London 2012 Olympics

[nlagalle]

Many of you will remember that I was fortunate enough to work in Beijing for the Olympics (http://www.australianfrequentflyer....rip-photos/beijing-olympics-2008-a-14250.html), then Delhi for the Commonwealth Games. I was lucky enough to get to go to London this year for the 30th Olympics. Anyone who's been even as a spectator will know how much of an experience it is. so rather than flights and F lounges, this TR is about behind the scenes of the biggest event in the world.

As some who know me personally know, I work for a large media organisation, and my main job is technology at major events. I absolutely love what I do as I get travel around (which we all love) and get to see some of the biggest sporting events on the planet.

My planning work took well over 12 months. It included a trip to London in October (where I was caught up in the Qantas grounding) for the press briefing and tours. since then I have been planning our office fit out within the Main Press Centre (MPC). The MPC and IBC (international Broadcast Centre) are buildings where the worlds Press and Broadcast rights holders set up shop for the games. from this Hub the Editorial team deliver pics words and sometimes videos back to Australia for Print and online. Now despite the bagging the media quite often gets (sometimes quite rightly) it is a mammoth task to cover the Games.

My hat goes off to the journalists and especially Photographers, who are often working with less than 4 hours sleep a night and carting over 30kg of gear with them from hotel to venues etc. You run on adrenaline and the buzz of the event keeps you going. It's a hard job but rewarding at the same time.

Our team arrives in waves - 35 all together. Initially myself, my other IT tech and the boss were due to fly out on the 11th July. I managed, thanks to some generosity here that i obtained a spare F lounge pass (for the boss!) so i was set to start the trip in style! A last minute change saw a journalist and photographer join us. A scramble at work saw me pick up a second pass (it's costing me a guesting to a F lounge run!). so I thought i'd ask nicely on the day and try my luck.

QF9 MEL-LHR 11th July

So not wanting to waste time I checked in early to QF9 with Alex (IT guy #2). I asked the F check in desk about and extra desk, told her about the Olympics and she made a quick call to the lounge. I was greeted with a not a problem Mr. Nlagalle the names are on the door.

She gave us express passes and we waited for the photographer to check in his gear - all 50kg of it. Qantas give us excess baggage waivers for work travel, although as a WP 96kg was more than what they gave work (50kg is still pretty good though). Immigration is a breeze on Olympic travel, you just show them your accreditation and you are sped through (at both ends). So 3 of us were safely in the F lounge with hours to spare. i was warmly welcomed and my extra guest was welcomed through too. So first thanks to QF for that!

I think one i love about the F Lounge is treating someone to it, especially someone who doesn't fly alot. The guys certainly appreciated the lounge, constantly thanking me for organsing it. I told them the S&P squid was a must, which we all had. our Olympics boss and the journo joined us soon after so it was great to have all our team in the lounge. all but one had 3 courses. I managed to down about 7 glasses of the Tattinger and I am sure I was well and truely boozed up before the flight. 50A was my seat and we settled in. The couple sitting next to me were OWE from what I gathered. We were all greeted by the CSM who offered us NC headphones but we all declined as we had our own. He said anything we needed to let him know. the rest of the team was scattered around the main desk (no J travel for us!). Unfortunately that part of the flight is a bit of a blur, no thanks to the bubbles, but before i knew it we had landed in SIN..

I do remember taking this though as I watched the sun go down whilst we were over WA somewhere!




Part 2 coming...

 

[nlagalle]

So we arrived at SIN and made the dash to the J lounge as the Olympics boss is QF gold and had a spare pass. no time for a shower etc though so we sat around having a drink, or in the case of some, clearing out the food like a hoover!

Alex was sitting way down the back so i went the desk and asked if he could shift closer.. 50B was free, so given that he is short enough to hide in the overhead locker he was pretty happy with the move! We headed off to board, and sitting in 50B when we got there was someone else.. We said the girl that she must be in the wrong seat, so she moved in to 50C. she was looking around everywhere, and eventually she vanished to down the back of the plane. As we were waiting to depart another woman came up and asked if the seat was free and we said it wasn't as we were told someone was seat there. i said to Alex that as soon as they shut the doors, move to 50C. so he did and we ended up and milko, my WP shadow in the middle seat.

