2014 Winter Olympics: Security Concerns in Sochi
5 Golden Rings Kristen Busby Katherine Hill Emma Massey
Katherine Regele
Agenda
• History of the Olympic Games
• Overview of the 2014 Winter Games
• Russian Security Prepara?ons
• Public Rela?ons Agencies Handling the Olympics
• Public Rela?ons During the Games
• Public Rela?ons AEer the Games
• Recommenda?ons
History of the Olympics
• History and Tradi?on • The Bidding Process • Previous Security Concerns – 1972 Summer Olympics – Munich, West Germany – 1996 Summer Olympics – Atlanta, Georgia – 2004 Summer Olympics – Athens, Greece
Overview of 2014 Winter Games
• Selec?on process • Security concerns leading up to the games – Volgograd – Black Widows – Dagestan shootout
Russian Security PreparaJons
• “Ring of Steel” • Increased security at transporta?on hubs • Over 100,000 in security force – Including military personnel
• Sonar technology
Public RelaJons Agencies Handling the Olympics
• Problem: lack of coordina?on • John Tibbs Associates – Bidding process, proofreading, edi?ng
• CROS – Public Rela?ons Services Supplier
• IOC Official Media Guide – Contacts for IOC, Sochi 2014 CommiWee, and Worldwide Olympic Partners
• M&C Saatchi – First agency of record for US Olympic CommiWee
Public RelaJons During the Games
• Ring of Steel – Special forces, surveillance – Limited vehicular access – Concentric circles (Jeff McCracken)
• Transit points • Required creden?als • Tracking
• Warnings about wearing U.S. gear • Ethical controversies – Invasion of privacy – Collec?on of DNA samples during Black Widow inves?ga?on
Public RelaJons During the Games
Public RelaJons ALer the Games
• No acknowledgement of success by Russia • Failure to capitalize on public rela?ons opportunity
RecommendaJons – Research
• Research – Previous Olympic Games with similar concerns – Other global events, such as World Cup
RecommendaJons – ObjecJves Impact Objec,ves 1. To create favorable media coverage of future Olympic Games by more
effec?vely monitoring the web and social media chaWer. For example, monitor TwiWer hashtags to see if there exist any public rela?ons problems that need to be addressed (i.e. #SochiProblems).
2. To increase public awareness of security measures in place at future Olympic Games.
3. To be more transparent about public rela?ons efforts and campaigns surrounding future Olympic Games.
4. To coordinate, across the board, future public rela?ons efforts surrounding the Olympic Games, both on the behalf of par?cipa?ng countries as well as sponsoring companies.
RecommendaJons – ObjecJves Output Objec,ves 1. To increase controlled media output for the Interna?onal Olympic
CommiWee by a specific percentage, in the form of press releases, published interviews, website updates and press conferences.
2. To hire a public rela?ons agency of record for the Interna?onal Olympic CommiWee specifically designed to handle security concerns and poli?cal threats.
3. To increase the social media presence of the Interna?onal Olympic CommiWee by a specific percentage, in order to accurately inform the public of security threats at the Games in a ?mely, prompt manner.
RecommendaJons – Programming
• Develop a key message and theme for the event
• Respond to social media • Distribute news releases frequently and in a ?mely manner
• Hold press conferences to show transparency
RecommendaJons – EvaluaJon
• Monitor social media accounts – Respond in a ?mely manner
• Transparency • Evaluate informa?onal objec?ves – Measure media impressions and message exposure
• Evaluate output objec?ves – Measure frequency and content of controlled and uncontrolled media produced
QuesJons?