160 likes | 176 Views
2009 World Winter Games PDL: Operations & Support Services. Functional Area Lead Team Members: VP – Wade Morehead, Operations and Support Services Sr. Director – Michele Walker Directors – Kevin Warburton, Colleen Walker, Jim Bailey. I. Plan. II. Do. III. Learn.
E N D
2009 World Winter Games PDL: Operations & Support Services • Functional Area Lead Team Members: • VP – Wade Morehead, Operations and Support Services • Sr. Director – Michele Walker • Directors – Kevin Warburton, Colleen Walker, Jim Bailey I. Plan II. Do III. Learn • Overview/Purpose: The Operations & Support Services Department consists of the following Functional Areas: • Accommodations • Food & Beverage • Transportation • Airport Operations • Logistics/Waste Management • Public Safety – Medical & Security • Press Operations • Credentialing • Way-Finding • Radio Communications • Non-Competition Venue Management – Most intricate venues follow: • Boise Centre – SOT, SOF, Dining Hall, Media Center, etc. • Uniform Distribution & Credentialing Centers • Delegation Welcome Center • Healthy Athletes (SOI Programs) • Goals & Objectives: • To create efficient, effective and financially responsible operational plans. • To integrate with all other GOC FA’s to execute these plans. • To meet all expectations as outlined in the SOI/GOC agreement, which establishes specific levels of service for many Functional Areas. • Key Responsibilities: The responsibilities of these functional areas are detailed in the following slides and in the operations plans and after action reports provided to SOI. • Legacy: SOWWG hopes to create operating plans in the aforementioned functional areas and work in conjunction with city and state agencies to execute these plans with the goal of developing systems, policies and procedures that are utilized during future events in Idaho and future World Games. The Operations Department also plans on coordinating the recovery of Games assets following the event and redistributing these assets in an effective and organized manner to local non-profits. Additionally, it the goal of the Operations Department to expose as many venues, vendors, and volunteers to the Special Olympics Movement to encourage these individuals to continue to donate human and financial resources to future Special Olympics Events. Schedules/Timelines: The GOC tried to utilize Project Manager to drive planning, however it was implemented at a late date and became too cumbersome for FA leaders and venue directors to keep up with computer work necessary for the program to be effective. The planning process was useful to educate and integ ate. Events: See Daily Competition and Activities Schedule 2009 SOWWG Operations & Support Services Organizational Chart: Recommended Organizational Structure of Operations Department: Vice President, Operations & Support Services – The Vice President of Operations should have a full-time administrative assistant dedicated solely to this department. Public Safety – The 2009 GOC was fortunate to have volunteer professionals serve as the Commissioners of Public Safety (St. Alphonsus Hospital), Medical (Ada County Paramedics), and Security (Idaho State Police Department). Even with their involvement, a full-time staff member serving as the POC for this FA would be advisable. Radio Operations – If the military or local security agencies cannot provide a dedicated radio commissioner, then it is recommended to hire a full-time staff member. Accommodations– This FA was not staffed adequately, and the quality of staff members employed was not sufficient. AmeriCorps Volunteers stepped in to help this FA succeed. A director with Hotel Management and booking experience should be hired to manage a team of three housing managers who would be responsible for volunteers, booking/rooming lists, and information services at the villages. Also, this FA should not report to the VP of Ops, but should report to the Director of Delegations Services. Non-Comp Venue Management – This department requires a Director who is experienced planning and developing venues. Then, the GOC should staff a manager for each significant venue, who all reports to the Director, Venue Management. This position should oversee the all venue management to assure consistent planning across all venues. Food & Beverage – F&B must have an experienced F&B Director with at least three managers to effectively plan and execute the F&B Ops Plan. Transportation – Hire a Transportation Director to develop RFP’s & contract with a Event Transporation Company to manage all facets of this FA. Successes: Successfully conducted the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games. Successfully integrated 18 AmeriCorps staff into staff five weeks prior to the event. Managed $2.5 million support partnership with US Department of Defense Achieved goals during recession Challenges: Limited financial resources to recruit and retain experienced staff Staff turnover created integration challenges during the long-term and short-term planning process. Functional Areas in the Operations & Support Services Department were dependent on the productivity and ultimate success of Business Development to procure VIK and execute vendor contracts. Lack of final decisions regarding competition times and days. TD’s impact on planning too significant. Confusing, fragmented Agreement with SOI that was not finalized until a very late date. Lack of usable information from previous Games. Key Learnings: Do not underestimate the importance of experienced staff. AmeriCorps Volunteers provided invaluable HR support to all departments. The success of the Logistics Department is dependent on an organized and well-communicated Procurement Plan. Do not let vendors and venues own GOC responsibilities. That is, ensure that each functional area is adequately staffed for quality control and to assure that decisions are being made in the best interest of the GOC. Methods must be devised to effectively evaluate the performance and capabilities of all staff members leading up to the Games to avoid any failures during the event. Clear goals and expectations must be communicated and milestones defined, to allow directors and senior management to evaluate performance and identify where changes in human resources may be needed. Recommendations: When staffing each department, be sure to hire senior level staff members with event experience. These directors should develop budgets, FF&E needs, staffing needs, volunteer needs, and operations plans prior to hiring managers and coordinators. This will ensure that new staff members have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities leading to a more efficient and productive staff. Each FA should be staffed with a full-time employee who is responsible for communicating and gathering information from all other FA’s. This employee should also be responsible for working directly with Volunteer Services to ensure that staffing needs are met and that the volunteers are provided the necessary information and training needed to successfully perform their duties as outlined. Venue Directors must have a clear understanding of all needs at their venue to effectively integrate with the Ops & Support Services FA’s. Operational Communications (cell phones/radios) should be owned by a full-time staff member to coordinate distribution and create directories well before games time. Info Services could play a significant role in helping FA’s be accountable and to drive planning.
2009 World Winter Games PDL: Accommodations • Functional Area Lead Team Members: • VP – Wade Morehead, Operations and Support Services • Director(s) – none • Manager(s) – Kacie Foster-Merk, AmeriCorps Volunteers (3) I. Plan II. Do III. Learn • Overview/Purpose: An essential element of any SOWWG is to identify and procure sufficient quantities of bed spaces within 45 minutes of all venues, and related services to support the housing needs of all Delegates, that is, Athletes, Coaches, DALs, HODs, and Volunteers. Additionally, housing must be secured and managed for families, medical/security personnel, Healthy Athlete participants, media, sponsors and other visitors to the Games. In an effort to ensure and secure quality accommodations, the objective of the Accommodations Functional Area is to provide all Official Guests with comfortable and safe housing. Another primary objective is to house all athletes by delegation. This FA is responsible for identifying all support elements necessary to address any housing related issue at all housing sites. To develop and execute this operations plan, Accommodations is organized into three primary divisions: Pre-Games Ops, Games- time Ops, & Post Games Ops. • Goals & Objectives: • Pre-Games Operations– Pre-Games Operations largely revolves around developing the policies /procedures for any housing related issue, pre-Games, Games-time, or post-Games. Working in concert with the Vols & Hotel Staff, this FA will develop operations plans (on topics such as housekeeping, key distribution, maintenance, etc.) to meet the needs of the GOC, SOI, and the Delegations. Key areas for Pre-Games Operations are as follows: • Quota Allocation — Ensure that sufficient rooms and bed spaces are reserved . • Housing Assignments — With consideration for wheelchair, gender, and cultural issues. • Hotel Staffing —Staffing assessments/training to be coordinated with contracted hotels. • Building Assessment — Ensure that the hotel rooms are turned over to the GOC clean and in "move-in" condition. Joint "walk-thru" with volunteers and hotel staff will be conducted. • Housing Publications —Housing Services will develop a procedures policy handbook which will include the Accommodations Plan. • Games-time Operations– The Accommodations Coordinator and Leader will be charged with implementing the policies /procedures developed during Pre-Games . Games-time Ops at the sites will be based on the procedures/policies set forth in the housing ops plan. Games-time Ops that will be focal points include: • Housing Assignments — Housing Services will be on site to support the front desk . Housing Services will assist Delegations with any changes in their room block assignments and provide final housing assignments to the hotels, SOI, and GOC. Daily reports will be provided. • Site Check-In — The Accommodations FA will: distribute delegation keys to all arriving coaches, and ensure that all Delegations will be pre-checked in. Delegations will be required to present a valid credit card to cover room incidentals, room damage and lost keys. The GOC will only pay room and tax charges. In order to ensure that incidentals are provided only to those who have put down a credit card, hotels will turn off long distance, pay per view movies, and video games to all rooms. Hotels will provide daily charges if any. • Key Plan — Keys will be provided to the HOD upon arrival. • Housekeeping /Maintenance— The Accommodations Coordinator will meet daily with the Executive Housekeeper to go over any housekeeping /maintenance issues. • Emergency Procedures— Accommodations will notify Security and Medical in the event of any emergency situation. Accommodations will contact the Head of Delegation with any pertinent information after communication with Medical or Security. The Accommodations FA will document any and all emergency situations in the Housing Logbook and will verbally communicate to GOC who will communicate daily to SOI. • Medical Emergency Procedure-In the event of a Medical emergency , the Medical Command Center will be notified first. Hotel personnel next in order to have a presence at the emergency and to have a key available if necessary. Security will be notified next in order to have a presence there to aid Medical Operations. • Security Emergency Procedure:-In the event of a non-medical related emergency, Area Command will be called first. Hotel personnel will be notified next in order to have a presence at the emergency and to have a key if necessary. Housing will work with Security and all hotel staff to monitor all public areas for athlete activity. • Post-Games Operations– Post-Games Ops will focus on delegations who require Post- Games housing on a case-by-case basis. Sites will be determined based on availability. Ops will be the same as the Games-time Ops and will be managed in the same manner. As the delegations depart the hotels, Post-Games Operations will focus on the following topics: • Key Collection , Equipment Recovery, and Damage Assessment • Invoice reconciliation – Review and pay all invoices • Summary: Upon receiving the bid to host the 2009 SOWWG, the GOC immediately faced the challenge of securing enough rooms to house all delegates and client groups. The hotel industry realized this fact and affordable room rates were difficult to negotiate. While the immediate emphasis was placed on securing enough beds in Boise, Sun Valley and McCall, several factors forced the GOC to be more concerned with eliminating financial exposure within the 80+ hotel contracts it had executed with local properties. Several factors contributed to this change in philosophy. The first indicator came when the GOC received clarification from SOI that the GOC was not responsible for housing MVP’s, All-Stars, Media, Family members, Healthy Athlete Volunteers/Train the Trainer personnel, Webcasters, and SOI staff, but that the GOC should make every attempt to make housing available to these client groups. Additionally, the deteriorating world-wide economy caused delegation participation numbers to drop significantly three months prior to the Games. The economy’s affect on the airline industry, made it possible for almost all delegations to arrive into Boise on February 3rd, 4th, and 6th, which meant that numerous contracted rooms prior to these dates were going to be unused yet these rooms were still the financial obligation of the GOC. The Accommodations staff took immediate action to reduce room nights and cancel contracts prior to the 59-day deadline in the standard contracts, and proceeded with 46 hotel contracts. The GOC also contracted with a hotel booking agent (InIdaho.com) to serve as the point of contact for all of the aforementioned client groups to book these guests into the hotels that had availability due to cancellations by the GOC. The GOC also transferred four hotel contracts over to SOI for them to manage booking for SOI staff, All-Stars, Train the Trainer/Healthy Athletes, and webcasters. By mid-December, the GOC had eliminated over $1 million in financial exposure in hotel contracts, and from that point on managed to 5% below estimated delegation numbers in anticipation of further withdrawals. While this proved to be extremely difficult, it was the only option for an organization facing financial crisis and who was never provided clear information on the number of client groups and delegates attending the Games. • Housing Assignments: Assigning 3,070 projected delegates to hotels was challenging, and the approach of the GOC was to determine single/double room breakdowns per delegation and fit each delegation into the hotel puzzle of available beds per hotel. Unassigned HODs and final DAL assignments are not included in the figures below. Also, support officials/vols/staff/ military were housed in extra beds where and when available to reduce financial exposure. • Alpine Skiing – 6 hotels, contracted 450 beds per night, 436 delegates from 43 countries • Cross Country – 4 hotels, contracted 422 beds per night, 415 delegates from 34 countries • Figure Skating – 2 hotels, contracted 317 beds per night, 216 delegates from 21 countries • Floor Hockey – 15 hotels, contracted 1,320 beds per night, 1,151 dels from 53 countries • Please note that 7 FH teams withdrew in Jan. exposing GOC for 200 unused beds per day • Snowboarding – 2 hotels, contracted 154 beds per night, 99 delegates from 15 countries • Showshoeing - 6 hotels, contracted 494 beds per night, 419 delegates from 49 countries • Please note that over 120 singles were needed for HODs/DALs which eliminated beds b/c virtually all rooms secured were double/doubles. • Speed Skating – 2 hotels, contracted 330 beds per night, 275 delegates from 23 countries • Estimated Total Delegates & Client Groups housed per night during event = 3,229 • Hotel Staff/Volunteer Information: A volunteer housing commissioner was assigned to each hotel. The three AmeriCorps volunteers, and the one accommodations manager were assigned clusters of hotels and served as the points of contacts for the volunteer commissioners. Each individual was provided with a cell phone, office supplies and accommodation manuals with the following information: Successes:This FA proved to be quite challenging for a variety of reasons, specifically due to staff turnover, inexperience, and failures which resulted in the termination of an accommodations manager. However, three AmeriCorps volunteers rose to the challenge a mere three weeks before the Games to assist the VP by completing essential tasks and to manage the accommodation process throughout the event. Feedback from delegations was positive regarding the quality of properties utilized by the GOC, and all guests were housed efficiently. Financially, the GOC budgeted hotel/condo costs to fall between $2.1 and $2.3 million dollars which proved to be accurate. Host town housing and attrition at two hotels propelled costs over the estimated $2.1 million. All breakfasts were provided by hotels in Boise and this proved to be efficient and was of the quality expected by the delegates. The GOC achieved level of service goals by utilizing quality hotels, minimizing the use of pull-out beds, eliminating any billing for incidentals, and efficiently checking-in/out delegates upon arrivals and departures. Challenges:Please note the following challenges that this functional area faced: Recession – The financial impact of the recession forced planning changes and left this department significantly understaffed and unable to retain staff members. Also, there was so much turnover of hotel managers that the GOC had to regularly re-educate hotel representatives leading up to the Games. Staffing – Retention and recruitment of quality staff members was negatively impacted due to a lack of funding. Also, communicating with SOI and the programs regarding delegate registration, names, and rooming lists proved to be quite frustrating during the 2008 Invitational Games. These two factors contributed to the departure of the Sr. Dir. of Delegations Services, the Delegation Services Manager, and the Accommodations Director, six months prior to the Games. This led to poor staffing choices due to limited access to financial and human resources. The result was assigning the accommodations department to Operations and Support Services instead of remaining as a functional area under the Delegation Services umbrella of responsibilities. This poor decision led to a breakdown in communication. Communication – The breakdown in communication b/w SOI, SOI programs, and the GOC Delegation Services and Accommodations department was significant. The combination of managing under the estimated total bed count and the lack of delegate, DAL, and HOD housing information delayed the rooming list process to such a late date that the system almost failed. For example, only a portion of delegation rooming lists were provided to the accommodations department and there was never clarity regarding the fact that DALs and HODs required single rooms. Additionally, there were nearly 40 HODs that were unassigned to a sport upon arrival which led to problems with bed availability, and DAL sport assignments were not provided until weeks before the event. This is difficult when sports are spread out geographically. Integration – This department is dependent on information from a variety of functional areas including Information Services, Sports, IT, and Transportation. A breakdown regarding sports schedules, transportation schedules, and games information combined with the inability to provide internet services in the hotels for accommodation volunteers led to a failure to provide important information at the hotels to the delegates. This was the primary complaint from Volunteer Housing Commissioners. Delegation Movements – SH, CC, and SB were all conducted three hours outside of Boise. With Opening and Closing Ceremonies conducted in Boise, delegate housing and movements are quite complicated and requires significant planning in conjunction with Competition Schedules, Feeding times, Ceremonies, and Transportation. Standard Contracts – Multiple hotels chose to utilize their own group housing contracts and implemented their own restrictions, deadlines and policies. Allowing this complicated the housing assignment and transportation plan. These restrictive contracts dictated planning in Boise b/c these hotels had to be utilized although more operationally ideal hotels were cancelled b/c contracts were severable. Recommendations:Determine singles vs. doubles when creating rooming lists, integrate with Information Services, only utilize one standard hotel contract, and assign Accommodations Department to Delegation Services Director. The following must occur 1 month prior to the event: assign delegates to hotels, assign volunteer shifts & train, submit rooming lists to logistics/hotels/airport ops, and forward dietary info to hotels.
2009 World Winter Games PDL: Food & Beverage • Functional Area Lead Team Members: • VP – Wade Morehead, Operations and Support Services • Director(s) – Gary Lillard • Manager(s) – Kacie Foster-Merk, Michelle Shobe I. Plan II. Do III. Learn • Overview/Purpose: There are several essential elements to F&B planning for over 80,000 meals, which includes identifying: the FA’s requiring F&B service; the total number of delegates (to be fed per venue per day); the client groups to be fed; the vendors who can prepare the meals within the budget; and the locations where F&B will be provided. Once this is determined, it is imperative to procure sufficient quantities of quality food, and to identify the nutritional requirements, special dietary needs, and cultural considerations of all groups so all meal and snack menus can be developed. To begin, the budget must be established, and the level of service across all groups and venues must be determined and policies clearly defined. F&B will then work with Business Development to develop strategic partnerships with food providers, vendors, and/or venues who will provide F&B supplies, equipment, staff, and a venue. Once Value In-Kind support is secured, the cash budget can be finalized in accordance with the level of service. • Goals & Objectives: • To provide optimal nutritional support for delegates, vols, and staff by developing a menu recommended by experts for active adults in cold weather climates. • To develop an “American dining experience” menu which offers a variety of choices. • To establish nutritional standards for future SOWWG. • To ensure that the dining experience is positive and memorable for delegates. • Create a committee of local F&B experts to create uniform menus at all venues for all three meals. • To provide balanced breakfasts at all hotels, boxed lunches at comp and non-comp venues, and vast buffet-style dinners at each Dining Hall in Boise, Sun Valley and McCall. • To work in conjunction with SOI sponsor Coca-Cola to provide beverage support at all venues and events. • Identify F&B commissioners for each venue and provide a meaningful and positive experience for the volunteers. • Key Responsibilities: Create a matrix of all venues requiring F&B service, determine total number to be served, amount of food product needed, delivery and storage method, food preparation location and staff, venue staff and serving methods for meal (boxed lunch, buffet, etc.), and waste management/ cleaning plan. One year prior to event, negotiate contracts with the following: • Vendors must work in conjunction with the public health association to assure food preparation locations meet standards and laws as dictated by the region. • Legacy: Engage numerous vendors and venues in the planning of the Games, expose these individuals to the wonderful experience of working with Special Olympics, and connect these entities with Special Olympics Idaho for future volunteer and value in-kind support. • Breakfast: All breakfasts were served at the delegation hotels from 0600-0930. Each of these meals included protein, rice, starch, fruit, cereal, dairy, and juices. If meat is included, it is important to be cognizant of cultural needs (i.e. no pork for Middle Eastern Countries). Hot & cold beverages. • Lunch: Boxed lunches were be prepared at various sites and delivered to all comp and non-comp venues. Sandwiches, wraps, chips, fruit, string cheese, yogurt, cookies, and beverage. Pizza was also provided at various non-comp venues. Lunches provided from 1100 to 1300 each day for delegates and volunteers working minimum of six hour shifts. Soups were added at outdoor venues to complement boxed lunches. Hot & cold beverages. • Dinner: Buffet-style meals at five dining halls (3 in Boise, 1 in McCall, and 1 in Sun Valley) served from 1600 to 2000. Meals included meat and veggie entrée, potatoes, rice, vegetables, salads, soup, bread, fruit, desert, and hot & cold bevs. • Schedules/Venues: The Winter Games are unique b/c venues are spread out across the state and numerous accommodation sites are needed, which means F&B must coordinate with Transportation and Sport. When scheduling meal times be sure to coordinate with Sports to assure that all delegates have an opportunity to eat each meal. Conducting this event in Idaho presented challenges b/c of a limited number of venues exceeding 10,000 sq. ft., therefore multiple dining halls were needed in Boise where 2,100 delegates required meals each day. Again, lunches served at comp sites and breakfasts at hotels. Following is a Dining Hall (dinner sites) summary: • Boise Centre, seating for 600, 1,200 meals per night, meal times 1600-2000: Figure Skating, Alpine Skiing, Floor Hockey Groups, Speed Skating. Also served as lunch (1100-1300) dining hall for 400 FS delegates and Volunteers for SOT, SOF, and FS. Catered by Boise Centre staff. • Expo Idaho, seating for 450, 600 meals per night, meal times 1600-2000: FH teams competing after 1600 directed to eat dinner at Expo. Expo served 1500 boxed lunches each day (1100-1300) for FH teams & vols. Mobile kitchen provided and staffed by Idaho Pizza Co. • BSU, seating for 450, 700 meals per night, meal times 1600-2000: This was the site for Healthy Athletes, and the only way to get full participation was to feed dinners assigned by sport each evening (i.e. SS & FS Sunday, AS Monday, FH Group A Tuesday, FH B Wednesday, FH C Thursday, SB Thursday, CC & SH Friday day upon return to Boise. • Big Wood Church (Sun Valley), seating for 400, 600 meals per night, 1600-2000: This was the site for all dinners and breakfasts for CC and SB b/c breakfasts were not sufficient at local hotels. • Shore Lodge (McCall), seating for 350, 500 meals per night, 1600-2000. This was the site for all dinners and breakfasts for SH b/c breakfasts were not available at local hotels. • Lounges for guests at all comp sites. Snacks and Hot & Cold Beverages. Successes: Despite numerous staff turnover in the months prior to the games, the vendors exceeded expectations with service for the GOC and made decisions in the best interest of the delegates. The execution of breakfasts at the hotels and dinners at the Dining Halls was an overwhelming success. Volunteers were pleased with the food provided for their services. Food amount estimations were plentiful and there was never a shortage of food. The F&B staff responded to delegate wishes through-out the games, including the provision of soup at outdoor venues for lunch. Challenges: Feeding delegates before and after Opening and Closing Ceremonies is quite challenging and requires completely separate planning in conjunction with transportation for staging. Less than one week prior to the Games, F&B was asked to provide 4,000 meals to delegates; clearly defining the numbers of delegates per venue and client groups needing F&B services at comp venues (lounges). Key Learnings (see below): Clearly define vendor and venue responsibilities and expectations in written form (contract/MOU); Hire experienced staff and enough support staff to communicate effectively internally and externally; recruit and train volunteers months in advance of the inception of the Games; consolidate dining hall locations when possible to assure that the total number is as small as possible in order to simplify the logistics of providing F&B for all guests and delegates; and finally clearly define the number of meals needed throughout the course of the Games to avoid under-supply. Recommendations: Hire an industry expert who is familiar with feeding large groups, knowledgeable about food portions, and experienced with F&B health and safety requirements. Complement with at least three organized managers. Require all FA’s in need of F&B support to clearly identify the number of delegates, vols, and staff who will need to be fed per venue per meal per day. Negotiate detailed contracts with food providers and vendors at least one year prior to the event in order to determine cash budget for additional food, services, and supplies needed to fulfill level of service policies. Clearly communicate meal schedules and menus to entire GOC and visiting delegations prior to arrival. Be prepared at each dining hall to feed more guests than anticipated. Engage F&B volunteer commissioners early and empower these essential staff members with information and knowledge to effectively operate and trouble-shoot their venues during the Games. Clearly define in the vendor and venue agreements, what services will be provided and how meal counts will be calculated to make the reconciliation process easier when review invoices. Assure that there is a GOC representative on-site to work in conjunction with and in the best interest of the GOC at each site to avoid vendors making decisions in the best interest of the vendors instead of the delegates and guests. Budget – Planned vs. Actual: Developing the budget for F&B was difficult for a variety of reasons. Due to staff turnover in this department, and the impact the world-wide recession had on available salaries and vendor donations, the cash budget figure was always a moving target. Within 8 months of the event, F&B hoped for $1.2 million in VIK product and services, with a cash budget of approximately $300k. However, the actual cost to the GOC was $500k, while VIK totaled nearly $700k. Cost increased at a late date prior to the games b/c the primary food provider did not develop a detailed list of donated product until 45 days prior to the event. This led to vendors and the GOC to have to procure product to complete menus. It is imperative to have a clear understanding of the amount of donated product to allow the vendors and GOC staff ample time to determine what product, services and equipment need to be procured in cash.
