Press pass: preparing staff to work at an Olympic international press centre.

EDITOR'S NOTE: In part three of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games series, we look at how communication, training and a strong recognition programme for staff contributed to the overall success of the largest press centre in Olympic Games history.

What happens when you take 5,500 reporters and photographers and 2,400 Olympic Games staff and lock them together in a row of cattle sheds for 50 days and 50 nights? Sound like your average nightmare? Think again!

The Main Press Centre (MPC), a sprawling row of former cattle sheds in the heart of Sydney Olympic Park, was the hub of press and photographic activities for the Sydney 2000 Games. An AU$24 million fit-out transformed the sheds into the most sophisticated press facility in the history of the Games.

In the year leading up to the Games, I was fortunate to take on, in addition to my workforce communication and employee relations position, the role of manager of venue staffing for the Main Press Centre. My task was to ensure that the 2,400 Olympic staff and 600 Paralympics staff, who would keep the press centres for both Games operating for months, were prepared to deal with the most demanding customers imaginable--the press.

Failure, as they say, was not an option. The way the Games would be perceived around the world would essentially come down to how good a job the press centre staff could deliver.

MEASURING UP IN THE MEDIA'S EYE

Former IOC president and one-time chairman of the IOC press commission Juan Antonio Samaranch commented, "The foreign media more than anyone else measure the success of the Games."

The press judge the Games--success or otherwise is determined by the favourable or unfavourable reports they deliver. And that means more than just keeping the competition venues ticking along smoothly. The entire Games experience of the press ultimately influences their report card.

For the MPC team, this meant providing access to the most up-to-date information and technology as well as attending to more mundane considerations. The restaurants had to cater to all international tastes, access to the MPC through security checkpoints had to be trouble-free, transport had to work effectively and staff needed to be friendly, knowledgeable and customer-focussed. Our simple adage: Keep em happy.

Reg Gratton, MPC venue manager, knew that the problems with transport and technology that marked the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games press centre could not be repeated in Sydney.

"The Olympic media are very aware of the obligations of the host city contained in the IOC media guidelines, and their expectations are very high. All journalists and photographers need to be able to do their jobs without having to worry about getting to the stadium or finding a phone that works," he says.

Our clients were the "best-of-the-best" print journalists and photographers from the world's major news agencies, magazines and newspapers. They included veterans of countless Olympic Games and other international events.

The MPC was their home base and office as they worked around the clock to deliver Games stories to the world. Access to MPC was restricted to accredited members of the media. It was the hub of all press activities for the Games, supported at each competition venue by a venue press centre.

As anyone who has worked with the press can tell you, the media can be difficult and demanding. For a workforce of volunteers, many of whom had no direct experience with the media, we predicted a steep learning curve.

Therefore the training of our paid, volunteer and contracted staff was the single most important step to undertake. For many, training began months before the Games and went right through to on-the-job modules. Our staff had to be proactive, helpful and knowledgeable, as well as mindful that their every word and action were being watched by some of the most powerful newsmakers in the world.

One of the greatest advantages we enjoyed was a team of senior leaders who knew their stuff. MPC venue manager Gratton, a veteran journalist, intimately understood the demands and expectations of our customers. In addition, each functional area leader was technically skilled and highly aware of what the press would expect--and that was a lot!

TRAINING A TOP-NOTCH TEAM

Pitching the training correctly to volunteers was a challenge. Although many of our volunteers had no previous press experience, some were managers in their regular jobs, and a substantial number of our younger volunteers were university students undertaking media studies courses. With this in mind, we sought to deliver training in a way that recognised and built on the existing skills and knowledge of an educated and capable workforce.

Lorraine Ralston, assistant manager of the MPC, and later with the Salt Lake City Organising Committee, says, "Although some volunteers had 'boring' jobs, it was an interesting venue for them to be in. The volunteers got to experience world-class journalism and photojournalism up close, and I think they quickly realised just how they contributed to getting the story out to the rest of the world."

