Today is exactly four years to go until the Opening Ceremony and I see this as a hugely exciting time, and a real reminder for people across Scotland that the Games are coming to Glasgow.

We aim to deliver an athlete centred and sport focused Games, and the Achieve 2014 programme has been designed to nurture and support young athletes with medal success in Glasgow in mind.

Going to Delhi on the programme will give the athletes a real understanding of a what a Games is actually like, allowing them to prepare properly, and have an enhanced opportunity to achieve their Personal Best on home soil in 2014. I am looking forward to seeing these athletes at work in Delhi, and hearing about their learning experiences over the next four years as part of Achieve 2014.

I believe that these Games will bring fantastic opportunities for people in Scotland, including through volunteering and business contracts and today is an exciting milestone not only for the athletes but everyone across the country.

I was excited to meet John Scott, Chief Executive of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games today. Dumfries and Galloway was hosting a visit from HRH The Queen and the theme of the pre visit entertainment was the Commonwealth. The streets of Dumfries were awash with a colourful mix of flags provided by the commonwealth village of Eastriggs (18 miles away), where streets are named after commonwealth cities and countries. There was a real buzz around the town. Given the theme John had been asked to say a few words about Glasgow 2014 and the forthcoming Handover Ceremony in Delhi on 14 October at 1:30pm.

It was fascinating to watch people listen to John speak about Glasgow 2014 and to let the local community know that we had people representing Dumfries and Galloway in Delhi and that the biggest event Scotland has ever hosted is on our doorstep. He also spoke about the opportunities that would be available to our young people to hopefully compete in this and future Commonwealth games along with opportunities for people to attend events and volunteer.

As I watched John speak to a variety of people at the event including the council’s Chief Executive, it became clear that the passion for Glasgow 2014 is to encourage community cohesion and with it the self confidence and wellbeing of individuals through sport, healthy activities and volunteering. In Dumfries and Galloway we want to be part of this and as such we are developing our own Glasgow 2014 legacy plan to make sure that as many local people have the opportunity to be involved as possible. We are also working closely with partner to promote the Active Nations campaign.

John came back to our flagship state of the art leisure complex DG One, which recently welcomed its 1 millionth customer is just over 2 year of operation. There he was able to see for himself the fantastic range of facilities including 3 swimming pools, 80 station fitness suite, dance studio and a 6 court sports hall available for local people.  This venue is LOCOG registered and is available not only for visiting national teams to Glasgow 2014 but also for our young people to become athletes of the future. Dumfries and Galloway hopes to attract teams in basketball, badminton, athletics, road cycling and mountain biking to use the area as their training base.

It was great that the Chief Executive of Glasgow 2014 would take time out of his schedule to share his passion with the people of Dumfries and Galloway and we hope to welcome him back in the not so distant future.

I was thrilled to be asked to address the Handover Ceremony cast at Orientation Day, when the potential cast members all met for the very first time.

I’m very excited that the Commonwealth Games are coming to Glasgow, and every member of the cast will be on top of the world when they get to Delhi in October to represent their country.  I’m sure that being part of the Handover Ceremony will be one of the best experiences of their lives, and my advice to them is to enjoy every moment!

I was at the Handover Ceremony in Melbourne four years ago which was absolutely awesome, and I know that our Handover Ceremony will touch everyone in Scotland. I felt the positive energy and passion from our cast and I know that they are going to deliver something that will fill everyone back home with pride, and make people across the world desperate to come to Glasgow.

Glasgow 2014 will be an athlete centred Games and the cast have been chosen because they have passion, pride and heart like the athletes.  They will eat, sleep and breathe the moment! The creative team driving the performance are of the best in the world, having worked on ceremonies including the London 2012 Handover at the Beijing Olympics, the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games Closing Ceremony, and the Doha 2006 Asian Games Opening and Closing Ceremonies to name a few. The combination of this creative team and cast fills me with confidence, that this will be a spectacular performance which will have the whole world completely geared up for Glasgow 2014.

Gavin

To see the film of Gavin speaking to the cast click here

Glasgow 2104 Games Identity

This has been a long time coming.
We started this project what seems an age ago at the Glasgow School of Art back in June 2009.

John Scott our Chief Executive gave the creative community an update on where we were in our journey to July 23rd 2014, and I took 66 agencies (yes 66 from around the world) through the process we would use to select the agency that would deliver this project for us.

Creating a piece of graphic design for the biggest sports event that will ever come to the country and will be seen around the world is both a fantastic opportunity and major challenge.

Of all the agencies who registered their details, we met with 10 and only briefed 6. At the OC we really didn't want to waste agencies time in a beauty parade. After all only one would win out. We are very aware of the market that the creative world operates in at the moment.

The 6 agencies we briefed resulted in 4 London based, 1 Edinburgh and 1 Glasgow. These agencies were amongst the most celebrated and rewarded in the UK and overseas. We were fishing in the right area. We would also only appoint on the basis of their work, not where they were located.

The OC's obligation is to buy the best work in the market, wherever it comes from.
It was a close run thing, although the final decision was straightforward for us as the work we saw from Marque was different class. We believe it is a thing of great beauty.
It is perfectly balanced and we feel it matches our ambition of creating an identity that will be talked about in the same breath as Mexico 68 and Munich 72: widely acknowledged as best in class.

A key area that set Marque's work apart was their insight. It means we can explain our identity in a robust and simple manner. The athletes are really behind it for this reason as well.

As we are a sport event this was really important to us.

20th Commonwealth Games
17 sports
11 days of competition
1 host city

A bunch of numbers that fall out of our insight that all sports need time, data and measurement to decide a winner.

Not only that, it is also truthful, and adds credibility to our approach. It is simple, which all powerful identities should be.

We really hope you will get behind our identity. It will act as a rallying point for everyone and will be the symbol of Glasgow 2014 now and into the future.

So although this took a while it truly was a privilege to work on.
20. 17. 11. 1

Over and out.

John Donnelly
Director of Marketing and Sponsorship

Hi folks,

Welcome to this new exciting website. Not long now until the logo will be revealed… I cannot wait!

As an athlete I have been to two Commonwealth Games and there are personal images that I have stored away which will live with me forever.   I am sure that this new lbrand identity will form the beginning of photo albums of thousands of athletes, volunteers and spectators around the world.

From start to finish the journey to select Glasgow 2014's Commonwealth Games identity has been fascinating.  Each and every one of the brilliantly creative people we met were genuinely excited and inspired by the prospect of working with the Games.  It was a privilege to listen to the companies who pitched their ideas, but also to hear the expertise of the rest of the selection panel, all of whom have a far more creative background than me!

On March 8th 2010 at the SECC in Glasgow the new brand identity will be launched.  It will be amazing to see the logo and the Games-buzz grow over the next four years.  

I look forward to storing away my  Glasgow 2014 memories, once Glasgow has hosted a Commonwealth Games to remember. 

Yours in sport,

Shirley Webb

8 March 2010

When I started at Glasgow 2014 it was exactly six years to go to the Closing Ceremony. There was me and one other member of staff!

Here we are, eighteen months on, about to launch our brand, and following that, our multi million pound commercial campaign, with a team of 23 and a huge amount of planning and organisation already completed.

The Games Partners are really working together well. The Scottish Government and Glasgow City Council have launched their plans to ensure we create a social, economic and cultural legacy from the Games. And this year will see significant progress in the building of new facilities for the Games. It is always reassuring to see such tangible evidence of our momentum picking up.

Later this year the flag of the Commonwealth Games Federation will be handed over to Glasgow at the Closing Ceremony of the 2010 Games in Delhi. After that we’ll all be able to say “Next stop Glasgow. Bring it on!”

7th June 2009
Hi, my name is Kate Randall and I’m the Games Family Services Director for Glasgow 2014 – the Organising Committee for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. I have now been in post and a resident of my new home city Glasgow for 4 months, and what a busy time it’s been.

As Director of Games Family Services I am responsible for developing the relationships between the Organising Committee and the various organisations and individuals that make up the Commonwealth Games “Family”. And for making sure that across all aspects of our organisational planning, we’re meeting the needs of this group. So who are the Games Family you ask?!

