kk's blog

I've been in Italy for 3 days now and am starting to finally get caught-up on some of my posting. Long days and long nights is the way we roll and I've been getting a lil backlogged on posting the many things we've been involved with. I have a few minutes and want to point you guys to a few of the things you should check out. First, our symposium on the Olympics and Web 2.0 is tomorrow and it's going to be awesome. Andy is here, many many media people will be be attending and we're going to be lucky if we can fit everyone inside the venue we have reserved inside BC Canada Place here in Torino. Here's the overview of the event.

The Olympics and Web 2.0

Friday, February 17th, 2006
BC Canada Place, Torino, Italia

Checkin' in quickly from Torino, Italy. I'm here with Robert Scales from Raincity Studios and Boris Mann from Bryght. We're jet lagged, hungry, internet deprived and struggling to learn Italian... but having a blast so far in our delirious state. The syposium I'm co-chairing with Andy Miah, "The Olympics and Web 2.0", is on Friday and we're going to be spending most of the week prepping for that as well as meeting with the media and some businesses who are also in town for the games. 

Canadian Mayor to make history at Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games

Vancouver – In just one month, in what may be one of the most memorable moments of the Torino 2006 Closing Ceremony, Canada’s first quadriplegic Mayor will accept, on behalf of all Canadians, the Olympic flag. The City of Vancouver and the 2010 Organizing Committee today revealed the innovative behind-the-scenes work being done in support of Mayor Sam Sullivan’s historic role on the world stage.

Canadian music superstar Avril Lavigne will shine as Canada's feature performer in the official closing ceremony of the 2006 Olympic Winter Games. The Closing Ceremony will mark the conclusion of the Torino Games as well as the beginning of the countdown to Vancouver 2010.

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games' (VANOC) eight-minute entertainment segment will be seen by a live audience of approximately 32,000 people and a worldwide television audience of 500 million. A native of Napanee, Ontario, Lavigne has received eight Grammy Nominations and sold millions of albums. She will headline a special production designed to celebrate Canada and to capture the spirit of the 2010 Host City.

VANCOUVER - Starting today, Canadians have the opportunity to show their support for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games by purchasing official Vancouver 2010 merchandise at select Hbc stores across the country. Hbc is the exclusive retailer of this first limited edition Vancouver 2010 merchandise until January 2006.

Vancouver – The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) and the City of Vancouver have begun the first phase of Olympic Games-related improvements at the Pacific Coliseum – site of the figure skating and short track speed skating competitions in 2010.

The replacement of nearly 16,000 seats at the Coliseum is part of a $C23 million improvement program at Hastings Park to prepare the venue for the 2010 Winter Games.

The renovation work at the Coliseum supports VANOC's commitment of early venue completion to allow time for testing and to provide Canadian athletes with two years of training opportunities to help them prepare for the 2010 Games.  The seat replacement at the Coliseum will also upgrade the facility in time for the 2006 World Junior Hockey Championships.

I found this article today that provide more background details on the controversy surrounding the 2010 Vancouver Olympics logo design from the perspective of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada...

"If there are two words that when used together make professional identity designers wince or worse, those words would have to be "logo" and "contest." Announcements of such competitions appear by the dozens every week on the internet; no doubt there are many more that go unpublicized. Such contests are fraught with spec work, unprofessional and ineffective results, and hard feelings from designers and the public alike. Perhaps one of the highest profile incident thus far occurred earlier in early May 2005 when the logo for the 2010 Olympic Games, to be held in Vancouver, BC, was released. The 2010 Organizing Committee made a number of serious errors, in the eyes of many designers and indeed in the eyes of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada.

The committee asked that only professional and student designers enter, but did not offer recompense to anyone but the winner. Even worse, entrants were charged $150 for the privilege. The designer of the winning logo would be paid $25,000. The logo was considered alone, not as part of a larger identity system. John Furlong, chief executive officer of the Organizing Committee, added insult to injury by saying he didn't "know what the ethical dilemma is" and that "the honor of participating should be enough."

