DELEGATION SERVICES OPERATION PLAN COMBINED WITH AFTER ACTION REPORT

Tanya Iden, Delegation Services Coordinator

Leslye Langla, Director of Participant & Delegation Services

2001 SPECIAL OLYMPICS WORLD WINTER GAMES

DELEGATION SERVICES AFTER ACTION REPORT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SECTION 1:INTRODUCTION/OVERVIEW OF DELEGATION SERVICES COMMITTEE/FUNCTION

  1. Overview/Purpose
  2. Goals & Objectives
  3. Goals
  4. Objectives
  5. Overview of Services
  6. Key Responsibilities
  7. Legacy
SECTION 2:SCHEDULES/TIMELINES
  1. Schedules
  2. Timelines
  3. Committee Timeline
  4. Competition/Village Venue Set-up Timeline
  5. Typical Event Day Timeline
SECTION 3:ORGANIZATION
  1. Narrative of Delegation Services Organization
  2. Delegation Services Job Description-
  3. Delegation Services Coordinator
  4. Delegation Services Volunteer Job Descriptions
  5. Delegation Services /Leader/Attendant,
  6. Delegation Assistant Leader (DAL).
SECTION 4:SCOPE OF DELEGATION SERVICES MANAGEMENT
  1. Pre-Games Responsibilities and Duties
  2. Games Time Responsibilities and Duties

TABLE OF CONTENTS (CONTINUED)

SECTION 5:DELEGATION SERVICES POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
  1. Policies
  2. General
  3. Delegation Services Daily Reporting
  4. Policies regarding DALs
  5. Procedures
  6. Competition Venues
  7. Non-Competition Venues (Egan & Sullivan)
  8. Village Venues
  9. Command Center
  10. Procedural Communication Paths
SECTION 6:FORMS, DIAGRAMS, & APPENDICES

SECTION 1:INTRODUCTION/OVERVIEW OF DELEGATION SERVICES COMMITTEE/FUNCTION

  1. Overview/Purpose

The purpose of Delegation Services will be to provide both international and national delegations guidance, support, and communication assistance throughout the 2001 Special Olympic World Winter Games, Alaska (Games). In addition, Delegation Services – in the absence of Language Services – will provide language assistance to all recognized constituents of the Games assuming a Delegation Assistant Leader (DAL) is available that is proficient in the language in question.

B.Goals & Objectives
  1. Goals

Delegation Services has the following functional area goals:

  • To help create a memorable, fun, safe, and worthwhile experience for delegates by providing them with exceptional guidance and support.
  • To celebrate the diversity of the delegations represented at the games and inspire cultural awareness and understanding within the Anchorage community
  1. Objectives

Delegation Services intends to meet these functional area goals with the following objectives:

  • Provide each delegation with a Delegation Assistant Leader (DAL) that is fluent in the language of the delegation and who remains with the delegation through the duration of the Games. OBJECTIVE MET – The target number of DALs was 85. 104 were recruited and placed during the Games. This will be expanded on later in this report.
  • Ensure that a Delegation Services Leader and/or attendant staffs each village venue, competition venue, and some auxiliary venues in order to field questions, concerns, and provide support specifically to Heads of Delegations and Delegates. OBJECTIVE MET – There was a Delegation Service Desk at all hotels, all competition sites, Special Olympics Town, and the Delegation Welcome Center. Details follow in the report.
  • Work closely with Education/Cultural Exchange department to educate and inform the Anchorage community about the diverse cultures attending the Games. OBJECTIVE ATTEMPTED – One project was realized through the Education/Cultural Exchange Department. Local school students created country profiles for Delegation Service’s use. Complete set of profiles attached.
  • Supply culture specific information to the various departments within 2001 Special Olympics World Winter Games, Alaska Organizing Committee (GOC). OBJECTIVE ATTEMPTED – For a brief period during weekly staff meetings the Delegation Services Coordinator would present cultural information. Examples will be attached at the end of this report.
  1. Overview of Services

Delegation Services (DLG) comprises:

