Case Studies

Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games - www.gc2018.com

The Commonwealth Games are an international multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth. The event was first held in 1930, and has taken place every four years since then.

The 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games saw 71 Commonwealth nations & territories send teams to the Gold Coast (Queensland, Australia) to compete between 4 - 15 April 2018. Over 6,500 athletes and officials took part in 18 sports (including a 7 para sports) with a global TV audience of 1.5 billion. 1.5 million spectators attended the Games, across 17 competition venues located in the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Cairns and Townsville. 

Venues used to deliver the Commonwealth Games ranged from totally temporary built venues, through to enhancing the infrastructure and operations of existing world class venues within Queensland. 

Kate and Dominic were involved in the planning of the Gold Coast Games from over 2 years out, and were then joined by joined by other RDO Events colleagues 6 months out for the delivery of the event. RDO's team primarily focussed on the management and successful running of the competition venues and key non-competition venues, along with the development and delivery of the Games wide Spectator Experience program.

Highlights of Gold Coast 2018:

England 2015 Rugby World Cup - www.rugbyworldcup.com

The Rugby World Cup (RWC) is the third largest sporting event in the world. The 2015 Rugby World Cup was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October and sawrugby’s governing body (World Rugby) declaring it the “biggest and best Rugby World Cup ever” - 2.5 million spectators attended 48 matches across 13 venues with a total television audience of over 4 billion.

Kate and Julie worked within the Tournament Services team responsible for Transport, Security, Accreditation, Accommodation, Catering, Freight & Logistics, Cleaning and Waste. This team was tasked with ensuring a cohesive and integrated service to meet the needs of all client groups (players, guests, officials, spectators etc), with the primary measure of success being the quality of experience that these groups had during the tournament. 

Highlights of England 2015:

Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games - www.glasgow2014.com

The summer of 2014 saw RDO heavily involved in the organising of the third largest multi sport event in the world, which was described as “The Best Commonwealth Games Ever’. 17 Sports, 11 Venues and a record breaking number of volunteers making it the biggest event that Scotland has ever seen.

A team of eight were provided by RDO to supplement the existing Venue Management department from January through to the end of Games time. During this time they helped advise the senior managemnent team, plan key aspects of the Games time delivery and train Venue Managers to ensure that they were fully equipped for Games time. Further to this, five of RDO's team worked across key competition venues during the Games (which also included the Opening and Closing Ceremonies), with the other three of the team holding positions within the Games Operations Centre at G2014 HQ - both supporting the Venue teams and creating Games wide reports to the Organising Committee and Games wide Partners.

Highlights of Glasgow 2014:

2012 Olympics – www.london2012.com

The summer of 2012 saw “the most successful Olympic & Paralympic games in history”. 

Both Dominic & Paul were employed by the London Organising Committee (LOCOG) where they played key roles in the initial planning stages and were then given the responsibility of running two of the most high profile and complex venues in the Games; Dominic at the Olympic Stadium and Paul at the Lee Valley White Water Centre. Although seriously challenging at times, both Dominic and Paul’s three years working on the Games were highly rewarding and highlights of their careers to date.

Highlights of the Olympics:

Race Of Champions – www.raceofchampions.com

Race Of Champions is an annual, globally televised, four day event hosted in the world’s most prestigious venues (including Beijing’s “Bird Nest", Wembley Stadium, Stade de France, Dusseldorf’s ESPRIT Indoor Stadium and Thailand’s Rajamangala National Stadium). The event sees the world's top motor sport drivers, such as Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher, competing head-to-head to prove who really is the best driver in the world.

For the past 5 years RDO Events has provided strategic and event support to Race Of Champions, which has included organisational re-structuring, creation of operational planning processes and documentation, core programme management and recruitment of key staff. In addition to this both Dominic (as Operations Director) and Paul (as Operations Manager) are responsible for operational areas and the successful delivery of the event.

Video footage of the action packed event:

Wembley Stadium – www.wembleystadium.com

The iconic Wembley Stadium is the largest, most technologically advanced and busiest Stadium in the UK. Wembley Stadium is not just the home of English Football, but is a 90,000 seater, purpose built, multi-event venue that hosts some of the largest & most complex events in the world ranging from UEFA Champions League football finals to multi-act, globally televised concerts.

Further to Dominic’s employment by Wembley on a full-time basis, RDO Events has supplied support and guidance to the existing Wembley Stadium events team and has furthermore been working with Wembley Stadium’s Consultancy arm in assisting “organisations who want to access the knowledge and experience at the world’s most famous stadium” on projects around the world.

Join In - www.joininuk.org – Go Local Event – July 2013

The “Join In” charity was born out of the legacy of the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games, and were seeking an iconic venue in which to hold the largest volunteering event in UK history a year on from the Games.

RDO Events were initially asked to complete a feasibility study detailing different venue options around the UK. In addition to this, the piece of work included proposing fully loaded budgets for each venue, proposed team structures to deliver the event and an implementation plan. These recommendations were then presented to the Join In board and their funders (UK Government, BIG Lottery Fund).

Once the venue was agreed, RDO Events then went on to provide on-going project management support and operational delivery. This resulted in a successful event with over 30,000 attendees, being one of the first events held in the newly re-opened “Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park”, broadcast on the BBC and Channel 4, and included live entertainment and famous faces such as Seb Coe, the Mayor of London and the British Prime Minister.

Video footage of the fantastic day: