SPORTS EVENT MANAGEMENT

IMPACT SPORTS RECRUITMENT

SPORTS

EVENT MANAGEMENT THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO THE BUSINESS AT THE HEART OF GLOBAL SPORT

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Introduction

WELCOME TO SPORTS EVENT MANAGEMENT

CONTENTS 08

Why event management deserves greater recognition 10

Kevin Roberts Editorial Director SportBusiness Group

Event Planning Fail to plan and you plan to fail

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WHEN LONDON last hosted the Olympic Games in 1948, Britain was still under the shadow of the Second World War. Rationing remained in force and, in an age of austerity, no new facilities were built for the Games.

Instead of an athletes’ village, competitors were accommodated in army barracks or colleges while the British athletes were expected to stay at home.

That year 4,104 competitors from 59 nations took part in the 136 events of the Games.

Next year London will once again host the world and things will be very different. Although austerity is again in the global lexicon, the city will welcome 10,500 athletes who will compete in 300 events. A state-of-the-art Olympic Park has been created in one of the city’s most spectacular regeneration projects and 300 events will be contested in venues throughout London and around the UK. London 2012, which will be covered by some 20,000 broadcasters and journalists, has been a massive, hugely complex multi-billion-dollar project which has made enormous demands on those involved. It is a project which has its roots in regeneration and which is expected to deliver not only a smoothly operating Games but a significant legacy for future generations.

In fact London 2012 represents the leading edge of sports event planning and management. But for how long?

Sports event management involves an ever-evolving set of individual planning and management disciplines which have to mesh around an immovable deadline.

Today’s major events are on a truly epic scale and as Organising Committees and their funders continue to demand higher standards, the event sector is under constant pressure to be more innovative, creative , efficient and cost-effective.

From the way an event looks to the management of media and the transportation of the public and athletes, event management is a complex web of individual projects, each with its own milestones and hurdles to overcome.

Projects are challenging, demanding and often exhausting for those involved.

But without events there would be no sports business as we know it today and the sector deserves recognition.

This supplement is designed to do just that by providing a taste of some of the key disciplines, the leading players in the sector and the work they do. We hope you find it useful.

Event Management overview

Event Design How effective design is key to events and legacy

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Overlay and Temporary Structures The art of transformation and sustainability

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Personnel and Staff How effective recruitment is at the heart of successful events

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Technology Introducing tomorrow’s world of event technology

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Security Facing up to the ever changing security challenge

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Press Operations Making the most of the media covering your event

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Presentation and Ceremonies How openers can be show stoppers

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Power and lighting Producing the power to run events

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Event Look How an event and its partners are united by great design

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Transport and Logistics Going the distance to make special deliveries

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Environmental Services The importance of effective waste management solutions

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Partner Profile

POPULOUS 14 Blades Court, Deodar Road London, sw15 2nu, uk Telephone +44 (0)20 8874 7666 Fax +44 (0)20 8874 7470 tom.jones@populous.com 1125 17th Street, Suite 1550 Denver, co 80202, usa Telephone +1 303 382 2780 Fax +1 303 382 2781 jerry.anderson@populous.com WWW.POPULOUS.COM

Sochi 2014 Olympic Stadium Aerial - © POPULOUS

Populous Populous is a global design practice specialising in creating environments that draw people and communities together for unforgettable experiences. For more than a quarter of a century we have made a difference through our comprehensive design services, including sports architecture, conference and exhibition centre architecture, interior design, environmental graphics and wayfinding, events planning and overlay, masterplanning, sustainable design consulting and facilities operations analysis.

We are a world leader in the design of sports and entertainment buildings, having worked on over 1,000 sports and entertainment projects around the world. With a portfolio of over 400 major event venues, we are also recognised as a world leader in overlay design, procurement and construction.

Our experience on major events covers the preparation of bid documents, the development of venue briefs and masterplanning, the design of sporting venues and the provision of overlay – which ensures a coordinated approach to our work.

We have worked on a large number of Olympic Games, including the architectural designs of Olympic Stadia for Sydney, London and Sochi, the overlay design work for London and Sochi and masterplanning of the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games. We have also designed other high profile sports and entertainment buildings including Wembley Stadium, Yankee Stadium, Soccer City Stadium, Melbourne Cricket Ground, and the award-winning O2 Arenas in London, Dublin and Berlin. We also work on a range of smaller projects, including training grounds, community sports centres and collegiate sports facilities.

Across our international offices we have a team of acclaimed international event professionals qualified to plan, design, operate and implement all aspects of major special events.

Each member has extensive experience with many of the world’s most celebrated facilities, events and festivals – including Summer and Winter Olympic Games, Youth Olympics, Universiades, Commonwealth Games, FIFA World

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Cups, ICC Cricket World Cups, IRB Rugby World Cups, MLB All-Star Games and the NFL Super Bowl – which Populous has been involved with since 1983.

We are deeply interested in the operational and planning requirements of major special events, as well as the world class buildings which we design for sports, leisure and entertainment. For each project we undertake a detailed assessment of the event that is going to be created, the venues associated with it, and the ancillary spaces that are necessary for the successful management of the operation.

We study how they will interact as a whole, their potential to become sustainable places that become embodied in the community and the legacy that they provide for the fabric of those communities.

In this context we understand that live entertainment, sport and events go beyond simply the venue, the concert, or a game’s final score. It is about an event experience that leaves a lasting impression and impacts everyone involved in the event. For each visitor, that experience is unique: it is the emotional response evoked not only from the performance itself, but from the anticipation of the event, the journey to and from the venue, and the memories that can only come from sharing the experience with others. In this way, the events that we work on draw people together; from transport to ticket check, concourse to seat.

Populous is also proud to be the Official Architectural and Overlay Design Services Provider to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Our involvement in the development of the design for these Games started with an initial site inspection in August 2003 and has subsequently moved onto helping with the preparation of the winning bid documents, development of the Olympic Park masterplan, design of the Olympic Stadium and provision of overlay design for all the Olympic venues.

Partner Profile

For further information contact EPG’s Client Relationship Manager David Cook at dcook@eventplanninggroup.net F Cycling Road Race at 2004 Olympic Games Athens

EVENT PLANNING GROUP BORN out of the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000, Event Planning Group is a leading major event planning and delivery company providing a comprehensive package of expertise available to support Local Organising Committees of major international sporting events.

“We always fully respect that an event belongs to the host city and country and see our role as being a provider of specialist event services who, working in conjunction with local staff, enable the Organising Committee to both plan and deliver the very best event possible.

The company has been involved at every Summer and Winter Olympic Games since Sydney as well as Commonwealth and Asian Games, and Cricket, Rugby and Football World Cups.

“We have access to a global resource base so can provide coverage across the world and deliver projects anywhere at anytime. Our clients benefit from the huge pool of international expertise at our disposal and from the legacy of knowledge we deliver. Our office network allows us to provide not only the skills of the most experienced event practitioners in the world but also local input from people who understand the situation on the ground and have empathy with the client. We have a policy of leaving a local skills legacy.”

The company’s main areas of expertise are in supporting the Local Organising Committee in the planning and delivery of: Venue overlay and infrastructure Venue management and operations Management of logistics and catering operations In each of these areas EPG offer a menu of services including: • Concept Development • Cost Management • Value Engineering • Commodity Procurement • Contract Management • Supply Chain Assessment • Risk Management • Event Overlay Planning • Procurement and Delivery • Project Management • Health and Safety Co-ordination • Operations • Re-instatement

EPG supplies flexible resource solutions to provide the best outcome for its clients. This can involve secondment into Organising Committees for extended periods, working with the project teams on behalf of the client to enable them to deliver the best results possible or, on a straightforward project delivery basis.

EPG’s partnership with global property and construction consultancy Rider Levett Bucknall has further strengthened the company’s range of services. By utilising Rider Levett Bucknall’s 100 offices across the globe EPG now has the capability to deliver its expertise through local offices and local people.

“We have a strong service commitment and liaise very closely with our clients to ensure we provide the best and most suitable people whether we are delivering a project or providing resource.”

As EPG’s client base continues to expand so Cook sums up the reasons for the company’s success; “All our people are specialists with experience of major international event organisation. This means they require no training and can hit the ground running, delivering immediate results for an Organising Committee.

David Cook, Event Planning Groups Client Relationship Manager, explained the company philosophy;

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Partner Profile

IRB Rugby World Cup 1995 - Getty Images Sport

RUSHMANS RUSHMANS is a multi-skilled, broad based sports business which provides wide-ranging services to clients around the world.

From consultancy on event bidding and the most complex sports projects to the planning and world-class delivery of major events, Rushmans has built its reputation during more than a quarter of a century engaged at the top level of sports events and projects.

Rushmans was founded to service the events which drive over 90 per cent of the revenues of sports governing bodies and we have contributed to the success of hundreds of events on every continent.

We work across all functional areas and have specialist skills in accreditation, press operations, IT and communications, training and integration, event operations and volunteer programmes among others.

We are able to fulfil complete turnkey major event management solutions over a period of years or single management assignments Rushmans is also able to deploy experienced senior and front line management in all major event disciplines rapidly anywhere in the world.

Working with partners, to develop techniques used successfully by global corporations, Rushmans has developed a unique system for planning, aligning functional areas and delivering events.

RMEa unravels the complexity of an event to allow optimisation of resources and capabilities, avoid duplication of effort and engage and motivate personnel.

By plotting a journey from inception to completion, identifying issues and obstacles along the way and allocating appropriate resources to overcome them, RMEa helps ensure the success against the tightest of deadlines and leanest of budgets.

Contact Andy Clark +44 (0) 1264 852010 +44 (0) 7768 448765 aclark@rushmans.com www.rushmans.com

IMPACT SPORTS RECRUITMENT IMPACT SPORTS RECRUITMENT is a specialist recruitment consultancy serving the international business of sport.

We find outstanding clients for organising committees, governing bodies, agencies and other sports sector organisations.

We understand that sport is a truly global business and we are committed to sourcing the best qualified, most experienced and appropriate staff for our clients, no matter where in the world they may be located.

As a member of the Rushmans Group of Companies, Impact shares a heritage of more than 25 years experience at the highest level of international sport.

Impact Sports recrtuiment is uniquely experienced and well connected in events. We are the official recruitment service for Sports Crowd and sit at the heart of a global network of hundreds of qualified, experienced and motivated events professionals.

Impact Sports Recruitment is unique because it was born out of a sports company, not a recruitment business which saw opportunities in sport. Our understanding of the sports sector and connections within the industry are second to none.

We understand that sport is a truly global business and we are committed to sourcing the best qualified, most experienced and appropriate staff for our clients, no matter where in the world they may be located.

Impact Sports Recruitment is truly global, uniquely connected and utterly committed to your success.

Contact Richard Graham, Executive Director +44 (0) 1264 852 014 +44 (0) 7879 448954 rgraham@impactsportsrecruitment.com www.impactsportsrecruitment.com

IMPACT SPORTS RECRUITMENT

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SPORTS EVENT MANAGEMENT

Industry Overview

MAJOR EVENTS THE LIFEBLOOD OF THE SPORTS BUSINESS Getty Images Sport

major events are critical to the sports business.

So why is there so little recognition of the role of event management?

Events are the lifeblood of the multibillion-dollar global sports business.

Without them there would be nothing... no tickets sold, no massive TV rights deals, no huge sponsorships to report.

Events provide the stage on which sporting heroics are performed and the dramas, triumphs and tragedies of top level sport are played out in front of live audiences and millions more watching on televisions.

Major sports events grip the public’s

imagination like little else. At the very top end of the scale, the world more or less stops during the Olympic Games and FIFA World Cup as we bask in an extended celebration of sport at its best. Elsewhere the impact is inevitably more polarised and localised but the fact remains that sports events have become one of the few remaining truly shared experiences in an increasingly fragmented world.

Over the years the scale and complexity of sports events has changed significantly. Today’s major events have become massive projects which demand levels of leadership, management, creativity and innovation normally associated with running a world-leading corporation. It should, therefore, come as no surprise that planning and management techniques previously used in commerce and industry are increasingly being

employed in event management.

The reasons are plain to see. Sports events have become so much more than the events themselves. Bidding to host major events has itself become a major business sector. Programmes are planned and executed with all of the strategic guile of major political campaigns and national interests often determine that budgets are huge.

The re-discovery that sports events can play a major role in creating or re-shaping perceptions of cities and nations has placed a premium on hosting major events. But winning the bid is no longer enough. Organising Committees, normally working in conjunction with governments, are anxious to make the most of their moments in the global spotlight. Consequently every effort is made to raise the bar and stage events which reflect the ambition of the hosts.

The fervent desire is to be considered the

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Industry Overview

best event ever…until the next time.

Naturally this has driven new levels of sophistication and professionalism within the event management sector, many of which are reflected in the pages of this special supplement.

Estimates of the value of sports events are vast even when taken in isolation from the other major revenues streams of sport. The industry entertains more people than any other category of attraction; it employs tens of thousands of people across the globe and is certainly watched by a majority of the world’s population each year on television.

Yet for all its status the sports event industry goes almost unrecognised. It has no trade association, no recognised qualifications and no standard vocabulary. It appears on no financial analyst’s charts and its major global players rarely make the pages of Forbes, Fortune or the Financial Times.

Events have always played a vital part in the success of sport but recent years have seen a mushrooming in the number of competitions, leagues, championships, tours and games across the spectrum. Add to this events created by sponsors and a revival of some historic and traditional rivalries and

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the sector has clearly boomed.

Even to the casual observer it is clear that the number of and attention given to sporting events has grown enormously.

The drivers are, of course, sport itself but the proliferation of dedicated sports channels on television has also boosted growth. Put simply, sport sells newspapers and pay-TV subscriptions and delivers the eyeballs required by advertisers.

FUELLING GROWTH Sports events rights holders have grown used to an inexorable rise in event revenues and have benefited from a boom in the demand for their product. As events have attracted greater investment from sponsors their desire to entertain clients and put on a show that matches their brand ambitions have pushed up the level of complexity. Broadcasters who have paid richly for the right to televise sport are looking for a visual feast and fans expectations of value for the inflated prices of their tickets have also been raised.

Event organisers have matched these demands with ambitions of their own.

They put on more and more impressive shows and used the full portfolio of staging, lighting, media and venue

technology currently available.

Against the backdrop of higher risk it is vital that event organisers examine how they go about their business.

Sports events have traditionally suffered from a number of factors which contribute to risk and there is a pressing need to consider whether there might be a better way.

The first of these factors is the lack of understanding, experience and professional expertise among many of the initiators of sports events. Poor decision making at the outset can plague events throughout their lives and inevitably bring time and cost overruns.

As events have a fixed delivery date, these errors are rectified by throwing more money at projects, having staff work around the clock or paying higher fees to contractors to ensure that the show actually goes on.

The second factor arises from the very complexity of events themselves and the differing perspectives of the various stakeholders. For sporting bodies awarding events to cities or countries, there is a clear interest in certainty of revenues to meet their financial objectives and obligations. For the host city, region or country the interest may be much more to do with economic impact,

Industry Overview

Pictures - Getty Images Sport

place branding or local employment. For event sponsors they need the hospitality, activation or product placement opportunities they have paid for and what works in the stadium may be at odds with the needs of broadcasters for a TV audience.

A failure to reconcile these interests and agree a primacy of purpose can result in bitter wrangles and unmet expectations.

Critically there is a tendency to reinvent every aspect of the event from scratch every time. While the larger properties have made efforts to transfer event knowledge between organising committees, the majority are content to give over a high degree of responsibility to local organisers. These in turn are determined to make their mark and keen to deliver on promises to award contracts to local companies. In combination these can produce a mentality of suspicion of anything which is not ‘invented here’ and a woeful amount of reuse of temporary facilities and equipment. Tendering rules are held up as a reason for this but the profligate use of resources that results is wasteful and expensive.

This last tendency has also produced a position in the sports event management industry where there is very little standardisation. With every organiser

inventing each aspect of their event, the use of standard techniques, approaches, materials, structures and terminology is practically non-existent. Granted there are differences between events but industries with far higher variability have found ways of achieving the gains of standardisation and they are available to sport too.

Events are often judged to have been a success or failure on very subjective measures with no attempt made to capture lessons learned. Progress is monitored closely in the run up to and for the duration of the event but afterwards the emphasis is on shutting up shop as quickly as possible.

MEASURING SUCCESS A count is kept, of course, of tickets sold, viewers of TV coverage, winner’s medals etc. but this provides only one type of assessment. When events and competitions are sold to potential hosts, to sponsors and broadcasters and to the live audience they are promised an experience of a lifetime. But too often everyone moves onto the next event and little or no time is spent working out whether the event really delivered.

Measurement is never the most sexy activity but it is vital to learn lessons,

assess results and drive improvements.

One difficulty is simply the range of stakeholders with varying objectives.

An event brings together many different parties each of whom are involved for their own specific reasons and normally each will be expected to review how the event worked for them. Sponsors will not expect event organisers to assess the boost to their brand, neither will athletes need a report from organisers on their performance.

The event organising team will, however, gain vital insights from understanding the experience of all parties. They will have planned to accommodate hospitality services, camera crews, medal ceremonies and VIP guests and should be keen to know whether each groups needs were met.

One main stakeholder group often ignored in the afterglow of an event is the local community. They will have been promised that the disruption and expense of hosting will bring lasting benefits but typically the rights holder will move on and the organising committee will disband leaving locals to pick up the pieces. Studies will be done into legacy and great claims made but rarely will these really capture the experience of those directly affected.

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Event Planning in association with

PLANNING TO SUCCEED THEY SAY THAT IF YOU FAIL TO PLAN YOU PLAN TO FAIL AND THAT’S CERTAINLY TRUE IN THE COMPLEX WORLD OF MAJOR SPORTS EVENTS. RACHAEL CHURCHSANDERS, AUTHOR OF THE SPORTBUSINESS ULTIMATE SPORTS CITIES, REPORTS.

ALTHOUGH SOME CITIES have been accused of not giving enough consideration to exactly how to organise sports events after winning hosting rights, most major ones now have the models in place to prevent mistakes of old being repeated. A danger however remains that less-experienced cities entering the hosting game for the first time may still make those errors and would clearly benefit from an injection of real event management expertise based on experience.

