2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games

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After Action Report

Boise Centre ~ COG

Boise, ID

Non-Competition Venue

Kim Thornton – Venue Director

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Fact Sheet

Date: 4 - 16 February 2009 Location: Boise Centre /Boise, Idaho (Boise Convention Centre) Venue Description: Ideally located in the heart of downtown Boise, the Boise Centre is within

walking distance of approximately one thousand hotel rooms, a variety of fine restaurants, coffee bars, cinemas, museums, shopping, entertainment, and exciting attractions. Boise's public plaza, The Grove Plaza, which hosts numerous events throughout the year, is right outside our front door. The Boise Centre encompasses more than 50,000 sq ft of function space.

Events: Special Olympics Town Special Olympics Festival (held outside in the Grove Plaza) Sports Experience – SOI Young Athletes – SOI Motor Activities Training Program (MATP) - SOI Global Youth Activation Summit (GYAS) - SOI Athlete Dining Head of Delegation Meetings Observer’s Seminar Press Conferences Coach & Officials Meetings Movie presentation of “Praying with Lior” Behind the Scenes: Media Center Volunteer Services Medical / Security Venue Command Green Room – VIP Staging Waste Management Support: Technology Logistics Transportation Brand Management – Look Way Finding Website: www.boisecentre.com

Introduction

The Boise Centre (COG) held the largest and most complex non-competition venue of the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games (SOWWG) with traffic of 3000 to 5000 people daily. The scope of this venue was to serve as the “athlete village” and core functions which included main Media Center, Sports Experience and the SO Festival an outdoor 3 day event in the Treasure Valley of Boise, ID. The COG venue also hosted Special Olympics International (SOI) programs: Young Athletes (3 days), Motor Activities Training Program (MATP), and Global Youth Activation Summit (GYAS) seminars. Next door to Boise Centre was our “sister venue” Qwest Arena which hosted Figure Skating. There was one central transportation drop off (bus & motor pool) that served both venues located outside of the COG.

Function Overview

A 4 year commitment is typical and the 2009 SOWWG had 2 years to plan for games. Upon my arrival in July 09 the COG venue was planned in 6 months. This was a satisfactory time to complete the planning yet, a full 12 months would have worked to my advantage. Securing the contracts and permits should be planned for with a 12 month time line. We did this in 4 months The biggest obstacle in doing my job as Venue Director was the lack of information and communication between departments. I feel in the future this position needs the freedom and empowerment to oversee the overall execution of the venue. This report is written without the addition of the individual Functional Areas (FA) reports. Each FA was instructed to write their own After Action Report and turn it into their respective superior. What prevented us from delivering the highest quality of service was combination of several key components: 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 we did have access to. Key individuals not being held accountable to timelines or responsibilities through the planning process. We needed to have a designated FA for Waste Management. We would have been much more successful if Volunteer Services Department were integrated rather than working independently. The challenging relationship between SOI and the GOC.

FOCUS ON: Hosting the winter games in the month of February - it is important to account for the holidays and local functions that would hinder your time lines. We had to deal with Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays which reduced our staff participation for 3 weeks. Please account for your holidays and how this will impact in you’re planning for the event as well as permit scheduling. Non- Event staff does not realize or understand the commitment of long and dedicated hours 90, 60, and 30 days prior to the event. This is important to consider when hiring folks for key positions.

Respect, teamwork, and accountability are instrumental to any successful operation. Every effort should be made to integrate teamwork with the players and constructive communication. We had communication yet, it was not always constructive – many FA leaders told people they had their plans in place and when it came to games week it was obvious this was not the case. Losing control of a

team is the organizations beginning demise – go back to basics and rebuild – you will always be stronger for it. Create opportunities for success on individual levels as well as for the entire team as whole. Recognize positive behavior and award for it. Everyone gains from guidance and feedback. Logistics should have a program that is functional and “user friendly” to provide to each venue the FF&E needs that are requested and allocated with a 3 month window prior to games week with completion to review and adjust their needs. The development of a working document for Load-in/strike is imperative to delivering all goods throughout the games as well as the proper return to the warehouse. Logistics had no such plan in place and there was no exit strategy. We were left to fend for ourselves from the original document that was a “request” for FF&E. The National Guard was instrumental in delivering goods – they too struggled and were not utilized to their full potential. Our FF&E arrived with no paperwork and no process to assure we were receiving what was promised based on the request. Funding is always an issue in non for profits yet, having said that “HOW” you allocate those funds is extremely important. If you use timelines they should have accountability with checks and balances. Our games were planned to the start of Delegation arrival – this does not allow for any “grey area” opportunities to make adjustments. Due to this style of planning the COG venue was not provided a current FF&E list - deliveries and actual items did not match, credential pack was not complete or valid for our venue, Waste Management was not in place for the SO Festival needs, transportation schedules of bus movements were not provided, accommodation lists were not provided to assist in directional needs of delegations, Volunteer Services did not provide a master list of COG volunteers with designated assignments prior to venue opening. Volunteers were not assigned to key areas and no follow up measures were implemented. SOI arrived with a “plan” for Sports Experience 3 weeks prior to Games with the expectation GOC would adjust and create their FA. Some timelines are great in “theory” yet, do not work in real life – use critical thinking, communicate and adjust. Securing a Waste Management department should be one of the FIRST functional areas allocated. Our Waste Management was not secured until close to games and it was a combined FA with logistics which proved to not be successful. The GOC and SOI really need to be consistent with each other. They need to work as a team and adhere to the same game plan. It became a constant battle to gain any information from SOI that pertained directly to their program plans as well as set up and execution. Grass roots – get your guidance from the local community. They know better than any outsider as to whom the players are in the community and proper connections that should be made to better the games. Structure and Scope of Operations

The Role of a Venue Director should be to oversee the overall execution of the event held at the venue. This role should also be empowered to oversee the dependant functions or FAs that make the venue run. The Venue Director should have a working knowledge of the contract for the venue. The Venue Director is the liaison to the venue staff (Boise Centre) as well as the key relationship builder. The Venue Director should meet with the respective senior management weekly on the aspects of planning, budget, and personnel needs

Boise Centre Non-Competition Venue had 400 plus volunteers and 1 GOC staff on site. Volunteers were obtained through a central volunteer pool and provided to each Functional Area (FA) based on need and work hours. Our Volunteer Services worked independently from the Venue needs. This

should have been a joint task. The 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. Key Interfaces

The following dependencies include functional areas (internal to the GOC as well as external, such as SOI and Idaho agencies.)

Special Olympics Town ~ GOC/FA Special Olympics Festival ~ GOC/FA (held outside in the Grove Plaza) Sports Experience – SOI / FA Young Athletes – SOI Program Motor Activities Training Program (MATP) – SOI Program Global Youth Activation Summit (GYAS) – SOI Program Athlete Dining ~ GOC/FA Head of Delegation Meetings ~ GOC/FA Observer’s Seminar ~ GOC/FA Press Conferences ~ GOC/FA Coach & Officials Meetings ~ GOC/FA Movie presentation of “Praying with Lior” ~ SOI Media Center ~ GOC/FA Volunteer Services ~ GOC/FA Medical / Security Venue Command ~ GOC/FA Green Room – VIP Staging ~ GOC/FA Waste Management ~ GOC/FA

Technology ~ GOC/FA

Logistics ~ GOC/FA Transportation ~ GOC/FA Brand Management – Look ~ GOC/FA Way Finding ~ GOC/FA Boise Centre Staff – (Venue site) Boise City Counsel – (Permit needs) Boise Police Department – (Lead security) Nampa Police Department – (Assist security) Garden City Police Department – (Assist security) St Luke’s Hospital – (Provided the medical assistance) ADA County Paramedics – (Lead Medical Director) Department of Homeland Security/TSA – (Assist security)

Government municipalities for transportation – (Bus and parking coordination)

FOCUS ON: Positive team work and empowerment with all functional areas. Take ownership of your venue and build relationships to enhance the success of the event.

A) The organizational structure of the venue operations - (see the attached venue organizational chart)

Venue Organization Chart

GOC Lead

Venue Commissioner

Festival Media SO TownMedicalCommand

PostVenue

Ops

Sports Experience Transportation

Vol. Services

F & B Summit Room

COG Staff Area Command

Point of Contact

Press Conf.

Observer Program

GYAS

Coach’s Meetings

HOD

Young Athletes

MATP

CONTACT CONTACT CONTACT CONTACTCONTACT

CONTACT

CONTACT

CONTACT

IT

Logistics

CONTACT

CONTACT

CONTACT CONTACT

Venue Commissioner

CONTACT

B) The Venue Director’s engagement should be visible with all aspects of the venue team. Be as active as possible and do not expect your team to do anything that you would not do yourself.

Venue meetings – Venue meetings are a necessary evil and if ran properly should serve as an information source, document sharing, problem solving and team building opportunities. The meetings should be the style of “working meetings” allowing for individuals to get into details and problem solve. Players attending should be “who” are working the venue. Meetings should be scheduled as often as time and scope will allow. These meetings should be a priority for all the players representing their respective roles within the venue. Agendas should be provided with follow up actions for future meetings.

Documents - Create “useful and limited” documents. They should be concise and utilized. These documents should assist in creation, set-up, and execution.

Examples: Venue Selection and time line guide***

Venue maps with room layouts*** Venue Organization Chart *** FA roles and responsibilities (not provided) Venue timeline guide***

DOT Exercise worksheet (shows the placement of key personnel on the venue layout to view needs of flow and security)

Schedule of events with information and timelines*** Master list of Volunteers with designated FA and schedule (not provided) Venue hours of operation *** FF&E (final not provided) Load-in/Strike procedures*** (example only) Operations Guide (separate document) Phone list of all staff both within venue and support Emergency Evacuation Procedure – (Provided by Venue and Law Enforcement)

*** This report includes some of the above documents examples. The other examples of documentation were not provided or unable to account for.

Venue Selection and Timeline Guide (Great source for a guideline)

1. Begin venue analysis and selection

2. Begin contract discussions w/Venue Owner Representative & Identify City ordinances, State and Federal laws concerning public assemblies, and best practices in Risk Management

3. Determine Non-exclusive Use, Exclusive Use and Move-out dates

4. Place tentative hold on selected spaces/venues with an MOU

5. Obtain Client Policies and Emergency Plan from the venue

6. Obtain actual CAD Drawings

7. Obtain floor plan schematic (actual CAD drawings for large venues)

8. Begin contract discussions with caterers, vendors, etc.

9. Begin development of Venue Space Layout

10. Meet with Functional Areas that are involved and begin coordinating the planning process

11. File Requisite Permits

12. Continue development of Venue Space Layout/Drawings

13. Produce 1st draft of written Operations Plan

14. Meet Venue Owner Representative's timeline for securing the event space, parking, catering, deposits, insurance, etc.

15. Finalize venue contracts

16. Finalize venue drawings/schematics

17. Hold Venue Walk-through (on paper)

18. Make necessary modifications to the drawings

19. Determine equipment and decorative look needs

20. Begin Venue Manager/Coordinator and Committee integration meetings

21. Finalize Venue Operations Plan

22. Complete staffing of Venue Team

23. Begin Venue Team Meetings

24. Begin development of Build-out/Set-up and Move-in schedules

25. Complete staffing of Sport/Venue Manager team

26. Begin development of the Build out Schedule

27. Finalize Build-out and Move-in Schedules

28. Conduct Table-top( Dot) Exercises (All involved FA's)

29. Conduct Orientation and Venue Training Day at each venue (All involved FA's)

30. Document condition of venue prior to Build-out

31. Build-out begins

32. Begin Move-in by GOC staff and Key volunteers (or those assigned for Move-in activities)

33. Venue Director supervises Build-out and Move-in activities

34. Games begin

35. Games end

36. Venue lockdown

37. Venue Director supervises Tear down and Strike activities

38. Retro-fit venue as required

39. Document condition of venue prior to its return to the Venue Owner Representative

40. Return venue to Venue Owner Representative

The following example was created and shared with Logistics Director. This was not implemented into the Games however, we attempted to implement at the COG venue unfortunately, not completely successful as it was not enforced by logistics. I believe a document similar to this could be useful.

2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games

Venue Setup for Load-in / Strike As the dates of our venue availabilities approach, the following document has been prepared to help you with the planning for the load-in and load-out phases at your venue with support from the venue team, represented functional areas, and logistics. While the Logistics Team understand that each venue has unique challenges and needs, this list should help you and your team prepare for the setup of your venue as well as identify any problem areas that are likely to arise. Please realize that as we enter this setup stage of the Games, the Venue Directors will be taking a strong leadership role for all Functional Areas (FAs) represented in their venues. Logistics is responsible for the delivery of gear, but it is the Venue Director’s who will be responsible for coordinating the best arrival time of box trucks with logistics, securing necessary space or equipment with the facility, and the preparation of the groups represented in your space to assist with setup of all this equipment. As questions arise, it is important that each Functional Area bring these questions to your Venue Director(s). Deliveries are bundled by venue and will arrive boxed by area of venue. The Venue Director should work with the FAs to ensure all necessary gear is accounted for and setup. Please remember, each FA is responsible for the setup of their own FF&E once it has been delivered by logistics. This will be facilitated by the Venue Directors and organized by the FAs themselves. Also, as you make your plans, be aware that as a general rule logistics will be unloading gear in the following order for every venue:

Sports Equipment

Furniture (tables, chairs, etc.)

