Morgan:News:2010:Bronze Edition: April 2006

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Morgan:News:Bronze:Service is published regularly, but the articles are delayed by at least three months to protect our subscribers. For timely news that comes to you, please subscribe to our Gold or Silver service at Morgan:News:2010. Bronze is free for the use of news services and for non-commercial public use under conditions described at: Morgan:News:2010:Bronze (There is a nominal charge for certain commercial uses, as described there.) You can use Google to search the site, simply add “site:morgan-news.com” after your search terms.

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #1635
REFRIGERATION CONTRACT FOR WHISTLER NORDIC CENTRE EXPECTED TO BE LET THIS SUMMER

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) says it will prequalify suppliers for the Whistler Nordic Centre's ski jump refrigeration work, which is expected to begin this summer.

As a result, VANOC wants refrigeration contractors to contact it by May 12 if they want to be considered for the short list. But, VANOC says, only companies experienced in constructing refrigeration systems for artificial ice plants, such as those found in hockey or skating arenas, should apply.

The work involves supplying and installing refrigeration equipment, piping and controls at the temporary ski jump that's to be built for the 2010 Games at the Nordic Centre, in the Callaghan Valley south west of Whistler.

The refrigeration plant is going to be a design-build system using piped refrigerant to freeze the snow on the ski jump, which will make it similar to the construction of arena refrigeration.

VANOC says the expression of interest documents potential bidders must file has to include the type of experience in arena-style refrigeration work a firm has done, including a list of at least three installations completed in the last five years. And well, VANOC wants to know the refrigeration contractor has qualified refrigeration tradesmen on staff, licensed for work in British Columbia, who also have experience in this type of refrigeration.

Once the companies who feel they qualify are in, VANOC staffers will whittle the list down to six or less. Those firms will get a specific request for proposals that details the work involved. The RFP is expected to be issued on May 25.

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

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1634

Here are three moguls we ran into today:

2010 HOCKEY VENUE RECONSTRUCTION TALKS UNDERWAY

The Vancouver Province newspaper reports some of the details of the renovations work that needs to be done to ready General Motors Place to host the 2010 ice-hockey games, including the gold-medal round. The stadium is the last of about a dozen venue agreements to be negotiated, although VANOC's predecessor, the Bid Corporation, had an agreement in principle with the US-based owner of the complex, Orca Bay, to be a part of the Games. Those talks are underway now, according to reporter Kent Spencer. VANOC executive vice-president Dave Cobb told a Vancouver radio station today that he won't be giving details of the talks while they're underway, but indicated the information on the GM Place venue agreement might eventually be disclosed once it's finalized. Venue work is expected to occur in 2008. The newspaper, after talking to various GM Place officials, reports the rink is to be expanded by four metres from the size used by the National Hockey League -- the Vancouver Canucks NHL team plays in the stadium -- to Olympic sized, which means reducing the number of rink-side seats by three rows, 14 new dressing rooms are needed, a technology area for communications and scoring is to be established so, as we know from IOC information, Swatch's Omega branded scoring and timing equipment can be set up and linked to networks provided by Atos Origin, and so Olympic broadcasting equipment can be installed and linked to the Atos systems and to other broadcasters. The newspaper also reports that, even though General Motors is a VANOC sponsor, its General Motors Place sign, part of its naming rights negotiated years ago with Orca Bay, must come down during the Games because IOC rules require an advertising-free venue. Other details, which are part of the work and overlay systems involves security fencing and even uniforms.

EVERETT BOTTLENECK ON I-5 EXPECTED TO BE GONE BY 2010

Washington State officials are now feeling confident that by the summer of 2008, new north and south high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes should be completed to improve traffic flow through a bottleneck in Everett. They were worried about congestion in the area on the north-south I-5 route, which connects to the Canadian highways between Seattle, Vancouver and Whistler. The concern was over the influx of traffic and visitors expected in the area when the 2010 Winter Olympic Games are held. That wasn't the only reason for the major construction changes. Commuters and truckers put up with sluggish stop-and-go traffic on Interstate 5 through Everett for years, but the Games' traffic would have made it much worse. There will be a realignment of roadways, a new overpassy and new HOV lanes at the Everett Mall and Boeing plant exits. The work is being done under US$260 million state Department of Transportation design-build contract by designer CH2M-Hill and contractor Guy F. Atkinson. The work is also being combined with bridge widening project that wasn’t scheduled for construction for two more years. The bridge will be torn down and rebuilt six lanes in six months.

UAF LOOKING FOR NEW CEO

One of the jobs held by Cathy Priestner Allinger before she was hired as VANOC's executive vice-president of Sport was that of sports director for the Utah Athletic Foundation, which operates the American state's two Olympic legacy facilities, the Utah Olympic Park outside of Park City and Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns. Priestner, when she left in 2003, was replaced by John Bennion, who became CEO. Bennion has now left to take a job at Sorenson Capital, a private equity firm whose managing director is Fraser Bullock, chairman of the UAF board. The two men worked together at Bain and Co. in the early 1980s, and again at the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, where Bullock was chief operating officer while Bennion was a senior vice president. The search is on for another UAF CEO. The UAF's venues -- a bobsled/luge track, ski jumps, a freestyle-aerials pool and a speedskating oval -- lose about US$2 million a year in operations.

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

Morgan:News:2010 |Government| #1633
WHISTLER EXPECTS TO SPEND C$7.7 MILLION OVER FIVE YEARS TO SUPPORT 2010 GAMES

This year's version of the rolling five-year financial plan for Whistler shows that it currently expects to spend or set aside more than C$7.7 million in capital expenses and divisional operations costs between now and 2010 to support the Winter Olympics.

Staff expect only C$1.1 million of that will be covered by funds coming from the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC).

The draft plan, which is expected to be approved before May 15 by the mayor and council of Whistler, shows that the resort municipality expects to spend just over C$2 million in 2006 alone, twice as much as it expects to spend in the next highest spending year, just over C$1 million, in 2009. It expects to spend C$930,745 in each of 2007, 2008 and 2010. The increases in spending this year has to do with operational expenditures on preparing for the Whistler Athletes Village and for the Paralympic venue designs. The increases in expenditure projected for 2009 have to do with construction of a bus-marshalling yard to deal with transportation of athletes and 2010 Olympic-related officials.

One million exactly of that C$2 million to be spent this year is budgeted for capital projects: C$850,000 for the Whistler Athletes Village, and C$150,000 for the Paralympic venue pre-design work. A third Olympic capital project, to occur in 2009, is a bus marshalling centre, and the funds expected to be spent then, all coming from VANOC, are budgeted at C$100,000.

The report notes that preparing for the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games is underway and has become a major focus of municipal staff, and it intends to set up a 2010 Games Office. They expect that the development of the master plan and business plan for the Whistler Athletes Village will be finished this year, and that it will direct council in figuring out exactly what Whistler’s involvement will be in the development of VANOC's Whistler Athletes Village.

However, it adds that the sport-venue development sites will be planned by VANOC working with Whistler staff. They also expect the design of the 2010 Paralympics Sledge Hockey Arena will be finalized and construction will begin this year. As well, says one staffer, "Work will continue on the multitude of day-to-day initiatives required to move the 2010 Winter Olympics forward."

The funding for the C$7.7 million total, according to the report, comes from several pockets, but only a one-time payment, this year, of C$1 million is coming from VANOC in the five-year period (VANOC in 2004 provided C$188,393 and in 2005 provided C$636,530). Whistler's General Fund is budgeted to pay for C$290,745 each year of the amount to run the 2010 Games Office, for a total of $1,453,725.

About a quarter of the C$3 million available to Whistler from BC's hotel tax, C$772,500 this year alone, is expected to pay for several Olympic-related projects -- C$250,000 per year -- toward the Games Office as well. The hotel tax component is also to cover 2010 celebrations and other Olympic related event support.

Over the five years, the 2010 Games Office is expected to cost about C$2.5 million in total, with C$1 million of that coming from the hotel tax, and the balance from Whistler's General Fund. Some notations to the 2006 Whistler budget elsewhere shows that C$72,300 has been approved to pay for a new position of "2010 Games Office supervisor" in 2006, but funds have not yet been approved for that position in 2007. It does not appear from the five-year plan that any VANOC funding will be coming to Whistler for the office.

So far, all of these amounts are projected spending directly related to the 2010 Games, as projected by Whistler. However, the municipality is also working on other capital projects whose timing or work is indirectly related to the Games.

The proposed General Fund Capital Program totals C$25 million over the five years. Two of the several significant projects planned for 2006 that were affected by the the 2010 Games occurring involves:

Athletes Village Community Enhancement -- The Village, like that in Vancouver, is only the core of a much larger housing project that Whistler expects to build out until 2020. As a result, it's planning to spend about C$2 million in additional funds up front, as the Athletes Village goes in, as infrastructure for the larger project. For that work, staff have budgeted C$40,000 for this year "with the balance of $1,960,000 over 2007 and 2008."

Athletes Village -- A stand-alone company set up by the municipality to oversee the construction of the Athletes Village is the Whistler 2020 Development Corp (WDC). Design, consulting and other so-called soft costs will be funded for 2006 "using seed money of C$850,000 anticipated from VANOC [this year]. No funding from municipal reserves are allocated."

Day-Skier Lots Upgrade -- This project is designed to upgrade the day-skier lots prior to the 2010 Winter Olympics. The upgrades are to include paving, landscaping, drainage control, lighting and signage. According to the plan, the ideas for these upgrades is to "improve parking utilization, improve the guest experience, introduce other forms of transportation-demand management to encourage alternate forms of travel [and] generate revenue in support of transit and other sustainable transportation initiatives." The 2006 expenditure has been budgeted at C$330,000, with another C$3.6 million to be spent in 2007 and 2008. This year's money is to deal with preliminary designs, while the funding for public consultation and construction will take place in 2007 and 2008.