Jon Coxeter-Smith, who works for AECOM’s Davis Langdon – a business with over five decades of experience in planning and delivering major events – and who is a director in the AECOM Global Sports Group, believes that successful event planning isn’t necessarily a given now the industry is ostensibly more sophisticated. “On the

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one hand best practice, ‘state of the art’ [event planning], is being moved forward and London 2012 provides many exemplars of this,” he explains. “But on the other hand we can see that some cities continue to struggle with the scale and complexities of the challenge. The ongoing reporting of Brazil 2014 [FIFA World Cup] and the recently published Comptroller and Auditor General of India’s Performance Audit on the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games provides overwhelming evidence of this.”

The huge sums of money involved in running a major event mean they are always going to attract their fair share of scrutiny. “Running a major event is big business after all,” says Andrew Sharp, partner of Event Planning Group. “It’s generally all about public money in terms of the high profile events. Therefore there is a level of accountability in terms of organising committees and government bodies to really deliver something that not only performs for the event but also has an ongoing legacy for the community and the country.”

Working under the strapline ‘Global Reach, Local Focus’, Event Planning Group offers a range of services and resources to a wide variety of organising committees of many major events globally. The company’s CV includes work on the Rugby World Cup 2003 and 2007, the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, the 2007 Cricket World Cup, Beijing 2008 and the England 2018 World Cup Bid. It is currently

working on several high profile events due to happen in the next few years.

Sharp believes that more consideration is now being put into planning an event than previously. “Particularly in the last decade, the industry has become much more knowledgeable in terms of how to deliver an event,” he says. “Knowledge transfer exists and is documented from event to event more thoroughly so there’s a planning model that can be adapted to every event. But the delivery model isn’t always the same. It does depend on a lot of things such as local environment, capability and event profile. The planning model and the framework to get to that delivery process is continually evolving and can be applied across all events.”

But why would an organising committee come to a company such as Event Planning Group for help?

Sharp explains: “We have experience of working across this landscape for many years and understanding the requirements and demands placed upon an organising committee. Major events start up from scratch so the knowledge and experience isn’t always in the core team of executives that were part of the bid for example. So they may look to find expertise externally. Where we really add value is being able to justify and challenge some of the requirements of the external stakeholders.”

Rushmans is another highly experienced company offering major event planning expertise to organising committees and event organisers. Nigel

Rushmans RMEa

Rushman, founder of Rushmans, believes that the industry throws up multiple challenges that need addressing. “Today’s major sports events are massively complex projects which carry the hopes and expectations not only of their organisers but of entire nations,” he says.

“While event experience is essential and knowledge transfer a key asset, the fact is that no two projects are identical means there are no one-size-fits-all solutions in event planning and management.”

Davis Langdon’s Coxeter-Smith agrees that there can never be a ‘perfect fit’ model to running a major event: “Breaking an event down into modules for example is a fairly classic way of ‘eating the elephant’ but it all needs to come together in one, comprehensive plan at the top level. There are many examples over history of problems arising out of fragmentation, of treating each piece as if it is the only piece. While the classic challenges are constant – i.e. Leadership, Capacity, Ability, Skills – levels of each are variable from place to place, so solutions need to be bespoke in recognition of the resources available at each location.”

Paul Bush OBE, chief operating officer for EventScotland, currently working on the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games and 2014 Ryder Cup, agrees: “There are always basic logistical and planning elements to all events but each will have their unique requirements too based on the type of event, its location and scale.”

Brendan McClements, chief executive of Victorian Major Events Company (VMEC) in Melbourne, provides another host city view: “While there are common elements to all events – functional areas like operations, finance, media, commercial, transport and so on – it’s important to take the time to understand the event, what’s required to deliver it and the benefits it has the potential to deliver to the relevant sport and to the host city.”

Nigel Rushman has spent many years listening to event organisers and looking at the mechanics of a major event, but recognises event planning is not an exact science: “Without the aid of a very large piece of paper and an almost inexhaustible pen, it is nearly impossible to envision all of the different,

highly-specialised and often inter-linked functions which have to work in harmony to make an event happen,” he explains.

“Each is an individual project and each involves lots of people and lots of egos; a combination which means that rational thinking and decision making all too often goes out of the door.”

Rushman believes an holistic approach to planning and delivery should be adopted by event organisers, requiring “the elimination of the ‘silo mentality’ that exists in so many events and using a joined-up collaborative approach to identifying and solving problems in the cause of achieving the final objective.”

To that end, Rushmans has introduced ‘Rushmans Major Event Architecture (RMEa)’ to give organising committees access to the same sort of planning tool that some of the world’s biggest and most successful corporations from industries as diverse as aviation and IT have been successfully using for some years.

“Working with our partners, we’ve harnessed 25 years of specific events experience to a system which effectively

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Event Planning in association with

unravels the complexity of an event to allow optimisation of resources and capabilities, avoid duplication and to motivate staff and stakeholders,” explains Rushman. “In essence RMEa is a unique visualisation technique which draws all stakeholders into a truly collaborative environment which ensures understanding.

It eliminates assumption and miscomprehension and fosters a sense of purpose and unity among the event team.

In that way we can plot a journey from inception to completion, identify obstacles and challenges along the way and finding ways of overcoming them.”

Such a journey should start immediately according to VMEC’s McClements – and by immediately he means at bid level. “To run a successful bid, you need a clear vision and a high level approach to event planning.

“You often need to be able to paint a picture of what the event will look like, where and when it will be held, the principles that will underpin delivery and the expected legacy, as well as who the key players will be. This only comes with event planning.”

Coxeter-Smith of Davis Langdon agrees: “Planning is an iterative process with each iteration exploring new levels of detail. At a high level at least, there should be a plan in place at the time of bidding.”

“We start planning for some events up to 10 years in advance,” adds Bush of EventScotland. “The bidding process can have positive impacts on legacy and sustainability, along with the impacts of the event itself years later.”

Planning and running a major event means negotiating an ever-changing obstacle course according to Rushman.

“That means having the vision and the tools to be able to look at a project from a range of different angles, identify what needs to be achieved, the barriers which will be faced, the path which must

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Rushmans RMEa

be followed and the impact that any decisions or actions will have on other parts of the project.”

In terms of facing such barriers, what sorts of things can go wrong when it comes to planning an event and how can you best manage them? “Anything and everything can go wrong,” says McClements. “When the wheels fall off, you discover just how solid your event planning is. Last year, for example, our national football code [AFL] Grand Final ended with a tied score for the first time since 1977.

“No one expected it, and you couldn’t really plan for it. This meant that one week later, 100,000 people turned up once again at the Melbourne Cricket Ground to replay the Grand Final – which happened to be the same weekend as the UCI Road World Championships women’s and men’s road races were held locally.”

Having a good crisis management/ risk assessment model in place is vital according to Bush: “Things to consider include financial viability and close monitoring of cash flows; unexpected global activity such as the ash clouds and riots and the general economy. Your crisis management plan should factor these in and then it’s a case of putting it into practice.”

When it comes to the successful planning and running of an event, McClements believes it is critical to have absolute clarity on what the event is and what the host city/country is trying to achieve in hosting the event. “The management consultant’s mantra – strategy, structure, and staff – rings true,” he explains. “Whether you’re running

a global consumer goods business or a major sporting event, if you get the strategy, structure and staff right, you will have a world class major event on your hands.”

Rushman stresses that teamwork is vital to success: “Perhaps the most important aspect of the management of any complex project is ensuring that every single key individual involved is aware of the goal and their role and that they are empowered to contribute fully and frankly to the process. That means leaving egos at the door and becoming part of a team dedicated to problem-solving and positive action.”

Davis Langdon’s Coxeter-Smith has himself identified several elements that are crucial to the smooth running of a major event: “Strong leadership and governance; absolute clarity of objective – why are we doing this, what is it for?; the right people; the right processes; sufficient time and the effective use of time are all essential.”

The final word goes to Event Planning Group’s Sharp who agrees that time is a critical issue. “Many organising committees focus so hard on the delivery of the event and don’t spend as much time on contingencies for when things don’t go according to plan,” he says. “It’s about making sure there is time within the planning phase to really focus on such matters. The most successful events are the ones that spent a great deal of time on risk assessment and contingency as even the best planned event never runs strictly according to plan. It’s about being trained and ready and having that flexibility to respond accordingly.”

Event Planning

Marathon Start - 2006 Doha Asian Games

EVENT PLANNING GROUP Event Planning Group (EPG) has extensive experience in the complexities of planning and delivering major international events and tournaments. EPG has provided services to Local Organising Committees (LOCs) of Summer and Winter Olympic Games, Asian and Commonwealth Games plus cricket, rugby and football World Cups: EPG’s service range is extensive and tailored to the requirements of a particular Organising Committee with the flexibility to respond to local environments.

The following details some of the services EPG has provided to major international sporting events over the last 11 years.

Cost Management The company has the ability to become involved at a very early stage through its Event Cost Management partner, Rider Levett Bucknall. The firm has been appointed to manage Venues and Infrastructure budgets and costs at several major events soon after a LOC is formed.

Through this involvement at previous events, including the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, overlay cost expertise already exists alongside unique historical cost databases built following many years in the sector. This enables fast and accurate benchmarking of costs in this highly specialised area for both long term legacy and short term overlay options.

The company always commits senior cost management executives to provide the highest service levels possible and this has resulted in

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the development of a strong team of event cost experts who work closely with LOC management to control and reduce costs.

Health and Safety Health and safety is increasingly a critical area of focus at major events. EPG made an early commitment to develop and train a team of specialists and can provide health and safety support to a LOC’s Functional Area teams, including fire safety and prevention and incident response.

Supply Chain Management and Procurement Through its involvement at various major international sports events, EPG has gained considerable knowledge of the event supply chain.

This knowledge has proven invaluable in helping LOC Procurement and in ensuring a balance between the best commercial outcomes for a LOC and suitability of supply in evaluating the most suitable contractors / suppliers for a particular project. In essence, EPG acts as the LOC’s advocate when dealing with this unique supply chain.

Overlay Planning The event sector is providing innovative and exciting solutions to venue overlay issues, for example the development of temporary venues. As this concept develops there is an increased requirement for overlay knowledge and experience.

PARTNER CASE STUDY

EPG has expertise across operations of all LOC functional areas and has an established and proven track record in the planning and delivery of overlay solutions to support these operations. The team has worked with LOC’s to develop the most practical and financially viable solution for each location and integrated with procurement, architect and engineering teams to plan and deliver the concepts.

Catering Management The provision of catering and hospitality to all customer groups at major events, within the venues and locations, is an enormous challenge. EPG catering experts can design the concept along with operational planning and management to ensure the provision of a high quality service to all customer groups within the venue / location. Commercial value is retained by the event organiser and not by the food service provider.

Main Operations Centre - 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games

Logistics Management

Venue Security Infrastructure

This critical discipline encompasses procurement, storage, distribution, management, retrofit and disposal of all materials and assets for the entire event platform. EPG logistics experts have a wealth of experience in this highly specialised area and can design, plan, deliver and manage complex and critical solutions

EPG offers LOC’s a team, including very experienced project and cost managers, who are responsible for several aspects of physical security at major events including the planning, programme management and cost management of the process. This service also involves close liaison with a LOC’s security team plus all the multiple stakeholders involved including government security agencies.

Project Management EPG’s Project Managers bring a wealth of experience to LOC’s, from numerous major events across the globe.

Using knowledge gained working at competition and non competition venues around the world EPG Project Managers work alongside LOC teams to coordinate input from all LOC departments.

The Project Managers coordinate a team of architects, quantity surveyors, engineers and construction managers (internal and external) to deliver venues that will operate effectively for Games Time and work within national legislation, design framework and budget.

In addition, PMs support the individual sports with the necessary information/plans to gain approval from International Federations. They support the monitoring of overlay procurement, venue construction and overlay installation to ensure games-time requirements are met and will also support the monitoring of overlay removal and venue reinstatement post games.

Finally, EPG PMs monitor and manage the health and safety obligation throughout the venue design and delivery process and report on status of costs associated with the event overlay, including management of the change control process during the entire project cycle.

Media and Athlete Villages Provision of media and athlete accommodation facilities at major international events is a complex component of event delivery requiring a unique and detailed skill set and knowledge base. EPG has been instrumental in delivering both media and athlete villages at many Olympic and Commonwealth Games.

Operational Readiness As a LOC moves into delivery mode so Operational Readiness becomes increasingly important. EPG staff have experience of managing this programme to ensure a smooth transition from the planning to the operational phase for all functional areas.

Overlay Contract Management Working as part of a Venue Development team, EPG can provide highly experienced PMs to lead the management of the construction as well as contract management resource.

As this develops, the primary responsibility will be in the management and coordination of these contracts with an emphasis on temporary construction contracts such as site works and construction management agreements.

EPG staff act as the key client contact for suppliers on a day-today basis to ensure that the LOC objectives are met and also develop strong and effective working relationships with suppliers to ensure that they deliver on their contractual commitments.

Venue Management EPG provide senior staff to support LOC Venue Management and Operations. These roles oversee all aspects of Games Time operational planning and involve considerable liaison with all relevant authorities and other stakeholders in relation to Venue Precinct and Venue Management operational matters.

The key priorities in these important roles are to develop and lead a cross functional team and to put into place processes to ensure the safe and effective planning and operation of the venue at Games time.

There is a considerable level of responsibility in these positions and the company’s most experienced personnel with many years of Games experience are involved in ensuring the successful delivery of the Games.

For further information contact EPG’s Client Relationship Manager David Cook at dcook@eventplanninggroup.net

EPG Event Planning Group SPORTS EVENT MANAGEMENT

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Event Design in association with

DESIGNS ON SUCCESS Effective design not only defines major sports events in the eyes of the world but plays a key role in ensuring legacy promises are met.

The successful acquisition of a major sporting event offers a host city or nation the opportunity to revitalise and reinvent itself in front of the watching world.

Of course accommodation and transportation infrastructure can be upgraded, but there are plenty of questions to ponder to ensure the successful delivery of the facilities that will make and define the event itself.

In these difficult economic times a firm design vision is needed to ensure the massive investment involved is not wasted.

Bearing responsibility for the design of the Olympic Stadium and architectural and overlay services, Populous is playing a major role in the delivery of the London 2012 Games.

And Ben Vickery, a senior principal at the company, believes the delicate act of balancing permanent and temporary venues presents the greatest challenge to major event organisers.

“Obviously it’s only worth building something permanently if it’s going to

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have a longer term life beyond just a oneoff event,” he says.

“For the London Olympics, some venues that are not needed in the longer term are wholly temporary.

“So for example, the Hockey Centre on the Olympic Park will be a 16,000-seat temporary venue, as will beach volleyball at Horse Guards Parade.

“The use of temporary rented accommodation has given the opportunity for events to be held around the city in a way you wouldn’t be able to achieve with permanent buildings.

“So the beach volleyball will be right in the heart of the city at a historic location.

This is only made possible by the facility being temporary, but it means a fantastic atmosphere and location for that event.”

Legacy has become the buzz word for major event hosts in recent years as the need to identify long-term benefits from staging global sports gatherings has become ever more important.

The issue of future-proofing sports venues is the most critical challenge event designers have to overcome, according to David Manica, president and owner of MANICA Architecture.

“Too often, venues are designed and constructed under the intense pressure of a world event that may last a matter of weeks – while their long term viability is easily overlooked, ill considered, or otherwise dismissed,” he says.

“Issues related to location, capacity, and sport event configurations that may be related to the specific requirements for the large event are difficult to sustain after the circus has left town.

“I have found that the best venues are designed from the start to be successful for the long term, and then modified on a temporary basis to accommodate the needs of the major event.”

Taking a different approach to the legacy challenge is the epic Singapore Sports Hub project, which is scheduled to open in 2014.

With a new 55,000-seat stadium anchoring the estimated US$1.9 billion project, Clive Lewis, senior associate of Arup’s sports business division, believes it will set a new standard for event design.

“This is not being designed with any specific major events in mind, which is a unique approach for projects I have worked on,” he says.

“From day one, we are looking at the Sports Hub as a venue that is about legacy without a major event being there from the beginning, which I think is a completely new way of approaching the design of a precinct which is going to be about more than one venue.

“It’s going to have a stadium and aquatics centre, along with 12,000-seat and 3,000-seat indoor arenas all on one precinct.

“They are thinking about the long-term goal for sport in Singapore and they know there is a range of events they can host there after they have built it.”

From a general perspective, Lewis maintains event design must tie in with the creation of transportation facilities.

“The biggest thing for me in all of this is to ensure there is a focus on transportation and access infrastructure

Singapore Sports Hub

from the outset,” he continues.

“If you think of Brazil, this will be the biggest challenge they face for the FIFA World Cup. “Brazil could probably have benefited from having the Olympic Games in Rio before the World Cup. “They could have got their heads around what they needed to do to improve the infrastructure and how this would work across the whole country.

“The long-term legacy of a major event precinct is always going to be much better if it is on an integrated city network system, where people can easily get to these facilities every day of the year.”

Populous is currently working on temporary installation for London 2012, with Vickery stating that next year’s Olympics will set new design standards in the areas of sustainability and spectator experience.

The company’s overlay architecture remit is split into three main categories including the use of temporary elements within existing facilities, such as archery events at iconic cricket venue Lord’s.

The Olympic Stadium itself is a perfect example of a new facility which includes temporary elements, while the use of completely temporary venues can be

illustrated by beach volleyball at Horse Guards Parade.

“I would say that like many things in the world right now, environmental sustainability is very important,” says Vickery.

“In terms of major events such as the Olympics, using temporary facilities wherever you can is crucial.

“There are many different sides to reducing impact on the environment.

Lowering energy use in all its different aspects, making buildings temporary and allowing them to be moved from one location to another is critically important.

“Besides that there is also the need to improve areas such as spectator experience and comfort.

“At the London Olympics we hope to create a more enjoyable event by distributing the sports across the city.

