Panel data provided by Madison's Canadian Lumber Reporter.

Selling P.G. to the Folks in Torino

By 250 News

-submitted by Rob Van Adrichem


Team Torino, clockwise from top, Rob Van Adrichem, Gerry Offet,Tom Berekoff, Tom Madden,  Katherine Voigt, Colin Kinsley, Tuppy Hoehn

I'm writing this at 9pm Torino time - just about an hour after Canada won gold and silver in the women's 1500-metre speedskating event in a raucous Oval Lingotto - in the now quiet of the Torino Piemonte media centre. Across the street, the lights are on at BC-Canada Place, a building sure to make every Canadian and British Columbian proud. Every day, visitors to the Olympics - including many of the local Turinese - flock to BC-Canada Place's log structure to get a glimpse of what makes BC such a special place. 

Prince George is a hit at the facility. The members of the Prince George delegation to the 2006 Olympics promoted the City to hundreds of visitors today. Mayor Colin Kinsley went outside before the building opened to talk to people in the line-up and hand out some Prince George pins to the rabid Olympic pin collectors who had never seen these before! Inside, visitors explored BC - and checked out Prince George's sights - via a pair of interactive kiosks. The entire structure is built out of logs stained a slight tint of blue, courtesy of the mountain pine beetle.

On Thursday afternoon, less than 18 hours from now, Prince George will host a reception at BC-Canada Place with the sole intent to raise Prince George's profile on this most incredible of international stages. More than 100 people are expected to attend the event including representatives of sport organizations in Canada, Slovakia, Switzerland, and Ireland. Government and
business officials are also expected. The Mayor will give a presentation at the event that will demonstrate Prince George's capacity to be a world-class training centre for teams interested in training in BC before the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Our presence in Torino, however, is going far beyond sport. On their first two days in Italy, members of the delegation met with representatives the Canadian consulate (including the Consul-General himself), the President of the Torino Chamber of Commerce, and representatives of Tourism Torino and the Piemonte (Piedmont) region. We are expecting that our reception will also demonstrate Prince George's capacity for business partnerships and export potential. 


Everywhere we go, we meet people who know of Prince George or are anxious to learn more. We met some Americans from Wisconsin who have heard of Prince George's recent economic growth and of the impact of UNBC. Others, including some media that we met earlier today in the media centre, are very impressed with Prince George's initiative to actively attract benefits from 2010. One of them is a former resident of Prince George, who is now an official with the Canadian Curling Association. Gerry Peckham is in Torino with the national teams and met with City Leisure Services Director Tom Madden to discuss
training opportunities in his old hometown. 



We're happy to oblige people interested in finding out more about Prince George. The delegation has a new "Train in PG" brochure and website, videos about Prince George and the region, and terrific photos of Prince George, its sport venues, and the scenery of northern BC. We're all eager to show off Prince George at our reception tomorrow. The eyes of the world are on Torino
right now, and for a little while, some of those eyes will be on Prince George. 

We'll knock their socks off. 


Rob Van Adrichem is a member of the Prince George Team Torino delegation .  He is the media, communications specialist

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