September 2008

GW Professor Moves Classroom to Beijing

BY JULIA PARMLEY

Twenty-eight graduate students interested in sports and event management got an up-close-and-personal look at one of the biggest events in the world this summer—the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Lisa Delpy Neirotti, associate professor of tourism and sports management, took her tourism studies class to the games Aug. 4-24 to introduce them to “the world’s largest showcase” of the latest marketing and business ideas.

The students collected 50 surveys from spectators on their spending habits and thoughts on customer service at the games, and toured some of the games’ most important sites, including the International Broadcast Centre and the U.S. Training Center. Students met with representatives from Olympic sponsors, including Samsung, Visa, and Coca-Cola, and International Olympic Committee members; and kept a daily journal about their experiences.

“We also attended numerous sport events, including handball, swimming, and gymnastics, and visited venues such as the Olympic Village,” says Delpy Neirotti.
To prepare for the trip, the students met four times at the Foggy Bottom Campus to study the history of the games and the International Olympic Committee and to select a term-paper topic. Students were also required to read two books about the business of the Olympics and take an exam before they left for Beijing.

This year’s Olympics are Delpy Neirotti’s 14th consecutive games and the ninth time she has brought students to them. She was an intern at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., in 1983 and volunteered and conducted research at the 1984 Winter Games in Sarajevo, the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles, the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, and the 1988 Winter Games in Calgary. When Delpy Neirotti came to GW in 1991, she decided to make the games her classroom.

“I realized how much I learned being a part of the games, and I wanted to share the experience,” says Delpy Neirotti. “The Olympic Games are a testing ground for new ways of marketing.” In addition, she says that the survey collection pushed students to interact with people from countries and cultures all over the world. “It’s a great opportunity for both education and networking.”

On Aug. 19, Delpy Neirotti hosted a panel and reception for her students, GW alumni, parents, Olympic athletes, and GW students currently working at the games in Beijing. Panelists, including alumni Loretta Evans, Ph.D. ’03, Shimin Lou, M.B.A. ’00, and Frank Wong, B.A. ’79, discussed doing business in China. The students also spoke about their experience at the games.

While at the games, Delpy Neirotti and her students shared their impressions and experiences with family, friends, and the GW community through daily blog entries, pictures, and videos on SportsFanLive.com. Eric Herd, B.B.A. ’06, a former student of Delpy Neirotti, is head of sales and business development for the site and says he has been impressed with the dedication and commitment of the GW students despite their rigorous schedules in Beijing.

For M.B.A. student Chris Hedquist, the 2008 games marked his first trip to China—but not the Olympics. A former luge and skeleton racer who has medaled in national and world championships, Hedquist traveled to the 2006 Olympic Games in Turin as an alternate for the U.S. team in skeleton—a sport in which drivers steer a one-person sled head first down an ice track. Hedquist, who is writing his term paper on how Olympic sponsors dealt with the controversy surrounding China’s human rights record, says it was fascinating to learn all that goes on behind the scenes.

“As an athlete, you are sheltered because you sleep and eat in the Olympic Village,” says Hedquist. “Being on the media and business side provides a completely different perspective.

“It’s been a lot of work and little sleep, but the games are an amazing experience,” he says.

Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu