Case Study
June 2015
www.broadstonegroup.com
The Broadstone Approach
Broadstone is A collection of the
brightest and best in the event business.
The major challenge with Baku 2015 was time - 20 months
to plan and deliver the First European Games.
What we did to overcome the challenge
Our approach was to take lessons from
the past. But rather than just doing things
again, we were determined to do them better.
We landed a team of 16 expert directors
with relevant and focussed expertise
within two months to form the basis of the
organising committtee.
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The Broadstone Approach
We recruited our first 100 people in 100 days and over the next year
built a team of 1500 local and international staff.
We quickly established relationships with key Government partners and
agencies. Everyone needed to be clear about their scope of work.
We avoided a “learn-by-doing” approach,
which is slow and expensive.
Instead, we used highly skilled and experienced
craftsmen, who have a proven track record of
delivering events of this nature and scale.
Results
By applying talent, the right structures and
the right processes, we were able to take the
tight timeline and use it very efficiently.
We were able to deliver a world class event
on budget and on time in 20 months.
Our approach of craftsmanship has left
behind a legacy of expertise that will
continue to be be used as Azerbaijan hosts
major events in the future.
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The Broadstone Approach
How could this be applied elsewhere?
A more efficient planning process, coupled
with bringing in the right people in at the right
time and training them better, is a more cost
effective way.
This approach can deliver a tremendous
amount to the bottom line as well as to the
experience of those involved in the event.
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Games Academy
Baku 2015 was an ambitious project.
It had to be planned and delivered in just
20 months, compared to seven years
for an Olympic Games.
One of the biggest challenges was
finding the Azerbaijani staff needed
to plan and deliver the Games.
The traditional model for major events, with almost all
training happening “on-the-job” with little attention paid
to learning and development of paid staff would not
have provided the right people in the right numbers at
the right time to deliver the project.
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Games Academy
What we did to overcome the challenge
Results
Injected a young, motivated “generation” who performed highly as
a group and challenged others to “up their game”, raising the bar of
performance across the organisation.
We designed, developed and
implemented the “Games Academy”.
The programme developed a network of people
who understood how the whole project
comes together – helping integration across
disparate functions.
An extensive learning and development programme for more than
1,000 paid staff including a graduate development programme to
attract, develop and retain 180 University graduates and equip them
with the skills and knowledge to become an effective management
layer of the organisation in less than a year.
A meaningful legacy for Azerbaijan – a group of highly capable
young people ready to work on future major events, and other large,
complex projects
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Games Academy
How can this be applied elsewhere?
Our Games Academy programme significantly reduced
the “speed to competence”...
This is a model which could be applied at events
across the globe, regardless of the primary driver –
be it time or budget constraints
turning new recruits into a
highly productive team in a shorter time.
Combined with a non-traditional workforce
model and AN alternative approach to planning,
there is potential to make significant savings
from salary and other costs.
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Innovation in technology
The Challenge
The team had just 30% of the typical timeframe to
organise and deliver the event, which would have
been impossible using the typical major event
technology model
As a first time event, there was no
existing template or model to follow so sizing and scaling the requirements for
this project was a challenge.
The Approach
The blank sheet of paper and time constraints provided
an exciting opportunity. You only have one chance to do
something for the first time.
This allowed the technology team to start completely
afresh, de-clutter, simplify the technology solution and
focus on delivering what was absolutely necessary to
make the Games a success.
We had to find a new way to deliver - using
technologies that broke away from the typical
approach to major events.
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Innovation in technology
Baku 2015 moved fully into cloud technology.
That means all technology infrastructure is
based on delivering the internet to venues.
Results
Incredibly flexible
and scalable model
and a much simpler
infrastructure.
Significantly reduced
technology footprint.
Baku 2015 doesn’t have big data centres it rented all the space needed, purchased software-as-aservice and procured and developed the applications that
were needed - all based on cloud technology.
It was a revolution
rather than AN evolution.
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Innovation in technology
How can this be applied elsewhere?
Cloud technology, by its very nature,
is ideal for an organization that
needs to scale up very rapidly and
downscale even more quickly.
The Technology Team at Baku 2015 has
shown this is a model that works
and is the future for major
sports events
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