A thank you at Dorney Lake

With the dust well and truly settled on London 2012, mainly helped by the constant downpours and flooding in my home town, it was nice to be invited to Eton Dorney (home of the "Dorney roar") for a thank you event from Bucks CC.

The awful weather didn't damper the spirits of 30 odd games makers from the county, who all enjoyed some drinks and finger food.

We were joined by lots of distinguished guests including the High Sheriff of Bucks.

The evening lasted a few hours and allowed for another catch up and reminisce - and a brief chat from the council about the legacy plans.

Bucks TV!

Some of you won't be surprised to hear that I was interviewed at the parade last week... but rather funnily it was for BucksTV not BBC London News which we'd been warned about!

Hence the rather nervy interview I gave:
http://www.buckstv.co.uk/buckstv/index.html

Being interviewed



At the parade in Marlow

A fabulous finale...

Saturday was the final curtain call on what's been a fabulous few weeks.. Wycombe District Council arranged a superb gathering of over 60 games makers, a few ceremony dancers and most importantly our local sporting heroes from both the Olympics and Paralympics.

After finally finding Shelley Theatre, I joined the party slightly on the late side! We formed a guard of honour in anticipation of the bus parade at the start of the park entrance. The bus was inevitably late as quite rightly everyone milked the occasion.

The bus was full of amazing people... Katherine Grainger the star of Eton Dorney (finally getting her gold after 3 silvers), Ed McKeever the 200m sprint canoe gold medallist, rower Greg Searle (bronze after a loooooong break from rowing since the golds he won when Redgrave was at his peak) and many others.

The town was out in force which was great to see.

We then formed another guard of honour to start the reception. There were many talks from distinguished guests and one by one the athletes were celebrated with gifts. Once they were all given out it was our turn. A nice gesture from WDC to give us all a certificate of thanks.... need more frames!!

We all enjoyed a toast of champagne and then mingled with the stars. Katherine was a star. Signed my accreditation and joked about her long wait for gold and posed for a photo. Likewise with Ed who said he had celebrated too hard lately especially after getting married too recently. Time for some training then Ed!!

Katherine Grainger

And then that was that... time to go home and take off the legendary purple top. Perhaps for the last time!

2012 has been remarkable.... and it was not over! My team Spurs went and beat Man U at Old Trafford (MIRACLE!!!) and then the European Ryder Cup team stuffed USA in their back yard. Incredible weekend!

Long may 2012 live on!

Ed McKeever

Marlow 2012 parade

Looking forward to Saturday when the local Olympic atheletes are paraded around Marlow to celebrate their achievements.

I received a Tweet from Suzie Clarke (ex Wycombe Wanderers/Wasps) who was trying to get in contact with all the Bucks games makers.

A quick call into Wycombe District Council and I was invited to attend a reception ahead of the parade (in uniform).

Can't wait... details are still vague but will be a great way for us all to celebrate :)

Volunteering: the gift that keeps on giving

It's been over 10 days since London 2012 finished, but the gifts keep arriving. Yesterday a lovely thank you certificate arrived from GM sponsors McDonald's signed by Lord Coe and Sir Philip Craven.

So many keepsakes, so many memories. What to do with them all?? Luckily the art shop next door is offering 50% off frames... I have purchased a couple!

Inspired to do more...

Fresh from my GM experience, it's time to focus on my last marketing assignment but as per usual, I'm looking for my next challenge...

It came in an email from my Uncle. A 100 miles cycle in August 2013 along the Olympic route and through London... part of the games legacy.

I am not new to endurance challenges having completed London marathon in 2010 and Rome in 2011, but I've gone quiet/lazy and soft recently! But I've never been a cyclist..

My application is in. Expecting this to be a really popular event, but fingers crossed I get the opportunity. Hoping that my girlfriend and friends will also join us so that we can create our own Tour De France Peleton!

Fancy it?? Get involved...

Letter from the PM!

As the email promotions continue to fill my inbox (thank you very much London 2012 for allowing me to see England v San Marino next month for £20.12!), I then receive a rather odd looking letter.

As my housemate quite rightly pointed out, it looked like my job title was "The Prime Minister"...
I hastily opened it having absolutely no clue why I would be receiving such a letter. Surely I hadn't been bad?!

To my astonishment it was a letter from 10 Downing Street and a Mr Cameron thanking me personally (ha) for my efforts as a games maker. Really nice touch. It's not often such an esteemed person sends you something... another item to frame (I have so many things I'm going to need to buy a house very soon will lots of wall space).

This has followed an equally nice email from Lord Coe and a GM supplement in The Times.

Only question left to answer is do I take up McDonald's offer of making my volunteering into a McDs qualification?!

Oh... and how do I get to Rio?????

And the winner is.....

Without doubt, the greatest sporting year in history, easily surpassing the winning feeling of 1966 no doubt (although I'd have loved to have witnessed that for sure).

As the dust begins to settle after an epic parade, Andy Murray goes and wins the US Open in the early hours of this morning, fresh from his Olympic gold and silver medals... clear to see that London 2012 has kicked him on another level.

Absolutely no point in having Sports Personality of the Year... how do you pick from Andy Murray, Mo Farrar, Jess Ennis, Bradley Wiggins, David Weir, Rory McIlroy, Sarah Storey, Chris Hoy, Victoria Pendelton.... ahhh the list goes on!!

If 2012 hasn't put a permanent smile on your face and inspired your generation, clearly there is no hope for you!! Leave now..

The Weirwolf!

It's taken until the last day of competition, but I've finally spoken to the great man himself fresh from his 4th gold medal win in the marathon. Top man!

My words "I salute you Mr Weir".... AHHHHH!!! So stupid...

I froze unfortunately, so no photo opportunity, but I did take one from behind as he sped off into the distance ahead of his important closing ceremony duties! ha.... silly Pezza

Day 9: Is it really all over??

Still pumped from the closing ceremony, I made my way to Stratford one last time...

The station was a ghost town, really eerie after a month of hustle and bustle. Even the athletes village was a shadow of it's former glory... the US team had left at 4am and most of South America were in the skies making their way home.

It was time to pack away the IPC memorabilia. Finally I had a chance to hold Beijing and Sydney medals that I had been admiring for weeks... we were also joined by two double gold medallists from the Irish team as they completed their last blogs for Samsung. Both extremely down to earth and shared their accounts with me about winning.

Two Irish double gold winners

I was fortunate to have seen Jason Smyth's gold on Friday evening and I replayed my anthem video of him to him, which he appreciated.


And then that was it... time to leave it all behind and return to work. Said my goodbyes to the IPC team and begrudgingly checked out. Shame to have missed the parade, but hardly able to complain with what I had been allowed to witness.

As my mum said... getting back to reality will be rather tricky!!

Day 8: Closing ceremony

Would you believe it... the IPC have delivered again!

Whilst in the Olympic Park Saturday, having just witnessed the Athletics with Verity, I received a text from Alex (fellow games maker) who was in possession of my closing ceremony ticket...

Promptly I organised collection of this (and in return got Alex into the basketball arena for his final day) and awaited the following evenings spectacle. But not before treating Vez to her birthday treats.

Sunday's shift was extremely quiet as athletes brought back their Samsung blogger phones - the IPC info area was also void of material after the weekends clear out. So that was it.. the Paralympic events were all over. Gutted.

Jennifer (another GM) and I made our way to the stadium to the purple area. Purple even allowed us to be front row... ridiculous!! Few issues occurred attempting to get our picnic.. didn't look like we had missed out on much.

In the stadium one last time

Then it began... a Coldplay concert. Not my most favourite band in the world, but certainly they have some tunes. Great songs mixed in with some rubbishy slow ones, then the surprise. On came Rihanna and Jay-Z to take it in turns to duet.. much better!

