I had the opportunity to hear the new Chief Executive Officer of the 2015 PAN/PARPAN American Games, Ian Troop, speak last week in Niagara Falls. The occasion was a private reception held in his honour by Parks & Rec Ontario, at their annual PRO Forum.
Just a few weeks into the job, Troop is marshalling his past experiences from an international business career, to tackle the next major multinational sports event to come to Canada. Troop’s career has taken him from Canada to the United States, Poland, and Mexico, while climbing to the rank of President of a billion dollar food company.
Clearly Troop’s international experiences have provided him with a perfect background for the Pan Am opportunity. These games will be a multicultural cornucopia with 42 countries represented, including twelve from South America and twenty from the Caribbean. Troop has quickly identified that as an exciting opportunity for the Pan Ams. Given the cultural diversity of the Golden Horseshoe population, it is clear that the Toronto 2015 will be able to provide a unique experience for these visiting athletes. In fact, for many countries, the support of their countrymen that live in southern Ontario will create an almost home field advantage for them.
Troop highlighted the fact both Toronto and Hamilton will feature cultural festivals during the Games, and painted a picture of major streets filled with cultural events, entertainment, and attractions. He spoke of working with existing major events to parallel schedule their dates, to create blockbuster attractions. He also talked about his desire to ensure that all people living in the region can participate in the event, regardless of whether they posses a sporting event ticket.
When you consider the opportunities of having an event like Caribana be held during 2015, the uniqueness of the opportunity becomes even more compelling.
Troop also spoke quite proudly of the seventeen communities that are serving as hosts for the Pan Am Games. These hosts, in stretching around Lake Ontario will form three “Games Zones,” each boasting attractive competitions and events. While some critics have challenged the expanse of the event footprint, it should be an exciting opportunity for a great many communities to benefit from the experience and energy that the Games will bring.
For now Troop is employee # 1. The job market has been abuzz of late who will soon be employees 2 to 6-7-8, as the recruitment of the senior management team is in full swing. Troop mentioned some talent coming in from VANOC, which makes sense. But I suspect he will also want to tap into talent from local communities, both culturally and geographically, that will be serving him so well going forward.