Olympics 2012: Bad Planning

BBC Kent's Polly Evans - MUCH better looking than Danny Boyle

It's just bad planning. Reports today that the opening ceremony of the London Olympics has been cut by quite a few minutes to allow 80,000 people the chance to leave and return home via public transport is just ridiculous.

To think that 4+ years planning and the artfulness of Danny Boyle - the film director "tasked" with designing the opening- didn't somehow allow for enough time for people is ludicrous.

However, it is a complete relief to note that it's the lame-o BMX show-off event that's been cut.

What do you think? Do you?

Olympic 2012: Tickets

Do you remember Beijing 2008 and the massive amounts of vacant seats in stadia at events? Exactly.

I've been writing about the Olympic Games for the 5 years in the run-up to London 2012. The fact that the atmosphere at many 2008 sporting events was apparently ruined by large gaps in attendance was written about by the press, analysed and discussed by me and forgotten by everybody else.

Well now we're seeing a wonderful sleight of hand being played out in the media as it's been revealed at the last minute that there's loads of tickets left.

It seems you'll need a couple of grand to buy the tickets (BBC News), which are on sale on the website.

I'd be asking what all that shite was about when the "get your tickets now or be a total, unpatriotic loser" campaign was on? Lord Coe seems quite happy with the whole, rather questionable, sales strategy. There was a "you'll be crying tears the size of winter cabbages - too late too late will be the cry, when the man with the bargains has passed you by" kind of banter as he did his sales pitch to the world.

Now the demand has been strangled due to earlier purchase, the highest rates can be charged to those who really need these tickets. Just like your airline.

Yield management at its best.

Olympic 2012 Press

There's been a storm in the press lately about the shenanigans related to G4 Security's handling of their 2012 Olympic Games contract.

They seem to have basically "cocked it up" as the technical, project management terminology goes.

This is a classic case of project mismanagement. I've written quite a lot about The Olympic Games in the run-up to these Games - I've also wirtten much about Olympic staffing and project management in general. Frankly, I'm "Olympic'd-out" and would quite happily not even switch on my TV for the next month or so until the whole fiasco's died down.

I'm not completely adverse to Brits feeling better about their country - as long that feelgood is based on the truth of real achievement, rather than government, IOC, LOCOG, or commercial sponsor spin.

What never ceases to amaze me is the ethic-free, and gutless way the UK press wades into a fray they start, spin, counterspin and finish, fuck-up and move on, everytime. I've written about this before - and it's not just a UK disease - happens all over the world.

Why is that they can't just let us all feel good about ourselves - for a while at least?

What do you think about it?

The Legacy

Just in case you were wondering how it's all going here in sunny London with the 2012 Olympic Games, I'm happy to report there's been many changes.

As you can see from the photos, Greenwich Park which will be the official site of the equestrian (horse-stuff) events, has markedly changed in appearance, atmosphere and infrastructure in the last few months.

Fortunately, after the Games, the Olympic planners have promised to put everything back exactly as it was.
------------------