Countdown to the 2010 Games [Archive]

mr.x2

10-12-2007, 03:10 AM

http://www.cbc.ca/bc/features/olympics2010/images/olympic-ticket-prices.gif

The countdown to the first day of ticket sales for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games is on! 1.6 million tickets for the Olympic Winter Games go on sale in October 2008 and 250,000 Paralympic Winter Games tickets will be available in 2009.

Highlights of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games ticket program include:

- More than 100,000 tickets will be available for $25
- Half of all Games tickets will be priced at $100 or less
- Tickets go on sale in October 2008

VANOC unveils ticket prices for 2010 Olympics

Updated Thu. Oct. 11 2007 9:45 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff

Tickets to the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics go on sale in exactly one year, and organizers say they are trying to keep the event affordable.

"When we bid for the 2010 Games, we made a promise. And that promise was that anyone who wanted to go to the games would be able to go, that no one would be left out, that we would make it possible," John Furlong, CEO of VANOC, said at a news conference Thursday in Vancouver.

"Today, we are delivering on that promise. We are delivering a ticket program that is accessible and affordable."

There will be 50,000 free tickets and half the tickets will be $100 or less, he said.

About 100,000 tickets will be available for $25 or less.

"It would be easy to think it's just another ticket to another sports event, but it's not," Furlong said. "It's the entire Olympic experience, an experience that will not come our way again for many, many, many years."

For a premium event like the opening and closing ceremonies, prices will range from $175 to $1,100, said Dave Cobb, VANOC's executive vice-president of revenue, marketing and communications.

The must-see events for Canadians are the gold medal games in men's and women's hockey. The prices reflect that. Tickets for the men's event will start at $350 and peak at $775.

Part of the pricing strategy could be tied to revenue goals. VANOC has budgeted on $232 million in ticket revenue, but that is based on 90 per cent of the tickets being sold.

In addition, Furlong noted that having fans in the stands also makes for a much better experience for the athletes.

Scalpers

The Vancouver Olympic Committee is concerned that some of the tickets will be snatched up by scalpers, who could then pawn them off to customers at inflated prices.

So, it's carefully tracking the unauthorized sale of event tickets. One business that recently began advertising tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies has already been forced to shut down. It was selling tickets for as much as $2,400. It wasn't just the high prices that raised eyebrows. There was another problem: VANOC hasn't yet released a single ticket for sale.

VANOC wants to cut down on scalping by creating a process that will allow only one application per person. They'll also analyze credit card and address information so that one person or group doesn't monopolize seats.

VANOC's Caley Denton told CTV News in Vancouver that they "will try to work and shut down people who are trying to sell their tickets for a profit."

He said the practice of outside vendors selling tickets at inflated prices "isn't within the spirit of our program and is actually against the rules of purchasing a ticket."

One more way VANOC hopes tickets go to Olympic fans and not scalpers is through a lottery system for events most in demand.

Availability

About 1.6 million tickets are available. About 30 per cent of all tickets are reserved for members of the "Olympic family."

For the Canadian public, people must apply starting in October 2008.

Tickets will be distributed by lottery, so there's no guarantee of getting the events one seeks.

In the second phase in early 2009, unsold tickets will be made available.

Seat assignment will take place from mid-2009 and lasting until year's end. This is the last phase because venue configurations will be finalized in this period.

The 2010 Winter Games taken place in Vancouver and Whistler from Feb. 12 to 28, 2010, while the Paralympic Games will run from March 12, to 21, 2010.

Cobb warned people against buying from unofficial vendors or outright scalpers.

"We're going to spend a lot of time educating potential purchasers of tickets about the dangers of buying from anyone other than an authorized agent of ours," he said.

"The last thing we would want to see happen is if someone buys an invalid ticket -- a counterfeit ticket, a ticket that has had its barcode cancelled because it's been stolen -- and those people arrive at a venue at Vancouver/Whistler 2010 and they don't get in."

Inevitably there will be counterfeit tickets out there, and "if people want assurances that they're going to go to a venue and have their ticket accepted, they need to buy it from us," Cobb said.

Opening Ceremony -- BC Place Stadium
A
$1,100
B
$750
C
$550
D
$175

Closing Ceremony -- BC Place Stadium
A
$775
B
$500
C
$300
D
$175

For full list of ticket prices:
http://vancouver2010.com/en/Participation/SpectatorInformation/Tickets/TicketPrices

mr.x2

11-09-2007, 03:53 AM

Ottawa offers $20 million for Winter Games entertainment

Clare Ogilvie, The Province
Published: Thursday, November 08, 2007

WHISTLER -- Ottawa is giving Whistler and Vancouver $10 million each to host Live Site celebrations during the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

"We are confirming that $10 million is there," David Emerson, the federal minister responsible for the 2010 Games, told Whistler officials yesterday.

Whistler plans on hosting a 24-hour-a-day party every day of the Games.

The stage performances, musical acts, theatre and dance will run in six different sites throughout the village with the largest venue being the purpose-built Celebration Plaza. Up to 25,000 will be able to celebrate throughout the village.

The Plaza will also be the site of the closing ceremonies of the Paralympic Games. Athletes will also receive medals at the plaza.

"It is an opportunity for us to create national pride and celebrate our culture," said Emerson.

To date, the budget for Whistler's celebrations is $20 million. Another $12 million will come from the Vancouver Organizing Committee's operational budget, and the resort will put in $7.5 million from a tax on tourists. The remainder will come from sponsors.

Whistler Mayor Ken Melamed said the Live Site plan was based on months of discussions.

The celebrations will not only leave the legacy of the Celebration Plaza, it will act as a catalyst for arts and culture in the community, said Melamed.

"We are convinced that this will carry forward into the years ahead and one of the messages that people will leave Whistler with is the association with culture as well as recreation and service," he said.

"Our intention is to create a party experience that you almost can't escape.

"We want people to have an opportunity to experience the Games whether they are inside the fence of the venue or outside. We really want to make this a true Olympiad for arts culture and sport."

To date no artists or performers have been confirmed, said Doti Niedermeyer, executive director of the Whistler Arts Council.

clareogilvie@telus.net

© The Vancouver Province 2007

mr.x2

11-20-2007, 02:34 AM

What a great idea. They train very hard year round to be the best Canada has to offer. Not to mention that they need the cash.....most of our athletes live in poverty because of the mounting expenses in training.

We also plan on finishing top 16 in next year's Beijing Olympics.

Canadian Olympic athletes to be paid for medal wins

Updated Mon. Nov. 19 2007 9:17 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff

Canadian athletes that reach the podium at any future Olympic Games will be financially compensated up to $20,000 per medal, officials said Monday.

The new Athlete Excellence Fund was announced in Ottawa by the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC).

Canadian athletes will receive $20,000 per gold medal won at any Olympic Games, said the COC.

Silver winners will be compensated $15,000 per medal and bronze winners will earn $10,000.

"We've had a program of subsidizing athletes in the past but we've never recognized the medal wins with specific dollars," COC president Michael Chambers told CTV Newsnet on Monday.

He said countries like the U.S., Australia, England, France and Spain already give their athletes money if they win at the Olympics.

Adam van Koeverden, two-time Olympic medallist in sprint kayak, said the financial burden on Olympic athletes and their families can be heavy.

"Through this fund, the COC is recognizing that burden, and what an incredible asset more Olympic medals will be for our communities and for Canada," he said.

The awards will apply to all Olympic athletes, including those playing in a team sport.

In the three non-Olympic years of the four-year cycle, athletes who place in the top five in years one or two, or top four in year three, will receive $5,000.

"I think it's a way of saying 'thank you for the work you've done,'" said world-class Canadian hurdler Perdita Felicien, and "recognizing the hard work it takes to be one of the best in the world, and here's your just reward."

Canadian athletes competing at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing will be the first eligible to receive the money.

But while athletes are applauding the announcement, many recoil at describing the cash rewards as incentives to work harder.

"There's no appropriate price for an Olympic gold medal," said van Koeverden. "I wouldn't trade mine for $20,000 or $20 million."

Gold-medal gymnast Kyle Shewfelt said while the money would be a welcome gesture, it's not going to make him work any harder as an athlete. "I work hard because I want to work hard, for myself and my country," he told CTV News.

And while even millionaire NHL hockey players who win gold at the Vancouver Games would each receive $20,000, they will be offered the option of giving the money back.

Meanwhile, Chambers said the COC was continuing to push Ottawa for more funding to help develop athletes.

In the last federal budget, no money was provided for the Road to Excellence program set up to help athletes win at the Summer Games.

"We're going at them again for the next budget and hopefully they'll become enlightened and see that our athletes deserve the money that we're asking for them," said Chambers.

A similar program, Own the Podium, is in place to help athletes train for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

The 2008 Olympic Games, which will run from August 8-24, will feature a total of 28 sport disciplines, 302 events, more than 200 participating countries, and an estimated 10,700 athletes, says the COC.

Canada will have about 300 athletes participating in Beijing.

The COC said the goal for the Canadian team is to finish among the top 16 nations in overall medal count.

SpongeG

11-20-2007, 04:02 AM

sounds good

most live in oblivion

Canadian Mind

11-20-2007, 05:51 AM

I hope so, although knowing my luck I'll be one of the military guys strolling the backwoods of Whistler, or doing time in Afghanistan (If we haven't pulled out by then).

mr.x2

11-24-2007, 02:33 AM

Venue Update: Nearing Completion

VANOC NEWS RELEASE
November 22, 2007

Building the track at the Whistler Sliding Centre, SeptemberBy the end of 2007, construction at all outdoor venue sites will be finished – an unprecedented success. “Just pretty fantastic” noted John Furlong, Chief Executive Officer of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC).”We set a target that construction at these venues would be done at the end of this year and they are.”

The Whistler Sliding Centre, Whistler Nordic Competition Venue, Cypress Mountain venue, the alpine courses at Whistler Creekside and updates to the short track speed skating and figure skating at the Pacific Coliseum venue will all be completed by Christmas 2007. Construction crews have worked tirelessly to bring these sites to operational use and soon, these venues will be open to the public for recreational use. Not long after, the venues will then be put to work hosting international level competitions starting in February 2008 with the Alpine World Cup in Whistler.

http://www.vancouver2010.com/images/Features/1skidjump.jpg

Even with these recent successes, the venue construction team is still not slowing down – there are indoor venues to be completed. “In the coming year, in 2008, you’ll see the completion of the number one hockey arena at the University of British Columbia which will be used for women’s hockey and sledge hockey,” said Furlong. “You’ll see the curling facility at Hillcrest finished in the third quarter. The speed skating facility at the Richmond Oval will also be substantially complete and the two Villages, obviously, are continuing and are exactly where they need to be to deliver on the objective of having them ready in time for the Games.”

“So we’re very proud and, of course, the icing on the cake is they’ll be done and they’ll be completed on budget,” said Furlong. “We’re very, very proud of it.”

http://www.vancouver2010.com/images/Features/3nov3.jpg

And the luge track at the Base II of Blackcomb at Whistler Village, which will also open in a few weeks.
http://www.vancouver2010.com/images/Features/1sept17.jpg

marmorek

11-24-2007, 04:47 AM

sweet. Can't wait to watch some of these events live.

