the sydney 2000 olympic and paralympic games - Australian Sports ...

PART FOUR : NSW GOVERNMENT AGENCIES GAMES SUPPORT SERVICES
The Athletes Village had all the requirements of a fully serviced town. At the time of the Games, the Village
was the fifth largest town in NSW. About 520 paid staff, 2,100 volunteers and 6,500 contractor staff worked
in the Village. During the 33 days of operation, the beds were made 396,000 times and the 4,000
bathrooms cleaned daily.
Media Village
The Media Village was developed from late colonial period public buildings that were once the Lidcombe
hospital. The Village provided accommodation, food and beverage, work environment and 24 hour
services expected from a modern hotel as well as transport to IBC, MPC and competition venues.
During the Games 5,800 members of the accredited media lived in the Media Village.
Technical Officials Village
The 1,300 judges, referees and technical officials were accommodated and provided with hotel-type
services including transport at three different university campuses within Sydney.
Ticketing Operations
To achieve Sydney's ticketing revenue outcome required the planning and implementation of the biggest
ticket operation in Australian history. This included development and operation of order processing and
inventory management systems; determination of ticket prices; design, production and distribution of public
offer ‘Ticket Book’; seat allocation; printing and distribution of tickets; and promotion, marketing and sales
through box offices, call centre and internet.
Total operations and marketing expenditure was $112.4 million.
Communications and Press Operations
Total gross expenditure for these SOCOG functions was $25.2 million.
Communications and Community Relations
This involved management of SOCOG’s communications with the national and international media,
corporate business, community and sporting groups, tourism bodies, councils, schools, ethnic and
indigenous communities, and the general public. In the years leading up to the Games the focus was to
inform and inspire Australians to embrace Olympism and build support for the Games. This was
particularly important for campaigns such as Volunteer Recruitment and ticket marketing, and launch of the
mascots and the Torch Relay.
Other key communications elements included the National Education Program which reached over three
million Australian students to ensure all Australian students experienced a sense of involvement in the
Sydney Games through curriculum-focused initiatives.
SOCOG’s communications activities were merged into a Sydney 2000 operation from the beginning of the
year 2000 to ensure there was a co-ordinated public communications strategy and release of information
(e.g. ‘Spectator Guides’) during the critical months leading up to the Games and over the Games period.
Press Operations
This Program had responsibility for providing all facilities and services, including publications, Games
results and other information for the members of the written and photographic press at the Media Press
Centre (MPC) and all Games competition venues.
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