Opening the Doors for 2015 Volunteers
Tuesday, January 22, 2013 @ 3:56 AM
Christine Nicholls, Manager Volunteer Workforce for the 2015 Games, talks with volunteers (photo-250NEWS)
Prince George, B.C- Hosting the 2015 Canada Winter Games will be “transformative” for Prince George and the region says Alyson Gourley Cramer, Manager of Communications and Community Relations for the 2015 Games Society. “This is a massive deal, it’s huge. We want the City of Prince George and the community members to appreciate that this is going to be transformative. We really believe it. We saw what the Olympics did for Vancouver, and we really believe the Games will have the same effect on us in the same scale.”
Over the past couple of weeks, the Society has been meeting with those who have indicated a desire to volunteer during the Games. There will be a lot of volunteers needed.
Some will have their work completed by the time the first athletes arrive, others will see themselves busy throughout the two weeks of activity.
Right now, there is a need for six key planning volunteers who will chair the following committees:
Accommodations, Environmental services, Food Services, Materials Management, Security and Village Services. “They will take our functional plans and help turn them into reality for Games time” says Gourley-Cramer.
During the City of Prince George bid for the Games, thousands of people put their names forward saying they would volunteers.
The estimate is that during the Games between 10 and 15% of the population of Prince George will be actively involved in making the Games happen. Gourley-Cramer says when the Games brand launch happened last year, about 2,000 people signed up, but now, the Society is eig very strategic in finding those who have the specific talents needed at this stage of the planning “We know the expertise exists in Prince George, people are coming out of the wood work it’s really incredible. We have people who are former officials who have worked at World Cups, we’ve got alumni athletes coming to us, it’s really inspiring to see whose here. But we ( Society staff) don’t know them all, so this really is an opportunity to put the word out and have people come to us.”
That doesn’t mean the Society is sitting back waiting for the volunteers to knock on their door, the Society has been busy connecting with student groups at the University and the College, the retired teachers association, making presentations at the Chamber of Commerce, “We’re really now trying to engage the community with what we know is going to be a really big deal” says Gourley-Cramer “ We didn’t expect the buzz to start before now, and any earlier than this we wouldn’t be able to sustain the excitement or the energy either, so we want to be prepared for our volunteers. Once we engage them, we want to have work for them to do ‘cause they will want to be participating, so I think the timing is now.”
To submit your name , or to find full descriptions of volunteer positions, click here
Comments
Sounds like they are concerned about getting enough volunteers.
Hope that’s the case Pal. What a waste of taxpayer money this venture will be. Oh well nobody bothered to protest when it was being hatched so enjoy paying for it all you people in PG. Won’t be getting any money from me. Or time volunteering.
There seems to be alot of people that do not quite understand the scope of how big this project is to put on and how big it is for Prince George. Rest assured, there will be enough volunteers. You can also rest assured that if you sit on your balcony and grumble like the old guys on the muppets then this event will not effect you, nor will you effect this event, in anyway ;)
It matters little what the scope of this project is, that is just part of the hype.
Fact of the matter is it will mean absolutely nothing to Prince George over the long term.
We have held these games in Whitehorse Yukon, and in Grande Prairie AB, and there was nothing significant about the games after they left. In addition 75% of the people who post on this site probably did not even know the games were held at the towns mentioned above.
If they are going to have such an impact, how come they get little or no coverage the day after they are done???
Its just a dance and frolic time for atheletes, their familys, and the coaches and managers.
Has anyone noticed that all the top people running these games get paid a huge salary for five years, some in the $250,000.00 a year plus range, while on the other hand, it is the 5000 volunteers who work for NOTHING that are expected to make it a success.
Let the high priced help do some volunteering.
“like the old guys on the muppets”
I no longer watch the muppets ….. moved on to vampires ….
“Its just a dance and frolic time for atheletes, their familys, and the coaches and managers.”
And the media ….
So if its that obvious and that easy than why are you not in one of the positions making your 250k for doing nothing Palupo?
I am sure there was a time when someone said that paving highways north of Cache Creek was stupid too ;)
$250k plus a year…LOL. Shows how little you know!!
While all you “stick in the mud” types grumble and whine I’ll be helping make this the greatest event PG has ever seen an actually doing something to improve our community rather than just sitting back and expecting everything to be done for me.
Realitycheck ….. please do not assume who on here is not already doing that and have been doing it for some time.
Most of us volunteer for one thing or another. I know I certainly have and still do.
But we all have limited time and we all have opinions of where the experiences we bring can best be used.
For instance, I prefer to volunteer for things which provide more lasting results than an event.
As they say on Dragons Den: “for that reason I am out” …. Or as O’Leary might say in the case of volunteer time … “show me the lasting change”
The lasting change in this case will be a sign on the entrance of the city saying we hosted the games in 2015 …. until they take it down 10 years later, long after most have forgotten about it.
Realitycheck …..
list some of the greatest events “PG has ever seen” so far … say for the last 30 to 40 years, and name the key organizers and number of volunteers it took to hold those events.
Remember, larger is not better …..
well Gus, its no Snow Golf with Nestor Pistor but it is going to be a pretty great event ;)
Interceptor….nothing will replace Snow golf with Nestor Pistor, good memories. The dance at the roller dome was always fun. Mardi Gras was just huge. Also, the raft race – 50 or 60 from around the province I recall. Alas, it takes money and volunteers. The former is usually the first to dry up, making it just too onerous for the latter. Seen it happen many times.
yup – Add insurance and liability with a team of lawyers waiting in the wings for a payday to your list of reasons why events quit happening….
Dont forget that in addition to Nestor Pistor, we had Arty Johnson of Saturday Nite Live fame, at Snow Golf for many years.
Verrrrrry Interesssting, but Stupid.
Lets get a show of hands on how many people attended the Winter Games in Whitehorse, and in Grande Prairie. These were the closest points to Prince George so Im sure there was a hell of a lot of people that couldnt get there fast enough.
We will probably get the same number from those Cities coming to Prince George because they love the games so much.
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