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IAAF World Relays “Bahamazing” experience starts with logistics team at the airport
By Sheldon Longley, Guardian Sports Editor
Mar 20, 2015 - 2:01:01 PM

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CREATING THE EXPERIENCE: D’Anne L. Barrett, the Senior Director of Logistics for the IAAF World Relays Bahamas 2015, spoke about the duties that fall under her portfolio for the staging of the global event right here in The Bahamas. The IAAF World Relays Bahamas 2015 is set for May 2 and 3 at the 15,000-seat Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium. Photo courtesy of TERRANCE STRACHAN

The “Bahamazing” experience for the international guests coming to these shores for the second International Association of Athletics Federations’ (IAAF) World Relay Championships, actually starts with their arrival at the Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) in early May, and carries straight through until their departure.

D’Anne L. Barrett, the Senior Director of Logistics for the IAAF World Relays Bahamas 2015, said that her department is looking forward to a smoother process this year having gone through it a year ago. The logistics personnel are in charge of meet and greet at the airport, all airport services, accreditation of everyone with the exception of the local and international media, and transportation just to name a few. Over 1,000 athletes, coaches and officials are expected here in The Bahamas for the IAAF World Relays Bahamas 2015. In addition, a number of IAAF Council members will be here in The Bahamas for the event.

“What we do is meet them inside the immigration hall, and then guide them through the process and to the transportation area for pick-up and on to their respective hotels,” said Barrett. “We transport the athletes, officials, the journalists and all of the international guests to and from the airport, to the competition site and to the hotels, either in busses or in cars. The defence force (Royal Bahamas Defence Force) plays a part as well. There are four people who work directly with me, but there are a number of divisions under logistics, a lot of experts in the field who are all familiar with providing exceptional service.”

Last year, Barrett served as the deputy director of operations with a focus on transportation. She said that her six years as volunteer for the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) has helped significantly in that regard. She is familiar with athletics, the organization and operation of athletic meets, and the logistics that go along with it.

“The BAAA provided quite an experience for me,” said Barrett. “I helped with the organization of CARIFTA before, and then last year, it was on a whole different playing field than CARIFTA. The complexity was 10 times more than what we did for CARIFTA. We’re looking forward to another grand event this year. Of course there are always areas that you would want to improve in, and we are working on that for this year. We work hand-in-hand and very well with the operations department.”

Senior Director of Operations Leria McKenzie and her team takes over from logistics once the international guests would have arrived at their respective hotels. Her department oversees a number of areas, inclusive of shipping and storage of equipment, the service provided at the hotels, a prompt response area which is new to the relays this year, the opening ceremony, handling of the VIPs inclusive of government officials and the IAAF family, and the volunteers just to name a few.

She has 11 people working alongside of her, inclusive of a director of shipping who ensures that everything that is shipped into the country is handled properly. Seiko, Canon, and the host broadcaster alone, International Sports Broadcasting (ISB), are bringing equipment into the country in the millions of dollars. The director of shipping ensures that the equipment arrives safely, are stored safely, and transported safely to and from the shipping areas.

The Prompt Response Department ensures that all issues that may arise are taken care of in a timely manner. McKenzie said that there will be a hotline where international guests can call, and have their needs and issues attended to quickly.

Also, there is a director of ceremony, responsible for the opening ceremony. McKenzie said that they want to make sure the opening ceremony is executed with dignity and flows smoothly. With the VIPs, the operations department will work along with the protocol department to ensure that the government officials and the IAAF family are well taken care of. There is also a director of accommodations and also a village mayor who manages the needs of the IAAF family and the international guests inside the hotels.
“We believe that we have the team in place to execute these various duties,” said McKenzie. “We believe that we can meet the challenges and absorb those problems that might arise. With the experience of last year behind us, we believe that we are in a position to move smoothly and to execute these championships this year in a manner that is truly ‘Bahamazing’.

“What we did this year is embrace the six core values of the IAAF - solidarity, universality, unity, leadership, integrity and excellence. We assembled a team of persons who are able and presently executing those big goals. We manage both the competition site and the non-competition sites. Everything is in keeping with the principles of the IAAF,” she added.

With the volunteers, McKenzie said all of them will be going through a Bahamas Host course this year, so that they can be better prepared to meet the standards of what our visitors expect once they get into the country. The Bahamas Host training, which is new to the event this year, will be offered through The Bahamas’ Ministry of Tourism. About 600 volunteers will be utilized this year, down from the 800-plus a year ago.

“One of the success stories of these championships would lie in the hands of the volunteers,” said McKenzie. “We were able to re-engage a number of persons who worked as volunteers last year. They give up their lives to these championships with no remuneration - just giving their time and effort, coming out even when they are tired to give back to their country. We look forward to them exceeding expectations this year.” Barrett said that because of the re-engagement process, accreditation would be so much easier this year because all of those persons would already be in the system.

“There are so many volunteers, but the re-engagement process certainly makes it easier,” said Barrett. “These persons still have to be vetted by the police, but we’re able to upload information from last year which makes it easier. It’s just a matter of re-assigning persons to different departments in some cases.”

With the volume of international guests coming to these shores, Barrett said that a source of information stating date and time of arrival, is vital.

“With technology, we are able to have information on all of the persons coming into the country for the world relays accessible,” said Barrett. “We need to know what to expect, in terms of how many people are on each flight and how many persons are in each contingent. It’s not a difficult process once we have all of the information up front.”

As for McKenzie, she said that the operations department might be new to her, but she’s certainly not new to leadership. She oversees a team of 11 in the operations department. “With respect to leadership, the situations might change, but the principles never change,” she said. “A person who is a leader can handle the content of taking a team from where they are to where they need to be. The whole act of unifying a team and setting a vision for where the team has to go is on my shoulders, and with my experience in that field, I am able to handle that.”

McKenzie said that they feel confident that it is going to be another “Bahamazing” experience. The IAAF World Relays Bahamas 2015 is set for May 2 and 3 at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium.

“Last year, it was ‘Bahamazing’, and this year, we believe that we are going to exceed those expectations that persons have of The Bahamas,” said McKenzie. “We’re looking forward to welcoming all of these guests to our country and we’re looking forward to just showing them what we as Bahamians are capable of doing.”

About 30,000 fans are expected to pack the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium over the course of the two days of the relays. Tickets are available online at www.bahamasworldrelays.org, or at the box office at the national stadium from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Friday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays.

There are now just 44 days remaining until the IAAF World Relays Bahamas 2015.

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