sports event management - FIFA/CIES International University Network

Presentation & Ceremoniesin association withLET THE GAMES BEGINPantoneEXTRAVAGANT opening255Cceremonies hAVEbecome part andparcel of major PantonespoRTs events 306Cin the21st century. ButwhAT’s their realrole? Owen EVANsrepoRTs.WHEN Diana Ross’ sliced penaltymagically made the goal fall apart in theopening ceremony of the USA World Cupin 1994, it set the tone for the rest ofthe tournament.It was not that people weredisappointed in her less-than-supremefootball skills, it was more the impressionthe hosts were not taking the entireevent seriously.An opening ceremony is the perfectplatform for a city or country to get theirmessage, or brand, across to millionsof viewers in one unique event. It oftentranscends the sport itself.A global audience of 984 million tunedin to watch the Beijing 2008 openingceremony. But did they make the most ofit? And is big always better?“It’s time to reinvent it (the openingceremony format) completely. It’s anabsurd game that’s being played thatwe have got to make it bigger and betterthan whatever has just been before,” saysDavid Zolkwer, Board Director of JackMorton Worldwide.Zolkwer worked on Athens 2004Olympic Games’ opening ceremony, aswell as Manchester 2002 and Melbourne2006 Commonwealth Games.“Beijing was huge, and then you goso what? There was nothing resonant. Itwould have achieved more if it had madethe world smile,” says Zolkwer.“It’s time to start again as the other thingthat is going to happen is that the principle(bigger is better) will price out other citieswhich have a lot to contribute, and it willthen just be about the big commercialcompanies.“Delhi had a chance and they blew it. Itwas three hours of Diana Ross moments.“We’ve got to stop saying let’s makeit bigger and better. What everybody isstriving for is difference.”WHERE’S THE HUMANITY?People have been key to every successfulopening ceremony.Not many people will remember Dohabuilding the largest ever LED screen atthe 2006 Asian Games, but they are farmore likely to remember the horsemanwho rode to the summit of the stadiumto light the torch or the archer who lit theOlympic flame with burning arrow at the1992 Barcelona Olympics.Greg Bowman, Managing andCreative Director for Great Big Events,is currently working on this year’s RugbyWorld Cup in New Zealand havingpreviously co-ordinated the 2007 eventin France. He was also involved with theSydney 2000 Olympics.“I go back to Beijing’s openingceremony. Having attended both theceremonies there, for me by far and awaythe better event was the Paralympicsceremony. That was the most emotionaland I was in tears at different stages,”says Bowman.“It had an amazing human element.They had the little girl who trained tobe a ballet dancer but lost her leg in anearthquake, but the way she appearedwas so beautifully staged.“That worked so well because it had somuch human emotion.“The whole point of these ceremoniesis the human stories that go on behindthe events.”8,500 performers brought Greek cultureand tradition to life at the Athens 2004Games in front of 70,000 spectators,leading to a 10 per cent increase intourism post-event.However, one little boy proved one ofthe most memorable moments ashe sailed across an in-built lake on apaper boat.“People will talk about the boy in theboat in Athens. It was a cheap gig. It wasnothing. The cheapest thing in the show,but people tend to remember the humanitylong after the psychological effects ofevent have been and gone,” said Zolkwer.“People will forget the technology butremember the people involved. Theyremember the human moments. It’sfunny that when we look back at athleticmoments they think about those whofailed as much as those who succeeded.”CULTURAL DIFFERENCESThere is no ‘one-size fits all’ policy tosports presentation. Not only does theevent have to adopt the idiosyncrasies46