There are also two capital projects underway due to the decision by the municipality to locate the Whistler Athlete's Village at land-fill site that was just about full and due to be shut down anyway in a few years. The site's closure was hastened by the Village location. That meant two things: advancing the spending plans for closing and rehabilitation the site, and setting the site up for landfill gas collection, which may be used for the LEED Silver or Gold rating system required by VANOC as part of its pledges to the International Olympic Committee during the bidding process.

Landfill Closure -- A consultant has begun the design of the closure system. Although they are separately funded, this project will be done together with the Landfill Gas Collection system project. Plan 2006 includes a budget of $3.0 million in 2006, with the remaining $3.3 million following in 2007.

Landfill Gas Collection System -- The landfill-gas collection system is to include either vertical wells or horizontal perforated piping to collect the gas generated by the decomposition of the landfill, a blower system for drawing the gas out of the landfill, and connection to a district energy system with a back-up flare system. Staff are expecting the project will cost C$1 million this year, and another C$1 million in 2007.

These components, say staff, will be designed to work with the requirements of the Athlete’s Village and its associated temporary roads and buildings for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

RESOURCES

Here is how staff in Whistler expect Council will allot expenditures, per the five-year plan, from 2006 to 2009 inclusive. The plan is updated annually.

C$690,745 will go to pay for the operations of the 2010 Games office in Whistler each year, 58% of the money will from Whistler's General Fund, and 42% from the hotel tax.

C$50,000 will be set aside each year to support 2010 celebrations, the funding to be covered entirely by hotel-tax revenue.

C$140,000 is being budgeted each year to pay for support of unspecified "other" 2010-related events, also covered by the hotel tax.

C$32,000 was spent on Whistler's formal visit to Torino for the 2006 Winter Games. That was already known, and there was quite a bit of debate about it. But the five-year plan also shows that the municipality spent an additional C$125,000 this year in paying for various activities and events and related support at BC/Canada House in Torino. These expenditures, of course, will not be repeated. The money for the spending came from the hotel-tax revenue.

The plan includes contributions -- C$225,000 each year -- to an "event reserve" to help pay for expenditures expected around the Olympics and Paralympics in the first part of 2010. The reserve was begun a couple of years ago, and it is expected to be about C$1.12 million by the end of 2006. The plan projects the reserve will have C$2.25 million in it by the end of 2009. The reserve amount, which is to be paid for from the hotel tax, is included in the C$7.7 million expenditure total.

==

Use of Whistler's portion of BC's hotel tax

The municipality receives 2% of the 10% provincial hotel tax, which is charged on hotel rooms by the BC government. In 2005, Whistler received about C$3 million. Whistler staff indicate that the 75% not allotted to Olympic-related expenditures will continue to fund or otherwise support:

Tourist-related capital projects;

Tourist-related programs and services; and

Major resort-community events.

The 2006 budget plans to spend C$2.9 million of the hotel-tax revenues this year. That's because, using Tourism Whistler’s projections for room nights and the current average daily room rate, Whistler is projecting a 6% decline tax revenue in 2006, followed by 3% increases each year thereafter. And, "discussions are underway" with the provincial government to see if it will provide Whistler with a greater portion of hotel tax than it now receives.

RESOURCES

You can download the full five-year plan from Whistler's servers, but note that the PDF file is about 18 megs:
www.whistler.ca/files/PDF/Finance/5yp2006/5YP_0610web.pdf

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

Morgan:News:2010 |Government| #1632
VANCOUVER PARKS BOARD TOLD "20% BY 2010" PROJECT MAY MEAN SPENDING C$1.5 MILLION OVER NEXT FIVE YEARS

Vancouver Parks Board staff suggest the department may have to spend about C$1.5 million over the next five years to support the City's decision to make people more active by 2010, when it's time to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games. And that doesn't count the spending by other city departments that would help support the project.

The Vancouver Parks Board is to consider two staff requests on Monday: one to focus some of the Board's existing or planned spending over the next five years -- about C$850,000 -- on the Olympic-driven project to increase increasing physical activity among citizens by 20% by 2010. The second would be to give staff authority to find more money -- about C$700,000 -- during that time to spend on implementing the program. The additional money would be spent on "the direct costs of marketing, research, communications and specialized contracted services."

The City of Vancouver, in November 2004, was the first municipality to sign on to the BC government's challenge to make BC citizens the most fit to ever host an Olympics by increasing activity levels by 20%. The Parks Board staff say the concept aligns with one of the Parks Department's core concepts and that it's part of their five-year plan. They also note the BC government's concepts are being promoted through 2010 Legacies Now. That organization is encouraging all municipalities in the province to become part of its "Active Communities" program, and accept the 20-by-2010 challenge. (The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games [VANOC] is not involved in supervising any aspect of the project.)

Last January, staff asked Ipsos Reid to conduct a telephone survey in Vancouver to find out the existing activity level of the city's population, to use as a benchmark. These results indicate that the number of citizens who were "active" or "moderately" active was 70%. The definition used for "active" or "moderately active" was whether the people surveyed regularly engaged in a minimum of 30 minutes of physical activities, at least three times per week. The staff planning from that point decided to focus on involving the 30% of Vancouver citizens who are, by those definitions, sedentary. The idea is to further reduce the sedentary population in Vancouver by 20%, since that would effectively improve the overall active Vancouver population to 76% by 2010.

The Parks Board's Planning Committee received an overview of the Vancouver version of the "Active Communities" program from 2010 Legacies Now last February, a month after the survey, and staff set up some pilot projects for two components: "Step Out" walks and the "Fitness and Adventure Passport." It also developed some key strategies to direct the overall project. They include:

Build an Active Communities brand

Develop new Active Communities programs

Enhance or optimize current programs

Network and collaborate with others, such as the City's Engineering, Community Services and police departments; and then,

"Measure and support success"

However, in a report to Monday's Parks Board meeting, staff say that in order for them to continue development, planning and administration of the project over the next five years, it will need to divert about C$850,000 of existing resources -- such as staff time and marketing -- during that time. And it estimates another C$700,000 of new money will be needed during the same five-year period to actually implement the programs it has already developed, and intends to develop. The first step in getting that new money, recommends staff, is to ask the City of Vancouver for a contribution to fund much of it as a special project. Then they would ask "other levels of government, foundations, the private sector and "other sources" to come up with the difference between what the City might grant and the amount needed.

To find out if any of the programs are working, staff say the city's residents would have to be polled annually.

RESOURCES

Parks Board staff have prepared, "Active Communities – Action Plan 2006 - 2010", a 22-page report on their proposed program plans over the next five years. It's available in PDF format here:

www.vancouver.ca/parks/board/2006/060501/a_a_active_communities.pdf

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

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1631

Here are three more moguls we ran into today:

VANCOUVER TO CONSIDER MORE SPENDING AT OLYMPIC VILLAGE

Vancouver City Council is expected to approve next Tuesday the hiring of additional consultants as land-preparation work on the 2010 Olympic Athletes Village continues in southeast False Creek. City hall staff are expected to let council know the details before the meeting but have not yet done so.

CULTURAL OLYMPIAD SUPPORT OFFERED IN THIRD ROUND OF GRANTS

A third round of funding by 2010 Legacies Now to BC's cultural community has occurred, and this time 21 arts organizations received funding totaling C$235,140 through the ArtsNow division of 2010 Legacies Now. Marion Lay, president of 2010 Legacies Now, says the funds are going to a wide range of projects, "From winter festivals, to community planning, Arts Now celebrates and encourages artistic expression in all its forms. Our aim is to enhance and showcase British Columbia’s artistic and cultural community, leading up to 2010 and beyond." The society is primarily, but not exclusively funded through grants from the BC government. The funding brings the overall investment so far from Arts Now to more than C$2 million in 54 communities around the province to help increase capacity in the arts. The deadline for the current round of applications is June. The grants range from about C$5,000 to $22,000.

OLYMPIC HALL OF FAME CEREMONY SET FOR SATURDAY

Five people and one organization that were important to high-performance sports in Canada over the years will be inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame during a ceremony in Quebec City Saturday evening. They include cross-country skiier Pierre Harvey, Maurice Gagne, who helped build Canadian speedskating and the 1920 Winnipeg Falcons ice hockey team. Also to be enshrined: Dr. Douglas Clement (coach, athletics), Sylvie Fréchette (athlete, synchronized swimming) and Curt Harnett (athlete, cycling).

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on April 26, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1630
Here are two moguls we ran into today:

VANOC PITCHES LOTTO GAMERS

Furlong spoke to the 10th Annual Gaming Summit conference in Vancouver this morning. VANOC has already signed BC Lotteries as a second-tier sponsor to generate funds both for VANOC and for amateur sport in BC until December 31, 2010 through the sale of VANOC-branded lottery tickets. He reiterates that he'd like to see additional revenue-sharing deals done with other government-run lotteries in Canada -- as he did when he confirmed BC Lotteries was a VANOC sponsor early this year -- but indicated none have yet occurred. For him, his speech today was for marketing purposes. As he puts it, "Over time, most of the influencers in this room have funded athletic events or been involved in sport. This conference is the biggest such event in the world, and I hope that after this some of them will talk to us about what the Olympics represents in the way of an opportunity."