Delirium

11-24-2007, 02:07 PM

here's a rendering of the live site at georgia/beatty.
http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/olympics/images/OlympicPlazaVancouverLiveS.jpg

marmorek

11-25-2007, 05:30 AM

Cool. Do you know what they'll be doing with that site after 2010?

mr.x2

11-25-2007, 05:31 AM

Cool. Do you know what they'll be doing with that site after 2010?

why that would be the site of the cultural precinct including the new Vancouver Art Gallery.
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=141331

mr.x2

12-05-2007, 11:10 AM

800 DAYS!

Olympics will benefit all of B.C., expert says

Jeff Lee, Vancouver Sun
Published: Wednesday, December 05, 2007

VANCOUVER - The 2010 Winter Games may be coming to the Lower Mainland and Whistler, but that doesn't mean that the rest of the province can't benefit economically and socially.

That's the view of Craig Phillips, the secretary-general for the Australian Olympic Committee, who says communities outside the traditional 604 area code should look for opportunities to host international teams getting ready for the Games.

Phillips, who will tour Kamloops, Vancouver and Prince George this week as part of a speaking engagement for 2010 LegaciesNow, said his own country's Olympic experiences are an example.

Although Australia is strong in summer sports -- it was in the top four in both 2000 in Sydney and 2004 in Athens in gold medals -- its winter sports contingent is small. Australia is looking for suitable facilities outside the Lower Mainland where its athletes, including short-track speed-skaters, can train.

Olympic host countries should realize that national Olympic committees and their athletes need to find facilities where they can train in the buildup to the Games.

"Some communities in B.C. can realize the opportunities that exist in terms of what the national Olympic committees and national federations are looking for their teams, both in the lead-up period and the pre-Games period," he said. "There are some economic benefits, social benefits available. Some communities removed from the Vancouver-Whistler area might not otherwise have any way of touching the Games."

Today Phillips is visiting Kamloops, which became one of the first B.C. communities to land a national team. In 2005, the Austrian national ski team picked Sun Peaks as its local training facility.

On Thursday, Phillips will head to Prince George, which has also successfully lured some athletes.

Virginia Sprangers, the manager of sports for Events Prince George, a government-backed economic development initiative, said the city hosted the Chinese and Korean curling teams last March in the run-up to the world championships in Edmonton.

It also became the temporary home to Chinese short-track speed-skater Li JiaJun, who won a bronze in the 1,500-metre race in Turin in 2006.

Sprangers said the French hockey team will also practice in Prince George for a week prior to the Games in 2010.

Cathy Priestner, Vanoc's executive vice-president of sport, said many teams -- both national and international -- are looking for quiet places to train.

"Many of these teams come from a long ways away and they have to be somewhere in this time zone, preferably, to acclimatize. If they are coming from outside North America, that's very important. Often, they don't want to be in the limelight or smack in the middle things."

Vanoc is working with LegaciesNow and another organization to produce a guide for visiting countries listing training facilities in B.C. and Alberta. Communities benefit not only economically, but also from the experiences the visiting athletes bring, Priestner said.

"I think it is a really great opportunity for our communities to get engaged with the other nations. The athletes work really well in situations like that. They come into the schools, they are really willing to participate in the community," she said.

Phillips will give a noon-hour address today at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver.

jefflee@png.canwest.com

SpongeG

12-06-2007, 02:28 AM

theres some big thing coming up in february

feist will be performing for it

Feist, Ornette Coleman to perform at cultural kick-off leading up to 2010 Games
6 days ago

VANCOUVER - Honey-voiced singer Feist and jazz legend Ornette Coleman are lending their talents and star power to help draw the world's attention to British Columbia, two years in advance of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

They, along with 300 musical, theatrical and dance performances and 10 exhibitions, will be part of the inaugural Cultural Olympiad. The event will focus on showcasing the country's artistic talents, leading up to the Games.

Vancouver Olympics organizing committee chief executive officer John Furlong said the 2008 event will allow organizers to chart their course for future events.

"It's a builder but obviously the talent lineup is very strong," he said. "But it's the first one and it will grow in 2009 and 2010 it will be quite enormous. It's big but it's the first year."

The showcase will run from Feb. 1 to March 21 across the Lower Mainland and Whistler, some in unexpected places. Surrey, which usually takes a backseat to Vancouver when it comes to culture, will be hosting an exhibit of international art darling Janet Cardiff at its art gallery.

Dance and percussion performance Scrap Arts Music 2, which uses instruments from scrap metal and materials, will perform at the B.C. Mining Museum off the Sea-to-Sky Highway.

The One Icy Urban Spire performers will dance, with ropes and harnesses, on the Vancouver Public Library.

The 2008 lineup features artists and performers from a wide spectrum. Wheelchair DanceSport is made up of disabled and able-bodied dancers. Asian, Indian, Balkan and First Nations dance troops and musicians are also scheduled to perform.

Burke Taylor, vice president for culture and celebrations for VANOC, said the core budget is $750,000 for the 2008 season but there is also funding from other provinces who have artists participating, such as Ontario and Alberta.

He downplayed the lack of B.C.-based talent in the headlining event - a concert featuring five Canadian singer songwriters. The concert's draw, Leslie Feist, is originally from Calgary and is now based in Toronto. The evening's other headliner, Ron Sexsmith, is also based in Toronto.

"We do have lots of participation in a lot of different concerts, some of them are Vancouver-based, some of them aren't," he said. "It's Canada's Games and we're looking for a balanced program right across the country as well."

David Pay, artistic director of the concert series Music on Main, said the Cultural Olympiad will help boost the profile for Vancouver's arts scene. He said his emerging organization, which is two years old, is excited to partner with such a high profile organization as VANOC.

"It allows us to pay (our musicians) proper fees," he said. "By working together, we're going to be able to support the artists in a better way. They'll be able to rehearse more, they're going to be able to have a better performance for the public."

http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gBuh3NY54U3n0a06JjoWSYDlCtGA

mr.x2

12-07-2007, 09:46 PM

^ sweet!

Taiwan's Acer to sponsor 2010 Vancouver, 2012 London Olympics

Posted : Thu, 06 Dec 2007 15:05:04 GMT

Taiwan's Acer Inc, the world's fourth-largest personal computer brand, will become a main sponsor for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and the 2012 London Summer Olympics. Acer and the International Olympic Committee said on Thursday in a statement that Acer will supply computing equipment products to the Vancouver and London Olympics.

According to the four-year agreement starting 2009, Acer will be listed among the main IOC sponsors which have exclusive advertising rights around the Olympic Games and its symbols such as the Olympic Rings.

"The experience with the IOC will bring a fresh and new approach. It will be like being part of a huge community of men and women who, though sharing different feelings and emotions, are driven by a common intent to promote an open dialogue," Acer's Italian president Gianfranco Lanci said in the statement.

"As sport overcomes barriers by acknowledging the value of difference and the strength of common objectives, technology is moving in the same direction by facilitating communication among different populations," he added.

IOC President Jacques Rogge said he was happy to welcome Acer to the TOP Partner Programme in 2009.

"For the Olympic Movement, this partnership will deliver funding to help stage the Olympic Games in Vancouver and London, technology equipment and services to manage the logistical demands, and people to staff some of the most critical functions. In addition, the relationship will play an important role in the promotion of the Olympic Movement and sport across the globe," Rogge was quoted by the statement as saying.

Established in 1976, Acer employs 5,300 people and supplies dealers and distributors in more than 100 countries. Revenues in 2006 reached 11.32 billion US dollars.

Acer is the world's fourth-largest personal computer brand after HP, Dell and China's Lenovo.

mr.x2

12-09-2007, 08:48 PM

Critics give failing grade to idea of Olympic school supplies
Olympic committee plans to put logos, mascots on items

Damian Inwood, The Province
Published: Sunday, December 09, 2007

A Vancouver 2010 plan to sell a wide range of school supplies bearing the logos of the Winter Games and the Olympic mascots is being blasted by teachers and the NDP.

"This is a very dubious way of raising funds to pay for the Olympics," said NDP Olympic critic Harry Bains. "We suspect that the cost will be higher with these logos on than for the generic items and some parents will not be able to afford them.

"That will leave a bad taste for those kids whose parents cannot afford them."

Olympic officials put out a call late last week for an official licensee to make, sell and distribute office and school supplies bearing Olympic logos.

They would include rulers, binders, organizers, writing pads, notebooks, pens, pencils, scissors, staplers, pencil sharpeners, erasers, pencil cases, address books and lunch boxes.

Bains described using schoolkids to pay for the Olympics' operating costs as a "disturbing new low."

"It's one thing if they were to raise funds and put that money back to improve the education of our children," he added, "or if they were to use the money to improve playgrounds and encourage our children to be more active and get some inspiration from the Olympics."

Irene Lanzinger, president of the B.C. Teachers' Federation, said she's concerned by marketing directed at children.

"There's a sense that the Olympics is just another big entity trying to market things to kids," she said. "That's a problem in society and one that the Olympic committee shouldn't buy into. But they do, big time, with all the logos around the Olympics."

Lanzinger said the federation would be particularly concerned if the Olympic-branded school supplies were to be pushed through the schools.

Vancouver 2010 officials say there's no difference in branding school supplies with the Olympic logos than with any others already on the market.

"Our licensing and merchandise program reflects the positive Olympic and Paralympic values," said Caley Denton, 2010's vice-president of ticket sales and consumer marketing. "Our products will feature imagery that represents sport, culture and sustainability, and will be made available in stores in the same way that all other school supplies are, such as items that feature Shrek, Spiderman or Garfield."

dinwood@png.canwest.com

it seems like people complain just for the heck of it.

Plenty of rooms available for Olympics, say Whistler tourism officials
VANOC only booking half of all available accommodations

Clare Ogilvie, The Province
Published: Sunday, December 09, 2007

There is lots of room at the inns.

That's the message Whistler's tourism officials want to send the world now that 2010 Olympic Winter Games organizers are close to booking the rooms they need for the mega-event.

"We know that there are 10,000 rooms in Whistler that are nightly rentals," said Diana Lyons, vice-president of operations for Tourism Whistler.

That number includes swank hotels such as the Four Seasons and accommodations offered by property-management companies, but not bed-and-breakfasts and condominium-type accommodations.

"All along, [the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Games] has said that they need between 5,000 and 6,000 rooms in the Sea-to-Sky corridor. So they are really only talking about 45 to 50 per cent of the available rooms in Whistler," said Lyons, who is worried potential guests may be shying away from booking rooms in the resort at Games time, thinking there is no accommodation left.

"That's absolutely not the case," she said.

Bruce Van Mook, who oversees management of two hotels and 200 condos and private homes in the resort for Whistler Premiere Accommodations, agrees.

"If the story is about 'there is no room at the inn,' then we can certainly refute that, because at this point there is room at the inn," he said.

