Case Study: Event Management
Dublin, Ireland: Host of the 2003 Special Olympics World Games

Challenge
The Planning and staging of a World Class sporting event at 25 various competition venues in Ireland, for the first time in a country’s history.

Introduction
In 2003 the Special Olympics World Summer Games was held outside the USA for the first time, in Dublin, Ireland. It was the largest ever sporting event undertaken by the country of Ireland and posed a huge amount of logistical, operational and financial challenges to the organizers. It was acknowledged what would be needed to ensure this massive undertaking was accomplished were people with proven success in delivering numerous global events. Veterans of Winter and Summer Olympics, as well as having considerable experience in numerous world and sporting federations championships, the Rhiannon Group were perfectly positioned to provide valuable strategic planning services to this unique project

Stakeholders
Special Olympics Worldwide, The Irish Government including Law Enforcement, Irish people, Athletes , International VIP’s, Global Law Enforcement , Global Broadcast and Media, Games International Sponsors,

Strategy/Process
The Rhiannon Group recognized that due to a number of limiting factors, a key feature of this event would be to optimize the value we received from all available resources. With this as our goal we planned, developed and implemented the biggest volunteer operation ever seen in an event of this magnitude. We created a structured plan that would allow us to manage the games from a central operations location with all affected stakeholders, while delegating and entrusting games responsibilities to individuals and agencies that were encouraged to volunteer their time and services. As a result the Organizing Committee saved millions of dollars from their operating budget, as well as enhancing the appeal of the Games nationwide due to the generated local interest.
The Rhiannon Group also developed:
o Strategic operational plans of the overall committee and its departments
o An integration plan with all affected government agencies
o Training modules for all games personnel and management
o Central games management structure for executive management operations
o Entire Games Readiness strategy
o Implementation process from plans to operational

Result/Conclusion
The event was an unbridled success and was recognized by the Special Olympics HQ as the most successful undertaking ever by the organization. The event was delivered on time and under budget, and generated a huge legacy for the Special Olympics movement within Ireland and the rest of Europe for years to come