MANICA Architecture’s VTB Arena Park project aims to not only become a centrepiece for Russia’s hosting of the 2018 World Cup, but also dramatically change the way sport and entertainment projects are designed and built around the world.

Valued at over $1.5 billion, the project in the heart of Moscow encompasses a new 45,000-seat stadium and a

15,000-seat indoor arena, along with commercial, residential and entertainment offerings, with completion set for 2016.

“This project is a good example of a venue that is being built first and foremost for the city, its people, and its long term financial success,” explains Manica.

“Its ability to host events as part of Russia’s 2018 World Cup is purely temporary. The site, concourses, and support areas will change dramatically after the tournament is over.

“Even the capacity will be reduced by 12,000 seats – leaving only the most desirable seats for future generations of Muscovites to enjoy.

“Of particular interest in Moscow is the indoor multi-purpose arena which will actually drive more event days per year than the stadium – making the entire complex more successful.

“Finally, we are seeing that sports facilities are often paired with commercial retail development in order to create a more dynamic synergy and expand the spectator experience 365 days per year. Again, our project in Moscow is a good example of this kind of development.”

SPORTS EVENT MANAGEMENT

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Event Design

London 2012 Olympic Stadium - © POPULOUS

LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC GAMES A DECADE IN THE MAKING: HOW GLOBAL DESIGN PRACTICE POPULOUS HAS HELPED IN THE CREATION OF THE LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC GAMES When, as a host city, you first start thinking about an Olympic masterplan, the numbers are staggering: 26 Olympic sports and 21 Paralympic sports across 33 venues in 27 days - the equivalent of 451 concurrent days of sports competition. Add 10,500 athletes, 4,200 Paralympic athletes, 8.8 million ticketed spectators, 4.3 billion TV viewers, 20,000 media and 70,000 volunteers and it’s clear that the challenge is a complex one, to say the least.

So where do you start? For the London 2012 organisers, the decade leading up to the games has been a series of steps, from the first plans for the bid to the completed Olympic stadium, in all of which Populous has been proud to assist.

Developing a winning bid Nine cities set out to become the host city for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. In London, Populous joined a consortium of designers and other experts to work with the London 2012 Bid Company to meet the challenge of coming up with a bid that would persuade the IOC to select it ahead of those other competing cities, by delivering a proposal that had vision, but was also technically robust.

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A key initial requirement was to outline all the proposed venues for the Games. The site for the Olympic Park itself – the Lower Lee Valley - had been identified some years before by the British Olympic Association.

For the remaining venues, it was a question of analysing what already existed, what needed to be built and what could be purely temporary.

The organisers were also keen to use the city of London as a backdrop for the event. “We thought about the symbols of the city that could be brought into play,” says Populous Principal Jeff Keas. “Places like Horse Guards Parade and Greenwich Park are internationally-recognised locations, so in order to mark these Games as belonging to London, they needed to be incorporated into the plans.”

Alongside physical locations, a key consideration in the planning stages for any major event is the people involved. For the Olympic Games, there are numerous user groups including broadcasters, the media and spectators, but the most important is of course the athletes themselves. They spend years in training, reaching their peak for this one event, so the conditions and facilities need to be at optimum level. This was key to decisions such as how the venues might be clustered and Populous helped to develop a masterplan that ensured that no athlete should have to travel for more than an hour to reach his or her event.

After the announcement in May 2004 that London had made the shortlist, Populous was part of the all-important evaluation process, taking part both in evaluation visits and in the presentation to the IOC, where Senior Principal Jerry Anderson helped convince the IOC Evaluation Committee that the London bid had the right approach to create a memorable event.

PARTNER CASE STUDY

In July 2005, the nation held its breath to see if London would be awarded the Games.

Turning the vision into reality After the euphoria of being announced as the host city, the hard work really began. The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) was set up and the concepts and plans outlined in the Bid Book had to be developed into master plans and venue plans that would allow ideas to be transformed into reality.

Populous worked with LOCOG to review the venue plans in detail and found that some of the venue proposals within the bid could be adjusted to enhance their staging of the event. For example, at Lords Cricket Ground, we worked with the International Archery Federation to realign the Archery course along the axis between the main pavilion and media centre, which has actually enhanced the venue for both athletes and spectators, while remaining true to the original concept of using the historic setting as a backdrop to the event.

At this stage, LOCOG also had to prepare design briefs for each venue, prior to awarding the development to the competing contractors. Populous was able to draw upon the experience it has gained from working on many previous Olympic Games to help with this, as well as with design and operational reviews.

Much like the hours that an athlete spends in training, relying on that core work to let them achieve their best in the competition itself, the detailed plans worked on during these 18 months are the foundation on which the 27 days of the Games themselves rely.

Designing the venues The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) was then established to develop and build many of the key venues and infrastructure and in any Olympic Games, the focal point of the event is the Olympic Stadium.

It’s here that the Opening and Closing Ceremonies take place and that some of the most eagerly anticipated Athletics events, such as the 100m, take place.

In January 2007, Populous was delighted to be appointed as architects for the main stadium, as part of the Team Stadium consortium.

“We were very aware of its significance to the London 2012 Games as a whole” explains Populous Associate Principal Tom Jones, “so we went out and consulted with the public through talks in town halls, open stakeholder sessions and technical fora. These meetings were a very useful way to get feedback on the design that we were developing.”

From a technical perspective, the brief’s main challenge was to create a structure that could be both temporary and permanent - capable of holding 80,000 spectators during the Games themselves but becoming a more manageable 25,000 seat stadium after the Olympics.

“This scale of reconfiguration had never been attempted before,” says Populous Senior Principal, Rod Sheard, “and so we had to ‘embrace the temporary’ and re-think the way we design a Stadium, exploring materials, structure and operational systems in a completely different way.”

After 130,000 architect hours spent on the project, the completed stadium was handed back to the ODA in March 2011, ahead of schedule and reflecting a wonderful team effort from all involved in the project.

Getting ready for the show As the ODA started the handover of the main venues to LOCOG, the focus then shifted to getting these venues ready to host Olympic and Paralympic events. Populous was appointed by LOCOG to lead the Team Populous consortium, which had responsibility for designing all of the overlay works for the Games.

Often, overlay design is the unsung hero in major events, with the focus being on the main projects. But for these Games, Populous Senior Principal John Barrow was keen to develop the overlay in such a way that the temporary venues provided as many of the showcases as the permanent venues.

There are many advantages to overlay. Firstly – most obviously – it means that you avoid being left with any ‘white elephants’, permanent structures that have no use once the Games are over. Secondly, it gives freedom: it’s thanks to overlay that we’re able to stage equestrian events at a world heritage site in Greenwich Park. Thirdly, it adds flexibility to permanent structures, as with the Stadium itself. A venue can be expanded to meet the Games’ requirements, then revert to a more manageable size thereafter.

Overall, London 2012 will have temporary structures equivalent to the number of permanent structures built for the last three summer Games, including 250,000 modular seats, 165,000m2 of tents, 140km of fencing, 250 km of crowd barriers and 100,000m2 of temporary sports surfaces.

As part of our appointment as official Architectural and Overlay Design Services Provider, Populous has also helped LOCOG to design the test event configurations. These crucial events are conducted a year before the Games and test, venue by venue, issues such as whether the field of play is right for the athletes, the movement of spectators and the sequencing for building a venue. The test events allow any final adjustments in design and operations to be made in good time.

Delivering a lasting legacy In August 2013, the new Royal Park will be reopened to the public, a permanent legacy of London hosting the 2012 Olympic Games. The Games will be a catalyst for urban regeneration in East London, fast tracking 25-30 years of planned work into just a decade and creating a vibrant, thriving place to live and work.

For people like Populous Associate Principal Chris Jopson, it will also represent a decade of work, starting with initial site explorations in 2003 and running through to the opening of the park in 2013.

Populous is proud to have worked with the London 2012 organisers on so many of the steps in this Olympic journey, drawing on a broad base of skills to assist them in delivering what we feel confident will be a truly memorable Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Tom Jones (Business Development Manager) tom.jones@populous.com; +44 (0)20 8874 7666; www.populous.com

SPORTS EVENT MANAGEMENT

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Event Design

Commonwealth Games, Delhi 2010

BRINGING DREAMS TO LIFE ‘Every Dream has a Design’ is the founding philosophy of DESIGNSPORT, a sport architecture and event design consultancy dedicated to the development and promotion of sport through Architecture, Design and New Media.

Led by Founder and CEO, Samantha Cotterell, this innovative and dynamic company of master planners, architects, ex-athletes, designers and filmmakers is at the forefront of event design.

With proven experience at some of the world’s largest sporting events it has built a reputation as one of the leading event design companies through its work at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and the 2011 Asian Football Cup. DESIGNSPORT’s marketing and communications department, FILMSPORT, is active in film, video and animation work for promoting all aspects of sporting events.

“The last few years we have been very busy with our work on the Asian Football Cup and the Delhi Commonwealth Games,” adds Cotterell. “It has been a steep learning curve for our growing team and a very enriching adventure both personally and professionally.”

Cotterell boasts 17 years of experience as a professional architect working on large scale international projects including Athens 2004 Olympic Games, Doha 2006 Asian Games and Delhi 2010

20 SPORTS EVENT MANAGEMENT

Commonwealth Games in venue overlay design and development and has had several consulting and advisory roles.

Her ties with Qatar’s sport industry were established when she worked as Head of Design for the Doha 2006 Asian Games and subsequently as Design Director, Senior Architect and co-author of bid files on behalf of and in association with the Qatar National Olympic Committee, including the winning bid files for the Qatar 2011 Asian Football Cup and the 2010 World Indoor Athletics Championships.

The company is based in Melbourne, Australia, and Doha, Qatar, and has affiliates in Italy, Greece, Australia and India.

DESIGNSPORT is currently involved in major projects in Qatar such as the Doha 2011 Arab Games and the Qatar Sports Venue Master Plan for the Qatar Olympic Committee.

INDUSTRY INNOVATOR DESIGNSPORT has a clear strategy for taking this industry to the next level and creating the most exciting sport events of the future.

Researching and working with pioneers from some of the leading universities in the world, DESIGNSPORT is investigating ways to improve on current overlay and event design practices, such as how

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modular buildings and design technology could positively challenge and affect the outcome.

“After many years in the profession we have identified gaps in the event business that require focused design attention and strategic development. Among the various fields we seek to influence through design are new technologies and how to use tailored solutions to improve the way things are done,” says Cotterell.

“Event design is not just about the event itself, its about how you impact the urban context, the existing community and the lives of the people, how you respond to their cultural needs, how each culture interprets its opportunity to host a sporting event.

“I always remind our architects that while we are in the studio designing, the athletes are out there training for the moment of a lifetime, perhaps a moment in history….we are responsible for designing the stage that will host these moments and for enhancing the atmosphere that will make these moments memorable – nothing can be left to chance!

“There is a difference between designing an event which simply satisfies the utility requirements and designing something that also creates an exciting experience.

“Our design for the 2009 FINA World Diving Championships was an example of how good design might influence the event. Traditionally the look and feel of an aquatics event is one of a range of blues with a splashing of sponsor boards – we took the opportunity to interpret the sport with its dramatic heights and elegant acrobatics and to design the diving arena as a theatre stage dressed in purples and a lime green with oversized graphics of a diver composed of Arabic script.

“When the athletes saw it they were taking photos like tourists as they expressed their amazement at the space in which they were about to compete.

“FINA wrote to us, thanking us for the exceptional work saying they had never seen anything like it. Spectators and participants alike benefited from our use of design to influence the competition experience.”

CREATING A LEGACY Because events are a matter of national pride, it is DESIGNSPORT’s experience that local professionals deliver the highest quality and commitment to an event, and to that end, DESIGNSPORT’s core team recruits, trains and mentors locally.

Our legacy is illustrated in our involvement with the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games project, in which DESIGNSPORT trained 25 local architects, most of who were recent university graduates or had little professional experience.

The local architects developed from shy students to managers of major contractors on large scale sporting facilities, dealing with delivering major construction works with an extremely punishing timeline. Most have now moved into positions with sporting authorities or events including the Indian Premier League, Formula 1, Sports

Doha Asian Games, 2006

Authority of India and more.

DESIGNSPORT retains the control of its end product by ensuring its core team are present on the ground at all times to foster a oneon-one relationship with the Client representatives and with the local team. This personal approach is valued by the Client, enhances the quality of our service while also enriching the company’s core.

A fundamental interest of DESIGNSPORT is the development of the profession of the ‘sport architect’ and how this role supports bidding cities, host nations and all sporting authorities of the industry.

Our philosophy allows us to research innovative, competitive solutions with a strong commitment to intelligent and visionary responses to evermore demanding requirements. This has resulted in the successful delivery of major sporting projects worldwide.

“Design sport is very much about the collaborative approach,” says Cotterell. “We recognize that event management requires experts in many different fields, and we continue to collaborate with our competitors in order to achieve a shared goal.”

DESIGNSPORT P.O. Box 13715 Doha, Qatar +974 44 47 67 94 designsport@designsport.org www.designsport.org

SPORTS EVENT MANAGEMENT

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Overlay

sustainable solutions What exactly do you do with a major sports venue long after the Olympics or World Cup has left town? Owen Evans speaks to the overlay specialists solving the sustainability dilemma facing organising committees.

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IN ORDER to understand how the importance of temporary structures has grown in the past 15 years, you need to look a closer look at beach volleyball.

Not only is the sport far easier on the eye than poles and tents, it is also the sort of event overlay specialists use best when it comes to creating sporting legacy in just a fortnight.

Since it joined the IOC’s schedule at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, beach volleyball has become one of the most popular tickets at the Games.

But do places like London and Beijing need permanent 15,000 seater stadiums specifically for beach volleyball long after the Olympics has finished?

Last month saw the sport’s test event for the 2012 London Games take place in one of English capital’s most famous landmarks, the Horse Guards Parade So perfect is the location that Prime Minister David Cameron could have watched the stars play from his office window.

This would not have been possible without overlay and next summer’s Games will set a precedent for the amount of temporary structures it will use.

Jeff Keas is Principal Architect at Populous, who alongside Allies and Morrison and Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands make up the consortium selected for the £350 million contract to convert existing 2012 Olympic and Paralympic venues.

Their contract will cover 36 permanent and temporary competition venues as well as the Olympic Village and media centre developments.

“If you take the three previous summer games (Sydney, Athens and Beijing) and you combine them, London is their equivalent in terms of overlay,” says Keas.

“People hear that and go ‘Wow, why so much overlay? Why so much temporary?” and I think that is pretty smart from London 2012 to have taken such a very sustainable approach to next summer’s Games.

“We were talking with them at the planning stage and they were saying they would have a look at all the existing venues first, so they could work out what they needed to build new.

“The way you figure that out is to ask ‘what does the city need?’ It has to be sustainable.

“If there isn’t an existing structure and you don’t need a legacy venue, you then build a temporary structure.”

Keas said he sat down alongside his LOCOG colleagues with a list of London’s most iconic landmarks and the IOC’s sports schedule and played a “matching game” when deciding what sport to put where.

He told SportBusiness International Royal parks like Hyde Park were earmarked to host beach volleyball before Horse Guards Parade got the nod.

“The Atlanta Games was the first Olympic Games to host beach volleyball as an event,” added Keas.

“I was fortunate to be an overlay designer for those Games. If you look at that venue and where it was located, there was quite frankly very little context.

“It was about an hour’s drive south of

BEFORE...

AFTER...

Horse Guards Parade in the heart of London is transformed as a beach volleyball venue

Atlanta. I don’t think anybody thought at the time how popular it was going to become.

“Move on to the next Games and Sydney was really smart and put beach volleyball on Bondi Beach. You can’t get a better location than that can you?

“But if you look at the way it was made, it was kind of designed to be a seating bowl 360 degrees in the round with no views out. Beijing and Athens did the same thing.

“The problem with that is even though

the players and spectators at Bondi Beach were only ten or so metres from the ocean, they couldn’t really see and experience it.

“One of the things we have done in London is create a lower bowl so we get the atmosphere around the field of play.

However, the upper tier has actually been turned into a horseshoe shape that focuses towards Horse Guards itself. So anyone sitting there can always understand the context and where they are.

“It’s what people are understanding

about overlay now. It can help brand a city and create memories in people’s minds.”

Overall, London 2012 will have approximately 250,000 modular seats, 165,000m of tents, 140km of fencing, 250 km of crowd barriers and 100,000m of temporary sports surfaces.

ENVIRONMENT Vs LEGACY On the face of it, the debate on whether temporary structures are more ecofriendly than permanent stadia seems

SPORTS EVENT MANAGEMENT

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Overlay

fairly straightforward. Short-term structures negate the need to demolish or drain energy on-site for decades to come.

But if you have overlay that requires 9,000 litres of fuel a day to heat, is it as green as first thought?

“There is a big increase in demand for people wanting to use temporary structures so they come under the sustainable umbrella,” says David Tunnicliffe, Sales Manager at De Boer, which has supplied flexible, modular structures to events ranging from the Olympic Games to meetings of G8 political leaders.

“I’m not sure how genuine people are who use those (eco-frendly) statements once they realise it could end up costing more money.

“Temporary structures can be knocked down but I have seen a lot of projects which have used a lot of timber, and obviously that is not ideal.

“The last two years are the busiest we have ever had. I don’t know if that is led by people trying to be eco-friendly or not.

“It is a difficult industry to be in as we try and be eco-friendly and use bio fuel generators and it just doesn’t work because ultimately the crowd don’t care whether it is bio-fuel or not. Essentially they don’t want to be cold and they want their food to be hot.”

Arena Group is responsible for a number of truly transformational overlay projects including the AEGON Championships at London’s Queens Club which sees a suburban members tennis club become a world class venue for a week each year.

The company’s directors share the belief that no two events are the same.

“Every event presents its own unique challenges, which may vary from adapting to local working practices, regulations, socio-political sensitivities or simply weather conditions,” a spokesman said.

“At the AEGON Championships the challenge is using limited space and

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Arena Group transforms the suburban Queen’s Club into a world-class tennis venue for the AEGON Championships

helping the sponsors achieve maximum branding opportunities. The company delivered a fresh look for the tournament in 2011.”

Arena Group is developing fast and is taking an international approach to establish resources strategically located around the globe and alliances and partnerships with specialist event companies in key territories. This allows the company to supplement resources locally, limiting the amount of specialist equipment that needs to be shipped.

In addition the company is investing in new temporary structures and a new demountable seating system that mark a step-change in event infrastructure with regards to improving spectator experience introducing better sightlines with more generous seat spacing.

Francois-Regis Picolet, Director of International Development at GL events is encouraged by the trend towards sustainability, and the international standards that are setting top-end overlay companies apart from the crowd.

“This is a very important matter,” says Picolet.

“We will be ISO 9001 and ISO 20121 (management systems standards requiring identification of key sustainability

issues like venue selection, operating procedures, supply chain etc) certified before June 2012.

“ISO 20121 is a norm which comes directly from the London 2012 effort to elevate the level of sustainability in international events.

“So yes, we can say that the whole industry benefitted from the strategy put together by London 2012.

“We are one of the first players ready to apply strict ISO sustainability rules to our project management and to our delivery management processes.”

Major sporting federations are also coming round to a sustainable way of thinking.

In the past leading football governing bodies have been left embarrassed by purpose-built stadiums lying empty after their flagship tournaments have ended.

Nussli were appointed to create temporary structures for the FIFA World Cup in South Africa in 2010.

Stefan Helfenstein, Head of Business Unit for Special Events, said he noticed a change in attitude from football’s premier governing body compared to previous World Cups.

“In South Africa we did stadium extension,” says Helfenstein.

“It was to extend the capacity for the

GLOBAL EVENT OVERLAY

W W W. A R E N A G R O U P. C O M

Overlay

Celtic Manor, Wales, becomes a fitting Ryder Cup venue with sophisticated overlay from Arena Group

stadium in Cape Town by 10,000 so they would not be left with an arena they could not fill after the event.

“This was a new strategy for FIFA as in the past they have asked organising committees to build fully permanent stadiums.

“I think now there is pressure on all organising bodies to be more sustainable.”

One way in which Nussli has attempted to improve the cost and sustainability of their projects is to recruit and resource locally, which they have found not only to be an effective charm offensive but also a good way to keep costs down.

“For example we worked on the Commonwealth Games in Delhi and had as few as seven containers of materials that had to be shipped back from India,” said Helfenstein.

“Everything else was sourced locally.

Not only did that help us reduce transport costs but it allows us to be more competitive locally.

“If you are bringing in materials from Switzerland or Germany it becomes expensive.

On the issue of whether the priority

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should be sustainability or legacy, Keas believes you can have both if you are smart.

He describes the iceberg theory in relation to construction and overlay - what you see above the water line equates to the initial costs of building a stadium or permanent structure.

Subsequently all the mass below the water line represents the costs of maintenance after it is built.

“So for us when we design a stadium it is about reducing that carbon footprint,” says Keas.

“The bottom line is London does not need a permanent 15,000 seat beach volleyball stadium.

“A piece of architecture can be built and stick around for decades, or even centuries, and it gets instilled in peoples’ minds. But with a piece of overlay, it is only going to be up for a couple of weeks before it is taken down again.

“So in that respect we face a bigger challenge in that we have to make an impression very quickly and that is difficult using just scaffolding and tents.

“The way we arrange and assemble our structures combines with the iconic elements of the host city and determine

how we are going to be remembered.”

TEMPORARY CHALLENGES While London 2012 has nailed its flag to the temporary structure mast, overlay is not without its challenges.

Timing of tenders, access to resources and extreme weather has a direct impact on how the leaders in this field operate.

“Logistics are usually the biggest problem with what we do,” says Helfenstein.

“Technically overlay can be relatively easy, but because of the late order and the huge amount of work it is a difficult issue.

“The problem of overlay work is it is normally one of the last tenders to come out. Then they put into the overlay tender everything that is remaining. Often we don’t have a contract until four, five or six months before a Games starts. So it is a logistical problem at the end.

Probably the main challenge lies in the difficulty to conciliate the large requirements for resources, be it human from project management down to labour, or equipment, coming from major international events and those coming from recurring business,” added Picolet.

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Overlay

GL EVENTS DELIVERY OF OVERLAY SERVICES AND TURNKEY EVENT SOLUTIONS – FIFA WORLD CUP SOUTH AFRICA 2010 GL events were contracted to deliver the full scope of Overlay Services for the FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010. The turn-key solution provided to the South African Local Organising Committee (SALOC) covered all types of Overlay Services required for the different functional areas of the event.

SCOPE GL events was appointed as the Global Overlay Contractor on all ten Stadium Venues for the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa.

This is the biggest contract signed by GL events in the world of major sporting events.

Our role was to design, develop, deliver and install solutions for the complete range of event specific temporary requirements for all functional areas. Temporary Infrastructure requirements for functional areas covered by the main contract covered Media, Broadcast, Administration, Public, Ticketing, Accreditation, Logistics and Security.

The SALOC contract covered all 10 Host City Stadia of the FIFA World Cup; Soccer City – Johannesburg, Ellis Park – Johannesburg, Moses Mabhida Stadium – Durban, Peter Mokhaba Stadium – Durban, Greenpoint Stadium – Cape Town, Bloemfontein Stadium – Bloemfontein, Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium

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– Port Elizabeth, Royal Bafokeng Stadium – Rustenburg, Loftus Stadium – Pretoria and Mbombela Stadium – Nelspruit.

In addition to the main contract to the SALOC, GL events secured subsidiary contracts to 19 end users over a further 12 Non Competition Venues bringing the total turnover for GL events South African overlay services during 2010 to over 53M€.

DELIVERABLES The GL events project team undertook the design, installation and implementation, maintenance, dismantling and removal of multiple commodities incorporating: 62,533 sqm of Tent structure, 15,002 sqm of scaffold, 150,000 sqm of carpet, 9,528 linear metres (lm) of modular partitioning, 1,222 lm of Exhibition walling, 712 lm of dry walling, 132 simple doors, 2,508 Media Desks, that included 7,223 sqm of shutter ply wood for platforms, 12,250 self drilling screws to fix the platforms to the steel bases, 15,048 side/front panels, Field of play equipment, 60 goals delivered, 80 corner flags, 60 Team benches, 40 Presentation studios, 1.458 sqm of frosted glass, 173 Flags installed/ removed, 100 Office containers, 200 storage containers, 700 Modular Containers/Office

Containers/Prefabricated Buildings, 1 World Class trophy podium, 20,000 Outlets of all type used, 1.300 Distribution boards, 100 Km of Electrical Cable, 58 HVAC Rooftops and 599 Split Units for a Cooling Capacity of almost 15,000 kW, 3,700 Fluorescent Lights, 212 Floodlights Halogen, 730 Floodlights and Hanging HQI Lights, for more than 600,000 Watts of Lighting, 283 Portaloos, 61 Female Toilets Containers, 63 Male Toilets Containers, Support to approximately 200 Press Conferences, 65.000 sqm of Fire detection coverage, 97,279 pieces of FF&E, with the most important being 54,869 Chairs, 16,819 Barstools, 8,863 Tables and 3,200 Lockers.

The functional areas and end users covered by our contracts were Media – Stadium and Team Media Centres, Media Catering facilities, Media Tribunes, Mixed Zones and Press Conference; Broadcast – The Broadcast Compound and host broadcast house, Camera Platforms, Presentation and TV Studios, Cable bridges and pathways; Food and Beverage – Beer Gardens, Temporary Concessions and Preparation Areas; Hospitality – Back of House Preparation Areas, Internal Fittings and Furniture to Villages, Suites and VIP Areas; Fan Fests – Temporary accommodations and equipments; Logistics – Log Points and Remote Search

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Parks; Security – Infrastructure and Magnometers; Ticketing – Stadium Ticketing Centres, Host City ticket collection centres and Ticket Clearing points; Accreditation – Stadium Accreditation Centres and facilities; Volunteer Centres; Special requirements such as the Trophy Podium.

GL events fulfilled the role of supply and project management through the co ordination of in house products and services, meaning core products originating from GL business units within the group network globally, and subcontracted items and services procured locally.

GL EVENTS APPROACH After the success of the Confederations Cup, GL events acted as SALOC’s partner with early involvement and co-ordination, from the project design stage to project realisation, to deliver the most professional service. We are a multi-specialist Overlay solutions designer and provider therefore we are experienced in delivering projects on time and to specification by utilising our inhouse solutions or by working with our many subcontract partners.

The key organization principle of the GL events Project Team was a “matrix organisation chart” with a Team based on a Project Director and support services (legal, quantity surveyor, financial controller), with Commodity Project Managers and Site Managers: • Operations: 1 Operations Director, 10 Site Managers, 10 Assistant Site Managers, Site Foremen, up to 2500 workers • Technical: commodities covered by Technical Project Managers • Design Team

• Supported by a Logistic Manager, Logistics Team, Finance and Administration Team, QS & Contract Management Team, Procurement Team, Business Development Team Our onsite Team comprised of several nationalities (27 in total) including British, local South Africans, French, all of whom English was their first language or were fluent in it.

Our Team was responsible for: • Contract administration & close management of claims and variations • Health, Safety and Regulations: Thanks to our experience in installing temporary structures and Overlay, GL events were able to meet local standards and regulations.

The knowledge was incorporated into ensuring that our workforce and partners fully understood and complied with standards.

• Sub-contractors audits and follow-up: The detailed audits undertaken were to guarantee that sub-contractors respected and understood the requirements of the Client. These were reinforced by monitoring and regularly checking the work methods for design, production, logistics and installation.

• Client reporting: Our management Team reported to SALOC on a regular basis to ensure that the project matched the requirements and expectations of the client. Our approach resulted in a positive, memorable and lasting experience for all of those involved.

• Design and installation constraints e.g. ensuring that the Overlay would be delivered on time and to the right specification • Combining the project management of GL events’ core businesses and subcontracted commodities • This was more a Project Management role than a Supplier role The main challenge was to coordinate the delivery to multiple venues, and manage GL core business commodities (50%) and subcontracted commodities (50%), in a uniform and consistent manner with total transparency for the client.

OUTCOME This project required us to adapt our solutions in order to cope with a multi-site layout and challenging Overlay inventory. 3 weeks prior to the start of the tournament, GL events were proud to confirm that the Overlay project was on time and within budget.

This experience showed that GL events can assure product knowledge initiating in the Design department, improved reactivity and contingency planning, guaranteed delivery, flexibility in providing effective solutions.

GL events offer one single point of reference for all Overlay demands and needs of the Organizing Committee, End-Users and various Stakeholders.

KEY CHALLENGES • Regulations: compliance with local regulations and standards including health and safety • Respecting local culture and conditions • Employing and training local workforce, leaving a legacy of skilled and semi skilled labour

SPORTS EVENT MANAGEMENT

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Overlay

Super Bowl XLII, University of Phoenix Stadium, Arizona - Getty Images Sport

NFL SUPER BOWL CREATING THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH: HOW THE POPULOUS TEAM HELP THE NFL STAGE THE SUPER BOWL The Super Bowl is one of the most culturally significant sporting events in the world. The championship game of the professional American football league takes places on the first Sunday of February each year and enjoys the status of an unofficial American holiday.

In 1983, when global design practice Populous first started work on the Super Bowl, the event was still predominantly a national one, with a mostly US-based television audience. Now ‘Super Bowl Sunday’ attracts TV audiences around the world. In 2011, when the 45th Super Bowl saw the Green Bay Packers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, the game was watched by an average of 111 million viewers on the Fox network, an increase of 4.5 million on CBS’ figures the previous year.

In fact, the Super Bowl accounts for 9 of the top 10 most-viewed programmes of all time in the USA.

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Everything about the event is on an extraordinary scale: it’s the second biggest day of the year for food consumption in the States, after Thanksgiving. A single 30 second advertising slot costs $3 million.

There are activities, parties, hospitality and gatherings of all types organised around the game day extravaganza. For a standard season football game around 200 media people attend. For the Super Bowl, the number goes up to 2,000 – and that upsurge is matched in every other area of the event.

An event of this scale obviously demands unparalleled levels of organisation. For the past 28 years Populous has been proud to work with the NFL in staging this spectacular annual event. Populous’ role is broad-based, starting with the development of the site-wide masterplan and then moving onto the venue and temporary facility design, procurement, overseeing construction, operations planning and implementation, utilities and technical planning, signage planning and implementation, and event scheduling.

PARTNER CASE STUDY

Exceeding the boundaries There is no stadium that can hold the Super Bowl within the confines of its permanent infrastructure. Every aspect of the event, from the size of the audience, to the number of concessions, to the media and broadcast facilities, exceeds the boundaries of the venues in which it’s held. This means that event overlay has been taken to almost unparalleled levels of complexity, quantity, and detail by the NFL and Populous to support the event.

Essentially, the challenge is to construct an entire town, with all its required facilities and amenities, but one which exists for just a single day.

The Super Bowl XLV, staged at the Cowboys Stadium in Texas, had over 90,000 spectators on site, alongside 18,000 square metres of tents, 12 kilometres of fencing, 900 metres of concrete barricades, 260 portaloos and 42,000 metres of electrical cable.

Event planning Preliminary work for Jerry Anderson and his team starts up to three years in advance for each Super Bowl, assessing what each city and stadium’s requirements are and helping the NFL in their initial awarding of the contract. For the entire year leading up to the game, Todd Barnes leads a team on site, which means that as soon as one Super Bowl finishes, the Populous team are thinking about the next. The team works on drawings and layouts and, as the year progresses, the team increases in line with the scale of the work. Three weeks before, the delivery and set-up commences. On game day itself, the team is at its peak.

Super Bowl XLIV, Sun Life Stadium, Miami, Florida – Getty Images Sport

Integration One of the most critical aspects of the plan is the true marriage of operations with facilities; by making sure these two aspects are properly integrated, Populous is able to support the NFL by delivering the most effective use of the venue, the staff, the schedule, and the equipment that supports every part of the event.

The overlay plan uses significant quantities of temporary commodities.

This generally includes tens of thousands of square metres of tents, hundreds of portable trailer structures, kilometres of fencing and barricades, scores of massive generators and 45 kilometres of electrical cable. From trash cans to thousands of temporary signs, no detail is considered too small. And all of these commodities have to deliver a cohesive experience that reflects the NFL brand.

To manage the work, “a fully integrated event plan is crucial,” says Anderson. “The plan takes all the existing features of the stadium campus and marries those with a temporary commodities plan.”

The plan also joins together the aspects of facilities design with transportation planning, crowd flow and management, and operations.

Raising the bar

As well as the physical dimensions of the stadium, some of the key drivers behind the Event Plan are the people involved - the participating teams, the US and NFL Broadcast networks domestically and the numerous international broadcast networks who form a significant presence at the Super Bowl. There are also over 3500 accredited media to consider, the sponsors and of course the spectators, ranging in number annually from 70,000 to 90,000.

Populous has raised the bar on planning over the past 27 years. We now use the most advanced methods of 3D and animated drawings, renderings, scheduling and estimating software developed in house expressly for the Super Bowl.

The Super Bowl has come to be about far more than sport – the Halftime Show attracts some of the world’s biggest music stars including Bruce Springsteen, U2, Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson and, most recently, the Black Eyed Peas. There are also huge hospitality parties on the grounds including the NFL Tailgate Party and On Location program.

A gathering of such significant numbers, with so many celebrities involved, demands high levels of security – the Super Bowl is a level one National Security Special Event, as designated by the US Department of Homeland Defense. This is the highest security rating given to any event in the US. As a result, there are significant facilities created to fulfill the security programme.

Each year the Super Bowl not only tests the current applications and technologies available in the temporary commodities and design marketplace, but also pushes the envelope to create even greater and more memorable experiences.

No event is watched or scrutinised as much as the Super Bowl.

Populous is honoured to have been a partner of the NFL for more than a quarter of a century, working with them to create this unparalleled experience, which has become a standard bearer for the highest levels of achievement and quality in a sports event. The delivery of the event plan carries the highest of expectations and Populous is proud to have risen to the challenge each year.

Jerry Anderson (Senior Principal) jerry.anderson@populous.com; +1 303 382 2780 www.populous.com

SPORTS EVENT MANAGEMENT

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Personnel in association with

I M PA C T SPORTS RECRUITMENT

PEOPLE POWER STAFF ARE THE BEDROCK OF ALL MAJOR EVENTS AND EFFECTIVE RECRUITMENT STRATEGY IS CENTRAL TO SUCCESS.

IN EVENTS, nothing happens without the right people.

An Organising Committee may commission the finest stadia, state-ofthe-art practice facilities and the most luxurious athlete accommodation but without the human software to create, operate and co-ordinate these and the myriad other functions that make an event tick, not a ball is kicked, tackle made or race run.

The point is not lost on Richard Graham, executive director of Impact Sports Recruitment which specialises in recruiting staff for major events.

“From the CEO of an Organising Committee to the volunteers directing traffic, events are about people,” he said.

“The growing demands on event organisers to raise the bar mean that the experience and quality of event staff is simply critical to the delivery of event.

And that in turn impacts on the way it

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is received by athletes, spectators and television viewers.”

“In an age when governments invest huge sums to bid for and then stage major sports events, ensuring that they run smoothly is critical to ensuring return on investment. If the world perceives an event as shambolic, perceptions of the host clearly suffer.”

The staffing requirements of major sports events are simply mind-bending.

The task has often been likened to setting up an organisation on the scale of a Fortune 500 company, operating it for a few years and then dissolving the whole thing within months of the event ending.

And like any major corporation, organising a major event draws on a huge range of managerial, technological and financial disciplines sets as well as the event specific skills required to ensure that every functional area operates effectively and achieves its targets.

Richard Graham believes the key is ensuring that all critical roles are filled by individuals with genuine experience of the particular dynamics of the events business. But, he says, the expanding number of events around the world today, means that the experience base is stretched thin.

“The biggest events, such as the Olympic Games, Asian Games and PanAm Games tend to have first pick of the experienced staff that travels the

world from event to event while countries with a long established event-hosting tradition will have a constant pool of talent available. But there are difficulties in emerging nations which need to attract experienced talent if they are to deliver world class events,” he said.