The ceremony was clearly just a massive celebration of all that was good about 2012. Lord Coe and Sir Philip Craven gave excellent speeches thanking the games makers at all opportunities. Felt really proud and honoured to have been a part of it all. Well worth the commuting and late nights.

It all ended with a massive firework display of epic proportions. Mixed emotions. Delighted we had put on such an amazing show, but gutted it was all over. Getting back into reality was clearly going to be a struggle.

1 final shift in the morning... better make it count

Murder ball aka Wheelchair Rugby!

As shift number 7 drew to a close.. as I had done on other occasions this week, I decided to hit my favourite venue the basketball arena.

But this time there was no basketball on, but the start of the murder ball competition. Having absolutely no clue about the sport, I watched on in anticipation of how it got its nickname.

It didn't disappoint as Japan played France in the opener. France were clearly a one man team (Riadh Sallem was his name) and he was targeted at every opportunity as Japanese players rammed him head on! This resulted in the poor France guy (who was not a small bloke or a lightweight) land on the floor a massive 13 times in 4 quarters!!

It was hilarious and even the American commentator couldn't help but laugh. But every time he got back up (with the help of his colleagues on the side line) to carry on and be their best player.

Japan won easily in the end, but an enthralling spectacle. Worth the late night!

Day 7: meeting another gold medallist

My position in the village has obviously made me privy to the world's finest Paralympians. They are all absolute stars, very accessible, chatty and willing to give up their time.

I was again positioned in the athletes dinning hall, again on a mission to raise the voting %.

Spoke to all sorts of people during my shift, including the "darling of the games" to date, Djibouti's only athlete, Houssein Omar Hassan. See story below...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/paralympic-sport/9515200/Paralympics-2012-Houssein-Omar-Hassan-wins-over-hearts-and-minds-with-his-brave-if-slow-1500m-performance.html

The funniest part of our conversation was my attempt to speak in French. I got him to the voting station but failed to realise he'd voted before.... damn I wish I'd listened more at school!!

My main highlight of the day was to meet USA's gold medallist Megan Fisher. Earlier in the day, she'd won cycling gold at Brands Hatch in the C4 time trial. She'd also won track silver earlier in the week in the individual pursuit.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-09-05/sports/chi-paralympic-gold-for-hinsdale-cyclist-fisher-20120905_1_paralympic-gold-and-bronze-third-gold

We chatted for ages... and she even posed for photos allowing me to see the gold medal.

By the end of the day we'd got the voting % over 44... and my manager was disappointed that I was not working again until the final Sunday.

I gather final % score was 48. Down on the 80% in Beijing, but well over 2000 athletes had gone through the process.

And as the night drew to a close... I got a picture of Ellie Simmonds! Also saw Aled Davies the gold medallist for GB in the discus.

Day 6: a change of role..

So last night Betttina (one of the IPC staff) witnessed me chatting openly with some athletes. She felt I was more outgoing than some of the other GM team members so switched me to the IPC voting area (at the back of the athletes dinning hall).

I had one aim: to get more AA athletes to vote in the Athletes Council Elections (currently we only had 28%)

Really fun job as it allowed me access to everyone. My pigeon French and Spanish actually game in use on many occasions. Struggled a lot with Russian and Chinese speakers!!

I worked in tandem with Alex (another GM) as we both held up boards in various different languages (French, Spanish, Russian and English) to draw attention. It worked and we had a successful shift.

Pretty sure by the end of the day we had 33% and I had caught my first glimpse of Ellie Simmonds...

Day 5: Pin badge craze

The IPC info area continues to be my home and I am loving every minute of this...

One of the funniest elements of my role to date is handing out IPC pin badges to athletes/coaches and games makers on the blag!

There is a massive craze within the village and for the games itself to collect memorabilia. This comes in the form of cute little pin badges that get attached to people's accreditation and the games makers bags.

My Olympic GM friend Ben warned me about this madness and he wasn't wrong.... people have 100s!!! There are even people setting up miniature shops around the venues swapping pin badges. This is clearly a tradition that dates back to previous Games as I can see some from Beijing and Athens in the IPC cabinet.