Whistler Mayor Ken Melamed said the resort has been working on the accommodation supply and demand issue for months.

"It is probably our greatest challenge in trying to understand what is the actual demand going to be two years out," he said.

"Nobody has a crystal ball and unfortunately, we have to prepare for the worst. We can't hope for the best. We have to prepare for the worst and have a variety of contingencies worked out."

The resort is considering relaxing accommodation zoning so that anyone in Whistler can rent rooms to visitors.

But, said Melamed, officials are concerned that sub-standard spots will go up for rent, hurting Whistler's image, and that employees will be displaced if they rent out their accommodations for more money.

The resort has just completed surveys on how many residents and second-home owners will stay in the resort for the 2010 Games.

"It is significantly higher than we expected," said Melamed.

Expectations have been that more people will want to come to, and stay in, the resort for the Olympics than there is currently room for.

Though VANOC is close to securing all its rooms, many groups are just starting to look -- including security officials, unaccredited media, corporations, foreign government delegations and national sport organizations.

VANOC has secured 4,000 of the 5,000 rooms it needs in the corridor, said Nejat Sarp, vice-president of accommodations for VANOC. Most of those are in Whistler.

"We want everyone to come and enjoy the Games," said Sarp.

"That's across all different client groups, through VANOC, the spectators, local guests or whomever, because at the end of the day this is everybody's Games."

VANOC also needs 15,000 rooms in the Vancouver area. About 95 per cent of those have already been secured.

clareogilvie@telus.net

mr.x2

12-14-2007, 12:42 AM

NHL-size ice has Vanoc knocking on arena's door
Britannia Community Centre's nearness to Athletes Village also handy for hockey practices

Jeff Lee, Vancouver Sun
Published: Thursday, December 13, 2007

VANCOUVER - Vancouver's Olympic organizers want to take over a third civic arena as a practice facility, but community activists oppose the idea.

Vanoc says it needs Britannia Community Centre's arena for hockey training because it has NHL-sized ice close to the Athletes Village that competing teams could use.

The arena was not previously considered as an option when Vancouver bid for the Games in 2002 because at that time the competitions were to be played on Olympic-sized ice, and Vancouver had offered its aging Trout Lake arena for training.

But changes that Vanoc initiated -- including abandoning two practice venues for figure skating and short-track speed-skating at Hastings Park in favour of new city-built arenas at Trout Lake and Killarney -- means it has to find another civic arena where some practices can take place.

Vanoc and the city are negotiating a deal that would see the Britannia arena closed to the public during the Olympics, according to Denis Hainault, Vanoc's director of ice sports and Dave Rudberg, the city's manager of Olympic operations. Talks began several months ago.

"We've entered into discussions with Britannia staff, and ultimately the Britannia board, around how it would be used, what the period would be and what improvements Vanoc would need to make to get it to an adequate standard," Rudberg said.

Any arrangement will still need to be put to the community board that governs the Britannia complex, which includes a library, swimming pool, community centre and arena. But city council would make the decision, since it has to sign a venue agreement with Vanoc, Rudberg said.

The community board that administers the 6.9-hectare site consists of local residents and representatives of the city, park board, school district and library board. Enzo Guerriero, the executive director, said it wants some minor upgrades to the arena, including new rink-side glass, better lighting, humidifiers, paint and an upstairs meeting room.

Hainault declined to say how much the upgrades would cost. Guerriero said no figures have yet been discussed, but both men described the improvements as relatively minor in cost. Hainault said any upgrades would be covered in Vanoc's existing venue construction budget.

"Vanoc has not given us any idea what their budget is," Guerriero said.

Several community activists oppose the temporary closure, saying it would disrupt many services.

On Sunday about two dozen people met at the community centre to discuss the proposal.

Tammie Tupechka, a former community board member, said the Britannia complex is right in the middle of an activist area opposed to the Vancouver Olympics. She said many people don't want their community services to be further disrupted.

"We feel the east side is bearing an unequal proportion of the brunt of putting on the Olympics," she said. "Why don't they try somewhere else, like in Kerrisdale or Kitsilano?"

But Hainault and Guerriero said the community centre, pool, library and other services would remain open, although Vanoc would require a security perimeter around the arena. Guerriero, a longtime Britannia director who briefly worked for Vanoc's sustainability department, said the board also wants access for children to watch the training sessions and test events for free.

He said Britannia has often acted as a training facility for visiting NHL teams and is known for producing very good ice, so it's not surprising to him that Vanoc would want it, especially since it is close to the Athletes Village in False Creek.

Tupechka, who says she and several others have started an anti-Olympics magazine called Torch, said protests were possible if the city and Vanoc reached a deal that was accepted by the community board. But they are worried that protests would be met with heavy RCMP response.

"Historically at every other Olympic Games all areas surrounding venues are designated as no-protest zones," she said. Park board estimates the new Trout Lake facility will cost just under $16 million and the Killarney arena $14 million.

raggedy13

12-14-2007, 08:37 AM

I've been wondering about the medals...

PRESS RELEASES FROM THE INTERNATIONAL SPORTS MOVEMENT
December 13, 2007

Vancouver 2010
A gold-medal opportunity: Vancouver 2010 announces the search for the designer of the Olympic and Paralympic medals

Vancouver, BC—For the extraordinary athletes who will compete at the 2010 Winter Games, winning an Olympic or Paralympic medal will be one of the ultimate achievements of their athletic careers. To create the design of the medals which symbolize that achievement, the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) today announced it is seeking proposals from artists – both from Canada and around the world – interested in designing the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic medals. The official Request for Proposals (RFP) is available at www.vancouver2010.com.

“For an athlete, competing at the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games marks the pinnacle of a life’s work. The weight of an Olympic and Paralympic medal around their neck symbolizes the dreams not only of the athlete, but also their families and their communities and their achievement inspires so many. Standing on the podium to accept an Olympic or Paralympic medal is truly a moment without measure,” said Cathy Priestner Allinger, VANOC’s executive vice president of Sport, Paralympic Games and Venue Management, herself a Canadian silver medallist in speed skating at the Innsbruck 1976 Olympic Winter Games.

“The story we will tell through these medals will be uniquely Canadian and will, we hope, present a new opportunity to tell the story of Canada’s Games, igniting the Olympic and Paralympic spirit across the country and around the world,” continued Priestner Allinger.

Vancouver 2010 is seeking an artist(s), designer(s) or creative teams to work with VANOC to design inspiring, timeless medals for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games – medals that reflect the determination and heart of the athletes who will win those medals in 2010. An evaluation team will review submissions and successful applicants will be asked to provide concept designs. The design concepts will then be reviewed by VANOC and approved by the Board of Directors. VANOC will present the medal design to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) for review and final approval.

The Royal Canadian Mint, a Vancouver 2010 Official Supporter, will manufacture the medals. The Mint will be involved in the design process, providing production expertise and ensuring the medals can be produced at the highest level of quality.

Teck Cominco, also an Official Supporter of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, headquartered in British Columbia, Host Province of the Games, will supply the gold, silver, bronze and other metals used in the production of the Olympic and Paralympic medals.

The design process will involve five phases and is expected to take up to eight months. In addition to the medals, designs are also required for the accompanying ribbon and medal containers.

The Mint will produce a total of 867 competition medals for the 2010 Winter Games. Of these, 549 competition medals will be produced for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, 183 each of gold, silver and bronze. For the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games, 318 competition medals will be produced,106 each of gold, silver and bronze.

Although the IOC and the IPC do provide a number of technical requirements for the medals, the designs ultimately reflect the distinctive themes of each individual Games. Many Organizing Committees have chosen to incorporate materials unique to their country or region to spotlight a distinct design concept: Beijing 2008 (jade); Nagano 1998 (lacquer), Albertville 1992 (glass), Lillehammer 1994 (granite).

The Calgary 1988 Olympic Winter Games medals featured an athlete crowned with an olive wreath and an Aboriginal figure with a stylized headdress comprised of ski poles, bobsleigh, skis, skate blades, hockey stick, luge and a biathlon rifle. For the Montreal 1976 Olympic Summer Games, the medal design featured a stylized laurel crown (a symbol of victory since the Games of Antiquity) and the emblem of the Montreal Games.

The closing date for the submission of proposals is January 30, 2008. The design contract(s) are expected to be awarded in late February 2008.

Olympic and Paralympic Medal Facts (Source: IOC, IPC, COC, CPC)
· In the ancient Olympic Games, no medals were awarded. The first-place winner was given an olive wreath. Second- and third-place winners received nothing.
· When the Modern Olympic Games were revived in 1896, first-place winners received silver medals. At that time, gold was considered inferior to silver. Eight years later, at the 1904 Games in St. Louis, gold replaced silver for first place competitors.
· From 1928 to 1968 all medals for the Olympic Summer Games featured the same design by Italian artist Guiseppe Cassioli. On the obverse side, the design featured the seated Goddess Nike holding a laurel wreath and branch. A coliseum is set in the background, above which the Games’ host city and year are shown. The reverse featured a victorious athlete, palm branch held aloft by jubilant athletes and a stadium in the background.
· Since that time, the Cassioli design has continued to be incorporated, in varying degrees. The Athens 2004 medals corrected a long-standing inconsistency: the Cassioli design used a classic Italian coliseum on the obverse of the medal he created in 1928.The obverse of the Athens medal featured the 1896 Panathinaiko Stadium, focusing on the Greek nature of the original stadium.
· Each Olympic medal must be at least five millimetres thick and 70 millimetres in diameter.
· Each Paralympic medal must be a minimum of 70 millimetres and a maximum of 120 millimeters in diameter and between five and ten millimetres thick.
· The last Olympic gold medals made entirely of gold were awarded at the Stockholm 1912 Olympic Winter Games.
· The gold and silver Olympic and Paralympic medals must be made out of 92.5 per cent silver, with the gold medal covered in six grams (or .21 ounces) of gold.
· The Paralympic medals are required to include the name of the sport and/or discipline on the reverse side of the medal in both English and Braille.
· No specific shape is obligatory for the Olympic or Paralympic medals.
· The medals for the Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Winter Games included the Organizing Committee’s vision statement, “Light the Fire Within,” the first time an Organizing Committee’s vision statement had been incorporated into the design of an Olympic medal.
· The greatest number of Olympic Winter Games medals ever won by an athlete: 12 medals in cross-country skiing, by Bjorn Daehlie of Norway.
· The greatest number of Paralympic Winter Games medals ever won by a single athlete: 22 medals, in alpine skiing, biathlon and cross-country skiing, by Norway’s Ragnhild Myklebust.
· The greatest number of Olympic Winter Games medals won by a Canadian athlete: six, by Cindy Klassen (speed skating). The greatest number of Paralympic Winter Games medals won by a Canadian athlete: 12, by Lana Spreeman (alpine skiing).
http://www.sportsfeatures.com/index.php?section=pp&action=show&id=44856

So any thoughts on what kind of design features you'd like to see incorporated? Maybe they'll incorporate wood into them the way other cities have incorporated jade/granite/glass etc? I could see wood and some sort of native art design encircling them.

mr.x2

12-14-2007, 08:59 AM

^ wood????? i can understand jade, granite, or glass.....but wood?????

