Arctic Winter Games Chef de Mission Final Report 2016 Arctic Winter Games Mariele depeuter-team Nunavut, Chef de Mission The 2016 Arctic Winter Games were a memorable experience for everyone. Team Nunavut had the opportunity of travelling to Nuuk with 179 participants along with cultural performers, sport officials, and dignitaries. We thank the Host Society on the ground in both Nuuk and Iqaluit for their tireless work to overcome the many challenges that presented themselves on making this a successful set of Games. Congratulations to all of those involved, it has been a pleasure working with you and we look forward to 2018! 1 AWG 2016 Chef Report
Registration and Accreditation Section 1 Evaluation of Performance of the Host Society Was pre-games registration convenient and functional? The Gems registration program continues to improve. It has become very user friendly. The earlier the site opens for registration, the better. Having the site open in early November allowed us to register alternates at selection events and keep them inactive until they were needed. Did the accreditation system at the Games work well? Yes, accreditations went well during the Games. We had no issues but a reminder to Host Society s to be familiar with access points that need to be on accreditations before printing so there is not a need to re-print badges. Provide comments or recommendations. The database did not close to users, which made it easier for Teams to register alternates and make changes. But it did put a lot of pressure on the Host Society to keep up with the changes. Continue to provide badges to Chefs before the athletes arrive. This provides the Chefs the opportunity to review and address revisions prior to athlete arrival. Welcome/Arrival Services Was the arrival of your team handled in a timely manner with a minimum of confusion? o Considering the challenges caused due to weather and the many changes, arrivals were handled as well as could be expected. We had one case with our last charter that no bus showed up and there was no one to contact in the middle of the night. o The Host Society s priority was accommodating the air bridge arrivals. Team Nunavut was not part of the air bridge and the Host Society did not have the same level of information from the airlines. This lead to issues on both ends (Iqaluit/Nuuk) related to ground transportation, check in, baggage, etc. o The set up for arrivals was great and better than expected. I believe everything was in place had there been no weather/ airline delays. Provide comments or recommendations 2 AWG 2016 Chef Report
o In cases where arrivals and departures will take place over an extended period. Host Society s need to have two people handling logistics and split shifts e.g. A designated contact between 12:00AM to 12:00PMand a separate person between noon and midnight. It is too much for one person to be on 24/7 o Luggage tag system needs to be re-visited. The idea of teams making their own luggage tags makes sense to avoid shipping delays but the Host s should provide pre-set templates to Chefs tags that just need to be printed out and inserted into plastic tags. Designing and Formatting templates and finding supplies was very time consuming and lead to inconsistencies. Opening Ceremonies Did the Opening Ceremonies do a good job of kicking off the week? o The opening ceremonies were a great start to the week and well received by all that made it in time. o There was confusion as some people were just arriving from the airport, made it difficult to coordinate. Were they well organized and choreographed? o The opening was well organized, short and to the point. There was not much delay in the agenda for the ceremonies. o Recommend in future games to use a similar format, 1 hr long ceremonies. Team Accommodations Were accommodations sufficiently spacious or too crowded? o The accommodations were good. I believe teams had enough space and were comfortable. Were they well-located or too spread out? o Accommodations were spread out, but still only a 5-10 minute drive to most sport competition venues and food center. When accommodations are spread out, it does become hard to create the hub of activity. Were there sufficient washrooms and shower facilities? o The Host Society did a good job with identifying shower facilities. Where shower availability was a concern at accommodation venue athletes were able to shower at competition venues. Was cleaning during the Games adequate for the maintenance of hygiene? o Yes the cleaning during the games was adequate for maintenance of hygiene. Venues were kept tidy, and maintained regularly. Was security in the accommodations area functional and effective? 3 AWG 2016 Chef Report
o The security was great at all venues. They did their job effectively and was very accommodating and friendly Provide comments or recommendations. o The housing of by sport seemed to work well. Coaches from each gender were able to communicate and meet with their teams Food Service/Village Dining Were the hours of operation/serving sufficient and convenient? o The hours of operation met everybody s needs Was the quality of food adequate? o The quality of the food was great. We heard very good things about the meals. I would suggest some more variety for the food stations during the day. Was enough food available to meet your team s needs and appetites? o There always was enough, and the atmosphere in the cafeteria was great! Did the box lunch program work well? o The box lunch program worked well once we got the hang of it. We also assigned this to Mission Staff and did not expect coaches to hand in the forms every morning which worked better for us. o The 10:00am hand in was tight for many teams. Need time to review the next day s schedule o Lunch box people were