2009 World Winter Games PDL: Transportation • Functional Area Lead Team Members: • VP – Wade Morehead, Operations and Support Services • Director(s) – Kevin Warburton, Tom Halleran (consultant) • Manager(s) – Jill Palmer, Brett Broek, 10 AmeriCorps Vols I. Plan II. Do III. Learn • Overview/Purpose:The mission of the Transport & Parking Department is to provide safe, efficient, and timely transportation for all user groups during the operational period of the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games. The Transport & Parking Department will provide a Games Bus System that will range in shuttle service to and from the Boise Airport, to Games Official Accommodations, to Games Official Venues, Opening Ceremony, and Closing Ceremony. The Transport & Parking Department will provide a Games Motor Pool to all approved, credentialed guests with safe, friendly, and timely service. These vehicles will provide service to and from the Boise Airport, to Games Official Accommodations, to Games Official Venues, Opening Ceremony, and Closing Ceremony. The Transport & Parking Department will provide a Venue Transport & Parking Management Plan for the arrival, processing and departure of all official vehicles from the Games Bus Systems and Games Motor Pool areas at each Official Games Venue. • Key Responsibilities: • Work closely with Special Olympics, Inc. (“SOI”) to ensure all participants that arrive via air travel will reach their Official Accommodations. • Provide shuttles or bus service for the transporting of participants from Official Accommodations to and from Official Games Venues. • Provide shuttles or bus service for the transporting of participants from Official Accommodations to and from Opening Ceremony and Closing Ceremony. • Provide a motor pool service to approved, credentialed guests from Official Accommodations to and from Official Games Venues. • Provide a motor pool service to approved, credentialed guests from Official Accommodations to and from Opening Ceremony and Closing Ceremony. • Provide a working Venue Transport & Parking Management Plan for each Official Games Venue bases on input from each of the applicable Functional Areas. • Produce and distribute Transportation Guides to participants. • Produce and distribute Route Books to all drivers. • Overview of Services: The Transport & Parking Department involves the delivery of the following services: • Airport Transportation - Provide a Games Bus System for each approved client group. Following are all of the Systems: Airport Bus System, Boise Area Bus System, McCall Bus System, Sun Valley Bus System, Ceremonies Shuttle System, Special Services Bus System. • Provide a Games Motor Pool for: T-1 Service – dedicated, assigned vehicle for one (1) pre-identified passenger; AND T-2 Service – Scheduled and on-demand shared access to a fleet of vehicles by approved, credentialed guests. • Venue Transport & Parking • Ingress/Egress Routes – Venue Transport & Parking will identify and manage the in/out routes for all vehicles requiring access to the venue. • Access Points – Venue Transport & Parking will identify and manage the entry/exit points used by all official clients at the venue. • Load Zones – Venue Transport & Parking will identify and manage the sites used for the loading/unloading of all official clients, at the venue. • Staging Areas – Venue Transport & Parking will identify and manage the sites used for short-term vehicle staging for all official vehicles at the venue. • Parking Areas – Venue Transport & Parking will identify and manage the sites used for vehicle parking, for all clients at the venue • Legacy: The Transport & Parking Department will leave the following legacies: • Increased awareness of the need for traffic and parking planning for large events within the State of Idaho. • Provide each Official Venue with a “Traffic and Parking Management Plan” to build upon for future large events. • Work in conjunction with Valley Ride to utilize Natural Gas Buses for credentialed client groups to help Green the Games. The Transportation Department used the GOC Headquarters as the Command Center. This facility worked extremely well as it also served as the main bus yard/depot and the Motor Pool Fleet and operations center. Having the three areas of Transportation (Command Center, Bus Yard/Depot & Motor Pool Fleet and Operations) was a benefit to effectively providing transportation services throughout the Games Theater. Games Services: Following are key Responsibilities/Duties of Transport & Parking Dept.: Airport Bus System – This system provided service for Delegates, Officials and VIP’s from arrival terminals at three different airports the Boise Air Terminal (BOI), Salt Lake City (SLC) and Idaho Falls Regional Airport (IDA) to their Official Accommodations or the Delegation Welcome Center at the Boise Factory Outlet Mall. Departures as well. Accommodation to Venue Shuttle System – This System provided service from the hotels to the Official Venues, both competition and non-competition. The actual Venues that were served from each hotel were based on the sport assignment of dels at each location. Inter Venue Shuttle – The shuttle service linked the competition venues of Figure Skating, Floor Hockey and Speed Skating/Boise Center on the Grove. All credentialed participants of the 2009 SOWWG were able to access this shuttle. The Inter Venue System ran on half hour service from 07:00 to 22:00 during competition days. The inter venue system ran as expected and there were few delays due to new drivers getting acquainted the area. A shuttle between the Boise Center on the Grove (COG) and Healthy Athletes at Boise State University (BSU) was added so Delegates could participate in both if they chose so. Another addition was requested by Special Olympics Inc. to add the Doubletree Riverside Hotel as a stop so their constituents would be able to access venues. Delays not reported w/ additions. Evening Entertainment Shuttle System – This shuttle system provided service for each approved client group to Special Olympics Town and Festival located at the Boise Center on the Grove and to Boise State University for Healthy Athletes. McCall & Sun Valley Charter Bus Service – This charter service allowed any credential member of the 2009 SOWWG to access these daily charters from Boise to either the McCall or Sun Valley competition venues. This service was a success and had high ridership even though both trips exceeded three hours in duration. Ceremonies Bus Service – From hotels to/from Opening /Closing Ceremonies. Games Motor Pool “T-1” Service –dedicated car; “T-2” Service –taxi system; “T-3” Service –cars provided to staff w/o drivers Venue Transportation & Parking – “Ingress/Egress Routes” for buses and cars to enter/exit Official Venues, “Access Points” controls where and what type of vehicle can move around a given venue, “Load Zones” where participants will load onto and off-of the Bus System or Motor Pool Services, “Staging Areas” where buses will be prepared for the loading or unloading of passengers, and parking areas for Buses and Motor Pool Vehicles. Vehicle Marking & Credentialing – Cars and buses marked with signage that identifies the system type, the venue, and the load-zone. Budget:The GOC utilized 90 coaches and 60 school buses during the games. Also, the department utilized AmeriCorps volunteer instead of hiring 10 experienced event transportation staff members. This FA could have easily exceeded $2 million dollars, but spent under $1.4 million for all games transportation expenditures. • Successes: 1.)Very few complaints were made regarding Motor Pool Operations; 2.) Being able to adapt to new strategies on a daily basis which led to constant improvement throughout the week; 3.) Keeping our 120+ volunteers busy and happy throughout the week; 4.) Volunteer training for volunteer drivers proved to be valuable and successful; 5.) Completed 1200 RFTs (the vast majority within the 7 days of the Games) • Challenges: The only glaring flaw was the lack attention to detail in certain areas of planning. Being understaffed was a major contributor to this. If more key personnel (Venue Transport Manager, Bus Systems Manager & Motor Pool Manager) were hired then this issue might have been resolved. Another solution would have been more solid planning from areas that affected operations. This lack of information and also changes in planning negatively impacted planning, including the Routing for the bus drivers. Another example of how a breakdown in communication impacted plans and the budget is when four delegations unexpectedly arrived in Idaho Falls which is five hours from Boise. • Areas for Improvement – Motor Pool • Whenever delegations are in town, including during Opening and Closing Ceremonies, Motor Pool should be operational. Although it should probably be listed as “closed” to public knowledge during times when bus-only transport would be most effective (such as to and from Opening Ceremonies), it is important to remember that volunteers and cars are still necessary for unexpected but necessary transportation. The amount of cars and volunteers should be held to the discretion of Dispatch 1, although it should be very carefully assessed, although we would suggest that at least 10 drivers (not including dedicated drivers) and vehicles be available to provide back-up/emergency/unplanned transport and 6-8 of these 10 be on standby at the Ceremonies for a similar sized Games (97 countries/3000 dels). • Volunteers must know specifically where to park the Motor pool cars (by type of vehicle and vehicle number). Instead, volunteer drivers were walking out into the parking lot, and searching for where the car was. This led to some delays in dispatch and pick-up times. • At least four phones need to be answered at all times, particularly during the day when HODs are busy traveling from Venue to Venue and Games are in session. For our motor pool, that meant one of the phones be moved out into another office. It was very helpful to have a Dispatch 3 and Dispatch 4 that were volunteers that were working on the phones. • It would have been ideal to have a shift change meeting every day. The office was very busy, even when all six of the motor pool team was there. It still would have been more effective to just attempt having it every day to insure that when the two morning dispatchers left, all the information had been communicated. • It would have also been effective to have one person to look out for the next day’s events. This person should be in contact with departments such as accommodations, delegation services and sports. One of the staff members needs to be able to organize the next day’s moves in order to plan ahead. Although it would be ideal to think that can all be done before the event, most information would be incorrect, due to how constantly it changes. • While there was one individual who had dispatch experience, that person was working mostly with busses. AmeriCorps more or less fully ran the Motor pool Ops, including much of the pre-games planning. One person with games dispatch experience is imperative. • Recommendations: • More involved training for Dispatchers and any volunteers answering phones in the dispatch office, including in-action training early in the Operational period, and good training from Risk Management on importance of specific paperwork so that it can be stored, accessed, and recovered post-games with ease. There should also be a staff member with Games experience owning Motor pool for best results. • Designated liaisons for facilitating communication between Transport and Accommodations (1 person full time to give and get info from both Motor Pool and Bus Ops and Accommodations) as well as Transportation and Delegation Services (1 person) to make sure everyone (including Commissioners and Volunteer contact persons!) have the info they need to plan and operate effectively. • International Delegations had to rely on GOC-provided transportation Pre-Games and were on some days unable to schedule rides through Motor pool for Games-related activities due to a lack of volunteer drives. The Pre-Games plan should be more carefully ironed out between Delegations, Delegation Services, so that a high enough level of service can be provided to HODs and their athletes. • Bring in out of town bus drivers early to familiarize themselves w/ venues and routes. • Improve FA integration to enhance quality of handbooks (specific in lieu of general).
2009 World Winter Games PDL: Airport Operations • Functional Area Lead Team Members: • VP – Wade Morehead, Operations and Support Services • Director(s) – none • Manager(s) –Brett Broek I. Plan II. Do III. Learn Overview/Purpose: Airport Ops primary venues are Boise Airport (BOI) and Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC). BOI will be operational 2/1-2/17 for arrivals and departures, while SLC will be operational for arrivals 2/3-2/5 and for departures 2/13-2/15. Delegation Services and Airport Ops has established and maintained a relationship with both airport management teams in order to keep the flow of information regarding our delegate arrivals and departures moving smoothly. Only Special Olympics Delegations will receive support and service from the Salt Lake City airport. All other groups will need to enter the Games arena via Boise, ID for support services. Some staff and/or volunteers will be stationed in Salt Lake City in association with Special Olympics Utah and Team USA to assist these international delegations from security, through the luggage claim process, and finally to their designated Games transportation. These volunteers and staff will answer immediate questions; maintain communication with the Salt Lake Delegation Welcome Center and Barrister Command in Boise, ID to ensure all parties are alerted to eminent arrival/ departures of delegations and motorcades; assist Logistics in the loading of luggage either into logistics trucks or the base of Games motor coaches; and assist Transportation in the loading of delegates onto the correct motor coaches for arrival in Boise. Transportation from SLC will consist of motor-coaches responsible for their transport from the terminal following arrival to the Salt Lake Delegation Welcome Center facility where the delegations will enter into the host-town/home-stay programs. All host-town/home-stay participants arriving at SLC will remain in the Salt Lake area until the morning of February 6th. Team USA and all delegations residing in Salt Lake for the Host Town process will unite at the Salt Lake DWC on the morning of February 6th for departure via motor-coach caravan up to Boise, ID. Boise Arrivals/Departures: The Airport Operations staff and volunteers will be working with several distinct service groups: delegations, families, MVP/All-Stars, & officials. Delegations will be greeted at their respective gates as they deplane based on support from the Clipped Wings organization and the use of security escorts provided by BOI. Those greeting the delegates will preferably be their DALs, or a language services rep. As delegations are escorted through the airport, they will be staged to await their transport to the DWC. Transportation will be provided via motor coach or appropriately sized vehicle based on size of delegation. Luggage assistance is also provided, the details will vary slightly for families, MVP/All-Stars, and officials. Departures will be handled in a comparable manner with an emphasis on ensuring that all luggage is reunited with the guest prior to departure. Luggage Assistance to Delegations: Within each arriving delegation, a “luggage contact” will be designated, and they will maintain a luggage inventory and assist logistics with the identification of Games luggage for loading onto the logistics trucks. Airport Operations staff will also work closely with the BOI administration team to ensure information about flight arrival / departure times is readily available to both groups. The luggage will be managed by a person designated within each delegation and the Idaho National Guard. The delegation appointed luggage person will maintain an inventory of the bags and help with identifying Games luggage as it comes off of luggage carousels. The ID NG will assist in the transporting of luggage from carousels to a logistics truck, transporting to the DWC, and then the unloading of luggage at the DWC. Logistics trucks will be staged in a BOI staff parking area outside of the terminal adjacent to the Sun Valley Room, which will be serving as the lounge for both volunteers and logistics truck drivers. The inevitability of a lost piece of luggage or equipment presents us with the challenge of establishing and maintaining a luggage hot-line, of which the airlines are aware and instructed to use, to speed the process of reuniting a delegate with his/her lost luggage Key Responsibilities: A primary responsibility of the Airport Opss team will be to establish and maintain the relationship between the GOC and the Boise/SLC Airport administration, primarily with Jerry Murphy (Airport Security) and Jerry King (Airport Operations). By opening these avenues of communication, we will be able to provide an airport service that is timely and comfortable for the delegations while making it as easy as possible on airport’s daily operations. The Airport Ops team must also work in conjunction with other FA’s to provide the following services: Delegation Services; Family Services; Flight Confirmation & Tracking; Staff and Train Greeting Teams; Communicate Luggage Restrictions and provide Luggage Tags to all Client Groups several weeks prior to the event; Assist with Luggage movements; Develop and Communicate a Lost Luggage procedure; Provide Medical Support and Services at both BOI and SLC; Coordinate with Transportation for ingress/egress; Coordinate LOOK with Marketing Department; and Secure space to provide all services to arriving guests. • Milestones: • Beginning in September of 2008 and continuing through the end of January 2009, we began monthly meetings that became more frequent as the event approached. The Transportation Security Administration, the GOC, airport operations staff, National Guard representatives, Federal Air Marshalls, airline representatives, FBI, Customs, Public Safety, and several other groups that made appearances, were present and received copies of the minutes for these meetings to help establish and maintain working relationships for the operational period of the games. • Volunteer Training for airport volunteers was conducted on 24 January 2009. • Venue load-in was conducted on 30 January 2009. • Arrival Operations began on 30 January 2009, with the arrival of our first team in Boise. Arrival operations continued through 6 February 2009, with the conclusion of arrivals into Boise prior to the beginning of the Games. • Departure Operations began on 13 February 2009 and concluded on 16 February 2009 with the final team departures from Boise. • Venue load-out was conducted on 16 February 2009 following the final departure . • A final group debriefing was held on 23 February 2009. • Key Interfaces: In order to be successful, integration with the following is imperative: • Boise Airport Operations Staff - Assisted with escorting volunteers through security, organizing airport staff for greeting of delegations. • Public safety – (in particular Public Safety Commissioner Deb Drake) to assist with planning for the event that any of our delegates were injured or ill upon their arrival to the airport and working with the various law enforcement agencies to ensure all were “in the loop”. • Transportation Security Administration – Essential to keeping security lanes staffed during our arrivals and departures and for verifying the legality/feasibility of our luggage plans. • Airline Managers – (in particular United Airlines) to communicate the size and scope of our event and to ensure that all customer desks were fully staffed early on the main arrival/departures days to alleviate crowds and keep the flow of traffic moving. • Federal Air Marshalls – Provided extra security at the airport during our heavy use days and helped with crowd control in the terminal. • Delegation Services – Gathered all flight information from this group and worked closely with the Delegation Welcome Center to ensure as many people were aware of arrivals as