12.05.10
Posted in My Thoughts at 9:46 pm by Thomas
Tomorrow will mark the 5 year anniversary of the official announcement that Lexington had won the 2010 FEI World Equestrian Games. I can still remember hearing the announcement and being honestly surprised, even those involved in the submitting the bid for Lexington had downplayed our chances because there were a lot of people who felt the FEI would not take the Games out of Europe. Of course they did decide to take a chance on us and ultimately I think most people are happy they did. There were many who thought we would fail to deliver and they were proven wrong, though we did make our fair share of rookie mistakes but there was more then a few people who were not going to let these Games fail.
Certainly one individual who shall once more receive a thank you from me for believing in the Games is Dr. Pearse Lyons of Alltech. The second person isn’t a single person but about 7000, all the Volunteers who gave of their time to see these Games be a success, I know I had a Great Experience as a volunteer and I hope everyone else did as well. I would also like to send my thanks out to the many people behind the scenes who in one way or another helped to make these Games a success.
So if any of you meet me in person, please let me know that you were involved in the Games, I would love to shake your hand and say thank you in person.
Sincerely,
Kentucky Colonel
Thomas Demond
KyWEGO
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10.11.10
Posted in 2010 Games, Closing Ceremonies, My Thoughts, World Equestrian Games at 10:25 pm by Thomas
As a thank you for those of us who worked so hard as volunteers we were offered the opportunity to participate in the Closing Ceremonies of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games 2010. I thought this was a nice gesture to those of us that had been so passionate about these Games that we put in many days volunteering. As with most Closing Ceremonies, they were a lot less formal then the Opening Ceremonies, the only real formality was when HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein read the formal declaration that closed the Games. I know from some of those that payed full price for the tickets, the Ceremony was a little light for what they paid, though the Lyle Lovett concert that was part of the Closing was very good, and the fact that the spectators were able to come down into the Stadium to be down right in front of the stage was a bit of a bonus. I certainly enjoyed it though it was bitter sweet to think that it was over after 4 1/2 years of seemingly thinking about it everyday. Now I am thinking about what it would be like if we do get it back in 8 years, which at this point I would have to say we are the odds on favorite to get it
HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein
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10.02.10
Posted in 2010 Games, Discussion, Kentucky, Logistics, My Thoughts, My Volunteering, Position Statements, World Equestrian Games at 11:42 pm by Thomas
The attendance totals for today are over 50,000 bringing the total for the Games after 8 days to just over 234,000 which is impressive when you figure at the start of September the ticket sales were not much more then that. This is an indication of what a lot of us thought, that because of the current economic recession(NBER be damned) that everyone is not wanting to lay down their hard earned cash until they are walking in the door.
This also shows the strength of the silent majority in Kentucky that are horse people in comparison to a very negative and vocal minority that wanted to say these Games would be a failure. Now before I get accused of putting the cart before the horse (excuse the pun) , we are only at the halfway point, so I will not pronounce these Games a success from the financial point of view, that will take many months to say whether a number of the short term goals that were given in that regard were met, but from the stand point of Kentucky being able to put on these Games in a manner where everyone is having a great time, and that word is getting out, and the city is not being crippled while the Games are going on, I think we all can say these Games are going better at this point then any of us could of hoped.
Now again, before anyone says I am just focusing on the things that are going well and I am not giving the total picture, I will say I have been out to the park 7 of the first 8 days and I have seen some situations were the planning did come up short. In one case I ended up right smack in the middle of a 30 minute oversight. I say 30 minute because that was the time difference between when an event was expected to end and when it really did but I can also tell you, that within an hour the negative impact caused by that had been eliminated because the staff and volunteers at the Games are a very flexible and resourceful group. So as I have said for a very long time, there is a magic with these Games that is very real and a lot of good will come out of these Games for Kentucky for a long time to come.
Kentucky Colonel
Thomas Demond
KyWEGO
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06.22.10
Posted in My Thoughts, Position Statements at 12:24 am by Thomas
There has been some news lately that tends to suggest that the Games will not be all that we were sold and the truth is there is some truth to that both to the negative and to the positive. On the negative, ticket sales and hotel occupancy continue to lag indicating that the likelihood of having 400,000 visitors to the Games, the number that I believed to be a realistic ballpark figure after the Aachen Games, in serious doubt. That of course puts the financial numbers in doubt as well which of course is going to be the final determination on whether the Games are successful or not.
I for one don’t believe that, but today was a tough day because I began to doubt myself on why I believe in these Games because of that possibility that the Games will be perceived as failure if we don’t hit some magic number of visitors. The problem with self-doubt is that it tends to feed on itself and by the end of the day I had to wonder if I was crazy (and not in a good way) and had wasted the last 4 1/2 years trying to promote these Games and I should just cut my losses and walk away.
Truth be told, there is still a part of me that feels that way, its part of believing in something so much that you have to sometimes ask yourself that question, what if that belief is wrong and if that belief is wrong then is what I believe in myself wrong. I have asked myself that question today and the answer is NO, I am not wrong for believing in myself in believing that the importance of these Games to Kentucky and to the people who attend these Games is something that nobody will understand until the Games have come and past. The importance of these Games can not be measured in the dollars spent but in the human interactions that occur because of them. The total number of people that come to the Games is not as important as how many of those people return home and tell their friends and family about the experiences they came away with and for those of us still here afterwards we will feel it to.
I am very thankful for Dr. Lyons having committed the financial resources of Alltech and his personal belief to see these Games be successful and in that I am happy to call these Games, The Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games and as a Kentuckian I am Proud to call them The Kentucky World Equestrian Games because they are our Games and on October 11th and for a long time afterwards the spirit that is Kentucky will spread around the world and much good will come from it.
One final note, my self-doubt went away when I realized that no matter what happens, when I wake up on October 11th I am still going to be a Kentuckian and there is so much to be thankful for in being a Kentuckian and so much to be thankful for in my family and friends who have been supportive in my efforts.
Kentucky Colonel
Thomas Demond
KyWEGO
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