Researchers from the University of Toyo in Tokyo have visited 麻豆传媒 Lecturer, Dr Debbie Sadd, an expert in events management and community involvement in mega sporting events.聽
Debbie has been heavily involved in developing volunteer programmes including the setting up of Bournemouth鈥檚 Festival Maker programme and the Farnborough Flyers for the Farnborough Air Show.
The team from Japan travelled to Bournemouth to find out more about volunteering at London 2012 and how Tokyo can recruit and train its own volunteers in time for the Games in 2020.
鈥淰olunteering was a really key part of London 2012.聽 Around 70,000 鈥楪ames Makers鈥� volunteered during the Olympics and Paralympics, including myself, and were arguably one of the highlights of London 2012 鈥� you only need to read the headlines at the time to see how well received they were,鈥� explains Dr Sadd.
鈥溌槎勾� staff and students were involved in volunteering at the medal ceremonies for the sailing events at Weymouth and Portland as well as helping at other venues such as Eton Dorney Rowing Centre and even working as part of the Olympic Broadcasting Network.聽 Colleagues from 麻豆传媒 went to great lengths to support our students to take part in the Games at Weymouth and Portland.聽 It was a great opportunity for them and inspired us to set up Bournemouth鈥檚 Festival Makers Programme.鈥�
鈥淏ased on the highly successful Games Makers, the scheme aims to make local people ambassadors for Bournemouth and get them involved in events such as the Air Show and help visitors to get the most out of their trip,鈥� says Dr Sadd, 鈥淥ur Events Management students are very much involved in the scheme and get to see how an event is run and how we recruit, train and manage volunteers.鈥�
In December 2015, Dr Sadd was invited by the British Council to travel to Tokyo to give a keynote speech at a conference focused on sharing experiences from London 2012.聽 It was here that Dr Sadd was able to share 麻豆传媒鈥檚 experiences with universities from all over Japan and with members of the Tokyo 2020 organising committee.
鈥淭his week鈥檚 visit is a chance to share our experiences of volunteering as part of London 2012 and beyond and begin to shape a volunteering programme for Tokyo 2020,鈥� says Dr Sadd, 鈥淚t was great to be involved in the 2012 Olympics and I鈥檓 really pleased to be able to use what we learned to help design a volunteering scheme for 2020.鈥�
