HAC (Official Hotel Credentialing Center) / HILTON

  1. HIGHLIGHTS

-The Official Hotel Credentialing Center objective was to design, develop and provide an efficient Credentialing service for the all the Honored Guests of the Special Olympics World Summer Games Athens 2011.

-The scope of work of the Official Hotel Credentialing Center Team for the Special Olympics World Summer Games Athens 2011 consisted of collecting and importing registration information into Vsys, providing consultation to GOC International Relations Department and SOI regarding the Honored Guest Credentialing process and the production of credentialing cards with correct entitlements and accurate privileges to more than 2000 Honored Guests and in accordance with their official role during the Games. The Official Hotel Credentialing Center Team provided services to the following Client Groups/Categories:

  • SOI Executives/ Staff
  • GOC ASFs (Games Organizing Committee All Star Fans),
  • SOI ASFs (Special Olympics International All Star Fans)
  • GOC MVPs (Games Organizing Committee Most Valuable Persons)
  • SOI MVPs (Special Olympics International Most Valuable Persons)
  • SO Program MVPs (Special Olympics Program Most Valuable Persons)
  • VIPs Delegations (Senior staff, staff, Media staff, Security Staff and Entourage of important personalities participating in the Games, such as Heads of State, Members of Royal Families, Governmental Representatives, Ambassadors, TOP Sponsors and Celebrities)

-The Official Hotel Center set up and the equipment arrangement was well planned and functional. The paid staff andthe volunteers were well trained and experienced enough to provide solutions to any issues or unexpected situations.

-The Official Hotel Center was fully operational from the 15th of June to 4th of July, every day from 9:00- 21:00 including the weekends. The HAC Team consisted of 7 paid staff (1 Credentialing Venue Manager, 1 Credentialing Deputy Venue Manager, 4 Credentialing Coordinators and 1 Technology coordinator) working in 8-12 hours shifts and 13 volunteers in total working in 6 hours shifts.

-HAC Technology Equipment: 3 PC (Vsys and admin), 2 credentialing cards printers, 1 laser printer, 3 photo machines and 2 laminators.

-Furniture and Equipment: 6 tables (1.60x 0.80), 8 chairs (3 for the working stations and 5 for the guest waiting area), 3 roll ups (background for photos), 3 photo stands.

  1. VENUE MAJOR ISSUES & RECOMMENDATIONS

No / Issue Description / Recommendation
1 / Credentialing Cards reprinting / SOI should provide in the future more accurate information regarding the name, the title, the Category, the photos and the responsible organization of each Guest and within a strict frame time.
2 / The HAC Team delivered the printed cards to SOI representatives during Pre-Games time but many of them got lost before their distribution to Guests / The distribution of the Credentialing Cards should be responsibility of the Credentialing team and not responsibility of the SOI/ IR for security reasons
3 / The Vsys System collapsed 3 days before the arrival of the Guests. The use of local network was judged necessary / More accurate planning should be conducted in the future regarding the estimation of network resources in each venue.
4 / Many MVPs/ASFs had two roles during the Games (for example, MVP and Media). The HAC Team had to print 2 credentials for some Guests / There must be a clear policy in the future regarding the number of credentials for each Guest and more accurate planning regarding the credentialing privileges for Guests holding two completely different roles.
5 / Many representatives/ employees from foreign Embassies located in Athens requested last minute credentials. Most of them did not have any form of ID when they arrived to collect their credentialing card, or authorization to collect other employees’ card / International Relation Services of future Organizing Committees should develop a detailed plan (at least one month before the commence of the Games) regarding the management of the Embassies requirements and communicate clearly to the Embassies the necessity of the diplomatic ID or the official authorization in order to obtain a credentialing card.
  1. MAJOR CROSSFUNCTIONAL ISSUES

None

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