VOLUNTEEER ORGANIZATION TO GET C$100,000 INFRASTRUCUTRE GRANT

BC's minister for Tourism, Sport and the Arts, Olga Ilich, says her department will give Volunteer BC C$100,000 to help it increase its capacity as VANOC's need for volunteers experienced in helping to operate large sports events grows over the next few years. Volunteer BC says it will use the funds to create the "organizational infrastructure needed to provide research and recommendations on how government can best assist in the growth of B.C.’s volunteer sector." Volunteer BC says that the funding will also allow it to take on "an increased role in research, capacity building, training and education for the 30 regional volunteer centres and other provincial non-profit umbrella organizations it serves." The most recent information -- from a 1998 BC census analysis -- shows BC had at the time 161,000 sport volunteers. 2010 Legacies Now, a separate society, has a division called VolunteersNow. It works with community organizations such as Volunteer BC, non-government organizations and governments to develop sustainable legacies in the volunteer sector leading up to, during and beyond the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on April 26, 2006

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1629

Here are three moguls we ran into today:

HIGHWAY PROTESTORS PROMISE TO TAKE ANTI-OLYMPIC MESSAGE INTERNATIONAL

The Eagle Ridge Bluff protesters say they intend to invoke the 2010 Olympics as failing in its environmental pledges during a "multi-city" tour some will mount shortly in Europe. The planning for the trip is still underway, apparently, and no details were given about which cities were on the itinerary. The protesters are in tents that are physically blocking, at the moment, a highway right-of-way in West Vancouver to get their point across, and its forcing BC government contractors to seek court action to remove them. The protesters are objecting to the BC government's completion of a section of new highway it's building The segment, part of an overall highway upgrade the government has pledged to complete before 2010, is at the south part of the route that links Greater Vancouver to Whistler. The protestrs have also shown up at other 2010 Olympic events, such as flag-raisings and project ground-breakings, where they can expect to encounter media. The highway reconstruction is aimed at supporting the 2010 Games but is not controlled by VANOC.

VANOC SPONSOR RONA EXPANDS AGAIN

Rona, the renovations sponsors for VANOC, has expanded again, this time in BC's Greater Vancouver area by buying the Burnaby-based Curtis Lumber chain of six home-improvement stores from owner Brian Kask. The deal for the 60-year-old firm is expected to close at the end of June. The outlets -- four in Burnaby, one in Langley and one in Pender Harbour on the Sunshine Coast north of Vancouver -- posted sales of about C$80 million last year. The store network includes approximately 50,000 square feet of combined retail/warehouse space and 12 acres of outdoor lumberyard storage. Curtis Lumber also manufactures and supplies roof trusses. Earlier this year, Rona acquired Matériaux Coupal with nine points of sale in Montreal, and a chain of eight Chester Dawe stores in Newfoundland and Labrador. Increased expansion means more marketing opportunities for VANOC through the stores. Rona operates a network of more than 600 franchise, affiliate and corporate stores of various sizes and formats in Canada.

MEN, WOMEN, MAY COMBINE IN SPEEDSKATING PURSUIT RACES FOR 2010 GAMES

International Skating Union (ISU) President Ottavio Cinquanta says the men's and women's pursuit race in speedskating may be combined into a single race. He added that combining the two races was in line with the policy of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to streamline the Games. The new event was proposed at the ISU Congress in Torino, and there was speculation that it could be put in place at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games. It would be the first mixed event in speedskating.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on April 25, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |Government| #1628
BC GOVERNMENT OUTLINES DETAILES OF SPENDING AND CASHFLOW ON THE 2010 GAMES SO FAR UNDER NDP QUESTIONING

There was a lengthy discussion in the BC Legislature between the minister responsible for BC's portion of the 2010 Olympics, Colin Hansen, and the opposition New Democratic Party Olympics critic, Harry Baines, during the debate yesterday over whether to approve the Ministry of Economic Development's C$309 million department budget for fiscal 2007, and we've learned quite a bit from the exchange.

Here are the highlights of the answers Hansen gave to Baines, as the two discussed the minister's budget, which includes a component for the BC Olympics Secretariat, the department which oversees BC's Olympic interests, the C$600 million in capital and operational expenses the BC government has agreed to cover for the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC), and VANOC's operations:

VANOC

VANOC executives -- who are now working on the public business plan they expect will be able to stand public scrutiny and which Hansen expects to receive "in the coming months" -- are feeling much more comfortable about the spread between revenues and expenditures, now that they've had a chance to look at the operations of the Torino Winter Olympics and Paralympics.

The business plan is expected to have a number of components, not just budgets, including such things as financial plans, sponsorship plans, operating and capital budgets, project-control strategies and the like, and the Olympic Secretariat will be the agency charged with its review for the BC government. But, as Hansen puts it, the confidence VANOC has now "would actually take into account the increased revenue projections they are seeing, but also looking in a very realistic way around their operating expenditure side. They are very confident now that there is significant up side on the operating revenues.... They also feel that a lot of the assumptions they had made previously around the expenditure side are going, in fact, to be very manageable, so that there's more upward pressure on the revenue side than there is upward pressure on the expenditure side....everybody is becoming increasingly confident that the revenues will exceed the expenditures."

VANOC gave what Hansen calls "an interim business plan" last September to the provincial government about a year ago, in accordance with an earlier timetable that such a plan be finalized by April 2005, but it has never been made public, in part, Hansen says, because VANOC wanted to firm up a number of costs and revenues. The interim plan was, however, given to the province's Auditor General, who was expected to issue an overview report on the state of the Games and the Olympic Secretariat last month but has not yet done so. Venue construction tendering, the VANOC observations of Torino, and various revenue source negotiations with the IOC and sponsors have also firmed up the revenue side. Even when VANOC does present the public version of its business plan, Hansen told Baines, it won't be the final one; it will evolve as the Games near.

The BC Olympic Secretariat staff, says Hansen, "are working on [the business plan] with VANOC on a regular basis." They also work on reviewing VANOC's financial aspects "on a daily basis."

VANOC doesn't get to keep all of the money it generates from the sponsorships it generates on its own. There's a two-way flow of money between the International Olympic Committee and VANOC from the funds each generates in sponsorship.

As Hansen puts it, the IOC's international sponsors, "will contribute their sponsorship revenues to the IOC, and then the IOC, in turn, will provide a portion of that to VANOC for the operating side of the Canadian games here in B.C..." As for what percentage of VANOC-raised sponsorship funds is sent to IOC headquarters in Switzerland, Hansen told Baines, "It varies, actually, because of the nature of the contract. If you look at the various national sponsors that have signed on already, there's a varying mix. Some of them are cash, some of them are in kind, and some of them are a mix of both. The formula varies... but the vast majority of the national sponsorship revenue stays with VANOC, and there is a small percentage that would flow to the IOC."

But when Baines pressed Hansen for the percentage, Hansen replied, that the Ministry doesn't know, because he hasn't asked, and VANOC, he felt, probably wouldn't say, because of what Hansen termed "commercial sensitivities." Here's how he puts it, "In terms of the mix between what would stay with VANOC and what would actually flow to the IOC, I am told that we are not privy to that information, other than the fact that it is the vast majority that stays with VANOC. Within my ministry we do not have the precise answer to the member's question. That would be part of a private agreement between VANOC and the IOC."

Hansen also confirmed that none of the revenues raised by VANOC sponsorships flows to the Canadian Olympic Committee.

VANOC has still not settled with the IOC how much of the lucrative broadcasting revenues it will get from the auction the IOC conducts of the broadcasting rights for the 2010 Games. But, says Hansen, "those negotiations are taking place currently."

In years past, the formula was 51%/49% in favour of the IOC, but that ended with the Torino Winter Olympics. VANOC CEO John Furlong and senior vice-president of Revenue, Marketing and Communications,Dave Cobb, both said earlier last year they expected to have the percentage negotiated by about the end of 2005.

Adds Hansen, "We cannot assume that the same percentage formulas that would have applied to Torino or, say, to Salt Lake City will in fact apply to VANOC and our arrangement. I think that everybody is trying to make sure that this works. Obviously, it's in the interests of the IOC. They want to make sure that the revenue arrangements for the 2010 Olympic Games are going to allow us to put on first-class games. I think everybody is optimistic that we're going to be able to sort out the new formulas or the new arrangement or the new percentages, but we can't count on them being exactly the same as the percentages that might have been in place for the Torino games."

VANOC, which now has six national sponsors, anticipates having 10.

VANOC has committed to releasing quarterly financial statements, starting later this year. Hansen says the quarterlies will include "projected revenues and projected expenditures."

The total amount of money transferred from the BC government to VANOC so far is C$21 million; C$19 million has been for venues, and C$2 million has been for venue planning.

A total of C$30 million has so far been transferred to the city of Richmond for the 2010 Olympic speedskating oval. There has been C$30 million transferred to the City of Vancouver for its Olympic Athlete's village, and to date there have been no transfers to the resort municipality of Whistler.

VANOC, besides staging the 2010 Games, will also ensure, as Hansen puts it, that "the airport is going to work perfectly." The 2010 Games are expected to put considerable strain on the Vancouver International Airport, particularly shortly before, during and after the Olympics and Paralympics.

The BC government -- and VANOC -- are still waiting for the federal government to approve its share of VANOC's request for C$110 million to cover the hikes in venue costs since the 2002 Bid Book projections were published. And the BC government isn't going to approve its portion of VANOC's request until Ottawa does. Hansen says, "We see this as a 50-50 partnership between the province and the federal government when it comes to the venue capital-costs. We are anxiously awaiting word from the federal government, but approval of our share of that would be contingent on the federal government coming in with their 50-percent partnership share of it."

Baines ran out of debating time before he could ask the question about whether the BC government would cover the full C$110 million if Ottawa ultimately rejected VANOC's request, but Hansen did say the pressure is on, "I've had meetings with federal representatives. The Olympic secretariat has regular meetings with their federal counterparts, and VANOC has also had meetings both at the officials' level and at the political level to ensure that the federal government will make this decision as quickly as possible."

BC'S C$600 MILLION OLYMPIC "ENVELOPE":

The C$600 million the BC government committed a couple of years ago to back the staging of the Games is for a lot of things that are beyond the capital expenditure on 2010 venues and a C$139 million contingency.

For instance, Hansen told Baines, it includes the C$20 million for the Live Sites program, C$10 million in grants to 2010 Legacies Now, an unidentified amount for "for sport development" and "athlete support", as well as BC's C$13 million contribution to health and C$87.5 million for security expenditures.

Hansen notes that some of it will be given to VANOC, some will flow through VANOC to others, and some will bypass VANOC altogether. As an example, says Hansen, talking about the security spending, "I don't anticipate that any of that will flow to VANOC. It will primarily flow through the RCMP and potentially other third-party organizations, but not through VANOC itself." Nor will the C$13 million alloted to health spending, "those will probably not flow through VANOC. In fact, we're working now with the Ministry of Health in terms of how best to make sure that that budget is utilized for the benefit of the staging of the Olympic Games. But it's not VANOC that would administer that."