The Commonwealth Games Federation(CGF) is the organisation – the governing body if you like - that is responsible for the direction and control of the Commonwealth Games. They ultimately govern the Games and awarded the 2014 Games to Commonwealth Games Scotland (CGS) and the city of Glasgow.

Then there are the Commonwealth Games Associations (CGAs)  - the 71 countries that participate in the Games.  Each CGA is responsible for selecting, preparing, sending and managing their national team’s participation in each Commonwealth Games. Here that is Commonwealth Games Scotland (CGS).

Also the International Federations (IFs) – the organisations that govern each of the 17 sports on the Glasgow 2014 Programme. Of course our Head of Sport will have a pretty big role to play here too.

And the list goes on.

I’m really excited about the Games Village in the East End of Glasgow for the athletes and officials that will participate in these Games. The Games Village site was such a big part of Glasgow’s bid for the Games, and is so important to get right for the community in the East End of Glasgow, as well as for the Games Family. We’ve been doing alot of work already to make sure that it will meet the needs of everyone that will call it home, its future long term residents, and the athletes participating in the Games. I hope the entire East End community will actively contribute to make it a success.

And how about the exciting events that have been happening in the past few months already? I’ve made sure to get out and see the Gymnastics World Cup event that was recently held at the Kelvinhall (of course that venue will hold Boxing during the 2014 Games and Gymnastics will actually be at the SECC). Also the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships were held at Scotstoun, which will also host the competition at Games time. The last event of the IRB Sevens World Series was held at Murrayfield a couple of weekends ago and it was brilliant - Commonwealth countries Fiji, New Zealand and England won the Cup, Plate and Bowl finals respectively. You should check it out next year if you didn’t get along this time, it’s well worth it, and a similar format that will be used for the Commonwealth Games competition in 2014 to be held at Ibrox Stadium.

There are exciting times ahead for Glasgow and Scotland, and the Commonwealth Games has a large role to play in that. It’s a big responsibility, but in the very short amount of time I’ve been here, I’ve no doubt that Glasgow and Scotland will deliver.

12th June 2009
The Romans knew it and so did the ancient Greeks.  If you want to put on spectacular events, you need great venues.  Of course I may be a bit biased, having spent the last 20 years preparing and managing venues for Commonwealth Games and Olympic Games.

My name is Adrian Avis and I am working with the Organising Committee helping them get those great venues.  I am here as part of a team from Event Knowledge Services (EKS) that provides information and expertise to event organisers.  This has included Olympic, Asian and Pan American Games, Rugby and Cricket World Cups, as well as several Commonwealth Games.

While EKS is based in Switzerland, I live in Sydney and most of my work is done either from Sydney or in host cities.  So, I am here in Glasgow for eight weeks to work closely with all those involved in preparing the event and will come back at regular intervals and EKS will have a small team of people here to provide operational support.

My area of expertise is the design and management of venues.  This includes the alterations and additions to venues to suit the needs of major events.  One of Glasgow’s strengths is that many of the venues exist or, where new, the planning is well under way.  However, an enormous event like the Commonwealth Games means that all the venues will need substantial alterations or additions to meet the specific requirements.  This is known as the Overlay and, while extensive, is generally done with temporary facilities to keep the costs down and avoid leaving the city with a legacy of ‘white elephants’ - venues or facilities that do not fit the long term needs.

My main focus on this visit is the Commonwealth Games Village.  This is a key venue for the Games and it is important that we get it right because it will be the home for the athletes while they are in Glasgow.  However, it will also be a significant addition to the East End of Glasgow, and so we need to get the right balance with the legacy use.

Glasgow is my fourth Commonwealth Games, having worked on Manchester 2002, Melbourne 2006 and Delhi 2010, so I am familiar with what it takes to put on a successful Games.  I have been to Glasgow several times over the past few years and I am always impressed by the buzz in the city, the friendliness of the people and the capability of the people I meet.  I am confident that the city can put on a great Games and that it will provide many wonderful memories for the people of Glasgow and Scotland.  I hope to keep coming back to help with the preparations and share in the excitement.