Of Pins and Public Relations - One Collector's Story
Public support is a big part of any Bid City’s campaign and any bid would be lost without lots of promotion and lots of pins and souvenirs to give away to the media, well-wishers and pin collectors.
Inspired by many of our readers who send us email daily with questions about pins and souvenirs, I decided to go undercover as a pin collector and try to complete a 2008 Olympic Bid pin collection. Soon I would be able to answer all of our readers’ questions, or at least that is what I hoped.
Beijing
I pointed my browser to Beijing’s website and on the home page was a link on the menu for “Pins & Souvenirs”. One more click and I had all of the information I needed to request pins and posters. I sent a short email, with my address, requesting a pin and immediately received a response in Chinese text (which I was unable to read but interpreted as a positive thing).
About three weeks later I received a small package in the mail with two attractive pins, each in their own hard plastic case. And just for good measure, two days later I received a third but slightly different pin. Finally, just shortly before publication of this article roughly 3 weeks before the vote – I received two more pins that were a new pewter-colour design.
I imagined this to be a pin collector’s dream response. It is clear that Beijing is taking their PR campaign very seriously.
Istanbul
After surfing to the Istanbul Bid Website, I searched for information on pins or souvenirs but to no avail. However I did notice a single link labeled “email” and immediately fired off a request for pins with my address. I received no email response.
About three weeks later I received a parcel from Turkey which contained two bid pins and two large decals promoting the Olympic bid. Another pin collectors’ success!
Osaka
Before I conducted this test, I was already in possession of Osaka bid pins that I received in 1998 when I wrote to an email address on their Website requesting information for TSG. Along with a colourful brochure, they sent a beautiful and well-constructed pin with a sheet of stickers. I thought that was very nice of them but they weren’t impressed that I advertised this fact on our Website and they requested that we remove the information immediately. We complied.
But now that the secret is out, I can tell you that by clicking the email icon on the Osaka Bid home page and sending your request with your address – you will receive a pin in the mail. I tested the exercise just recently and was lucky enough to receive two new pins of a new design boasting the Olympic rings.
Paris
I loaded up Internet Explorer and landed on the Paris 2008 Website. Then by clicking the little British flag I was able to read the site in English. Then Voila! Right on the front page was an option labeled “contact us”. I clicked on it only to find a mailing address – that’s right, snail mail. I haven’t written a letter on paper this millennium and I wasn’t about to get back into the habit. So at second glance I found the email address of the webmaster for “information about the Website”. Well, it was worth a shot so I sent my address and request. A few weeks have passed and I have received no email response and no pins. C’est la vie! But I wasn’t finished.
Ever heard of eBay, the Internet auction site? Well apparently other lucky recipients of Paris pins have and they were more than willing to give them up to the highest bidder – that being me on this occasion. So for six bucks plus shipping and handling and was able to fill the void in my collection without the bid committee’s help.
Toronto
I live in the Greater Toronto Area and have even visited the TO-2008 committee’s offices so how hard could it be to get a pin? I had already received a pin from the committee but I still wanted to see how easy it would be for a pin collector to do it so my first stop was the TO-Bid Website.
On the main menu is a link to “Bid Merchandise” that leads to a page displaying promotional clothing and information about pins (the pin information has recently been removed). There are several Toronto area retail locations listed where pins and merchandise can be purchased. So, as a collector my first thought would be “purchase? For money?” It’s a bitter pill to swallow when the other bid committees are more than anxious to put pins in your possession at their expense. But for CAN$4.29, a pin is a pin, so I ran off to the City Hall store and picked up a couple pins. I learned that my $4.29 went towards F.A.S.T., a TO-Bid created charity to support junior athletes in Canada. Mission accomplished? Well for me, yes – but what if you live in Europe and don’t want to pay the airfare?
So first I wrote to the information email address at TO-Bid asking for information about how I could buy pins if I live out-of-town. I received no response. My next instinct was to contact TorontoSummerGames.com for information (just like hundreds of you do every month, thank you). I responded to my own email telling myself to read my upcoming article about pins. Now what?
Remember eBay? For anywhere from between US$5.00 to US$10.00 plus shipping you can get the same retail pins that are available in stores in Toronto, shipped to your door. Just like in Paris’ case, without the help of the bid committee.
But while on eBay I found a special edition Toronto pin that contained the Olympic rings and was not available for retail sale or anywhere else. Of course, for only US$9.99 (plus shipping!) I was able to take possession of this pre-owned beauty. After swapping emails with the previous owner (who wishes to remain anonymous) I learned that this pin was only distributed to the media and VIP’s and not given to the general public. How disappointing, I thought.
Winners and Losers
If pins were all that counted in the Olympic Bid process, it would be a tight race between the three frontrunners where Beijing and Osaka “would stage an excellent Games” and Istanbul “could stage an excellent Games”. Lack of communication would be Istanbul’s only failure. Paris and Toronto would be out of the running for failure to deliver the goods.
But, that’s all from a pin collector’s point of view. Out of disguise and back in my analyst’s hat, I’ve come to a different conclusion. The goal of the Bid Committees is to gain local public support and impress upon the IOC voters through international media and a solid bid plan. Sending pins to fans out of the country doesn’t accomplish any of this and only adds to expenses. In Toronto’s case, they targeted local fans by selling through local retailers and giving to charity, thus helping create a good local image, and giving free pins to the media and VIP’s helps butter up the people who convey a message to the IOC members. That’s smart and efficient and it’s likely that Paris is using a similar strategy.
But enough of the politics – go to the TSG Links page and start surfing to get your pins!