Host City: We are very much looking forward to your participation in Host City 2016. What do you think is most interesting about the conference agenda?
John Langford: I think it’s a much needed conversation piece, realising the economic impact that big events can deliver. In particular I think there’s a growing focus on cultural events. 

Host City: Are we seeing a greater convergence of sport and entertainment?
John Langford: Yes we are definitely seeing more of that and I think there are two reasons. The first is that the lines between sport and non-sport entertainment are becoming blurred. We are expecting it to be integrated: whether it’s a Super Bowl half time show or an opening or closing ceremony of Formula 1 Rocks, it’s becoming expected. 
The second reason is that it adds value to sponsors and consumers. It brings in additional people and additional money. My wife will come with me to sport events if she knows there is going to be some kind of entertainment that she is going to be interested in. That brings in more eyeballs and more sponsors. 

Host City: In relation to your experiences as a promoter and venue manager, what do you think are the critical issues for customer experiences?
John Langford: The first thing is truly understanding what the customer experience is. In our case, the customer experience begins the moment the person starts looking for tickets, not when they arrive at the venue. 
And if you take that to a city context, it’s the whole experience that someone has. If they are a music tourist, it’s not just seeing Coldplay at the arena or the stadium; it’s the whole experience that leads up to that: the travel, the hotel, the food, the whole lot.
Secondly, we are all striving to exceed expectation and for me that’s a measure of great customer experience – we need to truly understand what the customer is expecting and then exceed that. 
Thirdly, this really means that all the players need to work in a synchronised approached and that is a real challenge for cities – how do we work better with transport hosts, airports, hotels etc. to deliver a city-wide customer experience?

Host City: How does SECC work with the city of Glasgow to achieve this?
John Langford: Fortunately, the city of Glasgow is quite progressive in the way it approaches big events, more so than most other cities around the world. It’s always had a big drive to lead on hosting events, whether that’s conferences – they’ve got a very successful conference team at the city marketing bureau – or the major events team, who we worked with very closely on events like the MTV European Music Awards and Radio 1’s Big Weekend. We’ve got the MOBO awards coming up at the end of the year – those are driven by the city as opposed to promoters. 
The real benefit of Glasgow is that there is a city strategy to drive cultural tourism. And it works both ways: the city can drive things to us, and if we have an idea we can drive it back to the city. A good example is the Ignition Motoring Festival in August, which is a concept that we came up with and the city bought into it and essentially it’s a whole campus-wide festival of motoring. 

Host City: How do you go about programming content at SECC and SSE?
John Langford: We are quite fortunate in a way in that we don’t have major competition for our size in a good 200 mile radius. And Glasgow audiences are great; they are some of the best audiences in the world and we know from the research we’ve seen that they buy about 50 per cent more tickets that the UK average for live music events. 
Typically anything that comes to the SSE Hydro is booked in the same way that the O2 is booked in London: a big artist like Madonna, U2 or Timberlake will typically book the O2 and the Hydro and then fill in the rest of UK and Europe on the back of that. So we are very fortunate in that we get a lot of proactive bookings; promoters will come to us. 
We do however have challenges outside those busy periods where we try and create our own content and that requires working with promoters and artists and festival organisers to create events. 
We are very cautious not to be promoters. Some venues feel differently but we feel we are not in the business of promoting. We would rather be in the business of coming up with concepts, taking a share of the risk, but we’d rather work with an established promoter to actually deliver the event. 
We work very closely with AEG that owns the O2 in London on a country music festival called Country to Country. We are working on another music festival, the genre of which I can’t share just yet. 

Host City: So you are moving towards “festivalisation” as well?
John Langford: Yes, I think that’s an audience trend. People are expecting bang for their buck. Way Out West in Gothenburg is an example of an urban festival, or the Great Escape in Brighton – those are examples of things that we would certainly like to see more of in Glasgow, not just on our campus. We feel that we are part of the fabric of Glasgow, just as much as Barrowlands or Hampden Park stadium.

Host City: How important is nurturing local talent for cities to develop themselves as cultural hubs?
John Langford: I think it’s all part of the same ecosystem. You need record labels, promoters, managers, recording studios; you need a whole ecosystem that creatively feeds itself. 
Some of the research that I’ve seen on developing music cities is that it’s important to have all of the aspects working together; and ideally that it’s driven by the city and I think that’s probably the biggest challenge for a lot of cities. 
It’s a bit like herding cats, particularly in the creative industries; there are a lot of entrepreneurs and independent thinkers and I think the challenge is creating an environment within which they can work. You need to lead without pushing and I think that’s a real challenge for cities. 

Host City: How important is venue planning in creating entertainment hubs – not just physical venues but also using open spaces?
John Langford: Glasgow has a good range of venues, indoor and outdoor, sports and entertainment. I think it’s key that cities have that. 
Secondly it’s licensing and I think a lot of cities need to work harder on this. You need to get all the city structures working together if the object is to bring more events into the city. Whether its occasional licenses for drinking, food or capacity, everything needs to work together. 
You need a progressive planning regime in the city. In the UK there are a lot of traditional music venues that are being squeezed by pressure from residents. The gentrification of areas is causing a lot of venues to shut down, so there is a big drive, certainly from the music industry, to protect those venues.
But what you’re talking about is going that extra step. It takes a liberal, forward thinking city to recognise that there is going to be a bit of pain sometimes, whether it’s noise or hundreds of thousands of people coming to your city for an event – the progressive cities realise that’s where the economic impact comes from. You need to take a bit of pain sometimes to get the gain.

*UK Music report “Wish You Were Here 2016”

John Langford, Director of Live Entertainment at SECC and SSE Hydro, is speaking on 22nd November at Host City 2016 conference and exhibition on the subject of “Creating Entertaining Experiences for Visitors".

