Gay Games Inspect Potential 2010 Hosts

A three-person site inspection team from the international Federation of Gay Games (FGG) is in the midst of a tour of Cologne, Johannesburg and Paris, the three candidate cities to host Gay Games VIII in 2010.

Johannesburg has been the first city visited, from August 24-26.  Cologne's inspection dates are August 29-31, followed by Paris from September 2-4.

”The site inspection tour is one of the most important parts of the Gay Games bidding process,” said Darl Schaaff, co-president of the FGG Site Selection Committee and one of the three inspectors.  “Our site team arrives in each city well prepared with specific questions from the Federation board that have been collected since we received the candidates’ bid books five months ago.”

Schaaff praised the 2010 bidding groups, each of whom is bidding for the first time but represents a city well known to the FGG board and that has sent many of its citizens to past Gay Games.

"Both Johannesburg and Cologne have hosted annual meetings of the Federation, and Paris has hosted an FGG Strategic Planning Committee meeting," Schaaff said.  "All three cities have local sports groups that are director organizations on the FGG board, outstanding facilities and considerable experience running local LGBT sports and cultural events.”

The 2010 bidding groups seek to be the successor to Chicago Games Inc., the host organization for Gay Games VII during July 15-22, 2006.  The Gay Games has been held every four years since 1982, with the first two taking place in San Francisco and subsequent events in Vancouver (1990), New York (1994), Amsterdam (1998) and Sydney (2002).

Bidding for the Gay Games became hotly competitive as the event grew in size and renown.  In the early 1990's, the projected estimates of economic benefit from Gay Games IV by New York City's Office of the Mayor grabbed the attention of civic leaders around the world.  One result was interest from cities on three continents to host Gay Games V in 1998.  Since then, as many as five bidding cities at a time have vied for the opportunity to host the event.

Federation leaders acknowledge that economic impact can be a key, positive motivation behind many bid efforts.  However, a bid is examined most closely on how the submitting group proposes to put on the core sports and cultural events in accordance with the Gay Games' founding principles of "Participation, Inclusion and Personal Best."™

"Perhaps the biggest intangible is getting to know the people behind each bid," said Kathleen Webster, co-president of the Federation.  "Hosting the Gay Games is not just an award but a privilege and trust on behalf of LGBT people in many countries.  It's been said before, but we're not so much looking for bidding groups that want to use the Gay Games to show off their city but who are eager and proud to have their city show off the Gay Games."

The site inspection visit is one of the ways the FGG gets to know the people behind each bid.  It is the current step in an extensively detailed Gay Games bidding process that lasts more than a year.

The Federation’s request for proposals document was available in April 2004 and the draft license agreement was available in September 2004.  Information sessions for potential bidders took place at the Federation’s annual meeting in November 2004.  Letters of intent to bid were submitted by interested bidding groups in January 2005 and full bid books were submitted in March.

Over the last five months, the FGG board has reviewed the bid books and submitted questions for clarification to the Site Selection Committee.  Following the site inspection tour, the Site Selection Committee will prepare a report for the FGG board prior to the FGG annual meeting in November in Chicago.

Final bid presentations will take place on Saturday, November 12th.  After a follow-up question and answer session with all three bidding groups, the FGG will vote and announce its selection on Sunday, November 13th.

”The site selection process is a critical responsibility,” Schaaff said.  “There are extensive conflict of interest rules in place for both FGG directors and the bidding organizations.  The guidelines ensure that the process is fair, reasonable, open, and reflects a serious commitment on the part of each bid group to put on the best possible event for Gay Games participants.”

Schaaff is a delegate to the FGG from the International Association of Gay & Lesbian Martial Artists and lives in Anchorage, Alaska, USA.  Joining him on the site inspection tour are his Site Selection Committee co-chair, Dennis Sneyers of Chicago, Illinois, USA, and past Site Selection Committee co-chair Rob Lavery of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Sneyers is the founder and still serves on the board of Chicago Games, Inc., the 2006 Gay Games host organization.  He said he felt a special connection with the bidding groups, having gone through a similar process himself.

"Bidding for the Gay Games is a lot of hard work but enormously rewarding whether a bid is ultimately successful or not," Sneyers said.  "It's been great to work on it again from the Federation's viewpoint and see in the 2010 candidates the same eagerness and enthusiasm we had in Chicago towards the Gay Games."

Details of respective plans and contact information for each bidding organization may be found at:

Cologne:  www.gaygamescologne.org
Johannesburg:  www.gaygamesjohannesburg.com
Paris:  www.parisgames2010.org