Toronto 2015

[cfm Jeremie]

And JJ has brilliantly demonstrated how well connected he is during the race for the 2014 CWG. He is the mastermind behind the plan than delivered Abuja a brilliant victory!

LOL...

[Brans]

Toronto has released its venue plan and the other bid cities Lima and Bogota have not even release it. Is it not a requirement of the bid process, that the bid cities release a venue plan before the bid book.

Also neither Lima or Bogota have a website. A webiste is also importnat for any bidding city.

Lima and Bogota also missed the CANOC 6th Annual General Assembly in Curacao and gave no reason for absence.

[Apple]

Toronto hasn't released a finalized venue plan. Some venue plans could change until everything is finalized in April. In April Toronto, Lima and Bogota must submit their bid books.

[cfm Jeremie]

Toronto has released its venue plan and the other bid cities Lima and Bogota have not even release it. Is it not a requirement of the bid process, that the bid cities release a venue plan before the bid book.

Also neither Lima or Bogota have a website. A webiste is also importnat for any bidding city.

Lima and Bogota also missed the CANOC 6th Annual General Assembly in Curacao and gave no reason for absence.

Why are you whining like Toronto has already lost?

Toronto definitely has a very strong bid and is in good position for winning the 2015 Pan Am. But, like in any race, it's not over until it's over. And you have to realise that:

- the best technical bid does not always win

- winning a bid involves a combination of several factors (technical, geopolitical, economical...)

- "It's our turn" has never been a winning approach

Website is not very important for bidding city (especially in Pan Am Games).

There is no such requirement as releasing a venue plan before the bid book.

[Rafa]

I have a soft spot for Bogota. Their hard work in transforming their city, socially and in terms of public transport deserves global recognition.

[jim jones]

I have a soft spot for Bogota. Their hard work in transforming their city, socially and in terms of public transport deserves global recognition.

Well yes Bogota has come a long way . The largest problems I see is they will be hammered by they elevation factor and the violence past with drug cartels.

I think this is between Toronto and Lima frankly. Peru would be a new country for PASO to host in .

Jim Jones

[Ruling Czar]

I think the Toronto ppl, as is always the case in these things, are a little bit TOO confident. they may get a surprise or they may not. But arrogance just never works.

[jim jones]

I think the Toronto ppl, as is always the case in these things, are a little bit TOO confident. they may get a surprise or they may not. But arrogance just never works.

Well arrogance is certainly not on the Toronto end of the Deal . Toronto has shown up at every lobbying opportunity While Lima and Bogota didn't appear at the Canoc annual gathering this year in Curacao. If you can't get on a plane with a short direct flight of 3 to 5 hours in the case of both South American Cities while Toronto travels much much further having connecting flights. It tends to show who either wants it the most or who is indeed organized with their Campaign. Basically the Two South American Cities took a pass on the largest voting block while Toronto build further relationships which for Canada have been there for a long time. The Canadians do provide a great deal of Money to the Caribbean for Athletics Training and Development . That has been going on for decades .

Problem is for the South American Candidates is the long standing relationship Caribbean Nations have with Canada including Canadian Banks being in the region since the 1800's in great ways. It is not a Bank from Peru or Columbia that buys the Advert boards in the local Cricket Stadiums in the Caribbean it is ScotiaBank headquartered out of Toronto. Even with these ties that include the Royal Bank of Canada being another big Player in that region and First Caribbean being owned by the Bank of Commerce out of Canada Toronto 2015 is not resting on these great relationships of good will in the Region . Canadian Banking dominates much of the Caribbean . You go to a St kitts and the Main town square will have the in Basseterre has those three Canadian Banks and no others. It is much the same Case right across the Caribbean . Perhaps this is why there was a no show ? Again the largest voting group has good dealings with Canadians in and outside their own country as these banks are most likely sponsoring the local youth leagues as well.