Host City: Having experienced Paralympic Games since 1972, both as an athlete and administrator, what major changes have you seen in terms of participation and audience engagement?
Sir Philip Craven: My first Paralympics were in Heidelberg in ‘72. It was a relatively small affair but with an incredible passion for sport that has always been at the centre of the Paralympic movement.
Really the Games that made the biggest difference for me, despite the amazing London Games, was Barcelona in ’92. That was the first time that there were masses of spectators. It took a bit of time for athletes to get used to having packed stadia. That was a major moment. We again had an amazing Games in Sydney and things have just moved on from there. 
What we had to do as an organisation was to develop our organisation so we had sufficient competent and motivated staff that could work with organising committees and ensure that the Games would be of a very good standard and occasionally, when the planets came into total alignment, it would be amazing, like in Beijing and in London. 
When I came in I never used the “D-word”. It’s nothing to do with disability sports – this is international sport. We are an international sports organisation and therefore that’s been the emphasis all along. When you talk about sports, then you all get along far better together. That’s one of the reasons for the major rise, along with our capacity to work with organising committees, but always with athletes at the centre.  
These Games in Rio are going to be the greatest Games ever in terms of athletic performance. It’s amazing what’s been done in all of the sports; the amount of training that goes into being an international player is quite outstanding. 

Host City: Would you say London 2012 was the big step change in terms of public engagement and TV audience?
Sir Philip Craven: Definitely with regard to TV audiences. Channel 4 really got the ball and ran with it two years prior to the Games; there was an amazing transformation and that has been really infectious moving forward from London. They used former athletes as commentators, and they have become a totally integrated employer now.
In Rio there will be over a hundred nations taking a live feed of the Games from Rio around the world. We’ve signed our biggest deal ever with NHK in Japan going forward to the Tokyo Games in 2020 and beyond, to 2024. 
People love the Paralympics and the first place to be is at the Games. The unique sporting spirit there is something that I felt when I was playing wheelchair basketball because I loved the sport; I loved playing for the team. This spirit of the principles of what sport should be about has never been stronger with me. 

Host City: The motto of the Olympic Games is “faster, higher, stronger”; how does that differ to the Paralympics, in terms of the underlying principles of sport?
Sir Philip Craven: Our vision is “to enable Para athletes to achieve sporting excellence and to inspire and excite the world”. “Achieving sporting excellence” for me is at any level – it doesn’t have to be a Paralympic medal. 
And then “to inspire and excite the world”. But what happens before people are inspired and excited? They’re surprised, normally – I don’t know if they were expecting the basketball players to drop the ball – but they are surprised, then they are inspired, then they’re excited. Once that happens we can change the world. 
We know that the Paralympic Games has the greatest effect of any international sports competition in really delivering societal change – realising that we are all members of one planet and one society, and that we can all have a good time. 

Host City: It’s interesting what you say about the big societal impact of the Paralympic Games – we saw that in Beijing and London. But it seems the Olympic Games needs to assert its value now, with some of the big Olympic sports facing wave upon wave of doping allegations. Having recently chaired a panel discussion at the International Anti-Corruption Summit, what’s your view of that?
Sir Philip Craven: On what we have heard about in the media, it’s seen to have been denied by certain international federations. On the one hand I am saddened, on the other hand I am angered – because that is not what sport should be about. 
But I have to say, the IOC – of which I’ve been a member since 2003 – has done a lot of work to root out corruption from their own organisation and that’s going back now 15 or 16 years. And I think they continue to do that good work, taking an enlightened view of keeping samples from the Beijing Games and then retesting them. 
The IOC, IPC and WADA and all international sports federations are working very hard now, with increasing support from national governments and other international bodies. Corruption, as David Cameron said, is a cancer and we have to root it out. And that’s what we will work together to do. The change has to come from the inside of sport, and they have to be supported by people from other walks of life, from governments and it’s something we are going to fight with all our might. 

Host City: How optimistic are you that that this fight will be won?
Sir Philip Craven: I’m an eternal optimist; I can tell you that. It will be won. The key is it’s not just about bringing in rules and regulations that stop the corrupt; it’s bringing in methods where the non-corrupt are elected in the first place. 
If you look at the majority of international federations, you would find that that is the case. But of course when you find difficulties from certain federations, then they can influence the general view of what’s going on in all international sports federations. 
You can’t change cultures overnight, no matter what anybody says, no matter how much money you’ve got. Because normally those cultures have built up over many years so it takes time to change it. But there’s got to be a fundamental clear out and to start again. 

Host City: It strikes me these threats facing sports governance today are the polar opposite of the principles of sport, which should be about team play and rewarding endeavour.
Sir Philip Craven: The principles of what sport are really about are right at the centre of what we do. We’ve just had recent discussions in our governing board about this and we’ve brought in new controls on conflicts of interest, divulging whether you are involved with other organisations other than the International Paralympic Committee etc. – and we are very keen to bring these in. 
Fundamentally we are an absolutely transparent organisation; you can look at our accounts online whenever you wish to. If you are a transparent organisation then those sort of corrupt practices don’t have a chance to get going. 
I would say the high honour of Thomas Bach inviting me to chair the new Olympic Education Commission shows the clear intent of what you put very well when you talked about the principles of sport. It’s an absolute intent that there is a great strengthening of this, and that’s what sport needs. 
In fact that’s what the world needs – principles and common sense regulations – not things that are brought up by overpaid lawyers, but things that come out of how life should be and how people should get on with each other. That’s what I’m about!

HOST CITY: Pierre De Coubertin said Modern Pentathlon “tested a man’s moral qualities as much as his physical resources and skills”. How does Modern Pentathlon achieve this and why is this still important today?
Dr. Klaus Schormann: Modern Pentathlon first appeared on the Olympic programme in Stockholm in 1912 when De Coubertin’s wish was to devise a test suitable only for the “complete athlete”. In pursuit of this aim he created the ultimate test of an athlete’s fitness, courage and skill – a sporting challenge like no other. Modern Pentathlon combines five traditional disciplines in a one-day format and is unique in sport as a complex mental and physical examination.
Today it remains as important as ever in the Olympic Movement. Pierre de Coubertin’s vision has its roots in the Ancient Games of 708 where Lampis of Sparta was the first winner of Pentathlon and received the prestigious status of “Victor Ludorum”. In this time, Pentathlon consisted of discus, long jump, javelin, stadium run and wrestling. The format has changed beyond recognition but the principle remains the same: it is the complete sporting challenge.

HOST CITY: Competition for inclusion in the Olympic programme is strong. What are the key factors that have enabled Modern Pentathlon to retain its place in the programme?
Dr. Klaus Schormann: Modern Pentathlon has been a core sport of the Olympic Games ever since 1912. Although it has had to justify its inclusion in the Olympic programme several times, it has retained a constant presence and this is because of two things: strong Olympic heritage and modern innovation. First we had to shorten the Modern Pentathlon from five days in duration to one day, because it was not compatible with the demands of the mass media, viewers and spectators.
To make it a more compelling spectacle, we introduced several changes and developments. We introduced Laser Pistols at the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in 2010. We created a running/shooting Combined Event (like winter biathlon) that made the sport safer for athletes and spectators, allowing them to get closer to the action than ever before. Most recently, in addition to the fencing round robin, pentathletes have the opportunity to win extra points in a new bonus round. In less than an hour, all of the athletes compete on one piste in front of the spectators to win bonus seconds for the Combined Event.
To make our sport more compact and exciting, we had to adapt our format as we are living in a fast changing world with a modern, diverse and digital society. You can inspire others to change, only if you are ready to change yourself. Our new format is compact, media and spectator friendly with entertainment in between. It is not only a competition anymore – it is five sports brought together to create one big event. As De Coubertin wrote in 1918, “the individual who truly deserves that name ‘Olympian’ is the competitor in the modern pentathlon”. We are certain that he would have approved of Modern Pentathlon’s proven ability to move with the times and stay fresh.
 
HOST CITY: As a member of the IOC Commission on Culture and Olympic Heritage, do you think modern pentathlon can play a role in helping the IOC to realise its Agenda 2020 aim of further blending sport and culture?
Dr. Klaus Schormann: UIPM can, like all of the International Federations in the Olympic Movement, play a role in helping the IOC to realise this goal. Only together can we implement another of Pierre de Coubertin’s visions: to “blend sport with culture and education” as in the Ancient Games.
Due to the concentration on sport, the influence of the Olympic Movement’s cultural activities has been limited even though many committed institutions and communities like museums, academies, historians, collectors or artists for instance have been established. However, our mission as members of the IOC Commission on Culture and Olympic Heritage is to develop concepts and programmes to further blend sport and culture at each Olympic Games and in the years between. This only goes hand in hand with the whole Olympic Family to create values with culture.
 
HOST CITY: And how can the values of UIPM and Olympism help with the education and personal development of young people worldwide?
Dr. Klaus Schormann: In our fast changing world, education has an important role in society. As Nelson Mandela said “Sport has the power to change the world” and currently we need to change and act against crime, hate and discrimination more than ever before.
Modern Pentathlon is not only a big event but it has remained through 100 years of history very traditional and unique in the Olympic Movement. The Olympic Agenda 2020 clearly demonstrates our decision to live up to our values and principles. The values of “excellence, respect, friendship, dialogue, diversity, non-discrimination, tolerance, fair play, solidarity, development and peace” should be demonstrated through our sport around the world. Our Unity in Diversity is important to make those values and principles remain relevant in society.
Through Modern Pentathlon with the five different skills you have a platform for education, integration of all religions and cultural societies with the message for a more friendly, humanitarian and peaceful world. 

HOST CITY: How do the UIPM’s other events, such as the new Laser Run format, help to engage new athletes and audiences? 
Dr. Klaus Schormann: The Laser-Run is the latest original creation of UIPM, derived from the Combined Event and launched in 2015 as a non-Olympic sub-sport. The simple format of running/shooting helps introduce and engage new athletes and new audiences as athletes of all ages from 8 to 80 can participate and the event can be staged on beaches, in cities and in the countryside. 
The Laser Run is the basis of the UIPM Pyramid and for many is the first step on the way to participating in Modern Pentathlon. The bigger the basis, the more athletes will find their way to the top. Modern Pentathlon keeps the legacy of Pierre de Coubertin as a strong heritage. 

Ten refugee athletes will take part in the Olympic Games Rio 2016 this summer in the first ever Refugee Olympic Team (ROT), the International Olympic Committee announced on 3 June. 
Rami Anis, Yiech Pur Biel, James Chiengjiek, Yonas Kinde, Anjelina Lohalith, Rose Lokonyen, Paulo Lokoro, Yolande Mabika, Yusra Mardini and Popole Misenga will march with the Olympic flag immediately before host nation Brazil during the Opening Ceremony. 
“These refugees have no home, no team, no flag, no national anthem. We will offer them a home in the Olympic Village together with all the athletes of the word. The Olympic anthem will be played in their honour and the Olympic flag will lead them into the Olympic Stadium,” said IOC President Thomas Bach.
”This will be a symbol of hope for all the refugees in our world, and will make the world better aware of the magnitude of this crisis. It is also a signal to the international community that refugees are our fellow human beings and are an enrichment to society. These refugee athletes will show the world that despite the unimaginable tragedies that they have faced, anyone can contribute to society through their talent, skills and strength of the human spirit.”
As part of the IOC’s pledge to aid potential elite athletes affected by the worldwide refugee crisis, NOCs around the world were asked to identify any refugee athlete with the potential to qualify for the Olympic Games Rio 2016. Such candidates could then receive funding from Olympic Solidarity to assist with their preparations and qualification efforts.
Forty-three promising candidates were initially identified. Selection of the ten athletes was based on consultation with their host National Olympic Committees (NOCs), International Federations, the UNHCR and the NOCs of their countries of origin. Nomination criteria included sporting level, official refugee status verified by the United Nations, and personal situation and background. 
Five of the athletes originate from South Sudan, two from Syria, two from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and one from Ethiopia. Five are hosted by the National Olympic Committee of Kenya, two by Brazil, one by Germany, one by Luxembourg and one by Belgium. 
Six of the athletes will compete in athletics running events, two in swimming and two in judo.
Like all teams at the Olympic Games, the ROT will have its own entourage to meet all the required technical needs of the athletes. Olympian and former marathon world record-holder Tegla Loroupe (Kenya) was named the team’s Chef de Mission, while Isabela Mazão (Brazil), who was proposed by the UNHCR, will act as the Deputy Chef de Mission. They will lead a crew of five coaches and five other team officials.
The team will be housed in the Olympic Village like all the other teams and will get its own welcome ceremony at the Olympic Village, like all other teams. Team uniforms will be provided by the IOC.
For all official representations of the team (including possible medal ceremonies), the Olympic flag will be raised and the Olympic Anthem will be played. 
A proper doping control process will be introduced through the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Olympic Solidarity will cover preparation, travel and other participation expenses for the team and will continue to support the athletes of the team after the Olympic Games.
The IOC will also continue to support the refugee athletes after the Games.
Through Olympic Solidarity and its Olympic Scholarships for Athletes programme, the IOC aims to help smaller NOCs prepare and qualify their athletes for the Olympic Games. The IOC’s priority is to focus primarily on athletes who need the assistance the most and to place them on an equal footing with their competitors from more developed regions of the world. In the lead-up to London 2012, for example, 1,264 Olympic scholarships were allocated to athletes from 171 NOCs in 21 sports. 657 'scholars' eventually took part in the Games. They won a total of 72 medals.
Following the approval of Olympic Agenda 2020, the IOC’s strategic roadmap for the future of the Olympic Movement, and in light of the current global refugee crisis, the IOC also created a special fund of USD 2 million to develop relief projects through sport in collaboration with NOCs around the world. Over 15 NOCs have already made use of this fund.
The IOC already works with a number of United Nations agencies to help refugees around the world. For the last 20 years, the IOC and UNHCR in particular have been using sport to support healing and development among young refugees in many camps and settlements around the world. They have consequently seen thousands of refugees benefit from sports programmes and equipment donated by the IOC.
The biographies of all athletes and their entourage are available here.
 

A new fixture has appeared on the calendar of international multi-sports events. The European Championships, taking place for the first time on 1-12 August 2018, has been described by observers as either a repackaging of existing championships or a serious challenger to the European Games – the continental mega event initiated by the European Olympic Committees (EOC) at Baku in 2015. 

The organisers themselves describe the event as a “coming together of existing championships”. Six sports – aquatics, cycling, golf, gymnastics, rowing and triathlon – will be hosted in Glasgow, with athletics taking place in Berlin from 7-12 August. 

The concept is run by and on behalf of the European Federations: European Athletics; Ligue Européenne de Natation (LEN, or European Aquatics); the European Cycling Union (UEC); World Rowing (FISA), the European Triathlon Union (ETU); the European Union of Gymnastics (UEG); and the European Tour and the Ladies European Tour as Golf Europe combined. 

The broadcast partners for the event are the European Broadcasting Union (EBU)’s free to air members.  
“We were very happy to see that Glasgow and Berlin were supporting the idea and particularly that the federations took this major step forward to agree to this concept of having their European championships under one umbrella in the two cities,” says Stefan Kürten, Director of Eurovision Services & Sports Rights at the EBU.

Elevating sports together
“For us, this is a milestone in the development of sports in Europe. This concept will clearly contribute to maintaining European sports on this level where it belongs,” says Kürten.
“We want the public in Europe to focus on the top Olympic sports in Europe. We want to show to the public the top athletes in these sports that are already visible on free to air, and we want to centralise that. 

“By centralising them we are not creating an additional event; it is bundling existing events. We as broadcasters are not interested in more events. There is sometimes the belief that the more you create, the more interest you generate. I can say from a broadcaster’s perspective this is wrong. You have to focus on the top events and make them even more valuable. 

“Therefore we think there will be an increase in audience by these multi-sports events so that will be to the benefit of the sports and of the host cities and clearly also to our benefit.

“On top of that, we think by putting these events together we also want to emphasise the relevance and importance of European sports, because the cradle of the Olympic sports is Europe and we are afraid that if that part falls, gets weaker, that has an impact on world sports and we don’t want that. We think as broadcasters: let’s promote the strongest, push it further, and be creative and innovative. 

“The message that we got back from the members was that the broadcasters were extremely pleased with such a milestone event. We have 23 broadcasters with us already – the top broadcasters – and they will be all the main channels.”

Frank Kowalski, Managing Director of the Berlin 2018 local organising committee says: “Working together with Glasgow, we are really proud to be in the first move of this European project. 

“For the city and for us it wasn’t easy because the situation came after awarding the 2018 European Athletics championships to Berlin. But we are totally convinced that this is the right step for the summer sports to get the power against other sports like football. 
“We all have to learn not to produce what we like to produce, but what our clients like to have. I am convinced that we will have a lot of synergies and will take every opportunity we have for us, for the European Athletics Championships and for the city of Berlin. We have strong partners and we are getting closer and closer through the collaboration – and it makes sense.”

Scheduling around the crown jewels
“In athletics it’s very important that our time schedule is respected,” says European Athletics President Svein Arne Hansen. “We have a long tradition in having our biennial Championships in this week and we made very sure from the beginning that our prime time had to be protected. We agreed that with LEN and with our Glasgow friends.

“This is the jewel in the crown for European Athletics and we have to protect that jewel and I think we have achieved this – we’ll soon be ready to give out the timetable.”

Paolo Barelli, President of LEN says: “What we are doing is very easy, it is not so complicated. The first period, the first part of the Championships, is for aquatics. The second part is for track and field, with one day of overlapping.”

“It is a coordinated approach,” says Kürten. “The idea is to have as few overlaps as possible but to have a natural flow of medal ceremonies and heats so we have on-going interest that is well coordinated.”

Colin Hartley, Championships Director of Glasgow 2018 says: “The collaboration to create a schedule that works for as many reasons as possible is already at version one. When we unveil that schedule it will be as good as we can achieve in terms of city, sport and of course for the broadcast viewers.”

The challenge of selling tickets
Tickets go on sale on 22 August 2016 – the day after the Rio 2016 Olympic Games finishes. Berlin has the biggest sales challenge, in filling the 74,475 seat Olympiastadion.

“For us it’s a very big task to fill the Olympic stadium in Berlin,” says Arne Hansen. “But I hope that all the excitement of what’s happening up in Glasgow will carry over to people in Berlin, so people will see next week we are in Berlin to see the athletics.

“We have gone into it with open eyes, even if this contract was signed before my election, which was one year ago. I am fully enthusiastic and behind it.

“We all remember Berlin 2009 and that incredible atmosphere. It was really something, because of one thing; you had the local athletes plus some superstars from Jamaica. But local athletes are what you need. 

“I am sure that the German federation will bring the best out in this Championships. 74,000 is a very big thing to sell, but if somebody can do it in Europe, Berlin can do it. We hope that they will have bigger viewership and more people coming to the stadium than ever.”

In Glasgow, the organisers are looking into possibilities for ticketing across the different sports. 

“On the back of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, the appetite for sports is very much there,” says Colin Hartley, Championships Director of Glasgow 2018.

“People going to sports they haven’t seen before is a proven thing that they are interested. So on the back of that, we will definitely bring ticketing together. And we’ll be promoting the events in Berlin as they will in Glasgow. For the spectators, online and social media will be very much a seamless experience.”

A threat to the European Games?
The next European Games is due to take place in 2019, with EOC President Patrick Hickey having stated in November 2015 that Russia would be the preferred host. 

However, Russia’s Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko is reported to have said that Russia never applied to host the Games and would be too busy to host any other major events until 2020. And with Russia’s participation in athletics at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games under threat from doping revelations, the country’s suitability to host the European Games is also under scrutiny.

Hickey and EOC Vice President Janez Kocijancic both contacted Host City to say the EOC would not be making a statement on this matter “for the moment”. 

Hickey also referred Host City to a letter he sent to the European Federations in which he stated that their contract with the European Championships management company would violate EU competition law, as it seeks to restrict them from "competing in another multi-sport continental event within a year of the conclusion of the 2018 European Sport Championships".

“I haven’t spoken with Patrick Hickey since the latest news about Russian internal things going on there,” said Arne Hansen at SportAccord. “We have an agreement with the EBU; our best athletes will be in Berlin. And if the conditions are right we will also be in the European Games.
“There will not be a European Athletics Championships of any kind in the European Games – no youth, junior, under 23, or senior. But I don’t say it will be low level. Athletics is a big sport; hopefully we can find other interesting things to put in the Games. I am not saying no to new competitions; that would be against my nature.”

It is also uncertain whether the EBU will put its weight behind the European Games. “We have had discussions, we have looked into it,” says Kürten. “It was difficult to follow the European Games on TV, there was not such broad interest in Europe. We think this is a bit of a different event, so for us it was clearly relevant to focus on the top sports.”

Barelli is keen to stress that the European Championships is not a threat to the activities of the European Olympic Committees or the other European Federations. “We are not creating any European Games. I know that someone tried to make some misunderstanding about that. Track and field manages its own championship; I don’t want to interfere with its championship, and track and field is not permitted to interfere with my championship.

“What we are doing is putting together seven sports, with the help of EBU, with the help of the family, with the help of Glasgow, just to have something more to add to the value of each discipline. It was very difficult to create but when someone put their mind to this project is was easy to answer the question why. We think this is going to be a good format for the future.”

Big host city sought for 2022
No additional sports are being considered for the 2018 event, says Kürten. “We didn’t want to overcharge; the idea was to go with specific group of sports that couldn’t clash; it couldn’t be too long. If you have the first edition of such an event it’s good to start with quality and not to overload it.”

If 2018 is successful, the European Championships will take place again in 2022. Arne Hansen says: “We have, together with EBU, together with other partners, set criteria for 2018. I that is fulfilled, we will go along with 2022.”

European Athletics already has 11 countries bidding for their 2022 Championships, in a process that was launched before the possibility of the combined event arose. 

“It is a huge thing that we already have 11 countries in Europe bidding for the 2022 European Athletics Championships. We will go out to them, together with the other sports, to find potential bidders from the 11,” says Arne Hansen. “We have already started a bidding process, so it would be very hard to go outside those 11 countries to find the next organiser for the next European Athletics Championships.”

Kürten says the aim is to award the 2022 European Championships to a major European city. “The interest when looking at host cities is clearly there; in this respect we expect this to materialise in a big city – that’s what we are trying to achieve.

Asked if the next edition will take place in just one city next time, Kürten said “It’s too early to say. That’s open; probably one city”.

This article is Host City's coverage of a European Championships media roundtable at SportAccord Convention, with further input from the EOC.

London’s first Lumiere light festival closed on Sunday 17th January at 10.30pm, having transformed the city’s streets and buildings with 30 spectacular artworks. First estimates put the numbers of visitors at over 1 million attending the festival over four evenings.

Developed by creative producers Artichoke and supported by the Mayor of London, Lumiere London turned King’s Cross and London’s West End, including Leicester Square, Piccadilly, Regent Street, St James’s and Carnaby into a magical pedestrian playground and encouraged Londoners and tourists alike to explore the heart of the capital and view it in a new light.

“I am thrilled by the success of Lumiere London, which has brought a wonderful burst of imagination, colour and creativity to our city’s streets in the middle of cold, dark January. It could not have happened without the input and support of the many businesses and agencies who helped to make it happen,” said the Mayor of London Boris Johnson.

“We have been astounded by the crowds, which exceeded all our expectations and brought a boost to the West End and King’s Cross and are delighted by the response, not just from Londoners, but visitors from around the world.”

Lumiere was created by Artichoke in Durham in 2009, and has been recommissioned by Durham County Council every two years since then. In 2013, Artichoke also produced Lumiere in Derry~Londonderry UK City of Culture, commissioned by Culture Company 2013. In November 2015, the festival returned to Durham for the fourth time, attracting an estimated 200,000 visitors to the city.

“It’s been an unprecedented four nights for London and the turnout has been extraordinary,” said Helen Marriage, Director of Artichoke. 

“Over a million people came to experience something truly magical and unusual: this great world city turned into a temporary pedestrian playground.

“While the success of the festival did mean that contingency measures had to be put into place occasionally to help keep the crowds moving, the atmosphere has always been amazing. This festival has been about more than seeing the art. It’s about people sharing public space and re-discovering the city’.”

Over 200 volunteers from across the capital were recruited to support the festival through Team London, the Mayor’s volunteering programme for London.

Business boost

The festival is said to have brought a significant year-on-year uplift in food and beverage sales to businesses in London’s West End and King’s Cross, with anecdotal reports of double digit growth from restaurants, cafes and bars.

With founding support from Atom Bank, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Heart of London Business Alliance, London & Partners and King’s Cross, plus additional support from a host of partners and sponsors, including Westminster City Council, Lumiere London presented installations by 30 international artists, at some of the city’s most iconic locations. 

The creative power of Lumiere was accompanied by a boost to business in the city. Karen Baines, Heart of London Business Alliance representing over 500 businesses and 100 property owners in Leicester Square, Piccadilly and St James's said “The atmosphere in Leicester Square, Piccadilly and St James’s has been absolutely electric with footfall increasing by 18% year on year on Thursday and Friday from 6pm to 11pm, as visitors flocked from far and wide to see our globally renowned cultural landmarks transformed.