Canadian Mind

12-14-2007, 08:16 PM

Would be nice if they punched out medals made of pure gold again. That would leave a lasting impression.

raggedy13

12-14-2007, 11:12 PM

^That's what I was thinking too. Would certainly add some extra incentive for those athletes. ;)

^ wood????? i can understand jade, granite, or glass.....but wood?????

Haha. Well it would certainly be unique wouldn't it? Maybe a little pine-beetle wood? I figured it would go along with the region's usual use of wood themes and product promotion. I wouldn't put it past them anyways. :D

I just realized I used a lot of 'wood' sounding words between my use of wood and would.

mr.x2

12-15-2007, 01:29 AM

^That's what I was thinking too. Would certainly add some extra incentive for those athletes. ;)

Haha. Well it would certainly be unique wouldn't it? Maybe a little pine-beetle wood? I figured it would go along with the region's usual use of wood themes and product promotion. I wouldn't put it past them anyways. :D

I just realized I used a lot of 'wood' sounding words between my use of wood and would.

they'd have to be pretty darn special design if they're going to make it out of wood/metal.

Canadian Mind

12-15-2007, 02:27 AM

mmm... countdowns.

whats the clock at now? anyone take a picture recently?

mr.x2

12-15-2007, 02:32 AM

according to the VANOC website, it should be at 791:
http://www.vancouver2010.com/images/countdown/countdown.jpg

mr.x2

12-18-2007, 09:28 PM

Vanoc achieves, tops 2007 goals
Organizers of 2010 Winter Games boast of sponsorships, venue completions

Jeff Lee, Vancouver Sun
Published: Tuesday, December 18, 2007

VANCOUVER - With 2007 closing behind them, the organizers of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics said they had achieved or exceeded all of their goals, from corporate financial support to completing a number of key sporting venues.

On Tuesday Vanoc released its first quarterly report of the next fiscal year, along with a look ahead for 2008.

It said it had spent $63.3 million in the last quarter on construction-related bills, for an overall total of $427.9 million. It also says it has increased its construction contingency fund by $250,000 to $27.05 million, largely as a result of savings from changes in construction plans at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

On the sponsorship side, Vanoc says it exceeded its domestic sponsorship target this year of $65 million by more than half. It raised $102.5 million, putting it well on its way towards an overall goal of $760 million. Vanoc CEO John Furlong said it has raised 691 million in corporate sponsorships since Vancouver won the Games, representing 90.5 per cent of its target.

Vanoc piled on more good news in its release, saying it has substantially completed five sporting venues this year, fulfilling its promise to have the sites finished two years before the Games actually start.

Last week Vanoc marked the end of construction for the Whistler Sliding Centre, Whistler Olympic Park Nordic venues, and alpine runs at Whistler Creekside.

It says it has also finished renovations to the Coliseum, site of figure skating and short-track speed skating, and Cypress Mountain, which will host snowboard and freestyle skiing.

The next year will mark a number of milestones, Furlong said. Feb. 12 will mark the two-year countdown to the Games. Around that period Vanoc will put on the first of three annual "cultural Olympiads" featuring music, live arts and entertainment.

It also expects the rest of the venues will be finished, including the Hillcrest curling venue, Richmond oval and UBC hockey arenas.

mr.x2

01-25-2008, 03:47 AM

Tickets.com picked to supply 2010 Olympic tickets

Vancouver Sun
Published: Thursday, January 24, 2008

VANCOUVER -- Vancouver Olympic organizers, on Jan. 24, named Costa Mesa, Cal.-based Tickets.com as their official supplier of Canadian ticketing services for the 2010 Games.

Tickets.com, which managed ticketing for the 1996 Atlanta and 2002 Salt Lake Olympics, will become an official sponsor to the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (Vanoc) in the official supplier category.

Caley Denton, Vanoc's vice-president in charge of ticketing, added that Tickets.com's system was alwo the backbone for ticket distribution at the 200 Sydney and 2006 Torino Games.

"The sale and distribution of tickets in Canada will be key to the success of the 2010 Winter Games," Denton said in a news release.

"We have selected a ticketing provider that will help us offer a user-friendly, fair and equitable system for the distribution of tickets with excellence in customer service."

Most importantly, Vanoc said Tickets.com has technology to develop an online ticket redistribution system, which will let spectators not using tickets to get them to people who want to get to events and help Vanoc combat ticket counterfeiting.

Tickets for the 2010 Games will go on sale in October.

SFUVancouver

01-25-2008, 05:00 AM

^ Yay, not TicketMaster!

mr.x2

02-05-2008, 09:53 AM

First of the events announced, more coming....

Grouse Mountain staying open 24 hours to celebrate 2 year countdown to 2010
Monday, February 04 - 04:54:43 PM Mike Hanafin

NORTH VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - To celebrate the 2-year countdown to the 2010 Olympics, Grouse Mountain will be staying open overnight this Saturday.

They're offering overnight skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, and ice skating, as all the lifts, and the chalet (including Theatre in the Sky) will remain open overnight.

It will give die-hards a chance to watch the sunrise from the mountain--weather permitting of course. Food and beverage service will also be available all night.

bils

02-05-2008, 07:17 PM

david usher, anyone?

http://richmondwinterfestival.ca/

mr.x2

02-07-2008, 02:36 AM

http://www.marketwire.com/library/20080206-count512.jpg
Ottawa Counting Down to the Games
2010 Olympic Games countdown clock unveiled at nation's capital

February 6, 2008 | VANOC News Release

Sports and timing go hand-in-hand. Today in Ottawa, the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) and the Government of Canada, a major partner of the 2010 Winter Games, unveiled the Vancouver 2010 Countdown Clock in Ottawa at the Capital Infocentre, located across from Parliament Hill.

The timing for the unveiling couldn’t be better as Ottawa’s famed Winterlude, or Bal de Neige, celebrations are in full party mode.

Just prior to the clock event, James Moore, Member of Parliament for the riding of Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, issued a statement in the House of Commons prior to Question Period declaring the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games to be Canada’s Games, and inviting all Canadians to join in welcoming the world in 2010.

“Let us all be inspired by the power of the Olympic and Paralympic Games – the power to promote friendship and respect, stir dreams and tell a story about our country and our people,” said Moore, who also serves as the Parliamentary Secretary for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics.

Just two years before the Games officially begin in 2010, the announcement comes as a message of inspiration for all Canadians.

Canada's Games

For VANOC Chief Executive Officer, John Furlong, “The Olympic and Paralympic Games have the power to reach and inspire every Canadian, and more broadly, the power for us, as a country, to make a remarkable contribution to a better world. We need every Canadian to be part of telling our unique story and we’d like to thank the Government of Canada for providing, on behalf of all Canadians, tremendous support toward the success of the Games.”

Going for the Games

Canadian ice sledge hockey Paralympic gold medallist, Ray Grassi, was also at the Capital Infocentre to celebrate the two-year countdown – a celebration that included Cabinet Ministers, Members of Parliament, National Capital Commission officials, athletes, spectators, media and representatives of VANOC.

Grassi, of Windsor, Ontario, was glad to see the dedication of an Omega Countdown Clock in Ottawa. He had heard about the Omega Countdown Clock in Vancouver, and was elated to see 2010 Winter Games excitement celebrated outside British Columbia.

”It’s great to have [a Countdown Clock] in Ottawa, especially with all the tourists coming in, and for all the foreign diplomats there,” said Grassi. “It’s a good idea to have the visual reminder that the biggest stage is coming to Canada for the first time since [1988].”

Vancouver 2010 Winter Games Declared Canada’s Games
The Countdown to 2010 Begins in the Nation’s Capital

February 6, 2008 | VANOC News Release

OTTAWA, February 6, 2008 – Today, at a public event attended by an enthusiastic crowd, David Emerson, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics, and John Furlong, Vancouver 2010 CEO, unveiled the Vancouver 2010 Countdown Clock in Ottawa alongside Olympic and Paralympic athletes. The new clock is an enduring reminder to all who see it that in just two years, Canada will welcome the world.

Earlier in the day, James Moore, Parliamentary Secretary for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics, set the tone for the celebrations with a statement in the House of Commons declaring the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games as Canada’s Games. “Let us all be inspired by the power of the Olympic and Paralympic Games – the power to promote friendship and respect, stir dreams and tell a story about our country and our people,” said Moore.

The illuminated clock today signals 737 days until the Opening Ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Games. The clock will count down the days, hours, minutes and seconds remaining until the beginning of the celebrations on February 12, 2010. The clock features a timepiece provided by Omega, the Official Timekeeper of the 2010 Games. Showcased opposite the Parliament buildings in the window of the National Capital Commission Infocentre on Wellington Street, the clock provides an opportunity for visitors and residents of the Nation’s capital to share in the excitement and anticipation leading up to the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

At the Countdown Clock unveiling event, Minister Emerson noted, “In two years, the eyes of the world will turn towards Canada on the occasion of the 2010 Winter Games. This is a perfect time to re-affirm our commitment to make these Canada’s Games and to encourage all Canadians to get engaged as we prepare to host this once-in-a-generation event.”

“The Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games have the power to reach and inspire every Canadian and provide the opportunity for Canadians to come together on a global stage to make a remarkable contribution to a better world,” said Furlong. “We need every Canadian to be part of telling our unique story and we’d like to thank the Government of Canada for providing, on behalf of all Canadians, tremendous support toward the success of the Games.”

“Canada’s Capital Region is the place where we communicate and pay tribute to the achievements of Canadians across the country and honour important national events such as the upcoming Winter Olympics and Paralympics in 2010”, said Marie Lemay, Chief Executive Office of the NCC. “The National Capital Commission is honoured to collaborate with the organizers of the 21st Winter Games.”

“With nearly two years from the opening of the 2010 Winter Games, the Olympic and Paralympic spirit and anticipation are spreading all across Canada,” said Gordon Campbell, Premier of British Columbia. “This clock in our nation's capital is a reminder of all that we have achieved in bringing the Games to B.C. and Canada, as well as the legacies that will be shared by all for years to come.”

The Government of Canada is a major and committed partner in delivering successful, well-managed Winter Games in 2010. Total federal investment in the 2010 Winter Games is $578M.

Ottawa's countdown clock is somewhere here:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/51/117888070_87f58b3598_o.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/122/311152194_a29cbd0aed_b.jpg

It would've been better if it was at a more prominent location...why the hell is it behind a window?

deasine

02-07-2008, 05:12 AM

GLOBAL TV:
Huge public protest during the clock unveiling... =(

mr.x2

02-08-2008, 08:15 AM

For each Games, NBC creates an opening intro to introduce the Olympic nation and city to its viewers. It's only shown once just before the NBC Olympic ident before the opening ceremony, and it usually is something very special.

