Except Amsterdam and Sydney were financial disasters, so I think the U.S. model is something other countries should look to. The World Cup is a good example -- corporate sponsors (like them or not) were crucial to its success. This is an area where Chicago shined and why the Gay Games were a success.

Pat -- Jim is absolutely right. How can the games hope to expand it's base over the next 20 years and reach countries in Latin America or even South Africa or Australia again for that matter without a strong international corporate base? The Gay Games or Outgames will be severly hampered if it's continually depending on a large donation of government money to run itself. And certainly, the Outgames will never make it to the U.S. without massive corporate support. It's not a question of how our government does it vs. Europe or Canada, it's a fundamental necessity for events such as the Olympics and the World Cup.

As for Martina, if it's true that she was not invited by Chicago, well -- no comment.

Of course Martina was invited to Chicago, and to be an FGG Ambassador, and early.

[ July 31, 2006, 02:52 PM: Message edited by: KevinB ]

Ah, the G/L sports movement has finally grown up and endures the same debate the Olympics has been dealing with for the past decade. There is so much to say here and so little time to say it. Sure you can play that argument about government subsidy but let's remember Athens where the subsidy equated to a double digit portion of the GDP and has burdened Greeks for years to come. But they did put on a great Olympics. Maybe Beijing where the IOC told the Beijing LOC to tone it down and quit spending so much and creating such a burden.

But I completely agree that there should be some mix of government and corporate subsidy to bring the best games possible for both the athlete and the spectator. In the end we should come away with a sense of well-being through the safe and clean fun of competition.

I read in a prior post on a different thread that medal counts were foregone for the Gay Games, that the spirit of competition was all that was needed. I disagree with that notion. When G/L competition graduates to team or city or state or national levels then we can, as spectators and athletes, enjoy the spirit even more. Heck, we all took sides between the rivalry of the Outsports team vs. the Chicago team. I remember seeing the news clip about the cheers between rival teams in a Chicago bar.

So I'm glad we're having these discussions. Hopefully this will carry into the actual committee and board meetings of the various groups and maybe we'll get back to a unified Games with the right spirit.

I have learned not to always believe what is in newspapers but that's what was written in La Presse:

Le budget total des Outgames s'élève à 17 millions et se divise comme suit: 5 millions en subventions gouvernementales (fédéral, provincial, municipal), 5 millions en commandites, 4,5 millions des recettes provenant des inscriptions et 2,5 millions de la billetterie et des produits dérivés.

Source: La Presse - budget

Total budget 17 million
5 million in governement subsidies (city, province, country)
5 million sponsorships
4.5 million registration fees
2.5 million ticket sales and merchandise

I think governement help is not strictly money, like the city provides most sporting venues and a value is put in government help for that. I don't know how events do their accounting but when I read articles what I understood is government help was services and money.

Tourisme Montreal spent 2 million in the last three years in marketing and communication for the gay market. Part of this must have been tied to Outgames.

So having partners like that you get services. But one goal is to position Montreal in the top 5 urban gay destination in the world.

The governement commitments were made when the project was bigger (maybe some remember the original forecast 3-4 years ago, it was over 200 million in economic benefits because it was brought down to 170 and now 100 - number of participants was maybe 20,000 before 16,000 and 12,000) so maybe they would commit for less in a smaller project.

Looking at Copenhagen games website, they have the city and tourism bureau working on their committee. Like Montreal they have a pride week at the same time.

If it's a requirement they will always go to the most welcoming countries/destination.

For sponsors unless you have a multinational ready to follow you every four years, you have to convince sponsors locally. But you would be more independant.

Both main source of revenues have pros and cons.

To say something more on topic, I evaluate that Chicago did a good job with the time, resources and manpower they had. I was really afraid for the finances if they didn't meet their target of participants since the Outgames seemed to have signed up a lot of people. I must admit I had doubts about the success of Chicago.

I think there is no reason that Cologne (or for that matter Copenhagen) can't land global or European divisions of Nike, Reebok, Puma, Speedo or other big continental brands as sponsors. It would be surprising if they didn't.