  • Advanced Delegate Meetings; March 1, 2001 at 1930 Hilton Hotel. COO Melissa Anderson took this over.
  • Delegation Assistant Leaders (DAL) Program whose volunteers help with delegation arrivals, Host Team Activities, and Games Week events. This program consumed the majority of the Delegation Services Coordinator’s time.
  • Delegation Services Leaders and Attendants who volunteer at Competition, Village, and some Auxiliary Venues as the concierge to the delegations. Leaders made up the Delegation Services Committee to be explained later in the report. Attendants were Games-Time only volunteers.
  • Head of Delegation Manual. Completed and mailed in January.
  • Nightly Head of Delegation Meetings; Hilton Hotel at 1930. COO Melissa Anderson took this over.
  1. Key Responsibilities – All expanded on later in this report

The Delegation Assistant Leader Program will be an integral part of a delegation’s experience. Delegation Services will maintain Delegation Assistant Leaders (DALs) with each delegation to ensure that all reasonable needs of delegations are met and to provide relief for the delegation’s traveling staff (i.e., coaches/Heads of Delegation). DALs have proper training and language skills which allows them to assist in delegation activities, help ensure the safety and security of delegation members, and contribute to making each delegation member’s experience extraordinary. Delegation Assistant Leaders will assist delegations upon arrival at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, throughout their Host Team and Games Time activities.

Delegation Services also provides Delegation Services Leaders/Attendants at each Competition and Village Venue and some Auxiliary Venues (i.e. Special Olympic Town and the Delegation Welcome Center). These volunteers are additional knowledgeable and informed individuals who will be important to the smooth operation of Venue Activities. They will field any question, complaint, or concern brought to them by the Head of Delegation (HOD), DAL, or Delegate.

Delegation Services intends to create a model Communication System between DALs and Delegation Services Leaders/Attendants with the explicit purpose of informing the GOC of any delegation needs that are not met and resolving issues.

Additionally, Delegation Services will implement action plans related to the following tasks: Delegation Assistant Leader Program, Head of Delegation Manual, and Head of Delegation Meetings.

  1. Legacy

Delegation Services hopes to leave Athletes, Coaches, and HODs attending the Games with an impression of Anchorage as a world-class, friendly community that celebrates diversity. Delegation Services intends to gain an understanding of the real needs of delegations supply the next Games Organizing Committee with clear and concise records so that they can create a richer and more complete experience for future participating delegations. Lastly, we look forward to learning from our international guests, sharing with them our Alaskan hospitality and becoming a richer community from having been exposed to the many different countries that will attend the Games.

