Changed e-mail address
We have set up an e-mail address to be used solely for the NatWest Island
Games 1999. The address previously used goes to the Gotland Sports Federation. The new
official address is: islandgames@bigfoot.com
The aim of using e-mail is:
• to have a quick, easily accessible communication channel by which many recipients
can be reached without difficulty
• to have a cheap and flexible way of disseminating and exchanging information
We are now collecting correct postal addresses and e-mail addresses from the Island
Games committees of the participating islands, sports organisations, media, etc.
The point of using e-mail is that incoming mail can be forwarded to the concerned
persons without delay, and that responsible staff will be able to reply and deal with
matters within seven days. Incoming e-mail will be checked at least three times a week,
but we are so curious that we mostly check the letterbox every day!
Susanne Gustafsson
Information officer
Premiere
for our homepage
At the end of June, when we fire the starting signal to indicate "365
days left"* we are simultaneously launching a completely new release of our homepage.
The URL for the NatWest Island Games 1999 homepage is:
www.gotlandweb.com/
islandgames
The aim of the homepage is to increase knowledge of and interest in the Island Games on
Gotland and to provide up-to-date information. During the week of the competitions,
results will be published immediately on the homepage.
The information will be available in both Swedish and English. The basic structure will
follow these headings:
• Organisation (the various working groups, who does what, addresses)
• Practical information on Gotland (camp, transport, food, facts about Gotland and
Sweden, e.g. voltage, contacts, banking hours, etc.)
• Travel/accommodation (linked to the travel agent responsible for the bookings)
• Competition timetable
• The 14 sports
• History (member islands, medal tables, previous games, the origin of the games,
etc.)
• Press information
• Newsletter (in English only)
• Nyhetsbrev (in Swedish only)
• Maps (of Gotland, Visby, the location of the camp and the different sports)
• Sponsors
• Health care
• To order information
The homepage is already receiving 200–300 visitors per month (in May there were
204 visitors to the page) and it has links to about 50 other homepages, even though the
information has not been updated since Jersey 1997. The target for the new homepage is an
average of 300 visitors a month during the period July 1998 to July 1999.
We are now working flat out to fill the pages. Add the address to your
favourite/bookmarked sites so that you can easily find the latest news. If you have had
the page linked previously, please note the slight change in the address. You can still
use the old address, but it takes a little longer.
Susanne Gustafsson
Information officer
* On 26 June 1998 there are exactly 365 days left to the
opening of the Island Games on Gotland, and we shall mark this occasion with a musical
parade through Visby, with the hoisting of the flag, a speech by the chairman of the
Island Games committee, and the firing of the starting signal.
Preliminary
programme
According to the Constitution, we are hereby sending You the preliminary
programme for NatWest Island Games to be held on Gotland 1999. The programme should be
sent a year in advance, so here it is. Some of the sport activities have a more detailed
programme than others, it depends a lot in how many island will take part, on how
complicated the programme will be in the end. If You have any comments on the programme,
please let us know as soon as possible.
One paper copy, and a diskette of the programme, is being sent to all island
secretaries. The programme is written in Microsoft Word 6.0 and we hope You can make
copies for each of Your sport branches that intend to take part in the Games, and then
forward their copy to the sports co-ordinator on Your Island. If there is problem for You
to read the programme on Your computer, or You don’t have a computer, please let us
know and we will send You additional paper copies.
The programme is also sent to all secretaries in the Technical Committees.
Coming issues
of
the Newsletter
We are planning to publish the News-letter at 50-day intervals from now on,
in other words, with 300 days left, 250 days left, etc. The Newsletter is also published
on our homepage on the Internet |
May we introduce the Island Games mascot, Bääärtil?  "Bäää" is the noise sheep make in Sweden, and sheep
are a symbol of Gotland. So we have called our mascot by this ovine variant of the
man’s name Bertil (pronounced Bear-teel). What would you call this sheep in your
language? Send an e-mail to tell us. It would be nice to have an international sheep with
a flair for languages!
You may be wondering about the dots on the Ä. In Swedish we have three extra vowels
placed after Z in the alphabet. They are Å (pronounced like O), Ä (pronounced like the
vowel in fair) and Ö (pronounced like German ö or French eu). The Swedish word for
"island" is simply "ö".
Accommodations and
food
As we have mentioned before, the accommodations will be at the military barracks on the
outskirts of Visby, a walking distance of 20 minutes from the town-centre. There are
barrack-room of different sizes (8-10-12-14-16 beds) and in most of the rooms there are
bunk-beds.
Breakfast and dinner will be served at the military restaurant, which is very close to
the barracks. Lunch will not be included, but there are possibilities at most of the
locations to have some lunch.
The price for accommodations, breakfast and dinner at the military barracks will be
25 GBP per day.
We know it is very difficult to get accurate information at such an early stage, but we
would be very happy to have an approximate number on how many You think would stay at
these barracks and we would greatly appreciate this information at the latest 15th of
August.
If You do not wish to stay at the barracks, there are other options and we will give
You further information about other facilities in the middle of August. We will then
recommend You some of the hotels we are cooperating with, what prices and how many beds
are available etc.
Press centre
It has now been decided that the press centre will be located in Solbergaskolan,
a school in a highly central location. The press centre is in the heart of Visby, 100 m
from the pedestrian precinct and its shops, 100 m from the town wall, and right beside Gutavallen,
where the football and track-and-field events will be held. A result and information
service will be available in the press centre, together with a cafeteria, work room,
transmission rooms, and everything else that is needed for a well-functioning press
centre.
Fire at our main venue
A few weeks ago we had a big fire at our main sports arena Gutavallen
and the grand stand burnt down. It creates a sort of problem for our football-team as they
have to use another locale for their games.
We are now in discussions with our Culture- and Leisure Council, whether to repair it
or rebuild a totally new one, but it depends a great deal on the Insurance Company.
Hopefully the discussions will come to an end soon so the work can start as soon as
possible.
As far as things stand today, this locale will be used for the Athletics and Football
in the Island Games, the new grand stand will be ready in good time before the opening on
the 26th of June 1999.
Address
form
In connection with the dispatch of Newsletter no. 5 we are also enclosing
two forms. One concerns the islands’ Island Games committees, the other concerns the
participating sports from each island (copy as many forms as you need).
We are distributing the form because we want correct postal addresses, e-mail
addresses, etc. We also want to know which homepage each island wishes to link its name to
and which homepage each sport wants to be linked to. Yet another important detail in the
form is that we would like to have addresses of media (radio, TV, press) which are
interested in receiving information before and during the Island Games on Gotland in 1999.
For further information
please contact:
Organising Committee
NatWest Island Games 1999
Homepage:
http://www.gotlandweb.com/
islandgames
e-mail:
islandgames@bigfoot.com
Address:
Neptungatan 4
SE-621 41 Visby
Sweden
Telephone:
+46-498-20 70 71
Telefax:
+46-498-21 54 74
NEWSLETTER
is distribuated by
Gotland Organising Committee
NatWest Island Games 1999
Legally responsible editor
Susanne Gustafsson
Information Officer |
