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Communication World, June-July, 2002 by Margaret Seaberg

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."