Our flight to LHR was pretty uneventful again and we landed at LHR at about 5.10 in the morning, about 20 mins early. Was weird waking up at 4am with bright sunshine! after we waited for the group to assemble we headed to immigration and the Olympic lane, which turns out didn't have someone on it! so we had to wait around 20mins til they did. anyway we got through rather quickly, had our accreditation validated (laminated and lanyard) we were off to our Hotel. As we arrived so early the free Heathrow express and transfer wasn't running so we elected to catch the tube as the stop was outside the hotel. now this was going to be a challenge with all our gear! However we made it to the platform!



It was a challenge to get around 13 bags/cases onto the train! but we did it! We arrived at the hotel around 8.30am and as usual couldn't check in so they took our bags and we headed out to the MPC to make sure our crates arrived.

unfortunately the dedicated buses weren't running so we thought we'd try the Javelin to Stratford. All public transport is free for games people and were were given special Oyster cards to use on all transport. So we jumped up to Kings Cross and followed the signs to Olympic Park. turns out it was the tube there and no signs for the Javelin. So after a few more hops we were at Stratford and at Westfield.. Great move by Frank to build a massive shopping centre there! so we made our way into the Olympic Park, which still resembled a construction zone. we found the bus to the MPC and we were there.

After we checked in we started to set up to fight off the usual fatigue of arriving in London! we found the Catering village and found our new favourite meal was the Burrito!

I won't give you the boring details of our setup from that first day, here is a time lapse video of us setting up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnbxN5KigfU

So we had a basic office up and running after the first day. The "friend at Hand" became our friend as we found the food to be very good. Surprisingly we lasted til about 9pm before heading off to bed.

 

[nlagalle]

Here are some pics of our first day in the "park"


"Stratford Gate" as you walk in


The Stadium from the Circuit bus


The Satellite farm behind the IBC being constructed. This is where all the feeds go to out around the globe.

 

[mella2007]

Great report so far! I left London a week before it all started

 

[nlagalle]

OK I won't bore you with too much of our setup which occupied the next 2 weeks. However our we did manage to find the javelin on the first day on the way home so we were set to use that as our mode of transport. From Russell Square to the MPC it would take anywhere from 30mins on a good run or 50 on a bad run. This included the security screening after getting off the train. Our arrival certainly had some interesting stories. O2 went into meltdown the day we arrived and we had in and out phone reception and loss of data. There was the security personnel issue with G4S and the M4 (I think) overpass potentially not being open in time for the athletes arriving.

During this time the team started to expand as more people arrived from Australia. It became busy as we were setting up people's phones and laptop and getting asked all sorts of questions. but that goes with the territory. You get used to it!

Our accommodation is the Hotel Russell in Bloomsbury. Across the Road at Russell Square is the Media Mall so it's easy for us to access. I still prefer to catch the train though! The Hotel is quite old and has broom closet style lifts as they were obviously installed a century later! An interesting fact though is that the interior was designed by the same person who designed the interior on the Titanic. I'll post some photos later on, but it has a beautiful marble staircase and high ceilings. The rooms are also big for London standards too.

A couple of us also managed to squeeze in a show or two while it was quiet - Jersey Boys and Les Miserable were the choices. Both Fantastic to see on the West End!

Of course with the Games approaching and more people arriving the interest increased and the hours did as well. The office here is manned almost 20 hours a day during the week leading up to the Games. So the social time goes away and people start working longer hours.

One thing that did hit us was the sunshine! Almost a week of it.. Our office is north facing so we copped at the sunlight. Issue here was there were no blinds! ok perhaps LOCOG thought there wouldn't be sunshine? The first trick was to put tinting film on the windows which helped a bit but not enough, so being the improvisors we can be we made our own blinds, out of cardboard!