Impact Sports Recruitment sits at the heart of Sports Crowd, a specialist social network for events professionals, many of whom fit Graham’s description of the ‘event gypsies’ who traverse the globe, taking their skill and knowledge from event to event.

“In many ways these people are the backbone of the industry,” he said.

“They move from job to job, adding to their own knowledge base but also

leaving a legacy of event skills among the local people they work alongside.”

But, he adds, there can be pitfalls for employers.

“It is in the nature of the events world that there are a lot of people out there moving from project to project and sometimes making unsubstantiated claims about the level of real experience and capability they have. That means one of the difficulties employers face is verifying those claims in order to hire the best people.

“There are around 30 operational areas involved in delivering an event and simply accepting what is written on a CV can be hazardous. A claim to have been a ‘venue logistics administrator, for example, may

in reality relate to someone who did the photocopying or whitewashed the stadium wall,” he explained.

Graham believes that Impact’s focus on event personnel and its connectivity within the events world gives it a head start in this area.

“We are part of the network and not only have a unique understanding of what is required by Organising Committees but the ability to check-out CVs and verify the credentials of every client,” he said.

While the notion that experience is a key attribute for event personnel is unquestionable, it cannot be applied universally. It may seem somewhat paradoxical but the man – or woman –

at the top of an Organising Committee is routinely the least specifically experienced of any of the senior staff on the team.

According to Simon Cummins, managing partner of the international sports practice at Odgers, this is an entirely predictable and positive situation.

“It is true that many top positions are held by people with no previous events experience but that is largely inevitable and does help ensure that the overall management of events is in the hands of those with wide-ranging experience of running big, complex enterprises,” he explained.

Cummins, who has recruited senior management for projects including

SPORTS EVENT MANAGEMENT

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Personnel in association with

I M PA C T SPORTS RECRUITMENT

the London 2012 and Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games and is currently working on behalf of the Rio 2016 Organising Committee, says that the approach to senior roles has changed significantly over the years.

“Everybody wants to benefit from knowledge transfer and adopt best practice but there is also a desire among some Organising Committees to innovate and do things their own way.

Consequently they are often looking for fresh blood with new ideas.

“There are also issues around governments becoming involved in the process and, in some cases, insisting on using local people rather than recruiting from the international talent pool.

“The outcome is that, in general, the very top roles go to people with successful track records outside of events while the middle management tier brings the specialist knowledge of individual functional areas.”

“The people at the top of Organising Committees have to be tremendously bright, capable and ahead of the curve.

They must have experience of dealing not only with major projects but with a complex set of stakeholders and the ability to understand the public as well as the private sector. In addition, the ones who do well are those who are used to operating at a certain scale and operating internationally.”

“Over the years the sector has become more appealing to quality business people because it is now viewed as a real business challenge.

“In fact, we now spend a lot of time testing motivation because there are people who apply for roles for the wrong reason. There is a lot of passion in sport and while that is important, it has to be

34 SPORTS EVENT MANAGEMENT

controlled and it is easy to get the heart/ head balance wrong.

Chris King of Sports Recruitment International agrees that search and recruitment in the events sector is being driven by the need for greater professionalism across the board.

“Events are such a big commitment and the risks can be high. That means that leadership is critical, not just across entire projects but in each of the individual areas which make up an event.

“There has been a significant evolution in recruitment in the sector and a more sophisticated approach has emerged.

London 2012, for example, adopted a very process driven approach to event management and in many instances hired for capability rather than direct experience.

They recruited for the entire journey and expected people to change jobs within the organisation along the way.”

But, says King, circumstances inevitably differ between events.

“If you to somewhere like Qatar, which is making such an impression on the events stage, they have a small population and a skills base which is still developing.

They will need help to recruit from the international talent pool even if the appetite is, where possible, to hire locally.”

Will Lloyd, founder of the online careers and recruitment service

GlobalSportsJobs is equally convinced that recruitment is the most important element of the event management mix.

“The important thing is to recruit for the right blend of experience, skills and attitude across the team,” he said.

“As I see it the biggest mistake, made by some Organising Committees is to have too rigid a recruitment strategy from the outset. It is vital to have a flexible attitude to allow you to deal with situations as they arise. For example, there is a tendency for OCs to believe they are thinking globally while actually taking a local approach to hiring.

“That may be understandable from the perspective of wishing to create a talent legacy. But while a talent legacy is important and can be a lucrative export if approached correctly, focusing on this rather than a successful event can have disastrous consequences.

Lloyd has three key pieces of advice for OCs. “It may seem obvious but it is easy to forget that an event is only as good as the people you hire to deliver it,” he said.

“You have to start early, and get the best professional advice you can to deliver a watertight strategic plan and ensure that you get the good blend of experience, skills, attitude, language and culture.”

RECRUITMENT: YOUR SEARCH ENDS HERE

In events, people are your most valuable asset. They’re the difference between success and failure.

So you’ve come to the right place.

Impact Sports Recruitment specialises in finding the best people in the world for the world’s best events.

We’re at the heart of an international network of the most experienced events professionals and understand exactly how to match their talents to your key roles.

IMPACT SPORTS RECRUITMENT Global…Connected…Committed

We provide staff across 30 operational areas within events, such as accreditation, broadcasting, catering, doping control,marketing and venue management.

As part of Rushmans Group we share a heritage of 25 years’ experience in events.

We understand the staffing challenges and pressures facing Organising Committees.

Impact Sports Recruitment is truly global, uniquely connected and utterly committed to your success.

Contact Richard Graham on Impact Sports Recruitment PO Box 2391, Marlborough, Wiltshire, SN8 3WJ, United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0)1264 852 014 Mob: +44 (0)7879 448954 www.impactsportsrecruitment.com

Technology

Tomorrow’s World… alex miller takes a look at how technology continues to enhance the organisation, performance and spectator experience of sportS events.

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Advances in technology have become increasingly evident in every corner of sports stadia, from electronic scoreboards and advertising hoardings, to high-resolution replay screens with crystal clarity and concert-level sound quality.

It was only as recently as the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 that the first PC was used for recording data but since then there has been exponential growth throughout the industry. The level of importance has changed too. Where in the past technology was viewed as an enabler for organisers of events, it has become an increasingly important element for commercial parties, spectators and other stakeholders.

Outside of stadia, it is the same story.

The term ‘armchair sports fan’ is becoming increasingly dated as fans are able to tune into games or highlights services while on the move via their laptop or mobile phone.

Within stadia, the material and installation budgets for audio and visual improvements at major facilities can run to tens of millions of Euros.

But these technologies generally have the capacity to generate revenue as well as enhancing the experience of watching sport.

Pay back comes in many forms from the ability to host creative advertising and branding (with a sponsor’s message at the push of a button) or by allowing

sponsors to have their message featured on electronic advertising at key moments in a game.

Technology is also enabling greater use of facilities. At the New Mexico State University’s Pan American Center in Las Cruces for example, organisers can mechanically tilt or adjust the lower level of stadia seating to provide better views depending on the type of event taking place.

Cisco rolled out two technologies at Livestrong Sporting Park in Kansas City over the summer, designed to further enhance the match experience for its MLS fans.

As a result, Sporting KC fans can now connect to stadium Wi-Fi to wirelessly harness high-speed Internet through their mobile devices. Having installed 196 highdensity routers, Cisco provides access to mobile applications (such as the team’s app, Sporting Explore), social-networking sites and others. Even if the stadium is filled to capacity, 80% can connect at the same time with minimal lag.

Cisco also installed StadiumVision to deliver HD video to any of the venue’s 300 HDTVs. The platform enables updates throughout the game and offers content ranging from advertising, scores from other games, a variety of camera angles and team trivia, through to weather updates. All suites connect to StadiumVision and users control the video using an iPad app. While both

developments are thought to be the first at an MLS stadium, many NFL stadia are already running the system.

Surprisingly perhaps, the drivers of technology are generally not the IT companies themselves but consumers and sports governing bodies and federations.

Organisers of the first Youth Olympic Games last year in Singapore took the view that social networking and not TV was their preferred method of broadcast, and as a result young journalists there mainly reported through blogs.

In Europe, the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will rely on a complex mix of technology over a number of sites and systems. With the eyes of the world watching, it is an extraordinarily

high-pressure environment. But it is an environment where technology is able to help like never before.

At the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, US swimmer Michael Phelps may not have received his seventh of eight gold medals (for the 100m butterfly) without TV replays and timing system technology.

The result was so close (one hundredth of a second) that it was impossible to judge using only the naked eye.

Responsibility for Olympic Games’ IT infrastructure falls to Atos. The company has worked at every Games since 1992 and became the official Worldwide IT Partner for the IOC in 2002 and of the IPC in 2008.

The challenge for Atos is to create an IT solution that allows the capture

and reporting of every moment of the action and supports in bringing it to the world through television and the internet.

This requires an understanding of what organisers, broadcasters, competitors and the audience demand.

Atos spends four years building the IT and another year testing before the Games. Disasters are simulated and scenarios are run to see how its people react in certain situations, in order to achieve full readiness.

Atos Executive Vice President Patrick Adiba, tells SportBusiness International: “It is certainly not possible to organise an event and capture all the data and results in a manual way any more. The Olympics is vast, some days there are 17 competitions going, it is like running 17

SPORTS EVENT MANAGEMENT

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Technology

World Championships in a single day.”

There will be a number of new technological developments on show for the first time in London. One of these is myInfo+, an internet application that enables accredited media, sports officials and athletes to access information on competition schedules, medal ranking tables, transport news and sports records through their laptops.

Another new technology will be Commentator Information System (CIS), which will be remotely available for most Olympic sports. The system displays results on touch-screen PCs in less than 0.3 seconds at venue broadcast sites, providing broadcasters with the results before they hear the roar of the crowd.

“CIS is full real time information, meaning commentators in South Africa, Dubai and Brazil can all access the same data at exactly the same time as those in the stadium – meaning they are able to commentate as if they are there,’ adds Adiba.

Technology is also proving invaluable to mass participation event organisers.

Active Network is best known for providing the electronic back-office systems used by race organisers to allow competitors to sign up, pay and receive updates on competitions ranging from 5ks and 10ks to marathons and other endurance sports. Its technology allows secure online registration and transaction processing, data management and reporting.

The company handles the registrations for US races, including the Chicago Marathon and San Francisco’s Bay to Breakers race.

Race organisers use Active Network to avoid the nightmare of receiving and trying to organise thousands of crumpled registrations forms and bundles of cash.

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Bay to Breakers for example, generates 55,000 runners. While the race adds a $5 service fee for the service, runners appreciate the convenience of not having to queue up to register.

Sejal Pietrzak, Vice President – International, for Active Network, tells SportBusiness International the company are enjoying strong demand in the EMEA and Asia Pacific regions, with companies and events such as Triathlon Australia, USM Events, World Triathlon Corporation (which owns the Ironman events worldwide), Brighton Marathon, Singapore Marathon and Tennis Australia.

She adds: “What has driven this growth has been a combination of offering our technology and customer service to more events and helping those events grow their participation, and deepening our relationship with events that have been working with us for many years.

“Our system allows sports clubs and endurance sports events to be able to provide their members and participants with a secure and convenient online registration system, while being able to manage their data efficiently, both in terms of financials and database for one or multiple events.

“Our event, participant and resource management technology solutions are designed to help sports organisations simplify business operations and reduce their costs. We make it easier

to get things done and because of that, our event and sports clubs’ clients are able to focus on improving the quality and success of their events.”

While the presence and range of technologies will surely continue to develop, what will the landscape for sports themselves look like five years from now? Certainly there is a case for suggesting that at present, some sports make better use of technology than others. Arguably, more technology could be used in football before it reaches the mature levels of technology in sports including ice hockey, tennis and cricket. As sports continue to evolve, technology will seemingly be further incorporated even into those whose federations appear unwilling to adopt.

And for spectators?

“Going forward, smart mobility will continue to explode, as will the development of mobile devices and security of data – not from a hacking perspective, but from the point of view that the correct data is available and ready to be processed or used when it is required,” believes Adiba.

“People will increasingly choose how to consume an event in the manner they want and not be willing to be tied to a schedule – they will want to be their own TV directors. The use and functionality of mobile phones and social networking sites will also continue to grow,” he adds.

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Security

Creating and sharing best practice in sport security

By Helmut Spahn, Executive Director, International Centre for Sports security.

Major event security is an evermore critical and complex practice. As more new nations take up the challenge of hosting the world’s biggest sporting events, there is a greater need to share knowledge and experience in the field.

Having spoken with Chief Executive Officers of Organising Committees, Chiefs of Police and Heads of Security around the globe it is clear that, far too often, security planning for major international sporting events is being started with a blank sheet of paper and not building on the successes and learnings from past events.

To quote Ronald Noble, General Secretary of INTERPOL: “Major event security is not an area for trial and error.

It is our duty to ensure that the most effective practices for hosting these events in a secure way are thoroughly analysed and widely shared.”

That is the goal of the International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS); to become a global hub for developing and sharing best-practice in sport security and, ultimately, to help event organisers to stage safer major sporting events. A not-for-profit institution, we aim to do this by providing best-in-class training, research and tailored consulting in all aspects of sport security.

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The world of sport is complex. Different countries with different cultures and economic conditions organise sporting events, which in themselves are very different. Over the next decade events will take place across every continent, ranging from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games to the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia and the Nanjing 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games. Each event is unique and has its own distinct set of security challenges.

FAN EXPERIENCE Among the many areas that need to be considered during the planning process are the fan experience and use of technology. The latter could range from planning tools to databases for identifying criminals and troublemakers, to CCTV and airport style security checks. In addition, policies and procedures are required to prevent corruption and enhance integrity, and a communications strategy needs to be in place to engender confidence in the organiser’s ability to deliver security and react appropriately should an issue arise.* To illustrate the scale and multifaceted nature of the challenges it is worth considering just one of these, the fan experience, in more detail.

A compelling fan experience is vital to producing a world-class sporting event. For example, the strategies put in place at the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany ensured visitors left with the impression that Germans are hospitable and well-organised people, contributing to a growth in international tourism in the following years. Indeed, providing a

good service to fans should be a priority, and safety and security are key elements of this. Good service can be optimised through strategic ‘fan first’ planning and event flow procedures, including detailed advanced planning of the fan experience; clear communications with supporters; a safe, secure and welcoming strategy; effective pre-event intelligence gathering; empowering responsible spectators through effective communication with fan organisations; and optimising safety and comfort, with stadium facilities fit for purpose and professionally managed.

Furthermore, empowering fans and excluding troublemakers should be approached as complementary strategies to help ensure good behaviour.

Engagement with fan organisations and representatives is key. This can assist planners in both understanding the needs and desires of spectators, as well as communicating the reasoning for particular safety and security decisions. If fans understand why certain procedures and policies are in place they are more likely to cooperate. An empowermentexclusion policy therefore consists of three parts. Firstly, the education of supporters. Persuading them to behave in an acceptable manner, notifying them of the consequences of misbehaviour and appealing to their collective integrity and mutual responsibilities. Secondly, enforcement. Where conflict occurs, sanctions must be consistently applied and stewarding must be effective and appropriate. Finally, exclusion. This should be the result of persistent bad behaviour and must be effectively policed and monitored.

The creation of temporary ‘fan embassies’ with representatives of the organising committee, local law enforcement, international police liaison officers and consular staff can help create a welcoming environment at tournaments attracting large numbers of international fans. By creating a single point of contact, they ease lines of communication and intelligence gathering, as well as providing on-the-spot assistance for foreign nationals who have been the victims of crime.

Integral to the development of a compelling fan experience are state-ofthe-art stadium design and facilities. Within stadia civilian stewards are preferable to police or military personnel, because they present a less-confrontational, friendly face. Similarly, clearly identifiable staff, well-trained in safety procedures and focused on fan security enhance the overall experience. Opposing fans should also be appropriately segregated and supervised and the safe maximum capacity of a stadium carefully calculated.

Crucially, stadium safety and security are two distinct issues; it is possible to create an environment that is so secure, that it is fatally unsafe, as was tragically demonstrated at the Hillsborough and Heysel stadium disasters. Among other things, stadium planning should take into account realistic entry, holding and exit capacity, as well as the ability to quickly exit the stadium.

BEYOND STADIA Finally, provision must also be made for fans that travel to host countries to experience the atmosphere of a major tournament, without tickets for the arena.

Hosts should consider the creation of stewarded viewing areas, capable of accommodating significant crowds and screening the event on big screens in public places. This can facilitate effective crowd management policies and enhance the fan experience. A strategy that was successfully pursued at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, where the policy of encouraging ‘fan fests’ within a familyfriendly, party atmosphere meant that trouble was mostly avoided.

In summary, the fan experience alone

is complex and multi-layered, combined with the many other safety and security concerns, the challenge is immense.

While it is possible to identify key themes, such as the fan experience, it is also clear that there can be no uniform security concept for all sporting events; that every event in every country has specific, individual issues and requirements. In addition to the worldwide political security situation every organiser needs a security concept that is appropriate and tailor-made for their special event.

Central to this is assembling the most relevant knowledge and best possible team. At the ICSS our team includes some of the world’s leading sport security experts, including, on our Advisory Board, the President of Interpol, Mr. Khoo Boon Hui; former Chief of the London

SECURITY SHOULD NOT BECOME AN END IN ITSELF. ORGANISERS SHOULD BE MINDFUL OF PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO FREEDOM Metropolitan Police, Lord John Stevens; Senior Security Consultant to the IOC, Peter Ryan; and FIFA’s planning advisor to the South Africa 2010 Organising Committee, Horst Schmidt. I recently joined the ICSS from the German Football Association (DFB), where I served as Head of Security for the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany and recent 2011 Women’s FIFA World Cup, at which, the ICSS observed and analysed the security practices.

Knowledge that the ICSS and the DFB will now use to disseminate best-practice and learning for governments and organizers of future major sporting events. The ICSS also proactively addresses real issues in both public and private forums such as our International Sport Security Conference and through organising expert summits where the world’s most senior practitioners can debate critical issues and advance knowledge in sport security.