possible. • Accommodations – Worked closely with this group to ensure those delegations not participating in Home Stay to alert that groups arrived either early or late to secure reservations and beds for all delegations. Also proved invaluable to work with for departures as we could check directly with hotels to see if groups had been collected from accommodation site for delivery to the airport. • Host Town – Alerted this group of delays/early arrivals to communicate changes to volunteer host families. • Main Area Command –Wade Morehead communicated arrivals and delays to all groups to alert them to additions to our population of delegates in the Games arena. • Transportation – Worked closely with transportation to keep buses, cars, and various other means of ground transportation moving and reliable. • Idaho National Guard – Joint task force owned luggage movements, bar coding, collection and distribution of over 7,000 luggage and equipment bags from airport to DWC, hotels, and competition venues. • Schedules/Timelines: It is imperative to create Daily Competition and Activity Schedules that include flight arrival and departure times for all client groups so all affected FA’s may evaluate scenarios to know who will and will not be in attendance or not participating in activities. A detailed arrival and departure schedule which includes name of delegation, flight information, pick-up location and times is essential. This document must be prepared weeks prior to the Games to avoid undo stress on staff, volunteers and the client groups themselves. If something is not done to force SOI programs to provide accurate information at earlier date, this FA will always endure great stress leading up to and throughout future Games. Key Learnings & Recommendations: The working relationship with the airport operations team and TSA was essential to the success of our airport operations for the 2009 Games. Meeting with these groups on a regular basis for several months prior to the arrival period allowed for the establishment of contingency plans and a support structure of staff and volunteers to cover the very busy period that is “arrivals”. Airport operations were extended to multiple airports due to the fact that BOI is not large and has no international travel capabilities. Allowing access to SLC was an option to save on travel cost for less affluent delegations and to alleviate the strain on the resources of Boise Airport. An unforeseen problem was a lack of familiarity with the State of Idaho, which lead several teams from the Middle East to book tickets into Idaho Falls Airport, and therefore forced us to include a third airport into our operations plan at the last minute. It is recommended to utilize just one airport if possible. It is imperative to have staff members (not just volunteers) available on-site to assist with challenges, changes, and problems. When the information provided by the delegations regarding their flight information was accurate, the process we set into place was excellent. The coordination between Brett, the airport staff, the volunteers, the ID NG, and Delegation Services proved extremely helpful in preparation for arriving flights and trouble-shooting for early or delayed delegations. The luggage tags also proved to be a very effective means of identifying Games gear/luggage, and made the moving of luggage from the airport much easier. Having the delegates greeted at the gate cemented the relationship between DAL and delegation, and as the DALs were also allowed through security for departures, it helped reduce confusion and difficulties often times faced with a language barrier which was appreciated by all parties involved. Having a staff member on site that worked directly with the bus drivers who coordinated fitting all teams onto buses and other means of transport also helped to alleviate challenges and delays in leaving the airport. IMPORTANT: In the future, it is imperative that delegations send a copy of their flight itineraries. Create and establish an air-travel hotline and e-mail address as soon as planning begins in order to keep the arrival and departure information current and accurate. Without this direct access to the flight itineraries, the information available becomes confused, inaccurate, and untraceable. The All-Star Fans were greeted at their arrival gate by volunteers coordinated and recruited by the CE Group and SOI. They were assisted with their luggage and directed to their motor pool transportation. Based on recommendations from the airport staff, it is suggested to not greet All-Star Fans at the gate. Considering the last minute nature of these guests and their unwillingness to commit to schedules until just before the event, it places too much stress on the staff to escort all these greeters through security for one person at a time based on last-minute information. Officials were provided with motor pool transportation based on the flight information provided by the Sports Department. MVP Fans and family members were not provided with transportation or luggage assistance by the GOC from the airport; however we did maintain information desks staffed with volunteers specific to each group and provided local transportation info. These three groups seemed to experience very few problems, it was organized and operated smoothly. Departures were more of a challenge for our airport than arrivals as we were limited to the amount of luggage and gear that would fit the equipment flying out of Boise. Delegations were delivered to the airport along with their luggage, where ID NG assisted with unloading the buses. TSA requires all passengers to be responsible for carrying in their luggage for check-in. By staffing an info desk several hours before the first flights departed, the GOC ensured that delegations arrived at the airport with ample time to make flights and to work with the airlines in the event of confusion or problems with flights. It also allowed a final point for delegations to return their Games phones, etc. This was also valuable because delegations were located at multiple hotels. Airport Ops worked closely with Delegation Services and the HODs to communicate luggage and weight restrictions prior to their departures. Airport security always poses a problem with large groups, but over-communicating simplified the process. Once teams were through security, they were essentially on their own, but the GOC stayed in contact with airport staff in case of emergency but few problems occurred other than a few minimal flight delays.
2009 World Winter Games PDL: Logistics & Waste Management • Functional Area Lead Team Members: • VP – Wade Morehead, Operations and Support Services • Director – Colleen Walker • Managers – Don Schaff, Jeremiah Means, ID National Guard I. Plan II. Do III. Learn • Overview/Purpose: Logistics provided assets and support to 7 competition venues and 15 non-competition venues in four different cities within a 150 mile radius. LOG delivered nearly 5000 different items to these venues and supported the communications plan as well by assisting with cell phone and radio dispersal and recovery. In addition to these support systems LOG also, in conjunction with the National Guard, oversaw the planning and execution of baggage delivery to all athletes at their various hotels, sometimes moving each person up to five times. LOG also planned and executed Waste Management (Greening the Games) at all comp and non-comp venues. At the conclusion of the games, LOG recovered all assets from every venue, re-organized them, and assisted the VP/CFO with redistribution of these items to non-profit organizations. • Goals & Objectives: • Receive material into the warehouse, accurately inventory, and control all Furniture, Fixtures, and Equipment (FF&E) donated, purchased, or borrowed for SOWWG venues. • Accurately prepare, package, and track the movement of all of FF&E to and from the GOC warehouse and all competition and non-competition venues. • Facilitate timely delivery of all venue FF&E in accordance with the Master “Load in / Load Out” Delivery Schedule. • Facilitate timely recovery, load-out, and redistribution of all venue FF&E to meet the needs of the GOC operations. • Develop with each venue team a process to identify a timelines for delivery of FF&E during build-out, games time operation, and recovery • Develop a comprehensive plan to conduct warehouse operations (including use of material handling equipment, vehicles, manpower, shift scheduled) to deploy FF&E to competition and non-competition venues. • Accurately identify all vehicles needed to meet Logistics Operations. • Identify logistics volunteer commissioners to support all venue operations. • Develop a logistics plan w/ ID NG to efficiently and accurately transport delegation/athlete baggage and equipment b/w the airport, DWC, hotels, and sport venues. • Develop/implement shipping & receiving practices to effectively manage the flow of goods and information to worldwide destinations in an efficient and economical manner while meeting GOC requirements. • Develop an environmentally friendly and efficient waste management plan at each venue. • Objectives: To develop a solid logistics plan to efficiently manage the flow of goods, information, and other resources between a point of origin (GOC-WHQ) and the point of consumption (competition and non-competition venues) in order to meet the requirements of the end user. Logistics Operations plan will involve the integration of information, transportation of assets, positive inventory control, warehousing, material-handling, and packaging. The (FIRST) database system was developed to facilitate these functions. • Key Responsibilities: Pre-Games: Logistics will work with each venue director and functional areas (FA) to accumulate all FF&E requests for each venue. Logistics will receive all games FF&E in the GOC warehouse and segregate items by venue. Games Time: Logistics will prepare, package, deliver and recover all FF&E to and from the venues. At the conclusion of the games, Logistics will recover, inventory, and segregated FF&E for reallocation. Post Games: Logistics will work with the VP/CFO to reallocate all FF&E to the proper owner, and/or non-profit agency receiving goods. Waste Management: The WM FA has the responsibility of providing trash, recycling, and portable restroom services at each venue. Planning, in large part, was to be performed by the “Greening the Games” committee. Games Times: WM will work with each venue director to assemble a list of anticipated attendance numbers (i.e. delegations, spectators, and volunteers) in order to secure the correct number of trash, recycling bins, and portable lavatories, and to ensure timely maintenance and service of all waste fixtures. Venue Directors are to enter an alert in FIRST if they are aware of a shortage or need concerning waste management. • Legacy: • Developed Event-Friendly FF&E software system (FIRST) to be used from the beginning of the planning stage and recommend to SOI for the next games due to its time-saving ability and ease of use in identifying FF&E needs. • Share Ops Plans and AAR’s with venues to assist in future logistical planning for events. • Handle all assets in a safe manner so that all equipment and supplies may be redistributed to local non-profits. Schedules/Timelines:Pre-Games: There were approximately two years of planning that went into developing logistics fully to support the SOWWG. The first year was spent planning for the invitational games and the remaining year was spent going over 2008 after action reports, reconfiguring policies and procedures and honing practices to ensure a successful 2009 event. The information gathering procedures for needed equipment took up an enormous amount of time. The venue directors first provided excel spreadsheets with the needed Furniture, Fixtures, and Equipment (FF&E) to logistics. We then had to come up with a plan on how to compress all of this data into a total rollup of all needed items. We did this by purchasing a software system (known as FIRST) which was a web-based, secure, database system. LOG needed to input all of the venue directors needs into this system in order to get a rollup, and we were still receiving requests up until games time. This process could have been streamlined by having the software system in place to begin with and allowing the venue directors and functional area leaders to go directly into the software like a shopping cart and select the items that were needed and delete items that they no longer needed. Games: Load-in and load-out dates were efficient. The flexibility of the Idaho Air and Army National Guard was exceptional. The GOC was able to prioritize moving assets to venues based on venue agreements, truck availability, material handling equipment, and manpower. Having a well laid out plan and first-rate communications facilitated set up and tear down of each venue. The FIRST system was used to create pick slips for items that needed to go to each venue, separated out by Functional Area and room location. This system could have worked much better, but because not everything that was asked for was procured, it created confusion for the people that were pulling stock for shipment. For example, we had a listing of every item that all functional areas had asked for to go into the Center on the Grove, in the Command Post. However, not all of those items were procured so when the individual pulling the items received the pick slip they would have to check the main list of items we did procure to see which items they should not bother looking for. If we would have known farther in advance which items were not going to be procured we could have deleted them out of the system. Post Games: It would also have been helpful to have a solid recovery plan before load out. If we could have known exactly where all items were going to be donated to, we could have delivered some of them directly to organizations that were to receive them. Instead we had to receive them back into the warehouse, organize them, house them, find out who was receiving them, and then package them up for delivery or pickup. Events: Logistics worked with the venue directors, the National Guard, and the DOD contractor to arrive at appropriate load-in and load-out times that would work for everyone involved. This was not finalized until the week of the games. Pre-planning had been done for these dates and times, but due to the DOD contract being awarded late we were not able to talk with the contractor to find out what their set up time schedule was and this caused us to have to re-evaluate our dates and times. Waste Management – Key Interfaces: Provider(s) of Inputs, Information and Services: The providers that had the greatest impact on the SOWWG were Lake Shore Disposal (McCall), Western Recycling, Allied Waste, ABC Sanitation, and Clear Creek Disposal (Sun Valley). These companies provided portable restroom services, trash and recycling services. Once these groups were contacted they were a great resource. Lake Shore, Western Recycling, and Allied Waste provided their service at no cost to the GOC. ABC Sanitation provided their service for a 50% discount. Clear Creek Disposal provided their services for a 20% discount. Receiver(s) of Outputs, Information and Services: All venues received service from the providers whether they used a trash can, recycling bin, or portable restroom. Logistics Department Staffing: The Logistics Director oversaw the Managers of Waste Management and Warehouse Operations. The LOG director was the primary liaison for ID National Guard support as well. This position also worked directly with the Logistics Commissioners assigned to each venue. Initially, the Logistics Director and Logistics Manager attended all venue meetings until every general volunteer and ID National Guard Venue Logistics Commissioner position was filled for all competition venues. Each non-competition venue was staffed with one Logistics Commissioner for each location in Boise, Sun Valley, and McCall. The primary function of the Logistics Commissioner at each venue was to attend meetings to share information regarding the department and to serve as a POC for all questions and issues that would arise involving Logistics. This person would then be the on-site POC during the event. The LOG Director also worked directly with the 90 ID NG soldiers who worked at WHQ as a part of their Joint Task Force responsibilities. • Successes: • Relationship and utilization of 180 Idaho National Guardsman • 50% recycle rate for all signage and waste • Warehouse operations utilized space at WHQ and efficiently organized and operated under trying conditions • Budget Maintenance was a success. Estimated $100,000 cash budget, while actuals were $60,000 • Asset distribution plan to non-profits • Overcame challenges of supporting Sun Valley and McCall • Relationships with key interfaces (see below): • Idaho Air and Army National Guard Units -- Load-in and load-out dates were efficient. The flexibility of the Idaho Air and Army National Guard was exceptional. The GOC was able to prioritize moving assets to venues based on venue agreements, truck availability, material handling equipment, and manpower. Having a well laid out plan and first-rate commutations facilitated set up and tear down of each venue. • Trebar Inc. – Played a key role in providing 14 Kenworth heavy and medium duty trucks to meet all GOC logistics requirements. All trucks were well maintained, included lift gates, and had ample cargo capacity. • PODS Inc. Donated 26 Portable On Demand Storage (PODS) containers to facilitate early loading of venue supplies and equipment and timely transportation. Moving FF&E into POD containers in advance of load out dates reduced congestion in the warehouse and freed up much needed space. The PODS also doubled at extra store capacity at the venues. • DHL Inc. Provided international and domestic shipping services to meet all GOC shipping and receiving needs. DHL transported in excess of 700 inbound and outbound shipments totaling 29,400 lbs of freight. DHL provided use of a shipping scale and kept the GOC supplied with all necessary packaging materials. • Sprint Inc. Furnished the GOC with over 900 cellular phones and USB modems to meet communication requirements. The majority of all cellular phones were equipped with Nextel direct connect service which allowed instant direct talk service between users and the ability to program user groups. The sprint phones enhanced productivity and saved time communicating logistic requirements. • Tates Rental – provided phenomenal support to logistic GOC operations. Tates provided use of forklifts, material handling equipment, banding equipment, tables, chairs which facilitated warehouse operations and training requirements. • Department of Defense – Provided over $2.5 million in logistical support for the Invitational and World Games. This included portable structures (tents, floors, heat, power, etc.); 1,000 military radios and equipment; Equipment (forklifts, transportation, etc.); and video surveillance cameras. • Challenges: • Not having a full time procurement department hampered the GOC’s ability to effectively identify like FF&E requirements across the venues and synergize the purchase of like items. Prior to games week venue directors used debit cards to purchase needed items which were not on-hand. A sound procurement process and inventory tracking system would have minimized over-ordering and last minute shopping • Lack of procurement director completely altered Logistics Plan. FF&E wants were never vetted to include actual items purchased which made software program worthless in tracking FF&E from warehouse to venues. This also made the recovery process less effective and confusing • Logistics Volunteer Support • Lack of integration, communication, information, and schedules • Not always clear regarding actual role of ID NG and services to be provided • Lack of funding for experienced staff, equipment, and IT support • Key Learnings/Recommendations: • Venue Directors must work with FA POC’s to determine realistic FF&E needs per venue and provide this to LOG. • LOG staff should communicate directly with Venue Directors and should not have to work directly with every FA. • SOI should procure a LOG software system, and recommend its usage at future Games.