This was NBC's vid for Sydney (a must see!)....I'm not Australian, but after watching it i sure would like to be!
f9JMyjTQxsg

Can't wait to see what they'll come up with Vancouver, BC and Canada.

bils

02-09-2008, 03:53 AM

Richmond prepares to house the world
Entrepreneurs ready to capitalize on accommodation crunch in 2010

By Matthew Hoekstra - Richmond Review - February 08, 2008

It has four bedrooms, four bathrooms and 2,400 square feet of single-family home in the Odlin neighbourhood. It comes equipped with a barbecue, TV, microwave and all the amenities of an average Richmond home.

And renting it during the 2010 Winter Games will cost you $33,600. Plus taxes.

Welcome to Richmond: home of the Olympic oval and entrepreneurs ready to capitalize on the accommodation crunch expected to wash over venue cities.

In two years, everyone from Olympic officials to athletes’ families to sports enthusiasts from around the world will crowd a city once known mostly for its fishing fleet and cranberry fields. But in 2010, the oval and its waterfront park will become the main attraction.

The supporting cast will be the city’s 25 hotels (two more are being built) and myriad of other accommodation options, including at least nine bed-and-breakfasts, homes put up for rent and free home-stay offers. Regardless of cost, what’s clear is available beds will be in short supply—something the father of Olympic swimmer Brian Johns knows all too well.

Like most parents of athletes, the greatest thrill for Lawrie Johns is being able to watch his 25-year-old son compete in the Olympics.

But it also comes with frustrations, namely in the form of accessing accommodations and tickets.

Johns, whose son has competed in the last two Summer Games, said during the Olympics hotel prices rise dramatically, and available rooms are hard to come by.

In Beijing, China, host of the 2008 Summer Games, Johns said he managed to find an available hotel room—at $800 a night. But through a lucky connection, he and his wife found a less expensive option.

“That one bedroom apartment, we think exists, it’s $300 a day—and that’s really cheap.”

For families of Canadian Olympians, there are no special deals. No free tickets, no free accommodation. That’s why Johns is so supportive of home-stay programs, which connect homes with visiting families and coaches.

Properly organized, said Johns, the program can give host families a cultural—or at least social—exchange with visitors, who get a free place to stay. It also provides piece of mind for athletes, who know their family has a place to stay.

“The sacrifices (parents) make to get their kids to where they’re at is phenomenal,” said Johns, adding he hopes to open his Richmond home to athletes’ families in 2010. “I have so much respect for parents and families because I know what they’ve gone through, and it’s such a nice cultural exchange.”

Richmond’s Jennifer Krempien, who has competed in four Paralympic Games in wheelchair basketball, said having loved ones at the competition makes the experience far richer.

“They have been a part of the sweat, tears and often financially supporting the years of training and competition prior to the Games. It is amazing to look up in the stands and see your parents there celebrating with you— singing the anthem with the pride visible.”

Finding appropriate accommodations in venue cities, however, isn’t easy. Some of the best have come in the form of a home-stay program.

“My family has been lucky to find great accommodations over the past four Paralympic Games. For the Beijing Games, they are sharing an apartment with two other families very near the National Indoor Stadium. It will be great to know they are comfortable, near the excitement and safe.”

Richmond’s Olympic Business Office is developing a home-stay program with Kwantlen University College, which already runs such a program for its international students.

So far, the program is focused on providing beds for athletes’ families and coaches of the Canadian speed skating team. But that could expand to international speed skating teams.

A booth at this weekend’s Richmond Winter Festival will offer information on the home-stay program and collect names from interested participants.

Spokesperson Ted Townsend said the program will likely stay focused on matching visitors with free accommodation, but renting to other guests for a fee will also be encouraged.

“There’s going to be a great demand. We would hope we can accommodate as many people as possible in Richmond during 2010,” he said. “What we want to do is meet the demand of people beyond the capacity of the hotels to fill.”

Richmond’s hotels will be largely filled by groups the Vancouver Organizing Committee is responsible for, including the International Olympic Committee, national Olympic committees, international sport federations, sponsors, news media and support personnel.

Of the more than 30,000 hotel rooms available in venue cities, Vanoc needs approximately 20,000.

According to minutes of its January board meeting, Vanoc has secured almost 85 per cent of the rooms it needs.

At Cambie Road’s Radisson President Hotel and Suites, Vanoc has secured 105 of the hotel’s 185 rooms. But being an airport property, up to 30 more rooms are likely to house airline crew.

That leaves few available rooms, which tour operators are already eyeing, said general manager Kathryn Warren.

That leaves few available rooms for visitors to the city. Warren, who is also president of Tourism Richmond, said many of the Radisson’s rooms will be occupied by media covering the Games—and that need was far greater than originally anticipated.

Just how much the Radisson will charge for those remaining rooms isn’t known yet, said Warren.

“That’s where the challenge lies for most of us. We, at this point of time, may not know what that rate should be,” she said, adding she hopes local hotels will be offering similar rates.

Olympic organizers are working on an accommodation plan for spectators, but so far Vanoc hasn’t released any information about it. On its website, Vanoc states it won’t get involved with setting accommodation prices, but will work with tourism organizations to “encourage best practices and ensure fair market value.”

Meanwhile, a number of websites have popped up listing property rentals during the 2010 Games. None are associated or sanctioned by VANOC.

Listings on accessvacationgroup.com include properties catering to visitors of the Richmond oval.

All properties listed carry a 21-day minimum, including the Odlin house, which at $1,600 a day, totals $33,600.

A four-bedroom house on Blair Drive is listed at the same price, and a three-bedroom Terra Nova townhouse is going for $1,475 per day.

Dave and Lesley Kemp run one of several bed-and-breakfasts in Richmond, the Picture Perfect Bed and Breakfast.

Dave Kemp said he’s fielded inquiries about rates during the Games, but he has yet to set the price.

Kemp did say he plans to avoid hiking his rates sky high, as he wants guests to return some day.

“If somebody is going to turn around and say we’re going to triple our rates—I’m not going to do that.”

Mayor Malcolm Brodie believes Richmond’s hotels will be filled and residents will invite visitors from around the world into their homes. He doesn’t think the accommodation crunch will come down to people sleeping in city parks.

“No I don’t think that people will be sleeping on park benches,” he said.

“For people who can’t find accommodations, they’ll go farther out.”

mr.x2

02-09-2008, 03:57 AM

^ holy crap.

Truckload of 2010 coins dumped

Staff Reporter, The Province
Published: Friday, February 08, 2008

Somebody just missed out on a really, really long free ride at the video arcade.

A tractor-trailer lost control and went over an embankment on the Trans-Canada Highway near Kamloops Thursday, spilling a huge load of newly minted 2010 Olympic coins.

Towing crews and police were still at the crash scene Friday afternoon, after a long night guarding the precious cargo from potential looters or unscrupulous numismatists.

Winnipeg and bound for the Lower Mainland, will be recovered.

The cash value was not disclosed, but it was a big shipment.

"I think the scene was pretty well contained," said Kamloops RCMP spokeswoman Const. Randi Love, who said the truck crashed at about 7:40 p.m. two kilometres from the Savona lookout on Kamloops Lake.

A crew of about a dozen people was loading the coins into bins Friday, while a towing company arranged to winch the big truck back up onto the road.

Love said a driver and passenger in the trailer were sent to hospital for treatment of minor injuries.

Yume-sama

02-09-2008, 04:05 AM

Was driving around Calgary today and saw "Boycott 2010" bumper stickers on cars with Alberta plates.

WTH is wrong with people....

excel

02-09-2008, 04:11 AM

^Idiots thats whats wrong with them.

Jacques

02-09-2008, 04:12 AM

Was driving around Calgary today and saw "Boycott 2010" bumper stickers on cars with Alberta plates.

WTH is wrong with people....

surely it must have been APC they come from far to protest
LOL

mr.x2

02-09-2008, 04:15 AM

maybe it's because Vancouver will take away from Calgary's former Olympic glory. :D

deasine

02-09-2008, 05:19 AM

Wow... boycotting of 2010... I love this hate relationship between Vancouver to Canada.

towerguy3

02-09-2008, 05:45 AM

apparently the Premier is hosting a 2 Year Countdown Luncheon on Monday at the Hyatt and there's a big protest planned for the Art Gallery at 12 noon?

can you say riot police?

SpongeG

02-09-2008, 05:47 AM

Of the more than 30,000 hotel rooms available in venue cities, Vanoc needs approximately 20,000

does that include the media?

the media alone - i wonder what the numbers would be - on air people, behind the scenes crews - must be huge numbers - just NBC alone

I heard that in Calgary 1988 some family rented their house out for the month to NBC for crews etc and made $10,000 for the month - a large sum in 1988 dollars

towerguy3

02-09-2008, 05:49 AM

as of 7 pm on Tuesday it'll be (365 x 2 x 24 x 60 x 60) = 63,072,000 seconds till the start of Opening Ceremonies

mr.x2

02-09-2008, 05:59 AM

does that include the media?

the media alone - i wonder what the numbers would be - on air people, behind the scenes crews - must be huge numbers - just NBC alone

I heard that in Calgary 1988 some family rented their house out for the month to NBC for crews etc and made $10,000 for the month - a large sum in 1988 dollars

There will be 10,000 media staff during the Games: about 7,000 will be in Vancouver, and the remaining 3,000 will be in Whistler.

NBC has spent US$820 million to acquire the 2010 Winter Games tv rights from the IOC. In addition to that, the network will be spending US$130 million to broadcast the Games themselves....compare that figure to the US$100 million they spent in Torino. There were also 2,000 on-site staff from NBC at Torino.

And really, 2010 will be a lot more profitable for NBC than Torino...which had dismal tv ratings (compared to all the circus hoop la hoo going on and scandals with Salt Lake). The majority of the broadcasts will be live, rather than recorded like in Athens and Torino.

NBC always has a outdoor broadcasting studio, where Bob Costas anchors the coverage. In Athens, the studio was a glass box right outside the Olympic Stadium. In Torino, it was another glass box in a plaza. I wonder where they'd set camp for Vancouver...perhaps at the big plaza at the new convention centre?

And that's just for Olympic coverage....NBC's Today Show always has an outdoor studio as well. You may know that it is the network's morning show, and during the Olympics each broadcast is made entirely live from the Olympic city. The Today Show studio in Torino:
http://www.seamannewsroom.com/newsreleases/photos/torino_olympics_LRG.jpg

SpongeG

02-10-2008, 12:49 AM

With Games two years away, VANOC moves from planning to practice

VANCOUVER - The 2010 Winter Olympics are moving from ideas to reality.

Over the next two years many of the carefully laid plans for the 2010 Games will be tested as World Cup events and other competitions are held in the venues where athletes will compete for Olympic medals.

"There's a massive shift in the project coming," John Furlong, chief executive officer for the Vancouver Olympic Games Organizing Committee, said in a recent interview with The Canadian Press. "We're going operational. We're moving off the drawing board.

"We have been practising for a while, we have been planning. Now we're launching into initiatives. We are organizing ourselves to deal with whatever comes our way."

The two-year countdown officially begins Tuesday as the opening ceremony for the Vancouver Games is set for Feb. 12, 2010.