Signage

IT equipment

Boxes of gear identified by area within the venue (i.e. locker room, volunteer lounge, etc.) Once the furniture is unloaded, each box truck will take approximately an hour to unload all the other equipment. Please do not panic if the boxes for your FA are not the first off the truck, you will have them in a timely manner. If you have urgent requirements for early operations, please communicate these to your Venue Director(s) as quickly as possible so that he/she can work with logistics to ensure these requirements are met. One final requirement for each venue will be the need to keep and store the boxes in which your FF&E were delivered. These boxes will be necessary for tear down at the conclusion of the event, so that we do not have to procure more boxes.

2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games Venue Load-in/Strike Procedures

Venue Directors - Preparing for Venue Load-In / Load-Out

1. Finalize your schedule! – Identify at what time you will be ready for a box truck to arrive at your venue

on both your load-in and strike dates.

2. Identify when Functional Areas are to go operational

3. Prioritize the FF&E for the Functional Areas based on their operation periods, and instruct your

team as to which group(s) need to be “unpacked” first – This small bit of preparation will save you

a lot of headache in the long run

4. Identify a space within the venue where logistics can unload IT equipment and signage.

5. Identify and schedule any heavy equipment needed to unload your FF&E that is being provided

by the venue and not the GOC: forklift, snowmobiles.

6. Schedule your team’s presence at the venue for the setup & tear-down – Once you know when

the box-trucks will be arriving on-site, you will be able to finalize your staffing/volunteer plans for load-in

and strike.

7. Schedule the delivery time of your FF&E box-truck with Logistics

a. If you are in charge of a venue that will require multiple box-trucks, it is important you schedule

a time to speak with logistics regarding the order of equipment arrival.

8. Schedule the box-truck pick-up time you anticipate all of your gear will be repacked and ready

to leave venue

a. Obviously this will require more guess work than did your arrival time, try to be aware of the

number of groups in your space and/or any special requirement for strike.

9. Identify a space where you can store the boxes in which your FF&E were delivered – you will

need these boxes again to repack all the equipment that is delivered at the end of the event.

The above tips should help you in preparation for setup. For strike, advise the FAs of the following:

Strike Procedures:

1. Communicate to all parties in your venue when the truck will arrive to pick up all their repacked

boxes. (All the gear does not have to go back into the box it was originally in, it merely needs to be

accounted for, documented as present, and repacked.)

2. Be careful to repack only GOC equipment, being careful to leave all the equipment that is owned by

the facility.

3. The Venue Director will do a walkthrough with each of the FAs prior to the loading of all gear onto

trucks to see that it is all packed as well as a final walk-through with the facility team after all our gear

has been removed.

Budget COG Complete Budget held by the GOC Finance Dept Facility: VIK $85,000.00 Food & Beverage: $137,000 Audio Visual/Equipment Usage: $3500

Forms, Diagrams and Appendices The following forms and diagrams were used for the COG Venue

4 Feb(1201) - 15 Feb (2359) 2009 Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Boise Centre (COG) 5-Feb 6-Feb 7-Feb 8-Feb 9-Feb 10-Feb 11-Feb 12-Feb 13-Feb 14-Feb

Eyries Room - Special Olympics Town 10am - 4pm 3pm - 10:30pm 3:30pm - 10:30pm 3:30pm-10:30pm 3:30pm 10:30pm 3:30pm-10:30pm 3:30pm-10:30pm 8:30am-5pm CLOSED

Athlete Hours 4pm - 10pm 4pm-10pm 4pm-10pm 4pm-10pm 4pm-10pm 4pn-10pm 9am-4pm

Family Night

YA -Media Day MATP - Media Day

* SOI - Young Athletes (40) Located in SO Town

10am - 11am -

Unified Demo

10am - 11am -

Unified Demo

9:30 - 10:30am -

Traditional

*SOI - MATP (35) Located in SO Town

7am - 2pm

(10:30 - 1pm)

*Sports Experience Ribbon cut - (60 VIPS) 11 - N poss extened hrs poss extened hrs poss extened hrs poss extened hrs

* SOI-Sports Experience - hours 11-5pm 4pm - 9pm 4pm - 9pm 4pm - 9pm 4pm - 9pm 10am-3pm

