Arctic Winter Games Games Policies Chef de Mission Final Report 2012 Arctic Winter Games Jeff Seeteenak - Team Nunavut, Chef de Mission Section 1 Evaluation of Performance of the Host Society Registration and Accreditation • Was pre-games registration convenient and functional? • The Kimik registration program continues to improve. It has become more user friendly. Receiving the accreditation badges before the athletes is great as some teams are not arriving on the same flights. This also gives us an opportunity to go over the badges for any misprints or duplicates. • Did the accreditation system at the Games work well? • They accreditation system was great at the games, the volunteers were excellent and great to work with when missing badges need to be replaced or late accreditations need to be printed. • Provide comments or recommendations. • The one area that I would like to see is an improved filtering system during the registration process. Right now the system filters by sport but only listed numerically as to when they got into the database. Another step in the filter would be great, by team with in the sport. Example filtering Juvenile boys’ soccer and only the division and gender is shown. • Continue to provide badges before athletes arrive. Welcome/Arrival Services • Was the arrival of your team handled in a timely manner with a minimum of confusion? • As our flights arrived there were busses waiting arranged by accommodation site. There was little wait time which was appreciated by all. • Bags that had their tags still on were delivered to the accommodation site. Bags with no tags were loaded off at the terminal. Mission staff was able to deliver to the appropriate venue. • Provide comments or recommendations • Luggage tags should be sent to contingents sooner. • Luggage tags should include the contingent name or color coded for each contingent. We should not have to be waiting for stickers from the host with our Territory flag on it. Opening Ceremonies • Did the Opening Ceremonies do a good job of kicking off the week? • The opening ceremonies were a great start to the week and well received by all. • Were they well organized and choreographed? • The opening was well organized, short and to the point. There was not much delay in the agenda for the ceremonies. • Recommend in future games to use a similar format, 1 hr long ceremonies. Team Accommodations • Were accommodations sufficiently spacious or too crowed? • The accommodations were sufficient. Some teams requested more space, but overall accommodations were sufficient considering the number of participants being accommodated. • Were they well-located or too spread out? • Yes accommodations were well located, 5-10 minute drive from mission center and the competition venues. • Were there sufficient washrooms and shower facilities? • Yes there were sufficient shower facilities, where shower availability was a concern at accommodation venue athletes were able to shower at competition venues. • Was cleaning during the Games adequate for the maintenance of hygiene? • Yes the cleaning during the games was adequate for maintenance of hygiene. • Was security in the accommodations area functional and effective? • The security at the main entrances of the accommodation facilities was effective. • Provide comments or recommendations. • I recommend that where athletes of both genders are accommodated in the same facility every effort be made to separation athletes into different parts of the facility. At Vanier School some teams were located next door to a team of the opposite gender, and the washroom for the males was directly across from the female room entrance. The host resolved the issue after the first night but for comfort of the athletes they should not have to worry about the other gender room being right next door or the washroom. • If genders can’t be separated by wings or sections of the building, have a security supervising the area. • For the next games continue to house the dog mushing team in the same room. This worked great again. • For the air mattresses put together an information sheet on them, how to inflate, how to properly close the valve, where to get patches if there are leaks. • Continue to provide both bunk beds and air mattresses, larger athletes or teams or smaller rooms will have a need for the bunk beds as they take up less floor space. Food Service/Village Dining • Were the hours of operation/serving sufficient and convenient? • The hours of operation met the need of most, other than some events running late. They were able to call in their delay and were able to get a meal in. • Was the quality of food adequate? • The quality of the food at these games was the best since the 2007 Canada Games, another job well done. • Was enough food available to meet your team’s needs and appetites? • With the number of choices available at each meal there was always enough to meet the needs of our team’s. • Did the box lunch program work well? • There was no actual lunch box program until midway point of the games, but once instituted it worked well. • Provide comments or recommendations. • With events like the Arctic sports and Dene games it should be a given that box lunches be provided. The way the two events were scheduled it was felt that there wouldn’t be a need for lunch to be delivered. Our experience with past games is these two events will and always run longer than expected. • When accommodation venues are all in close proximity of each other use one central location for meals. This way the level of service does not vary between venues. Awards Ceremonies • Provide comments or recommendations on awards ceremonies both at sport venues and at the main awards venue. • Continue to do the award presentations at the sport venues. Information Technology/Communications/Computer and Network Services • Evaluate how the Games’ IT system and staff, communications system and computer and network services performed and provide any comments or recommendations. • Recommend a central printers set up for mission offices to complete late night printing be located outside the mission center. Ie. The mission center would close at 11:00pm and in order to prepare a newsletter for the next morning security had to unlock the mission center to get the print job. Mission Offices, Service and Accommodations • Were the mission offices located in a place that facilitated the work of the mission staff, and were the offices conveniently reached by coaches? • Yes they were, housed in the same building at the poly clinic and cafeteria. • Were offices sufficiently spacious and adequately furnished? • Yes our office was great. • Were the supplies provided adequate for the mission staff to do its work? • With the connection to the network set up without any issues and IT staff setting up the laptops our team brought worked out great. Cultural Program and Facilities • Did your cultural delegation feel that they were an integral part of the Games? • Did they have enough performance opportunities? Too many? • Did your Unit members attend entertainment events? What is your impression of their experience? • Provide comments or recommendations related to the Cultural program only. See Entertainment Program section below for other comments. • The overall games experience was great for the group. Great reviews of the performance venue, sound system and sound engineers. • They were impressed with the audience at the performances. • At the beginning of the week they felt the rehearsal seem excessive but the rehearsals for the combined Gala performances were fun, educational, and rewarding in the end. • The recommendation from the group was; if possible the cultural performers share their room with other contingent performers, and would like more media exposure. Forms and Publications • Evaluate the effectiveness of forms provided by the Host Society and any publications of the Host Society; including Ulu News, directories, sport schedules/programs, results, posters, etc. • Host Society publications were effective. Where possible the phone directories should be circulated as early as possible. When the sports schedules updated they should have what version number they are or the date the update was done. Media Describe the media coverage you saw in the host community, both print and electronic. • Local print, radio and electronic coverage was excellent. The daily video clips on the local television was also well received. Medical Services/Polyclinic • Was the medical staff helpful? Did they provide quality care? • The medical staff was excellent; they provided our athletes with quality care. The poly clinic took a very “athletecentred” approach and provided excellent care. • Was the location of the polyclinic convenient and the hours it was open sufficient? • The location was easy to find for our athletes, it was a bonus that it was housed in the same building as the cafeteria and mission offices. • Provide comments or recommendations. • Injured athletes were finding it difficult to deal with the number to stairs at the entrance into the building especially when using crutches. There was no easy access into the poly clinic. • To have easy access to poly clinic, not too far from entrance of the building. Results • Were accurate results produced and disseminated in a timely manner? • As soon as the IT department received the official results they up on the site, which was appreciated. • Provide comments or recommendations. • Continue to wait for official results before posting the information on the results site. Security • Did the security arm of the Games work effectively? • As for our team the security worked fine. As it was reported when issues came up with the level of service from volunteers. More security was hired. • Were the security people helpful? • The security was very help with our team and was greatly appreciated.