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OUTSIDE THE RINGS
Wall Offers Best Example Of Challenges In China
The ex-pats I talked to said it would be easy. Offer a cab driver 300 RMB ($44) to take you to the Great Wall, be prepared to haggle and definitely don’t pay more than 500 RMB ($73).
But when I tried to explain this plan to the woman at the front desk of my hotel she shook her head.
“That’s too much money,” she said. “Take the bus.”
I didn’t have time to take the bus. I had to be back in Beijing by noon, and traveling to the Mutianyu section of the Wall was an hour and a half each way. Read More >1 Comment -
On The Ground: The Marketing Arm's Mary O'Connor
We continue our conversation with Mary O’Connor, who heads The Marketing Arm’s Olympic division and is in Beijing leading all Olympic sponsorship initiatives for the agency’s clients. SShe took time to answer our questions via e-mail over the weekend from Beijing and looks back at her first 10 days in the city. Read More >
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OUTSIDE THE RINGS
Watch Out, Barcelona … Beijing Is Closing Fast
I was IM-ing from Beijing to St. Paul, Minn., with my lovely wife today. She asked the probing question: How do these Olympics rank in your scheme of things?
You gotta understand. I’ve been married to Ann for 22 years, but I’ve been engaged to the Olympics since 1984. I’ve often been asked my favorite Games, and the two that always come out of my mouth first are the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics and the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Games.
But her question gave me pause. Read More > -
Catching Up With Hilton Hotels' SVP Jeff Diskin
When Hilton Hotels signed a sponsorship agreement with the U.S. Olympic Committee in 2005, it was one of the company’s first sports sponsorships. The results over the last three years were positive, so in April, the company announced an extension of that relationship through 2012. In Beijing, Jeff Diskin, the company’s senior vice president for brand management, spoke with SportsBusiness Journal staff writer Tripp Mickle about that decision. Read More >
