Brains behind the bid | Chicago Tribune

Brains behind the bid Chicago Tribune: "By Kathy Bergen Tribune staff reporter Published March 4, 2007 When U.S. Olympic Committee evaluators fly in Monday to give Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympics the once-over, they undoubtedly will take stock of Mayor Richard Daley and his handpicked bid leader, Patrick Ryan. They probably will rub elbows with some high-powered supporting cast members--business giants tapped to function as the team's board of directors. But, in a real sense, the evaluators will be measuring the work of a pack of behind-the-scenes specialists who have been shaping Chicago's bid. There's an astute politico, a no-nonsense venue and operations guy with a handful of previous Olympics under his belt, a sports marketing guru formerly with the USOC, and a public relations man who has assisted the International Olympic Committee in crisis moments, including the Salt Lake City bid scandal. Were it not for theses masterminds, Chicago may not have made it to this showdown against rival Los Angeles. For instance, when the USOC last summer nixed Chicago's proposal for dual lakefront stadiums, these specialists scrambled to analyze six other potential stadium sites. Chicago 'really needed that level of expertise at this stage because you're really starting, to a significant degree, from scratch,' said sports industry consultant Marc Ganis. All told, about 12 paid specialists and a wide array of executives on loan from leading professional-services firms have been shaping Chicago 2016, in partnership with City Hall. 'I take a lot of the ideas and make sure they are properly vetted,' said Ron Huberman, the mayor's chief of staff. 'My involvement is the connect-the-dots guy.'"