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BOCOG Holds First Sponsors Workshop

Representatives from a score of international and domestic brand-name companies gathered at the Swiss Hotel on June 2 to participate in a workshop for Olympic sponsors.

The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, internationally known as BOCOG, organized the Sponsor Workshop, the first in a series, to outline the progress it has made in its marketing Programme.

Liu Jingmin, vice-mayor of Beijing and executive vice-president of BOCOG, delivered a welcoming speech to an audience that included Executive Vice-President and Secretary-General of BOCOG Wang Wei, IOC Marketing Commission Chairman Gerhard Heiberg, IOC director of TV and marketing Timo Lumme and executives from the Worldwide Olympic Partners of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), best known as the TOP VI Sponsors, the Beijing 2008 Partners and Sponsors and officials from the Torino Winter Games Organizing Committee, the Chinese Olympic Committee, the Chinese Paralympic Committee and the five co-host cities: Qingdao (for Olympic sailing events), Shanghai, Shenyang, Tianjin and Qinhuangdao (for football preliminaries).

During the two-day workshop, BOCOG officials briefed the participants on the latest developments in areas of Olympic preparations such as venue construction, sports, cultural events, look and image, media and communications, media operations, protection of Olympic trademarks and other related intellectual property rights, volunteers, technologies, and the "Green Olympics." Topics which are closely related to the sponsor services, including accommodations, transport, accreditation and security, were highlighted.

The workshop constituted an occasion for BOCOG to exchange views with Olympic sponsors, hear and accept their comments and suggestions and provide them with Olympics-related information.

Since the Beijing 2008 Olympic Marketing Plan was launched on September 1, 2003, eight enterprises -- the Bank of China, China Network, SINOPEC, CNPC, China Mobile, Volkswagen Group (China), adidas and Air China -- have been selected as official partners of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

BOCOG also launched, on March 31, selection procedures for the Beijing 2008 Sponsor Programmeme, seeking suitable sponsors in areas such as white goods, dairy products, courier services, logistics, Internet content services, travel, hospitality and domestic beer. Budweiser has already become the international beer sponsor in support of the Beijing Games.

Holding sponsor workshops is an accepted practice for the organizing committees of the Olympic Games to strengthen their marketing Programmemes. It is regarded as one of the most effective ways to provide quality services to the Olympic sponsors. BOCOG has scheduled similar workshops on different topics and issues for each year in the run-up to 2008.