FINALLY...

It's Day Number 11 of the Sochi Games and the talk in our twice daily strategy sessions with the local organizers has turned to something other than complaints about the treatment of visitors. Most the problems with venue and infrastructure are less of a focus now because international visitors are not attending in the numbers that were anticipated and the local Russian audience is growing but not staying over. What we would call in the event promotion business "walk-ups" are swelling the attendance numbers but still the traffic through the gates and the hotels is down considerably over advance estimates.

Concerns over security and treatment of guests aside, these Games are buttoned up to an extreme. If you're inside the compound, you feel relatively safe. The checks are extensive and done daily...at the main gates, at the hotels and restaurants and at the venues.  Cars are thoroughly searched at the entrance and again at hotels and multiple physical "pat-downs" are the norm.

So what are we talking about now? Well, first the issue of cellphones just won't go away. One Russian official issued an edict before the Games started that cellphone photos would be prohibited during the event. Fat chance! Can you imagine trying to police that, short of taking all cellphones away. And we know that can't happen.  We argued heavily in the committee and the edict was rescinded. American travel sources recommend against bringing cellphones, tablets or laptops, if at all possible.  And we agree.

Hacking is also a prime topic. It seems it takes less than a minute for the Russians to hack into a phone, laptop or tablet and capture all the information. Tapping the device for listening is the next step and you can pay for that. What can be done about this? Little is the prevalent answer. Cyberspace is problematic over there. Our committee had some problems in Beijing but nothing like Sochi. The Russians seem to be the best in the world at maneuvering through this minefield.

The other subject lately is merchandise. Counterfeiting was prevalent before the Games started but a very stern crackdown seems to have calmed that storm. The Russians are making the "official" merchandise out of the reach of many visitors. $60 for a stocking cap and $100 for a t-shirt certainly aren't bargains for Americans. We've talked pricing and it all boils down to Russian capitalism.  Margins are significant and the black market makes them even bigger.

And that brings us back to the "Russian Way". They don't budge very much on doing things "their" way. Advice from almost any source is viewed very skeptically. Even on the operations front, they were advised to stock up on salt which could be used to loosen and then freeze the mountain runs in case of warm weather.  They opted out of the advice and guess what?  Their quickly running out of salt and you know the rest of the story on the slopes.

At least now, we're seeing some great competition and bringing these Games back to the athletes in this second week of competition. Things are safe and sound for now and we're hoping to keep it that way.

More to come...