The Olympics - 24-Hour Party Zone

[Stingray2004]

Brace for Olympics 24-hour party zone

March 18th, 2009

I’m (belatedly) posting my story in the Globe this week about the competition to get and rent party sites downtown for the many, many groups that want to have a presence at the Olympics. What really hit home to me for the first time, as I was researching this story, was just what a carnival it’s going to be downtown as hundreds of business groups, community groups, government organizations and you name it set up party/hosting sites here there and everywhere.

I hear my onetime employer, CanWest, is going to be hosting theirs at the Miele showroom on Yaletown, Alberta is going to be in a restaurant at the corner of Robson and Beatty, Bell is going to be in another restaurant nearby, and so on and so on. Apparently the Heineken beer company always has a great place at every Olympics, although I haven’t heard where they’re going to be yet. That’s on top of the city’s two live sites, which will have non-stop entertainment.

We live within a 30-minute walk of all this so I think we’ll just be ditching our car and wandering around to observe the festivities. I’m not usually a crowd person - I go out of my way to avoid towns holding “festivals” — but this sounds like it will be spread out over so many blocks and be so unique that I’m starting to think it will be fun.

Source: Frances Bula
http://www.francesbula.com/?p=1283

And this is also one part of the Olympic celebration that I certainly also will be looking forward to. Shades of Expo '86!

[Metro-One]

Sounds awesome!

[Locked In]

Here's the Globe article referenced above:

VANCOUVER 2010: PAVILIONS: PARTY ZONE
City, land owners compete for sponsors
Economic slowdown puts dent in Vancouver's plans to raise $4.5-million by renting 'hosting sites'

FRANCES BULA
Special to The Globe and Mail
March 17, 2009

VANCOUVER -- A musical-chairs scramble is on in downtown Vancouver as sponsors and other Olympic celebrators look for spaces to set up 'hosting sites' during the Games.

But at a time when the global economy has been in freefall, competition from private property owners is hampering city plans to attract up to $4.5-million from Olympics sponsors putting up pavilions and entertainment venues at its two planned live sites.

"There's a host of private sites out there," said Dave Rudberg, the city's general manager for Olympic preparations. "It does require you to sharpen up and be competitive."

Groups are said to be looking at renting everything from private art galleries to entire floors of downtown department stores to Stanley Park restaurants in the blocks around BC Place, where Olympics ceremonies will be held - effectively transforming the downtown into one large party zone.

Concord Pacific is renting vacant land in northeast False Creek, opposite the Olympic athletes village, to Hockey Canada, and is in negotiations with several Canadian provinces that want to set up pavilions there. Elsewhere, groups from other countries' Olympic organizing committees, as well as from provinces, sports federations and various nations, have been using Tourism Vancouver's database of about 100 possible downtown venues to find potential hospitality sites.

And Vancouver's business improvement associations are in talks with the city to see whether they can get sponsors or others to set up on the streets that will be designated pedestrian-only during the Games.

"The downtown is going to be rocking," Mr. Rudberg said. "And if people don't get their sites nailed down soon, they are going to miss the opportunity."

But Mr. Rudberg acknowledged that, as a result of the economy and the availability of other private spots, the city has not been able to get quite as many tenants yet for its two sites as originally hoped - one on Georgia on the block next to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, and another in David Lam Park in Yaletown. A third live site that had been briefly considered as a possibility for sponsor Bombardier, near the new Canada Line station on Second Avenue, will not go ahead.

In some cases, previously interested sponsors have chosen to look at cheaper private spaces in the city, as a way of controlling their costs. Mr. Rudberg said the city's policy of not allowing alcohol, except in closed-door, invitation-only events, may have prompted some potential tenants to look elsewhere. However, he said the city wanted to make sure its sites were family-friendly. Live sites being organized by Whistler, West Vancouver and Richmond have the same policy.

The lack of sponsors may mean some scaling back of the extensive entertainment and programming at Vancouver's two live sites, which are meant to accommodate nearly 20,000 people.

But, Mr. Rudberg stressed, the city still has $15-million from the federal government and its own coffers, along with a healthy number of sponsorships, that will allow it to put on an exciting entertainment program.

The live sites are open only to the official Olympics sponsors - a group of about 50 businesses and other organizations. But Mr. Rudberg said that an indoor site, which will be set up in the atrium of the central library, won't be as restricted.

"We can go outside the Olympic sponsor family there," he said. "And we are going out and talking to some who haven't activated at the live sites yet."

The city will also have competition for tenants there, as business associations are also looking for sponsors and other groups to set up pavilions and hosting sites on the pedestrian streets.

"We would be very extremely excited if we were able to land a number of pavilions," said Charles Gauthier, director of the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association. "We are encouraging different groups to look at that space."

Source: Globe and Mail

[raggedy13]

The atmosphere around town during the Olympics is going to be amazing, a once in a lifetime experience. I can't wait to take it all in.

[mr.x]

^ 1) pray for good weather; little rain

2) pray for protesters sitting on their asses at home

3) god forbid a terrorist attack

[flight_from_kamakura]

the parties (and concomitant free booze) are one of the great underreported stories of the coming games. even if the thing is a total economic disaster (50-50 at this point), the locals will have had two blowout weeks to look back upon with fondness and quiet appreciation.

[NetMapel]

Surrey will have the big screen TV we all want :O

http://www.bclocalnews.com/surrey_area/peacearchnews/news/41772027.html

Olympic-size party planned

Up to 100 plasma TVs and two giant video displays will be installed in Holland Park next year as the city prepares a huge party for the Winter Games.

The displays are part of an ambitious plan for North Surrey, which could include wrapping the 25-storey Central City Tower with a giant plastic image for some time leading up to the Games.

The city’s request for proposals calls for several technicians, including a video person responsible for “two stages including large video screens, up to 100 plasma TVs for various locations throughout the site.”

A major emphasis will be providing a television feed for the games, as well as ethnic food and licensed beverage areas.

Black Press has also learned discussions are under way with Central City to allow for the building wrap.

“You can see right through it,” said Coun. Linda Hepner, who said the city hasn’t decided on the image yet.

“If I could put the (Olympic) rings there I’d be thrilled, but we’re so tight on how often we can use that. It will probably look like a skier, or a skater or a snowboarder.”

Surrey will also be the venue for some key musical talent, Hepner said, as headliners coming to the Games will appear at several venue cities.

Hepner said admission to the events will be free. Surrey has budgeted for up to $3 million for the party, which will take place in lieu of Winterfest.

The party is to run from Friday, Feb. 12 to Sunday, Feb. 28, 2010.

[raggedy13]

Surrey really seems to be big into pushing events in the central city area these days. It is certainly a good thing and should help to further anchor the area as it strives to become the Metro's second downtown. Good on 'em.

[Whalleyboy]

thats friggin awesome for holland park

[SpongeG]

cooll

It would be cool if they could have some of the 100's of TV's broadcasting the live feed of other countries - just too see how they cover the games at the same time...

[SpongeG]

in other news...

Vancouver may scale back public parties during 2010 Olympics

VANCOUVER, B.C. — Vancouver is scaling back plans for public parties during the 2010 Games while leaving their budget to wine and dine politicians and corporate executives untouched.

City council voted Tuesday to cut $5 million from their $23-million budget for public entertainment sites, citing trouble raising sponsorship money.

Economic challenges and competition from other so-called live sites also means the city won't rule out shutting down the smaller of the two planned sites to stay within the new $18-million budget.

"Our goal should be to have a huge success with whatever we're doing and not get it so diluted down since we have to have two (sites) versus one," said city manager Penny Ballem.

The free public parties are being planned for a downtown park and an old bus lot, and will include live entertainment and television coverage of sports events for 12 hours a day during the Games.

The federal government is contributing $10 million to the site and the city share is $5 million.

The remaining $3 million will come from three sponsors the city has already attracted, any others they can sign up and food and merchandise sales.

Live Nation, the company that produced the Pemberton music festival last summer, is being offered the contract to produce the events, along with U.S.-based Five Currents.

Public event sites are also being planned by provincial governments, corporate sponsors, sports associations and cultural groups.

Ballem said the Olympic organizing committee has raised concerns that all of the groups are over-extending themselves in Vancouver's tight downtown core.

"There is more work that needs to be done with (the organizing committee) around what do we think is sufficient for the downtown," she said.

While city officials say they haven't been able to attract as much funding as they'd hoped for the public events, they see potential for attracting future funding to Vancouver through corporate hospitality programs during the Games.

The city will spend $2 million on a hospitality program for visiting politicians and corporate executives during the Games.

"We think that this is very much the business of the city in terms of some hosting capacity," said Dave Rudberg, the city's outgoing director of Olympic operations.

The plan includes buying as many as 1,700 tickets to give away to mayors of other municipalities or businesses leaders, which raised the ire of some city councillors at Tuesday's meeting.

