Venue Training

On Saturday morning the fog had well and truly settled into the valley. It was also raining and a warm start to a wet day. It is Saturday Jan 30th and there were lots of things to get done today.

At 6 AM I popped out of bed and started my day. I had a chat with Gray before he went to work and then made myself some breakfast. My first activity of the day was to attend the Event Services Venue Training that started at 10 AM. I had to drive to Callaghan Valley (about 60 km from Pemberton where we are staying). I left early to ensure that I was there on time and I managed to swing by the local Starbucks for a Chai latte. The drive from Pemberton to Whistler was uneventful but the traffic started to build as I approached the town centre. The town of Whistler is starting the “lockdown” as some of the streets and parking facilities are being closed for the duration of the Olympics. VANOC is closing many facilities starting Feb 1 as they use the locations for operations, guests and various operational activities. I went to a local washroom this morning that I knew about but it has been closed for the duration of the Olympics. A nice paper sign indicated the nearest location of a public washroom and it happened to be several blocks away near the BC Liquor Store. Parking will be an issue anywhere in the area as they are closing a huge parking lot (the day lot) starting Monday. I guess we will resort to the vastly expanded public transportation for the duration. However both Tara-Lee and Bree have passes for parking as they work in the core of the village and we may be able to use that parking should we want to go to town for dinner or something like that. But I digress.....

I continued my drive south and found the turn for the Callaghan Valley and drove the last 10 km from HWY 99 until I reached the checkpoint entering the venue. The venues are very secure and only those who have the access rights get through. This venue is called the Whistler Olympic Park and it will be the home of the ski jumping, cross-country skiing, biathlon and the Nordic combined (ski jump followed by a cross-country sprint). All of these events are called the Nordic events and the three sports have their own locations in the park. It is the largest site for the Olympics and there are activities there every day of the Olympics. There is an expectation that there will be 12,000 folks at the park each day. That will include spectators, media, athletes, Olympic family (IOC etc), security and workforce. The training session commenced at 10 as planned and there were 200 volunteers in the room with about 25 staff and organizers. They introduced the Sport organizers and each of them talked about their sport and their team’s efforts. The presentations went on for 90 minutes and a great deal of information was shared. I have not done my Job Specific Training so there were some blank spots for me but overall the information was valuable and added perspective to the venue. We then broke out into teams and I joined the Event Services (EVS) team outside for a walk through the venue. It was still raining and the valley was pretty well socked in with fog/cloud/low ceiling. There were about 25 EVS volunteers for this session. The other volunteers were sports specific folks as well as other functional areas.

For the next 2.5 hours we visited each area and were informed about the plans and procedures for each sub-venue. The ski jump area is fantastic and has seating capacity for about 2700 people and lots of standing room available. It will be very interesting to see the jumpers in action. At the cross-country venue there is seating capacity for another 2000 people and there are several standing areas available. The Biathlon location was the best looking as all of the “appearance” has been completed for this sub-venue. There is extensive use of the logos on material stretched to cover large open areas with colourful banners. This location is set up for another 2000 seated guests plus standing areas in various vantage points. Each spot has a warming tent for people to get out of the weather and concessions, merchandise shops and of course the back operations for the workforce. The sub-venues are divided by long walkways that meander through the forest and the overall site is about one km square. I am looking forward to seeing this environment in the sunlight as the venue is nestled amidst some breathtaking mountains. We broke up about 2 PM and I drove back to Pemberton just in time for Freddi to drive to Whistler for her Venue Training at the Sliding Centre.

Freddi’s training was about 3 hours long and she had a tour of the facility where they will be doing the Bobsled, luge and skeleton runs. She walked the venue and was informed about the specifics of the sport as well as her duties while at the venue. She had the opportunity to meet her co-workers as they are a small team of 3 or 4 folks dedicated to Accreditation at that venue. It is starting to take shape and we both have a better perspective of the expectations of our participation. The teams seem to be well organized and the overall impression is that VANOC and their teams are doing a bang-up job.

Once were all back home we and all of the hockey games in Canada were complete we had a nice big dinner with all who had congregated during the day. A small workforce went to work in the kitchen and effortlessly produced a great meal (Mexican style) for 10. It was a full but very enjoyable day as we shared time with friends and family while learning about our new environment.

(Note: the images on today's blog are from the Vancouver 2010 web page http://www.vancouver2010.com/ - click on Photos .)

Day 1 - went off without a hitch.....

