or How to Take a Company from 2 to 100MPH in One Crazy Year

There is a lot to be said for being overwhelmed. I mean, without the luxury of losing focus, a lot seems to get accomplished. That could be why start-ups hold such appeal – they are fast, intense, sexy … and utterly exhausting.

Our young ‘Hawk has been no exception.

2012 was the breakthrough year for our little Sparrowhawk. It all started with one simple question: How can we truly improve the world of Global Events for our clients, our customers, and our colleagues?

We identified areas where we could have the most impact, focused intently, drilled in, and delivered. There were honestly so many milestones in 2012; I’ve just had to keep it to a few tasty favorites here.

In the world of Olympic Transport, Sparrowhawk designed and delivered a mighty and extraordinary Venue Access and Parking Permit Program (VAPPS) program. London 2012’s Summer Olympic Games saw Sparrowhawk distributing more than 100,000 VAPPS with nearly 800 permutations. The program was lauded for it’s sound operating principals&emdash;demonstrating our unmatched knowledge of mega-event client groups.

We were honored to bring first-class Games experience to organizers at a great value with our pioneering Games Operational Readiness Reviews_TM. Our analysis-and-remedy process, performed for multiple Olympic and Paralympic venues, helped planners and stakeholders bridge gaps between concept and operations and develop critical Command and Control protocols. Event Transportation will never be the same with our integrated program at work.

In our work with the Olympic Delivery Authority, Sparrowhawk designed and delivered bespoke bus services for Olympic spectators. We had a strong partner in FirstGroup’s Games Transport division, and together we managed over 1000 buses at Games-time. With close to 2 million spectator trips, safety and service levels were exceptional.

A true gem of the London 2012 Olympics was our accessible shuttle program for spectators, praised as the most successful accessible program in the history of the Games.

At the 2012 Democratic National Convention, our senior operations support to esteemed partner The Archer Group saw Sparrowhawk excelling in both Venue Transport Management and high-level White House clientele services.

Development of Sparrowhawk Academy made great strides in 2012, as did our methodologies for Event Workforce recruitment and management, and our internal team grew in strength, size, unity, and expertise.

Our Sparrowhawk Gives event at Home House raised funds and awareness for Help for Heroes, an organization that helps wounded servicemen and women in the pursuit of Sport and Event Industry professions. It was definitely an international party to remember.

And we were able to help out with relief effort for Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey and New York, which was meaningful and important to our core values.

Did we change the Mega-Event Management world in one year? Certainly … but not nearly enough. The path for 2013 is clear. Another all-absorbing storm of progress is required in this mad, mad world of Mega-Events.

Thank you to all of our clients, colleagues, and the friends who have supported us on this impractical journey of bringing practicality to these phantasmagorical things we call Mega-Events.

And thank you Hawks for your commitment to excellence and for seeing 2012 through with us. Let’s engineer our way to even better dreams and realities together in 2013.

Hope to see you all out there.

Sincerely,
Caroline Campbell
President & CEO, Sparrowhawk Inc.