"I think this is an inappropriate use of our funding," said councillor Ellen Woodsworth, whose concerns were echoed by her colleague David Cadman.

He suggested it was wrong for taxpayers to foot the bill for hosting dignitaries and business leaders when many people couldn't buy tickets themselves.

Some of the tickets purchased by the city from Olympic organizers would be resold to third parties. Officials pledged Tuesday to create criteria for who would or would not get the free tickets as well as develop an accounting mechanism to keep track.

The city says it's hoping other government agencies will chip in for the hospitality programs, which also include events for International Olympic Committee officials and their spouses.

Officials are also looking at running a "protocol" headquarters during the Games at a downtown Vancouver community centre.

That's on top of a planned $1.5-million "Vancouver House" to promote the city to the public and to dignitaries.

The city has budgeted $20 million for the Games, not including funds coming from the provincial and federal governments.

The funding reports came alongside the first review by a lawyer hired to look into a leak to the media of confidential documents about the 2010 Olympic athletes' village.

In his report, Richard Peck said he feels his work should be put aside until the Vancouver police department concludes its own criminal investigation into the breach of politicians' obligations to keep closed-door meetings closed.

But he said the city needs to do better about how it handles information coming out of such meetings, including strengthening its own rules about the consequences of leaking sensitive information.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5jgOrs3PlCmURXaddas0NTmNkdQsQ

[Distill3d]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

in other news...

Vancouver may scale back public parties during 2010 Olympics

VANCOUVER, B.C. — Vancouver is scaling back plans for public parties during the 2010 Games while leaving their budget to wine and dine politicians and corporate executives untouched.

of course, we have to show the suits a good time while the people who matter suffer...smart idea, not like we're going to have this sort of celebration again next year.

[Delirium]

according to the IOC, looks like we have too many parties planned!

IOC puts damper on Vancouver partying
ROD MICKLEBURGH

March 26, 2009

VANCOUVER -- Vancouver comes by its party town reputation honestly, but enough is enough, according to the International Olympic Committee.

The sober-minded IOC has told the city to scale back its plans to party, party, party during the coming 2010 Winter Olympics.

"They've made the observation that we may not need as much as is being planned, because there is a lot," VANOC executive vice-president Dave Cobb said yesterday.

The IOC was concerned that the swath of live sites and celebration areas originally set aside for the 17-day event was more than at any previous Summer or Winter Olympics, Mr. Cobb said.

Spurred by the added impetus of the current economic downturn, he said Olympic organizers have taken IOC concerns to heart. "They have done this many more times than the rest of us, so I think this is a good time for everybody to take a final, last look at what the plans are, and make sure that the scope is appropriate."

With three significant Olympic sites - the media centre, GM Place (hockey) and BC Place (opening, closing and medal ceremonies) - fairly close together in the city's dense downtown, large areas have been set aside for the general public to enjoy the atmosphere of the Games without buying a ticket.

"There's no doubt that the downtown is going to be very active during the Games," said Dave Rudberg, outgoing general manager of Olympic operations for the city. "This is something that Vancouver has never experienced before, and we are encouraging people to come downtown and take in the celebrations."

However, a shortage of sponsorship money prompted city council this week to slash Olympic spending on public entertainment to $18-million, a cut of $5-million from its previous budget.

The city is planning two live sites downtown, featuring entertainment, large video screens to show Games events and other Olympic-related activity. But officials are not ruling out consolidating everything to a single site, if money continues to be hard to come by.

In addition to the city's live sites, the province, VANOC and a myriad of corporate sponsor hospitality tents will take up space downtown. Large sections of major thoroughfares Granville Street and Robson Street are earmarked for pedestrian-only use during the Games.

Streets in the immediate vicinity of BC Place and GM Place, to be renamed Canada Hockey Place for the Olympics, will also be blocked off.

Mr. Cobb was not specific about what celebratory activities might be cut back. "But it's something we are all looking at right now."

VANOC, meanwhile, continues to hold its head high above the rising tide of global economic turbulence. The Olympic organizing committee released another rosy quarterly financial report yesterday, outlining large revenue increases from ticket sales, IOC contributions, corporate sponsors and merchandise sales.

"For us, it's business as usual," said John McLaughlin, chief financial officer for VANOC. "But there are challenging times ahead ... and we remain prudent in our economic management. We try to be careful all the time. ... It's not magic [what we are doing]."

Despite selling out its first ticket offering to the public, VANOC took in just $94-million in revenue from the sales, well short of the $270-million total it hopes to reap. The large gap indicates how many tickets are set aside for members of the Olympic Family, usually national Olympic committees, which has yet to buy its share.