Hey guys - I don't really disagree with any of your comments. And Kevin - I know that you invited Martina - but her words in the interview up here were that Montreal invited her first and their pitch about the significance of the conference aspect of the Outgames is what sold her on the event. And just another example of how Canada is different from the USA - I just came from the reception for Ontario athletes which was a huge success with hundreds in attendance down at Viger Square. Who put together the reception and hosted it? The government of Ontario! Yes Labatt provided the beer but it was put together and hosted by a cabinet minister in the provincial government Jim Watson. Also interesting to note that a federal cabinet minister John Baird also attended. And unlike his colleague who got roundly booed at the Opening Ceremonies, John Baird received a warm welcome from the large Ontario delegation in attendance.

As for global sponsorship - that is the entire motivation behind GLISA's plan to build a series of events annually around the world. It is one of the reasons the IOC split the schedule for summer and winter Olympics. It is much more difficult to attract sponsors when you have to start from scratch every four years. If you can offer them presence continuously at events every year with the exposure for a year or more before each event, there is much more likelihood of building an ongoing relationship with international corporate sponsors.

So do I detect the beginnings of the IOC equivalent for the G/L sports movement? As I read more about GLISA it seems to resemble the IOC more and more.

Personally I think this is a good thing. Having an international organization to work with the various sports organizations in developing annual or regional sports competitions and then pull the whole thing together every 4 years might actually establish more continuity for G/L athletes, something sorely needed.

Travelpat, I'm glad the celebration turned out well. Who knows what the next step might be. Pin trading with a rainbow flavor? Hey, I've got a rainbow pin from the 1996 Atlanta Olympics that might make for good trade bait at the next Outgames.

TravelPat: Consulates in Chicago put on receptions for athletes (Australia, Canada, Philippines ... that I know of). I didn't make the ask to Martina so I don't know the format nor whom asked whom first. She did support previous Gay Games, however.

Shouldn't you be posting these comments about OutGames on the OutGames thread? Or should we start posting Gay Games comments there? :-)

RBear: I did get a chuckle at the comparison between the IOC and GLISA. Thanks for that.

[ August 01, 2006, 10:29 AM: Message edited by: KevinB ]

NP. Who knows? Maybe we'll see some of the drama that the IOC has manifest in GLISA. So what would the equivalent of fishing rods and dental work be for the G/L community?

It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out.

BTW Kevin, you're sounding much more upbeat these last few posts. Hope the stress is done and you're starting to kick back and enjoy life again. Thanks for enduring our rants and raves. Chicago is still one of my favorite travel towns.

Since I only have LOGO and can't gete HERE!, this was the first time viewing this piece:

www.heretv.com/news/gaygames/index.php

I've been looking for news pieces on OutGames, are they just not showing that here in the U.S.?

Rbera: "BTW Kevin, you're sounding much more upbeat these last few posts. Hope the stress is done and you're starting to kick back and enjoy life again. Thanks for enduring our rants and raves. Chicago is still one of my favorite travel towns."

I just decided not to let folks like you get me down and not to try and respond to every nit and nat.

Incidentally, folks, the final set of data for Figure Skating and Track & Field is online in case you didn't notice.

Here's a nice reflection piece in the WCT, as well as an interview with KevinB. :-)

http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/les...E.php?AID=12267

Uh, I don't mean to be critical, but maybe a city even farther north like Reykavik, Iceland, or Edmonton, Alberta, or Anchorage, Alaska, on the North American continent could be considered for the next July Games. Whew, it is too hot, guys, in Chicago or even San Francisco.

Hey Kevin:
You are right about topics sort of overflowing from one topic to the next on these various boards. Didn't mean to hijack this one. Sorry about that.

And by the way - I have been hearing lots of comparisons between the two events from some people who were at both, but from what I have heard so far two things seem to be unanimous for both events. That the volunteers were/are great. And that the people in both cities were/are incredibly friendly making everybody feels sooooo welcome.

One of the things that was a smashing success at the Gay Games was the amount of media coverage. The quantity was really extraordinary. To begin with there were over 750 credentialed media representing 275 unique media outlets. The hot weather did us at least one favor - media focus on the topic and its impact on the athletes was a key factor in generating over 500 TV segments (mostly U.S. and Canada) from July 13 to 18 with an estimated audience of more than 100 million (that's just TV and just 5 of the 10 days). Even the Today Show, CNN and the Weather Channel ran something.

And before you pooh-pooh how that's not "real" Gay Games coverage, remember the a key element of the mission of the Gay Games is about visibility and reducing stereotypes by showing our community in a sports environment. The flash of runners or softball players on a weather story can help accomplish this simply by being there. Millions more know about the Gay Games now.