The BC government has committed between C$12 million and C$13 million of the C$20 million it originally budgeted to its so-called "Live Sites" program. Under the program, communities around BC can ask for 50% cost-sharing from Victoria on specific projects they feel would be an Olympic legacy.

THE BC OLYMPICS SECRETARIAT

Hansen says the job of the Secretariat, in a nutshell, is promotion and overseeing the expenditure of the C$600 million: "We actually want to use this opportunity to showcase the province. We want to use it as an opportunity to engage companies from every corner of British Columbia. We want to make sure that we maximize the tourism potential of getting the international media to focus on all of British Columbia and to look at things that communities can do that are actually going to be lasting legacies to it. Those are all the things that the Olympic Secretariat is doing, so it's the add-on benefits that the Secretariat itself would be responsible for." However, Hansen says, none of the C$600 million goes to the operations of the Secretariat although, confusingly, it does flow through the Secretariat and it shows up in the "operating expenses" column of government tables for the Secretariat's spending. Hansen thinks of it as cash flow. Here's how Hansen puts it, "If you look at the C$153 million that is part of the '06-07 estimates, included in that is C$7 million for the operations of the 2010 Olympic Secretariat." Last year, the equivalent funding for the Secretariat was C$2.9 million. In fiscal 2008, the government expects it to be C$7.6 million, and C$8.3 million for the fiscal year ending in 2009.

The funds spent on operating the Olympic Secretariat are not included in the Government's C$600 million envelope; they're extra. And, of the C$153 million to flow through the Secretariat in the 2007 fiscal year, "$10 million is included for security costs", some of which is being spent now -- although he was not specific where.

The C$6 million that was spent by the BC Olympic Secretariat on putting up and running BC/Canada House at the Torino Winter Olympics was not part of the province's C$600 million commitment to the Games either. It was extra and came from, as Hansen puts it, BC's "international marketing budget." For that expenditure, Hansen said the government believes it got more than C$20 million worth of media time and space. And, he adds, the government will do it again in 2008. "We are going to put a similar kind of exhibition in Beijing to showcase British Columbia. Again, that doesn't come out of the Secretariat budget; it will come out of our international marketing budget. We just have this great opportunity to showcase the province because of the fact that we're hosting the Olympic Games."

However, Hansen cautions that people should not assume the C$6 million is Olympic support money that's somehow extra to the C$600 million envelope."It's not necessarily money that would be over and above what would have had to be spent otherwise. It just gives us a great marketing vehicle — being the 2010 Olympics — to package those initiatives around... the presence that we had in Turin, Italy — that had nothing to do with whether or not we're going to stage successful Olympic Games in four years' time. It had everything to do with us marketing British Columbia to investors, to businesses, to immigrants and to tourists. It was extremely successful, and it had a great rate of return."

There are 16 staff at the Olympic Secretariat (Annette Antoniak is the head of the Secretariat; her chief financial officer is Jeff Garrad). "One of the things in this budget today," says Hansen, is that it "allows us to expand the Olympic Secretariat, looking at the increasing growth challenges that they're going to be facing.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on April 25, 2006

Monday, April 24, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1627

Here are three moguls we ran into today:

SEGAL FAMILY OFFERS CITY A NOTIONAL C$11 MILLION IN SAVINGS IN EXCHANGE FOR VANOC DEAL

Vancouver Sun Olympics reporter Jeff Lee writes that Vancouver businessman Lorne Segal and his father, Joe Segal, agreed to sell their ownership of 3585 Graveley, VANOC's new headquarters office tower, for C$24 million to the City of Vancouver's unique Property Endowment Fund, even though it had just been assessed last year for C$35 million. "They had at least nine firm offers for long-term leases on the table last year and they had invested C$4 million in improvements," writes Lee, later adding, "They cancelled the other offers and sold the building... on the understanding that Vanoc would be given a generous lease rate for the next four years." Lee quotes Lorne as saying, that it "was a conscious decision to try and help the cause... It was our contribution to the Olympic cause." Even though the unused seven-storey building had been offered at the time for about C$16 per square foot triple net, and the City is leasing it to VANOC for about C$5 per square foot, the estimated C$40-per-square foot fit-up costs VANOC agreed to spend works out to be roughly equivalent to the market rate, writes Lee from information he gathered during an interview he had with city negotiator Michael Flanigan. It's estimated the City's ROI is about 6% on the building under the arrangements. The Segals bought the building, zoned industrial, in 2003 for C$13 million. The City last November rezoned it to commercial.

SULLIVAN TO MEET EMERSON IN OTTAWA

Vancouver mayor Sam Sullivan, in Ottawa for a number of meetings with federal government officials, is scheduled to meet with Meeting with David Emerson, the minister for International Trade, Pacific Gateway and the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games at 11 a.m. Wednesday.

WESTJET SAYS UK/CANADA OPEN-SKIES DEAL GOOD FOR 2010 TOURISTS

The president and CEO of Calgary-based WestJet Airlines, (TSX:WJA), Clive Beddoe, says the timing of the new open-skies agreement negotiated between the United Kingdom and Canada, "is perfect as it will facilitate bringing additional tourists to Vancouver and Whistler for the 2010 Winter Olympics." Lawrence Cannon, the federal minister of Transport, Infrastructure & Communities said that under the deal, Canadian airlines will be able to offer virtually unlimited passenger and cargo flights to and from third countries via the United Kingdom, as U.K. airlines will also be able to do via Canada. Canadian and British carriers will also face no restrictions on how they set their prices when carrying traffic through their own country's cities to the third country.

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

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1626

Here are three moguls we ran into today:

2010 LEGACIES NOW LOOKING FOR PR FIRM FOR FALL TOUR

2010 Legacies Now is looking for a public-relations firm to help it with the PR and advertising activities as well as tour operations for its second annual "2010 Legacies Now Connecting Communities Tour", which is to take place this fall. It undertook a similar tour of nine communities last year at the same time, with the costs underwritten by Bell Canada, which is VANOC's largest sponsor and which has contributed C$1 million to supporting the tour, and the Province of British Columbia. 2010 Legacies Now says that besides this fall's tour, the company that it chooses will have the option of doing the tour for the following two years, assuming it does a good job this year -- and the funding holds up. The firm will also be required to coordinate development of collateral and promotional items as well as coordinate print and radio creative and plan media purchases. The idea behind the tour is to promote 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. The tour involves a 2,400 square-foot display with information panels, plus some interactive activities, such as a hockey shoot, ski simulator and children's art centre. 2010 Legacies Now says that during the next three years it plans to take the tour to about three dozen communities across British Columbia. Planners say they want the the tour to "inspire communities and assist them in creating unique opportunities in the areas of sport and recreation, arts and culture, literacy and volunteerism." The organization will negotiate the start date with the firm it chooses, but the contract will end for the year on December 15. Companies have until May 3 to file their proposal to 2010 Legacies Now, care of Parm Sanghera, the manager of Community Initiatives. The contact is expected to be Awarded May 10, with planning and the tour to take place from June to November.

FLAG TOUR HEADS FOR MANITOBA

The VANOC/RBC Flag Tour is packing up its Ottawa visit and heading for CanWest Global park in Winnipeg for a three-day visit this weekend, starting Friday.

WADA WINS ONE AT SPORT COURT

The World Anti-Doping Agency has won a key case in the World Court of Arbitration for Sport in support of its relatively new Anti-Doping Code, introduced last year. The Olympic Charter says that sports can't be considered for the Olympics -- Summer or Winter versions -- unless their organizations' rules comply with the Code. FIFA, the powerful federation that represents soccer around the world, tried, but failed to convince the Court its anti-doping measures complied. The CAS panel noted that the Code is flexible enough and guarantees that sanctions for offenders are proportional to the degree of fault, but it also found that the two-year sanction for a first serious doping offence is not excessive and does not violate mandatory Swiss law, as FIFA, which is based in Switzerland, claimed. The panel also said that only the two-year ineligibility period constitutes a credible deterrent against doping. The Panel noted that FIFA's minimum ineligibility period of six months doesn't serve as a deterrent against the use of prohibited substances or methods. The Code states that if athletes establish they bear no significant fault or negligence, then the period of ineligibility may be reduced by up to a year. WADA, run by Richard Pound, a director of VANOC, says there are about 580 sports organizations that have so far signed the Code.

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

Morgan:News:2010 |Government| #1625
BUSINESSES LINE UP AS REZONING PROCESS BEGINS FOR PRIVATE LANDS AROUND PROPOSED 2010 VANCOUVER OLYMPIC VILLAGE

The City of Vancouver says it will host two open houses, one at the end of this month and other at the beginning of May, so the public can have a look at six rezoning proposals spurred by the development of the 2010 Olympic Athletes Village for some of the privately owned lands of Southeast False Creek. Rezoning hearings will be scheduled by the City after the comments of the open houses are considered.

The properties, primarily residential but some with live-work areas, are all adjacent to the Millennium Group land that will become the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Athletes Village. All of these projects are across the street from the south and east boundaries of the Athlete's Village, and now that property deal has been done for the Village land, with the Millennium's ideas for what the City wants there sanctioned by Council, a number of the private-land projects can proceed.

The open houses will be held Saturday afternoon on April 29 at the Roundhouse Community Centre in Vancouver's Yaletown area, and in the evening on Monday, May 1 at Science World at the east end of False Creek.

The properties include:

360 West 1st Avenue: A new residential development. It's a 13-storey apartment building with an adjacent three-storey townhouse. The developer is Polygon Homes Ltd.

311 West 2nd Avenue: A new mixed-use development. It's a nine-storey apartment building with a five-storey section, both containing live-work uses on the ground floors. The developer is Crowe Street Enterprises Ltd.

201 West 2nd Avenue: A new mixed-use building. It has two residential mid-rise towers, the tallest of which is 16 storeys. It proposes to have commercial uses on West 2nd Avenue and live-work uses on Cook Street. The developer is Michael J. Overholt.