Mr. Cobb said plans are well under way for a second batch of Olympic tickets to be offered to the public some time this summer.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/s...IC26/TPStory/TPNational/BritishColumbia/

[mr.x]

Vancouver House – the world creates here

With Vancouver House, the City of Vancouver will create an immersive, interactive experience set in the dramatic atrium of the city’s iconic central library in downtown Vancouver.

The City’s home during the 2010 Winter Games, Vancouver House will showcase Vancouver’s leadership in technology, new media and the green economy. It will tell our city’s story, as defined through the expressions of its people, its art, entertainment and culture: from its early beginnings, through its multicultural evolution, to a vibrant cosmopolitan city of creativity and vision, driven by a sustainability ethos.

Visitors will view giant images projected across a screen of hanging drapes on the glazed façade of the library which will tell Vancouver’s story through both images and sound. Curving around the space, printed banners and swooping drapes will form a backdrop to image-filled spheres that will appear to float on the atrium’s raised balconies. Interactive displays will invite visitors to participate while learning more about our city.

An online component of the project will take the form of a micro-site and web portal that can be visited through this website that will act as an extension of the Vancouver House experience. Users will be able to view and upload content that relates to the theme – the world connects here - and have a chance to see themselves in Vancouver House.

Vancouver House will feature sustainable business practices, including use of energy efficient LED lighting and electronics, the reuse and rental of equipment required for the pavilion, and sustainable disposal or reuse of lighting and banners after the Games. The City will also calculate the carbon footprint and purchase equivalent carbon offsets to make Vancouver House carbon neutral.

Together, Vancouver House, animated pedestrian corridors and the City’s two live sites will make downtown Vancouver the place to be for free family activities during the 2010 Winter Games.

[wrenegade]

Originally Posted by Delirium

Vancouver comes by its party town reputation honestly, but enough is enough, according to the International Olympic Committee.

huh??? what planet are they on? I have never once heard of Vancouver referred to as a party town, and nobody here has likely heard that either! lol

[Distill3d]

Originally Posted by awvan

huh??? what planet are they on? I have never once heard of Vancouver referred to as a party town, and nobody here has likely heard that either! lol

i think they may be thinking of Vancouver, Washington.

[zivan56]

Scale down the celebrations? Too many parties? Vancouver? Party town?
Does not compute....

[Metro-One]

Next we will be hearing how Vancouver is the world's financial capitol and we should start scaling down our office space

[mr.x]

Well, you do have to wonder about security costs to secure those Live Sites....i'm puzzled, for the public's own safety sake, why the two Live Sites aren't surrounded by street closures.

The Live Site security measures may prevent an Atlanta-style bombing within the party enclosure, but what about the perimeter? Seems like a gaping security hole if you ask me....

[Yume-sama]

Originally Posted by mr.x2

Vancouver House – the world creates here

With Vancouver House, the City of Vancouver will create an immersive, interactive experience set in the dramatic atrium of the city’s iconic central library in downtown Vancouver.

The City’s home during the 2010 Winter Games, Vancouver House will showcase Vancouver’s leadership in technology, new media and the green economy. It will tell our city’s story, as defined through the expressions of its people, its art, entertainment and culture: from its early beginnings, through its multicultural evolution, to a vibrant cosmopolitan city of creativity and vision, driven by a sustainability ethos.

Visitors will view giant images projected across a screen of hanging drapes on the glazed façade of the library which will tell Vancouver’s story through both images and sound. Curving around the space, printed banners and swooping drapes will form a backdrop to image-filled spheres that will appear to float on the atrium’s raised balconies. Interactive displays will invite visitors to participate while learning more about our city.

An online component of the project will take the form of a micro-site and web portal that can be visited through this website that will act as an extension of the Vancouver House experience. Users will be able to view and upload content that relates to the theme – the world connects here - and have a chance to see themselves in Vancouver House.

Vancouver House will feature sustainable business practices, including use of energy efficient LED lighting and electronics, the reuse and rental of equipment required for the pavilion, and sustainable disposal or reuse of lighting and banners after the Games. The City will also calculate the carbon footprint and purchase equivalent carbon offsets to make Vancouver House carbon neutral.

Together, Vancouver House, animated pedestrian corridors and the City’s two live sites will make downtown Vancouver the place to be for free family activities during the 2010 Winter Games.

I've always thought the columns should light up!

Hopefully they make it permanent. And I say this as someone who looks out the window at the library from my bedroom / living room.