With the Olympics just around the corner (37 Fridays to be exact…would you believe it?!), it’s a great time to be living and working in London. It’s an even greater time to be working with clients such as UPS who, as an official Olympic sponsor, are heavily involved in the games.

As a result of the terrifying (and yet extremely exciting) closeness of the games, it is all systems go on the UPS account at Edelman. I’ve been very fortunate to have attended three events in the past two weeks; two of these events were UPS and Olympics related.

November 1 was the first of two UPS Logistics Forums taking place this month. The Forums are important events in the UPS calendar, as they serve as a way for the official Olympics logistics company to communicate with stakeholders about the current logistical situation in the build up to the Games. The event was attended by executives from London 2012 sponsors and suppliers, all of whom are working hard to make the games run smoothly.

Hearing a UPS representative talk about the hurdles which they have already encountered in the run up to the Olympics opened my eyes to just what a challenging job they have on their hands, and just how difficult it is to get such a project right.

During a recent set of Olympic test events, the UPS team encountered a major difficulty in the form of London’s rioting inhabitants. The test events took place the week after the August riots, so UPS had to factor the potential for another spate of riots into their planning. Therefore, when lining the streets of London with heavy (and potentially lethal!) metal barriers, they purchased hundreds of metres of metal chains, as well as countless padlocks to attach to the barriers, just in case a rioting group decided it would be a good idea to try to throw a barrier at a person, a car or a shop.

Unforeseen circumstances such as riots certainly keep companies like UPS on their toes: six months ago, rioting would not have been on their list of potential risks. Now, they know exactly how to deal with that situation. Who knows what the real games may throw at UPS and the other sponsors of London 2012, but after seeing how they successfully overcame the challenges of the riots, we should be confident the UPS will deliver the Olympics perfectly, from barriers to sports socks!