Camille Moradmand, Nadjah Djadji, Didier Louvstavnav, Claudine Navlet, Maeve Desmond, Julien Helaine. Photo by Diana DeRosa

As a member of the media you are often under a lot of pressure. Media have pictures to take, stories to file and deadlines to meet. And this will surely be the case that the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games 2014 in Normandy, France. For media it is often about time constraints. Sometimes you have plenty of time to get your photos but other times, such as for awards presentations, you do not. Part of being able to succeed at these times depends on the press staff running the event.

Knowing who is doing what can help you achieve your goals. Often each area is handled by a different person. For instance one person might be in charge of TV, another overseeing interview requests and yet another dealing with the photographers.

At these Games not only is there the media section but also an area called the Chill Out Zone (COZ) which is sponsored by both Alltech, the title sponsor, and Orange, an official Games partner. The two sponsors will work hand-in-hand to ensure the media have some additional perks.

Julien Helaine and Camille Moradmand, who both come from Normandy, will be representing Orange in the Chill Out Zone.  This area is set up with comfortable couches where journalists can get away for a little time to socialize and relax or watch the TV on which the Games can be viewed.

Both Julien and Camille are there to help the media especially with internet related requests. There will also be laptops available in this area for any COZ guests to use.

In addition, Orange is offering an extra bonus. “We can charge mobile phones and if you want to save your data from your phone we can transfer it to an SD Card,” commented Camille.

These are two gigabyte cards as well as a micro SD card which goes into the larger card or the phone so you are able to carry your data, contacts or photos with you.

In fact, I now have my own portable SD card on which my contacts were downloaded. It’s a cool feature the media is sure to take advantage of.

Roland Matyasi, who lives in Thailand and works for Alltech, as its Asia Pacific Communications Manager, will be one of the many Alltech reps available to the media. He took a moment to chat about Alltech’s title sponsorship of these Games and the purpose of the Chill Out Zone.

“Alltech has a lot of journalists from around the world that we’ve known for years and we’d like to host them with the Alltech hospitality that they all know. So we decided to have an area within the International Media Center (IMC) where we can invite our journalist friends for coffee, soft drinks, snacks and tasting of the beer that our president, Dr. Lyons’ company produces.”

Everyday Alltech will be hosting a beer happy hour between 6:00 and 7:00 p.m., which you can be sure the media will not miss. 

“Our vice presidents and senior management will also be coming to the Alltech Chill Out Zone to be available for the media. Dr. Lyons will also be regularly visiting the Chill Out Zone,” continued Roland.

Not only is Alltech hosting the Chill Out Zone but their Alltech Pavilion will be showcased in the heart of the Games Village. 

“This is the area where we will celebrate agriculture. It will be a very unique experience for all the 500,000 people expected at these Games,” he added.

One of their biggest projects is the Alltech Music Festival, which is featuring eight concerts throughout the 15 days. One of these bands sure to be a huge hit will be Kool and the Gang. Some of the others include Aloe Blacc, Nick Waterhouse, Joyce Jonathan, Louis Bertignac, Oldelaf and Casseurs Flowteurs.

To find out more about all the featured artists please click here

Phillip Purvis. Photo by Diana DeRosa

Overseeing the needs of the media for the Alltech Music Festival will be Phillip Purvis, who comes from Biarritz, which is in the southwest part of France. Originally from New Zealand, he lived in Australia for 13 years before moving to France for the past 12 years.  Phillip’s background is Event Management specifically in TV Host Broadcasting.

At this event he has the title of Media Liaison Officer responsible for the Alltech Music Festival. He will be providing the interface between media, which includes Television, written Press and Photography.

Phillip will be the go to person for any media wanting to photograph or attend the Music Festival.

“I am the one that coordinates any media requests for such things as interviews with the artists and access to the various concerts,” he explained, noting that media will be allowed to shoot from a designated area only during the first three songs and flash will not be allowed.

Maeve Desmond, who lives in Dublin, Ireland, is the European Communications Manager for Alltech. She has been in Normandy for the past two months working onsite in Caen ensuring that Alltech has an excellent working relationship with the organizing committee as well as with their new colleagues, Orange.

“My goal is to make sure we have a beautiful space for media to hang out with while they are working at the Games,” she explained.

Maeve is focusing on liaising with the media to ensure they have answers to their questions and to arrange interviews with key Alltech spokespeople. 

“A lot of journalists are curious as to why Alltech is sponsoring the Games,” Maeve commented. “Once they understand that Alltech is an animal health and nutrition company they get that answer.”

Meg noted that while the focus of the Games is with the horse world, there is more that Alltech can achieve by being a sponsor. “This includes bringing our annual Global Dairy and Beef Conference to Normandy, a renowned agricultural region of France. We also have the Alltech President’s annual meeting taking place in Deauville 1½ hours from Caen.”

So, this event offers the company the ability to broadcast what Alltech is all about not only to the equestrian community globally but also to the agricultural community here in France, which is even more of a reason for them to be the title sponsor of these Games.

Yet another key individual dealing with the media, in this case the photographers, is

Andrew McMenamin, who while he lived in Dublin Ireland for 27 years, then in Australia for three years, has spent the past 13 years calling London his home.

Andrew does not come from the horse world but he’s had extensive experience as a Photo Manager for a variety of Winter Olympics as well as for the Para Olympics in London and various World Championships for all kinds of sports.

“I am here to serve the photographers to ensure they can get the bests shots possible while minimizing their impact on the rest of the operations,” Andrew explained.

He’s responsible for such things as providing the photographers with pinneys, marshalling photographers around the field of play, and representing or speaking for the photographers to ensure they get what they need.

“In these sports events it is classic economics,” explained Andrew. “There are scarce resources and everyone wants a piece of it but a good photo position is a good TV position or ideal for spectators or for a fireman to evacuate or maybe an perfect place for an electrician,” he continued, clarifying what he is up against when putting his bid in for the photographers.

Overall he’s been pretty successful probably because of his approach. “I like to think I make friends fast and hopefully my patience, organization, and ability to motivate volunteers also helps. I am not a photographer, but I work closely with expert photographers and they tell me what I need and I try and get it for them, bearing in mind that nothing is perfect,” he remarked.

Andrew is not overseeing all the eight venues, especially those not in the city of Caen (namely Endurance and Eventing Cross-Country) and some of the sports may not have a photo manager present. In the areas he is handling, photographers often are able to shoot at ground level around the field of competition, plus in higher designated positions as well as in any spectator’s seats that are not occupied. 

Andrew did acknowledge that based on FEI rules, remotes will be allowed and he will simply manage as a facilitator.

“We are looking forward to providing good opportunities for a really exciting event,” he concluded. 

Well known among the media is Edith De Reys who came to France from her home in Holland. Edith has been on the media staff at many World Equestrian, Olympic and even Pan Am Games as well as World Cups. She is one of the most helpful people that is much appreciated by the media.

In fact, she was so busy helping people get situated that she never had a chance to sit down and chat about what she’ll be focusing on while working at these Games. One thing is for sure, if she can get it done, she will.

Those mentioned above are just a handful of all the staff and volunteers ready to help the media that will be working non-stop to cover this year’s event. It’s clear that all of these people are key to ensuring the media are able to write their stories, get their photos and videos and, most of all, meet their deadlines.

Saturday, August 23rd, is an important day for this year’s Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games 2014 in Normandy because this is the day the Opening Ceremony will take place. I’ll be there capturing along with all the other media to attend what is sure to be a spectacular event.