Re posted from www.metroblenznewssquad.com

By Cybele Negris

During the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, I was invited to attended an Olympic related event at PricewaterhouseCoopers. I was impressed by the level of planning and execution of the event held in the PwC Olympic Lounge where attendees were invited to network, watch the women’s hockey game (Canada vs Switzerland) and to take part in a wine tasting.

After the event, I was curious as to what holding an event like this meant for a company like PwC. I took the opportunity to find out more about what PwC was doing to leverage off the Olympics and determine whether hosting these types of events gives such companies a return on their investment. I was also interested in whether there were motivations beyond business for PwC to support the Olympics.

It seems support for the Winter Olympics and Canada’s athletes has long been a part of PwC’s culture. They were one of the official supporters of Canada’s bid for the 2010 Winter Games during 2002-2003. PwC is also the exclusive auditor, tax and business advisor to Alpine Canada Alpin (the governing body for alpine ski racing in Canada) and they provide financial and in-kind support to the ACA Podium Club. They sponsored individual skiers Jean-Philippe Roy and Geneviève Simard who unfortunately both had to pull out of this year’s Olympic Games due to prior injury.

Interestingly, they also have a number of Olympians at PwC and some retired staff who have competed in the past. To name a few, John Larsen, a retired partner, competed in the 1964 Tokyo Summer Games in the Rowing competition. Nic Youngblud, an associate in the Calgary office, achieved a personal goal by being part of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games as a member of the Canadian National Men’s Water Polo Team. So for PwC, support of the Olympics certainly goes beyond purely for business reasons.

For the 2010 Winter Games, they started planning operations and their involvement about 18 months ago. They had 3 main priorities during the Olympics—staff engagement in the Games, maintaining a high level of client service, and reducing vehicle trips into downtown Vancouver. They hosted events for staff and partners “to celebrate this once in a lifetime sporting and cultural event.” Big screen TVs were also installed in their lunch room for staff to drop by and watch events and they also had staff draws for tickets and prizes. “The Winter Olympic Games offer a unique opportunity to host key clients and get to know strategic targets. We converted part of one of our floors into a client hosting lounge area for meetings with clients and business networking receptions.”

Since the PwC building downtown is located near the Convention Centre where the International Broadcast Centre and Main Media Centre for the Olympics were located, the Olympics road closures impacted PwC. Let’s not forget the timing of the Olympics overlaps with the busiest 2 to 3 weeks of the year for more than half of PwC’s staff who provide audit services, tax support and regulatory filings for corporate clients.

However, they decided to “embrace this once in a lifetime opportunity.” They maintained a high level of client service during the Olympics by using some creative methods. For uninterrupted client service plus reduction of trips downtown, they leased temporary office space in south Richmond and encouraged staff that live south of Vancouver to use this facility instead of the downtown office. This office was accessible by the Canada Line. Some of the staff even worked at their client’s sites if they were outside of the downtown core. Staff were encouraged to work from home where possible, or leave their cars at home and take transit, walk or bike to work. Their goal was to reduce vehicle trips into downtown Vancouver by more than 50%. “We recently implemented a number of technology solutions that enable our people to work uninterrupted from home, our Richmond site or at a client’s office.”

As to whether PwC has been able to leverage off the Olympics successfully to drive more business, well, it is too early too tell. Their main reason to set up their hosting lounge and organize various business development and networking events onsite was to get together with clients, Alumni and other contacts and celebrate Canada’s achievements in the Olympic Games. “Professional services are a relationship-oriented business and it is important to create some very valuable face-time with clients and local business and community leaders.”

Having said that, PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Private Company Services group created quite a buzz during the Games with their “in the red campaign”. They put large sign outside the Vancouver office (Granville Square) situated in the heart of the Olympic action and asked people to share their photos. Thousands stopped to take pictures in their Canadian colours with the PwC sign and some of the best shots are being posted on a photo album on the PwC website.

PwC's in the red campaign - "Just this once, we're happy to see everyone in the red. Go Canada"

More information

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (www.pwc.com) provides industry-focused assurance, tax and advisory services. In Canada, PwC (www.pwc.com/ca) and its related entities have more than 5,300 partners and staff in offices across the country.

Related Posts:

Vancouver Small Business & the Olympics- Part I of Series – Eclipse Awards by Cybele Negris

Vancouver Small Business & the Olympics – Part II of Series – Forum for Women Entrepreneurs by Cybele Negris

Vancouver Small Business & the Olympics – Part III of Series – Residential Construction Industry by Cybele Negris

Vancouver Small Business & the Olympics – Part IV of Series – Interview with George Hunter, CEO of Small Business BC by Cybele Negris

Business & the Olympics – Part V of Series -Interview with Pascal Spothelfer, President, BCTIA by Cybele Negris

Cybele Negris is Co-Founder of Webnames.ca, Canada’s Original Domain Registrar. She is on the Boards of the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs, Small Business BC, Government of BC Small Business Roundtable and the Vancouver Economic Development Commission. More information is available at cybele.tel or webnames.tel. Follow on Twitter @cybelenegris and @webnames