Ultimately, whilst all events are very different, one thing always remains same.

In all countries, in all sports and in all

events every person has a natural basic need for security. All visitors, delegates and athletes want to feel secure, to be able to enjoy the event and achieve the best possible results in their sports. Of course the organisers also have an interest in a safely managed event. Not only for their international reputation, but also for financial reasons, given the escalating value of marketing and TV-rights.

RIGHT TO FREEDOM However, security should not become an end in itself. Organisers must guarantee the highest possible security, whilst being mindful that people’s right to freedom should be affected as little as possible.

The main guideline should be maximum security with minimum restrictions - as much security as required, with as few restrictions as possible. Always in the background, security should not affect fans or athletes’ enjoyment or participation in sporting events.

This reinforces the need to have a tailor-made security concept that is at the leading edge of technical and organisational development and takes into account all facets of an event. This is only possible if organisers draw on worldwide experiences, evaluate events, check measures for effectiveness and bring the leading practitioners globally on-site to help develop security concepts. For a single organiser this is simply not viable.

This is where the ICSS will support the world of sport. We are driving a worldwide and structured exchange of knowledge, carrying out research into the effectiveness of technical and organisational measures and can train people, discuss structures and, finally, evaluate events to ensure that learning is a continuous process.

All to the highest standards, supported by a worldwide network of experts, and in partnership with event organisers, governments, bidding nations and all those planning or working to deliver worldclass safety and security services for major sporting events.

Further details on all these areas can be found in the ICSS’s ‘Sharing Knowledge’ report from the 1st International Sport Security Conference.

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Press Operations in association with

ONE SIZE NEVER FITS ALL HOW EFFECTIVE AND COST-EFFICIENT PRESS OPERATIONS CAN COLOUR THE WAY AN EVENT IS REPORTED AND PERCEIVED WORLDWIDE.

THE RELATIONSHIP between the media and major sports events is symbiotic, extremely complex and ever changing. And while the basic principles of event press operations may appear straightforward and easy to grasp, a successful, seamless and apparently effortless media management and services programme is generally the result of the most detailed planning and intense negotiations over rights, planning and contracts.

In the simplest terms, a successful programme is one which delivers the access, facilities and services which the media require to carry out their widely differing roles to maximum effect.

Accommodating the media requires a significant investment on behalf of rights owners which can appear excessive.

But the rewards can be immeasurable in terms of event brand building through informed and positive coverage.

Nigel Rushman, whose company Rushmans has planned and delivered

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media management services for several editions of the IRB Rugby World Cup, ICC Cricket World Cup, CAF Africa Cup of Nations and UEFA Euro ’96 among others, says that the impact of negative coverage is not restricted to the event owners or organisers.

“One of the reasons why cities and countries support bids to host major sports events is that they see them as a positive platform for promoting themselves. If the coverage is, for any reason, negative it can be extremely damaging to their ambitions to promote tourism and inward investment opportunities. Everybody wants to be associated with success…nobody with a shambles.”

Rushman also points out that International Federations have a clear and direct interest in ensuring that coverage is positive as it links directly to the value of both their broadcast and sponsorship rights. Positive coverage creates an aura of success around an event creating greater competition for rights and pushing up their value.

The objective of a press operations programme is to create an environment for, and set of relationships with media representatives which lead to positive coverage. At its simplest this involves the provision of access, information and facilities.

The past twenty five years have

witnessed fundamental and far reaching changes to the media landscape. These differences have, by and large, been brought about by technology.

The internet has changed the way in which information is sought, delivered and consumed, challenging every type of established media for an appropriate response. Inevitably some have been more successful than others and the pressure from free on-line news sources continues to wreak havoc on the established newspaper industry in many parts of the world.

Coverage of sport has been among the worst hit as newspapers and regional television organisations have taken reporters off the road. Cost cutting is

Photographers en masse at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Final 2011

evident across the world and across the media spectrum from national broadcasters to local newspapers.

Technological advances have altered the demand for event services in many other ways too and event organisers have to reflect these in their provision of media facilities.

“Years ago hen I was a press officer at the Football Association journalists telephoned their stories back to a copytaker,” said Glen Kirton, COO of Rushmans.

“Today that has changed as a result of technological advances and one of the biggest challenges facing those running press operations is ensuring sufficient bandwidth to accommodate the needs of

both written press and photographers.”

But, says, Kirton, the basics of the role remain the same.

“Journalists need a view of the action, access to interviews and information and a means of delivering their copy. “ But if that sounds simple, not every Organising Committee appears to understand.

“Those who host events regularly understand the importance of getting it right while many IFs put certain obligations on OCs to ensure they deliver facilities and services to the required standard.

“But others don’t necessarily get it and try to run media operations themselves without any expertise or experience.

Often these are in areas where the view of the media has been shaped by local issues rather than a broad understanding of international best practice,” he said.

The ‘art’ of effective press operations is to understand the ways in which differing sectors of the media operate, the pressures they work under, their requirements and expectations of facilities and support.

Inevitably these change over time.

Today’s written press are under considerably more pressure to deliver than at any time in the past as a result of their commitment to providing output for online services.

Traditional demarcation lines within the media are continuing to break down.

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Press Operations in association with

While this is beginning to mean fewer individuals covering events, those who do attend are likely to require different facilities and more flexible access arrangements than ever before.

Those responsible for press operations face the same pressures as specialists charged with delivering other functional areas. Last minute decisions and actions inevitably lead to compromises in quality of delivery and escalating costs.

Organisers must plan as thoroughly and accurately as humanly possible, often by learning from the experiences of previous hosts and utilising the expertise of those with specific experience of such projects.

Effective and properly policed accreditation processes are essential to the management of every major sports event. Accreditation is a vital part of the event security operation and, as such, underpins all other functions.

Accreditation systems are not restricted to the media, although media tend to be the second largest bloc requiring accreditation. Competitors, officials, VIPs and a baffling array of caterers, cleaners, florists, volunteers, drivers and others will also require processing.

In simple terms, accreditation is the process of determining which individuals should be able to gain access to specific facilities or areas within facilities.

Consequently the accreditation systems ultimately control access to stadia and other sports facilities, press conferences, mixed zones, and main and satellite media centres.

Given the cost of hosting non-rights holding media, the accreditation system is also the ultimate arbiter of media participation. No accreditation - No Entry!

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The press centre at Lord’s Cricket Ground

Journalists covering the FIFA World Cup in Italy in 1990 stepped off the streets of Rome into a main media centre which featured – among other things – a gourmet restaurant, swimming pool, hairdresser, travel agency and several shops as well as the facilities more usually associated with the working of the media.

The Italian organising Committee had gone out of its way – and to great expense – to ensure that their media visitors from all four corners of the world were able to both work and relax in style. In this respect they were the ideal hosts.

Those journalists tempted to assume such luxury is the norm are destined to be disappointed. The Italian extravagance has not been regularly repeated and today the rationale behind media centres tends to be based on cost-effectiveness and practicality.

In addition to physical facilities, press coverage is significantly enhanced by the provision of timely and accurate information covering rankings, seedlings and statistics on participating athletes and teams. This is supplemented by results and their implications in terms of further rounds, records and medal counts.

The complexity of events and information need increases exponentially with the addition of each country or sport involved. Audience expectations also increase with every quadrennial making information provision a

considerable and expensive headache.

Specialists like Infostrada Sports have set up to meet this need and are familiar both with the needs of the press and the pressures of a real-time multi-lingual environment.

Media management at a sports event is a major undertaking in every respect and requires organisers to recruit and train dedicated staff. Staff numbers are significant because of the demands for 24-hour service in main press centres and IBCs and the requirement for expert staffing at venue media centres.

There are media management roles at every level from the project director, who reports directly to - and may well sit on the Organising Committee, to volunteers responsible for posting and delivering information at venue media centres or manning help desks offering information on everything from the quality of local nightlife to the nearest supplier of computer accessories.

In essence, staff roles fall into two categories. The first are managers and assistant managers who should be recruited on the basis of prior experience in an event environment.

As with other areas of event management, the clock ticks quickly against an immovable deadline and dress rehearsals are strictly limited.

Get it right and there may be some plaudits. Get it wrong, and the resulting coverage can have hugely damaging consequences for the event and for its hosts.

Is the success of your event assured?

Knowledge is Desirable

Experience Essential

Rushmans offers over 25 years experience at over 500 events in more than 30 countries.

Find out how we could work with you to ensure your event is a success.

Tel +44 (0)1264 852 010 Fax +44(0)1264 852 011 Email info@rushmans.com

www.rushmans.com

Presentation & Ceremonies in association with

LET THE GAMES BEGIN EXTRAVAGANTPantone opening 255C ceremonies have become part and parcel of major Pantone 306Cin the sportS events 21st century. But what’s their real role? Owen Evans reports.

WHEN Diana Ross’ sliced penalty magically made the goal fall apart in the opening ceremony of the USA World Cup in 1994, it set the tone for the rest of the tournament.

It was not that people were disappointed in her less-than-supreme football skills, it was more the impression the hosts were not taking the entire event seriously.

An opening ceremony is the perfect platform for a city or country to get their message, or brand, across to millions of viewers in one unique event. It often transcends the sport itself.

A global audience of 984 million tuned in to watch the Beijing 2008 opening ceremony. But did they make the most of it? And is big always better?

“It’s time to reinvent it (the opening ceremony format) completely. It’s an absurd game that’s being played that we have got to make it bigger and better than whatever has just been before,” says David Zolkwer, Board Director of Jack Morton Worldwide.

Zolkwer worked on Athens 2004

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Olympic Games’ opening ceremony, as well as Manchester 2002 and Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games.

“Beijing was huge, and then you go so what? There was nothing resonant. It would have achieved more if it had made the world smile,” says Zolkwer.

“It’s time to start again as the other thing that is going to happen is that the principle (bigger is better) will price out other cities which have a lot to contribute, and it will then just be about the big commercial companies.

“Delhi had a chance and they blew it. It was three hours of Diana Ross moments.

“We’ve got to stop saying let’s make it bigger and better. What everybody is striving for is difference.”

WHERE’S THE HUMANITY? People have been key to every successful opening ceremony.

Not many people will remember Doha building the largest ever LED screen at the 2006 Asian Games, but they are far more likely to remember the horseman who rode to the summit of the stadium to light the torch or the archer who lit the Olympic flame with burning arrow at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Greg Bowman, Managing and Creative Director for Great Big Events, is currently working on this year’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand having previously co-ordinated the 2007 event in France. He was also involved with the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

“I go back to Beijing’s opening ceremony. Having attended both the ceremonies there, for me by far and away

the better event was the Paralympics ceremony. That was the most emotional and I was in tears at different stages,” says Bowman.

“It had an amazing human element.

They had the little girl who trained to be a ballet dancer but lost her leg in an earthquake, but the way she appeared was so beautifully staged.

“That worked so well because it had so much human emotion.

“The whole point of these ceremonies is the human stories that go on behind the events.”

8,500 performers brought Greek culture and tradition to life at the Athens 2004 Games in front of 70,000 spectators, leading to a 10 per cent increase in tourism post-event.

However, one little boy proved one of the most memorable moments as he sailed across an in-built lake on a paper boat.

“People will talk about the boy in the boat in Athens. It was a cheap gig. It was nothing. The cheapest thing in the show, but people tend to remember the humanity long after the psychological effects of event have been and gone,” said Zolkwer.

“People will forget the technology but remember the people involved. They remember the human moments. It’s funny that when we look back at athletic moments they think about those who failed as much as those who succeeded.”

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES There is no ‘one-size fits all’ policy to sports presentation. Not only does the event have to adopt the idiosyncrasies

POLITICAL INFLUENCE

The spectacular Asian Games Opening Ceremony, Doha 2006

of the host nation, it also has to be culturally sensitive.

In the 1980 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, USA, canons were replaced by fireworks in the opening ceremony as it was felt the former came across as too militaristic.

“We paid a lot of attention to the cultural nuances of the French, the style of announcements, the music they play when researching how we would present the (2007 Rugby) World Cup,” says Bowman.

“For instance they had the Bandas,

which is sort of like a slightly out-of-tune brass band that would sit amongst the audience, so we made sure we had a few of those.

“It’s really all about finding the iconic elements for that specific event. If you are choosing music it’s no good me going in and making the decision having not grown up in France.

“It could be culturally inappropriate, so it’s about getting those cultural nuances right for that environment, whether it be France, the Middle East or China or London.”

One of the main challenges over the last decade or so with opening ceremonies and sports presentation is politics.

In particularly sensitive environments, hosts walk the fine line between offending people and actually having something meaningful to say.

Zolkwer said he was ‘advised’ by the IOC and Olympic TOP sponsors after revealing plans for the 2004 opening ceremony.

He wanted a lone runner to act out a timeline of previous Olympics right from the original event in Athens. When he reached the period of the two world wars, the runner would purposely trip up to “show where the world took a tumble.”

“We had input from the IOC and other stakeholders saying ‘Oh that’s a bit serious, aren’t you making a political statement?’ and what we we’re saying is this about sharing the human condition, and finding a lyricism in everyday existence.

“So there was that sense of political fear, commercial pressure and brand conservatism.

“Los Angeles 1982 I think was the last daytime ceremony and it was basically a Disney gig. Extremely vanilla.

“It all boils down to the same question when I say to you Mr Client ‘on that one night three billion people are going to tune in to hear what you have to say…what are you going to say?’

“Answering that question is now probably the single most difficult task facing us.”

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Presentation & Ceremonies

2007 Rugby World Cup Trophy Presentation – Great Big Events

EVENT PRESENTATION AND CEREMONIES Sport Presentation is about communication. Our aim on behalf of our clients is to touch spectators by communicating a brand; an idea; a story. Digital technology is shaping the future of the industry and as such, we are able to embrace developments that promote ongoing dialogue and bridge the connection between brand and spectator.

It is critical that we acknowledge such development isn’t coming at the expense of traditional forms of entertainment and activation in-stadia. The razzle dazzle of these new technologies is ‘nice-tohave’ but those foundation elements – music, video boards, MCs, announcers, athlete entries, activations, sport protocols and cultural nuances will always be the backbone for a professional presentation package. Therein lies our most distinct competitive advantage – as a single, experienced operator, Great Big Events has the ability to entirely deliver to a world class standard those core elements, and to enhance that execution through integration of interactive and engaging add-on’s. Great Big Events coined the term ‘Sport Presentation’ for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and since that time we have continued to advance the presentation of sport internationally.

Audience preferences are evolving and in keeping with our position at the forefront of the event presentation and ceremonies industry, we take very seriously our role in effecting positive and productive change, and in protecting the history and traditions of those sports.

Event Presentation and Ceremonies content has in many ways reflected the convergence trend of broadcast and online platforms;

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as discerning sports fans increasingly embrace digital environments.

This is true of our recent major event experience, where we have consciously instituted an increase in content that is digital-based.

With the emergence of tools such as smartphones; live streaming; digital media; augmented reality; mobile-friendly websites; and sophisticated app’s; the ability to capture, tag and share material, and to provide such breadth of information in a compelling manner and with genuine immediacy, attracts instant audience credibility. Social media and sport are intrinsically entwined and increasingly we are identifying their integration capacity is moving beyond repurposing material from every day brand platforms for event presentation, toward total content customisation; fit for mass consumption in a live stadia situation.

There’s actually an incredible sense of excitement around the innovation possibilities that are now being realised across event presentation and ceremonies, with Great Big Events having invested heavily in research and development in recent years to ensure we remain on the cusp of market trends and industry advancement. And it’s not always about doing something new; but doing it better.

Another categorical shift in our market has been the move toward ongoing partnerships with sports federations and organising bodies.

Where traditionally we have been engaged purely to provide expert presentation and production services at event-time, increasingly we are working with clients to shape the delivery of their Sport Presentation

advertorial

and integration of key elements across their entire brand platform.

There is a much greater collaborative effort to ensure that all parts of the organisation are reflected in the final product. Fundamentally, there continues to be a shared will to embrace fresh ideas and to institute constructive change as part of that re-design effort.

Experience is critical and Great Big Events has arguably the most capped team of Producers in international sport, led by our Managing and Creative Director, Greg Bowman. Anyone who has stepped into a control room of a major international sporting event acknowledges the skill that is required to produce an event of that level; often under the pressure of a global microscope. That ability to gauge audience response and to react freely to spontaneous moments; to make insightful content judgment on a whim; to take the audience on a compelling journey; to create an environment for the athlete to achieve optimum performance – this is really high stakes stuff.

Event presentation and ceremonies are highly visible components of major sports event planning. You can’t afford to get it wrong; and we feel privileged for having worked on some of the biggest and most successful major sporting events over the past 15 years – the reason for our being there is because we have so often got it right. We are proud of the achievements of our company and of our staff and we are extremely passionate about our output.

2006 Doha Asian Games The 2006 Doha Asian Games was an event of epic proportions involving more than 10,000 athletes from over 45 nations.

Great Big Events provided Sport Presentation and Victory Ceremonies services for all 39 sports across 21 venues. Our workforce totalled more than 600 staff. As this was the first major international multisport event held in Doha, Great Big Events instituted a strong legacy policy to ensure the development of a skilled local workforce for future hosting opportunities in the region.

Great Big Events is a global company with offices in Sydney and London, and satellite offices in Doha, Beijing, Paris, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. The following case studies provide a snapshot of our major works, covering event presentation at single sport and multisport events, and in the production of ceremonies:

“Great Big Events, the leading Sport Presentation company in the world, provided Sport Presentation services to all 39 sports during the 15th Asian Games in Doha, Qatar. Their professionalism, commitment and dedication along with their creative flair were a major contributory factor in making the Games memorable and unique. Greg Bowman, as the Executive Producer of Sport Presentation presented an exceptional understanding of the requirements for each sport. Great Big Events worked closely with the Organising Committee to ensure that there was a legacy combining both imported talent with the training of local talent; something that was deemed as essential as a legacy aspect for the Games.”

Khaleel Al Jabir, Sport Director, Doha Asian Games Organising Committee

2007 Rugby World Cup – France, Cardiff, Edinburgh

2008 FIFA Congress

Great Big Events was appointed to deliver Sport Presentation for all 48 matches in multiple venues across three host countries. It was our second consecutive appointment to lead the event presentation for Rugby’s international showpiece, following successful delivery of the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia.

Great Big Events delivered the Opening Ceremony for the 58th FIFA Congress in 2008. Staged at the prized Sydney Opera House Concert Hall, the audience included delegates from FIFAs 208 member nations and Australia’s leading parliamentary figures. The show was built around FIFAs key marketing pillars; ‘Develop the Game’, ‘Touch the World’ and ‘Build a Better Future’, and was delivered in five different languages.

This event attracted considerable funding in support of Football Federation Australia’s determined bid for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

“Great Big Events delivered a world class presentation, representing the strong and proud culture of France, while reflecting the participating nations’ place in the Tournament and the culture of international Rugby. The presentation was unique for each venue and match, while maintaining a Tournament-wide look and feel – ensuring spectators enjoyed a truly international Rugby World Cup experience.

You’re really the best a sporting event can get.”

Nicolas Schpoliansky, Project Manager Sport Presentation and Ceremonies, Organising Committee for the Rugby World Cup 2007

Contact Great Big Events London: +44 (0) 208 871 4555 Sydney: +61 (0) 2 9660 6133 enquiries@greatbigevents.com www.greatbigevents.com

SPORTS EVENT MANAGEMENT

Pantone 255C

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Power & Lighting in association with

POWER TO THE PEOPLE ALEX MILLER TAKES A LOOK AT SOME OF THE MANY CHALLENGES, TRENDS AND ADVANCES AROUND POWER AND LIGHTING FOR EVENTS.

AS RECENTLY AS 10 years ago, the idea of hosting a World Cup in the Middle East would have been dismissed out of hand. However, development of sporting infrastructure and the construction of devoted sports cities in the Gulf, has forced many to rethink their perceptions of the Middle East as a sporting destination.

With Qatar winning the right to host the 2022 World Cup, one of the biggest logistical challenges of proving that the region can host major sporting events is ensuring a consistent and sufficient power supply.

Major events require an immense amount of power. Even when power supplies in the host country are sufficient, organisers need to provide supplementary and back-up supplies for all aspects of the event, from broadcasting through to catering.

The power supplies for large summer events in the Middle East is a concern.

Qatar’s World Cup will take place when the local power providers are already under immense strain due to the constant need for air conditioning.

In order to guarantee the power supply for major events, organisers can draw

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upon a ready-made solution – temporary power. The use of a temporary power and energy back up solutions should mean events enjoy smooth broadcasts and provide insurance should the main power supply fail or prove insufficient.

One recent high-profile black out occurred during Euro 2008 when a fiveminute outage during Germany’s 3-2 semi-final win over Turkey meant viewers missed Germany’s second goal. While there was also a black out during the third cricket test match between England and India at Edgbaston last month.

The world’s most high-profile events are all supported by temporary packages.

Specialist rental power provider Aggreko has worked on events including the Beijing Olympics in 2008, the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, while the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) recently appointed the company as supplier of temporary energy services for the 2012 Games. Under that agreement, it will provide power across 39 venues across London, Cardiff, Coventry, Cardiff, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle and Weymouth.

The temporary power will be provided by industrial generators distributed through approximately 1,000km of cable and 3,500 distribution panels per venue.

In addition to supporting the opening and closing ceremonies at the Olympic Stadium, Aggreko will draw on its experience of working with broadcasters to power field-of-play lighting and camera equipment in the stadia and power the

International Broadcasting Centre, which will be providing television feeds.

With the unrelenting development within the broadcast industry, it is essential power supply companies keep up to date. During a game, some larger stadia require the same levels of power as 3,000 medium-sized houses.

Julian Ford, Aggreko’s Marketing and Sales Development Director tells SportBusiness International: “It wasn’t that long ago we were watching sport on black and white TVs. Now, with the advent of Digital TV, HD, 3D, streaming and internet broadcasting, there are an ever greater number of different requirements from the power supply.

HDTV for example delivers impressive quality imagery into the home, but does require extra lighting.

“But event organisers have to keep up. With ever increasing sums of money arriving in sport through advertising and sponsorship and growing viewing figures from a global environment, they can’t afford any glitches.”

On the lighting side, ever improving technology, energy savings and ecofriendly technologies are constantly driving change. In tough economic times and with energy costs at an all-time high, savings are especially crucial.

Ken Cornett is Director of US-based sports lighting company Hubbell, which produces the SportsLiters brand of lighting. He tells SportBusiness International: “The potential for energy savings makes the use of automated lighting controls for example, a really smart choice in sports lighting.

Getty Images Sport

Lighting controls which can be used to automatically turn lights on and off as needed and which prevent energy waste are becoming increasingly attractive.”

Clubs and franchises are becoming increasingly aware of the possible ramifications of having inadequate lighting in their stadia from a safety angle.

Chase Field, the home of baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks is a relatively new build but has already undergone an update of its lighting and security lighting systems and moved to a central lighting inverter system.

“Previously, if the lights had gone out, a capacity crowd of 49,033 would have suddenly found itself in the dark for up to 15 minutes. In the remote event of a power outage, the stadium operations team wanted to ensure that it could quickly shift from normal source illumination to

emergency back-up generation in five seconds or less”, adds Cornett.

To illuminate the playing field and provide overthrow lighting into the stands for safety, the engineering team chose 1,500-W metal halide fixtures.

The stadium now boasts seven banks of fixtures (87 in total) in each of the four corners of the stadium and 180 fixtures in each of the two main outfield banks of lighting. Of these, 80 are emergency fixtures, 60 in the corner banks (15 fixtures in each of the four corners), plus 20 within the two main banks (10 fixtures in each bank). Together, these 80 fixtures provide sufficient light to allow spectators to exit the stadia safely during an emergency.

The central lighting inverters constantly monitor the incoming power. As long as normal utility supplied power is available,

the central lighting inverter remains in standby mode. However, if the utility line is disturbed or interrupted, the central lighting inverters automatically supply emergency “inverted” power (derived from fully charged DC batteries and converted to AC power) to all connected loads.

This is especially important because of the high intensity discharge lamps; even a minor power interruption may cause fixtures to “wink out.” Due to their nature, they sometimes need to cool down for 15 minutes, but with the inverter system the process takes just milliseconds.

Marshall Cheever, Assistant Director of Engineering at Chase Field, adds: “In addition to being cost effective, the system has enabled us to dispose of many obsolete fixtures – and most importantly, we won’t go dark.”

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Power & Lighting

POWERING MAJOR EVENTS Around the world, sporting enthusiasts cheer on their favourite athletes, watch their teams on television or follow streaming live footage of sporting events online. What spectators can easily take for granted is the vast amounts of electrical power needed behind the scenes to keep these events on track. Should there be an interruption to the power supply, the audience at home could easily miss the winning goal or viewers at the stadium could be left in the dark. For this reason, ensuring a reliable supply of power is one of the most critical tasks facing major event organisers. In fact, far from being an afterthought, power supplies for major events are brought into consideration years before venues are completed, during the design phase.

The rising cost of building stadia for major events has been welldocumented, with the spectre of ‘white elephant’ stadiums haunting event organisers as they attempt to design stadiums which are large enough to hold hundreds of thousands of spectators during a major event but which will still be useful to the local community after the event has ended. More and more stadium designers are going the route of ‘flexible’ stadiums, which are designed in such a way that additional capacity and services can be added to the stadium when

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required. An increasing trend is the creation of flexible stadia, where designers build distribution points around the stadium which can be connected to temporary power plants located outside the facility. This enables the event organisers to purchase only enough permanent power capacity to keep the venue running at a minimal level; when the venue is fully utilised, additional power is brought in on a rental basis.

However, even stadiums which are not designed to be ‘flexible’ will require large amounts of additional power when running a major event.

Power is required for everything from the lights and cameras on the field, to the security scanners at the gate and the vendors selling hot dogs in the concession kiosks. Major events require hundreds of megawatts of power and most national grids do not have the spare capacity available to supply this amount of power. For this reason, most major event organisers choose to outsource their power supply to dedicated rental power specialists.

Broadcast vs. Domestic Power Providing power for a major event is complicated by the fact that major events have unique needs which must be catered for.

Power at events is provided in two distinct ways; technical power

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for broadcasting and Field of Play (FOP), and domestic power, which encompasses all overlay services. Technical power at major events is most often provided directly to the International Broadcast Centres (IBCs), which are set up at the venues to house hundreds of production centres for television, radio and online broadcast. At events which are located at multiple venues, a main IBC will be established, but smaller IBCs will also be required at each of the sporting venues.

The essential element of broadcast power is that it must be wholly reliable. The recent growth in popularity of high definition broadcasting, together with the increasing sensitivity of broadcast formats means any power system has to be of the highest quality. The smallest fluctuation in supply or the tiniest outage can cause computers in use at the IBC to reboot, bringing down all broadcast feeds and leading to TV coverage being affected all over the world. For this reason, technical power requires a fully redundant back-up supply. Uninterrupted Power Systems (UPS) are used by some power providers to ensure that if there is a breakdown in power, the load is able to switch to the back-up power supply without any interruption. Technical power also includes essential power supplies for field of play lighting, sound systems, scoring, commentary boxes and advertising hoardings, to name a few.

Domestic power encompasses all the non-broadcast power which is supplied to a venue during a major event. This includes power for overlay services such as security check-points, parking lots, food kiosks and changing areas.

One of the most difficult elements to manage when constructing a domestic power supply is planning the distribution system. Cable paths must be identified and created, which satisfy the customer’s need for power distribution whilst ensuring safe and secure paths away from the general public. At most venues the generator compound is some way away from the stadium itself and in this instance, the cable bridges must be designed and constructed, with independent certification, to take the power safely over roadways and paths. In addition, power distribution points must be incorporated throughout the stadium grounds in order to provide enough access points for various equipment, all of which needs to be provided at specific voltages.

Aggreko, the world’s largest provider of rental power solutions, is the first choice for major event organisers. Aggreko has a dedicated team of event specialists, each with many years experience in the events industry, who are able to provide organisers with bespoke engineered power solutions for events of any size.

148 locations around the world and a world-wide power fleet of over 6,000 MW, gives Aggreko a major advantage over local competitors in the power market. Aggreko specialises in turn-key power rental, which means that event organisers are able to outsource the entire project, including engineering, design, mobilisation, commissioning, operation and ultimately, decommissioning. Aggreko is also able to provide fuel management services.

More than just power It is not just power that Aggreko is able to provide to the events industry. Aggreko also provides rental temperature control (TC) packages. These TC packages are provided for VIP and other hospitality areas, catering stands and other temporary structures within the grounds, with the design and installation of temporary ducting and mobile cooling packages created to ensure comfort and safety at all times. In addition, temperature control is vitally important within IBCs, where hundreds of computers are present under one roof. Without adequate cooling, the sensitive broadcast equipment is not able to operate. Aggreko is able to set up temporary cooling plants and install ducting for the distribution of the cold air. As regions such as the Middle East, South America and Asia increase their position within the major sporting events arena, having effective and reliable TC solutions in place is becoming imperative to the overall success of major events.

Julian Ford, Marketing and Sales Development Director at Aggreko International, commented on Aggreko’s track record of powering and cooling the world’s largest events, saying: “Crucially, we boast the most diverse, reliable rental power and temperature control fleet of its kind worldwide. Our custom-built equipment has been specifically designed to meet the demands of the event industry. It includes generators and air-conditioning which are low on both noise and emissions and which ensure the uninterruptible supply that is vital in an industry where failure is simply not an option.”

Major event organisers choose Aggreko With so many complicated aspects involved in the provision of power, it is not surprising that major event organisers most often choose to subcontract the power supply to experienced power rental providers.

Aggreko International enquiries@aggreko.com www.aggreko.com

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Event Look in association with

ALL DRESSED UP FOR THE SHOW BRAND POSITIONING HAS BECOME AN INTEGRAL PART OF SPORTS EVENT PLANNING AS LAYING BRICKS AND MORTAR. OWEN EVANS SPEAKS TO THE EVENT LOOK SPECIALISTS OPERATING IN EVENT MANAGEMENT’S NEWEST DISCIPLINE.

FOR A LONG TIME, those responsible for making an event look good were drafted in at the last moment for a touch of brand beautification.

However, in the mid-90s organisers of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and the SuperBowl sparked a new method of creating brand identities around sports events.

Industry stalwarts like Giles Stanford, board director at Icon World, believe the brand look is now as important to an architect’s thoughts as age-old considerations such as sound and lighting.

Stanford, who is currently working on the look programme for the London 2012 Olympic Games, has also worked on both Manchester and Melbourne Commonwealth Games.

“When people say ‘what is event look

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all about?’ the best description I have is ‘what happens at Christmas? Why does everybody dress up a high street at Christmas time?’” says Stanford.

“Everyone does it to change the atmosphere, to lift the spirits. That is exactly what we do with a sports event, you try and make it unique.

“Atlanta (Olympic Games) in 1996 and American Football in the mid-90s were the first to bring a bit of brand identity and individuality to an event.

“It all depends on what the event owner wants. With the Commonwealth Games in Australia, the owners were all about Melbourne, Melbourne, Melbourne, but it was not as strong in that sense with Manchester.

“Different stakeholders use event look in different ways. The brands involved are using the look to engage with their customers and host cities will use it to promote themselves.

“What look is all about is how an event appears to the people involved. It goes right across the board from a colourful banner to litter in an airport or a railway station.

“It has got to work on television.

These people invest so much based on the potential benefit to broadcasters rather than the man of the street.

“An Olympic Games’ organising committee will pay millions of pounds to a communications agency to

get a message across. They will then come to us.

“Bringing a brand to life is a big part of what we do.”

MAKING A STATEMENT A successful ‘look’ programme lives long in the memory and can make or break the world’s perceptions of a host country. So are countries from developing markets providing the greatest demand for the look services in order to establish themselves?

“Definitely, especially Qatar, a relatively new country to the world of sport but one which is taking on the challenge of hosting world class events like the (FIFA) World Cup,” says Jacob Burke, Sports Director of The Look Company.

WTA Championships - Doha 2010 - Day Six - a Look Company event //Getty Images Sport

“Their vision is to become the sporting capital of the world and federations are coming to us to make sure there is a world class look to events there.

“You want to ensure it is immediately recognised as a Qatari event and need to retain cultural references which are very important.

“Everything has to be communicated in English and Arabic. The graphical and design elements all have to be tailored to show Qatar has its own style.”

The Look Company provided over 85 kilometres of vibrant fence fabric which graced the venues and courses during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

The city and Olympic venues were also decorated with 13,000 outdoor and indoor colourful banners.

Jacob Burke’s father and Look Company founder, Edward, said a key part of their strategy going forward is providing a recyclable approach to brand identity.

“We’re saying recycle, reuse and repurpose. Vancouver was the first to say ‘we’re going to go fabric’ and London 2012 is now following and doing the same thing.

“London 2012 put it in their bid - no PVC. That was amazing.”

The fence fabric The Look Company used for Vancouver was made out of the same material that can be recycled and used for basketball jerseys.

“There’s a lot of infrastructure that a city will acquire and most will try and dispose of it after the games,” added Edward Burke.

“But now they have to put in their tenders you need to have a second life for this material.”

Gary Edwards CEO at Icon Design, made his company’s first foray into event look management for Brighton’s marathon in the UK last year.

Given the remit to make the event stand out from its more illustrious UK cousin, the London Marathon, Edwards had one simple plan; location, location, location.

“We started working on this right at the earliest stages, when it was still a concept and long before the organisers were talking to sponsors or banks,” says Edwards.

“They talked to us before anyone else.

Then it finally got to the point where they

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Event Look in association with

FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010

needed something tangible, some kind of identity.

“We were very aware that the location was crucial and rather than go for the usual landmarks we came up with the idea of representing the sea, the Downs and the seagull.”

Event Look has become established as one of event management’s core disciplines, but what does the future hold?

“You look at probably the biggest sporting facility built in the last 10 years, the Reliant Astrodome in Texas. That is designed essentially as a message system. It is hooked up to new media and has LED screens everywhere,” says Stanford.

“They can change the message instantly depending on what it is they are trying to do. Whether it be responding to a simple text message or turning pink because that is the theme of a particular event.

“They have that flexibility. For sure the architects thought about that from Day One as it is a revenue stream.

“On lesser venues the architects will almost certainly have taken into account the look, and there will be no retro-fit branding anymore. It will all be part of the package.

“Let’s say that when (UK Premier League team) Arsenal was trying to raise funds for their Emirates Stadium, and agreed from

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day one to paint all the concrete red, that would be part of the look.”

UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Technological innovation could lead to sports event designers knowing where the brands are placed before a brick has been laid.

Site-surveying, or scoping, allows event organisers an opportunity to assess an accurate digital 3D model of a potential host city.

The technique’s origins can be found in forensic science, and the Look Company believe it will lead to more streamlined planning processes for future sports events.

“We invested about (US) $150,000 into site surveying technology in 2005, which really came from the forensic science world,” says Edward Burke.

“We can scan a complete building and see exactly what is there today. And the local organising committee can have that information as well.

“Traditionally, we wouldn’t be getting that information until the end of the process. But as people become a lot more sophisticated so do our processes.”

COLOUR CO-ORDINATION Despite all the technological advances, some believe the key to creating a successful look to an event is to be consistent, clear and simple.

According to Stanford, an event can be heavily sponsored but the problems start when there are too many brands involved giving out different messages.

“The most important thing is the visitor experience. Back in the old days you used to turn up at an event with concrete blank walls, or the odd sponsor recognition board. One wasn’t really engaged with the event, the venue and the brand,” says Stanford.

“That is the critical bit, to engage with the customer. They see the same colour right the way from what is on the website to the ticket, to the venue, rather than just turning up seeing a sporting spectacle and then going home.

“Actually the same applies for the competitor. They want to turn up to the event and feel as though they are at something special.

“Going forward, certainly in permanent situations, we’ll see a lot more dynamism.

