2010 sponsors scaling back plans?

[mr.x]

According to Global, some companies like Nike, Coca Cola, and Omega are pulling back from their sponsorship committments during the 2010 Games - either scaling back plans, avoiding the city because of "red tape", and because of very high inflated venue rental costs....and of course, there's the recession. Some sponsors are even considering skipping Vancouver and focusing on London 2012 because "their Vancouver experience has been so frustrating".

Now sure how credible this report from Global is...click the link below, go to News Hour, and you'll see the video link.
http://www.globaltvbc.com/video/index.html

[johnjimbc]

It would have been nice if Global could have cited a specific sponsor when they spoke about them "pulling out entirely" or "being irritated by the red-tape." If they are that pissed, why wouldn't they go on record?

As it was, it sounded like someone was fishing for a lower price and was disappointed.

I'm not saying this isn't an issue - perhaps it is. But watching that newscast doesn't give me any detail. If I were the mayor or a city representative, I'd react to those type of nebulous reports the same way. "Tell us what the issue is if someone is having issues with 'red tape'." What the heck does that even mean? Their negotiating leases, right? It's specialized, yes, but it's not rocket science.

More detail, please, Global! Who vaguely complained off the record?

[twoNeurons]

It's just sponsors looking for a deal. These companies have oodles of cash and the recession gives them a good excuse to trim fat and increase profit margins.

You'll have to excuse me if I seem a little cynical.

[djh]

No, I don't think it's just sponsors looking for a deal. The CoV is notorious for being red-tape hell. The city shoots itself in its own foot, all the time, with things like this. Bureaucrats micromanage the place and are obsessed with process rather than the goals. Ask anybody on this forum who has regular dealings with the city about how awkward they can be with "letter of the law" mentality and obstructionist behaviour, as opposed to helping people achieve their goals. Hell, talk to any developer who wants to get stuff done, any bar owner, any restaurant, any group that wants to organise a public or private event, any festival committee, etc. And there's that infamous study of Metro Vancouver regions that calculated the average time to process development permits/rezoning (can't remember which) and found Vancouver was right at the top of the list. Can't remember the numbers now but I think it was about 16 months for Vancouver. The lowest time was something like 6-8 months for a smaller municipality.

Sigh. Vancouver shoots itself again and wonders why it's not yet "World Class" (TM)...

[johnjimbc]

Yes, Vancouver has been such a failure of urban planning and execution . . . sigh.

Could be improved - of course. But name another North American city that has come so far so fast.

The bubbling optimism I never knew I had surfaces again