SECTION 2:SCHEDULES/TIMELINES
A.Schedules

General Schedule of Tasks/Activities: September 2000-March 2001

ACTIVITY / DATE
Identify Delegation Commissioner and Committee Members. Having this as an on-going project meant that the committee was never complete and thus, operational. / On-going
Complete Committee Selection – Did not happen by this date. / Sept. 30, 2000
First DLG Committee meeting (2nd Thursday of every month until games) – introductions, discuss duties, identify more potential committee members. Because committee was never complete each meeting became an introduction session, discussion of duties, etc. / Sept. 14, 2000
Second DLG Committee meeting – discuss individual committee member’s responsibilities. Did not have full committee at this time. / Oct. 12, 2000
Educate GOC staff on cultural customs. Happened to an extent, however due to the late date at which I was hired this could never really materialize. I hit the ground running. / On-going
Develop Training Program for Delegation Assistant Leaders and determine training date. This happened approx two weeks before the training, which was Feb. 10, 2001. / On-going
Recruit, interview, select and assign Delegation Assistant Leaders. Work closely with LNG Services due to language skill requirement. Without the assistance of Language Services there would have been no DAL program! / On-going
Complete Delegation Assistant Leader assignments. At this point only approx. two thirds of DALs were assigned to their positions. / Jan. 1, 2001
Work with Volunteer Services to find Delegation Services leaders and Attendants to staff information tables at both Competition and Village Venues. This remained a continual challenge throughout the pre-planning of the Games – it turned out that Language leaders had to be cross-trained as Delegation Services Leaders. / On-going
Identify Banking, Postal & Religious Services sources and procedures for Athlete Villages. Information Services will assist. These specific tasks were really picked up by other areas. Delegation Services did make the initial contact with the currency exchange institution and initiated contact with various religious groups. Information services ended up compiling the resources together for the Information Resource Manual. / Sept. –Nov. 2000
Begin working on Head of Delegation Manual. Work on this document did not begin until November. / Sept.1, 2000
Send Head of Delegation Manual to delegations. The manual went out in late January along with the Coaches Manual. / Jan., 2000
Work with Volunteer Services to handle all volunteer-related issues, i.e. Uniforms, scheduling, etc. The volunteer services department created a lot of our work. Our Department required a huge volunteer work force. We spent an incredible amount of time going over volunteer numbers with the volunteer department. Delegation Services specifically spent a lot of time reconciling the DAL database with the volunteer services database. It was a very inefficient system / On-going
Finalize all potential needs for Delegation assistance. This statement is too ambiguous. / Nov. 30, 2000
Identify Delegation gaps and potential problems based on available resources in the Anchorage area. Create plan for ensuring proper Delegation coverage in the above-identified gaps. This statement is too ambiguous. / Dec. 2000-Feb. 2001
Identify back-up Delegation Assistant Leaders that may be required, recruit and select. Delegation Services was still finding and assigning DALs through February. Not an ideal situation. / Jan-Feb 2001
Help administer training of village and venue volunteers.Training was held February 5 and 8. Each functional area developed their own training. Delegation Service volunteers were cross-trained with Information Services, Accreditation, Language, and Family Services. / February 2001
Plan for Advance Delegate Meeting w/ Melissa Anderson COO. Melissa worked on this without my assistance. / Jan-Feb 2001
Meet Advance Delegates: oversee Advance Delegate Meeting. Generally DALs met the advance delegates along with SOI staff. / Mar. 1, 2001
Meet Delegations for Host Team Program and for Games time Arrivals. Anne Brueggemann the Delegation Services Manager for SOI was integral in this process. / Feb. 28- Mar.4, 2001
Be available for delegations during Host Team Program. My cell phone rang 24 hours a day. / Feb. 28 - Mar.4, 2001
Be available for delegations during Opening Ceremonies. Delegation Services (one person) worked in the staging tent helping Delegations get organized for the parade of athletes. / Mar.4, 2001
Assist delegations with needs throughout Games Week. Cell phone rang 24 hours a day. / Mar. 5-11, 2001
Oversee daily Head of Delegation Meetings (Melissa Anderson, COO). Delegation Services Coordinator attended all meetings and was available to answer questions afterward. / Mar. 5-11, 2001
Be available for Delegations during Closing Ceremonies. / March 11, 2001
Assist Delegations with departures. Delegation Services helped with hotel checkout. Transportation made sure all were at the airport at the right time. / March 12, 2001
Assist Delegations remaining longer due to extenuating circumstances. Housing location for such delegations… TBD. Assist in their departure. Housing Dept. tracked where delegations stayed if in town longer than the Games week. Only two delegations stayed longer. / March 12, 2001- ?
B.Timelines
  1. Committee Timeline

The timeline below was not followed. Meetings changed with the needs and demands of Committee members. Because the committee was gaining members throughout the preparation of the Games almost every committee meeting became a review session of Delegation Services. It is essential to have a strong, working committee before creating a defined meeting schedule. This necessitates hiring the Delegation Services Coordinator early enough to get a committee organized and a plan/strategy for the committee in place. If hired in due time the Coordinator can recruit for a known number of committee members and divide up tasks at one of the first two meetings. Members should work on assigned tasks throughout the time between meetings and report back at the monthly meetings.

MEETING DATE / AGENDA ITEMS
Thursday, September 14, 2000 / Introductions, Discuss duties, Identify more potential committee members.
Thursday, October 12, 2000 / Discuss individual committee member’s responsibilities.
Thursday, November 9, 2000 / Continue recruiting, team building.
Thursday, December 14, 2000 / TBD
Thursday, January 11, 2001 / TBD
Thursday, January 25, 2001 / TBD
Thursday, February 8, 2001 / TBD
Thursday, February 15, 2001 / Organize Presentation on DLG Service for Staff meeting.
Thursday, February 22, 2001 / TBD
  1. Competition/Village Venue Set-up Timeline

Regarding the timeline below, the volunteers staffing the desk the first day set-up the Delegation Services Desks. Logistics had already dropped the necessary items at the desk location. The meeting room for the Nightly HOD meetings and Advance Delegate meeting was set-up by the hotel’s staff. Office administration was on hand to take notes and deal with Power Point technology.

