2002: part 3

anybody still out there? i realize i slacked off on posting for awhile, but that's no reason to stay silent and bitter!

at any rate, the 2002 rewind continues...

Friday and Saturday were the same ol' same ol'. Can you believe it? Less than a week and I'm saying that it is the same ol' thing. I willsay that I finally took advantage of the free massage offered by thelicensed massage therapists on-site. As it happens, I am their on- site contact, so I think a little special treatment is in order! We also have a day spa at the venue, being sponsored by Nu Skin. The rates are phenomenal ($10 haircut, $6 manicure, $12 facial), and all the staff are taking time from their regular jobs, where they make $50 a haircut, to volunteer. It is actually a pretty amazing venue.

We have a cafeteria, for which the staff receives breakfast, lunch,and dinner coupons. We have an office supply store, a dry cleaner's—pretty much everything you could need to never have to leave. That isa little frightening though—maybe that is the point!

This week has largely been spent figuring out what I will be doing come games' time. I'm responsible for scheduling the three Press Conference rooms--the largest of which currently holds about 250 people. However, there will be situations, like one on the 7th,where we will have to open up the airwalls and turn the three rooms into one. We'll be joined by the IOC President then, and the room will hold approximately 900-1000 people then. This, of course, created somewhat of a scheduling nightmare, since we had pressvconferences scheduled in the two smaller rooms, and had to figure outvhow to bump them without creating havoc. All seems to be taken care of though. I am also responsible for coordinating the volunteers, assigning their responsibilities, and making sure they have a clue what they are doing. I coordinate with the audio visual people to make sure everything set, with the caterers to make sure any 'special requests' are met, and with the staff of each of the organizations, weather it be Olympic committees, or sport committees. The difference is that the Olympic Committees are all organized by country (except the IOC) and the sport committees are obviously coordinated by sport. I also have language duties, to make sure the translators have the information they need, that the electronic board is programmed, and that translation headsets are working and distributed properly. And of course, I am also the lucky one that gets to print the 'tent cards' for the dais, to identify who the speakers are. On average, it takes about an hour to prepare for each press conference, and on days like the 7th, when we have 13, you can imagine how long a day that will be.

Initially I was meant to be a floating supervisor, covering the Bullpen area, Main Street, Print and Photgraphy Distribution, but the Interview Rooms have become so consuming (unparallelled in any other Olympic games, apparently)that this will take up 95% of my time. My friend Sara and I are splitting duties and schedules so that hopefully, we will both remain alive throughout the duration of the games. If it is a close call, I'm sure Dr. Mike will do his best to keep us breathing long enough to make it through Closing Ceremonies!

An added bonus from this experience, is the people I am getting to work with. Everybody is not only incredible to work with, but they are so impressive. I've never worked with such a generally high class of people. And, because we are all working so many hours, no one has to feel guilty about taking their 'me' time. Most of our staff have had massages, and yesterday I sat myself on a couch and watched the last twenty minutes of the Jazz game--they beat the Blazers by the way, though not that it really matters.) And, lucky me, I've also met a nice young man (a 25 year old RM) who is making things even more fun than they normally are! In fact, it turns out that he lives just up the street, so we will be carpooling (meaning I don't have to take the bus) on any occasion that will allow it.

I got to speak with Dad last night, and it occurred to him that he will be able to see more of the games than I will. This is absoulutely true, since I will be lucky to see any of them. But, as I told him, I'd much rather be working the Media Center than watching the games on tv! I am absolutely exhausted, and when I start to get a little whiny, my 'grateful' mode kicks in, and I remind myself how lucky I am to be here, and I truly am. It's worth some fatigue to have an experience like this.

We are expecting guests like Desmond Tutu, Dorothy Hammill, Wayne Gretzky, and of course 95% of the Gold Medal winners, so even though I'll miss the events, I will get to interact with the big names.Unfortunately, to be taking pictures or asking for autographs is not going to be appropriate for me, so the journal keeping effort is progressing steadily, in the attempt to keep some of these memories alive for many years to come.