The main theme of our venue training was how vitally important success of the MPC would be to overall Games success. The attitude and commitment of the staff were just as important as technical skills. And in all of our communication and training, we sought to build loyalty and commitment and a strong sense of team spirit to get people through the (inevitable) tough times.

From a staff perspective, we had huge challenges. Staff who worked at the press centre were not going to see live sport. There was zero possibility they would be asked to fill a spectator services role on the night of what was to be the biggest event for Australians, Cathy Freeman's race at Stadium Australia--and they knew it. Rewards for our staff had to manifest in different ways.

Gratton recognised that even though staff members were working in a noncompetition venue, proximity to the sporting action in Sydney Olympic Park (SOP) added to the overall MPG experience.

"By being in SOP, they were able to experience the buzz of the Games, and many staff were able to finish shifts and wander into the park to see some events. Our staff did, however; love their own venue--loved the busy environment and the themed pavilions," he says.

My venue staffing team of 24 worked to keep the "troops" entertained during quiet times with a recognition programme delivered throughout the venue. We ran competitions, team exercises, newsletters, award schemes and more.

Most important, we tried to make coming to work fun--no mean feat when a shift involved standing outside in the cold at 5 a.m. monitoring an access gate.

MAINTAINING A UNITED FRONT

A core message continually reiterated in all training and communication was that we were to be a united front, and that paid, volunteer and contracted staff were to be equally respected. One team--one shed!

The team leaders in the venue, supervising areas such as catering, press operations and technology, worked hard to build a sense of community within their smaller teams with a shared sense of ownership and responsibility.

The best management model in an environment as frenetic as an Olympics is management by delegation, Gratton says. Team leaders were responsible for building team spirit and empowering their own staffs

"If you have the right people, be they full-time managers or volunteers, trust them to take responsibility and carry out their tasks without fear of making decisions," he says. "It's so important to build a team spirit, and that means making everyone feel important, however menial their work."

Keeping a sense of humour was vital to maintaining the spirit for the length of both the Olympic and Paralympic Games. It is a testament to the excellence of the training delivered by team leaders that in an environment where the press corps was stressed and under pressure from looming deadlines, on the whole, our staff was relaxed, confident and even able to share a joke during the tough times.

Access to the sporting action was primarily via screens, but the occasional brush with fame proved a great incentive for press centre staff. For staff dealing with high-profile visitors, there were strict regulations such as no photos and no autographs. As a result, the MPC was a "safe" zone where press conferences ran smoothly and professionally. Still, for most volunteers, it was a thrill to catch sight of the high-profile athletes, entertainers and "stars" who visited the MPC's press conference facilities during the Games.

With a few minor exceptions, staff acted professionally during these "brushes with fame"--evidence of the success of venue training.

TAKING AWAY COMMUNICATION LESSONS

So what legacy did Sydney's MPC leave to future organizing committees? Salt Lake City's Ralston believes the most important thing she learned from Sydney is that a successful event relies on the strength of its people.

"I am a very task-oriented person and usually don't take a lot of time for the 'softer' side of planning, but the Australian approach to interpersonal relations showed me that you need to balance both tasks and people to be successful," she notes. "It's important to build a team that works together--no matter how much technology you have or how many operating manuals and procedures, at the end of the day, it will be the people on the team who make the event a success."

RELATED ARTICLE: AND THE GAMES PLAYED ON...THE EVENTS OF SEPT. 11 IMMERSED SALT LAKE GAMES IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Nancy Volmer

Just five months before the scheduled opening ceremonies of the 2002 Salt Lake Olympic Games, the world had witnessed the shocking sight of two planes flying into the World Trade Center in New York. As everyone scrambled to make sense of what had happened, the media's attention started to focus more and more on Salt Lake City, Utah. Media people and others questioned whether the Games should even take place. There was uneasiness and uncertainty about hosting the Games, as well as concerns about the safety of spectators and athletes. The Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC)-- along with the Utah Olympic Public Safety Command--reassured the public that the Games were safe and secure.