2009 World Winter Games PDL: Public Safety (medical & security) • Functional Area Lead Team Members: • VP – Wade Morehead, Operations and Support Services • Volunteer Commissioners – Kevin Johnson (Security), Troy Hagen (Medical), Deb Drake (Public Safety) I. Plan II. Do III. Learn • Overview/Purpose:The Public Safety Operations section of the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games had a fairly broad scope of responsibility which included emergency response to non-venue activities, support for venue medical centers, venue medical response, background investigations of volunteers, zone access, security response, and crowd control. • The mission of Public Safety is to provide professional health care services and security services to all associated with the 2009 Games. • Medical services will always be provided in the best interest of the individual. We will strive to return the athlete to the sporting event in an efficient and timely manner, and the non-participant will be provided a seamless transition into the community health care system. • Security services will work with local First Responders, local jurisdictional agencies, and state and federal agencies to provide a safe environment for delegations, volunteers, staff and attendees of the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games • Goals & Objectives: The goals for Medical Operations included (Medical Services Operations Guide Issue 1.03, January 27, 2009): • provide emergency medical care at Special Olympic events • provide for medical needs for athletes and delegations • as soon as medically feasible following consultation/treatment, return athlete to delegation • track and monitor all patient encounters throughout the medical services system • Develop Medical, Security, Main Area Command, and Crisis Management Plans • provide a comprehensive after action report of Medical Services • Structure: Medical Command Center • Structure: Security Command Center • Legacy: The 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games gave the public safety/first responder community in Idaho the opportunity to come together to produce a product that would provide the highest level of professional medical care and safety to the Special Olympics organization. A vast amount of time was invested in planning for the games. That coupled with the amazing cooperation of multiple local, state and federal agencies, hospitals, communities and professional organizations provided the Games Organizing Committee with a legacy that will certainly aid committees in planning for future games. Main Area Command – Communication Hierarchy Budget: Due to the difficulty in fund raising, the hospitals became major sponsors and supplied and staffed the venue medical centers, while the local government and EMS agencies also stepped up to provided the necessary medical and security services to help protect the health and welfare of their communities. The medical volunteers including doctors, nurses, EMS personnel, Athletic Trainers, and the Medical Reserve Corp were paramount to keep the cost of services to a minimum. Most care provided at venues was at no cost to the patient unless the care incurred additional services and costs such as portable X-ray or transport to the hospital via ambulance. Any admission to urgent care centers, hospitals, or pharmacy services were billed to the patient’s insurance provider or the GOC medical insurance provider. Public safety agencies each bore their own expenditures. Some agencies, knowing this event would be taking place in their jurisdiction were able to budget for the expense. Due to unforeseen increases in events, venue changes, and last-minute visits by high-level dignitaries, no single agency’s budget was adequate. These events tapped further into each agency’s resources. No reimbursement from sources such as the GOC or SOI occurred. Schedules/Timelines: Pre-Games: A Medical Planning Team was established that included hospitals, EMS agencies, physicians, ski patrols, athletic trainers, and public health. The Security Planning Team included city, county, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. The Medical Commissioner, Security Commissioner, Public Safety Commissioner, the Games Organizing Committee (GOC), and Emergency Management were also instrumental in the integration of medical services and security into the overall public safety plan. This team collectively established the medical and security philosophies, goals, and procedures to care for all patients, delegation members and general public associated with the Special Olympics. The Security Planning Team had the responsibility of completing approximately 10,000 volunteer background checks. This large number of backgrounds overwhelmed authorities, whose resources were stretched due to other security events occurring at the same time. Additionally, Host Town volunteers were not identified until months after the deadline established for background submission, and this led directly to the issuing of credentials to four individuals and one Host Town volunteer who were disqualified. These credentials were ultimately recovered by law enforcement before they could be used. Special recognition goes to Idaho’s Bureau of Criminal Identification who completed background checks on 1,709 individuals one week prior to the start of the games. The largest challenge facing a wide-area event such as the Special Olympics is the multiple jurisdictions involved in planning and operations. Developing Games-wide goals, strategy, and procedures is necessary for standardized reporting and response. However, flexibility is still essential to cater the plan to address specific venue needs and local jurisdictions. Each venue formed their own planning team with the Games Organizing Committee (GOC) representative, local jurisdictional authorities, medical providers, and law enforcement agencies to develop venue-specific plans. All plans were vetted through the Medical and Security Commissioner to ensure the Special Olympic International (SOI) and the GOC requirements were fulfilled. The 2008 Invitational Games provided the ability to test the plan and make adjustments before the 2009 World Winter Games. The smaller scale Invitational Games was invaluable and this practice should continued for future SOWG’s. Successes: Key Interfaces: Interfaces for Medical Services went very well. Relationships were established and maintained early and the relationships were evident by the small number of personnel issues that occurred during the Games considering the large number of agencies and personnel involved. The Unified Area Command (staffed 24/7) was critical to address all interface issues. The representatives from law enforcement, medical, emergency management, the GOC, and all other pertinent players had direct access to one another to effectively handle all issues. The 2009 World Winter Games was a great success regarding medical and security services for the GOC, SOI, the medical providers, the LE providers, and the State of Idaho. The level of service could not have been provided if it were not for the outstanding contribution of all involved in the planning and operations of this event. It is the intent of the three Commissioners and both committees that the Medical Operations Guide and this AAR can be used to ease the planning and continually improve public safety services for the all subsequent SOWWG. The short timeline that led up to the games was certainly filled with numerous planning activities. Special credit should be given to Deb Drake, Troy Hagen and Harry Eccard for the countless hours they invested in planning for the medical response to the games. Security planning was a success due to the time invested by Kevin Johnson and Bill Gardiner. Their leadership & dedication led to the success of these FA’s. Recommendations:Overall procedural recommendations for subsequent Games: Paperwork process. The 2008 Invitational Games used the paper Patient Encounter Forms at the venues and sent the paper forms to the MCC for input into the electronic Medical Encounter System (MES) database. The 2009 Games intended to use the MES to review patient encounters and not collect the paper forms until the end of the Games. It became too problematic to track encounters and ensure all were entered without the paper forms. The venue patient logs were helpful, but the paper forms were necessary to verify all patients had been entered. Future medical committees must ensure a system is established to collect individual patient encounter forms (either paper or in electronic form) on a daily basis. Proof of Loss form. The GOC medical insurance policy required a patient signature on a Proof of Loss form for all claims. This was problematic to achieve at the time of service and considerable time was spent trying to gather signatures after the encounter. It is recommended the Proof of Loss form be signed by all athletes at the time of registration. Have resources available before the first athlete/delegation arrival. From both Area Command and medical and security perspectives, resources must be available to handle GOC, public safety, and medical issues starting at the arrival of the first delegate. While not required by SOI rules, issues still occurred and needed to be addressed. The GOC must have enough resources designated to Delegation Services to handle a large number of calls to address issues occurring during transport and arrival to the Games. Develop a more secure credentialing procedure. There were too many individuals with access to the GOC credentialing staff, which led to credentials being issued without the knowledge of the Security Commissioner. All-Star/SOI credentialing. Late in the planning it was determined that All Star access would not be sufficient for what SOI wanted the All Stars to participate in. These credentials must have the appropriate ZA designation to avoid confrontations at access points. Important to note that SOI provides the credentialing guidelines to security who enforces the guidelines. To avoid conflicts at access points, SOI personnel must be educated (webcasters, staff, VIPs, etc.) in and willing to follow the credentialing guidelines. AS schedules were inaccurate. Asylum issues. During the games, two athletes and one coach were reported missing. Each individual left without reporting to their Head of Delegation, or governmental authority. In each case, law enforcement agencies, SOI, and the GOC worked closely with each other to provide necessary information regarding the delegates. Other recommendations: Increase vol shift times to ensure staffing is in place upon delegation arrivals through their departures from venues; contingency plan with other FA’s for possible changes in schedules; overstaff vols to avoid exhaustion & schedule break times to rest/eat/experience; vol ZA training imperative; over stock water at both ceremonies b/c dehydration cases are imminent; medical presence at airport for arrivals is essential; sport officials must integrate w/ medical prior to competition; portable X-rays at FH venue.
