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On June 8th this past summer, my Olympic Outsider podcast (podcast feed) co-pilot Dan and I took a trip to reconnoiter some the venues under construction for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

You can see all the snapshots at the Whistler 2010 Olympic Venues photo set - here are some previews:

First, we checked out the sliding track near Whistler Village where the luge, bobsleigh and skeleton athletes will compete.

Then headed up Callahan Valley. passed security to the massive 90K and 120K Ski Jumps, and observed the jumper's view, and an Inukshuk.

Thanks to Jeff Lee's blog post "London 2012 gets social media while Vancouver 2010 falters", I saw this slide deck by Alex Balfour, the Head of New Media for London 2012 where he sets the table and drafts a plan of action for encouraging crowd coverage of the Games.

I can't help but feeling that Vancouver is missing a huge opportunity by not planning and evangelizing new media - with a diverse creative and info tech sector, it's a shame.

Anyhow, i saw this great twitter from @stuartgh in London who saw Mr. Balfour's presentation:

Just been to hear a talk on using social media to inspire change at the 2012 Olympics. Fascinating. And I ate two very nice biscuits. 3:19 PM Nov 26th from web

I love tasty biscuits! Later he puts forth his vision, thusly:

For the record, i am not personally an Olympic resister, i am a documentarian & an enthusiast of stories, international relations and winter sports. I am disheartened and flummoxed by some of the practices of the IOC and VANOC but feel engaging in respectful dialouge is key to finding common ground.

I am also an advocate of media democracy and also enjoy helping people who have a heard time finding coverage in the mainstream media find outlet for their concerns.

On November 20, 2008, I recorded the Olympic Resistance Network press conference including separate clips for remarks by Chris Shaw and Joan Morelli, at the Anti-Poverty Committee office in the Vancouver's downtown eastside.

Olympic Resistance Network Press Conference - most speakers (54:27, .mp3, 26MB)

Dave Spiels Forth at Canada Place outside VANOC Worldwide Press Briefing

Outside of the VANOC worldwide press briefing, independent media maker Dave Thorvald Olson answers questions about the Olympics, protests, and tension between social concerns and international events.

He spiels forth about peace, pacifism, understanding, love of winter sports, copyright, rumoured riots, the importance of dialouge and respect and conversation. Also he briefly recounts his experiences covering Olympic Games from a grassroots point of view.

Filmed by Manfred Becker - thanks!

See Dave Thorvald on Daily Vancouver for more: http://2010.dailyvancouver.com/blog/davethorvald

I am following up on the Open Letter to VANOC from Social Media Makers with a few notes as well as an invitation to continue the conversation with VANOC over a tasty beverage. The letter has made its way around the world with Twitters, comments, blog posts, and personal notes of support and/or confusion coming in from many corners of the globe.

So, to keep the conversation rolling, here are my annotated notes, thoughts and recaps from the past few days of opinions rolling in:

Following up on our Open Letter to VANOC, here's a quick re-cap of observations and experiences at the Worldwide Press Briefing and the Olympic Resistance Network press conference, November, (Thursday) 20, 2008.

Kris Krug and I went to Canada Place and were rejected entry to the VANOC worldwide press briefing event. We had hoped use our experience crowd-covering previous Olympic Games to discuss how social media can enhance the accredited media's coverage and also provide deep documentary into the fan experience and lesser-known athlete's stories.

NOTE: Sent to VANOC {mediarelations@vancouver2010.com, pressoperations@vancouver2010.com} Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2008.
Cross-posted at: urbanvancouver.com, nowpublic.com, raincitystudios.com etc.

Hello VANOC Media Relations and Press Operations,

I am writing today on behalf of Raincity Studios, a Vancouver-based social media company who owns and publishes a suite of media properties. We had hoped to talk about social media (blogs, podcasts, twitter, wikis etc.) at the World Press Briefing this week, however we did not receive any response from the applications we submitted to the participate in the event. So, as per Mr. Furlong's suggestion at the Vancouver Board of trade meeting last week, we are liaising with VANOC.

In brief, we'd like to have a conversation about how to allow fans and amateur media makers to document their Olympic experience while keeping out of the way of the IOC IP lawyers. As a company and as individuals, we've produced extensive, non-accredited coverage of Beijing 2008, Torino 2006, SLC 2002, and Nagano 1998. With the next games literally in our neighborhood, we'll be hosting an independent, international media centre at our Gastown loft office. As part of this, we'll organize events like photo walks and aggregate fan-made content for the enjoyment of a worldwide audience. We'd like to work with you to do this for mutual benefit.

Recorded at the post-Turin Olympic flag tour in May 2006, top-placing Canadian half-pipe snowboarder Crispin Lipscomb talks about his Olympic experience, pre-race rituals and 2010 plans - plus offers insight into the Whistler lifestyle, future of the sport, and how to help young boarders.

Download High-Flying Canadian Snowboarder Crispin Lipscomb - Olympic Outsider podcast #9
(.mp3, 8MB, 9:53)

Subscribe:
Olympic Outsider podcast - iTunes - http://feeds.feedburner.com/olympicoutsider/
Canucks Outsider podcast - iTunes - http://feeds.feedburner.com/CanucksOutsider
More Dave O podcasts and writing

Points for Participation?

Into the thick of the Olympic sporting competition, Canada is rolling in a litany of 5th, 6th, 7th places ... but with track and field, rowing finals and trampolining yet to come, the Canucks still have a chance to visit the podium.

As Tod Maffin twitter'ed: "Maybe Beijing will at least give us a courtesy Participaction pin?(Dont understand this? Ask a Canadian over 30.)" (ed note: or view this Participaction toque).

In the social media production department, Scales continues to create video at an epic pace despite losing his co-hort Kris who was repatriated to Vancouver in time for a glorious summer weekend. Scales is staying busy by picking up more tickets for varied events at the incredible new venues including the whitewater kayak run (plus visits to the Danish hospitality house).

I'm heading to the hills with tent and beverages so here's a few highlights to enjoy with your weekend viewing:

In this installment of the Beijing Summer Olympics social media report, we join Robert Scales and Kris Krug as they spread their on-the-ground reportage around the world. Indeed, their barrage of videos, photographs and words are deepening the coverage for fans, pundits and athletes' families as their coverage is picked up by social and mainstream media outlets.

Coverage Highlights

BBC's Canadien Correspondent

Robert Scales' second entry from his Olympic diary is up on BBC - this time he talks about the opening ceremonies (video) and their venue reconnaissance (video) with visits to the Birds Nest' national stadium, the 'Water Cube' aquatic centre, the fencing hall and the Yukeson basketball stadium while fortified by snake, silk worms, scorpian and salamanders (videos).

Beijing's Faces in LA Times

Krug's Olympic photos are in the LATimes blog with a photo essay called the Faces of Beijing - the candid photos show KK's skill of relaxing the subject to be themselves - you can almost feel the humidity in the photos.