rights. In England's case, about 200 million public pounds has been pledged for such athlete support, but officials didn't think that would be enough. LOCOG, the London organizing committee, is said to be considering doing the same thing for the remaining amount from its sponsors. Rona is a national sponsor of VANOC, and has pledged a five-year, C$4 million fund for 100 prospective Olympians. UK Sport, the British government agency that funds elite athletes, and the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport, are reported to be thinking the concept is attractive. Accenture, a British bid sponsor, said yesterday it would back the Britain sailing team that's aiming to compete at the Beijing 2008 Summer Games.

GANNETT HAPPY WITH TORINO OLYMPICS BOOST TO BUSINESS

Gannett president and CEO Craig A. Dubow and other Gannett executives said the 2006 Torino Olympics gave his company a boost on the company's performance to date in 200 at a presentation today to the Media and Entertainment Analysts of New York. The company (NYSE:GCI) publishes 91 daily newspapers in the US, including USA Today, which it says is the largest-selling daily newspaper in the country. Gannett also operates 21 television stations in the United States and is an Internet leader with sites sponsored by its TV stations and newspapers including the popular USAToday.com. The company also owns nearly 1,000 community newspapers in the US, as well as USA Weekend, a weekly newspaper magazine. Its subsidiary Newsquest is the UK's second largest regional newspaper company. Newsquest publishes more than 300 titles, including 17 daily newspapers, and a network of web sites. Dubow said the company's broadcasting segment had a solid start to the year, driven by the Winter Olympic Games on its NBC stations and the Super Bowl on its ABC stations. "New business development continues to be one of our most important revenue-generating priorities, especially as the competitive landscape continues to change," Dubow said. Revenues from these broadcast efforts "are expected to exceed last year's first quarter by approximately 40%." Craig Moon, president and publisher of USA Today, said online advertising revenue for the first quarter is expected to increase in the mid-teens over the first quarter a year ago, and the Torino Games helped there as well, as it used new technology to transmit the information. As he puts it, "Our round-the-clock coverage of the Winter Olympics showcased our newest initiatives to increase user interaction, involvement and time with our products." The coverage included blogs, podcasts, interactive graphics, video and photo galleries.

WATER, WATER ON (NEARLY) EVERY VANOC FLOOR

From our Dihydrous Oxide Department: The new VANOC headquarters, which is still being fitted up for The Move next month by the 180 staffers who are now crammed into its current downtown location, will have taps on at least four floors of the new HQ that will produce cold, filtered water on demand. We're fairly sure it has nothing to do with keeping staffers from collecting around the water cooler and chatting when they should have their noses buried in things to get the Games back on schedule or on budget. Instead, the idea is to do away with the need for all those 18.5-litre water-cooler bottles or flats of individually sized water bottles. After all the staffing levels will grow each year until there's about 1,600 people in the new HQ by 2009. (Although staffing levels will peak in 2009, the requirement for the pure-water services at the building will end following the staging of the Paralympic Winter Olympic games in March 2010, because virtually all of those 1,600 people will be given layoff notices about then.) On the other hand, there was word last fall that Vancouver City staff were checking to see if the building, which was originally zoned for industrial use and was quietly upgraded to office use, had piping that provided enough water. We never did hear the result of whether the City had to upgrade the water service to the building, or not.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on March 23, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #1576
PLANNING FOR OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC TORCH RELAYS TO BEGIN NEXT MONTH

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) has begun the process of planning for its two Olympic Torch relays, and it's doing so by first looking for a consultant who's done this sort of thing before.

VANOC expects to need technical and logistical help in organizing the Olympic and Paralympic Torch Relays, both of which are usually sponsored by fairly large firms, and that it will need the consultant to give it a hand between April and December this year. VANOC staff were in Torino last month to learn about the behind-the-scenes work of the organizing committee, and the Torch Relays were one of the areas on which they were focusing. Earlier this month, it formally registered the phrase "Olympic Torch Relay" as its own in Canada.

The kind of work it expects to get done involves preparation of what it calls the "concept of operations documents" for both Relays, a technical review of the routes such as the logistical requirements, alternative methods of transportation, and development of early budgets for the run. It is also expecting to have a strategy document developed that outlines the core torch relay planning and logistical criteria, according to VANOC's objectives.

The Olympic torch is always lit by the sun in Greece during a ceremony, and VANOC says it expects to fly the Torch to Canada, possibly over the North Pole, and, from there, traverse all of the country's regions, going through the major cities, and then working its way to a lot of communities in British Columbia. But, beyond that, the route and all the logistics of the run have yet to be decided. The Paralympic Torch ceremony is less elaborate, and much smaller, traditionally, but VANOC has not yet indicated it's general thinking on that. In addition, VANOC also has to specifically seek permission from the International Olympic Committee to approach governments and national Olympic Committees of other countries besides Canada if the route takes it through other nations. The Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Organizing Committee only just recently received permission, about 900 days out from its Games, to start that process.

The IOC's executive Board, about a year or so ago, was quite pleased with the fact that the Athens Summer Games torch run touched down on all five continents, and felt that it should be more closely consulted on the path of the Run.

Interestingly, as it was discussing the need for the consultant, VANOC ensured the firm it chooses focuses on three things. VANOC wants to ensure aboriginal participation it its work, it wants to incorporate "sustainable economic, social, environmental and inclusive practices in planning and operating" for everything to do with the Games, and it wants to ensure there is "inner-city inclusivity". That's a VANOC code phrase that is expected to mean, in this context, to ensure that income, cultural background or physical ability is not a factor, and that VANOC would like to incorporate people or elements from Vancouver’s Inner-City neighbourhoods, particularly the Downtown Eastside, Downtown South and Mount Pleasant areas.

VANOC's vice-president of Sustainability, Linda Coady, has said that, "We want that torch to land in aboriginal communities, and that aboriginal youth in those communities have a chance to participate in the torch run."

There are four aboriginal groups with which VANOC has a series of agreements: the Lil’wat, Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh. They have unresolved land claims in the areas on which VANOC is building or modifying its venues.

The Torino Torch Relay was sponsored by several companies, including Coca-Cola, which is an international sponsor of the 2010 Games through the IOC. VANOC's senior vice-president of Planning and Services, Terry Wright, Senior vice-president of Revenue, Marketing and Communications, Dave Cobb, and his Sponsorship Department vice-president, Andrea Shaw, carried a torch as three of the 10,000 runners that took part in the 2006 Olympic relay.

There are expected to be a number of contracts involved in the Relays, besides sponsorships. For instance, VANOC is planning to award apparel licenses to cover the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Torch Relays. Other businesses have been involved in other Torch-related business. For example, in Torino, one publisher provided regular updates on the progress of the Torch Relay, and sponsored the reports. The Italian Mint, which was issuing collector coins throughout the lead-up to the Italian Games saved the gold ones with the Torch image for the last, when interest would have been highest.

Sponsors of the Olympic Games also traditionally get special treatment when it comes to the Torch Relays. For instance, Samsung, which is another IOC sponsor, held a contest in one part of the world to promote cell phones in which the prize was a chance to be a part of the Torch relay, while in Canada it sponsored teams of people to race through Canadian cities, with prizes of being part of the Torch relay.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on March 23, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #1575
CONTRACTORS CALLED TO UPGRADE COLISEUM, AGRODOME VENUES IN TWO PHASE PROCESS

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) has begun the process of pre-qualifying contractors so it can begin to upgrade the Pacific Coliseum and Agrodome ice arenas at Hastings Park in east Vancouver.

The two major arenas, besides being heavily used for a lot of commercial purposes -- such as ice shows, boxing, basketball, hockey, concerts, large assemblies as well as trade and consumer shows -- are scheduled to be VANOC's venues for short-track speedskating, as well as for figure skating training and competition for the 2010 Olympic Games. Their use is much heavier during the fall, winter and spring than during the summer.

However, each venue has only a standard North American-sized ice rink -- about 61 metres by 26m (200 feet by 85 feet) -- which is smaller than a standard Olympic rink. In order to be able to host the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, the structure of each venue is scheduled to be modified, and the ice rinks of each enlarged to meet Olympic dimensions of 61m by 30m wide (about 200 by 100 feet).

That change in rink size is going to require renovations to both structures and changes to both refrigerated ice slabs during this year's work, the first of two phases. The work needs to be completed in two sections, to minimize the business interruption to each of the venues. VANOC hopes to start this year's construction phase in May, and completed it by August, finishing the expansion of the ice sheets.

Replacement or upgrade of both ammonia refrigeration plants, possibly by constructing an amalgamated central plant in the Coliseum is scheduled to occur in a second phase of the work in the summer of 2007. Also scheduled for work: upgrades to the washroom s, concession spaces and the Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems.

Contractors interested in the first-phase work -- and that includes general contractors as well as those specializing in refrigeration have until April 7 to use VANOC's process to notify it that their interested. VANOC will then create a shortlist of those firms and provide them with a formal Request for Proposals detailing the work so they can quote on it. VANOC hopes to issue the RFP late next month.

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.

VANOC first began work on the Coliseum last year when it replaced 16