Archive for November, 2008
Gregor Robertson takes on Vancouver for 2010
VANOC congratulates new BC mayors and municipal council members on their new responsibilities
John Furlong, Chief Executive Officer for the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC), today congratulated the mayors and municipal council members elected across British Columbia over the past weekend.
“On behalf of the whole VANOC team, congratulations to all of the mayors and council members elected. It is indeed an exciting time to be leading as we all prepare to celebrate the 2010 Games with all British Columbians. In particular, we look forward to working closely with the elected officials in our 2010 Games venue and facility communities: Vancouver, Whistler, Richmond, West Vancouver, Squamish and Surrey,” Furlong said.
Read the rest of the article here.
It sounds as if it was an ugly campaign (aren’t they all?), but Gregor Robertson is now the man that will run Vancouver during the Olympics. I don’t envy that job. Being a mayor of a city would be a hard enough job, but doing it during a time when the whole world is watching would be an enormous pressure.
One of the hottest issues of the campaign revolved around a $100 million loan from the city to the company building the Olympic Village where most of the athletes will stay during the games.
Other articles:
Gregor Robertson to be Vancouver host mayor for 2010 Winter Olympics
Johnson & Johnson drops out of sponsorship
The International Olympic Committee can’t put a Band-Aid on this financial cut: Johnson & Johnson passed on the chance to renew its lucrative global sponsorship deal.
The IOC confirmed Monday that the health care conglomerate would not renew its top-level sponsorship worth up to $100 million as first reported by Sports Business Journal.
“Our sponsorship of the International Olympic Committee concludes at the end of 2008 and will not be renewed,” Johnson & Johnson spokeswoman Lorie Gawreluk e-mailed.
China, with more than 1 billion residents and a burgeoning consumer marketplace, was a major draw for most sponsors. The next two games are in Canada and the United Kingdom — mature economies that combined have about a tenth of the population of China.
For the Beijing Games, Johnson & Johnson manufactured its signature adhesive bandages with Olympic mascots on them and set up a pavilion for fans to come see terra-cotta warriors from the time of emperor Qin Shi Huang — though overzealous security on the Olympic Green kept many away.
Read the rest of the article here.
Worldwide Olympic sponsors are allowed to use the copyrighted Olympic name & logos in their advertising anywhere in the world. But it comes with a pretty high price. The Beijing games had 12 Worldwide sponsors, including Visa, McDonalds, and Coke. The IOC already has agreements with 9 companies to be worldwide sponsors for the Vancouver games, including Panasonic and Samsung. TV rights, mostly from NBC, will provide approximately another $2.5 billion.
Inside the Vancouver Olympics
Countdown clock located in downtown Vancouver
I was just contacted by a friend of mine, who just so happens to live in Vancouver, and he just so happens to be in the middle of the application process to become a volunteer at the Olympics. And if that wasn’t cool enough, he offered to be an inside contact man for me! As he goes through the interview process and hopefully getts selected to work at the Games, he is going to give me step by step updates so I can report them back to you! We should be able to get lots of good inside information from him, with pictures!
Here is what he’s told me so far about how the application process works:
The first step I did was register here. That was about four months ago. Two weeks ago they contacted me and did a short phone interview and two days ago I was emailed to register for the orientation meeting. It’ll be six hours where I’ll undergo a face to face interview that lasts an hour to find out where they will place me and then they go over all the stuff. That’s on the 27th (of November).
I’m pretty sure volunteers get a lot of cool stuff including uniforms so I’ll send pics of all the loot I get.
Sounds to me like our guy is a shoo-in. I’m excited for him, and look forward to getting another update from him.
Update on Ticket Sales
Winter Olympics: ticket demand outstrips Vancouver supply
Demand for tickets to the 2010 winter Games was so high among Canadians that there will be lotteries for 120 of 170 events, the Vancouver Organizing Committee said. When the dust settled after the initial ticket-request period ended Nov. 7, Vanoc discovered that Canadians had submitted more than $345 million in wish lists, far outstripping even the high demand experienced during the 2002 Salt Lake Games. Vanoc officials said they received four-and-a-half times the requests put in for the 2002 Games. On the last day, Canadians put in requests totalling $135 million. The highest demand for tickets was for hockey, figure skating and the opening and closing ceremonies. All of those, as well as short-track speed skating, will go to a lottery.
Read the rest of the article here.
Ticket sales seem to be the hottest topic with the Vancouver Olympics right now. I just found this recent update, so I thought I should share it with you too.
Round Two of Ticket Sales
Lotteries expected as Olympic ticket deadline approaches
Time is nearly up for Canadians to get their orders in for the first round of ticket sales for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.
The deadline for residents of Canada to place their orders is midnight PT on Friday.
Caley Denton, vice-president of ticketing with the Vancouver Organizing Committee, said demand is already exceeding official sales targets and there’s no doubt they’ll need to hold a lottery for medal round hockey events.
Denton is also expecting demand will exceed supply in many other high-profile events, including figure skating and the opening and closing ceremonies. Officials have not been specific about which event tickets beyond hockey will be distributed by lottery.
You can read the rest of the article here.
The first round of ticketing ends tonight at midnight (PST). People are allowed to make multiple ticket requests, so if they don’t get their first request, they are not completely left out in the cold. After the deadline has passed, a computerized lottery will start picking who gets what seat. Lotteries will definitely be held for the Gold Medal Hockey event, and probably for other hockey events, figure skating, and the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.
Tickets can be purchased at Vancouver 2010 ticketing information.
Will President Obama help bring the Olympics to Chicago?
Tokyo fears Obama strengthens Chicago Olympic bid
Japanese Olympic officials fear the election of Barack Obama as U.S. president could make his home city of Chicago the favorite to host the 2016 Olympic Games and harm Tokyo’s bid.
Tokyo, Chicago, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro are the four cities in the running to host the 2016 Games.
Read the rest of the article here.
I’m not much of an Obama fan (or any other politician for that matter…), but I am a fan of anything that will help bring the Olympics to Chicago. Chicago has always been my favorite big city, and if the Olympics are held there, then I might actually try to get some tickets for a few of the events.
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