Archive for the ‘2008 Beijing Olympics’ Category

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Olivier Strebelle and the Athletes Alley

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

I haven’t been back in the Olympic Forest Park but I was told the gate on the West Side is now open and the statue can now be seen. The gardening was never completed, for obvious reasons (obvious to us!).
Cleaning up my many documents I stumbled on two documents:

- Publication dated September 2008 of the Belgian-Chinese Economic and Commercial Council, with an interview of the artist. The story told is part hilarious and part sad. A complete distortion of the facts, nothing ever happened that way. Just to suit some (famous) people in Belgium  who have selective amnesia. I use the story of the project as an illustration on ”How to do successful lobbying in China and how consulting companies can be the victim of dishonest foreign counterparts”. The story is very popular and I used it in several EMBA seminars.
Download: 080901strebelle.pdf
click to enlarge
one the seminars on lobbying

- A Chinese publication that reports the signing of the agreement covering the donation by The Kingdom of Belgium to the City of Beijing, ceremony held on 14 August 2007 at the Beijing Municipal Planning Commission. Pictured are Ambassador Bernard Pierre and myself.
Download: http://blog.strategy4china.com/wp-content/uploads/070814art.pdf

More details about the sculpture, search this blog…

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Documentary about Gilbert

Monday, October 19th, 2009

“The” movie is out on DVD and can be bought in DVD shops! It was previously shown during a couple of months on Hainan Airlines. See here the covers of the box (can be bought online for 50 RMB). My piece is on disk 4, second part and comments are in English or Chinese.

dvd2 dvd1

The 30 minutes documentary tells the story of my work for the Beijing 2008 Olympics.
See earlier entry about the shooting:

http://blog.strategy4china.com/?p=720

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Beijing Development and Reform Commission

Sunday, September 13th, 2009

On 24 August, delegates of the BDRC came over to my office to express thanks for my work as Senior Economic Adviser for the City. With the Olympics behind us, my task is finished – as for now. I received a “Honor Certificate” (one more to hang on the wall) plus a nice present.

The present was actually a crystal stone from…. Brazil, something I love – I have many in my collection.

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Hein Verbruggen and Gilbert

Wednesday, February 25th, 2009

Hein Verbruggen, 67 years old, was recently awarded the China Friendship Award, among a total of 12. It is the highest award China gives to foreign nationals who have made “outstanding contributions to the nation’s economic and social progress”. The next U.S. ambassador in Beijing is said to also have received the Award (not confirmed yet).
Gilbert received the same award on 29 September 2005 from then Vice Premier Ms. Wu Yi.
Verbruggen, from Holland, had led the IOC’s Oversight Panel for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and was thus deeply involved in the Beijing mega-show.
Gilbert too got the award for his long-term involvement in the preparation for the Olympics.
What Gilbert does not share however was the way to analyze the preparations: Verbruggen was rather sugar-coating everything to please Beijing. Gilbert has a reputation of being “rather out-spoken” (an understatement).
Verbruggen has since then left the IOC to seek “a quieter life”. Well, dear Hein, there we also share something. I’m happy it’s all over and feel it is still …. a bit early to make a final assessment of the mega-show.

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The post-Olympic use of stadiums in Beijing

Wednesday, February 11th, 2009

Gilbert was recently on Flemish TV (VRT).
Tom Van de Weghe made another interview with me on the legacy of some of the major Olympic venues. I feel sad how the Bird’s Nest – the project I helped to launch – has lost its original vision as a major sports and event arena. Officials are mostly to blame due to their interference. Important to stress here that it is NOT a “government” project – it is a project financed in part by the private sector under a Public Private Partnership scheme.
Now it is becoming an embarrassment as it stands there just for visits – planned events are months away and few. No soccer as nobody wants to play there and the owners are not interested either: maintenance costs to host a few soccer games are way to high.
All that happens when officials do not listen to good advice, think they don’t need foreign expertise (e.g. international operators) and mess it up.
The story of this architectural master piece is not yet at the end. Just wait. So sad for the architect Pierre de Meuron who had a correct vision.
In the video: Dieter Depypere (videos), Gilbert Van Kerckhove, Tom Tobback.
“Six months ago the world’s eyes were focused on China, when the Beijing Olympic Games kicked off spectacularly. Now that the spotlights are out, what’s happening with the Olympic infrastructure, and what’s the legacy of these Games for the Chinese? A report for Sportweekend.” So says Tom.
You can watch it on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/n/?video/video.php&v=53484921485&aref=17524202
Well done Tom!

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