2009 World Winter Games PDL: Press Operations • Functional Area Lead Team Members: • VP – Wade Morehead • Sr. Director – Michele Walker • Manager – Lindsay Choules I. Plan II. Do III. Learn • Overview/Purpose: • The Press Operations team is obligated to provide the best possible infrastructure, facilities and services for members of the credentialed press • This obligation recognizes level of service limitations due to the GOC’s financial ability to prepare and deliver of all press facilities, services and information at Games-time in cooperation with the media relations activities that the GOC carries out • Goals & Objectives: • The level of service provided for the media falls under the auspices and direction of Special Olympics International (SOI) in cooperation with the Games Organizing Committee (GOC). • SOI offers basic parameters to the Idaho-based Games GOC, so that its contractual agreements can be met, and exceeded, if and when possible. • It is the responsibility of the GOC to provide the best possible cost-effective infrastructure, facilities and services for members of the credentialed media • This obligation recognizes the emphasis SOI places on the role that the media play in communicating about the Special Olympics movement and in helping uphold the fundamental principles of the movement • Key Responsibilities: • Press Operations is responsible for planning and executing a program that meets all journalists’ needs, both for competition and non-competition venues (tables and chairs) • To execute this service plan, Press Operations is divided into the following divisions: • Main Media Center • Venue Media Sub Centers and Operations – Competition Venues • Venue Media Sub Centers and Operations – Non Competition Venues • Opening and Closing Ceremonies • Documentation – Photographic, Digital, Video • Press Attaches and Staffing • Registration and Credentialing • Legacy: • To leave SOI with a press operations plan that they can execute for future Games • Successes: • All press were handled professionally and got what they came for due to good, solid planning and the recruitment of professional venue press personnel • High quality and professionally designed Press Centers • Mailing out media credentials in advance • Having Skype available for media and athletes to connect • The electronic Media Guide - to fall in line with our “Greening of the Games” project – it was downloadable online and USBs distributed • Photo and Documentary bibs • Reacting successfully to the Vice Presidential visit on such short notice • Challenges: • Not being able to enforce strict media registration deadline puts undue stress on planning and budget – Re: quantities, space , IT, results distribution requirements, etc. • Press conferences were poorly attended – feedback suggests they lacked substance • Documentary team – great concept, lacks in preparation and seriousness of access control entitlements • SOI’s failure to comply with our agreed upon procedures and making last minute, unnecessary changes, which left the GOC dealing with unhappy and frustrated media • SOI’s failure to comply with opportunities to get VIP guests interviews for the Ceremony broadcaster – another last minute change • Viewpoints Media Registration portal was taken off line several times without the GOC being notified • Viewpoints inflexibility to assist in a timely fashion with ongoing media registration • Lack of media savvy volunteers and in some case, a lack of volunteers • Key Learnings: • Documentary team needs to have criminal background checks if they want the access they expect at World Games • The level of service for the media is defined in cooperation with budget restrictions and planning processes of other Functional Areas (ie. transport, catering, accommodations) • Local media were not as savvy with major international Games planning and processes - so patience, education and managing expectations is key • Difficult to find volunteers who know how to deal with foreign press • Recommendations: • Teach the media how you want to be treated – by enforcing deadlines you show that you are serious about your planning for them and the product you want them to cover • Have the ability to make changes to the registration portal and print credentials at the Main Press Center • Always use media professionals for key volunteer roles Main Press Center Layout Photo & Doc Bib Design
2009 World Winter Games PDL: Credentialing • Functional Area Lead Team Members: • VP - Wade Morehead • Sr. Director – Michele Walker • Manager – Reuben Silva I. Plan II. Do III. Learn • Overview/Purpose/Goals: • The functional purpose of the GOC credentialing team and department is to provide all official participants with credentials that allow them access to venues and entitlements appropriate to their functions at Games • The credentialing department of the GOC shall ensure that credentials are accurate, efficiently delivered to the Games participants, and aid in the smooth operations of the Games • The department shall also oversee a standardized registration system for data collection except those individuals (delegations) registered using GMS • Key Responsibilities: Registration Deadlines vs. Registration Reality Group Deadline Data Received SOI Staff October 1, 2008 January 23, 2009 All Star Fans November 15, 2008 January 16, 2009 All Star Fans SV November 15, 2008 January 26, 2009 ASF SV Volunteers September 30, 2008 February 1, 2009 ASF Volunteers September 30, 2008 January 16, 2009 MVP November 15, 2008 December 17, 2008 IGM October 1, 2008 October 1, 2008* GYAS October 1, 2008 October 1, 2008 SO Live September 30, 2008 January 27, 2009 SO Live BSU September 30, 2008 February 6, 2009 Technical Delegates October 1, 2008 October 1, 2008* GOC Board November 15, 2008 January 21, 2009 GOC Staff November 15, 2008 January 18, 2009 GOC PSP September 30, 2008 January 23, 2009 GOC Media November 15, 2008 November 15, 2008*+ VolunteersJanuary 1, 2009January 1, 2009* +*Note: Only 4 groups met deadlines…Media registration never technically closed so it was ongoing and updated in a timely fashion • Successes: • Between 12,000-15,000 professional credentials were produced • Early ordering and testing of equipment and supplies • Advance distribution of delegation credentials resulting in a positive and organized GOC image and less work at the DWCs • Distributed all credentials ‘just in time’ despite all missed deadlines • Secondered Reuben Silva from SOI, and his integration into GOC • Back up plans for missed deadlines by adding “Passes” to the program • Addition of Americorps team unbelievably valuable • Access Control Points actually enforcing information on credentials • GMS stepping up to take on over 75% of total credentials produced • Upper management support during a challenging time • Challenges: • Missed deadlines by almost all constituent groups put undue stress on credentialing to deliver credentials on time • Major delay in receiving credential template from creative • Viewpoint: inability to deliver 50-100% of their commitment; would not train GOC staff on VP database; not flexible to make changes or use different hardware; printed credentials without GOC sign off; had to re-key in data instead of uploading; reprinting of volunteer credentials at the UDACs affected our credential supplies • GMS was to only print delegation credentials (2933) but had to pick up another 6317 in order to make the Games deadlines • SOI’s priorities and failure to comply to deadlines and unrealistic expectations on a one-man credential production team (see note above) • Lack of experience, expectations, and the sense of entitlement of SOI groups for access to areas • Key Learnings: • Do not trust that constituent groups understand the importance of registration deadlines • Do not decide entitlements/zone access/access control points – CRE only PRINTS the credential and does not own what goes on it • Produce credentials in a secured environment • Incomplete submission or inaccurate data results in incorrect credentials • Recommendations: • Have enough staff to react when no one meets deadlines • Ensure that GOC FA staff is integrated and fully understands their responsibility for the entitlement decision making process • Be flexible and expect the unexpected • SOI should invest in an inclusive software that will handle all groups and produce credentials Credential Design Credentials Produced Passes - not all necessarily distributed • Actual Budget - $13,544.11 • Credentialing Equipment/Supplies purchased from USI Lamination: • 300 USI Opti Clear Pouch Film Item 6555 $15.20 per pkg. of 50 • 80 3M Self-Laminating Pouch Item 7087 $ 21.40 per pkg. of 25 • 11 HD 1200 Heavy Duty Pouch Laminator Item 7306 $252.00 each • 10 Desk Top Slot Punch Item 7752 $45.00 each • Lanyards were donated by Sprint • Order of 24 packages of lamination pouches Games time due to View Point mistakes
2009 World Winter Games PDL: Way-finding • Functional Area Lead Team Members: • VP – Wade Morehead • Director – Michele Walker • Coordinator – Colby Donicht I. Plan II. Do III. Learn • Overview/Purpose: • Way-Finding involves directing the flow of people and traffic to specific destinations within and around any given venue by means of signs • Supply logical, visible and easy to follow signs that are placed strategically throughout a venue • Identify key landmarks, locations and areas that are associated at the venue • Goals & Objectives: • To identify all Way-Finding signage needs at all competition and non-competition venues for the Games • To supply all competition and non-competition venues with logical, visible and easy to follow Way-Finding signs that are affordable, functional and flexible • Key Responsibilities: • Participate in venue walk-throughs and site visits, to identify signage needs and strategic locations for signage positioning • Work closely with all Venue Managers to ensure that all areas within their venues have signs that clearly direct the flow of people and traffic, as well as identifying key landmarks, locations and areas at their venue • Allow as much control of signage needs/requirements as possible to the individuals that run the venues and functional areas • Consult with all constituent groups on Way-Finding and interior signs necessary to run their venue and/or functional area • Coordinate and capture all signage needs and requests in a central database • Provide content/copy, size and location of sign requirements to LOOK for production • Provide suitable finishing detail information dependent upon indoor/outdoor sign location and installation purposes • Provide suitable hardware detail information upon indoor/outdoor and pavement/no pavement sign location and installation purposes • Ensure that all signs designated to a specific venue are inventoried, organized and properly staged for proper and successful delivery of signs by Logistics to the correct venue • Provide a detailed FF&E materials list to Logistics • Legacy: • Experience for the staff • There are no expectations that any legacy, other than experience, is left behind for Way-Finding signage • Work in conjunction with the producers of the signs to assure that all flexible and rigid signage is recyclable in accordance with Greening the Games initiative. • Allow venues to keep signage appropriate to their venues. • Provide SO ID with signage to off-set costs for their future events. • Schedules / Timelines: • Pre Games Timelines: • Information Gathering - 8 months out, work weekly with venue personnel to gather venue signage needs and identify production schedule; continually communicate with venue personnel to capture any venue movement changes • Asset Tagging - Signs are assigned a code that consists of the venue abbreviation, followed by a number (BBS_001) which corresponds with the item number in the Way-Finding Signage Template; number will be visible on the back of the sign after production for inventory purposes • Put Away - As signage arrived to the GOC warehouse, the team assists warehouse Logistics to help sort, inventory and organize by venue and numerical venue code in preparation for venuization • Games Time: • Delivery of Way-Finding Signage to the Venues – Logistics delivered signage to the venues, where the wayfinding staff is responsible for accurate installation; Venue load-in order was: 1) FF&E delivered to FA; 2) Information Technology ; 3) Way-Finding Signage. • Post Games and Recovery: • Recover all signage and check venue for any damage • Do Asset Recovery at Games warehouse for missing and damaged items • The signs were inventoried and signage was put up for other SO programs for reuse • Post Games, all signage was located in one central designated area of the GOC warehouse. All signs were Games specific, they would be very difficult to reuse in any way. Most of the signs were sent to a recycling facility • Budget – Planned vs. Actual • One Wayfinding coordinator and volunteer venue commissioners, kept the staffing budget to a minimum • All other budget for Way-finding signage was located in the LOOK budget under the Marketing department • Successes: • Approximately 4000 Way-Finding signs were produced and installed • Flexibility & diligence - 8+ revisions • Cooperation with LOOK & design was excellent once communication was established & production requirements were set • Only two staff controlled the signage templates which allowed for concise and accurate changes, updates and revisions • Having peel and stick arrows for signage allowed for flexibility of last minute changes and reduced the need to reprint signs if and when things changed at the venue • Addition of the Change Request Form kept any last minute, pre-production changes organized • Challenges: • Lack of early coordination with LOOK to devise a standard template that also worked for the production company – resulted in time consuming template changes • Due to so much signage, the way-finding team helped logistics with the inventory and preparing the signage for delivery to the venues in order to eliminate the number of potential errors • Volunteers for Way-Finding installation were cut from the VSS count, & signage installation had to be dependent on the volunteer support at the venue, at times taking volunteers away from their assigned positions, thus making the venue load-in very hectic • Have a minimum of 3 to 4 people assigned to help with Way-Finding signage install • White font on lime green background signage did not work well for transportation signage, especially from a distance or with snow • LOOK was tasked with final sign off on copy for Way-finding, but due to limited HR in LOOK department, Way-finding assumed this responsibility • Key Learnings: • Venue Directors are in charge of their venues and it is important to ensure that their signage needs are met and accounted for. Venue Directors need to engage in this process to assure that a professional working relationship will exist with WF Coordinator • During Games time, the WF Coordinator should visit all venues • Have volunteer installation support at the venue during venue load-in, games time and venue load-out. • Recommendations: • Participate in venue walk-throughs and site visits, to identify Way-Finding sign needs and strategic locations for where signs will be placed/positioned • Have enough installation support who can implement the plan • Always sign off on any sign before it is permitted to be printed
2009 World Winter Games PDL: Radio Communications • Functional Area Lead Team Members: • VP – Wade Morehead • Sr. Directors – Jim Bailey, Steve Bennett & Michele Walker I. Plan II. Do III. Learn • Overview / Purpose: • Create an integrated communication system for the Games to include all sport venues, athlete villages, the warehouse, Delegation Welcome Center, medical, security, and other related entities involved with the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games Organizing Committee in Idaho. • Venue Communications Network Operations • Each venue radio system is comprised of 16 channels (i.e., frequencies) that allow users to communicate with one another • During Games, the number of frequencies will be limited ensuring the most practical use of these frequencies; this requires an efficient radio channel design and effective management of the airwaves • The matrix for each venue was determined by consultation with the Functional Areas and a representative of the Department of Defense. • Proper radio protocol will assist everyone on-site in keeping transmissions orderly and effective • Improper radio use will interfere with the efficiency of the overall operation and can lead to potentially hazardous situations • Although Functional Area (FA) users will be assigned to designated channels, it will be possible for users assigned to different talk groups to communicate with one another • Given the significant number of users on each channel and the limited number of available frequencies, the management of the airwaves is vital • To control traffic and keep track of users, the process for monitoring channels will be directed by the Venue Managers • Specifically, if an individual needs to communicate with someone on another channel, he/she changes to that FA channel • The highest priority call is a life-threatening situation - any transmission for a life-threatening situation (i.e. "medical emergency") must be given priority • Base will frequently provide general announcements to all users, such as "5 minutes until gates are opening” or "may conduct radio checks" • Both a name and number will designate each frequency or channel • Successes: • Operations, Sports, Venues, and Press Ops worked as a team to define frequencies, determine all venues in need of radio communications, determine which Functional Areas warranted radio communication capabilities, and determined total number of radios needed per venue. • Worked in conjunction with DoD to assure that 1,000 radios were delivered on-time to WHQ, properly programmed prior to distribution, and shipped back to Department of Defense (one lost radio unaccounted for). • Sufficiently staffed each venue with distribution volunteer to sign out/in all radios on-site. • Trained staff to effectively utilize radios. • Challenges: • In 2008, the DoD and Public Safety Commissioner relied on the expertise of two Amateur Radio Network administrators to advise, train, and develop the plan for Radio Comm at the Invitational Games. Communication b/w the three groups was poor and led to a breakdown in the system and the departure of these two Commissioners. • The Department was unable to find and maintain a Commissioner for this FA, and monies were not available to staff this position. • The ID National Guard indicated on several occasions that the Joint Task Force would own this responsibility but ultimately chose not to assist. • Key Learnings/Recommendations: • Radio Communication capabilities should be venue specific, as there is no reason to communicate with other venues. The Venue Manager, Public Safety Commissioner, and Medical Commissioner are the only three who should have the radio capabilities to communicate with other venues, WHQs and Main Area Command. • Two experts should on-staff as paid employees of the GOC to manage radio communications and cell phone assignments. An Operational Communication Functional Area should be staffed by every future GOC. • Key Responsibilities: • Identify the communications needs • Design communication system to meet the needs of all entities • Manage the implementation of the system design • Develop an on-site delivery, storage, asset protection, distribution, maintenance, and recovery plan for all radio communication equipment at each comp and non comp venue. • Manage the system-wide operation • Ensure the communications system is maintained during Games • Identify training needs for the efficient operation of the communications system and to ensure that training is accomplished • Recover all borrowed, loaned, leased, or other communication equipment that needs to be returned Example of Actual Radio Channel Assignments