Most of the work on the $580 million worth of Olympic venues has been completed. Some facilities have already hosted competitions and others will be tested before next spring.

Canadian athletes say having early access to the hills, jumps and rinks enhances their chances of standing on the podium 24 months from now. The Canadian Olympic Committee is aiming to finish atop the medal standings in 2010.

"When I visualize my Olympic Games, I will have more information as what to expect," said freestyle skier Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau of Drummondville, Que.

Furlong predicts there will be challenges and unforeseen problems at some venues. He'd rather iron out the kinks now, not when the eyes of the world are watching.

"The best thing that can happen to our team from now until the spring of next year is to get knocked down a bit, bruised a little, have a few problems to deal with," he said. "We are going to be sparring for a while with these venues and with our projects to get good so that on the big day we can perform."

While athletes get to kick the tires on the venues, organizers hope to start raising excitement about the Games among the Canadian public by recruiting volunteers, putting Olympic tickets on sale and announcing the route for the torch relay.

VANOC plans to talk with local business about rearranging their hours so employees can either volunteer or attend events. The strategy for moving athletes and fans around the city, while allowing citizens to carry on with their lives, will also be unveiled.

"It will be the largest transportation planning exercise ever undertaken in Canada," said Furlong. "We have to do that flawless."

The Olympics will be held in Vancouver and Whistler, 120 kilometres to the north, from Feb. 12 to Feb. 28. The Paralympic Games will follow from March 12 to 21.

Major construction on the $252.2-million facilities at Whistler have been completed. The first bobsled has already tested the $104.9-million sliding centre, which will also be the site of luge and skeleton. A ski jump competition has been held at the $119.7-million Whistler Olympic Park, which will also host cross-country skiing, biathlon and nordic combined.

Later this month the first World Cup ski event will be held on the Creekside ski hill which has seen $27 million in upgrades.

The final sports venues in Vancouver - the $63-million speedskating oval in suburban Richmond, B.C., a $38-million hockey rink at the University of British Columbia, and the $40-million curling arena in a residential neighbourhood - are all expected to be completed by this fall.

Other sports to be held in Vancouver include figure skating and short-track speedskating at the Pacific Coliseum, hockey at GM Place - home of the NHL's Canucks - and snowboard and freestyle skiing at Cypress Mountain on the city's North Shore.

Work on the athletes villages in Vancouver and Whistler is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2009.

But the city isn't buzzing with excitement about the Games yet. In the coffee shops and pubs around Vancouver the Games generate little talk. The struggles of the Canucks and the city's soaring housing prices are of more concern.

Marie Palmiano said her friends wonder what happens after the Games are over.

"I'm kind of skeptical about the Olympics," Palmiano said as she sipped a coffee. "We're going to be 25 or 26 and it's going to be interesting to see how that affects us trying to find jobs, trying to find housing."

A major sore point for the businesses along Cambie Street is the revenue they have lost due to transit line construction.

VANOC likes to say it is operating within budget but that depends on which budget.

The original Games bid book said the venues would be built for $470 million, with the costs shared by the federal and B.C. provincial governments. That figure was based on 2003 dollars, but soaring construction costs in B.C. forced VANOC to seek another $110 million from Ottawa and Victoria.

The operational budget for the Games is $1.7 billion, with that money coming from sponsorship, TV revenues, ticket and souvenir sales. Add in the price of the venues and the Games cost more than $2 billion.

Critics argue the real bill is closer to $6 billion.

Security remains a thorny issue. Some $175 million has been budgeted for security with the majority of the costs being covered by the RCMP and the federal government. The security budget for the 2006 Olympics in Turin was $290 million while US$310 was spent on security for the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City. The tab for Vancouver's convention centre, site of the broadcast facility, has risen to more than $800 million from the original $500 million. The B.C. government is spending $775 million to upgrade the highway that links Vancouver to Whistler. Another $2 billion is being spent to build a transit line between the airport and Vancouver's downtown.

Chris Shaw of the anti-Games group 2010 Watch said the cash being poured into the Olympics could help solve problems like homelessness and drug addiction, especially in Vancouver's notorious Downtown Eastside.

"Those things will be here after the Games have come and gone," said Shaw. "At the end of it there will be bills to pay and higher taxes and the financial hangover."

Harry Bains, the provincial NDP Games critic, said VANOC and the B.C. Liberal government haven't been honest in discussing costs.

"The only way we can define what the benefits and the legacies left behind after the Games is if we know what the real cost is," said Bains. "So far, we are not seeing that."

Furlong said making all Canadians feel part of the Olympics is a VANOC goal.

"If the Games are going to be very good, you can leave it to us," he said. "If they are going to be spectacularly great, it involves everybody. We need everybody that can do something to be part of this."

http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5iNL8VQjfBsoCtbL7bVf-Kt1XUzzw

mr.x2

02-10-2008, 04:43 AM

lol, has anybody seen CTV Vancouver's new "Countdown to 2010" animation?

----------------

Anti-2010 vandals hit Ottawa Royal Bank
By BOB MACKIN, 24 HOURS

Anti-Olympics vandals have expanded their campaign against VANOC's official bank and torch relay co-sponsor.

An anonymous message on no2010.com said "bricks found their way through the windows of the Elgin Street Royal Bank" in Ottawa on the night of Jan. 27. "The Olympics are set to happen in the year 2010, and we thus declare war on all the year represents and all who sponsor it!"

A Vancouver 2010 countdown clock was unveiled yesterday afternoon across from Parliament Hill.

RBC spokesman John Groves said the latest incidents were reported to police, but wouldn't discuss what measures the bank employs to keep customers and staff safe.

The Ottawa attack came just over a month after four windows were smashed on Christmas Eve at a Cook Street Royal Bank in Victoria. Vancouver vandals broke windows Dec. 8 at Commercial and First and Dec. 9 at Hastings and Nanaimo. A no2010.com message about the latter attack, in the form of a phony news release, misappropriated Groves' name.

towerguy3

02-11-2008, 04:03 AM

The Premier and the Toursim Minister Stan Hagen (he's in charge of BC Place) are having a Countdown Luncheon at the Hyatt Regency tommorow at 12:30 and the no2010 people are having a huge rally at the Art Gallery at 12 noon.

http://www.no2010.com

I normally don't have a problem with protestors but I found this quote on their site which I found most distasteful.

Wishing death upon someone is just pure evil and really discredits these people when they put a statement like this on their site:

"Vancouver -- VANOC chairman Jack Poole has had surgery to remove a tumour on his pancreas and [unfortunately] his doctors expect a full recovery, the Vancouver 2010 Olympics Organizing Committee said yesterday"

That's pretty sick

mr.x2

02-11-2008, 04:16 AM

mr.x2

02-11-2008, 07:25 AM

Lloyd Robertson will be broadcasting CTV National News from Vancouver on Monday and Tuesday, and I have heard rumours that the CTV Studio at Burrard will be getting some renovations (perhaps a new set?) so it can accommodate Olympic coverage (being that it will be CTV's 2010 Broadcast Centre).

mr.x2

02-11-2008, 07:30 AM

Torino alive with Olympic legacy

Updated: Sun Feb. 10 2008 18:54:52

ctvbc.ca

Two years ago, after Torino staged an almost flawless Games, the Olympic flame went out in the northern Italian city.

At the time, the Turinese believed the Olympic Games would help Torino shake off the dust, revive its economy and rekindle its passion.

And when CTV British Columbia's Mike Killeen visited the city two years later -- and two years before Vancouver will welcome the world -- he found that it seems to have worked.

Turinese gather at local cafes in a city now brimming with self-esteem -- and a renewed sense of purpose.

The president of the Torino Organizing Committee told Killen on that visit that the Olympics helped transform Torino -- just what its people needed.

"What we expected was something which is not measurable, and I mean the mood of the city," said Valentino Castellani. "All of the other things, tourism, investment are important of course because they are part of the games, but what Torino needed at that time was a change in confidence in themselves, in ourselves."

Torino Mayor Sergio Chiamporino put it more bluntly: "The Turinese are again proud to be Turinese. This is probably the most important legacy of the Olympic Games."

Before the games, tourism was picking up, as people crowded to see the ancient legacies of biblical legend. But as the world's eyes -- and cameras -- descended on the city, they saw a modern metropolis.

"Usually when you talk about Torino, people they think of fiat, juventus and maybe the holy shroud," said Paola Musolino, of Turismo Torino.

"But after the games they saw that Torino is a great city, it has many monuments, buildings, and museums, so we started to have more and more tourists," said Musolino.

And the facilities -- completed only days before the opening ceremonies -- found a new home, used for competitions or rented out for training.

After all the cameras went home, the media village -- where CTV News stayed during the games -- was converted to student housing for a nearby university.

Parts of the athletes' villages have also been converted to student and low-income housing.

With the physical legacies from the games, and those that aren't measurable, this Olympic city seems destined to proper.

It sounds just like what Vancouver needs (which we will get, as long as there isn't a terrorist attack).

dreambrother808

02-11-2008, 02:44 PM

i understand the injustices the natives have suffered over the past few hundred years, but like come on...let it go. The native community is never going to make something out of themselves if they keep in holding on to the past....and certainly, these criminal actions are not helping them nor their image.
.

One of the reasons that native people still protest is the fact that governments still try to wriggle out of treaty rights. These treaties have always been treated as wishlists when in fact they are legal documents. Land claim issues, such as native land being turned into golf courses or given to developers, in other words stolen from its rightful owners, are some of the problems. I think that many people do not understand the corruption that goes on and has always gone on with regard to these issues. Asking native people to abide by laws that our own government does not abide by in return is a major slap in the face. Other than that, yeah native people do need to get their shit together. I grew up in a city with an 8% native population so I've seen alot of the shit that goes on and I've also had many native friends who do have their shit together, as well as any average person does.

mr.x2

02-11-2008, 08:26 PM

cornholio

02-11-2008, 10:49 PM

mr.x2

02-11-2008, 11:43 PM

Olympics providing venue for developing B.C. broadcast talent
Olympic Broadcasting Services to offer internships to up to 400 B.C. students. NBC may hire as many as 1,000 locals to prepare its broadcasts for the U.S. market.

Derrick Penner, Vancouver Sun
Published: Monday, February 11, 2008

Official Olympic broadcasters will bring thousands of technicians to Vancouver for the 2010 Games, hire hundreds more locally and even create some technical talent to help televise the Olympics for a global audience of billions.

The International Olympic Committee's in-house producer of pooled competition footage at the Games will work with local colleges and universities to provide training to 600 students, Nancy Lee, chief operating officer for Olympic Broadcasting Services said Monday at a business workshop in Vancouver.

And of those students, Lee said 300 to 400 will be hired as a sort of internship at the 2010 Olympics.

"They're not likely to be camera No. 1 for hockey ," but OBS has a history of putting such students to work in technical capacities. And the initiative speaks to the needs broadcasters will have when they arrive in Vancouver, which won't be too far along the calendar.