The concept of a divided house for the South America Candidates might be there and they certainly didn't improve the odds with a snub of the Caribbeans. There is a general rotation pattern for the Pan Ams and 2015 is certainly North America's turn . Does not mean it is a given and hence why Toronto is very aggressive. You have people in the Toronto bid who have lost bids in the past . Few places win bids on the first attempt without experience from past campaigns either winning or losing.

Jim Jones

[Brans]

Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games group presented at Sports Accord in Denver. They were is only Pan Am Games group to present.

[Ruling Czar]

so is it safe to say it's a shoe in?

[Faster]

Nah, the Spanish block can rally around Lima.

[GBModerator]

Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games group presented at Sports Accord in Denver. They were is only Pan Am Games group to present.

There was no Toronto 2015 presentation at SportAccord. A couple of lobbyists were working but Jagoda Pike who was scheduled - did not attend.

SportAccord is not a big event on the Pan Am calendar since it is mostly Euro-centric. The other cities will be able to lobby at other events so I don't think their absence is important.

[Brans]

I am very much liking the selection of the board of directors for the 2015 Toronto Pan Am Games bid. It is a very high quality board with a lot of international experience. It has connections to every region in the Americas, and this is really going to strengthen Toronto's bid.

[Brans]

The question everyone is asking is whether David Peterson and Jagodta Pike are doing everything it takes to win this bid.

Where is the community involvement and the awareness surrounding this bid? The bid team should be out in the community gathering support for the bid.

This is one reason why I question the choice of David Peterson and Jagodta Pike leading this bid. Yes they have experience, but what is experience if you are not going to use it. Doing things to same as before is not a good strategy.

The need to try something new.

I also really believe this bid needs new blood running it.

[Brans]

I am very upset of how this bid is being run. David Peterson and Jagodta Pike have dome nothing to gain public interest in the bid. This bid is secret and quite frankly people do not have confidence in them. They are losers.

[Brans]

This bid should be ten times better then it is. Where is the public awareness campaign?, where is the grass roots campaign?

Both David Peterson and Jagodta Pike are clueless on how to run a bid, absolutely clueless. People are starting to lack confidence in the abilities.

People on this forum talk about their experience, how can they have experience if they do not learn from their mistakes?

[Brans]

David Peterson was apart of the 1996 and 2008 Olympic Bids both lost.

Jagodta Pike was apart of the 2010 and 2014 Common Wealth both lost.

The people losers who do not know how to win a bid. They are doing nothing different then in the past.

[Faster]

You really are an idiot

In all 4 of those cases Toronto/Hamilton had a superior bid to the winner (Hamilton second time in the domestic case) but lost because of bribery and a back room deal, Samaranch's departing gift, sympathy to India from Africa and the Caribbean and a COC back room deal that blow up in their face.

[Apple]

Braley on Pan Ams: get out the vote

April 15, 2009

John Kernaghan

The Hamilton Spectator

http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/548589

Winning is everything, especially when it delivers an impressive array of sports and recreation facilities for Hamilton.

That's David Braley's theme as he prepares for the first Pan American Games board meeting today.

"You can have a great bid book and nice presentation, but you must have the votes," says the auto-parts magnate. "You have to try to get close to every voting delegate and make sure you can deliver at least one more vote than the competition."

At stake for Hamilton is almost $200 million in new building, covering a stadium for track and field and football, velodrome and 50-metre pool for McMaster University.

So Braley will have a keen eye on the international lobbying element when the Toronto 2015 board gets down to business in Toronto.

Businessman Ivan de Souza, of Toronto, agrees that is a critical part of the bid process.

"I have many contacts in South America and the Caribbean and will be doing whatever I can to build support," said the president of Investcan Inc.

Another board member, Debbie Low of the Canadian Sport Centre Toronto, understands the wooing of votes well. She worked on the Toronto 2008 Olympic bid in the wake of the Salt Lake City bidding scandal.

She operated under the new IOC (International Olympic Committee) rules which meant you couldn't bring delegates to your city.

"A key element will be finding virtual ways to bring our cities and facilities to the people who will vote."

Toronto 2015 faces Bogota, Colombia, and Lima, Peru, in the competition for the Games. Voting is expected in early November.

