2010 Vancouver Olympic & Paralympic Super-Thread

[phesto]

I snapped a shot of the Rings as they were being towed over to Coal Harbour. They are very bright! Looks good



(sorry for the crappy shot - only had a few seconds to grab the camera and get the shot before it left my view)

[SpongeG]

lots of international perspective on the 100 day countdown...

USA Today
Crafty Canadians allegedly ensuring home-ice advantage

New York Times
Economic Boost Seen From 2010 Games Preparations

Xinhua
Canada celebrates 100-day countdown to 2010 Winter Olympics
Olympic Village of Vancouver Winter Games handed over

140 articles at google news...

[Yume-sama]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

lots of international perspective on the 100 day countdown...

USA Today
Crafty Canadians allegedly ensuring home-ice advantage

It seems someone was wise enough to figure out it's easiest to "Own the Podium" when nobody else is allowed to compete.

[Delirium]

thought this was interesting-

BOULEVARD
Artist: Adrian Gollner and Pierre Poussin
Where to find it: Cambie Street and in Yaletown (installed Dec. 15)

This light installation has three elements: Fireworks, on Cambie Street, will serve as a "boulevard of entrance" for people coming into town, says Adrian Gollner. Rain Barrel will create a path of blue light between Vancouver's two live event sites. And, concerned that the Olympic flame will only burn inside BC Place for paying customers, the artists decided to create Flame, in Yaletown. "We thought one of the things we could do at least was give away some flame for free," says Gollner.

http://www.ctvolympics.ca/news-centre/newsid=19367.html#take+outside+vancouvers+push

[Yume-sama]

5. BLUE

Artist: Project Rainbow
Where to find it: Video Screen at Robson and Granville and installations at Strathcona Community Centre, Centre A, Chinese Cultural Centre and Solder and Sons bookstore

The Canadian women's ski-jumping team won't be competing at the Games, but their talents will be on display on one of the city's busiest corners, with a looped slow-motion film of a competition last February. The title refers to an in-between space - the sky, where these women operate; or a state of limbo, as an athlete waits to find out whether she can compete alongside the men in her sport.

Oh my

[Delirium]

from panasonic canada;

Adding to the excitement, Panasonic's Full HD 3D Plasma Home Theatre System will be on display for the world to see at the David Lam Park live site for the full 17 days. Another global first, visitors will experience high-quality, true-to-life 3D images created by distributing Full HD visuals to both the left and right eye.

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/November2009/19/c2763.html

[SpongeG]

sounds cool

[SpongeG]

CATCHING THAT OLYMPIC FEVER

For those looking to see Olympic memorabilia or purchase gear, there's a new business to check out in a couple weeks.

USouvenirs.com is opening its store/museum to the public on Tuesday, Dec. 1 at Birch Bay Square, near Custer. The front part of the business will be a 2,400-square-foot retail store, selling vintage and current Olympic products, including flags, apparel, coffee mugs, stuffed animal toys and pins. The back portion of the building will be a museum, showing off items from past games.

Store manager Cindy Berg said they plan to be open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day from December until the end of February, after the conclusion of the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

While they will be selling products, Berg said the key to her is the museum.

"I think it will be valuable for kids to see the history of the Olympics," said Berg, who said they are planning to organize group tours with school classes and children's organizations.

For more about the business, visit USouvenirs.com.

from http://www.bellinghamherald.com/602/story/1163547.html

[jlousa]

Seems interesting, not a big deal but might workout as intended.

Two Vancouver business improvement associations hope to cash in on the momentum created by the 2010 Winter Olympics by encouraging curious pedestrians to follow their feet.

This week the first of more than 450 large decals of 80 flags from participating Olympic countries are being laid on city sidewalks between the south Granville area and Yaletown. From 16th Avenue, across the Granville Bridge and on to the Terry Fox Gate in front of BC Place, the sidewalks will become a flag walk, a way-finding tool for the thousands of spectators and visitors coming to Vancouver between now and next spring.

"We're hoping people get curious and decide to follow the flags," said Sharon Townsend, the executive director of the South Granville Business Improvement Area. "We wanted to find a way to take advantage of the Olympics, but we were constrained by rules set down by Vanoc [the Vancouver Organizing Committee]."

The concept, a $250,000-program mounted by the Yaletown and south Granville business groups, is one of the more novel marketing ideas to arise out of the Olympics. With Vanoc jealously guarding its brand and the Olympic marks, businesses that have tried to leverage the Olympic momentum have done so at their peril.

Bill Green, the corporate chef for Cookworks and a member of the South Granville BIA, said the membership was careful to map out the idea so that it didn't cross into that all-too-dangerous area of ambush marketing.

"You have to be very careful with [Vanoc], which is very protective of its brand," he said. "We needed to do this because we all want people to have the best experience and realize there are places for them to go."

But if the businesses worried that Vanoc's brand police would come calling, they can rest easy.

"Any time a business district or area is spearheading something like this is fantastic because it is not directly associated with one business. It is a fantastic approach from a commercial rights perspective," said Bill Cooper, Vanoc's director of commercial rights management.