Speaking Monday at the 2010 Commerce Centre's business summit at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, Brett Goodland, senior vice-president of strategic and business affairs at [B]NBC Universal sports and Olympics, said his company will bring 1,800 people to Vancouver and hire as many as 1,000 local people to prepare its broadcasts for the U.S. market.

NBC will spend $40 million in the process on catering services, transportation, guides and a multitude of other services.

Businesses to spend billions on goods and services for 2010 Games

Derrick Penner, Vancouver Sun
Published: Monday, February 11, 2008

The Olympic sponsors, suppliers and national Olympic organizations that descend on Vancouver for the 2010 Games will spend an estimated $2 billion on goods and services, Colin Hansen, minister of economic development told a business meeting in Vancouver today.

That will be on top of the almost $1.7 billion Vancouver's Olympic organizing committee will spend on its own operations to stage the Olympics, which Hansen added present opportunities.

"That's why you're here today," Hansen added before a crowd of some 600 at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver gathered for a so-called business summit staged by the 2010 Commerce Centre, the Olympics-business promotion arm in his ministry.

Hansen said that the Commerce Centre's purpose is to make sure there is a lasting business legacy from the Games.

Scot Smythe, senior vice-president of sponsorship and event marketing at Visa International, told the crowd that the B.C. government is doing more than many other Olympic jurisdictions have done to try and link local businesses with business opportunities.

Visa has been a top international sponsor for 12 previous Olympics, and Smythe said the community can expect business activity to heat up over the last 18 months before the Games.

Smythe said Visa works on planning its sponsorship activities for three Olympics at once, and has been active in Vancouver for three years.

However, it won't be until after the Beijing Olympics are over that Visa's operations will focus squarely on its Vancouver Games-time efforts.

And so will the attention of other sponsors and organizations.

....and people say the Games aren't worth it.

I have a friend whose brother is thinking of trying to be come a professional photographer for the Games.

SpongeG

02-11-2008, 11:49 PM

anyone signing up?

Olympic volunteer program kicks off Tuesday: 25,000 jobs for grabs

How to see Olympics up close and personal
Damian Inwood, The Province
Published: Monday, February 11, 2008
Anyone who has always wanted a job as an "Olympic flamewatcher," will get their chance tomorrow.

That's when the 2010 volunteer program kicks off and 25,000 jobs are up for grabs -- from parking cars to greeting heads of state.

One of the more unusual jobs is making sure that the Olympic cauldron at B.C. Place Stadium keeps burning throughout the 17 days of the Winter Games.

"We have a shift of people making sure that the flame doesn't go out," said Donna Wilson, 2010's boss of human resources. "We fondly know of them as 'flamewatchers.' " :banana:

Wilson said 2010 officials expect a flood of online applications.

It's not merely a case of "first come, first served," she said.

The application will take 30 to 40 minutes to fill out, as it requires people to list their skills, experience and interests and provide ID such as a driver's licence.

Volunteers will have to be willing to make a time commitment as the total number of shifts for both Games are 13 shifts for the Olympics and seven for the Paralympics.

"We'll be checking to make sure that people are aware of the commitment and are comfortable with that," said Wilson.

The minimum age is 19, as of September 2008, said Wilson, to make security-screening easier. There is no maximum age.

In the spring, about 40,000 people will go through a telephone screening process. In the fall, successful applicants will go to a volunteer centre at the old PNE Forum for a five-hour security-screening and training session.

Wilson said 2010 wants anyone who's had experience in winter sports to volunteer at things like starting gates. There'll also be a need for medical people such as massage therapists, physiotherapists and dentists. Volunteers will also be needed to work with athletes at the anti-doping test areas.

People fluent in languages are needed. Thousands of general volunteers are needed for helping with event services, accreditation, ticket-taking, handling spectator needs and assisting people at the airport.

Volunteers can apply online at www.vancouver2010.com or at www.workopolis.com.

"Volunteers need to be energized, flexible and committed," said Wilson.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Next to the athletes, the workforce is the most vital part of the Games."

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=43ca781b-1b79-4e3f-bb3c-aad38fd56e1b&k=23266

mr.x2

02-11-2008, 11:56 PM

i'm definitely in for that! i'm guessing applications open midnight?

don't forget that apart from the 25,000 volunteers, 12,000 cast members (mostly volunteers) will be required for the opening/closing ceremonies.

towerguy3

02-12-2008, 02:28 AM

It's all really exciting!

British Columbia is the best place on Earth! Agree?

dreambrother808

02-12-2008, 03:26 AM

^ and another thing that pisses me off is how they're a bunch of hypocrites. They complain about buildings and commercialism on what was once their land. Exactly one month later, they come up with proposals for giant billboards, condo developments...and of course, they're planning to redevelop their newly gained land at UBC into condos by bulldozing part of the park's forest.

The people complaining and those making the decisions for the group are not necessarily the same people. There is no one native voice or way of thinking. Nevertheless, it's THEIR land. They can do whatever the hell they want with it. What right do the people who have bulldozed the rest of the city and continent already have to bitch about it? None. Don't patronize these people with your "we know better" bullshit because it's quite obvious that we don't. There's quite enough proof in the world of that.

dreambrother808

02-12-2008, 03:29 AM

It's all really exciting!

British Columbia is the best place on Earth! Agree?

That slogan is ridiculous.

mr.x2

02-12-2008, 03:36 AM

That slogan is ridiculous.

has anyone seen those BC 150 commercials on tv? i would say they're a bit too intense.

giallo

02-12-2008, 04:09 AM

^ The one I saw was pretty funny.

Check it out

http://youtube.com/watch?v=epodD8vL6QY

mr.x2

02-12-2008, 04:15 AM

^ LMAO. that was it, reminds me of the Molson Canadian's "I Am Canadian" era.

crazyjoeda

02-12-2008, 05:30 AM

lol, I like the BC 150 ads.

But I really hate the No 2010 people. Their cause is just so stupid; I mean protest, but protest something real? The Olympics are coming, we even had a vote and it passed. The chance to stop it was in 2003, but they failed, so they need to get over it.

I have said this before and I will say it again, the Anti-Poverty Committee makes me hate the homeless. It makes me not want to give money to charities who will support them. They're protesting an event that has nothing to do with homelessness issue.

Make no mistake the APC does not give a shit about the homeless, they are a group of delinquents that just want to cause trouble.
If the APC cared they would use the Olympics as an opportunity to lobby for social housing, but what do they do? They break into an MLA's office and chain themselves up; what a bunch of retards.

zivan56

02-12-2008, 06:49 AM

So wait...they want to do interviews, background checks, and retinal scans in order to maybe allow you to volunteer? All so I can be a 24-hour on call janitor or toilet cleaner or perhaps stand out in the rain the whole day?
:haha:
No thanks...maybe if it was drop in, I would consider it. However, to treat it like a real job is an insult to someone donating their spare time away from work.

bils

02-12-2008, 07:46 AM

well u gotta understand this isn't the same as volunteering at the local charity. there's immense security going into these games and everyone who will be involved (guests, tourists, volunteers, workers) will all be under intense scrutiny. i think it's a good idea for them to be extra careful when it comes to volunteers.

deasine

02-12-2008, 07:56 AM

And many of the volunteers will have access to popular olympic events, such as the opening and closing ceremonies. Vancouver can't afford something to go wrong.

Thus, the numerous security checks are justifiable.

Anyway at SSC, in celebration of the two-year mark for 2010 (it's up now!!!!!!), Mr. X has submitted this banner made by me. The photo is provided by Thom Quine.

http://members.shaw.ca/clauf/t3.PNG

btw Whistler doesn't have an olympic clock right? They should have one.

mr.x2

02-12-2008, 08:05 AM

The banner will be up the entire day today at Skyscrapercity (it's already up):
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/images/headers/12.jpg

TWO YEARS TO GO! *as long as we get better weather*

cornholio

02-12-2008, 08:52 AM

The people complaining and those making the decisions for the group are not necessarily the same people. There is no one native voice or way of thinking. Nevertheless, it's THEIR land. They can do whatever the hell they want with it. What right do the people who have bulldozed the rest of the city and continent already have to bitch about it? None. Don't patronize these people with your "we know better" bullshit because it's quite obvious that we don't. There's quite enough proof in the world of that.

They lost their land like many other cultures and civilizations did before them. They are fortunate that they lost their land at a time when western civilization was going through some big changes and actually went against thousands of years of precedents set by all of humanity and said that the land was taken unfairly. The fact that they can live a life and enjoy all the advancements of humanity cant be overlooked, after all there is one continent full of nomadic people that wasn't permanently settled(except part of its souther hemisphere) and im sure the people of that continent would switch positions with north American aboriginals in a heart beat. Theres proof of us not knowing better, ok, being the most advanced species on this planet i will have to disagree with that, sure nothings perfect but until we wipe each other out completely and a more advanced species comes along then most certainly we know best on our little planet. In anycase our country is based on equality, this is not equality, no matter what you say I dont agree that some descendant of a nomadic people with no real concept of property has some type entitlement to our nations land. Thats my opinion and im sticking to it until someone can put forth a decent and logical argument that backs up the oposit view.

mr.x2

02-13-2008, 04:38 AM

http://www.vancouver2010.com/images/CulturalOlympiad/2008/Web/021208_co_composite.gif

Bell celebrates culture through partnership with Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad - New emblem unveiled at Countdown Concert

February 12, 2008

Vancouver, BC — Bell and the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) tonight launched the telecommunications company’s role as presenting partner of the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad. A new Cultural Olympiad emblem recognizing this partnership was unveiled during a sold-out, star-studded concert at Vancouver’s Orpheum Theatre, the culmination of a day-long celebration of the two-year countdown to the 2010 Winter Games.

Hosted by CTV’s Ben Mulroney, the Countdown Concert featured stellar Canadian talent. 2008 Grammy and Juno nominee Feist headlined the concert, performing five world premier orchestral arrangements of her songs with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. The concert also included some of Canada’s top indie singer-songwriters: Ron Sexsmith; Jorane; Leela Gilday (2007 Juno Award winner for Aboriginal album of the year); and Suzie McNeil, whose hit song Believe was embraced by Bell as a fundraising initiative for sport.

“Bell has a long history of bringing sport and culture together to strengthen our country and celebrate our best,” said VANOC Chief Executive Officer John Furlong. “We are thrilled to partner with Bell to showcase Canada’s rich cultural heritage and vibrant arts community across the country and around the world.”

“Bell aims to connect every Canadian to the Olympic and Paralympic experience,” said Loring Phinney, Vice President, Corporate and Olympic Marketing for Bell. “We are proud to know that our support of the Cultural Olympiad will help make it possible for even more Canadians to experience the 2010 Winter Games through the delivery of unique and compelling cultural content.”

Bell has long been committed to fostering opportunities for both culture and sport. In 2007, Bell launched a unique initiative to raise money for Canada’s winter athletes. The company teamed with rising Canadian rock star Suzie McNeil and composer/arranger Dave Pierce to record the Olympic-and Paralympic-inspired song and video Believe. Recorded in Ottawa with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the audio track is available for download to client music libraries and enabled Bell Mobility phones at bell.ca/believe, where visitors can also view the music video.

