August 1, 2011 | Posted by Shaun McCarthy
Tags: Aquatic Centre, athletes, merchandise, ODA, one year to go, waste
A couple of years ago I was invited to speak at a conference organised for university purchasing consortia (I get all the good gigs!) I was asked to give the opening keynote speech but I was told that I would be following a “motivational speaker”. I have done this before and was quite relaxed about it; these people usually get the audience in a good mood before I put them to sleep. I did not realise until the evening before the event that the motivational speaker was Lenny Henry! However, having experienced Lenny as my warm up act did not prepare me for the event in the Aquatic Centre where I had Queen as my backing band. I was doing an interview for BBC Radio London when the speakers started booming out a medley of Queen hits to accompany a synchronised swimming demonstration in the diving pool. That pretty much summed up the first part of the day, organised chaos with a huge scrum of media people all talking at once. The BBC people were great, ushering me from interview to interview. Part of our duty is to communicate and we did lots of that on the day. The early …
July 27, 2011 | Posted by Jemma Percy
Tags: one year to go
With only one year to go, the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012, the independent body established to assure and monitor the sustainability of the London 2012 Games, recognises the progress and achievements made to help deliver the most sustainable Games ever. Progress and achievements include the Olympic Delivery Authority’s (ODA) exemplary performance in sustainable construction which is already transforming the industry, and London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games’ (LOCOG) ambitious plans for Games-time food and waste, which has been delivered through their excellent sustainable procurement code. Nonetheless, it is also true, that there have been significant opportunities missed to promote sustainability around the globe such as the failure to meet the renewable energy targets and to deliver a low-carbon Olympic and Paralympic torch. Shaun McCarthy, Chair of the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012, said: “In the next 12 months, it is essential to be as focused on sustainability as we were at the bid stage. The biggest danger is complacency as the emphasis shifts to the sporting events next July and August. LOCOG must maximise the impact of symbols such as the Olympic and Paralympic cauldron and draw on the breadth and reach of Olympic …