Lots more colour, lots more LED and instant messaging creating engagement with customers.

“Most of us work in big temporary events like the Olympics and World Cups and at that level Event Look is part of the budget. It is even filtering down to single events and smaller events like swimming world championships.

“They are all investing in their look because it makes it so much more memorable.”

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Event Look

The Progression of The Look The Look Company, Qatar Heralding from Canada, The Look Company’s heritage is based in a long running family business dating back to 1965. Going back to basics, Grandfather Gordon Burke was fundamental to the growth of the flag business in North America, even contributing to the design of the current Canadian Maple Leaf national flag.

From strength to strength, The Look Company, Qatar is now one of the world leaders in Event Look and Branding. As part of the global firm, The Look Group, the company in Qatar has been established since 2005. Breaking into the Middle East market, with the largest ever sports event branding contract in terms of its value, for the Asian Games 2006, The Look Company has moved on to firmly establish its position within the region and is now first call for many of the leading companies and sports federations operating in the Middle East.

Amy Burke, General Manager, Middle East who has been in Qatar from the beginning describes how she has seen the company grow over the years, “From the outset we could see the vibrancy in the economy and the potential within the Middle East market to make Look and Branding a real prospect for the future. We’re now on our

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way to that future here in Qatar and as a team we have over 100 permanent employees based in Doha. We see our company’s future here as an investment for us and Qatar too.”

Why is Look important?

It is clear in the industry that the ‘Look’ of an event has far surpassed just flags and banners; whilst these key pieces still play a prominent role as branding items, they now form only a part of a total event branding solution that spans field of play, competition venues, noncompetition venues and external regional areas.

Spectators, sports federations, home TV audiences and athletes all demand a relationship with a sports event. It is the role of The Look Company to work with the interests of each of these stakeholders in mind to ensure that each event has as far wide a reach as possible when it comes to exposure before, during and after.

In order to help facilitate events, The Look Company works tirelessly with other agencies in the region to ensure a seamless service is provided to event organisers. As outlined by Gerry Price, President and COO, Middle East, “We have spent many years building a strong

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network of associates here in the Middle East and we make it our priority to integrate with other agencies so that we’re part of their local execution team; this is one of our measures that enables us to provide the highest level of service to all our clients time and again.”

Where does Look go from here?

As the number of sports events that compete on an international stage increases so too does the expectation of the quality of each event.

More than just keep level on the playing field, The Look Company is a proven innovator in the industry and works to continually raise the bar in industry standards: 3D Scanning This technology allows The Look Company to complete highly accurate surveys of buildings, structures and landscapes, all customized to individual requirements. For a large event, the value of seeing 3D, photo realistic models of what your event stage will look like is immeasurable. Not only is this technology visually superior, it also allows The Look Company to check quality assurance and construction progress throughout the project timeline.

Modular billboarding The Look Company’s modular billboarding solution is the perfect tool for bringing event branding to the ‘outside world’. Quick and easy to construct, this option provides a highly visually effective, customized and safe branding tool that also provides great value for money to the client.

Kit of Parts (KOPS) To have a catalogue of branding options – complete with full specifications – for an event space or complex is invaluable to a resident organisation. The Look Company offers exactly this service, valuing the longevity of its client partnerships and allowing for speed and efficiency of a customised service each time an event is produced.

What lies ahead for Event Look in Qatar?

The coming years mark an exciting period for events in Qatar and the Middle East. With the successful 2022 World Cup Bid, Qatar will shortly play host to the world. The Look Company supported Qatar with its branding efforts for the entire bid campaign and was privileged to be a part of such a monumental marker in the country’s sporting history. As Ed Burke, CEO, The Look Group, explains, “The next 11 years will provide a time of substantial growth of the sporting economy in Qatar and The Look Company has every intention of continuing to produce branding solutions of the highest quality in order that we may assist Qatar on its journey to becoming a global sport tourism destination.”

What else is on the horizon for The Look Company?

As its focus area, The Look Company is fully resourced to service the largest of international sports events and has recently invested in larger, state-of-the-art facilities in Doha to facilitate its future growth.

Fabric in HD The Look Company has invested in a number of High Definition fabric printers to further raise the bar in regards to industry standards. The finished quality being delivered by this technology is superior to any other available product. Using HD fabrics will enhance the viewing of all audiences watching sports events and should be set as an industry benchmark for quality purposes.

Outside of the sport arena, The Look Company, Middle East, is also growing its corporate and interiors division, as described by Amy Burke: “We’re currently working with a number of companies on projects to ensure their brands are a living, breathing entity at the heart of their organization. These projects range across business to consumer and internal employee engagement branding programmes to span the whole organisation. The future for The Look Company is very positive here in Qatar and the Middle East and we’re very excited about current and future projects in the pipeline.”

Moreover individual services and items, The Look Company provides most benefit when its partnerships are created in the early stages: “An intrinsic part of our service proposition is the ability to work with an organising committee from the very beginning, allowing our expertise to iron out any creases in plans and mitigate any risk to the client”, says Amy Burke. This thinking aligns with The Look Company’s efforts to work very closely with complementing agencies.

To contact The Look Company, Middle East: Sports Event Branding – Amy Burke aburke@thelookcompany.com Corporate and Social Event Branding – Lauren Shilling lshilling@thelookcompany.com Sport Event Sponsorship Opportunities – Jacob Burke jburke@thelookcompany.com

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Transport & Logistics in association with

SPECIAL DELIVERIES As sports events spread their wings worldwide, the on-time and safe delivery of equipment, materials and people poses significant logistical challenges No matter what their size, delivery of a first-class sports event inevitably relies on efficient logistics.

And the flow of materials and services before, during and after an event is an intricate process.

For example, consider the construction of the London 2012 Olympic Stadium, the centrepiece of next year’s Games.

According to the Olympic Delivery Authority, 144 companies have acted as suppliers for the Olympic Stadium so far – and that is nearly a year before the athletes have even started to arrive.

It is clear that without well-planned logistics, an event can grind to a halt. It is the job of Matthew Clarke, consultant to Schenker AG, to ensure such a scenario does not materialise.

DB Schenker has been a freight forwarding business since the 1870s, but its sports event unit has been a more recent creation to meet the needs of a

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burgeoning market sector.

“It started when the company gained official status as the sponsor of freight forwarding services at the Sydney Olympics (in 2000),” Clarke says.

“The Olympics represented a major springboard for the DB Schenker network. In 2003 DB Schenker decided to become a sponsor of the International Olympic Committee, and in parallel with that development was the establishment of a sport events unit.

“There is an increasing demand in this sector, not only in terms of supplying mega events but also other multi-sport events or single-sport competitions.

“For example, at the moment one of DB Schenker’s key projects is the World Sailing Championships (which will take place from December 3-18, 2011) in Perth, Australia. We’ve been working with the International Sailing Federation, national sailing federations and the local organisers on working out how to get things like boats and sails there.

“For an event such as the Sailing World Championships we would begin to work on it about one-and-a-half years in advance of the competition.”

DB Schenker’s responsibilities depend on its relationship with a particular event, and an official partner status allows the company to commit further resources to the overall project.

“Core services include freight forwarding via air and ocean, with items of a larger volume, such as overlay and temporary furniture, being delivered by ocean,” says Clarke. “High-quality goods such as broadcast equipment are delivered by air.

“We cover getting things into a country, getting them to a warehouse, unloading them, and we may need to provide specialised packaging.

“However, we also advise on goods that will have temporary status and customs clearance procedures through to the physical delivery.”

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx//Getty Images Sport

On top of DB Schenker’s front-end service, the company can also provide experts to take a more “hands-on” role in overseeing logistics at an event.

“Sometimes DB Schenker provides supervisory services and people who act in advisory roles on the ground at the event. We prefer that approach as it is door-to-door and lock-stop,” Clarke says.

“In South Africa we had supervisory officers at every stadium for the Confederations Cup (2009 warm-up event for the Fifa World Cup) and then the 2010 World Cup itself.

“We ran a major logistics operation from continental Europe to South Africa as there were lots of products that were not sourced locally. For example, the whole catering operation, right down to the knives and forks, was from outside the country.

“We shifted hundreds of containers and delivered them to the venues, not just the ports.

“In total, we had more than 750 people in South Africa and they all underwent the accreditation and safety training processes. Only a core number of the workforce was already working for

Schenker, so the recruitment and training is not something that can be done in a short space of time.

“It is important to be able to transfer knowledge from event to event, but of course it is not always easy to retain a lot of motivated staff for different events around the world.

“When you go to work for an event in a new place you will begin with a young and fresh team and will have to walk them through everything. It is therefore essential to plan a long way in advance to make sure you perform on the day.”

One area that Schenker does not plan

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Transport & Logistics in association with

to operate within is the transportation of animals to and from sporting events, although the company has supported the delivery of horses, for example, by moving the feed and bedding with the “equine athletes” at the Sydney, Athens and Beijing Olympics.

The physical delivery of the goods is merely one part of the service, though.

In a pressurised and deadline-focused environment, unforeseen delays can leave event organisers in a panic.

A lack of understanding and experience in relation to customs clearance procedures can scupper an event stakeholder if they attempt to keep logistics in house without expert assistance from a service provider such as DB Schenker.

“There are often issues with customs clearance that need to be recognised,” Clarke adds. “For DB Schenker, the sport events department is actually just a small part of the overall network, and that wider network can be relied upon to support services.

“We are already looking at how we are going to work in Brazil with event organisers and customers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. “We are identifying how long goods will be allowed to stay in the country, what sort of volumes are allowed and whether we should be hosting workshops now (for event stakeholders and customers).

“It is an absolute necessity to ask all of

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these questions well in advance, and we would always recommend this approach to clients.”

It is also essential for the event organisers themselves to ask some crucial questions that can be overlooked when the public focus is on the tangible completion of competition venue construction projects.

“I would highly recommend to an event organiser to define what the local operating environment is,” Clarke explains.

“They need to understand what the city’s capacities and capabilities are in terms of receiving goods as well as the available skill base. For example, is there a good rail network or a port?

“On too many occasions it is just assumed that everything will work okay before the realisation that there are issues.”

With this in mind, Clarke believes future event hosts should heed the lessons of the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games.

“The operational demands had not been recognised early enough by all stakeholders and they had not adequately assessed the quantities involved. There were a lot of issues there, but it was still a good opportunity to learn.”

Organisers of any sporting event need to appreciate the “operational benefits” of logistics in the

planning phase, according to Clarke.

One avenue to avoiding such an unwelcome eventuality is by establishing a solid logistics budget as part of the planning. With funds and responsibilities allocated and individuals directly accountable for such services, the logistics operation can then be properly defined.

“It is hard to specify a fixed percentage of the budget to be allocated to logistics,” Clarke says.

“If you take into consideration delivery of all equipment and furniture though, you are definitely looking upwards of 20 per cent of the event’s operating budget.

“There used to be a sense that if a cost was not covered in a catering budget, for example, people would assume that logistics would cover it.

“However, I think that perspective is being left in the past as people increasingly recognise the adverse impact of not planning thoroughly in this area.

“We always try to convey the message to organisers that they need to understand as early as possible how logistics are defined and how they can provide operational benefits in crossfunctional integration.

“With major events this is paramount as otherwise logistics can fall through the cracks, and you don’t want to be in a situation when people are saying to each other, ‘I thought someone else was looking after it’.”

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Environmental Services

WASTE NOT WANT NOT BIG CROWDS PRODUCE MOUNTAINS OF TRASH WHICH NEEDS TO BE CLEANED UP AND DISPOSED OF IN AN ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY WAY. RORY SQUIRES DISCOVERS THAT ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES HAVE BECOME A CENTRAL AND SOPHISTICATED FUNCTION OF EVENT MANAGEMENT

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Where there’s muck, there’s money, and for a sporting event to be awarded a clean bill of health, some people have to get their hands dirty.

However, whereas managing waste and cleaning can be lucrative for a services partner of an event, it can also be a major headache if hosts are illprepared to provide such an essential service.

Waste management at a major sporting event can be a colossal task.

For the London 2012 Olympic Games, for example, organisers predict that around 10,000 tonnes will need to be disposed of, processed or recycled.

Eighty-five per cent of this mountain will come from food.

It may be an unglamorous part of the event-hosting process, but ensuring those who attend and compete are able to do so in a hygienic environment is integral to the overall success of the project.

Craig Lovett, the general manager of the leisure, sports and entertainment sector at Spotless International, is one of the industry’s experts.

He founded Cleanevent in 1987, with the company beginning life by supporting the Melbourne Cup carnival.

The Australian firm grew steadily and went on to play central roles in multiple Olympic Games.

Cleanevent was acquired by Spotless

in March 2010 and the Spotless Group now has more than 3,500 cleaning contracts across Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the US and employs around 40,000 staff.

There is “no rule of thumb” in terms of budgeting for cleaning and waste management services, according to Lovett. The services are variable and visitor numbers are often difficult to predict with any real accuracy ahead of a major event such as a World Cup or Olympic Games.

However, effective waste management can also help to reduce the strain on the overall hosting budget. As an example, the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, which will stage events during the London 2012 Olympics, has estimated that it can make cost savings of approximately 15 per cent

Getty Images Sport

through “better waste management and electricity optimisation”.

There is also an increasing pressure on event hosts to adopt a more ‘green’ and environmentally-friendly approach, and cleaning and waste management services have a crucial role.

In a March 2010 Carbon Footprint Study by London 2012, it was found that catering and waste from ticket-holders and non-ticket-holders would account for seven per cent of the Games spectators’ overall carbon footprint – a significant amount considering the remaining percentage included accommodation and transport.

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) for the 2012 Games reused or recycled between 90 per cent and 95 per cent of the waste created through the ‘big build’ phase of the project. A waste

management contract was awarded to Veolia Environmental Services, which established a centralised waste consolidation centre on the site of the ODA’s operations.

Veolia’s involvement meant that any waste created by the construction activities was recovered and reused or recycled and diverted away from landfill sites. Any waste not able to be reused on site was taken to external licensed facilities for further processing.

After first linking up with the Olympics for the 1996 edition in Atlanta, Cleanevent, which is now owned by Spotless, was involved in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games and the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. The company will also provide a service at the London 2012 Olympic and

Paralympic Games.

“The services under the leisure, sports and entertainment sector can range from catering and retail cleaning to waste management and recycling, linen services, uniforms supply and maintenance, security and event management services,” Lovett says.

“In the case of the London 2012 Olympic Games we are providing an integrated services package that includes cleaning and housekeeping services for the 16,000-bed athletes’ village, which is effectively the largest hotel in the world.

This includes linen supply and laundry as well as towel supply and laundry.”

With considerable experience of a range of sporting events over the years that contrast in size and structure, Lovett is well placed to apply his experience to new projects. However, he concedes that

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Environmental Services

variable factors prevent a rigid template from being applied to all cases.

For smaller events, organisers may consider keeping the cleaning and waste management responsibilities in-house.

However, local legislation is just one hurdle to consider.

“We certainly abide by local laws and guidelines but we also ensure that we use the knowledge that we have gained around the globe through our major events experience,” says Lovett.

“However, no two events are the same.

While there is some knowledge transfer, it is fundamentally important that each and every cleaning, waste management and catering solution is designed so it is fit for purpose.”

In an event as large as the Olympic Games, Lovett says there can “often be more than 3,500 people” working on the project, “incorporating in excess of two million man hours of labour and management”.

The project is intensive, with the key operations during an event itself often covering a relatively short length of time. For things to go smoothly, Lovett believes “people logistics” are crucial.

“It is about having the right people in the right place with the right attitude and they need to be well briefed and trained,” says Lovett.

“These labour-based programs must be treated as difficult and enough resource must be allowed for the planning processes. Typically an Olympic Games cleaning or catering programme needs to start some three years out to ensure that correct communications and input into the cross-related functional areas.”

Cleaning and waste management should be efficient and inconspicuous in the context of a sporting event. It is the sort of service that is only noticeable to

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Getty Images Sport

the average spectator if something has gone wrong.

Organisers may lose sleep over whether the venue construction projects will be ready, but if those arenas are littered by rubbish or are unhygienic come competition-time, the illusion of a well-organised event is shattered.

Lovett is fully aware that companies such as Spotless have a crucial role in maintaining the overall image of an event and also upholding any environmentally-friendly pledges by the local organising committee.

“Presentation of events has become a key factor,” he says.

“Event managers, hosts and promoters are becoming increasingly aware of the need to present safe and clean environments for patrons.

“The environmental angle is now the norm; an expectation rather than an exception. We are always searching for the right ‘green solution’ for our deployments and this is often enhanced by the integrated offering that Spotless can provide.”

According to Lovett, one noticeable development since he first entered the sports event sector in the late 1980s has been the growth of 24/7 demand for cleaning and waste management.

Services had once been provided only at the end of a day’s competition.

“There has been a key change around the need and desire to present a facility at its best all of the time rather than just clean up post any event day,” he says.

“Patrons are looking for edgy events, quirky events, events that go the extra step in presentation. We understand that we are part of the show and part of the overall event experience.”

The job specification for a cleaning and waste management company within the context of variable sporting events that are adopting an increasing focus on ‘green’ responsibilities is more demanding than ever.

However, from the perspective of an industry expert, which boxes must be ticked by a local organising committee so that a successful waste management and cleaning project at a sporting event can be guaranteed?

“Budget allocation, resources, current operations and Modus Operandi,” says Lovett.

With legacy being the buzz word for sporting events, organisers are always keen to ensure that as little as possible goes to waste post-event.

However, when waste is the focus, outsourcing operations to an experienced partner that will prioritise “people logistics” at the heart of a “fit-for-purpose” plan prepared well in advance should enable an event to avoid blemishes.

Maria Sharapova at the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships, London, 24 June 2011. 117182795, Clive Mason/Getty Images Sport.

Matt Prior of England at Lord’s Cricket Ground, London, 24 July 2011. 119750894, Gareth Copley/Getty Images Sport.

Fernando Alonso at the British Formula One Grand Prix, Silverstone, England, 9 July 2011.

118589194, Paul Gilham/Getty Images Sport.

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09/08/2011 17:30

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