As long as the associations don't use Olympic trademarks they're on safe ground, he said.

Townsend said the south Granville area, hit hard by the recession and high rents, is hoping the biggest boost comes in the months before the Olympics. The project includes the decals, giveaway flag buttons, a prize contest of a trip around the world and a dedicated website.

The business groups used the roster of 79 participating countries from the 2006 Turin Games as a template. To avoid concern about the propriety of people walking on a national symbol the groups printed the flags in a circular format and are laying them to one side of the main walkways. They will add more flags once the athlete selection process is complete.

Diane Thomson, the owner of Diane's Lingerie, isn't sure how much business she will get from the promotion.

"The flag walk isn't going to mean people are all going to come to Diane's to buy bras," she said. "But it will bring people to this business district and that's what counts."

Source
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Fla...th+Granville+Yaletown/2244273/story.html

[Yume-sama]

It cost them $250,000 to buy 80 stickers?

... How do I get in that business

[GeeCee]

Originally Posted by Yume-sama

It cost them $250,000 to buy 80 stickers?

... How do I get in that business

450 decals from 80 different countries, plus installation, plus permits and other misc red tape courtesy of city hall..

[Locked In]

Vanoc converting 2010 venues

By Jeff Lee, Vancouver Sun - November 27, 2009


Speedskater Cindy Klassen takes part in team trials for the 2009 World Cup at the Olympic Oval in Richmond, B.C. Tuesday. Klassen is on the comeback trail after knee surgery.
Photograph by: Andy Clark, Reuters, The Ottawa Citizen; Canwest News Service

In another signal that the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics are just around the corner, the new Richmond oval will close to the public Tuesday to allow for Games-time conversion.

The closure of the $178-million facility is the latest in a phased shutdown of venues in Vancouver, Whistler and Cypress Bowl to allow the Vancouver Organizing Committee to undertake a complex conversion.

At the oval, workers will string lights, install cabling to support large scoreboards, erect extra seating and install temporary washrooms to handle the sellout crowds expected for the 17 days of speed skating competitions.

It comes on the same day Vanoc will begin to gussy up the mountain venues with its so-called “look of the Games,” hanging banners and other colour-schemed material. It will start employing the “look” in the city starting Jan. 1.

But already there are visible signs in Vancouver and elsewhere that the Games are close. At the Vancouver Convention Centre, temporary security screening and accreditation tents have been erected to process many of the 10,000 journalists expected to attend the Games.

Portions of Cypress Mountain, the site of snowboarding and freestyle skiing, and all of Whistler Olympic Park, the site of ski jumping, cross-country and biathlon, have come under Vanoc’s control for overlay purposes.

In Whistler, Vanoc has also erected a number of temporary structures, including a massive dining hall for athletes, warming huts and media facilities. During the summer it had installed temporary servicing and concrete pads for stands and other equipment at all of the outdoor venues.

Overall, Vanoc will spend $200 million on Olympic imagery and conversion to Games-time use. Of that, about $135 million will go for overlay.

Ted Townsend, a spokesman for Richmond, said the city will mark the looming closure of the oval with a public skate on Sunday. The oval has operated since last December, offering public skating sessions and a variety of fitness programs. All of those will be suspended until April 1, when Vanoc will return the oval to Richmond’s control. Some staff, notably icemakers, will remain at the venue but others, including administration, will move out to allow Vanoc to take over complete control.

The only venues not yet directly under Vanoc’s control are Vancouver’s three civic ice arenas, which will shut down in mid-January, and GM Place. Even the athletes’ villages in Whistler and Vancouver have been turned over for conversion, and Vanoc already has use of the Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic Centre, the curling facility at Hillcrest.

At Cypress Mountain, an unexpectedly early snowfall may help dampen the financial impact the company faces for the five weeks the mountain is closed to public skiing. Cypress has been open for daytime public skiing since Nov. 13, nearly a month earlier than usual, said Kent Rideout, a Cypress spokesman.

“We’re trying to keep our business as normal as possible,” Rideout said. “We opened nearly a month early and we have a base of 180 cm. It’s making all the skiers and riders exceptionally happy. That’s good for us.”

Vanoc has taken control of two parking lots and the new freestyle skiing venue, which was never open to the public. It will take over total control of Cypress on Feb. 1.

Two weeks ago, Vanoc chief executive John Furlong gave reporters an idea of the size and scope of the overlay program, noting that the spectator stands at Cypress were 14 storeys tall.

“They’re certainly impressive to see,” said Rideout.

Vanoc is also doing overlay work at Whistler Blackcomb’s Creekside facility, the site of the downhill events. Blackcomb says the first run closures will take place on Jan. 25, with Vanoc taking over lifts on Feb. 1.

Vancouver’s busy community arenas at Trout Lake, Killarney and Britannia Community Centres will close mid-January. But because they are all designated practice facilities for figure skating, short track speed skating and ice hockey, they won’t need major amounts of overlay. Most of the work will entail security and perimeter fencing.