All proceeds from downloads will be donated by Bell to Own the Podium 2010, a sport technical program designed to help Canadian athletes compete with the best in the world.

One of the 2010 Winter Games signature events, Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad will showcase some of the finest in Canadian and international arts and culture through a series of three festivals between now and 2010. Cultural Olympiad 2008 launches this multi-year celebration, with more than 300 free and ticketed events taking place between February 1 to March 21 throughout Metro Vancouver and the Sea-to-Sky corridor. This is the first time a Winter Games has hosted a Cultural Olympiad two years before Games time. The entire program can be viewed at www.vancouver2010.com.

The Emblem of the 2010 Cultural Olympiad

Bell’s new partnership with VANOC is represented in the Cultural Olympiad emblem, unveiled to an enthusiastic audience at the Countdown Concert. The new multicoloured emblem, highlighted by pink and purple hues, represents the cultural and creative diversity of Canada. Entitled Expanding the Circle , its shape originates from the stones within the Vancouver 2010 Olympic emblem Ilanaaq, immediately connecting it to Vancouver 2010. Positioned on an angle, the shape also speaks to the way in which the arts can provide new perspectives to audiences. The central arcs burst out of the emblem’s primary shape with energy and motion in the way that arts and culture break new ground and explore new directions.

About Bell

Bell’s partnership with VANOC began in October 2004, when it was selected as a Premier National Partner and exclusive Telecommunications Partner to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Bell will supply the critical communications services required to stage the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver and Whistler, including a comprehensive telecommunications solution, broadcast support, and Internet and portal services.

Bell is Canada's largest communications company, providing consumers with solutions to all their communications needs, including telephone services, wireless communications, high-speed Internet, digital television and voice over IP. Bell also offers integrated information and communications technology (ICT) services to businesses and governments, and is the Virtual Chief Information Officer (VCIO) to small and medium businesses (SMBs). Bell is wholly owned by BCE Inc. For information on Bell's products and services, please visit http://www.bell.ca/. For corporate information on BCE, please visit http://www.bce.ca/.

jlousa

02-13-2008, 04:41 AM

For anyone that is interested there is a Beijing 2008 exhibit in Sinclair Centre. Had the chance to check it out while I hit the food court for lunch.

SpongeG

02-13-2008, 08:47 AM

Volunteer applications flood 2010 website

VANCOUVER - The website for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games was swamped with hundreds of thousands of hits Tuesday after Olympic organizers began accepting applications for volunteers.

Within hours of going live first thing Tuesday, the organizing committee had received more than 1,500 applications from more than a dozen countries and every province and territory in Canada.

But by mid-afternoon, the committee was reeling from all the attention, with more than 700,000 separate page views of its website at vancouver2010.com.

That's nearly double the number of page views the site had received to date on its heaviest traffic days, CEO John Furlong said. More than 4,000 people living in 24 countries had filed applications by mid-afternoon, and the rate showed no sign of slowing down.

However, the website withstood the traffic load.

The organizing committee welcomed the attention, saying it's a good start to its search for at least 25,000 qualified volunteers.

Donna Wilson, executive vice-president of workforce and sustainability, had originally estimated she would need upwards of 40,000 applications in order to find enough qualified volunteers. But Furlong said he now believes as many as 100,000 applications will be received over the next six weeks.

http://www.canada.com/topics/sports/story.html?id=612a4adf-b280-4dfe-af57-695a773a9730&k=19279

mr.x2

02-13-2008, 09:10 AM

The final count for the first day was 10,000 volunteer applicants. I haven't submitted mine, though it's partially completed.

SpongeG

02-13-2008, 11:28 AM

i saw a commercial for volunteers on much more music tonight

mr.x2

02-18-2008, 04:46 AM

Canadians conquer Asian events

Gary Kingston, Vancouver Sun; With files from Sun news services
Published: Saturday, February 16, 2008

It was an Asian invasion by Canadian winter sport athletes on Friday.

Maelle Ricker of North Vancouver won a women's World Cup snowboard cross event in Sungwoo, South Korea, while Tessa Virtue of London, Ont., and Scott Moir of Iderton, Ont., posted a personal best score to win the gold medal in ice dancing at the Four Continents Championships at Goyang City, South Korea.

Meanwhile at Inawashiro, Japan, Sarah Burke of Midland, Ont., and Matthew Hayward of Red Deer, Alta., won the women's and men's halfpipe, respectively, at a World Cup freestyle event.

Ricker, 29, was the second-fastest qualifier, then won her quarter-final and semifinal heats from the front before holding off a hard-charging Lindsey Jacobellis of the U.S., the reigning world champion, and Mellie Francon of Switzerland in the final.

"I felt her right on my back," Ricker said of Jacobellis, "so I drifted left, closing the door so she couldn't pass me. I had very good starts today, which allowed me to ride my line and to stay out of the traffic. That was the key to the race today."

With the win, Ricker took over top spot in the World Cup SBX standings with four races remaining. She has 3,250 points, Jacobellis 3,200 and Francon 3,060.

Pierre Vaultier of France won the men's event ahead of Nate Holland of the U.S. and Mateusz Ligocki of Poland. Rob Fagan of Cranbrook was the top Canadian in 10th, while reigning World Cup champion Drew Neilson of North Vancouver had a tough day, finishing 31st.

At Goyang City, Virtue and Moir led the field from the start and totalled 207.32 points over the compulsory, original and free dances. Meryl Davis and Charlie White of the U.S. were second with 199.45 points.

"We weren't really focused on the marks, but it is always nice to break the 100-point barrier in the free dance and 200 overall," Moir said in a news release. "But we left a couple of points on the table which we hope to improve on before worlds.

"In the free dance today, our last lift was a little off and those are points you don't want to give away when you compete against the best in the world."

In the men's singles, Daisuke Takahashi of Japan landed two quadruple jumps and won big with 264.41 points. Jeff Buttle of Smooth Rock Falls, Ont., was second, breaking his own Canadian record with 234.02 points.

"It was definitely an improvement over Canadians," said Buttle, who had a poor free skate in Vancouver last month to finish second. "I regained some confidence that I may have lost."

In Japan, Burke, the 2005 world champion, won by a convincing three points despite nursing a sore knee that nearly caused her to spill on a new alley-oop trick in the final.

Hayward edged Kalle Leinonen of Finland, with Mike Riddle of Sherwood Park, Alta., third and Justin Dorey of Vernon fourth.

Skier halfpipe is not an Olympic discipline, although the skiers are lobbying to have it included in 2014.

- Anna Goodman of Pointe Claire, Que., continues to improve on the World Cup slalom circuit, finishing a career-best 19th Friday in a race in Zagreb, Croatia.

Goodman's two-run combined time was one minute, 57.39 seconds. Tanja Poutianen of Finland won the event in 1:52.83, with Marlies Schild of Austria second in 1:53.35 and Veronika Zuzulova of Slovakia third in 1:53.51.

Goodman, 22, posted the first top-30 results of her career earlier this season by finishing 29th and 24th.

"I let the skis run today and had two runs that I'm pleased with although I still know I can do better," said Goodman.

gkingston@png.canwest.com

mr.x2

02-22-2008, 01:42 AM

2010 TV executives meeting in Vancouver
By BOB MACKIN, 24 HOURS

Broadcasters of the world - at least those that bought 2010 Winter Olympics rights - are united in Vancouver this week.

International Olympic Committee-owned Olympic Broadcast Services Vancouver meets until Friday with the companies that will beam the 2010 Games to TV viewers and radio listeners around the globe. It's the second of three annual conventions and brings together more than 100 representatives of 35 rights-holding networks to discuss production costs and logistics.

Vancouver 2010 will be the first all-HD TV Winter Olympics from the source.

"There's plenty of infrastructure for us to be able to acquire that equipment to be able to achieve it," said OBSV chief operating officer Nancy Lee.

NBC, the largest broadcaster, paid $2.2 billion for U.S. rights to Vancouver 2010 and London 2012. The CTV/ Rogers consortium outbid CBC with a $153-million offer for the Canadian deal.

Delirium

02-29-2008, 01:56 PM

edit

mr.x2

03-06-2008, 03:11 AM

Vanoc signs licensing deal with Inuit artists

Jeff Lee, Vancouver Sun
Published: Wednesday, March 05, 2008

There is nothing that irritates Nunavut Premier Paul Okalik more than seeing mass-produced inukshuk art passed off to unsuspecting tourists as authentic Inuit art. When he sees them for sale in stores, he knows aboriginal artists of the North have been ripped off.

So he could barely hide the glee in his face today when he signed a deal with the organizers of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics that will see as many as 1,200 Inuit artists from 11 communities produce the iconic rock emblems for sale under an Olympic licence.

"We have often not gained much benefit out of symbolic things that have been produced," he said. "This is more a symbol of artists benefiting through their unique work. These products are hand-made, not mass-produced like some pieces that I've seen throughout the country."

The deal, signed in Vancouver as part of a larger license agreement the Vancouver Organizing Committee has with four B.C. first nations, will also see a portion of the royalties go towards a legacy fund for aboriginal youth.

Under the umbrella agreement, Vanoc will license and market a large array of clothing and other items containing aboriginal artwork. Although it is working with one Squamish artist, Xwa Lack Tun, whose Anglicized name is Rick Harry, Vanoc says it expects to expand the program to include first nations and Metis artists from across the country. The agreement was signed last week at a private ceremony during the visit of International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge.

The deal with the Inuit will involve the production of stone emblems known as inukshuk (the plural, according to Okalik, is inuksuit). Each unique item, which takes hours to produce, will retail for between $60 and $200.

Okalik said the Inuit were elated when Vanoc selected Ilanaaq, a stylized inukshuk as its logo, because inuksuit represent directional markers that help people find their way. In agreeing to market Inuit art for Nunavut, Vanoc has helped many artists find their way.

"In Nunavut, we have no Maple Leaf. Icons as Canadian emblems are foreign to us. Ilanaaq changed that," he said.

For Vanoc CEO John Furlong, the deal brings much closer to reality his pledge to try and "touch the soul of the nation" with the Olympics. "Premier Okalik can honestly say with this deal that every single town in Nunavut is participating in the Games," he said. "What a way to get the artists involved."

Each inukshuk carving will carry a Vanoc licence tag, as well as the name of the artist and community where it was made and the carving's unique story.

"Part of this is to put money towards aboriginal youth programs," he said. "This is going to be a runaway hit."

The overall aboriginal licensing agreement will see one-third of royalties set aside for a legacy fund administered through the Four Host First Nations Secretariat. The group represents the Squamish, Lil'Wat, Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam bands, on whose traditional territory the Games are being held.

Neither Vanoc officials nor Tewanee Joseph, the executive director of the FHFNS, could say how much money will be generated from the deal.

"This is new territory for all of us," Joseph said. "We've looked back at a number of Olympic Games, and we can't find any deal like this anywhere. So we really don't know how much this will generate."

Clothing and art will go on sale to the public through retailers starting next month.