Sydney 2000

SYDNEY 2000

	The Sydney Olympics were a unique experience for all involved. It was a particularly interesting time for the Australian Event Industry. In this special Olympic section we have gathered stories and photos from many aspects of the events which surrounded the sports carnival. The ASE coverage is quite unique. As far as we know this is the first time such coverage has been put together and there is currently no other publicly available publication which has this amount of information available on the Event Production aspects of the Games. We regard this information as a useful resource for the Event Industry and so we will keep this information online and updated for some time. Send us your comments and stories. In particular we like the stories from the field, from those involved at the grass roots level and we invite you to submit your stories, your experiences, your views and reflections on the events surrounding the XXVIIth Olympiad. If you have a story idea please email the editor with an outline, we will then follow you up. If you have general (or specific) comments please email to us as well. The official Sydney 2000 Olympics website archive
The Olympics Legacy
	One year on from the Olympics ASE asked a couple of the major players to reflect on the past year and to look at where their business are heading. David Grant shares a few thoughts on his year since the Sydney Olympics “The biggest impact of the Olympics has really been our continuing work with several of our Olympic sponsors on their domestic events - developing into good long term relationships where they use our services for more projects than would have previously because the Olympics showed just how versatile we can be.” Great Big Events’ Greg Bowman talks to ASE Great Big Events played a major role is fostering the Olympic atmosphere. Greg Bowman, was the Executive Producer of Sport Presentation. He was responsible for the creation, development and implementation of sport presentation for the 38 sports across 29 venues. The Olympics unsung heroes who never played a wrong National Anthem The Sport Presentation Dept were a tiny group of unsung heroes who provided all of the entertainment on every field of play from the moment the Opening Ceremony finished to the moment the Closing Ceremony began.
The Big Events

		How NSW Teachers Provided Valuable Lessons for Olympic Ceremonies SOCOG had to find someone to help put on the greatest show on earth using school students
		The Closing Night Harbour Spectacular Behind the largest pyrotechnic show ever staged
		Olympic Opening Ceremony Australian Special Event industry stands tall
		A Tale of the Unexpected Behind the scenes of the Opening Ceremony By Vivien Reed
		Olympic Opening Ceremony The view from within by Peter Kamper
		Opening Cermony – Production Team A full list of the team behind the Sydney 2000 Olympics Opening Ceremony
		The World Records that opened and closed the Olympics The Sydney Olympics opened and closed with world records, and many more non-sporting records were set in between.
		The torch lady takes the cake – Di Henry on the road with the Olympic Torch By Liz Rivers
		Round-Australia Horse Ride was an epic event By Liz Rivers

Behind the Scenes

		Gold medals aren’t just won in the sporting arena How the Olympic venues were kept clean

Olympic Arts Festival

		Olympic Arts Festival Opening
		Hemispheres Fresh Global Sounds at Centennial Park
		Fruit Flys are buzzing Ordinary Kids doing Exraordinary things

Around the City of Sydney

		Entertaining the Games Crowds One of the challenges of the Olympics was to entertain patrons outside the sporting venues.
		City of Sydney – Take a bow for Olympic Achievement Interview with Geoffrey Williams, Manager Cultural Affairs & Protocol, City of Sydney
		Olympic Live Sites out-perform OCA expectations Interview with Jill Keyte, Senior Events Manager for the Olympic Coordination Authority
		Buttering up the Media Welcoming the world's media to Sydney
		Hospitality for Sydney’s Visitors Quite a number of visiting countries established hospitality domains for visitors, athletes and officials to provide a home feel for those visitors.
		Lighting up the City How the city came alive with a stunning lighting project

Comment

		Gold, Gold, Gold to Australia – and some silver and bronze. ASE recognises those involved in the events surrounding the Sports Carnival Why is it that television producers in this country have no idea of how to present Special Events? Media Coverage There were many stories in the Sydney media covering the Games. Here are a number relating to the Ceremonies in particular.

Trevor's Olympic Scrapbook

		T he Sydney Experience The evidence was everywhere; we were surrounded by the Olympics Experience
		Images of Sydney Images large and larger dominated the city
		Lighting up the City The Opera House and city buildings seen in a new light
		Olympic Live Sites The Olympic Live sites were a huge hit
		City Entertainment Entertainment was everywhere
		Sydney Olympic Park The grounds of Sydney Olympic Park were alive with many surprises.
		The Media Facing the media, coping with the media watching our every move
		Trailing the Torch A personal encounter
The Corporate side of the Games

		The Finest Fare A La Mode How the Mode Group catered for Austrade, the Dutch, the Japanese, the Greeks and Sydney Town Hall
		The Tour Hosts Olympic experience with BHP Nicole Turner discusses how Tour Hosts managed the Corporate Hospitality program for BHP
		Management of Kodak Olympic Corporate Hospitality Judy Gillespie on Kodak Australia’s Olympic hospitality program
		From Atlanta to Sydney to Athens… David Grant Special Events is set to see the legacy of its Olympic successes continue.
		news.club – the hottest ticket in town This stunning nightclub was produced by Icon Events
		Cyber Surfing taken to the water The IBM Surf Shacks were designed and built by Designtroupe
		Captain Cook Cruises’ Olympic Personal Best
		Aussie's support their sporting heroes, like no other nation!

Paralympics

		Interview with Meri Took – Production Director Paralympic Ceremonies
		Paralympics Opening Ceremony Karen Richards and her teamed pulled it off! Ceremonies Production Credits
		Behind the man behind the song that opened the Paralympics Opening Ceremony By Susanne Mason-Cox

Feedback and Experiences

		Photographing the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Sydney based event photographer Annabel Moeller gained unlimited access to almost every area of the Games.
		An Oly Voly Story Ruth Lilian is an experienced Conference Manager who took time off from her job to work in the volunteer program for the Olympics.
		A Personal Recollection by Nigel Collin, Absurd Entertainment
		OUR Olympic Experience… ...students of Northern Beaches TAFE
		Geissler Communications help to promote “Green Olympics”
		Reader’s response to the Olympics and our coverage of the events. Some personal experiences

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