ACTIVITY / DATE / DESCRIPTION
Help Set-up DLG Services Leader/Attendant Stations in each of the Competition and Village Venues / Feb 26-28, 2001 / Need to coordinate with Housing, Information, Food, and Language Services to ensure needed materials are available to volunteers.
Set-up Advance Delegation Meeting room/facility / Feb 26-28, 2001 / Ensure appropriate technology and materials are available
Set-up Head of Delegation Meeting room/facility (first mtg. March 2, 2001) / March 1, 2001 / Ensure appropriate technology and materials are available.
  1. Typical Event Day Timeline

The schedule below is very accurate for a DAL, however DALs did not fill out a daily report. As is obvious from the following timeline, the DALs were tasked with an incredible amount of responsibility. Having only one DAL with most delegations did create a problem because there were too many places for the DALs to be at once. Language Services, thankfully, had many language resources available for teams whose DAL was elsewhere.

ACTIVITY
/ DATE / DESCRIPTION
DALs accompany delegation to breakfast. / Each Day / DAL has stayed over night with delegation.
DALs will accompany members of Delegation to various competition venues / Each Day / DAL will determine which sport it is most necessary for them to attend.
DALs will return with delegations to their villages for evening and dinner activities. / Each Day / Evening activities will vary and DALs will accompany delegations in whatever the delegation has selected to do.
DALs reside with delegation at night. / Each night / International Delegation should each have a DAL and each region of the U.S. programs will also have a DAL.
Delegation Daily Report / End of Day / DAL gathers information and drafts an activities/incident report to be dropped at any Delegation Service Desk.
Head of Delegation Mtg. / Each Evening / DAL attends daily HOD meeting and assists HOD with questions or concerns.
SECTION 3:ORGANIZATION
  1. Narrative of Delegation Services Organization

Director of Participant & Delegation Services – Leslye Langla

Directly oversees Delegation Services, Family Services, Housing Services, Food Services, Language Services, Information Services, and Accreditation/Registration Services all involved in executing operations and activities pertaining to Participant & Delegation Services.

While, the Participant and Delegation Services Department ran smoothly and was able to provide top-rate services to participants of the Games, I think it is unwise to place such an incredible amount of work and burden on one director. Leslye Langla had seven areas under her direct oversight. She did a fantastic job and I’m convinced that there is no other person who could have pulled off the performance that she did, however I stress that I do not think it was a fair distribution of the managerial workload.

Delegation Services Coordinator – Tanya Iden

Responsible for all aspects of Delegation Services, including overseeing Delegation Committee and its functions, recruitment and training of Delegation Assistant Leaders, Head of Delegation Manual, organization of Advanced Delegate and HoD meetings and components of International Protocol. Coordinator will also function as a key team member in the overall operations of the Village and Competition Venues Service Centers.

This is a two-person job and one person must be hired much earlier than 6 months out from the Games. This position needs to be in place at least a year out from the Games in order to get an effective committee up and running and to find DALs in advance of the Games so that they can receive adequate training and be up to speed on Games Times activities. A lot of stress and anguish could have been avoided if there had just been more time in addition to more administrative support.

Delegation Services Committee (size TBD)

Assists with all aspects of Delegation Services Department including, but not limited to, Advanced Delegate Meetings, Delegation Assistant Leaders Program, Delegation Arrivals, Host Team Program, Head of Delegation Guide, Head of Delegation Meetings, International Protocol, Postal, and Banking Services, Religious Services, and other Games Week Operations.

During Games time, committee member is the main point person for Delegation Services at specific information sites within Village and Competition Venues

The Delegation Services Committee was intended to assist the Delegation Services Coordinator with any and all Delegation Services duties and tasks, such as recruiting, assessing and interviewing Delegation Assistant Leaders (DALs); compiling and editing the Head of Delegation Manual; developinginformation and procedures for the operation of the Games Time Delegation Services Desks; and training other volunteers to work at the desks. Members of the committee were in leader roles and were meant to run the Delegation Services Desks during Games. Volunteer Services was to assist Delegation Services in recruiting leaders for the committee. (Committee roster and meeting agendas in the appendix.)