2009 World Winter Games PDL: Non-Competition Venues • Functional Area Lead Team Members: • VP – Wade Morehead • Sr. Director – Michele Walker • Director – Hallie Stoller I. Plan II. Do • Non-Competition Venue Operations Plan • To effectively plan support services for events, spaces, properties or assets at non-competition venues • To ensure continuity of services, Functional Areas will be coordinated and integrated across both competition and non-competition venues and managed at a venue level by Commissioners and Regional Venue Management, if and when possible • This includes: • Athlete Entertainment • Credentialing • FF & E • Food and Beverage • Information Technology • Logistics • Look and Way-finding • Merchandise • Marketing • Risk Management • Transportation • Waste Management • Boise - World Headquarters • Open 24 hours per day • Access Control policies were implemented • Provided a hub for the following functional areas • Transportation and Bus Depot • Warehouse • Logistics • Credentialing Center (Games time) • GOC Staff • Sun Valley • NOTE: Highlights Only- Similar services and planning as McCall • Athlete Dining - Presbyterian Church of the Big Wood • Breakfast – February 8-13, 2009 - 06:00-09:30 • Dinner - February 8-12, 2009 - 16:00-17:30 and 17:30-19:00 • Wood River Community YMCA • Multi-functional space for Pre-Games Volunteer training, Games Time Credentialing Center, Broadcast Operations Lounge (Documentary team), and SO Town • Had non-exclusive use of venue with the exception of the nights of SO Town where we had exclusive use • Transportation was coordinated with Athlete Dining at BWC during SO Town and integrated with the Games shuttle system for volunteers to reach the credentialing center • VSS did not have a volunteer lounge - all FAs received a list in advance of scheduled volunteers • Credentialing Center • February 6 –12, 2009 - 08:00-17:00 / February 13 - 08:00-12:00 • Special Olympics Town • February 9-10, 2009 - 16:00-22:00 • Special Olympics Documentation Team • Managed separately by SOI • McCall - Shore Lodge and Carey Park • Provided a hub for the non-competition venues in McCall • Access control policies were implemented in all Shore Lodge activities • Athlete Entertainment - Special Olympics Town • Where athletes, coaches and delegation members gather during the Games for food, fun, entertainment and meet other athletes • Each night SO Town there was a different activity for participants – concert, dance, movie • February 9-10, 2009 – 16:00-20:00 • Delegation Dining Hall • All athletes ate dinner at Shore Lodge • February 7-13, 2009 – Breakfast 06:00-09:30 / Dinner 16:00-20:00 • Head of Delegation Meetings • Daily meetings that took place between the GOC and HODs to distribute key information which was translated into 6 languages • HOD had options to call in to the meeting from their cell phones • February 8-12, 2009 – 07:00-08:00 • Carey Park • No Access Control policies were implemented – Open to public • Promotional event held during Games to promote sponsors and develop community awareness to include a DJ, vendor participation and a fireworks show over Lake Payette • February 11, 2009 – 19:00-20:00 • Ponderosa Park Visitor’s Center – Credentialing Center • No Access Control policies were implemented • Place for delegations and volunteers if they have lost or misplaced their credential, or are late arrivals • Technology – 1 laptop with webcam, 1 printer, 2 laminators • February 2-12, 2009 – 08:00-17:00 / February 13, 2009 – 08:00-12:00 • Non-Competition Venues included in this slide: • Boise – World Headquarters • McCall • Shore Lodge • Carey Park • Ponderosa Park Visitors Center • Idaho First Bank – UDAC (January 21-22, 2009) • Sun Valley • Wood River Community YMCA • Presbyterian Church of the Big Wood • St. Thomas Episcopal Church • Sun Valley Pavillion • Sun Valley Ice Rink • (UDACs and DWC in separate slides) III. Learn • Successes: • Despite challenges, NCVs were planned to the best of GOC’s abilities – some better than others, due to late staffing additions • Event matrix development educated and integrated all FA’s at a time when planning had stalled • Challenges: • Attrition - GOC lost experienced venue development and logistics staff to facilitate N.C.V…a decision was made to not replace these positions at the same level, putting undue stress on remaining staff to pick up responsibilities…despite best efforts, a band-aid solution remained that did not fit any successful multi-sport Games model, with puzzle pieces missing and in wrong places, and a criss-crossing of responsibilities between depts., leading to continued confusion and frustration between staff, poor planning and constant change • Lack of Iong-term planning, games-wide integration, experienced staff • Recommendations: • Do not underestimate importance of venue development staff • Have paid staff support in remote locations
2009 World Winter Games PDL: Non-Competition Venue – Boise Center • Functional Area Lead Team Members: • VP - Wade Morehead • Director -Kim Thornton I. Plan II. Do III. Learn • Overview/Purpose: • The scope of the Center on the Grove (COG) venue was to serve as the “athlete village” and provide a location for core functions which included: • Sports Experience • Special Olympics Town • SO Festival • Athlete Dining • Media Center • Delegation Support • Head of Delegation Meetings • Coach’s & Official’s Meetings • The COG venue hosted Special Olympics International (SOI) programs: • Young Athletes • Motor Activities Training Program (MATP), • Global Youth Activation Summit (GYAS) seminars • Observer’s Seminar Press Conferences • Goals & Objectives: • To provide a functional area space to host SOI programs and core Games functions, supporting delegation members, media, guests and fans. • Key Responsibilities: • Ensure operational readiness of the venue • Oversee the operational integration of the Functional Areas • Ensure that venue-specific operational issues are resolved. • Determine the solution of issues elevated to the Venue Manager • Interact with the Functional Area Managers • Facilitate access and monitor preliminary set-up work during non-exclusive use days • Ensure that the GOC’s financial liabilities are limited • Coordinate with Risk Management • Responsible for condensed venue-specific training sessions • Responsible for providing the Main Operations Center with a Venue Daily Activity Report. • Work with city of Boise regarding all permits • Integrate with Figure Skating Venue (next to Boise Centre) to facilitate volunteer and athlete meals in dining hall. • Schedules/Timelines: • Begin venue analysis and selection • Begin contract discussions w/Venue Owner Representative & Identify City ordinances, State and Federal laws concerning public assemblies, and best practices in Risk Management • Determine Non-exclusive Use, Exclusive Use and Move-out dates • Place tentative hold on selected spaces/venues with an MOU • Obtain Client Policies and Emergency Plan from the venue • Obtain actual CAD Drawings and floor plan schematics • Begin contract discussions with caterers, vendors, etc. • Begin development of Venue Space Layout • Meet with FAs that are involved and begin coordinating the planning and integration process • File Requisite Permits • Continue development of Venue Space Layout/Drawings • Produce 1st draft of written Operations Plan • Meet Venue Owner Representative's timeline for securing the event space, parking, catering, deposits, insurance, etc. • Finalize venue contracts • Layout and Design: • Key Interfaces: Boise Centre staff, City of Boise, Boise Police Department, St. Luke’s Hospital, Figure Skating Venue/Sports Director, Transportation, Delegation Services, SOI, Athlete Entertainment, F&B Department • Budget – Planned vs. Actual • COG Complete Budget held by the GOC Finance Dept Facility: VIK= $85,000.00; Food & Beverage=$137,000; Audio Visual/Equipment Usage= $3500 • Successes: • Was able to successfully complete planning in 6 months • Layout and design supported the necessary functions without compromise • Challenges: • Lack of information and communication between departments prevented delivering the highest quality of service in several key areas: • Lack of GOC teamwork across the departments • Improper logistics allocation and execution of furniture, fixtures & equipment (FF&E) as well as load-in/strike procedures in place • Limited funding and allocation of the funds • Key individuals not being held accountable to timelines or responsibilities through the planning process • Did not have a designated FA for Waste Management until last minute • Volunteer Services was not integrated and worked independently • The challenging relationship between SOI and the GOC, specifically SOI arrived with a “plan” for Sports Experience 3 weeks prior to Games with the expectation GOC would adjust and create their plans • Key Learnings: • Do not start the planning process so close to games time • Logistics should have a FF&E program that is functional and “user friendly” to provide to each venue. The problem was that the program that was created was based on FF&E requests, but the decision to not have a procurement department rendered this program useless b/c there was never a true understanding of what items were actually procured and delivered. This made load-in and load-out extremely difficult. • Do not plan to the start of delegation arrival dates b/c this does not afford ample time to test venue and adjust to potential needs for the facility earlier or later than the original schedule. • Recommendations: • Positive team work and empowerment with all functional areas. • Take ownership of your venue and build relationships to enhance the success of the event • Create “useful and limited” documents • Volunteer Service Dept should work in conjunction with each venue director and functional area as to needs and scheduling set up. Once the volunteers are secured they should be turned over to the FA with full discretion to integrate into the FA plan
2009 World Winter Games PDL: Uniform Distribution & Credentialing Center • Functional Area Lead Team Members: • VP – Wade Morehead • Sr. Director – Michele Walker • Director – Hallie Stoller I. Plan II. Do III. Learn • Overview/Purpose: • The Uniform Distribution and Accreditation Center (UDAC) is often the first contact a Volunteer has with the Games • Each volunteer is critical to our operation and as such the primary purpose of the UDAC is to provide a timely, efficient and friendly way to distribute uniforms and credentials providing the Volunteer with the best possible experience • Goals & Objectives: • The UDAC will take place in 3 different locations based on the 3 geographic locations of the Games • Volunteers will be directed by Volunteer Services to the location closest to their home • A volunteer who signs up to work in the McCall or Sun Valley region but lives in Boise will still go to Boise to collect their uniform and credential • UDAC Venues and Hours of Operation: • The UDACs took place in 3 different locations based on the 3 geographic locations of the Games • Volunteers were to be directed Boise, SV, or McCall based on which location was closest to their home • A volunteer who signed up to work in the McCall or Sun Valley region but lived in Boise would still go to the Boise UDAC • Load in and load times were prior and post the hours below • Only general Volunteers were directed to the UDACs: GOC staff, special groups, Healthy Athletes and PSP volunteers were distributed separately • Functional Area Planning – Basic Planning for All Three UDACs • Food and Beverage: • A volunteer break room available; all working volunteers & staff were fed snacks and a meal; meals were to be delivered according to the shift schedule and twice on days when there are two shifts • Logistics was to load all equipment from the GOC warehouse into the Venue, set it up prior to the event and load it out at the completion of the event • The Look of the Games was displayed throughout the Venue with signage and banners; music representing the games was played in-house; Look of the Games will be displayed throughout the Venue using pop-up signs • Medical: • No dedicated Medical personnel were on site; a first aid kit was available for all minor medical needs; major medical needs were to be escalated to the Venue Manager and 911 called as necessary • Merchadising: • BSU provided a merchandising kit run by the BSU book store; was not staffed by SO GOC staff • Security / Assest Protection: • For Boise, BSU Police provided on call response as needed to any situations during operating hours; venue was locked at night but overnight asset protection was needed to secure all electronics, credentials and uniforms • Technology: • Technology set-up and tested all computers and printers, ran all cable and was on call to ensure all technology was working • Credentialing at BSU UDAC required 6 computers with web cams and 8 laminators; after the UDAC the webcams were to be redeployed to credentialing centers but VSS decided not to do that and CRE had to purchase their own • Successes: • First ever UDAC in Special Olympics history and the goal is for this initiative to have a legacy in future games. • Received a lot of positive feedback from the volunteers; they went through the lines quickly without any hassle; the open hours worked around their schedule; • The signage was repurposed from other venues and looked fantastic and made a huge impact on the overall look • Operational hours were busiest on the first day in Boise- the varied times allowed for people to be in and out in less than 10 minutes • Challenges: • As the first Venue to open there was a lack of support from most departments as they adjusted to going operational - this was predominantly by Logistics as there was a lack of support staff to help with procurement, load-in/ set-up or onsite support • VSS had limited input on the venue until the last month when they felt they had enough support and planning underneath them to take it on and at that point, communication was lacking. When the new VSS management team took over the Program Management, not all communication was run through the Venue Manager resulting in some confusion for venue volunteers • Detailed daily and hourly Logistics load-in and out schedules were never developed to ensure efficient and timely delivery of all venue items • Meals were not always delivered according to the shift schedule • The Coke bags, individually wrapped in non recyclable cellophane, took 2 days of man power to open and stuff 3600 bags • Recommendations: • Support staff need to be trained to understand that some departments go operational much before the official start of the Games • Enforce to GOC FA’s that all communication and changes must be run through the Venue Manager to ensure all relevant parties are notified and to ensure there are no conflicts • The initial volunteer number estimate during development was larger than the actual number and never revised – an accurate number would have given an option for opening less days/hours and time to communicate this to all interested parties • More coordination between VSS and F&B to identify how many people were working and when, in order to provide the correct number of meals at the appropriate times • Venue Managers should be given the shift schedules of everyone in their venue from every FA • Boise: Boise State University, Bronco Gym • Thursday January 15, 2009; 12:00pm-9:00pm • Friday January 16, 2009; 9:00am-9:00pm • Saturday January 17, 2009; 9:00am-9:00pm • Sunday January 18, 2009; 9:00am-6:00pm • McCall: Idaho First Bank • Thursday January 22, 2009, 11:00am-6:00pm • Sun Valley: Presbyterian Church of the Big Wood • Saturday January 24, 2009; 10:00am-6:00pm • Sunday January 25, 2009; 12:00pm-6:00pm
2009 World Winter Games PDL: Delegation Welcome Center • Functional Area Lead Team Members: • VP – Wade Morehead • Sr. Director – Michele Walker • Director – Hallie Stoller I. Plan II. Do III. Learn • Overview/Purpose: • The Delegation Welcome Center provided a multi-purpose space where arriving teams could be welcomed, check-in, take care of any outstanding payment or credentialing issues, be issued Games time phones and meet their Delegation Assistant Leaders (DALs) • Goals & Objectives: • By providing a single point that every delegate must go and to be able to make contact with every team, getting to know who they are and what their issues were immediately • Create an arena for us to capture payments, correct credentialing issues and push information out before the teams were separated into Host Towns or by sport • A convenient location to coordinate following their airport arrival • Foresee and correct possible schedule conflicts before they become issues • Key Responsibilities: • Provide a single space to track the arrival of all arriving teams • Find “Lost” teams (teams arriving late, teams on wrong flights, teams at wrong airports) by working in conjunction with the airport staff • Welcome each team upon their arrival • Provide onsite medical assistance to any team member needing such after traveling • Process outstanding paperwork and payments due • Ensure all delegates are credentialed and fix any credentialing issues • Issue delegate and DAL mobile phones • Answer scheduling and general questions • Check in Host Families • Introduce Host Families to Delegates • Introduce DALs to Head of Delegations (HoDs) • Provide a place for delegates to relax after their flight while HoD’s and coaches are processing paperwork • Distribute athlete gift bags • Location to consolidate delegations following host town for staging prior to Opening Ceremonies. • The Delegation Welcome Center was moved to the Boise Factory Outlet mall, where it occupied two empty store sites • Welcome area • Luggage processing center • Hours of operation were adjusted according to team arrivals in cooperation with airline schedules and delays – this affected staffing and volunteer schedules which were altered accordingly • Credentialing • Space was allocated near to the check-in center to provide required and immediate credential changes as delegations arrived • Luggage and Logistics • Luggage was taken to a separate location where the Idaho National Guard processed the luggage • Home stay athlete team luggage was processed • Color coded bands were added to each piece of luggage to identify where it was going • 7300 Official Luggage Tags were distributed pre-Games • Transportation • New routes had to be defined, along with drop off and pick up points • Ample parking was available for host families • Wayfinding and Look • Adjustments were made for the new space • Plan was developed to ‘dress’ the venue • Security and Medical • This department assisted with securing the new space • Medical had a separate room in the back of the DWC • Food & Beverage • Coke products and fridges were delivered by Coke • Needed to look into heavier food products for late arriving teams who will not have a chance to eat dinner • FF&E • Tables and chairs, canopies, linens were ordered from Tates Rents • Logistics delivered office supplies, etc. • Successes: • A fantastic space which looked great thanks to loaned furniture from Central Rent-to-Own • Look and signage was great • All of the teams were impressed and happy to be welcomed and made great use of the X-boxes • Overall it was a good first impression to give of the Games • Challenges: • There was often a low supply of food at the venue for athletes and even volunteers – the final day 1300 people had to be fed before the Opening Ceremony and we were short meals and there were no Vegetarian meals • The reefer truck we were given didn’t work and F&B left it there for two weeks after we were done • The space which was approximately 5700 sq. ft. was almost always the perfect size but on occasion was too small to accommodate everyone • As the arrivals schedules constantly changed we would sometimes be hit with more large teams at a time than anticipated • When the Team USA motorcade arrived from Salt Lake City, Team USA and Team Russia had to be left on the bus for almost an hour, due to space limitations, while their HOD and Head Coach were inside processing everything and their luggage was being processed • Recommendations: • Possibly a larger space so that all teams could come in and there would be room to move – taking in to account the possibility of airport arrivals and delays, etc. • Define the level of service regarding feeding arriving athletes at the DWC and more coordination with Food and Beverage – unfortunately, they made promises that they didn’t or couldn’t deliver on – specifically, more substantial food for the arriving delegates who had been traveling for 20 or more hours and had not been fed • The DWC was located in an outlet mall near other retail stores, which the delegations enjoyed and took advantage of shopping during down time at DWC. There were missed opportunities partnering with these stores for discounts and planned shopping times.