CRISIS COMMUNICATION

On Sept. 11, the morning began with the SLOC's chief operating officer, media relations staff and senior management meeting to prepare our response. SLOC President and CEO Mitt Romney happened to be in Washington, D.C., meeting with officials about security funding. In addition, SLOC chief communication officer Caroline Shaw, who would normally head the media response, was in Manhattan preparing for an Olympic Torch Relay announcement. Once their safety was confirmed, SLOC formulated a response from Romney that was distributed to the media relations database and used to respond to media inquiries, which began to pour in from around the world.

When Romney returned from Washington, he addressed the entire staff in a gathering at a plaza outside of SLOG headquarters. He reinforced SLOG'S commitment to hosting the most secure Games possible and the need for Olympic Winter Games planning to move forward. "I felt it was appropriate for all of us to come here and participate in prayer and a moment of silence," Romney told the staff. "It's important for the nation to move forward with the Games. They are an important symbol of the continuing role of humanity and of civilization on the planet."

In an e-mail, Romney reiterated to staff members that their work on the Olympics "means so much to our nation and to the world. In the annals of Olympism and in the history of Utah, this may stand as one of the defining hours. I am confident we will perform with honor."

LET THE GAMES BEGIN

Feb. 8, 2002, was a day the SLOG staff had long awaited: the opening ceremony for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. It was a harried day preceded by many long, exhausting hours. With all that was to be done, the staff working with the press didn't expect to see much of the ceremony. But after glimpsing segments from the dress rehearsal a few days before, I knew there was one part of the show I didn't want to miss.

Amid the rush of planning a post-ceremony press conference, I took a moment to pause behind the press tribune as the flag that had flown over the World Trade Center entered Rice-Eccles Olympic Stadium. More than 50,000 spectators were in the stands, and for a few emotional minutes, barely a word was spoken. The following morning, The New York Times reported that the show's creators had unveiled a show that "delicately touched on American patriotism and the international hope for unity."

APPROPRIATE MEASURES

An initial Olympic security message focused on the action of revisiting and reviewing an already solid public safety plan. Public safety agencies made every effort to ensure the safety of the Games for the athletes, spectators, sponsors and guests and the venue communities.

I was the senior communication manager for the SLOC, so one of my staff assignments was security. We were just two months into compiling SLOC's crisis communication plan when the Sept. 11 tragedy occurred. The urgency of the plan became more critical, and types of potential incidents that had never been considered before were now a possibility.

Romney became the sole SLOC spokesperson to answer security questions from the media. And while security issues could be discussed in general, SLOC could not go into specifics of venue security, airport security, hotel security, spectator and athlete security or any other security elements. Security updates to the media were provided at weekly press briefings at SLOC headquarters, via conference calls (when Romney was traveling), and, when possible, through one-on-one interviews.

Follow-up security messages focused on the fact even if there were no guarantees in the world of security, there were several factors in the Games' favor. First, security agencies had planned long and hard to protect the Games. Also, both the time and place to be protected were well known. And finally, the Olympic movement was not known to be the target of terrorists.

Once the Games were under way, the press clippings quickly shifted from security to competition. The media and spectators understood the reason behind the heightened military presence and other public safety measures.

As the Games drew to a close, SLOC received high marks for putting on incredible Games. The president of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, said that he was "extremely happy," and that the Games "really were very, very, very good."

With regard to security, perhaps a Washington Post headline described it best: "Officials, Organizers Earn High Marks Despite Security Concerns, Controversy."

The Olympic Winter Games of 2002 brought the world together in peace.

Nancy Volmer was senior communication manager, Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the Olympic Winter Games of 2002.

The Olympic series authors: Margaret Seaberg, manager of staffing for the Olympic Main Press Centre and workforce communication and employee relations specialist.

Janet Houen, workforce communication and employee relations specialist.

Catriona Byrne, manager of workforce communication and employee relations.