The logo does not properly represent the western Canadian region; instead, its inukshuk figure is a symbol that originated in more northern realms.

The final result, completed by the Rivera Design Group in Vancouver and selected from about 1,600 fee-paying entries, is a logo that is widely reviled, and not just by designers. Comments range from "it doesn't look Canadian," to "it looks like a hand flipping the bird" and that it looks like the "offspring of the Michelin Man and Miss Gumby."

As a result of the situation and others that preceded it, the GDC changed its Code of Ethics at its annual meeting on May 6-7, 2005, so as to leave no doubt as to its stand on design contents. The GDC no longer allows any member participation in open design contests for commercial purposes on speculation, either as an entrant or a judge.

The winning design firm is a GDC member, but the organization did not sanction the member because previously this section of its Code of Ethics was open to interpretation.

From now on, GDC members cannot undertake any speculative project for which compensation will only be received if a design is accepted or used. Members may take part in limited design competitions where each participant is provided equal and adequate compensation. The Society has separate guidelines for pro bono work for charitable purposes.

"Everyone loves the Olympics, and of course, you want to support it, but a designer's actions must support our common ethics," says Peggy Cady, national GDC president. "We are trying to emphasize that a client's return on investment is greater when they hire qualified professional designers who are appropriate for the project."

The Graphic Artists Guild and the GDC both recommend that if a competition is held, the hosts should first put out a request for portfolios, then after reviewing the work, select a group of finalists who are best suited for the job. The finalists may be asked for rough sketches for the project at hand if they are paid adequately and equally for their work. Finally, when a single designer or firm is finally selected, that winner should be paid fees that are commensurate to current market value. The designer will retain rights to the work.

It's too late to effect any change on the Olympics logo project, but the GDC does feel that it has possibly caused some motion: The same Olympics committee is handling the Paralympic Winter Games, and Cady says that the group will be handling that logo design process in a manner more in keeping with professional design standards.

The GDC has also sent its plea to ICOGRADA, whose international standards still permit its members to participate in open contests. For more information on the GDC's efforts, see www.gdc.net."

Here's some news from Ross' tour of BC and Alberta.

The very popular Bell Lightship tour across Canada is now being accompanied by the Bell Community Cruiser, a vintage 1976 Airstream trailer, which visits communities across Alberta and B.C.

This state-of-the-art cruiser is being driven by the world's first Olympic snowboarding gold medallist, Ross Rebagliati, who is hosting autograph sessions and media events in each community included on the tour. Ross recently announced his plans to return to competitive snowboarding with the objective of competing at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics where Bell is a corporate partner.

The Lightship tour is also supported by a team of Community Ambassadors who take to the street daily promoting excitement and distributing promotional materials and time limited offers designed to drive Bell awareness and store traffic.

Onsite at the cruiser, visitors can fill out a ballot to win a
once-in-a-lifetime flight on the Bell Lightship, as well as to learn more about Bell's innovative technology, including the latest wireless phones, data devices and digital satellite television.

All across the West, Bell customers and potential customers are seeing the Bell brand here, there and everywhere!

Whistler - Since April 16, 2005, the 2010 Winter Games Whistler Nordic venue, site of biathlon, ski jumping, Nordic combined and cross country ski events in 2010, has become an active construction zone as site preparation work continues on schedule. The on-time start earlier this year supports VANOC's commitment of early venue completion to allow time for testing and to provide Canadian athletes with two years of training time to help them prepare for the 2010 Games.

Construction of the Nordic venue is moving ahead following a rigorous review involving consultation with the public, stakeholder groups and First Nations. British Columbia's Environmental Assessment Office deemed that the project presents no significant adverse environmental, economic, social, heritage and health effects. The project also underwent a screening review by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency. The review was completed in April 2005. For more details see the attached backgrounder.