While much of the first board meeting will cover housekeeping matters such as confirming corporate structure, bid chair David Peterson hoped to progress as far as establishing subcommittees in various areas of the bid. Braley and others will also get a briefing on the bid book due April 30.

That signals a new stage for the bidding process, with an evaluation team to follow up on the detailed submission in early summer.

Braley has a special interest in that group being inspired by the bid and Hamilton's part in it. He was key to the early stages of promoting a bid spanning southern Ontario.

And when two of the three facilities slated for Hamilton were about to be dropped due to a $300-million budget cut, he was hands on.

The Orlick Industries president saw the bid sliding sideways, claiming a temporary pool and velodrome to accommodate the budget was no way to win a bid.

He called for a summit of senior government and sports figures to find a way to restore the permanent facilities.

While an actual summit didn't happen, sources in national sports organizations say his influence helped get the pool for McMaster and velodrome for the west harbour site back into the plans.

Edited April 15, 2009 by Apple

[jim jones]

Braley on Pan Ams: get out the vote

April 15, 2009

John Kernaghan

The Hamilton Spectator

http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/548589

Winning is everything, especially when it delivers an impressive array of sports and recreation facilities for Hamilton.

That's David Braley's theme as he prepares for the first Pan American Games board meeting today.

"You can have a great bid book and nice presentation, but you must have the votes," says the auto-parts magnate. "You have to try to get close to every voting delegate and make sure you can deliver at least one more vote than the competition."

At stake for Hamilton is almost $200 million in new building, covering a stadium for track and field and football, velodrome and 50-metre pool for McMaster University.

So Braley will have a keen eye on the international lobbying element when the Toronto 2015 board gets down to business in Toronto.

Businessman Ivan de Souza, of Toronto, agrees that is a critical part of the bid process.

"I have many contacts in South America and the Caribbean and will be doing whatever I can to build support," said the president of Investcan Inc.

Another board member, Debbie Low of the Canadian Sport Centre Toronto, understands the wooing of votes well. She worked on the Toronto 2008 Olympic bid in the wake of the Salt Lake City bidding scandal.

She operated under the new IOC (International Olympic Committee) rules which meant you couldn't bring delegates to your city.

"A key element will be finding virtual ways to bring our cities and facilities to the people who will vote."

Toronto 2015 faces Bogota, Colombia, and Lima, Peru, in the competition for the Games. Voting is expected in early November.

While much of the first board meeting will cover housekeeping matters such as confirming corporate structure, bid chair David Peterson hoped to progress as far as establishing subcommittees in various areas of the bid. Braley and others will also get a briefing on the bid book due April 30.

That signals a new stage for the bidding process, with an evaluation team to follow up on the detailed submission in early summer.

Braley has a special interest in that group being inspired by the bid and Hamilton's part in it. He was key to the early stages of promoting a bid spanning southern Ontario.

And when two of the three facilities slated for Hamilton were about to be dropped due to a $300-million budget cut, he was hands on.

The Orlick Industries president saw the bid sliding sideways, claiming a temporary pool and velodrome to accommodate the budget was no way to win a bid.

He called for a summit of senior government and sports figures to find a way to restore the permanent facilities.

While an actual summit didn't happen, sources in national sports organizations say his influence helped get the pool for McMaster and velodrome for the west harbour site back into the plans.

Apple did Hamilton 2010 omit track cycling for the commonwealth games bid? I think I read somewhere that they did and of course Mr. Braley is probably aware that Track cycling is something that may be a non starter for a temporary venue for the Pan Am Games . Some how I find it hard to believe a temporary Velodrome would be a liability to the Bid because Rio 2007 basically had a temporary surface in a perminent building and Winnipeg 1999 had the same but outdoors. I can see with an aquatics centre you might have a lack of legacy problem for the voters but track cycling for the most part has had examples of games staged with temporary venues including Atlanta 1996 Doha 2006 and Rio 2007.

jim jones

[Brans]

People get riled up when I question the choice of David Peterson and Jagodta Pike as bid organizers. Everyone says the they have experience, but what do you do with that experience?