By Wednesday before the Opening Ceremony the MPC is jam packed as well over 10,000 media personnel are now present. The catering Village adjacent to the MPC is pretty much solidly packed from 12pm to 4pm! Burritos are the popular choice too. Also there is a McDonalds (being a sponsor) which has to be the swankiest one i have ever seen!



And that is real soft leather too! way too good for Media! all that is missing is the linen napkins!

It's a real buzz when you see so many people around for one job, reporting the Olympics. Whilst they are doing that we are out testing our links at venues and ensuring we have what we pay for. I took the swimming and Velodrome to check out first. Both are stunning buildings, great spectator views and you can see they will have atmosphere when full of people.


The Velodrome

Also taking place were the final dress rehearsals before the big show. Our photographers were allowed to photograph it under embargo so they could be used if we couldn't feed the real ones back on the night in time (they would be tagged as dress rehearsal though). I asked them what they thought of it the following days and even they were amazed. Photographers generally do not get "into the vibe" of an event as they need to focus on the task of capturing the image.

On the Wednesday night we were invited to a big Welcome to London coughtail party by the company to celebrate the Games coming to London. Michael Johnson (The British Athlete) gave an amazing speech. One other highlight was looking out the window and seeing a cruise ship cruising up the Thames and through Tower Bridge! Not something you see everyday!

 

[Simo]

I use to work in Media many years ago and remember trying to get a news feed out of Barcelona Olympics about a local person.

Back then we didn't have access to e mail and mobiles where not commonly used so it was ring phone numbers and one of them was a person's hotel and they where at the broadcast centre.

Will keep an eye on this keenly.

 

[amaroo]

Thanks for taking the time to post.

Pretty special to get a different view of the games.

 

[munitalP]

Hurry up and post more nlagalle!

I hope for the sake of the thread continuity it is kept on topic - exciting +!


munitalP

 

[nlagalle]

Friday 27th July

London by now is in full Olympics mode as the Torch was carried into Hyde Park the night before to a massive crowd and a big speech from Boris Johnson the Lord Mayor. Seeing that reminded me of following it around Australia in 2000. It's amazing what the flame does to ignite a crowd's passion.

Unlike Beijing there was no additional screening to be done to get to the Stadium, so getting there would be easy. The park was open to the public now and the place was starting to come alive. The excitement does build up, people are buzzing as its here now

I was given my golden ticket to get in (even accredited media have to have a ticket too!). It's probably the first time I have really felt excitement since I arrived. I will admit that i do get excited by these events even if i don't show it (as there is a job to be done as well), but it is hard not to! This is why I think I have one of the worlds best jobs.



So i jump on the bus to make the journey down. The drop off spot is different and we are actually using the Athletes entry when the Athletics is on. so a little bit different and almost a maze to get in!

Next to the Stadium is "The Orbit" which has a restaurant at the top. It's a bit weird, like a roller coaster ride gone wrong, but it does look pretty cool! Here's shot of it:



I've found myself a seat in the Tribunes which is where the journalists sit and write. basically they have tables and chairs, TV monitors with live feeds and cabled internet access.

This was my view!



You could feel the excitement building in the arena and it was pretty cool to see a full farm scene complete with sheep, cows ducks and horses! The crowd is getting into the vibe and cheering and doing the mexican wave etc. The show is starting at nine, but the pre-show starts at 8:12pm, or 20:12...

Up across the other side it lit up with the time. It was a vey cool lighting system used where there was an LED panel in between each person



The Pre-show began with a flyover by the Red Arrows display team, the UK equivalent of the Roulettes. streaming from the exhaust was red white and blue. The excitement was really building now the opening was less than an hour away. The anticipation was almost at fever pitch, clapping and cheering was going on everywhere!

So onto the Opening Ceremony!

