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Any update of when we can expect the logo to be revealed? I was expecting something around NYE, like Rio, but obviously not. Hope they get onto it fast, they're using one of the most boring bid logos of recent times.

I think it will be on February 9 2013, or the 5 year countdown.

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Any update of when we can expect the logo to be revealed? I was expecting something around NYE, like Rio, but obviously not. Hope they get onto it fast, they're using one of the most boring bid logos of recent times.

http://www.pyeongchang2018.org/horizon/kor/page/sub05/sub05_02.asp?hb_Mode=readArticle&hb_BoardItem_ID=56801&hb_BoardManager_ID=BDEEAA02&hb_PageNum=2&hb_SearchItem=&hb_SearchWord=

According to the official website, there was a contest last October to design the logo, and the winning design would be announced after it is submitted to the IOC for approval in February 2013.

I also read elsewhere that plans for the showcasing of Korean culture (cultural events, opening and closing ceremonies, torch relay) will begin in 2014, and licensing merchandise like stamps and commemorative coins will go on sale to the public in 2015. Construction of the Olympic village has already begun.

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http://www.pyeongchang2018.org/horizon/kor/page/sub05/sub05_02.asp?hb_Mode=readArticle&hb_BoardItem_ID=56801&hb_BoardManager_ID=BDEEAA02&hb_PageNum=2&hb_SearchItem=&hb_SearchWord=

According to the official website, there was a contest last October to design the logo, and the winning design would be announced after it is submitted to the IOC for approval in February 2013.

I also read elsewhere that plans for the showcasing of Korean culture (cultural events, opening and closing ceremonies, torch relay) will begin in 2014, and licensing merchandise like stamps and commemorative coins will go on sale to the public in 2015. Construction of the Olympic village has already begun.

So sometime after February 2013 the logo will be submitted to the IOC?? Or is the logo already been submitted and waiting approval

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So sometime after February 2013 the logo will be submitted to the IOC?? Or is the logo already been submitted and waiting approval

You would think they will reveal it at the five year mark, I'd hope so anyway.

I'm impatient - 2013 is a non-Olympic year and I need more than just the 2020 decision to draw my interest. :P

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You would think they will reveal it at the five year mark, I'd hope so anyway.

I'm impatient - 2013 is a non-Olympic year and I need more than just the 2020 decision to draw my interest. :P

The year after the Olympics is always a down year for multi-sporting events. :lol:

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International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge is expected to visit Korea at the end of this month.

His visit is primarily to check preparations for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games, especially the troubled financial status of one of its main venues.

According to the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) and PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (POCOG), they are currently in negotiations with the IOC over the 70-year-old Belgian’s trip to Korea.

“Rogge is likely to come to Korea around Jan. 30 but the details have yet to be decided,” a KOC official said.

POCOG added that because the IOC is on vacation until Jan. 7, Rogge’s specific itinerary will be discussed when its officials return to work.

Rogge has led the IOC since 2001 and is slated to step down in September.

PyeongChang, 180 kilometers east of Seoul in Gangwon Province, won the bid to host the nation’s first Winter Games on its third attempt last year, beating European rivals Germany’s Munich and France’s Annecy.

Rosy predictions are that the 2018 Winter Olympics could result in about 29 trillion to 60 trillion won in economic benefits for the country. But the snowballing debt of the Alpensia Resort has become a thorn in the organizers side.

The resort is the main venue of the 2018 Games and will host the ski jumping, biathlon, cross country skiing, bobsleigh, luge and skeleton competitions.

Last month Gangwon Development Corp., which owns and operates Alpensia, said that the resort has been losing approximately 60 billion won ($56 million) annually over the past few years because of costs including a substantial amount of monthly interest while revenue remains at 50 billion won.

The interest comes from a total of 1 trillion won in municipal bonds and bank loans raised since 2004 to finance the construction of the resort that features a golf course, hotels and other leisure facilities. The deadline for Alpensia to pay back outstanding debt installments of 560 billion and 220 billion won is 2013 and 2014 respectively. If it fails to make the repayments, Alpensia may go belly up. According to Gangwon Development, bankruptcy could prevent Alpensia from hosting the 2018 Winter Games.

