Jayne Pearce: AZERTAC approached the coverage of European Games in a very professional manner

In an interview with AZERTAC, Director of Press Operations of Baku European Games Operations Committee Jayne Pearce has shared her impressions about the coverage and results of the Games. The following is the text of the interview. - The first European Games are already over. They were extensively covered by local and foreign media. Are you pleased with the coverage of the Games? - Yes, I am certainly pleased. Also with the numbers who came. I just have the latest figures here and we have 583 international media representatives and 665 locals, which is an amazing success. The coverage was great. We feel that the journalists and photographers had a very good opportunity in the venues to cover the Games and we are very pleased with the coverage. - What was new for the media in terms of the coverage of the Games? - I think there were many sports that were new to Azerbaijan and a lot of media were covering these sports for the first time. So people took time to find out about them, and cover them and give them some exposure perhaps they haven't had in the past. We also had Olympic level working conditions in the venues and for the most part, media respected that. So they were able to have an Olympic level coverage and expose themselves to more new sports perhaps they have covered for the first time. - How do you appreciate the attention of the local media to the Games? - Local media were always in force in the venues. They were very keen to cover all of the sports and not just the sports, but they traditionally are interested in such as boxing, wrestling, sambo and judo. The local media were covering all of the sports and after the most part I feel that they were very good in their coverage and we were able to help them. - What can you say of AZERTAC`s contribution as the official media partner of the European Games? - I think AZERTAC approached the coverage of the Games in a very professional manner. We went around the dress rehearsals together for the opening and closing ceremony to make sure that we were able to properly prepare the photographers to capture the opening and the closing ceremony. The photographers and journalists in the venues were very professional and they were there covering all sports, and my staff had a very positive reaction, and told me that AZERTAC team were wonderful in the venues and covered it very well. I am very impressed by how your team took the time to discover news service, and were very happy to take the information we provided, and we're very open to that. They were very receptive to people giving advice in the venues for photographic positions, so absolutely no criticism at all. - Would you cooperate with AZERTAC in the future? - Yes, I would be very happy to work with AZERTAC again. I leave Azerbaijan having made many friends, and I would very much welcome working with AZERTAC again. Who knows may be in the future we will work together again. But I would certainly welcome it. - Do you think you will involve people working in Baku 2015 team in other projects that you will work on? - Absolutely, there are some fantastic, young Azerbaijani professionals who I have seen work incredibly hard and incredibly well on the press operations team. And I would not have any hesitation in giving them an opportunity to work with me in the future on an event should I be looking to have a contract to work on. I would not have any hesitations as there are some fantastic young people, and I've enjoyed working with them. And they have made a great contribution to the successful delivery of the Games. -What are your impressions about Azerbaijan, Baku? How will you remember the first European Games? -I will leave behind Azerbaijan having made some good friends, having had a great, professional experience. I have learnt a lot myself. And I hope I have encouraged some Azerbaijani young people to stay in this profession and have a good career. So I leave with very good memories. I think the European games here have been very successful - the images, the photographs, the sports have been wonderful, and I know that the European Olympic Committees is very pleased as well. I was just at the meeting when the president expressed his satisfaction how the Games have been organized and the great experience that the volunteers have given. I think Azerbaijan can be proud of its volunteers as well. I think for an event such as this to be a success there has to be a coming together of government, local delivery partners, volunteers, and professionals both local and international. Whatever a country, it`s a coming together of all of the providers, sponsors, and I think everybody plays their part and everybody has a contribution to make a great whole. That's true of Olympic Games, that's true of the national championships. So I think every partner here played their part in the whole.