[email protected]

Read Jeff Lee’s blog at www.vancouversun.com/insidetheolympics
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Source: Vancouver Sun

[jlousa]

Good on Richmond,

Richmond announces fruity Olympic plan

12/2/2009

The City of Richmond will float 13-million cranberries on the Fraser River in the shape of the Canadian Olympic Committee's logo next February.

The tribute to the Games will be 62 meters long and will sit just offshore from the Richmond Olympic Oval.

It's part of a program to showcase local industries around Richmond during the games.

Another project is a seven storey inukshuk constructed entirely of shipping containers.

[wrenegade]

^That's awesome. Now they just have to get their act together for Holland House (obviously the province and the feds do as well).

[Delirium]

if your into boats....

Russian tall ship Kruzenshtern to visit Vancouver during Olympics
BY JEFF LEE, VANCOUVER SUN



VANCOUVER — The Russian tall ship Kruzenshtern will visit Vancouver during the 2010 Winter Olympics. And if all goes according to plan, it will offer half-day cruises to the public for the duration of the Games.

On Tuesday the four-masted barque, the second-largest of its kind in the world, weighed anchor from its home port of Kaliningrad and headed for Vancouver carrying the flag of the Sochi 2014 Winter Games organizing committee.

The ship, with 120 cadets aboard, is scheduled to arrive at North Vancouver's Burrard Drydock on Feb. 10, according to Rocky Rocksborough-Smith of Triton Marine, the ship's B.C. agent.

The ship will be open to public tours two or three days a week, said Roxborough, who is also hoping to obtain a temporary coastal trading license "to allow it to take the public for short cruises" into Howe Sound for a small fee.

The use of the ship as a backdrop for the 2014 Olympics is part of an ambitious campaign by Sochi’s organizers to promote the next Winter Olympics after Vancouver. The Russians recently leased Science World at the head of False Creek as their hospitality centre, and they have made several high-profile visits to Vancouver in recent months.

"There's no reason for a Russian tall ship to be here in February except for the Olympics, and I can guarantee you it's 100 per cent here for the Sochi delegation," Rocksborough-Smith said.

The ship will also act as a hospitality centre for Russian business and sports delegations, he said. "I've been told (Russian premier Vladimir) Putin will be here."

The barque, built in Germany in 1926 and given to the Soviet Union in 1946 as part of war reparations, now belongs to the Baltic State Academy. Its visit to Vancouver is part of a six-month training expedition. In an interview with Russian newswire RIA Novosti, Tatyana Babushkina, a ship’s representative in Russia said the vessel will visit Belgium, Spain, Peru, Venezuela, Panama and other countries.

At 51.3 metres tall, the Kruzenshtern is one of the the tallest sailing ships in the world and its height will force sailors to bring it into Vancouver's inner harbour at low tide. It will clear its masts under the Lions Gate Bridge by less than 10 metres.

"There's no excess amount of room here," Rocksborough-Smith said. "If they pick the wrong tide, the pilot will be picking up the pieces."

[Delirium]

here's a rendering of what the new LED lighting will look like along hamilton/cambie streets.
this is by artist Adrian Göllner / Pierre Poussin and is permanent.

http://www.adriangollner.ca/upcoming.html

"The intention is to brighten the nights, add to the excitement of the games and make the City visually remarkable.
Mounted to lampposts and utilizing the latest LED technology, the street lighting schemes will not only be beautiful,
but also provide a sense of direction and place for visitors."

[Hed Kandi]

Awesome! Are you positive these light installations are going to remain post Olympics?

[SpongeG]

neat

[Delirium]

Originally Posted by Hed Kandi

Awesome! Are you positive these light installations are going to remain post Olympics?

As part of the legacy component of its Olympic and Paralympic Public Art Program, the City of Vancouver has commissioned a collection of light-based artworks and sculptural installations to animate 2010 Winter Games venues and signature locations around the city. All of the works are permanent installations with the exception of the Central Library project, which will be mounted for one year.

New permanent public art projects include:
Vancouver City Hall
Georgia Street Entrance to Stanley Park
Under the Cambie Street Bridge at West Second Avenue
Cambie/Hamilton Street Corridor
Vancouver Central Library – North Plaza
Southeast False Creek Olympic Plaza

http://olympichostcity.vancouver.ca/city.../publicartprogram/major-venues-sites.htm

[Hed Kandi]

Originally Posted by Delirium

As part of the legacy component of its Olympic and Paralympic Public Art Program, the City of Vancouver has commissioned a collection of light-based artworks and sculptural installations to animate 2010 Winter Games venues and signature locations around the city. All of the works are permanent installations with the exception of the Central Library project, which will be mounted for one year.

New permanent public art projects include:
Vancouver City Hall
Georgia Street Entrance to Stanley Park
Under the Cambie Street Bridge at West Second Avenue
Cambie/Hamilton Street Corridor
Vancouver Central Library – North Plaza
Southeast False Creek Olympic Plaza

http://olympichostcity.vancouver.ca/city.../publicartprogram/major-venues-sites.htm

Great to hear. Thanks!