The Alpensia Resort, which was completed in 2009 to support PyeongChang’s Olympic bid, is desperately seeking to lure investment from either the central government or private entities.

Meanwhile, POCOG seems almost blindingly optimistic. In a statement issued last month, the organizers said that they are positive that Gangwon Province will do all it can to solve the problem, saying a case in point is the emergency task force recently established by Alpensia in conjunction with the Gangwon provincial government and organizations representing various businesses in the region.

“In any case, the Olympic Games will not be affected adversely by Gangwon Development Corp.’s financial status since all sports venues at Alpensia are owned by Gangwon Province,” it said.

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Pyeongchang 2018 will destroy 'Ecological Ark of Ancient Forest'

'Save Mt. Kariwang-san, an Ecological Ark of Ancient Forest, from Ski Area Construction for the 2018 Winter Games at Pyeongchang, Korea'

Summary Note on the Controversial Olympic Downhill Condemning a Treasure Mountain

Written by Cho Sang-hee (contact yakbell_cho@yahoo.com)

The movement named Save Mt. Kariwang-san From Olympics raises awareness of the issue of our country for the Koreans who might have simply welcomed their local province's hosting of the Olympic Winter Games in 2018.

The bid for the Games was won on the third attempt by Kangwon Province for the venue of its county-city of Pyeongchang in a key project for local concerns.

If not for the Seoul government's support or neither without national fervor or promotion by such corporations as Samsung, the Games with a global audience could not have been won.

However when we think about the fate of the mountain shrouded with the mist of ancient forests in the back country of the Land of Morning Calm (the old-time reference to Korea) and the environmental damage caused by ski run construction, the question is about the rationality and if it is something to be cheered for?

Since inception of the pro-Olympic drive at the turn of this century, the bidding officials and now the Organizing Committee have not given regards to the fact that the proposed skiing venue is the seat of an ecological treasure trove dubbed "the Ark of Forest Plants" of Korea.

With the mountain forests' giant trees of a unique value that could be found in this over-populated country, so it is designated as a Genetic Resource Protection Area.

The government forestry authority is sacrificing the sanctuary. The Korea Forest Service, the body responsible for national forests, followed the decision of other authorities and proclaimed that there was no other alternative to Mt. Kariwang-san.

Earlier in the picture, the local authorities neglected the need for a further search of other areas as proposed by environmental groups. The possibility of modified use of the neighboring ski resorts was put forth and denied.

To solve the problem of new construction of ski runs the requirements should be met in terms of altitude, length, difficulty and location of the course. Anyhow, the matters are for the speed disciplines, Men's and Women's Downhill (and four other events with a total of six golds at stake)that are over within less than two minutes in a single heat.

The Province is soon to conduct an environmental impact assessment ahead of the construction. It must be noted that they set off on the wrong footing for their work on the 'seasons' plants in that

snow-covered mountain.

The purpose is for the mitigation of any environmental damage, not for changing of the whole work or withdrawal of it. (It has made minor alterations in the plan by doing the cross-change of the courses for men and women and shortening one of them to save some big trees on the crest at 1,400 meters.)

Meanwhile, the forestry agency says they will "restore" the razed slopes of the valley of Mt. Kariwang-san by sodding some grasses and re-planting after the Games. According to a schedule to meet the FIS "demand," the first power shovels will strike the trees--for making ski runs, ropeways, motor trails and then spectators' seats-- before the snowfall of this year.

In recent years, the environmental organizations, including some groups from Seoul, expressed publicly their concern about the problem, which are contradictory with the people of Kangwon Province's who have vague expectations of the benefits from the Games on their home turf and the civic pride in hosting the Olympics do not leave any room to be at any conflict with bureaucracy.

Groups such as Uiryong Conservationists Club of Seoul, however, has conducted a series of field surveys while leading the strenuous campaign to save Mt. Kariwang-san. Last year they found near the proposed ski area a giant oak (measured over 130 centimeters in the chest-height diameter) believed to be the oldest alive in the country.

The group's botanists also discovered in the mountains' core area the large habitats of "Wangsasre," the variant of aspen-birch tree (from Betula ermani and Betula costata), that is unique in the world. The conservationists are doing an ongoing study of the mountain to counter what could result into a deficient report by the officials.

Though the local media are rather playing down the issue, some look forward with the Save Mt. Kariwang-san to drawing the attention of relevant people abroad and particularly those organizations concerned with the Games. Public discussion other than official hearings on the issue were held at home a couple of times.The conservationists here now believe it's time to seek an international coalition and support against the natural calamity involved with the sport. Winter Games at Nakano and Salt Lake City they say can be cited as good precedents.

The Save Mt. Kariwang-san From Olympics names an issue of our times to realize the oft-talked slogan for the environment-friendly Games. Now, we would like to remind that it is an action being taken to the effect of saving the ultimate Olympic cause of Harmony and Peace, which embraces all living things. Our call for this, we believe in the hope, would not be a far cry and that advocacy should be extended to the very threshold of the IOC and its undertaker FIS.

In the winter of 2018, the competing athletes stopping in the snow tail they've just carved upon crossing the finish line will look back at the scoreboard for their times. They would not have any idea about at what cost their competition place had been made.

It is deplorable that each pole-gate on the downhill run was home to hundreds of trees and other families in the flora. In place of the Olympic rings we could be able to substitute the felled giant Birch, Oak, Aspen, Pine and Yew trees as a stark reminder as to what devastation to Nature these Games were held.

Submitted by Julian Cheyne on Thu, 03/01/2013 - 14:25.

http://www.gamesmonitor.org.uk/node/1934

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IOC and POCOG sign Marketing Plan Agreement

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the PyeongChang 2018 Organising Committee (POCOG) today signed the Marketing Plan Agreement (MPA), which allows POCOG to start its marketing activities in earnest and, in particular, the recruitment of national partners.

The ceremony, which took place in Seoul, Republic of Korea, saw IOC President Jacques Rogge and POCOG President Jin Sun Kim formally sign the agreement in front of an audience of about 120 Korean dignitaries and members of the media.

Speaking at the ceremony, President Rogge said, “Today’s signing of the Marketing Plan Agreement marks the moment the local organisers truly take ownership of their promotional and financial destiny.” He continued, “You are about to embark on an exciting and rewarding journey. Many opportunities await you, as do a few challenges. But we are confident that you have everything in place to be highly successful in your endeavours. The private sector clearly plays a crucial role in

delivering the Games, and the IOC will provide you with support and guidance whenever needed along the way.”

President Kim of POCOG emphasised in his remarks that the MPA would be the foundation for POCOG’s marketing activities over the coming years. He added that the signing would be the start of PyeongChang 2018’s marketing programme, as the Organising Committee endeavoured to

secure national partners to support the Games.

The ceremony included a brief overview of the MPA by Lawrence Lee, Director General of POCOG’s marketing bureau, after the speeches of Presidents Rogge and Kim.

The MPA is a written agreement between the IOC and the Organising Committee, which specifies the obligations of the organisers in relation to their marketing programme. This ensures that all parties linked to PyeongChang 2018 have a clear understanding of Olympic marketing

principles, protecting and preserving the image and integrity of the Olympic Movement. A strong marketing programme is particularly important, as the operational budget of Games organising committees, along with the IOC’s contribution, is primarily funded by private investment.

IOC

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Sorry for asking again, but do we have precise information about the location of the speed skating venue and of the opening and closing ceremonies ?

The opening and closing ceremonies will be held in a town called Hwaengye (I've also seen it spelled as Hoenggye. It's hard to spell some Korean places into English when there's no direct translation).

The speed skating venue will be the Gangneung Science Oval. It will be built near the Gyeongpo Ice Hall (figure skating/short track) and the Union Hockey Centre. Construction starts in September 2013.

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Today marks 5 years until the Opening Ceremony of the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. Even though I've not heard of anything happening - would have been an great opportunity to unveil a logo..! With only two other Asian Winter Games to go by (both Japanese) I'm interested to see what PC18 comes up.

Well, they didn't want to steal the thunder from Sochi's One-year countdown. And there'll be enough time to unveil the logo in a grander way next year at the Handover ceremony.

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Well, they didn't want to steal the thunder from Sochi's One-year countdown. And there'll be enough time to unveil the logo in a grander way next year at the Handover ceremony.

I hope so - although I wonder if even that is leaving it too late, given that the unveiling would have to be at the CC - and I think it is important (from a marketing perspective) to have the official, new logo and branding of the next Games present at the current Games, like we saw with London and Sochi in Vancouver. Ideally I think we should have the official logo about one year before handover. The longer it is left, the harder it becomes for the new branding to assert itself, as it can compete with the bid logo. I think Sydney had this issue - as it had quite a strong 2000 bid logo, which wasn't replaced with the official logo until 1997. The Sydney 2000 bid logo was used throughout Atlanta, unfortunately.

Edited by runningrings
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I hope so - although I wonder if even that is leaving it too late, given that the unveiling would have to be at the CC - and I think it is important (from a marketing perspective) to have the official, new logo and branding of the next Games present at the current Games, like we saw with London and Sochi in Vancouver. Ideally I think we should have the official logo about one year before handover. The longer it is left, the harder it becomes for the new branding to assert itself, as it can compete with the bid logo. I think Sydney had this issue - as it had quite a strong 2000 bid logo, which wasn't replaced with the official logo until 1997. The Sydney 2000 bid logo was used throughout Atlanta, unfortunately.

Sochi branding? That's a joke. It used to be that the next host city could NOT release any promotional/marketing/branding stuff until its quadrennium actually began. Now, you never know when it starts, so it becomes very confusing with regular people who just take a cursory interest in the Olympics. If I were a TOP sponsor who paid $80 - $100 million for a quadrennium, I certainly would not be happy having the next logo out there while the Games that I paid for still had not played out. I really hope they (the IOC) sticks to just releasing the next logo at the Handover and after. Not before.

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But in recent times, the sponsors want the logo available early so they can start building their marketing and promotions plans. Beijing, Vancouver, London, Sochi and Rio all released their new emblems about five years ahead of their respective games. I think that is fair. And it isn't like we brush aside an Olympics one year away for one five years away just because they released their logo. Most in the general population won't even know much about Pyeongchang until about late in 2017.

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^^ That looks like quite a lot of snow there, not mentioning it looks beautiful and stunning.

Where's the people which kept saying Pyeongchang didn't had enough snow and it would be a disaster? :lol:

It's a promotional picture from Peyonchang Website, it's logical to have a picture with lot of snow. Sometimes you have snow in Korea.

In February in Korea it's the dry season, and it's very unusual to have snow... You can check on Google and Wikipedia and meteo website if you don't believe me... And in 2009 for example, there weren't snow in February in Korea... It's stupid to organize WoG where you don't have good climatic condition and where you have no knowledge in winter event and no popular fervor.

But in gamesbids lot of people look bidbook and think "this place is perfect".

IOC doesn't vote for the best place, only for the country whom give them the most bribes... Russia and Korea are the best example for that, like Qatar to football...

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But in gamesbids lot of people look bidbook and think "this place is perfect".

IOC doesn't vote for the best place, only for the country whom give them the most bribes... Russia and Korea are the best example for that, like Qatar to football...

Russia and Korea the best example of bribes? Thats funny - I've always thought that dubious honour belonged to the United States after it played questionable tactics in order to obtain the 2002 Olympics?

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Russia and Korea the best example of bribes? Thats funny - I've always thought that dubious honour belonged to the United States after it played questionable tactics in order to obtain the 2002 Olympics?

Of course USA was a scandal, but it's exactly the same about Korea and Russia...

Moreover USA have the potential to host perfect WoG not like Korea and Russia. Gazprom and Poutine have bought 2014 WoG like Samsung and Korean Government to 2018.

Since 2002, we can be suspicious about the IOC choice about WoG, excepted Vancouver 2010 whom was logical.

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