Perch Room - *SOI - College Group (15) 9am - N

Grove Plaza - SO Festival 11 - 5pm 4 - 9pm 4 - 9pm

***Merchandise Tent hours 11 - 5pm N - 9pm N-9pm N - 9pm N - 9pm

Dining Room(s) usage Figure Skating - lunch # ( 300 ) 11am - 1pm 11am - 1pm 11am - 1pm 11am - 1pm 11am - 1pm

*SOI - Young Athletes- lunch #(40) 11am -12:30pm 11am -12:30pm 10:30 - 11:45am

Closing Ceremony - Lunch (1050) 11:00am - 1pm

*SOI - Global Youth Activation Summit (191) N - 12:45pm N - 1:00pm 11:30 - 12:30pm

Dinner - hours 6pm - 9pm 4pm - 8pm 4pm - 8pm 4pm - 8pm 4pm - 8pm 4pm - 8pm

Dinner - count of people 1499 1700 1601 1719 1528 1528 231

Summit Room - Usage*HOD meetings (300) 3pm 6pm - 8pm 7am - 8:30am 7am - 8:30am 7am - 8:30am 7am - 8:30am 7am - 8:30am 7am - 8:30am

*Press Conferences 9am - 10am 9am - 10am 9am - 10am 9am - 10am 9am - 10am 9am - 10am 9am - 10am 9am - 10am

*SOI - Global Youth Activation Summit (191) 10:30am - N

1:30pm - 4:30pm

Alpine Skiing Coaches Meeting 6pm-7:15pm

*Figure Skating

Coaches Meeting (30) 7:30pm - 9pm 6:30pm - 7:30pm 6:30pm - 7:30pm 7pm - 8pm 8:30pm - 9:30pm

GOC Observer's Seminar (30) 10:45am - 2:45pm

Volunteer Services (Coat Room) 12:30 - 6pm 6am - 10:30pm 6am - 10:30pm 6am - 10:30pm 6am - 10:30pm 6am - 10:30pm 6am - 10:30pm 6am - 10:30pm 6am - 5pm

Media Room (Payette & Snake Rivers) 1pm - 6pm 7am - 10pm 7am - 10pm 7am - 10pm 7am - 10pm 7am - 10pm 7am - 10pm 7am - 10pm 7am - 5pm

Medical Room (Cotton Woods)

(4 - COG) (17 - Qwest) 7am - 6pm 7am-6pm

8am-11am

4pm-10pm 7am -10pm 7am-10pm 7am-10pm 7am-10pm 7am-10pm 7am-5pm

Command Post (Salmon River) (5) 6am - 10pm 6am-10:30pm 6am-10:30pm 6am-10:30pm 6am-10:30pm 6am-10:30pm 6am-10:30pm 6am-10:30pm 6am-5:30pm

Venue Command (Venue Office) 6am - 6pm 6am - 10pm 6am - 10pm 6am - 10pm 6am - 10pm 6am - 10pm 6am - 10pm 6am - 10pm 6am - 5pm

Parking Downtown:

Special Rate of $5.00 at the YELLOW

Garage Sites

2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games Phone

Venue Director Kim Thornton

SOWWG

Venue Commissioner Carolyn Corbett

SOWWG

Venue Commissioner Michelle LaMontagne

SOWWG

Venue Assistant Kristen Blackman

SOWWG

Boise Centre Operations Manager Missy Carroll

Boise Centre Assistant GM Mike Davis

VP Operations Wade Morehead

SOWWG

VP Games & Events Kirk Miles

SOWWG

Functional Area Point of Contact Phone

SO Town

Emily Fairchild

Jennifer Wind

Ashley Cleveland

SO Festival

Mel Simboli

Sam Sandmire

Sports Experience Heather Hill

Qwest Jackie Woodland

Transportation

Kevin Warburton

Jill Palmer

Greg Evans(Commissioner)

Donna Evans(Commissioner)

Andie Sproule(Commissioner)

Logistics

Food & Beverage

Elena Duncan

Gary Lillard

Penny Craig

Volunteer Services Eric Anderson

Medical Medical Branch Director

Security/Safety

Captain Pete Ritter

Mike Majors

Media

Lindsay Choules

Hallie Stoller

Frank Zang (Commissioner)

HOD Sunniva Hoff

Airport Brett Broek

Way-Finding

Krista Anderson (Commissioner)

Colby Donicht

Brand Management Joan Scofield

Technology IT Ben Hale