 

[Heleigh]

Great reading nlagalle looking forward to more installments

 

[Princess Fiona]

Fantastic pics and TR, looking forward to reading more

 

[Hvr]

Great reading nlagalle looking forward to more installments

Agree, your view from the ground is fascinating.

 

[cove]

Loved your posts so far nlagalle. Your Golden Ticket at £0 was a beauty seeing ours each had a comma in it. The time lapse was excellent and your cardboard drapes show Aussie ingenuity.

 

[Paddy55]

Really looking forward to your TR for the remainder of the Games!

 

[nlagalle]

Loved your posts so far nlagalle. Your Golden Ticket at £0 was a beauty seeing ours each had a comma in it. The time lapse was excellent and your cardboard drapes show Aussie ingenuity.

It really is a perk of the job! but at the same time there is still work to do there so you can only enjoy it a bit!

 

[Shane B]

Thank you - very enjoyable to read.

 

[jetlagger]

Lovely posts & the photos relate well to your engagements.. Thanks so much for sharing..

 

[Sprucegoose]

Fantastic insights, makes it all very real. Thnxs nlagalle!!

 

[nlagalle]

The Ceremony!

After getting the crowd revved up there was only minutes to go. The announcements in French and English were counting down the minutes. You could feel the excitement in the crowd now and even though you are there for work it's hard not to get caught up and excited yourself. I was certainly very excited! Not many get to see an Opening Ceremony live, I was lucky enough to be seeing my second one.

Out on the arena was a farm scene, complete with farm animals and people tending to crops, children playing games. Typical of England in the 1800's. quite weird seeing it in the middle of the stadium.. a few minutes before 9pm the animals were herded out.

The London Symphony Orchestra plays Nimrod as the stadium turns into a sea with blue fabric passed over the crowd. The music is very moving

The countdown begins. From our spot we can see it displayed on the seats on the other side with the LED Lighting. The crowd are counting down with it.. Bradley Wiggins appears on stage to sound the Olympic bell, the largest harmonically tuned bell in the world. we have running sheets explaining most parts (some are not listed to "keep the surprise") and reading up the bell was made a few miles from Olympic park by the same company that made the Libery Bell and Big Ben.

Children'c choirs sing traditional songs from Scoutland, Wales, Ireland and England. A person performing as Kenneth Branagh, quoting from Shakespeare stands on a hill at the other end of the arena.

The speech is interrupted by by the ground ripping open, signifying the start of the industrial revolution. It's an amazing scene as while the speech is happening, hundreds of actors on the set are removing the farms scenes (off camera). The sound of drums from all around the stadium reverberates through you at on the opposite end Electronic Duo underworld are performing on drums with the specially written piece.

During this time the stage changes and buildings are erected, a smelter foundry appears and we are taken through the ages including WWI, trade unionism. It's an incredible scene watching this and the music is superb.



The performance goes for about 15 minutes. climaxing with the with the 5 Olympic rings being forged from the "smelter" on stage and raised into the air.



I am blown away by this stage as is many of the people around me, we are all thinking, wow what an incredible start!

The stage is cleared and the audience attention is directed to the big screen for a mini movie called "Happy and Glorious". In our running books it says the details will only be revealed on the night.. So we see a taxi pull into Buckingham Palace and Daniel Craig get out, all dressed up. he heads in past the Corgis where he is greeted. Into a study room he is introduced as Mr. Bond to the "Queen" who has her back to the camera. At this point we are all thinking the there is no way it would be the queen but a convincing double. However we were all proved wrong when she turned around to reveal Queen Elizabeth herself! A massive roar erupted from the crowd and rightly so. What a coup! If there is one thing to remember from these games it will be the Queen as a "Bond Girl". Brilliant work indeed! so they both Parachute into the park and the Queen appears and takes her seat.

I have to say I am totally impressed! I never expected something like that. The LED's change and the colours of the Union Jack are bathed in the Stadium.



For those that want to see it again, here is a clip: http://youtu.be/xW5abat5NEU

 

[Flashback]

Great TR, look forward to hearing about the rest.