“Our vibrant evening economy saw a significant boost with West End restaurants, cafes and bars reporting double digit growth in sales as visitors made the most of what was on offer to make it a night out and an evening to remember.”

How London came to life

Audiences from across the world were enthralled by artworks including a glowing tropical garden filled with giant plants in Leicester Square Gardens and a technicolour animation featuring the faces of some of the UK’s best-loved TV and film stars, projected onto BAFTA, 195 Piccadilly. At Oxford Circus, which was closed to traffic during the festival, people lay on their backs gazing up at 1.8 London, Janet Echelman’s beautifully illuminated aerial sculpture strung between buildings at Oxford Circus.

Along Regent Street, pedestrianised for the event, crowds gathered to see Elephantastic!, a 3D, larger-than-life projected elephant stomping through the Air Street arch, while in St James’s visitors gazed at the ethereal Les Voyageurs – sculpted human forms flying high above the buildings. At Westminster Abbey, audiences stood mesmerized by The Light of the Spirit, a digital painting by French artist Patrice Warrener, who had bathed the Abbey’s West Gate in an electric riot of colour. 

In Carnaby, on Broadwick Street, visitors gathered around Julian Opie’s animated LED monolith – Shaida Walking. The piece has been commissioned as a permanent installation and will be illuminated during the day as well as at night.

Aquarium, Benedetto Bufalino & Benoit Deseille’s iconic red telephone box filled with exotic fish at Grosvenor Square, was a firm festival favourite, drawing audiences to the leafy garden square in Mayfair. The square was also a temporary home to Elaine Buckholtz’s abstract digital painting, which uses light and music to re-imagine Van Gogh’s painting All Night Café.

Hundreds of Londoners of all ages played their part in the festival: from donating a recycled plastic bottle to the glowing Plastic Islands installation by Luzinterruptus in the Trafalgar Square fountains, to appearing on film in the spectacular Circus of Light projected onto the Granary Building at King’s Cross. 500 children also took part in workshops at schools in the area to help make Joining the Dots and Litre of Light, both also at King’s Cross. 

Founding Partner Bloomberg Philanthropies and Artichoke also hosted a sold-out Lumiere London Symposium, “The Heart and Soul of the City”. Speakers including Lumiere London artists, cultural pioneers and leading policy makers, shared their visions for the public realm, and how artists and communities can transform it. 

Over the last few years, the increase in costs to host major sport events has been astonishing. As a result, in the midst of a global economic downturn, many countries have shied away from bidding and hosting major sport events due to the huge investment and infrastructure needed to host a safe and successful event.

 
As the last 12 months have shown, the sports industry is facing a period where it isn’t just the bidding cities that need to do the convincing, but also the rights holders of those major events too. Major sports events are fast becoming a luxury that few can afford.

Take the Olympic Games as an example, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has already taken a lead to try and reduce the cost of bidding for and hosting the Games through its Agenda 2020 programme, with many other major continental and multi-sport events beginning to follow suit and thinking harder about how to reduce costs in order to attract bidding cities. 

What is apparent is that – in the face of constantly evolving threats and risks and growing security costs - many aspiring host cities and countries now simply cannot afford to host major sport events, particularly in the face of many social, economic and political challenges that face countries around the world today. 

Budgets have overrun on numerous occasions for major international sporting events with many of these costs being borne, more often than not, by the host city and the public purse.      

But what part does security play in the cost cutting debate and what can be done to reduce the costs when planning for security?

Many agree that security has a vital role to play in the success of any major sport event or venue, as well as the overall spectator experience, however over the last decade major event security costs have spiralled in the face of huge international uncertainty and other emerging security threats. This year alone, over R$400 million (approx. US$100 million) will be spent on public security by Rio de Janeiro in the lead up to next year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games. All of this, in the face of a huge economic downturn taking place in the country. 

As part of our work at the ICSS, our team of international experts have dedicated themselves to help develop a more cost effective approach to major event safety and security, as well as encouraging a more coordinated, international and long-term effort to enhance understanding about safety and security issues threatening sport.  
It is clear that the industry - both sport as a whole and the security sector - is at a turning point in the evolution of major sport events and that public and private bodies must be more creative in the way it cuts costs, without cutting corners. 

One approach the ICSS firmly believes in to help host cities in this area is to integrate security planning from the start to ensure that all aspects of security are covered – and in a timely manner.  

Based on years of international experience and research, the ICSS has developed cutting edge models to help secure host cities and countries achieve this and will hopefully serve as a master guide to major event security planning.
It is also critical to perform a thorough threat and risk assessment at an earlier stage of the event life cycle. Resulting from this, security planning and budgeting can be prepared and then  integrated into sport facility security design from the very beginning. 

As we have seen in the past, last-minute surprises and reactive approaches to a security issue have been costly for many host cities, with significant amounts on public money being spent on hiring private security firms or other public sector resources (e.g. police forces, military) being called upon at the last minute in order to fill a security gap. An example of this was London 2012, which exceeded its original security budget by roughly 105%!

By integrating security right from the beginning of the design phase for venues, organisers can make significant savings by identifying potential threats to the event and venues at an early stage in the process and thus preventing rework, delays, penalties and incorrect use of materials later on. 

It is also worth remembering that security at a major event is not just about the venue. It is also about creating a safe and secure environment in other public areas like fan zones and public viewing areas to ensure spectators have peace of mind and can fully experience a city or country by using local infrastructure to create that ‘special’ atmosphere that many organisers are looking for. 

Since athletes, fans and VIP’s have to move between locations, it is also crucial that route and transport security is also fully integrated into the overall design and operations of an event. This requires a significant level of security planning and communication, particularly with the material screening facilities required to screen all goods that enter a venue. 

Through our work here at the ICSS, we have noticed that not enough events at the moment think about how security design of their sport venues impacts on the wider security planning and user experience. By bringing on board the security consultant from the early stages, potential operational problems can be identified from the outset and avoid costly changes to the venue or awkward workarounds once the venue has been built.

