Lexington, KY - The Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games will open at the Kentucky Horse Park on September 25, 2010 with closing ceremonies scheduled for October 10 of that year. Since Lexington became the first city outside of Europe chosen to host the Games, the World Games 2010 Foundation, established to plan, prepare for and run the event, has changed leadership several times; and the economy has devolved from robust to recessionary.
Jamie Link joined the Foundation's staff in January as chief executive officer. Link is a 1985 graduate of the University of Kentucky, where he received a bachelor's degree in accounting. And he has spent the majority of his career working with the Kentucky Department of Parks and the Kentucky Finance and Administration Cabinet in various positions with extensive experience in accounting, budgeting, human resources, procurement, capital construction and tourism management.
Link most recently served as deputy secretary of the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet since December 2007 and prior to that spent several months as the deputy executive director of the Kentucky Horse Park. As deputy secretary, he has served as an ex-officio member of the World Games 2010 Foundation Board of Directors and had been involved in the ongoing construction projects at the Kentucky Horse Park as well as working with major vendors related to the Games.
Have you had to hit the ground running?
Yes. We have hit the ground running. Obviously there's a lot yet to be done, but upon arriving at the Foundation in January, I found that the staff had done a tremendous job laying the groundwork. And my predecessor Jack Kelly had as well. And my job now is to pick up the ball and run and push it across the goal line.
How does public sector administrative experience translate into running a major sporting event?
Well, in a couple of ways. Number one, as you mentioned, I did have the good fortune of being a part of the Kentucky Horse Park, which is an organization within Kentucky state government. Spending time there gave me a great appreciation and understanding of not only the Horse Park but the equestrian sport as well. Secondly, coming from more of a tourism background with state government, I see the real value of this event on Kentucky's economy, not only in 2010 but also in the future as the Horse Park and Kentucky tourism go to a new level as a destination point for not only national but international visitors.
Marketing is a big component in the overall job of putting on an event like this. How does your background and your experience inform you in that area?
Well, I'm not really a marketing guru by any means. But we have our marketing and sales staff, our vice president, Terry Johnson, is doing a tremendous job, out seeking sponsorships and getting the word out. Our external relationships department is working with school groups, K through 12. We're working with the universities on educating the general education community on what the Games mean. And then we're looking at various economical ways of getting the word out, especially through Web marketing. We just launched our new Web site, and that will be a great tool for marketing. And then we're working through various different equine associations, breed associations and various different disciplines to also get the word out to all the people we can.
Alltech, Rood & Riddle, Ariat, John Deere and Rolex have signed on as sponsors. Are you still in need of sponsorships on that level or are lower-level sponsorship packages available?
Obviously with the economic situation we have altered our strategy somewhat to solicit sponsorships from lower-level vendors as well - and I mean that just purely as a dollar amount. But we also are still sensing great interest by major donors, maybe not at the levels we originally hoped two years ago when the economy was much stronger, but there is still a great deal of interest. Some of them have taken a wait-and-see attitude to see what the economy does over the next several months. But we're very optimistic that we can attract international, national and local vendors as sponsors or to be part of our hospitality program, which we are launching in March.
When Lexington was selected for the Games, the economy was robust. Things have changed. Do you think it would be wise for the community to recalibrate expectations accordingly or are things still on track?
I think, all in all, we're still on track. We certainly want to manage those expectations. When the award was announced in December 2005, it was a very exciting time and a very optimistic time. We still have that optimism; we feel like this is still a once-in-a-lifetime event for Lexington and Kentucky. My hope would be that perhaps we could get it back in the years to come. A lot of companies and a lot of corporations are still interested in participating in the Games. We're partnering with the city of Lexington, with the Lexington Convention and Visitors Bureau, with the state of Kentucky. We're working with various different partnerships to maximize our potential for the Games, and I really believe that we can continue that sense of optimism because I think due to the nature of the event we can achieve what we all had hoped for.
The Urban County Council is considering, and possibly by the time this interview is published may have voted on, a host city agreement between the Foundation and the city, that would restrict advertising within a so-called "clean zone" and would also lay out some other agreements between the city and the Foundation for the period of the Games. Can you tell us more about that?
I have very limited knowledge. As a matter of fact, I'm trying to get a copy of that agreement right now. But my understanding of it is that we want to protect our sponsors and our vendors who have made a pro-active effort to support the Games. I think the term is "ambush marketing," where people will use large events to come in and set up a shop or a temporary location to capitalize on the visitorship at the Games. We want to try to protect those vendors and sponsors that have been so vital in getting us to where we are, (making sure) that their interest is protected and that their products are prominently displayed, as they should be.
How would this agreement affect the marketing and presentation of downtown events?
I'm not really sure right now, but we'll certainly work very closely with the city of Lexington, the Lexington Host Committee and the Lexington Convention and Visitors Bureau to make sure we are all in sync on how we're going to approach the marketing and the execution of Games.
It's a statewide event, but Lexington is the host city and this is where it's going to happen. Doesn't that imply that the city's preparations to accommodate this should be a top priority?
Absolutely. Mayor Newberry and the Council and everyone in Lexington are working very hard to get all the projects associated with the Games completed in a timely manner as best they can. Obviously the economy has affected some of those time lines, but I know everyone is working very hard to achieve those goals.