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ship through an understanding of the Olympic values.
These important people, who are vital to the Olympic Movement, are outstanding
in their respective fields of specialization, but may not have had the opportunity
to really learn of the foundations for the Olympic Games. They need this understanding,
not only to protect the Olympic Movement, but to ensure their own
long term interests out of this Movement. The saying that you should not overmilk
a cow if you are interested in keeping the milk flowing applies here. If the Olympic
Games turn into the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), which is basically a
circus, because the foundation is ripped out from under them, everybody loses including
the markets.
The proposal
The proposal we would like to suggest is that we bring these very important
people to a special seminar at Olympia, the birth-place of the Olympic Games.
These dynamic leaders of the corporate world of the "Olympic family" need to be
exposed to the essence of the Olympic spirit which is based on the values of
Olympism. They should clearly understand the mystique of Olympism and the
Olympic Games which they are marketing without knowing its foundations and
roots. This can only be best understood from the ruins of the sacred place of
Olympia and close to the heart of Pierre de Coubertin and Olympism.
This program could be a special session of the IOA with approximately 25 to
30 participants drawn from the executives of the "TOP" sponsors, sports marketing
companies, television and broadcasting corporations, IOC members, and IFs. The
duration of the program should be approximately 10 days. Obviously the funding
for this program should come from the IOC and the corporate members of the
Olympic family.
The structure of the program could include the following:
- guided tours of the ancient sites;
- seminars on the values of Olympism;
- discussion on the future of sports marketing;
- the future of the Olympic Games;
- sport, art and recreation programs.
Walter Borgers, Conrado Durantez, Dionyssis Gangas, Ian Jobling (Ph.D.),
Athanassios Kristsinelis, Carlos Montserrat, B.V.P. Rao, Eduardo de Rose (Ph.D.
H.D.), Angela Schneider (Ph.D.), Nikolaos Yalouris (Ph.D.), Fernand Serpieris
(President), Konstantinos Georgiadis (Dean)
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