Looking ahead, as major events and the industry continues to look at new ways to reduce costs, it is important that security plays its role too. At the ICSS, through our ongoing work helping to secure venues and major events, our experts are contributing and continuing to look for new, cost-effective ways to protect those who attend major events. 

Nevertheless, it is important though that sport does not lose sight of the many new threats in the world today and that we do all we can to ensure the highest levels of safety and security for fans, athletes and the many others that love and attend sport events. 

This can only be achieved by major events bringing on board the security consultant at an earlier stage and recognising the numerous benefits that  a thorough threat and risk assessment and an integrated approach to security can have on an event – both operationally and on the bottom line. 

Malcolm Tarbitt is speaking at Host City 2015

Gymnastics and Golf are to join the prestigious line up of leading sports who will stage their European Championships together in 2018 for the first time in their history, the sports’ European associations announced on Friday.

The dates of the inaugural Championships were also confirmed as the 1st to 12th August 2018.

The two new sports join Athletics, Aquatics, Cycling, Rowing and Triathlon, who have decided to come together for the first time for the European Sports Championships which will be staged in the Host Cities of Glasgow and Berlin.

 “One of the challenges this project had to face was to create a programme that could offer the best conditions for athletes to express themselves while also creating interest for the main TV networks in Europe. The result of very fruitful discussions allow me to express my satisfaction that Glasgow and Berlin will showcase one of the best events of all time,” said Paolo Barelli, President of the Ligue Européenne de Natation (European Aquatics.

“Each individual European Federation will create a fantastic programme that will maximise interest and LEN is proud to be a pioneering partner of such an ambitious project that will contribute significantly to the development of sport.”

The European Artistic Gymnastics Championships will be staged in Glasgow at the SSE Hydro while the brand new European Golf team championships will take place at Scotland’s prestigious Gleneagles course.

 “It is very exciting for Golf Europe to be invited to join some of Europe’s leading sports in the inaugural European Sports Championships, with three new European Golf Team Championships for female, male and mixed teams,” said Keith Waters, The European Tour’s Chief Operating Officer and Director of International Policy.

“This is part of our vision of encouraging all European nations to participate in golf, and it is fitting that Gleneagles will host the first staging of this event, having been the venue for last year’s Ryder Cup, when Europe memorably united through team golf.”

Berlin will host the 2018 European Athletics Championships from the 7th to 12th August, with Glasgow hosting the six other European Championships over the 12 days.

“As one of the key sports, European Athletics has been happy to lead the process in the creation of the principles of good governance for the inaugural European Sports Championships, and we are pleased to move forward with this strong framework in place,” said European Athletics President Svein Arne Hansen.

“We are looking forward to a fantastic European Athletics Championships in Berlin in 2018 as part of this exciting multi-sport concept. We are sure the European Sports Championships will bring additional values and benefits to athletics in Europe and to the Berlin championships.”

The partnership between European Athletics, Aquatics (LEN), Cycling (UEC), Rowing (FISA) and Triathlon (ETU) welcomed European Gymnastics (UEG) and Golf Europe is set to create a major new multi-sport event on the world stage, attracting a projected television audience of around 850 million and an even wider audience via multiple digital platforms.

The newly-formed European Sports Championships 2018 Board 2018 Board also ratified the organisational rules and decision-making processes to ensure strong governance going forward.

This innovative new approach by the governing bodies, who announced their plans earlier this year, brings the existing European Championships together from seven sports in a sustainable format once every four years in order to continue building their prestige, profile and media exposure.

Around 1,500 athletes will compete in Berlin as part of the European Athletics Championships while approximately 3,025 athletes will visit Scotland for the other six events.

All seven Championships will be staged within the agreed date window.

“With all the sports now confirmed for 2018 Glasgow is again ready to show the excellence and innovation with which it can stage world class events on the global stage,” said Councillor Frank McAveety, Leader of Glasgow City Council.

“Major events have become a crucial part of our city’s economy and we can now look forward with tremendous excitement and focus to partnering with this fantastic group of sports to continue to create opportunity and help improve health and well-being outcomes for our citizens.”

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the consortium for the continent’s public service free-to-air broadcasters, will be the broadcast partner for the combined championships, which are expected to generate more than 2750 hours of programming across Europe’s biggest broadcasters.

EBU President Jean-Paul Philippot, said: “With seven sports now part of the first edition, the European Sports Championships will be the centrepiece of the sports season in Europe and public service media is proud to participate in the promotion of European sports and its athletes through extensive free-to air coverage across television, digital and radio.”

The Golf event will be staged over 5 days and include men’s team, women’s team and mixed team competition.

Two male and female athletes per nation will participate, with the top 16 European nations included.

The Gymnastics event will include both the Men’s and Women’s Artistic Championships, with around 600 athletes competing in Glasgow over six days.

“We are really excited to be included in the 2018 European Sports Championships as it represents a huge opportunity for Gymnastics to further raise its profile right across Europe,” , said Georges Guelzec, President of European Gymnastics.

“We can also think of no better city than Glasgow to host our 600 competitors who will compete in the men’s and women’s European Artistic Championships.”

Innovative event hosting formats is a key theme of Host City 2015, which takes place in Glasgow on 9th to 10th November. Register your attendance at www.bidtowin-hostcity.net

When in 2008 the northern English county of Durham and its small historic city became a unitary council – the fifth biggest in England – it was golden opportunity to build a new events and tourism strategy for the region. 

“One of the things that became obvious was the need to change the narrative, both regionally, nationally and internationally about Durham, which was seen as a former industrial area,” George Garlick, Chief Executive of Durham County Council, told HOST CITY.

Durham put in a bid to be the UK’s first City of Culture in 2013 – a bold move for a city of less than 40,000 people. In the end, the title was awarded to Derry~Londonderry, but Durham decided to press on with its ambitious programme of cultural events anyway as a way of attracting visitors to the region. 

It was through this work that the possibility of hosting the Lumiere festival came about, a huge light festival owned by a small and innovative arts events company called Artichoke. 

“It was one of those fortuitous things. Artichoke were planning a major festival of light elsewhere in the UK and that fell through, and they’d got backing from the European Commission and Sky Arts at that stage,” says Garlick.

“So it was a fairly fully developed proposition, and on hearing that we were raising the flag for major events here in Durham, they came to see us and we said ‘yes, that sounds great’. In 2009, pretty much at the drop of a hat, the first Lumiere festival was put on.”

Durham has hosted Lumiere every other year since then, with the city investing GB£400,000 in the event for 2011 and 2013. These sums have been matched by the Arts Council, with additional funding from the European Commission and a significant amount of private sponsorship and a major grant from VisitEngland.

Lumiere had a huge impact, with 175,000 visitors coming to see the light festival in 2013. National newspapers published double page spreads on the event and the international broadcaster BBC World ran a one minute clip of the show on its rolling news coverage for 24 hours. 

“It’s a really interesting balance of something that’s working for the local population, but also being attractive to people visiting for the first time,” says Helen Marriage, director of Artichoke. “Just over half the visitors that we count through our evaluation come from the immediate city, 17 per cent from the wider region and the rest from outside.”

The increase in tourism over the period that Durham has been hosting Lumiere is impressive. “VisitEngland said we were one of the fastest growing tourism areas over the last three years – we are up 150 per cent in Durham itself and nearly 20 per cent across the county,” says Garlick.

“The increase in the visitor economy in each of the last three years means a huge increase in employment. It’s not just the people who are actually employed for the festival – the major change is the structural change in Durham as a tourism destination. 

“The festival actually generates GB£5 million directly in restaurant sales, overnight stays and so on in the local economy. We’ve seen a lot more people coming from both Europe and in particular America.”

Lumiere is a very successful flagship event, but it’s not the only contributor to Durham’s success. 2013 was a particularly big year for the city.

“We had the Ashes test between England and Australia at riverside stadium, where England won the Ashes to baying and excited crowds, which was terrific. We had the Lindisfarne Gospels exhibition, which came up from the British Library – 100,000 people bought every ticket available for the three months that it was on. We had cycling events, a brass festival – but Lumiere is the jewel in the crown.”

The good news continued in 2014, with Durham County Council being named local council of the year. “It’s a city and county that really punches above its weight,” says Marriage.

“It’s tempting to think that it’s an impoverished area with a decline of traditional industry, but that’s not the impression you get when you are here. It’s a place on the up and people are making it work – and events are really part of that culture.”

Durham’s long term strategy is hinged around Lumiere, but another important cultural event is the fast-growing Durham Book Festival. “The world heritage site between the cathedral, the castle and the university has a number of display venues, so there’s a programme worked out in advance for that,” says Garlick. 

“In 2015 there will be a major exhibition of the Magna Cartas, which are in the cathedral’s ownership to coincide with the anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta.”

In October 2015 the Rugby World Cup comes to St. James’ Park in Newcastle, just 15 minutes from Durham. “I would hope, as we’ve seen in many previous large events and when we saw the Olympics were on, we’ll see a lot of people visiting Durham,” says Garlick.

“Durham hotels traditionally pick up a lot of business from anything major that’s happening in Newcastle because it’s an attractive place to stay and a 15 minute train journey, so the Rugby World Cup will be really good for us.”

The next Lumiere festival takes place in November 2015. “We’ve recently agreed a package with the Arts Council, which will allow us to do it next year and in 2017,” says Garlick. 

The city consulted with the local people and businesses before agreeing to host the event again. “The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive from the public, but particularly from businesses who think this is working really well in terms of hoisting Durham’s flag,” says Garlick. 

“It’s a huge project that takes about 18 months to plan,” says Marriage. “So we are a year out and we are looking at all the logistics – traffic planning, crowd management, where the installations might go, technically what they might need.”

Helen Marriage was one of the speakers at HOST CITY Bid to Win conference on 28th October 2014, on a panel called “Bidding for the Right Event”, alongside the owner of a very different event, Peter Tindemans of Euroscience – which awards the EU City of Science. 

“It was really fascinating to begin to think about what we do from the other end of the telescope,” says Marriage. “So hearing Peter Tindemans talk about the fact that he saw Euroscience as a property that he could get cities to bid for – that’s never the way we work, we are always trying to persuade people to let us do what we do.”

Lumiere also took place in Derry last year as part of the closing celebrations for the first UK City of Culture, and there are many other events that Artichoke produces. “We are working in London, Northern Ireland, we are looking at something in Wales. We are increasingly invited to do things internationally.

“But even if cities invite us, they don’t really get what it’s going to be like and all the compromises everyone is going to have to make. Very often an artist will say ‘I really want to make something here’, and we set about the process of persuading the authority that they want to fund it and that they can accommodate it. It’s always tough the first time you go into a place.”

For more information visit www.lumiere-festival.com

SportAccord Convention has announced that PwC will be a Gold Partner for this year’s World Sport & Business Summit taking place from 19-24 April 2015 at the Sochi Expocentre, Sochi, Russia.

The agreement marks PwC’s third year as a Gold Partner. “SportAccord Convention is important to us as a platform for connecting with sport industry decision makers and speaking with them about the issues critical to their success. It gives us a chance to engage with delegates in an open, constructive atmosphere,” said Robert Gruman, who heads PwC's Global Sports Mega-Events Centre of Excellence. He continued:

“This year, we are proud that our colleague Hazem Galal, PwC’s Cities and Local Governments Consulting Global Leader, has been asked to deliver the keynote address on Legacy. In connection with that, we also plan to carry out a Sporting Leaders Survey on Legacy in partnership with the SportAccord Convention World Sport & Business Summit organisers.”

The PwC delegation to the Convention includes people from key territories across their global network – from Switzerland to the Middle East, and from the United States to Russia.

“Our Gold Partnership with PwC continues to be of great value to us as an organisation and we are delighted to have PwC deliver the keynote address.” said Nis Hatt, Managing Director of SportAccord Convention. “We are very pleased that the partnership is continuing and that we are able to provide a platform for PwC to meet its business objectives.”

PwC’s Sports Mega-Events Centre of Excellence comprises a network of professionals experienced in bringing value at all phases of the sports mega-events lifecycle.

The SportAccord Convention World Sport & Business Summit is a unique opportunity for key decision-makers in sport to engage with business leaders across 25+ industry sectors. The 6-day event features a dynamic exhibition, LawAccord, City Forum, the SportAccord Convention Village and Sports Demo Zone, as well as hosting the annual general meetings of governing bodies of world sport.

For more conference information, including the Official Schedule and Conference Programme, or to register as a delegate, visit www.sportaccordconvention.com