Jan 28 came up very quickly in the end. I always felt that the Olympic “thing” was way down the road but suddenly it was here and it was starting today. The day started very early as we had to be ready to leave for the airport at 5:30 am as Bruce was going to drive us there and return our car to the garage for our absence. The day ahead was mostly to be filled with travel to Vancouver, lunch with Mary and Larry (Bree’s Mum and Dad), my first meeting with VANOC (Vancouver Olympic Committee) and then a drive to Pemberton and a reunion with the family.
We got to the airport on time and had no difficulty with check-in, security and boarding. There was no indication of heightened security in Ottawa and the line moved quickly. The flight to Toronto was uneventful and we spent an hour of our layover in the lounge having a little breakfast. We boarded the flight to Vancouver and settled in for the 4+ hour flight. With the help of the personal TV sets and some fairly good program selection we watched a movie and some TV episodes and without much fuss we were in Vancouver. The airport has now been finished and it looks pretty sharp as it is bedecked with Olympic graphics and lots of VANOC folks walking about helping people get to where they wanted to go. This was our introduction to the light blue uniforms of the volunteer army for the Olympics. We chatted up a couple of these folks and they were volunteers with the Event Services group which is the group I will be working for. It was fun to get their views of the work and they gave a very positive impression of what they were doing. Larry met us and we went to Langley to have a lunch at Mary and Larry’s house. We had a nice lasagne and spent the afternoon chatting and watching the SENS thump Pittsburgh. (Go SENS Go – that makes it 8 wins in a row) At 5 PM we set out for the Pacific Exhibition grounds where VANOC has set up their Accreditation and Uniform centre in Vancouver.
Once there I checked in and was processed in a very efficient way. First I was confirmed as being scheduled at that time and given a piece of paper that was my ticket for the next several activities. I walked into the work area and was verified and photographed with some pretty cool technology. Then I was shuffled to an area where my accreditation badge was being printed. Once printed and laminated it was given to me without much explanation of the codes/colours and bar codes on the badge. I was then sent to the uniform area where I was pointed into a change room and a bunch of clothes were given to me to try on for size. The lady thought I was a medium so she gave me a long sleeve T, a inner vest, and outer jacket and outside (snowboard) pants. I tried them all on and we made some switches as some of the medium clothing was a little snug. Once we got the sizes down I was given a piece of paper with the order written out and sent to the delivery area where yet another volunteer filled the order. At that stop they provided 2 long sleeve Ts (one plain and one with the Olympic graphic etched in it), a vest , the jacket (which is pretty cool as the Olympic graphic is etched in this item also) and the pants with the Vancouver 2010 logo on them. They also threw in a toque and a welcome gift and packed it all into a large 2010 shopping bag. Once I checked it all out through another station I was on my way with Accreditation and uniform in hand. Elapsed time was 30 minutes.
We then drove up to Pemberton and Larry did a great job as Freddi and I head bobbed all the way. It had been a long day as it was about 8:30 PM when we arrived in Pemberton. The highway changes since our last visit (15 months ago) were significant. Basically it is a 4 lane highway almost the entire way. There were signs of some traffic pattern changes as the road folks prepare for the traffic that will be generated during the games. Some of the two lane N sections were divided into 3 lanes with temporary orange plastic dividers and signs indication that only one of those lanes was open for traffic. I am still a little clueless on how the roads will work but it looks like they will have special lanes for some types of traffic. I guess all of that will evolve over the next few days. At night it made for a bazaar display of orange reflectors and it made it very difficult to tell where one was supposed to go. Larry did a great job navigating through the slalom course through the Whistler area.
Once reunited with the kids at gray and Bree’s house we had dinner even though it was a little late in the day. We had a nice local lamb dinner that was delicious and well prepared by the girls. We sat about chatting for some time and finally crashed somewhere near 11 PM PST. It was a full but great day.

Invitation to Follow.....

Today I am inviting a number of folks to view and follow this blog as we embark on our little adventure. We will be leaving for Vancouver on Thursday morning and this week is dedicated to getting ready. I have finished my recent contract and have the three days ahead to do what has to be done. Freddi, unfortunately, is busy right up until end of day on Wednesday. However, she is organized as she is packed and can pull out of town with a few minutes notice.
Our schedule is pretty straight forward.
Thursday - Jan 28 - Ottawa Vancouver where Bree's Dad (Larry) will be picking us up and driving us to Pemberton after I pick up my credentials and uniform in Vancouver for the Olympic Volunteer activities. We will enjoy a happy reunion with our kids and have a dinner with Larry and the gang.
Starting Jan 29th through to Feb 12 we have a few appointments for training and some free time to enjoy the mountains and do some skiing. Freddi starts work on Feb 4th as she is in Accreditation and there is a fair amount of preparation to be ready for the onslaught starting Feb 12th.
Feb 12 through 28 are the days of the Olympics 2010 and we both have 13 shifts during the 17 days. There will be much excitement during that time and we will learn about the two different venues we are working in.
Mar 3 is the day we journey back home after a nice 5 week visit to the west, participation in a great event and having spent 5 weeks with our kids in their home. I expect by then that they will be happy to see our back end heading east.....
I hope you join me on this trip and enjoy some of the things we are going to experience. Feel free to sign up for updates or ignore this invitation.

