It’s not much of a change, but Florida 2012 will now be called Tampa, Florida 2012. The name was changed at the request of the U.S. Olympic Committee. The International Olympic Committee requires each Olympic entrant to specify one city as the primary bidder for the Games.
The new logos will appear in print ads and on stationery later this summer, as well as on banners at Tampa International Airport.
But Ed Turanchik, president and CEO of the bid says one thing won’t change; the regional nature of Florida 2012’s Olympic plans. There will still be events at Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Polk and Orange counties and Florida 2012 will continue to emphasize that Central Florida theme parks and Orlando’s large number of hotel rooms make the group’s Olympic bid attractive.
Turanchik said of the name change, “It just makes a collector’s item of our old pins and T-shirts.
Florida 2012’s vice-chairman Edmund Timberlake Jr. agreed the Tampa-centric logo change won’t hurt efforts to win supporters and raise funds in the Orlando area. “ I don’t view this as an issue from a Central Florida standpoint”, said Timberlake, a senior vice president for Bank of America in Orlando.
Florida 2012 had to make fewer changes than two other Olympic hopefuls. In addition to changing its logo, Bay Area Sports Organizing Committee 2012, the group working to get the Games for the San Francisco area, now refers to itself as San Francisco 2012.
Spokesman Tony Winnicker said, “it’s really been a cosmetic change. It’s not a big deal as to how we’re perceived in the community”.
And the Washington, D.C.-Baltimore group vying for the 2012 Games dropped Baltimore from its name. That didn’t ruffle any feathers in Baltimore, said Washington D.C. 2012 President Dan Knise. “They understand that Washington, D.C. is a powerful brand name. It hasn’t changed the way we’re going to conduct the Games. We’re still going to conduct events in the Baltimore area”.
Meantime, Vancouver-Whistler 2010, the group bidding for the 2010 Winter Games, is still using its hyphenated name.