102-160 West 1st Avenue: A new mixed-use development. It's four apartment buildings, the tallest of which is 15 storeys, and contains an area for the Playhouse Theatre Company. The developer is Wall Financial.

59 West 1st Ave., 68 West 2nd Ave., 29 East 1st Ave: These addresses all involved on project. It's a new mixed-use development. There are four apartment buildings, the tallest of which is 15 storeys, proposed. The buildings are to have live-work sections on the ground floor on West 2nd Avenue and commercial uses on Manitoba Street. The developer is Pinnacle International; and,

1695 Main Street: A new mixed-use development. It's to be a 12-storey apartment building on Quebec Street, connected by a five-storey section with live-work uses on the ground floor and residential above, and a seven-storey building containing commercial on the ground floor on Main Street, with residential above. The developer is Beedie Development.

The Olympic Village rezoning is expected to take place late this summer or early fall.

RESOURCES
This satellite-view map of the Olympic Village area shows the blocks of property that front West 1st, with the Olympic Village to be eventually built on the bare lands between West 1st and False Creek to the north. The marker on the map is at the West 1st and Manitoba Street intersection. Science World, where one of the open houses is to be held, is at the top of the view.

tinyurl.com/km6oa

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

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #1624
COMPANY TO PROVIDE PROTECTION FOR 2010 WHISTLEBLOWERS SOUGHT BY ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) is looking for an independent, external organization that will allow whistleblowers to report wrongdoing within the organization, while ensuring their anonymity. And VANOC's willing to pay for the company to do the job.

VANOC today issued a Request for Proposals asking for contact by May 17 from firms capable of providing a 24-hour telephone and "web-based" hotline, staffed by people who speak English and French fluently, "to whom VANOC employees may confidentially report wrongdoing or improper conduct as an anonymous alternative to raising their issue with an internal representative." While VANOC would prefer the telephone hotline be staffed around the clock, it's OK if voicemail was available at times. VANOC also wants the company to also make available a confidential mail box as another contact alternative.

"It is vital," according VANOC, "that strict security controls be built into the service such that the confidentiality and anonymity of VANOC employee submissions are maintained at all times. This will ensure that VANOC employees always experience a high degree of confidence in the service, and that the integrity of VANOC’s policy on reporting wrongdoing is preserved." VANOC hopes to award the contract by May 25, and have the service operating shortly thereafter.

The people operating the hotline have to be trained in handling the tip, and in being able to properly interview the tipster on the details of the issue. Once the company receives a tip from a VANOC staffer about possible wrongdoing, the issue, without information that could identify the source, is to be quickly reported to VANOC management.

VANOC also wants the company eventually selected by the RFP process to operate a go-between system that allows VANOC management to get on-going or updated information from a whistleblower, and to ask questions about the issue, while ensuring the person knows their anonymity will be protected throughout the exchange. The company must also operate a secure database that tracks all of the exchanges about a particular issue that VANOC management can review, again while ensuring the whistleblower's identity is protected.

VANOC is being proactive about the issue because it has a firm rationale about why it would be needed: "VANOC’s integrity and reputation are among its most valued assets. Members of VANOC share a collective responsibility to preserve them. Conduct throughout the organization, led by senior management, must exemplify and establish a culture of integrity, honesty and teamwork to ensure that the values become firmly embedded within the organization as it evolves. Nurturing an environment of this nature can be enhanced through a system or process that would allow employees to raise issues and concerns with assurance that their disclosure will be treated in confidence, will be investigated appropriately and promptly, and will be responded to without causing fear of recrimination or reprisal."

VANOC says it's offering a contract for a year for the service,, with options to extend it year-by-year until the spring of 2010, when virtually all of the staff, which would number about 1,200 by that time, will be laid off. There are about 180 staff currently.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on April 21, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1623
2010 CURLING GETS COUNTRY BOOST -- AND SO DOES 2010 PROTESTING

A popular county music singer, Toby Keith, has told The National Post newspaper he and his crew are determined to become good enough to represent the US in, of all things, curling during the 2010 Winter Olympics. While the concept has raised a few eyebrows at the cheek -- Keith only became interested while watching curling during the Torino Olympics in February -- but it's had an uplifting effect on publicity for curling, and the 2010 Olympics, among the singer's fan base. Speaking of publicity for 2010, a small group protesting the decision made two years ago to realign the southern portion of the highway between West Vancouver and Whistler is periodically invoking the 2010 Olympics' name to get exposure for their complaint, even though VANOC has nothing to do with the highway construction, and that's a tactic that seems to be working. Prepatory work is about to begin on the realignment, and the protesters have set up a tent camp in the area in an effort go get in the way of that work.

VANOC OFFERS MEDIA TOUR OF NEW HQ

VANOC, which is moving into its new headquarters this month, has scheduled media event at the seven-storey tower in East Vancouver for tomorrow to give reporters a tour of the new building -- and its environmentally friendly highlights.

"EFFECTIVE PLANNING AND PREPARATION" KEY TO 2010 VANCOUVER STRATEGY

Quote without comment: "The Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games are one of the largest staged events in the world. Our ability to do our best and get the most from our involvement in this undertaking depends on effective planning and preparation. This strategic planning process is an important part of the preparation. It is the central meeting point of all the efforts and initiatives throughout the City in anticipation of hosting the world in 2010. Planning for the Games goes beyond thinking about just the 27 days of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games themselves. It encompasses a continuum which begins with pre Games planning, events and initiatives, through to Olympic Games time, then to Paralympic Games time, to post Games decommissioning and follow up, and ends with the long term management of the legacies that will remain after the Games are over." -- Part of the preamble to the City of Vancouver's draft strategic plan, tabled today, for its role in hosting the 2010 Winter Games.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on April 18, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |Government| #1622
VANCOUVER CITY OFFERS FIRST DRAFT OF STRATEGIC PLAN TO OUTLINE HOW IT WILL HELP VANOC DELIVER THE 2010 OLYMPICS

The City of Vancouver's manager has provided to City Council the first public draft of a strategic plan to help council, staff and VANOC keep track of all the things the city has already agreed to do, and what it would like to do as the Olympic and Paralympic Games are prepared between now and 2010.

The 77-page document, titled with the name of the Games and subtitled "Draft Strategic Plan Version 1", was prepared by City Manager Judy Rogers, who is herself one of the 20 people on Board that oversees the operations of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC), and tabled at today's council meeting, with VANOC CEO John Furlong in attendance. As the document puts it, "From the City’s point of view, the 2010 Winter Games, along with the pre Games test events and Cultural Olympiad, are in a sense, one enormous “special event” that is occurring in Vancouver. As with any other major event that occurs within Vancouver’s jurisdiction, the City is responsible for providing the appropriate level of municipal services during the event -– police, fire and rescue, traffic management, engineering services and so on."

The document provides a co-ordinated insight into how the City intends to arrange itself, through an Office of Olympic Operations and its General Manager which it has already established, to act as a secretariat and clearing house for all Olympic-related activities that involved the City leading up to, during and after the 2010 Games. Morgan:News:2010, over the next few days, will report extensively on aspects of the document in individual articles. In the meantime, Council instructed that the document be distributed for comment by various departments over the next few months and that by June, it's proposed that detailed planning, using the final draft of the document, as the framework for getting the jobs done.

The document reveals that over the next few years, the City will work with VANOC, not just on being a part of every venue -- competition and non-competition -- that will be established by VANOC, but also on a number of other venues, such as locating and operating: a City of Vancouver Emergency Operations Centre, a City of Vancouver Operations Centre for non-emergency Olympic-related activities, a Traffic Operations Centre, an Unaccredited media centre, a VANOC Management Operations Centre, various staging and storage facilities and a command centre for the Vancouver 2010's Integrated Security Unit, which is an RCMP-led agency responsible for the 2010 Winter Games security.

It also proposes dividing the City into two general areas that will be defined specifically between VANOC and City staff, one will be the "Olympic Domain" -- "VANOC will have responsibility for all activities within the Olympic Domain, which will include Olympic venues and non competition facilities, celebration sites, and their surrounding areas --, and the "Urban Domain", which is the rest of the City. However, there will be areas in the Urban Domain, which the City says will eventually incorporate an urban look that will compliment the so-called "Look of the Games", which VANOC is currently in the process of developing.

In general, however, the document says that the City will do its best to help support VANOC, as it earlier pledged to do during the Bid phase, to host the 2010 Games, noting that, "In a sense, every citizen, business and community group in Vancouver is a stakeholder in the 2010 Winter Games. Stakeholders range from organizations involved in staging the Games, to businesses supplying Olympic related goods and services, to community groups interested in leveraging Games related opportunities, to taxpayers concerned that the money spent on the Games ultimately proves to have been a good investment, to service-industry businesses who will play key roles in hosting the Games, to local citizens and businesses who want to live/operate in business as usual style during the Games, to the volunteers who will be working on the Games and related events. This list goes on and on." At the same time, the document says, it will do its best to mitigate the normal risks associated with what it calls

In order to accomplish that support in practical terms, Rogers says the city will follow a number of basic principals and set up an even larger number of work teams either directly through the Office of Olympic Operations, or supervised by it. And that supervision includes an oversight group to ensure the City is has a way of meeting its targets, and actually does so as it works with a wide range of public and private organizations to accomplish the tasks.

RESOURCES

The city's strategic plan, draft 1 is available for download here in PDF format:
vancouver.ca/ctyclerk/cclerk/20060418/documents/rr2strategicplan.pdf

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on April 18, 2006

Monday, April 17, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |Government| #1620
MILLENNIUM GROUP RECOMMENDED AS DEVELOPER OF VANCOUVER'S 2010 OLYMPIC ATHLETES VILLAGE

The staff of the City of Vancouver are recommending that City Council tomorrow afternoon select a proposal by The Millennium Group's consortium to be the developer that will construct the buildings for the 2010 Winter Olympic Athletes Village, and Millennium proposes to pay the City C$193 million for the land.

The recommendation -- a major milestone in the development of the area that will eventually be the core of a much larger urban housing development -- was released by Jody Andrews, the City's project manager for the South East False Creek complex, late this afternoon. The project is months behind schedule, and the timeline continued to slip as City Council debated changes to the ratio between market and non-market housing that would be developed out of the Athletes Village buildings after the Games.

The process was not a design competition. The proponents -- five developers began but only three turned in their material by the deadline at the end of March -- were judged on their experience and development ideas and how best to work with the City and the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC).

The money is in exchange for the City selling to Millennium "the development sites to be used for market housing, commercial space, choice-of-use space, and related underground parking facilities. The Millennium proposal offers to design and manage construction of the affordable housing, child care facility, the community centre, and related underground parking facilities for the City at a fee of 8% in addition to the actual construction cost (the fee is roughly estimated to be C$5 million).

The report says that Council, during an in-camera session in on March 21, agreed to sell the land on a freehold basis to whichever the of the three developers in the bidding process was ultimately chosen.

And, says the report's recommendation to council, the development process is on such a tight timeline, staff want permission to negotiate with either or both of the other two proponents, Concord Pacific Limited and Wall Financial Corporation. The report does not indicate the amounts that these firms would have paid the City for the land.

Staff say the timing of the rezoning, permitting and construction of the Olympic Village is going to be tough to achieve by the November 1, 2009 deadline when the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) is to take over the buildings so it can begin setting up the Village for use by the Olympics athletes and their supporting staff. For instance, the designs and a rezoning package must be before a public hearing by early this fall.

Instead of the usual sequential process, staff think the only way to achieve the deadline and get all the approvals done in time is by what they call "a parallel... rezoning and permitting process to help meet the tight timeline." Andrews says the City "is pursuing options to streamline the City process... and that the high sustainability standards for the project will require a higher level of staff involvement in the design, development, permitting, and construction activities. This may require a review of existing City By-laws and equivalencies. In particular, the high green-building design objectives will require a pro-active and resourced approach from the City in order to help drive the process and achieve the desired outcome."

The Millennium team has 17 firms participating in its proposal. Millennium would lead key components of the project with its own in-house resources. The proposed architecture team is led by Merrick Architecture Borowski Lintott Sakumoto Fligg, with Gomberoff Bell Lyon, Thornly BKG, and Durante Kreuk. The Engineering team includes Glotman Simpson, Cobalt, Acumen, and Vector. The specialist team includes Pioneer Consultants, Graham Harmsworth Lai & Associates, Keystone Environmental, Aqua Tex Scientific, Morrison Hershfield, and Ward Consulting. The Construction team includes MetroCan, Norson, and Millennium Construction.

RESOURCES

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on April 17, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1619

[Editor’s note: Item 1619 was damaged by a computer issue; the information is in item #1620]

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on April 17, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1618
ALIANT'S FORBES TO STEP DOWN JULY 31

Jay Forbes, the 45-year-old president and CEO of Aliant in New Brunswick, a telecommunications company that is technically a second-tier sponsor of VANOC, says he'll resign effective July 31st as Bell Canada, the tier-1 telecom sponsor of VANOC, substantially completes the restructuring that will bring Aliant closer into the operations of Bell's parent company, BCE. Stephen Wetmore, Bell's Group president of Corporate Performance and National Markets, will take over as president and CEO of the proposed Bell Aliant Regional Communications Income Fund. The organizations are in the process of combining Bell Canada's wireline operations in its regional territories in Ontario and Quebec with Aliant's wireline operations and Bell's 63.4% interest in the Bell Nordiq Income Fund to form the Bell Aliant Regional Communications Income Fund. The new trust -- which Bell says will have 3.4 million local access lines and more than 400,000 high-speed Internet subscribers in the Atlantic Provinces, Ontario and Quebec -- will be headquartered in Atlantic Canada. As part of the transaction, Bell is in the process of acquiring Aliant Mobility and Aliant's DownEast Communications retail outlets. The transaction is expected to be completed this fall, assuming all the regulatory approvals occur as planned. Because of the way Bell was structured when the sponsorship arrangements with VANOC were set up, Aliant became a second-tier sponsors.

VANOC FLAG TOUR HEADING FOR OTTAWA

VANOC's RBC Flag Tour is on its way from Toronto to Ottawa to set up its 5,000 square-foot display. It'll be open to the public Saturday, April 22 and Sunday, April 23. It's due to arrive in Vancouver in May.

HACKER SPOOFS VANOC WEBSITE

A hacker over the weekend has co-opted the web server belonging to Vancouver's Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design to create a sophisticated spoof of VANOC's 2010 website. The spoof includes the full look-and-feel of VANOC's website, a stylized totem pole emblem that resembles the 2010 design, and includes colourful commentary about Canada's culture. The hacker calls the version of the emblem "Kuhldaa", which it claims is the Haida aboriginal word that means "to steal." There is a spoofed interview said to be with the person working on VANOC's pictograms to direct visitors around the Games, who says, at one point, "The only reason why it seems like stereotyping is because I’m not First Nations, or I’m not Chinese-Canadian, I’m Caucasian, so what qualifies me to work in their traditions, right?" Just like VANOC's home page, there is even a fake "Visitor Poll" survey along the right-side of the website's home page that makes reference to a tempest-in-a-teapot controversy over the image projected by VANOC's presentation during the closing ceremonies at the 2006 Winter Games in Torino, which featured a number of cliches about Canadian culture. The survey is a multiple choice, and it reads, "Like all Canadians, I enjoy: building igloos, ice fishing, chopping down trees, drinking maple syrup."

RESOURCES

The VANOC spoofed website, which may still be up when you read this:
www.eciad.ca/~clam/van2010/en

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on April 17, 2006

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |Business| #1617
TORINO OLYMPIC BROADCASTS -- "A TOUGH VENUE" -- HELPED NBC REVENUES, BUT NOT PROFITS, DURING FIRST QUARTER

General Electric reports today that its subsidiary, the American television network NBC, did relatively well economically as a result of broadcasting the 2006 Torino Winter Games. Overall, however, NBC didn't help GE's first-quarter financial picture.

GE makes jet engines, medical products and appliances, and is the world's second biggest company by market capitalization behind ExxonMobil Corp. It also owns financial-services and entertainment units, including NBC Universal, which will be the American broadcaster for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

The first-quarter report said that industrial sales increased 11% to US$23.1 billion, which GE said reflected the 2006 Winter Olympic Games as well as acquisitions.

GE Chairman and CEO, Jeff Immelt, described the Winter Olympics in Italy as "a tough venue." He didn't go into detail, but added that televising the games, which drew an average of 20.2 million viewers to NBC's slumping prime-time lineup, made it a "profitable, very positive, franchise." NBC has also paid for the right to broadcast the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and the 2012 Summer Games in London.

NBC Universal revenue rose 24% to US$4.48 billion, helped by US$684 million from the Olympic Games. NBC booked a US$96 million loss in the quarter on the Olympics, but would end the year with a slight profit for that programming as television affiliates submit non-refundable payments later in 2006. NBC Universal contributed US654 million to GE's profit picture.

"The big magilla here is Beijing," Immelt said in a conference call. "I think it is going to be highly beneficial for both NBC and the rest the company."

GE's first-quarter net income was US$4.31 billion, up from US$3.9 billion a year ago, on revenue, not including units held for sale, rose about 10% to US$37.82 billion.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on April 13, 2006

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1616
VANCOUVER SUN REPORTS BC COVERED MOST OF C$6 MILLION CANADA/BC HOUSE BUDGET

Veteran Vancouver Sun Olympics reporter Jeff Lee writes today that documents obtained under a Freedom of Information request show that the federal government found a host of bureaucratic excuses to not participate in Canada/BC Place, the BC-inspired fancy log house that got rave reviews at the Torino Olympics, and that British Columbia carried most of the estimated C$6 million cost. Ottawa rejected a request by BC last year to cover half of the cost, in part because there was no money allocated in the budget tabled by the then-Liberal federal government a year ago. There's no word on whether additional funding could have been made available in the fall estimates, which included some long-sought federal funding for VANOC, although it became a moot point because the minority Liberal government was forced from office before the estimates could be approved. Ottawa, according to Lee, quoting Canadian Heritage department officials, scrounged up about C$1 million. Lee writes today, "Canadian Heritage officials on Tuesday said Ottawa provided C$405,000 in cash, including C$205,000 'to increase federal visibility,' and another C$400,000 in value-in-kind and services, primarily some furniture it used at the Expo 2005 World's Fair in Kobe, Japan, as well as the RCMP ceremonial guard. Services from the Canadian Consulate in Milan were also made available." Lee then notes that BC officials were able to list a bit more of what Ottawa did: "...the B.C. Olympic Secretariat provided a more detailed breakdown for Ottawa's estimate of the value-in-kind, including C$168,000 for used furniture from the world's fair that was shipped directly to Italy, C$185,000 for the RCMP guard, and C$57,000 for exhibits, video footage and 'federal promotional items.'"

FURLONG MEETS WITH SPONSORS CLIENTS, TOURISM OFFICIALS

During the VANOC/RBC Flag Tour's stop in Montreal late last week and over the weekend, VANOC CEO John Furlong reportedly held number of interviews and meetings in Canada’s third largest city, and was the keynote speaker at a presentation to 130 RBC clients at Place des Arts about the status of the 2010 Games. While the tour was in Ottawa, Furlong met with Canada's sport tourism industry, where, it is reported by VANOC without detail that, "he provided an inspirational overview of the sporting legacies that will remain long after 2010." He also met with several hundred high-school students, accompanied by Olympic athletes. The travelling road show is in Toronto late this week and weekend, where the focus will be on Canada's gold-medal-winning ice hockey team. VANOC will say only that Furlong "will take a short break from the road" while the Tour is in TO. During the tour so far, he's met with the premiers and key sports-related ministers of the Atlantic provinces. Last year, VANOC reached a protocol agreement with Quebec about supporting the 2010 Games and Furlong said at the time that he hoped to reach similar arrangements with each province, however there has been no further word on this aspect. The tour heads for Winnipeg after Toronto.

