Students from Fairfax School in the West Midlands won the chance to spend a day with the London 2012 Chief Executive, Paul Deighton, when their school joined the Get Set network. Find out what they asked him.
An exclusive interview with London 2012 Chief Exec
27 Nov 2009
Students from Fairfax School in the West Midlands won the chance to spend a day with the London 2012 Chief Executive. Find out what they asked him!
Fairfax School are a member of the Get Set network their first exclusive reward was to spend a day with the London 2012 Organising Committee Chief when he visited the West Midlands a few weeks ago.
They sent the Get Set team an account of their day:
`What an amazing day – thinking back to the morning, on the way to Great Malvern, we were feeling slightly nervous, not knowing what was in store, what was to come. We thought about our interview questions and about the Olympic and Paralympic Values – we’ve done a lot about them in school you see – gigantic collages on our hall wall – how can we forget them! Anyhow we wondered whether we would see these values in Paul as we followed him like shadows!
Being introduced to Paul at the Abbey Hotel in Great Malvern was great, he was so relaxed and friendly, making us feel at ease, so he certainly ticks the friendship box! And that continued throughout the day whoever Paul met, he was just so nice and genuine. In Great Malvern we watched Paul speaking to a room full of business people, telling them confidently that the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games would provide opportunities for businesses, whilst showing respect for the current economic climate and the challenges SMEs face.
After this first meeting a short journey to Worcester allowed us the time to really narrow down our questions ready for our private interview with Paul later in the day – with Joel having 19 possible questions it was a good job that Paul had answered about 10 of them already in his speech to the SME Business people.
How wonderful it was to meet Sian and others involved in the Personal Best programme – it was a ‘positivity boost’ to talk with local people who want to be employed and see the volunteering skills as an opportunity to reach their goal – we really wish Sian and others well on the programme. Chatting informally with Paul and Sian about less well-known sports was great – Paul, with determination, wants all sports to get a high profile in 2012.
By the time we arrived in Coventry we were so enjoying the pace of the day- it was great to be a part of a VIP entourage! Dropping in here and there with VIP parking!
At the Alan Higgins Centre – it was a brilliant moment collecting our Get Set Network plaque and award from Paul himself – a truly ‘wow’ feeling – also being told we were the first school in the West Midlands – how cool! Paul talked about our excellent enterprising work – so we want him to know that we feel he ticks the excellence box too!
Now to our highlight – our private interview with Paul – this was fantastic, an inspiration!
Joel: Do you think that any skills you have gained from your time working for an investment bank will help you with the organisation of the Olympic and Paralympic Games?
Paul: The main skills I gained from my time at the investment bank will certainly help me are leadership, teamwork and fundraising.
Stephanie: What strategies will you use to make sure that there are no or very few empty seats?
Paul: We will use four main strategies:
1. Tickets will be prioritised by interest and if the numbers of buyers is greater than the number of tickets they will be sold by public ballot;
2. Stadiums will be very large to fit in as many people as possible;
3. Session lengths will be short enough that people do not lose interest and leave;
4. If someone does leave then their ticket can be sold again, using electronic devices.
Joel: I understand that in the LOCOG Annual Report for 2007-2008 you said “...with the creation of a high performance organisation, effective stakeholder relationships and a culture of financial discipline, we are in a strong position to stage the spectacular Games in 2012.” What exactly do you mean by this?
Paul: Well…(looking at Joel’s sheet!)...a high performance organisation means that LOCOG is very fast, efficient and effective; effective stakeholder relationships means that LOCOG works in cooperation with its stakeholders and partners; and a culture of financial discipline means that LOCOG is very cost effective…thus leading to a spectacular 2012 Games.
Stephanie: What will happen to LOCOG after the 2012 Games and what will happen to you?
Paul: LOCOG will dissolve after the Olympic Games, although we will spend some time in Rio during 2013 to help them begin preparations for the 2016 Games. As for me, I will go on a very long holiday…and think about what to do next!
Towards the end of the afternoon – what courage Paul demonstrated – playing handball against Year 7 students, who had been practicing all day – Would he win? Would he score – oh no! They “brought him to his knees” as the BBC reporter said!,
Thank you Paul for ‘letting us in’! All day we saw Paul treating everyone the same with genuine interest – pupils, communities, organisers, Olympians like Dave Moorcroft and Diane Modahl, and reporters (including us two!) – So equality is also your thing Paul!
We believe in the values, our school certainly does, and after spending a day as your shadows we believe you live them too! Thank you!
And thank you LOCOG for a unique experience we will never forget! From a journalist point of view we were amazed at the amount that goes on behind the camera – it’s incredible! The press and media shows a snippet – that’s all!
Stephanie and Joel
Fairfax School – Enterprising Olympics Team