accommodating when able and even brought the lunch boxes to our Mission Office, which was appreciated Provide comments or recommendations. o Lunch box system continues to need refinement and improvements. The system used in 2016 worked, but the deadline for requests was too early in the day. o If there is a possibility to have food at venue, this would be ideal o Food plans need to include feeding participants on arrival/ departure day and opening/ closing ceremonies. Hosts should include this in their planning and have ready with M2 material, not making plans during Games time Awards Ceremonies Provide comments or recommendations on awards ceremonies both at sport venues and at the main awards venue. o Continue to do the award presentations at the sport venues. o Make it clear who is the contact for awards ceremonies for VIP s. With all of the schedule changes there was confusion on if people were still presenting awards. 4 AWG 2016 Chef Report
Information Technology/Communications/Computer and Network Services Evaluate how the Games IT system and staff, communications system and computer and network services performed and provide any comments or recommendations. o The Games IT staff were helpful o The cell phones not working for the first two days caused a lot of communication issues, but the teams were able to make do o Not being able to print at the mission office also was an inconvenience but was resolved Mission Offices, Service and Accommodations Were the mission offices located in a place that facilitated the work of the mission staff, and were the offices conveniently reached by coaches? o Yes they were, housed close to the cafeteria which makes it easy to find coaches, etc. Were offices sufficiently spacious and adequately furnished? o Yes our office was adequate for what we needed. o Our only issue was the hours of the Mission Office Mission Staff need access past 10:00pm recommend open until at least 11:00pm. Were the supplies provided adequate for the mission staff to do its work? o Yes, all supplies were useful o We did experience issues Cultural Program and Facilities Did your cultural delegation feel that they were an integral part of the Games? o Yes, they seemed to have a great experience Did they have enough performance opportunities? Too many? o They had just enough Did your Unit members attend entertainment events? What is your impression of their experience? o I believe they managed to make it to a few of the events and enjoyed them Provide comments or recommendations related to the Cultural program only. See Entertainment Program section below for other comments. o The overall games experience was great for the group. Venues for performing were well received. o They were impressed with the audience at the performances. 5 AWG 2016 Chef Report
Forms and Publications Evaluate the effectiveness of forms provided by the Host Society and any publications of the Host Society; including Ulu News, directories, sport schedules/programs, results, posters, etc. o Host Society publications were effective. Where possible the phone directories should be circulated as early as possible. When the sports schedules are updated they should have what version number they are on or the date the update was done. Updated sport schedules should be emailed and in the subject line have what the update is. o It would have been nice to have streaming between the two locations Media Describe the media coverage you saw in the host community, both print and electronic. o Local print, radio and electronic coverage was excellent. Medical Services/Polyclinic Was the medical staff helpful? Did they provide quality care? o The medical staff was excellent; they provided our athletes with quality care. Was the location of the polyclinic convenient and the hours it was open sufficient? o The location was ok. More signage would have been appreciated to get to the correct doors and once entered in the hospital directing you to the right area. Provide comments or recommendations. o To have easy access to poly clinic, not too far from entrance of the building. o More signage outside and inside building o The emails for out of play and returned to play seemed to be delayed. There was good updates on GEMS, but the instant emails are appreciated when Chefs are not on a computer and can receive that information on their phone 6 AWG 2016 Chef Report
Results Were accurate results produced and disseminated in a timely manner? o As soon as the IT department received the official results they up dated on the site, which was appreciated. Any results need to posted simultaneously to avoid confusion. Provide comments or recommendations. Continue to wait for official results before posting the information on the results site. Security Did the security arm of the Games work effectively? o As for our team the security worked fine. As it was reported when issues came up with the level of service from volunteers. More security was hired. Were the security people helpful? o The security was very help with our team and was greatly appreciated. Did you note any security lapses that affected members of your team? o No, we had no issues Provide comments or recommendations. o Make sure all security are aware of what areas accredited personnel (including mission staff) have access to within venues. Social Program Were there sufficient opportunities for your young people to socialize with their peers from other delegations? o Yes there were, as the week went along our athletes started to make more friends with other contingents. Were social functions well run and well supervised? Provide comments or recommendations o Open mics were a good idea o We didn t hear much about the film festival o Try and stay consistent with venues for entertainment. It is difficult to relay new information to athletes Transportation at the Games Provide comments or recommendations on the internal Games transportation system. o Issues with the ground transportation were resolved quickly and effectively 7 AWG 2016 Chef Report
o After the first day, we had no issues with transportation o The loops are a good idea so that athletes have access to visit other sport venues and enjoy being a spectator Website Did the Host Society s website and web presence function in a way that was helpful to you, your team, and parents from your area? o The website provided the information the team needed as to schedules, results. Provide comments and recommendations. o Website was attractive and user friendly o Great promotion of the Host team and their logo/ feel and look o Wait to post news releases about changes/ cancellations until the Chefs have been informed especially on social media Closing Ceremonies Did the Closing Ceremonies provide a fitting ending to the week? o The closing ceremonies provided a nice send off to the week. Did they keep the spirit of the Games going? o Yes they did, the theme and energy of the opening ceremonies carried over into the closing ceremonies Provide comments and recommendations o Have a clear plan for exiting the ceremonies for those that need to head to airport Send Off and Departure Was your team s departure handled smoothly with a minimum of confusion and hassle? o Any delays we had were mostly due to airlines. The host did their best to accommodate our transportation needs and did an excellent job keeping up with the many unexpected delays. But again, assigned designated person for logistics to contact in the night is needed. o Again, due to Team Nunavut not being part of the air bridge we had a few issues with bus transportation immediately after the ceremonies unsure of what doors to exit, making it hard to ensure all of our athletes exited the right doors and got on a bus. We also had confusion on the times the busses would pick up participants in the night to bring them to the airport. 8 AWG 2016 Chef Report
Miscellaneous Provide a summary s outlined above or in other areas where the Host Society established a separate committee or operating unit. o The above comments are entirely based on what went on in Nuuk. The Iqaluit Host s did not receive the support from the Nuuk side of things and this was apparent. In the mornings as Chef s we rarely heard any information from the Iqaluit side or received any updates. They had issues with food and security that was never addressed or brought up in our morning meetings. I believe all Chef s took it upon themselves to ensure a strong and experienced Mission Staff was on the ground in Iqaluit, but the communication and support needs to be improved when using satellite venues. The Iqaluit Host s stepped up and made sure it was a successful event. o When the hockey players arrived in Nuuk, there was no one from the Host Society to greet them or resolve any baggage/ transportation issues. Someone from the Host Society should have been on hand to handle these arrivals and have a communication plan with Iqaluit. o Both Host s did a great job overcoming the many challenges that no one could have prepared for. Important to keep everyone informed and provide the correct information. Provide any other comments or recommendations that will improve the operation of future Arctic Winter Games. o On Chef s calls before the Games, include all areas on the agenda. Host s should be able to provide a brief update in each area, and when there is no update we can skip that portion or ask questions 9 AWG 2016 Chef Report
Section II Comments and Recommendations Pertaining To Your Unit General Unit Management Provide a brief description of how the Unit was managed. o Chef de Mission reports to management team of the Sport and Recreation Division for the Government of Nunavut. Chef is responsible for team logistics, training Mission Staff, and registration. o See attached Team Nunavut Handbook o See attached Team Nunavut Mission Staff Handbook and Coaches Package Intra-team Communications Describe the system of communications with in the team at the Games and provide any comments or recommendations. o After each 7:00am chef s meetings mission staff meet at 8:00am meetings in the Team Nunavut mission office to go over any important information from the host society that need to be relayed to the coaches. o Mission Staff are recruited early in the fall prior to Games and meets regularly via conference call leading up to the Games to prepare Cultural Delegation Selection o A call for cultural groups is circulated via email notifications, Public Service Announcements, and Social Media advertisements o Groups are required to submit an application and sample of their performance o Applications are reviewed and scored based on a rubric 10 AWG 2016 Chef Report
Finance Describe how the Unit raised the funds necessary to finance its involvement in the Games. o The Team Nunavut AWG Program is funded by the Government of Nunavut, with some travel support from the Government of Canada. o Positioning travel and field of play uniforms is the responsibility of the Territorial Sport Organizations. The organizations receive funding through the GN-Sport and Recreation Division Grants and Contributions program. Forms, Publications, Team Booklets/Manuals/Handbooks Provide one copy of each form, publication or manual developed and used by this Unit. o See attachments List relevant attachments or links Insurance Describe the insurance obtained for the Games and provide recommendations. o Additional Insurance coverage was obtained for all participants of Team Nunavut for the duration of the Games program. Media Describe the media coverage provided by media located within your Unit for the Games, and describe how you promoted it. Provide comments or recommendations. o Team roster information was relayed to the media when the final selections were completed. Daily newsletter was forwarded within the Government network, and back to local media outlets. o Social media is used and daily updates were posted on the Team Nunavut Facebook page Medical Services What sort of medical services did you provide with your team? Provide comments or recommendations. o We had a mission staff person assigned to the medical portfolio in Nuuk. o Having a mission staff dedicated to the medical portfolio made it easier as they end up having a good working relationship with the staff at the poly clinic. o For future games it would be appreciated if units had the option to accredit additional personnel as Mission Staff to tend to special portfolios such as medical and media. Teams choosing to pursue this option could do so at their own expense. 11 AWG 2016 Chef Report
Sports Provide a brief summary of the Unit s involvement in and comments or recommendations on each sport. o Arctic Sports Everything went well. Venue was very busy o Badminton The event went well, some great results and learning experience by our juvenile athletes. Good amount of spectators o Basketball the event went well. Having two coaches on bench or assigned to a team either needs to be included in technical package and reviewed for feasibility and if it is fair to all contingents. o Dene Games Good venues. With all of the changes, participants felt stressed not knowing they were going to compete that day or not. o Hockey Had its unique challenges being in a different location. Participants were happy they had the chance to visit Nuuk. Arenas in Iqaluit were adequate and the support there was well received. Again, more work from the main Host Society to ensure all participants receive the same level of services at satellite venues. o Futsal Well organized and excellent venue. o Table Tennis the event went well. Our team was very happy with everything. o Volleyball The event went well, great facility. o Wrestling Excellent venue, centrally located. Transportation Describe the logistics of transporting your team to and from the Games. o Team Nunavut positioned athletes from home communities in Yellowknife for Kitikmeot participants, Rankin Inlet for Kivalliq participants and Iqaluit for Baffin participants. Due to weather delays, all of Team Nunavut had to overnight in Iqaluit and then do our own air bridge between Iqaluit and Nuuk. On the return, we followed the same plan but due to mechanical issues we experienced more delays. 12 AWG 2016 Chef Report
Team Selection Process Describe the process used to select team members including specifics on the trials process. Complete the attached form. o Territorial Sport Organizations and Sport Clubs indicated their Intent to Participate in the 2016 AWG, along with their Team/Coach Selection Processes, in December 2014 along with a Major Games critical path. Major Games Critical Path workbook attached. Your Team s Website - Describe your team s web presence and how you used the Web and the Internet to facilitate your administration tasks. Complete the attached form. o Team Nunavut We posts updates on the Team Nunavut Facebook page and Twitter account 13 AWG 2016 Chef Report
Section III General Comments and Recommendations Related to the Arctic Winter Games International Committee Executive Summary and Recommendations - Provide a synopsis of the general observations and recommendations that the Chef has made in the body of the report. The Games was a great experience for all participants. For the meals continue to have a variety of selections provided. Box lunch requests processes continue to need refinement and develop a process based on the Host s capacity and sport schedules Develop a communication plan/ guide for Host s that require a satellite location Arctic Winter Games International Committee - Provide any recommendations on how the AWGIC could improve the assistance provided to the Units in the Arctic Winter Games. Please continue to take part in all the chef s conference calls and more importantly the daily Chef s meetings during the games. Thank you for the mission staff appreciation event. Mission Staff enjoy and appreciate event Technical package reviews, continue to provide updates to Chefs for comments Update staging manual for satellite locations if this trend is to continue Keep Chefs in loop when contacting Sport Officials from their jurisdiction. There was confusion on registering the officials and who had what information. (Passports specifically were difficult to obtain from the Host s for the manifests). A clear communication plan is required if teams are asked to accommodate officials on their charters If more Mission Staff cannot be accommodated within the program, allow teams to identify alternative support mechanisms with no cost to the Host Society. With the potential of having two sites in 2018, there will be a need for more support. 14 AWG 2016 Chef Report
Section IV 2016 Arctic Winter Games Unit Involvement Summary Team Nunavut Table 1.1 Participation Summary 2016 Team Nunavut Participants Games Totals Athletes 137 Coaches 22 Mission Staff 10 Total 179 Communities Involved 21 Male Athletes Involved 70 Female Athletes Involved 67 Table 1.2 - Summary of Revenue and Expenditures Revenue Expenditures Federal $100,000 Transportation $756,169.78 Accommodations $7077.00 Clothing and Accessories $187,426.90 Facilities Sport Officials Administration Other: Insurance $6000.00 Total $100,000 Total $956,673.68 15 AWG 2016 Chef Report
Attachments Team Nunavut Handbook Cultural Performers Application Mission Staff Application Major Games Critical Path Workbook Mission Staff Handbook 16 AWG 2016 Chef Report