All of the local papers had amazing coverage, really focusing on athlete stories. Pioneer Press is a local suburban newspaper chain that is owned by the same company that owns the Chicago Sun-Times. I wanted to share with you a great photo and audio montage that the Pioneer Press created.

http://www.pioneerlocal.com/flash/slideshow/gaygames/

Kevin

Love that link and the slideshow! Great find!!!
Thanks so much for posting this multimedia and additional press sites here guys. This really helps us get the word out about the event and what it covered to folks down here in south Texas and the smaller communities.
Awesome job!!
Thanks again,
-Rick

CCT...it's awesome to have positive feedback from someone that really gets it and gets a lot out of it.

See you in Cologne, in 4 years!?

And yes, that slide show is truly amazing!

Sent the following feedback to the Gay Games organization. Encourage others to do the same in hopes of future improvement.
-----
What went right:
Check in went well.

Massage therapists were plentiful and readily available. Kudos!

Hotel reservations with the booking agency used for Gay Games Chicago (local convention booking company) was superior to the “official travel agents” of the past. I had mild to severe problems with all three “official” travel agents used in New York, Amsterdam and Sydney. I had no problems with the hotel bookings for Chicago.

The closing ceremony was tight and entertaining. Adequate toilets were provided for the athletes waiting to enter, and not continuing the instance of very early arrival by athletes was a plus.

The 5K-road race was a well-run event. The start was on time and the scoring with the champion chip provided accurate and quick results.

What went wrong:
Opening Ceremonies were way to long and very boring. I may never get my partner to spend the money for one of these again. Two political speeches are enough (review and choose wisely). 3 hours is long enough. It needs to be tightened up, and entertainment improved. Bring in the athletes; build everyone up with some entertainment; bring it back down for the official presentations and limited speeches; then finish with a bang of quality entertainment. People deserve that for the price. Oh, and the fireworks were “behind” the “gold premium” seats, where those that paid the most for their tickets couldn’t see them!

What went very wrong:
Athletes should not be asked to be in the staging area for Opening Ceremonies so early. This continues to be a ridiculous request. There is no justification for this, as athletes ignoring the call and arriving ½ hour before were treated just the same. It was sunny hot and miserable. There were just 10 toilets for 12,000 athletes. Who was responsible for this! That was extremely bad planning and is NOT excusable. Athletes stopped drinking water in the heat to avoid ending up in the line that stretched 100 yards.

Track and field was a total disaster. Scheduling was vague and not available at check in as with other sports. We were told to go to the track to find anything out, and once there, there was still little information of precise scheduling (a wasted trip). The location was up to one and a half hours from the city center by subway and bus with a transition in a bad area. That is 3 hours for a round trip. There were not enough officials to run the event properly. The rules were not adhered to. I give the few officials high marks for pulling something off, but it was not a pleasant experience. Some of us made the 3 hour round trip for prelims as “required”, waited all day to hold our place as we were told by officials at the track that we must do, only to find out that others were told in e-mails that there were no prelims, and were allowed to compete the next day without having shown up for the prelim. Results took far to long to compile and were often inaccurate. (There is good reason that as of 7/27/06, it is one of the few sports without posted results. The pages with scribbled notes in random order with ink running and pages falling apart in Friday’s rain may mean that there aren’t any.) I’ll just stop there and hope someone hears and improves things for this sport next time (assuming the experience doesn’t turn everyone away from future games).
____
Later notes:
While results were finally posted for track and field, they are not completely accurate.

I rate the 4 games I have been to in the following order based on my personal competition experience:
1. Sydney
2. Amsterdam
3. New York
4. Chicago

I rate the 4 games in the following order based on personal reservations/hotel experience:
1. Chicago
2. Sydney
3. New York
4. Amsterdam

Marathon Runner...

It's good that you were able to take home positive things with each Gay Games you've attended, hopefully it will be the same with Cologne.

See you in 2010.

softballstud said See you in 2010.

Definitely. Hey, it is the really good and really bad experiences that remain the most vivid over the years and give me the best stories and lasting memories. Each Gay Games have given me many of both. And I love it! So thanks Chicago, for some good stories and some bad stories, I’ll smile when I tell both.

I just wanted to thank Kevin Boyer publicly. He sent an e-mail regarding my earlier statement about inaccurate Track and Field results. I pointed out to him some examples I knew about, and they were corrected a few days ago. It looks like the results were reviewed and improved where possible. This shows a real commitment by the Chicago staff to continue so long after the completion of the games.