1. Welcome and Apologies
DK welcomed everyone to the meeting.
Apologies: Rachel Wilson (RW), Nikki Howard (NH), Keith Roberts (KeithR), Tim O‘Donoghue (TOD)
2. Register of Interests
No change for Directors or special advisors noted but all to advise DK of any amendments.
3. Approval of Minutes of Meeting of Directors (25th January 2024)
Minutes were approved with no changes.
4. Matters arising from previous minutes
No matters were raised at this stage, that would not be covered under subsequent discussions.
5. WOC2024
Financial Position
KR confirmed WOC spend is proceeding as expected, with contracts being reviewed by the Event team reporting to DK and KR before contract signature. Some WOC tour entries are coming in which is helping to keep the cash balance healthy at this time.
Contracts
The contract between British Orienteering and SOA and S6D is currently under review.
The contract between SOA and S6D and Flip (Communications Agency) is also under review.
KR has shared the finance dashboard with the Board and will look at a better sharing system for future meetings.
Arena infrastructure was discussed as the most significant item which was flagged as still awaiting costs, but expected by close of week. Other spend items were reported as in accordance with budget or within tolerance.
DK and KR were now acting as the primary contacts in respect of the signing of contracts. Other directors would step in if required. All contracts would be circulated to all directors for transparency.
Risk Register
RW had issued an updated Risk Register, however this was not reviewed at this meeting.
AM reported the road closure request had been approved by the City Wide transport group, which was an important step and a significant item on the risk register.
City of Edinburgh Council had confirmed that they cannot control other department budgets to any great degree, which would be worth considering further on the risk register.
AM will convene a meeting to review the Risk Register.
Event Directors Report
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Significant Changes in Expenditure
WOC clinic costs had been unforeseen, but AM and JC have done an amount of work to define and limit this activity.
Governance and PM
Fortnightly venue and team meetings were now operating. V1 venue plans, including some good imagery in both 2D and 3D, were shared across the team and warmly reviewed. Ian Smalls has gone to the market and expects costs back soon.
AM presented a number of one page dashboard reports from key activities and took any questions arising
Staffing
Mark Stodgell has engaged Royal Signals to assist and they may help on marshalling also. Flip have started work on all the social media etc. but the contract needs finalising.
AM and JC have agreed allocation of the workload. Each are having regular meetings with their functional leads which then feed into bi-monthly meetings.
Sponsorship
Kay Hawke at British Orienteering has some good contacts including Red Bull (potential after-event party), and IOF have now discussed branding. Other sponsors have been also introduced.
AM reported that they are currently trying to align the current agreements with the new framework. He will distribute the sponsorship deck to directors and he reiterated that the big ticket item for sponsorship is the TV audience.
AM queried whether there was knowledge of any agreement with Edinburgh University. Directors were not aware of anything formal but AM will continue to engage with University staff and get them to join the dots. Jon Cross is speaking to them about exposure in respect of broadcasting. Jon Cross is leading this discussion and how to offset costs.
AM will also take forward discussions with Kay Hawke about a lead to BOF Commercial links
Communications
AM has linked in with BOF, the SOA Development team, City of Edinburgh Council and the EventScotland team. Flip are used to adventure sports and have good communications with the relevant teams.
A charity tie-up with Heart Research UK sounds reasonable and in line with what we can offer each other.
Discussion on a mascot had taken place with potentially Scotty from Athletics Scotland events of recent years being used.
Venue Design
Iain Smalls has concluded designs and is trying to finalise the costs by the end of February.
Venues for hospitality include considering a hotel as we only need full hospitality on one day with only WOC family on other days.
V1 costs due back on 23 February
V2 plans will be shared once broadcast has been sorted by 8 March
V3 will be fixed by end-March
WOC Tour
The current entry is rising and the budget target is £25k. Tour officials are pushing media and monitoring entries. We have a good percentage of the entries needed for budget purposes.
Permissions
City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) have come to the table to help obtain permissions with a proactive approach. The team are looking to pull together all outstanding permissions needed for CEC properties. Alasdair Pedley has been working to discover ownership. JC has regular contact with David Waddell of CEC and will move to a fortnightly catch up meeting.
AM is meeting Oriam tomorrow and hopes to finalise agreements shortly.
Road Closures
Road Closures were presented to CEC City Wide Transport Group on 13 February. AM reported that a road closure request had been approved by the Group, which was an important step and a significant item on the risk register.
Broadcast
Options need to be agreed but OB trucks are likely to be locally sourced. BBC Alba cannot take live feed as it does not fit with their programming schedule. We are still trying to get on the Red Button sorted.
IOF
Henrik Eliasson has provided confirmation that IOF are happy to provide the rights to the BBC / domestic broadcaster free of charge. IOF have agreements in place in respect of Finnish TV. The Adventure Show has also agreed to cover. Henrik is happy to add English commentary and therefore it is more likely to get to the front page of the BBC Sport website and on the red button.
Merchandise
Scimitar and Fiona Eades have progressed on how designs will be used. It is expected that no stock will be purchased to minimise losses etc. A suggestion has been made to let Scimitar run the show. The shop will go live on 1 March.
WOC office
The Molloys are taking the lead on this and dealing with room bookings etc. and sorting accreditation.
Community Engagement
AM outlined the statutory consultations for roads closures and further engagement is required that we will now start progressing in earnest. Questions were asked regarding the effect on local business etc.
6. Dates of Next Meeting
Next planned meetings for WOC business:
21st March
25th April
30th May
27th June
Next meeting for the 6-Day Board is 13 March 2024 (6-Day business only)