ALPINE SKI OFFICIALS TO MEET IN "COACHES SUMMIT" APRIL 29 IN CALGARY

Alpine ski racing coaches from across Canada will meet in Calgary from April 29 to May 2 for a professional-development conference to ensure they're on the right course for the 2010 Winter Olympics. The conference is aimed at increasing access to information among coaches across the country, among many other things. Alpine Canada and the Canadian Ski Coaches Federation intend to hold the first annual "Coaches Summit," a four-day seminar for some of Canada’s best ski coaches. Those invited to attend include World Cup, Provincial, National Development and Dryland Training coaches as well as Technical Directors and entry-level experts. Meanwhile, in an unrelated development that would be remarkable in any national circumstances, Finland has appointed a Norwegian to coach the Finnish cross-country ski team for the first time. Magnar Dalen has the job of redeeming the sport in the country when he starts work June 1. "It is clear that he will work for us for four years toward the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver," the association's cross-country chairman Kari Virranta said. The 42-year-old Dalen has lived in Sweden for the last 15 years and was the head coach of Sweden's cross-country ski team from 1998-2002. Cross-country skiing is one of the most popular sports in Finland; Dalen estimates the women's team is in contention now, but that the men's Finnish team will need "two, three years of hard work and training."

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on April 12, 2006

Monday, April 10, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #1615
WORK TO "MODERNIZE" 59 SKI RUNS AND TRAILS AT WHISTLER MOUNTAIN EXPECTED TO BEGIN IN MAY

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) says it will start refurbishing and upgrading 59 ski runs and trails on its Whistler Creekside alpine venue on Whistler Mountain starting late this spring. The work is expected to take until October, 2007, to complete.

VANOC says the International Ski Federation, which regulates professional ski conditions in a number of countries including Canada, identified the sites during detailed inspections in collaboration with VANOC staff and consultants and Canadian ski experts. The Federation, according to VANOC, says the work is necessary to "bring them up to modern standards for the 2010 Winter Games." The work involves courses that are primarily on major existing trails: Raven/Ptarmigan, Dave Murray Downhill and WildCard/Franz.

The 2010 Games will be using the revamped courses for a number of women's and men's downhill speed technical and Olympic and Paralympic skiing events. VANOC has worked out an arrangement with the Whistler Mountain Resort Limited Partnership, which owns the venue property, for the kind of work that is intended.

VANOC says it will hire a company to oversee the work for the duration of the job, then issue a series of detailed change orders to have the firm accomplish specific tasks as needed during the term of the contract. The arrangement will be with VANOC and the contractor to do the work, for which VANOC will pay, but it will be jointly supervised by Whistler-Blackcomb and VANOC.

The work is expected to include clearing of old-growth and second-growth timber as detailed in the change orders -- VANOC's aim is to leave as many trees as possible, so it's not going to be involved in taking down more trees than necessary -- drilling and blasting, building tunnels, constructing bridges, doing contouring and shaping of specific runs in specific ways, dealing with drainage issues and that might involve installing culverts, and, once the work is done, looking after the work site cleanup and reseeding where necessary.

Companies interested in being the prime contractor on the job have to contact VANOC by April 25 to be included in the evaluation.

VANOC says it will be paying particular attention to the proposals of firms that take into account its policies on sustainability and aboriginal involvement. Both policies are available from VANOC as part of its request for proposals, and both are detailed.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on April 10, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1614

Here are three moguls we ran into today:

VANCOUVER OFFERS GIANT CHOCOLATE PARALYMPIC EGG AS CHARITY FUNDRAISER

When Vancouver mayor Sam Sullivan was in Torino, Italy, last month to take part in the Closing Ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Paralympic Games, the Italian Paralympic Committee presented him with a 13-kilogram (30-pound), hollow, chocolate egg. On his return trip through Frankfurt, a flight attendant accidentally dropped the egg when taking it out of a storage compartment, causing it to crack open. When he got back to Vancouver, the mayor asked Vancouver-based manufacturer, Purdy's Chocolates, if it could repair the egg. The company donated its services to restore the egg to its original condition. Well, today, the mayor held a little ceremony at City Hall, where he donated the now-pristine egg to Variety the Children's Charity. On hand to receive it were three children under the care of Variety and the charity's executive director, Jon Stettner. Standing by with large smiles were Purdy's Chocolates president Karen Flavelle and the chocolatier who worked on the egg, Rick Glab. "Variety does remarkable things for children, so I thought it would be wonderful to use this gift to raise funds for special kids," said mayor Sullivan. "I'm sure the Italian Paralympic Committee will be delighted to know that over the next four years, in the lead up to the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games, this egg will continue to bring joy to children and families in need." Variety plans to display the egg for two weeks starting tomorrow at Purdy's head office. Visitors will be able to make a donation to Variety the Children's Charity. In return, they'll receive a chocolate bunny lollipop -- also donated by Purdy's.

MONACO ROYALTY JOINS COLLEAGUES ON HONORARY IPC BOARD

More European royalty has joined the International Paralympic Committee's Honorary Board. Prince Albert of Monaco, who is also a member of the International Olympic Committee, but also a former athlete. Other members of the IPC Honorary Board are Princess Margriet of the Netherlands, the Grand Duchess of Luxemburg Maria Teresa, and Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden. The main purpose of the Board is to allow what the IPC calls "leaders of society" an opportunity "to support the vision of the Paralympic Movement and to strive to maintain the issue of sport for persons with a disability high on the agenda of the global community." They also help the IPC in creating opportunities for fundraising and through networking.

VANOC FLAG TOUR HEADS FOR TORONTO

The VANOC/RBC Flag Tour, a large travelling exhibit moving slowly across Canada to market the 2010 Winter Games and the Olympics in general, is packing up from its Montreal visit and heading for Toronto. It's due to set up in Dundas Square in downtown Toronto on Thursday and stay until Sunday.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on April 10, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #1613
CANADIAN COMPANIES SOUGHT TO MAKE 2010-BRANDED HEAD WARE FOR CANADIAN DISTRIBUTION

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) has begun a process to qualify businesses who want to become licensees for the non-exclusive manufacture, sale and distribution of VANOC-branded head wear, such as baseball caps, toques and headbands and the like.

As in earlier product license process, this one is restricted to Canadian firms with operations in Canada, restricted as well to Canadian markets, and the license won't go longer than December 31, 2010.

Under the deal, VANOC licenses will have the right to sell the headwear through wholesale as well as retail channels, along with the right to make premiums for VANOC, its sponsors and government supporters for their marketing.

VANOC is first looking for any company that thinks it has the expertise and connections to get the job done to let it know by April 28. VANOC will then prepare a shortlist and provide a detailed Request for Proposals to the firms on the short list, and will chose a winning firm from the group that responds. VANOC says it might choose more than one firm, if, for instance, proponents are primarily interested in focusing on a particular target group, such as women or children. VANOC's also interested in offering products made with a wide range of fabrics. The RFP is expected to ask for detailed forecasts of sales and royalty payments to VANOC, a comprehensive marketing plan, including a proposed rollout plan by distribution channel for the licensed products -- such as specialty stores, souvenir, gift, tourist, duty-free, sports stores -- and how the plan is to be implemented during the term of the license. They'll also want to see information about anti-piracy ideas and brand protection.

According to VANOC planners, "The VANOC Licensing Program is intended to further the ideals of Olympism by creating and distributing a broad range of Olympic-related products which promote and enhance the Olympic brand." As a result, VANOC wants to make the products as widely available for sale as possible, but still keep the process under control. While the idea is to reach consumers in every part of Canada, it will only be through distribution channels approved by VANOC. "In order to ensure this aim is met," the planners note, "VANOC is seeking the 'best of the best' of businesses with operations in Canada which can consistently design, manufacture and distribute a full range of attractive, high-quality, affordable licensed products bearing marks associated with VANOC, the 2010 Olympic Winter Games and the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games... but not marks relating to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Torch Relays nor marks relating to the Canadian Olympic Committee or the Canadian Olympic Team."

Not all businesses are eligible to take part in the process for licensing VANOC head wear. For instance, you'll be turned away if you firm owns or operates "general-merchandise department stores, sporting-goods retail stores or general-merchandise retail stores carrying a similarly wide number and variety of product lines. That's because VANOC has granted exclusive rights for that category to one of its major sponsors, the Hudson’s Bay Company.

There will be more of these selection processes coming up, according to VANOC, including hard goods -- VANOC's term for durable goods, such as furniture or cutlery -- novelty items and confectionaries or similar consumables.

RESOURCES

Here is the list of brands VANOC says will be available under the head ware program: VANOC marks relating to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games and the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games, including any that may be created by VANOC during the term of the license. But they specifically include the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games Emblem, the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Games Emblem (which won't be made public until this summer), Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic mascots (which aren't expected to be made public until 2007), Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic pictograms, and marks relating to the Vancouver 2010 Arts, Cultural and Environmental Olympiad. Marks specifically not included are those of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Torch Relays, nor brands of either the Canadian Olympic Committee or the Canadian Olympic Team.

RESOURCES

Here's the story we wrote about VANOC's first foray into licensing -- for clothing, but not head gear:

'First of 2010-brand manufacturing and distribution licenses offered, but only for Canada and only to Canadian firms'
[Morgan:News:2010:Number:1556; Published on Wednesday, March 15, 2006]

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on April 10, 2006

Friday, April 07, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1612
VANOC CEO PUSHES JOB OPS IN MONTREAL

The Montreal Gazette newspaper paraphrases VANOC CEO John Furlong, in the city as one of the stops on VANOC's RBC Flag Tour, as saying that there are job opportunities for energetic people with experience in sports or event organizing, and that bilingualism would be a definite asset. Reporter Mary Lamey quotes him as saying "We're looking for corporate athletes to come out and help us get this done." The newspaper suggests that positions will be opening in various VANOC function areas: Sport, Paralympic Games, Venue Management, Services, Planning, Ceremonies, Venue Development, Revenue, Marketing, Communications, Technology & Systems, Human Resources, Finance and Legal Counsel. Besides noting that Quebec-based firms such as Bell Canada and Rona are major sponsors, Furlong is also quoted as saying, about Quebec sports, "This is where the vast majority of medal-potential athletes are from... Quebec is widely seen as having a vision of sport as a community builder. It puts more money into its athletes and does more to identify and support those athletes than just about any other province. We think we can learn from that."

WADA OFFERS DIGITAL LIBRARY

The World Anti-Doping Agency has opened to the sports industry and corporate public a digital library on its website of anti-doping resources. During its October 2005 meeting, the WADA Ethics and Education Committee suggested developing a global clearinghouse of currently available informational and educational anti-doping material. This initiative, which was also recommended by the WADA Education Working Group, is part of the organization's effort to ensure there are resources that have an impact in its anti-doping efforts. WADA's CEO is Dick Pound, one of the IOC's directors on VANOC's Board. Among other things, the library lists dozens of sports-related organizations around the world, their target audiences and their contact information.

MORE NUMBERS FROM TORINO

A couple of numbers from the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics, released by the IOC during an Olympics conference in Seoul, South Korea, today: There were 80 national Olympic committees at the Games, each one representing national Olympic Teams, such as Canada's. Of those, the athletes of 26 such committees won medals, and there were 2,508 athletes. About 38% of the athletes were women.

RESOURCES

This is the overview page of WADA's new digital anti-doping library:
www.wada-ama.org/en/dynamic.ch2?pageCategory.id=540

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on April 7, 2006

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1611
AUSSIE 2010 BROADCAST-RIGHTS TALKS TO RESUME

IOC broadcasting-rights negotiator Richard Carrion says he expects that negotiations for the auction of the rights to the Vancouver 2010 and London 2012 Games for Australia will resume shortly, although he gave no other details. The negotiation schedule set up by the IOC to finalize last fall was abruptly shut down last July just as a bidding war was heating up between Channels Seven and Nine. It was the first time the IOC had ever halted such talks in the middle of bidding. The decision came amidst word of the Australian government considering changes to broadcasting ownership rules. Those were introduced by the government earlier this year: its now possible for a single media company to own a TV station, a radio station and a newspaper, all in the one market, but each provincial capital city must have five different media owners while regional markets must have four. National broadcasters, ABC and SBS, will be allowed to offer more variety on their digital channels, but commercial free-to-air broadcasters have restrictions in multi-channelling to reduce competition for pay-TV operators. The IOC was reportedly expecting about a 30% increase in revenues from the country last summer, which would have meant a deal somewhere around A$130 million (about C$110 million, which quite a bit less than CTV paid for the Canadian rights). Channel Seven, which has held the rights since 1996, broadcast the Torino Winter Games and is scheduled to do so for the Beijing Summer Games in 2008.

VANOC PLANTS ANOTHER CROP OF TRADEMARKS

VANOC has registered another batch of trademarks: "Host Country", "Host Province", "Host City", "Host Mountain Resort", "Paralympic", "Olympic Store", "Tourism 2010", "Olympic Flame Relay" and "Cultural Olympiad" are all being advertised in Vol.53 Issue 2683 of the Canadian Intellectual Property Office's gazette as they work their way through the system. "Own The Podium | À Nous Le Podium 2010" coupled with the now-formalized gold/silver/bronze maple-leaf logo is nearly finalized, although VANOC has been using it for months. The latest group brings to 106 the number of logos and slogans owned by the 2010 organization, but only 23 are offered as example brands on VANOC's "Respect the Rings and Support The Brand" document available on its website.

FURLONG MEETS WITH PEI GOVERNMENT EXECUTIVES

VANOC says its CEO, John Furlong, met government officials from Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown this week, as he tracks the RBC Flag Tour. He met with with premier Pat Binns and Elmer MacFadyen, Binns's minister of Community and Cultural Affairs. Furlong also did a presentation about the 2010 Games to a group of sports leaders from Charlottetown, and another for 400 people at the Charlottetown Chamber of Commerce Annual General Meeting at the Delta Prince Edward hotel.

RESOURCES

VANOC's "Respect the Rings and Support The Brand" document, in PDF format, which discusses the organization's brand-protection concepts:
http://www.vancouver2010.com/resources/PDFs/Respecttherings_EN.pdf

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on April 6, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #1610
COMMISSIONING AGENT SOUGHT FOR 2010 CURLING VENUE

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) is looking for a company to take on the role of commissioning agent at the end of this month for the 2010 curling venue it's building in conjunction with the Vancouver Parks Board's construction of a new adjacent swimming pool at Riley Park in Vancouver.

The job of the agent is to make sure all of the systems of the 5,750-seat complex -- everything from the air condition system to the geothermal heating if it is eventually installed -- work properly, with each other and meet specifications as the work proceeds from this point in the process until the buildings open. It will also train VANOC's staff that will be involved with the building's operation leading up to and during the Games.

One possible area of contention the agent may have to resolve between VANOC and the Parks Board is environmental. VANOC is committed to building the curling venue to LEED Silver, while the Parks Board, according to VANOC planners, "has indicated a desire to elevate this to a LEED Gold standard... to match their target for the aquatic portion of the project. VPB’s ultimate goal for the entire facility will be LEED Gold."

The commissioning agent will be working closely with VANOC, VPB and the facility's designers "to achieve both VANOC’s and the VPB’s LEED targets." Initial site-planning studies, functional programming and re-zoning are underway now, with schematic design just completed. Hughes Condon Marler Architects is desiging the new facility. Reads Jones Christoffersen is the structural consultant, Stantec Consulting is the mechanical and electrical consultant, Hunter Laird the civil consultant, Bunt Associates is the traffic consultant and BTY Group is the cost consultant.

The start of construction is scheduled for next March, with substantial completion of the curling rink expected to occur in October, 2008. There's only a couple of months leeway for that completion date; training events are scheduled to begin the following January, and the World Junior Curling Championships, an Olympic test event, is scheduled for March, 2009. Converting a part of the curling rink to a community centre and library is scheduled to start after the 2010 Olympic Games are completed in March, 2010, with a completion of that component expected to occur in early 2011.

The agent will also document that all the LEED-related work, of whatever level the complex ultimately achieves, was done. The complex will have a two-year warranty period, and the agent will be conducting tests during that time to flag deficiencies and to ensure the systems are holding up.

VANOC's using a Request for Proposals process to hire the commissioning agent. The documentation for that has to be delivered to VANOC's new east-Vancouver headquarters by April 21.

RESOURCES

An earlier story we did on this project:
'2010 Curling Rink consultants consider geothermal heating for complex'
[Morgan:News:2010:Number:1574; Published on Thursday, March 23, 2006]

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on April 6, 2006

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #1609

Here are three moguls we ran into today:

IOC PREDICTS HEFTY REVENUE HIKES IN ASIAN TV SALES OF 2010, 2012 BROADCASTING RIGHTS

Associated Press, covering the Olympic committee conference in Seoul, South Korea, is quoting the International Olympic Committee's chief negotiator as saying that he expects Asian media companies to pay significantly more money to broadcast the Vancouver 2010 and London 2012 Olympic Games. Richard Carrion, who conducted earlier auctions that saw increases in IOC revenues in from the US, Canada and Europe, told reporter Charles Hutzler that the Internet and other new media are giving broadcasters new ways to make money from the Olympics. Canadian broadcaster CTV paid twice what its rival, CBC, previously paid for the Torino and Beijing Games, mainly, he suggests, because Vancouver is the 2010 host. Europe paid 30% more, while NBC paid 35% more for the package of Games. Hutzler also reports the Olympics' global popularity is giving the IOC added leverage in the talks. Discussions, Carrion indicates, are under way with a several South Korean media companies at the moment, and will open with Japanese broadcasters later this year.AP also said he predicts South Korean and Japanese broadcasters should follow suit. "The kind of increases that we've seen leads us to believe that this should be no exception," Carrion is quoted as saying. Sales of TV rights account for more than half the IOC's overall revenues. The money funds everything from the staging of the games and the IOC's operations, to the subsidizing of Olympic committees in more than 200 countries. Carrion says that as part of its negotiating strategy, the IOC is now bundling traditional broadcast rights with those for cable television and the Internet, mobile phones and other new media. "It's a much wider privilege in a media landscape that has changed," Carrion is quoted as saying.

INTRAWEST TAPS WASILOV FOR PRESIDENT AND COO

The company that is deeply involved with a couple of VANOC's mountain venues, Intrawest Corporation, has hired a highly experienced executive, Alex Wasilov, to become the company's president and chief operating officer which, for the firm, is a new position. Wasilov will run the operating divisions of place-making; mountain resorts; lodging, golf & spa; adventure & active travel and corporate development. He will report to Joe Houssian, now the chairman and chief executive officer of Intrawest Corporation. Wasilov, who's been on the Intrawest Board for just over a year, was president of Hirtle, Callaghan & Co., a C$12 billion financial asset management firm. He was also president of Rosenbluth International, a travel management company that operated in 57 countries and had sales of more than C$3 billion, chief operating officer of Eastman Kodak Company, president of Kodak China and president of Xerox Emerging Markets. Meanwhile, Drew Stotesbury has been confirmed as president of Intrawest's place-making division, reporting to Wasilov. Stotesbury was the former chief financial officer of the division, and became its acting president last November. The division, which focuses on real estate, deals with the company's resort and lodging sectors. Intrawest has interests in Whistler/Blackcomb and in the land on which VANOC is bulding the Whistler Sliding Centre. The company on the stock markets: IDR (NYSE) ITW (TSX).

2010 FLAG TOUR ARRIVES IN MONTREAL

The VANOC Flag Tour is in Montreal this weekend, as it slowly makes its way across Canada to finish in Vancouver next month. RBC Financial Group's marketing department is working on the Tour as part of its sponsorship of the 2010 Winter Games. The marketing concept underlying the tour is to give Canadians "a taste of the excitement and spirit of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, to celebrate Canada's achievements at the Tori