Saturday Morning at Lake bernard

I would like to share with you an atypical Saturday morning on Lake Bernard. Atypical as the sun is shining today and there has been some light snow over the last few (more than a few) cloudy dull days. Other than that it is a typical Saturday as there are lots of things to do and an enjoy and appreciate the fact that there is time to do some of those things. The photo I have embedded here is out the upstairs window and shows the lake in the morning sun. It also features the great Olympic style rink that our neighbours have laboured over during the winter. Actually, it has been an effort of a couple of neighbours as there has been a motorized vehicle used for snow removal. The nice thing about the rink is that is being used by many families and provides an opportunity to skate on the lake on a day like today. I am sure there will be many groups out today.
The lake provides a daily study of changes. Every morning I look out over the lake and see something different. In the summer it is loons, water direction, shades of blue, clouds (or not), tree colour and of course the traffic of canoes, kayaks, fishing boats, cruising boats and the plentiful “party boats”. In the winter it is quite different as we see shades of snow, tracks in the snow, folks walking on the ice, snowmobiles and the transient population ice fisherman. Sometime we see groups of deer moving from one island to the next in search of fresh cedar bows to remove all young green growth up to the 7.5 foot mark. We had a group of deer enjoy a smorgasbord on my immediate neighbours property as they enjoyed the freshly planted small cedars that were planetd to separate our properties. They managed to clear the table of anything that was green and then wandered all over our property in search of anything else they could eat. We saw many tracks that day. But I digress.....
The day ahead is fresh and my thoughts are leaning towards getting prepared to travel out west for our adventure. There seems to be an endless number of things to do – plan for clothes for outdoor activities, get the skis ready for travel, finish the set-up of my new computer, tidy up the camera bag for travel, charge the ipod and headphones, remember all the things we said we would take to the kids, collect all my VANOC papers in one place, tidy the shop (unlikely), and generally get organized to shut down the house for 5 weeks. That all sounds so easy and organized but do not underestimate the impact of distractions that make getting most of these things done very difficult. We shall see at the end of the day what has been accomplished.
We are travelling on Thursday to Vancouver where we will spend the afternoon with Tara-Lee (daughter) and Bree (daughter-in-law) moving about Vancouver and visiting with Bree’s folks (Mary and Larry). WE are staying in town as I have my first official task for the Olympic events later that day. I am scheduled to do my Accreditation and Uniform meeting with VANOC where I will receive my badge and uniform and prove that I am me. That is a one hour evening meeting at the Pacific Centre where all of the Vancouver activities will be happening. It will be interesting to see how the city centre has changed in preparation for the Olympic events. After obtaining my goods we will stay the night with May and Larry and the girls and head up to Whistler the following morning. Freddi has her first Training event on the Friday afternoon.
Off to get some of the things done and will be back tomorrow sometime. By the way, I just returned form a half hour diversion to try to fix Freddi’s malfunctioning computer.
Thought of the day: Do not ever under estimate the time consumed by unplanned activities…….

Adding a photo .....

Today I thought I would share a photo that Paul H (my brother-in-law) shared with me. It is a great shot of Vancouver with the rings lite up at night. The spirit is in the air.

The countdown is on a 31 days and Freddi received notice of her last training program. She does her job training, venue training and gets her uniform and accreditation completed all in a two day timeframe. She will be very busy on Jan 29 and 30th. More to come .......

Start 'er up.....

This is my first adventure into the world of blogging. My thought was this blog could be a good place for me to log and share my thoughts and observations about our exciting adventure in February 2010. My wife (Freddi) and I, along with my sister-in-law (Mary Ellen) and brother-in-law (Paul) will be participating in the 2010 Winter Olympics as volunteer resources for the organizing committees.
Our adventure started some 18 moths ago when we all decided that being a volunteer for such a fantastic opportunity would not only be a good idea but a great one as we would be able to share the time with our kids. All 4 of our combined children made a conscious decision over the years to live in the Whistler area and grow up with the outdoor influence as a primary influence in their lives. I will introduce them to you and tell a little about each of them a little later. Back to the subject and reason for this blog......
At different points in time we were interviewed by phone, received correspondence about being accepted, outlining our training, details of our respective jobs and finally our schedules for work during the Olympics and we now find ourselves committed and very excited about this opportunity. The time between now and the start of the Olympics is officially 33 days and if you are interested in any information about these games have a look at www.vancouver2010.com/ as the site is very comprehensive.
Now that I think about it the whole organizing body around the Olympics has been very well organized, detailed and very supportive of the efforts being made by volunteers. It all started with the Volunteers who handle the incoming calls and inquiries and now we are dealing with team leaders, supervisors and coordinating staff in our respective areas of work during the execution of the games.
So what do I plan to do with this blog? I am hoping that I will be able to make entries on a daily basis while we are there to record fun and observations and extraordinary events and share that information with my family members who are not going to be with us and with friends who have expressed an interest in hearing about some of the things we will experience. In addition, I am hoping to spend some time taking photographs around the venues and during the events to capture the moments that have caught my eye in the incredibly beautiful part of the earth. In all of our travels we have spent some time taking photos that are of interest to us and have, at some times, been in a position to share those photos with those who were interested. I hope to use this forum to do just that but I will have to learn how to do that part as I am learning how to blog and post as we go along here today.
Those interested may subscribe to the blog to get automatic updates but at this moment how that is done is a mystery to me. As I learn about that I will drop a note and coach you on that task. As with any blog you too have an opportunity to drop a note so feel free to do that also.
That's it for my initial blog post but I will be back once I better understand how all of this works.... It seems pretty straight forward but I am sure there are some things I need to better understand before going mainstream.