John Furlong is now the master of his domain.
On April 26 -- just over a month after the Paralympics closed -- the VANOC chief executive registered JohnFurlong.ca with GoDaddy. Interesting choice: he is a daddy five times over and a granddaddy to 10.
On Dec. 7, Nanaimo-based Array Studios launched JohnFurlong.ca to promote Furlong's upcoming book launch and his speaking engagements. Furlong's book Patriot Hearts: Inside the Olympics that Changed a Country is out Feb. 11, 2011, the day before the first anniversary of the Games' opening.
Furlong is going headlong into the world of motivational speaking. If you've got the gift of the gab, might as well use it.
The Nanaimo connection is notable. Furlong is a former parks and recreation director of the Hub City where he promoted the So You Think You're Tough amateur boxing exhibitions.
Furlong hired Sandra Hamilton as his business manager. She is a senior partner with the Twentyten Group, a firm populated with former VANOC marketing executives and headed by Andrea Shaw. The Gastown-based Twentyten Group shares office space in 375 Water Street with VANOC, which moved there Nov. 1.
The location is, coincidentally, one floor below where the Vancouver 2010 Bid Corporation was in 2003 when the International Olympic Committee chose Vancouver as the 2010 host city.
VANOC is scheduled to finally release its post-Games financial report on Dec. 17. The taxpayer-backed organizing committee's finances have been secret since Dec. 21, 2009.