Both David Peterson and Jagodta Pike should should focus on two things Lobbying and Public awareness.

Hardly anyone knows Toronto is bidding for the 2015 Pan Am Games and the blame lays on David Peterson and Jagodta Pike.

Also where is the lobbying strategy? Toronto 2015 should be out in every country in the Americas, promoting this bid, making friendships, bonding, connecting, promoting etc.

Focusing on the bid book in nice, but it is going to take a lot more than a nice bid book to win the games.

[Brans]

Delete

[Apple]

Apple did Hamilton 2010 omit track cycling for the commonwealth games bid? I think I read somewhere that they did and of course Mr. Braley is probably aware that Track cycling is something that may be a non starter for a temporary venue for the Pan Am Games . Some how I find it hard to believe a temporary Velodrome would be a liability to the Bid because Rio 2007 basically had a temporary surface in a perminent building and Winnipeg 1999 had the same but outdoors. I can see with an aquatics centre you might have a lack of legacy problem for the voters but track cycling for the most part has had examples of games staged with temporary venues including Atlanta 1996 Doha 2006 and Rio 2007.

jim jones

Cycling was part of Hamilton's bid, road race, track cycling and Mountain biking. The velodrome would have been temporary. The proposed velodrome would have been built next to the Morgan Firestone Sport Centre.

[Ruling Czar]

One this is for sure.......I just watched the Toronto 2015 Bid Video and it was remarkably impressive. Very well done. I think it is a very advanced and sophisticated bid. Good going Toronto. It seems you are the front runner in this race.

[Apple]

Pan Am bids delayed

JAMES CHRISTIE

April 28, 2009

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto.../TPStory/Sports

The outbreak of swine flu in Mexico has infected the sports world.

The delivery of bid books by candidates for the 2015 Pan American Games, which was to take place last Thursday in Mexico, has been postponed by Mario Vasquez Rana, president of the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO).

The delay of the formal presentation of bid plans by Lima, Bogota and Toronto came on the heels of a decision by the continental soccer authority, CONCACAF, to cancel the remaining rounds of its under-17 championship in Tijuana, Mexico, because of concerns about swine flu. A statement from the soccer body said the tournament was abandoned "to safeguard the health of players, officials and fans."

Officials of the Toronto Pan Am bid were expecting to present one of the books to Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty this week, then jump on a plane to Mexico City.

"We don't have the new date yet, but it's all wrapped up and ready to go," said David Peterson, chairman of the Toronto-branded bid, which stretches across Southern Ontario and north to cottage country. "Postponing is probably the prudent thing to do."

The delay in lodging the bid books gives the Toronto bid team a chance to polish its presentation of the athlete village, whose location was revealed on Sunday - the West Don Lands, east of downtown Toronto, on the shore of Lake Ontario. It was the front-running stand-alone site, though bid organizers has explored using dormitory space at York University in Toronto and McMaster University in Hamilton.

The Toronto site, if the 2015 Pan Am Games are awarded to the city, will be the temporary home of about 8,500 athletes. About 2,000 housing units for residents with a mixture of incomes would be the legacy. It is the same location, once called Ataratiri, that was pitched for the village in Toronto's bid for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

"[The Ontario government] acquired that land at a good price when I was premier and now it's undergoing remediation," Peterson said. "It would have been developed at some time, anyway, but this could speed it up. Waterfront Toronto and everyone else saw its potential ... and the voting members [of the 42 Pan American countries] are looking for a plan that will be solid and leave a legacy. They don't want to vote for you and see you change your mind."

Peterson said the designation of the east-end Toronto site would not encumber Toronto's chances to get the Pan American Games.

"We have train lines right along the lake and there will be dedicated highway lanes," he said. "Other Games have been more stretched out."

It's the second delay to hit the Pan Am bidding process. PASO pushed its meeting for the selection of a 2015 host back from August to its meetings in Guadalajara, Mexico, on Oct. 7 to 12. There are reports it could be bumped later still.