2009 World Winter Games PDL: Healthy Athletes • Functional Area Lead Team Members: • VP – Wade Morehead, Operations and Support Services • Manager – Drew Choules • Volunteer Commissioner - Shanna Endow I. Plan II. Do III. Learn • Goals & Objectives: The Special Olympics Healthy Athletes Program functional goal is to improve each athlete’s health and fitness through the provision of free health screenings and referral where necessary. The ultimate goal is to improve each athlete’s ability to train and compete in Special Olympics as well as life. The key objectives of the Healthy Athletes Program at the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games (2009 SOWWG) were as follows: • To screen and educate approximately 70% of the athletes (1490 athletes) during the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games. • To recruit sufficient numbers of health care professionals for each of the disciplines. • To identify and secure sponsorship from suitable suppliers. • To give the results of the screenings to the athlete in as effective a manner as possible. • To collect data from the screening process for analysis. • To organize the Train the Trainer sessions. • Overview/Purpose: The GOC will work with SOI to coordinate the planning execution of the Healthy Athletes program. The Healthy Athletes Program Manager from the GOC will work directly with Healthy Athletes SOI staff to coordinate the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games Healthy Athletes Program. Both SOI and the GOC will coordinate with the Clinical Directors of the six disciplines included in the program to ensure all areas within the program are covered. These needs per discipline include volunteers, equipment, space needs, shipping needs, and storage needs. Through the combination of the GOC, SOI, and Healthy Athletes Committee the overall plan for the Healthy Athletes program should be completed and ready to execute by Games time. • Disciplines: Fit Feet, FUNfitness, Healthy Hearing, Health Promotions, Opening Eyes, and Special Smiles. • Structure: The Healthy Athletes committee was formed two years before the Games. This committee held conference calls on a regular basis. These meetings were held between These meetings were the forum of discussion of any issues that the team was experiencing (volunteer recruitment, gathering of supplies, sponsors, etc.). This meeting frequency increased the last two months prior to the Games. These meetings were designed to streamline all information and questions through the clinical directors of each discipline to obtain consistent information throughout the program. • Policies and Procedures: The Policies and Procedures for the Healthy Athletes Program could be summarized as follows: Only accredited athletes and delegation members have access to the Healthy Athletes Program inside the venue. Guests or media wishing to gain access to the venue must be in receipt of the correct day pass and be accompanied by a Media or Guest volunteer or staff. • Healthy Athlete Software: For the 2009 World Games the Healthy Athletes program used the Healthy Athlete Software System (HASS) to record all data collected within the six disciplines. This database also produced a report for each athlete which recorded the results for each discipline in which they visited. These results will be mailed to the Head of Delegation following the games. The sponsors for the software system include: Health One, Sunray, and Fudan Micro. • Summary of Activity: The Healthy Athlete venue was the Student Union Building of Boise State University. The venue was in operation from Thursday February 5 – Saturday February 14. The venue held six disciplines, five of which were held in one large ballroom and the separated in a room near this ballroom. The schedule and times for the screenings are included in the chart below. The schedule was also based around sport schedules with each sport scheduled on separate nights throughout the week. • Key Responsibilities: • Legacy: • Create a new format for conducting HA during a winter games. Scheduling athletes by sport each evening with the incentive of dinner to maximize attendance. • Work in conjunction with SO ID and local discipline leaders to expose them all to the functions of a World Games, thus enhancing future state-wide HA events to be conducted in the future. • Engage numerous volunteers and media to educate the state and nation about this wonderful event. • Engage numerous local clinicians and industry specialists in the hopes of increasing participation and donations (time, services, and money) for future SO Idaho events and programs. Train the Trainer Sessions were held for each discipline in order to further educate professionals about the program and screenings. There were 150 professionals combined within the six discipline groups. The schedule was as follows: Saturday, February 7 0800-0900 Train the Trainer Plenary Session 0930-1200 Train the Trainer Breakouts Sunday, February 8 0900-1500 Train the Trainer Breakouts Monday, February 9 0900-1200 Train the Trainer Breakouts Milestones/Schedules/Timelines: 2007 (12-18 months) Recruited staff for Healthy Athlete program Created Healthy Athlete committee members which consist of clinical directors for each of the six disciplines Identified venue for Healthy Athletes program Ongoing 2008 Recruitment of volunteers by clinical directors Created a general plan for the Healthy Athlete program August 2008 Created layout and room reservations for the venue Continuation of volunteer recruitment September 2008 Determined schedule for screenings by sport October 2008 Began venue walk-thrus to review signage, flow etc. November 2008 Finalized volunteer numbers and recruitment Began scheduling volunteers shifts December 2008 Finalized Healthy Athlete grant Ordered Volunteer Uniforms Determined venue and shipping needs Finalized signage needs in venue January 2008 Finalized volunteer shifts per day Continued with planning on each functional area in venue to complete overall plan February 2009 Games and Program Begins Daily Venue Schedule February 5-February 14: Date Event Thursday, February 5 Load-In at the SUB Begins Friday, February 6 Load-In Continues & Train the Trainer Arrivals Saturday, February 7 0800-0900 Train the Trainer Plenary Session 0930-1200 Train the Trainer Breakouts 1400-1600 Opening Ceremony Sunday, February 8 0900-1500 Train the Trainer Breakouts 1600-2100 Healthy Athlete Screenings (FS/SS) Monday, February 9 0900-1200 Train the Trainer Breakouts 1600-2100 Healthy Athlete Screenings (AS) Tuesday, February 10 1600-2100 Healthy Athlete Screenings (FH – A) Wednesday, February 11 1600-2100 Healthy Athlete Screenings (FH- B) Thursday, February 12 1600-2100 Healthy Athlete Screenings (SB, FH-C) Friday, February 13 1100-1600 Healthy Athlete Screenings (CC, SH) 1900-2100 Closing Ceremony Saturday, February 14 Load-Out of SUB Events: Opening Eyes – Vision & Eye health tests; Refraction for those requiring further screening; Prescription eye glasses if needed (448 distributed); Prescription sports eye wear (650 sunglasses); and referral advice for follow-up care. Special Smiles – Oral screenings; oral health education; fitted sports mouth guards; personal preventative products; and advice for follow-up care. Healthy Hearing – Hearing screenings; Hearing aid check-ups. 51 aids distributed FUNfitness – Screenings for flexibility, functional strength, balance and education Health Promotions – Nutrition, sun safety, tobacco cessation and bone health. Fit Feet – Evaluate foot and ankle deformities and foot care education. • Successes: • Following the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games it was determined that the overall goal to improve the athletes’ health and fitness in order to enhance the ability to train and compete was attained. In the 2009 World Winter Games, Healthy Athletes hosted the most athletes ever in Winter World games event, with over 80% of athletes registered for the Games being screened totaling almost 1,700 athletes. As a result of the screenings over 448 prescription eyeglasses and 650 sunglasses were distributed along with fitting 96 hearing aids on 51 different athletes. The breakout numbers per night are as follows: • 02-08 248 02-09 218 02-10 285 • 02-11 264 02-12 159 02-13 481 Total: 1657 • In order to provide these services to these athletes there were over 900 health care professionals combined assisting within the six disciplines throughout the week. This group of 900 consisted mostly of health care professionals along with students in the health care professions. All volunteers received training at job specific training sessions that covered job specific material in addition to receiving information about the needs and care of people with intellectual disabilities. • The venue worked very well for this event. It was ideal to have all of the disciplines within one room. It made flow within the disciplines very simple and it was easy for the athletes to see and attend all of the disciplines. The discipline within the separate room received plenty of participation but there was also more focus towards making athletes aware that there was another discipline. • The schedule also worked very well. It was great to hold the program in the evenings after competition was completed. It was also great to have a set schedule as to which teams were going on which night in order for us to plan around specific numbers per night. There were some teams that could not make it on their scheduled night but we had no problems accommodating these groups on the nights in which they were available. It is highly recommended having a schedule per night. That said, it is also crucial that the Head of Delegations (HOD) and Delegate Assistant Liaison (DAL) for each team knows this schedule and it aware when they are attending. This information was placed in the HOD handbook and also discussed at the HOD meetings each morning during the week of the games. • Challenges: Lack of timely, accurate info and feedback from SOI and confusing grant process. • Key Learnings: The original scope of how the connection between the GOC, SOI, and clinical directors all worked extremely well. Two recommendations would be to have more than one individual with the GOC. In 2009, there was one person working for the Healthy Athlete Program, the Healthy Athlete Program Manager. It is recommended to have at least 2-3 individuals within the GOC for Healthy Athletes, one individual who manages the entire program whose duties include: acting as the main contact and liaison between the GOC, SOI, and clinical directors along with the contact for the venue itself, they will also be in charge of organizing all information regarding other functional areas within the venue including Way Finding, Food & Beverage, Transportation, Volunteer Services, Logistics, Waste Mgmt., Credentialing, Delegation Services, Accommodations, Media and Security to ensure the smooth operation of venue. The remaining 1-2 individuals should oversee a specific area, one of which needs to be volunteer services. This program relies heavily on the quantity and quality of the health care professionals which run the screenings. Due to this large group, it is crucial that one person is in charge of tracking all information for the volunteers including first and last name, date of birth (which was collected due to background checks), contact information (email, address, phone numbers), and uniform sizes. This individual will be in charge of collecting this information along with making sure the entire games volunteer services department and credentialing are aware of these volunteers. Also, the entire SOI committee needs to be completely involved in the planning process from the beginning of the event until the end. For the 2009 Winter Games, SOI had one contact person in charge of everything and then the entire committee joined later in the planning process. This was problematic b/c communication was poor from the POC to the SOI HA leaders. As the SOI group came together there was so much more accomplished and communication was much less complicated. The GOC committee conference calls worked extremely well, as they were informative and productive, but SOI should be involved from the beginning so they can regularly communicate with the clinical directors and GOC representatives. • Recommendations: Change the grant process as it is convoluted, confusing, and does not pay for costs that are essential to the success of the event. SOI should assume more ownership from initial planning through the execution of the program during the Games.