So as I hand out IPC badges, most often they get returned by a nations badge. I display it for the day, then hide them all at home to start again. Too many athletes want to swap my most prized possessions so best to go to work with none on to save any disappointment!

I will continue to grow my collection, but not using some of the blunt tactics that other GMs are using... tut tut to you all.

Shift finished at 8:30pm... no point in heading home, so headed to the Basketball arena for some wheelchair basketball fun. The GMs were dancing away at every single break song... hilarious.

Day 4: happy to work again..

The only thing worth doing after a 6-3 defeat at football is to offer to work again in Stratford... really didn't fancy sitting around doing nothing when I can be in amongst it.



View from the village



Day 3: I see gold...

The sporting competitions come thick and fast now and we've decided to ditch the history DVDs in the info area for live screening of the events. The TVs have live feeds from 15 different cameras including ones on the London Eye, the flame in the stadium and from the Orbit.

Certainly helping to draw in the crowds. Spoke to a Team GB 7 a side footballer with Cerebral Palsy on his right side. He talked me through the different classifications (how severe CP was for each player). Was an amazing insight as we talked for half an hour watching Russia smash Holland 9-1 or so.

My position seemed to draw in a lot of weightlifters and I joked a lot with the athletes about how many of me they could lift. A sweet Philippine lady said I was a warm up weight (75kgs!!). I handed her an IPC badge and she hastily apologised for not being able to give me the Philippine badges in return... I really didn't mind, but she took my name and promised to return at the weekend to hand me them...

Amazing she would return 3 days later looking for me handing over 3 different badges and key rings. What a star Adeline Dumapong is!

http://dumapong.com/

As I was about to close the IPC area, in came Jón Margeir Sverrisson the Icelandic 200m swimmer who has just won gold in the pool... he posed for a picture with the Paralympic torch then allowed me to hold the medal and get a picture with him. He was Iceland's only gold medallist of London 2012 in either the Olympics or the Paralympics...

I joked with his coach that he would be a superstar back home... bigger than Bjork!

http://www.iceland.is/iceland-abroad/uk/news-and-events/icelandic-swimmer-wins-gold-at-the-paralympic-games/9247/

Fame at last!

Clearly a half day at work, a shift at the athletes village and numerous photos and videos will take it's toll on an iPhone 4S' battery. It died towards the end of the ceremony...

It wasn't until I got back to my car in Ealing Broadway and begun to recharge it that my phone started going berserk!

Texts, voicemails, Facebook updates and Whatsapp messages galore as people had spotted me on the Channel 4 coverage (including my mum!!).

During the Issac Newton apple scene, a bright light from across the other side of the stadium shone bright upon our section. Little did I know that we were being filmed for the mass apple eating part of the ceremony!



Great spot!

We had rehearsed a 5 second countdown then a fake bite of an apple.... but I had given my apple to Alex (who had eaten it leaving me with an orange!). I faked eating an orange and been spotted doing so on TV in a delayed reaction to everyone else!! Hilarious!!

Spotters badges need to be given to all my friends and family who saw the 2 second glimpse! Acting lessons for me...

Day 2: Fancy the opening ceremony??

You know it's going to be a great day when you arrive at your shift to a gift! The IPC managed to source tickets for the Opening Ceremony no less, as a thank you for our hard work over the next week or so. The tickets also came with a corporate picnic!


Opening ceremony ticket


I couldn't keep my smile off my face as I chatted to athletes and coaches for the remainder of my shortened shift (just 2:30 til 6:30).

The shift whizzed by and it was time to organise some clothes (the IPC were keen for us to not be in Games Maker uniform) so a quick visit to the athletes merchandise store resulted in a purchase of an Athletes Village hoody... something that can only be purchased in the residents village (so clearly a keepsake!).




Picnic!

 I collected my picnic and made my way to my seat only to be surprised once more... the tickets were 5 rows from the front!! The stadium was breathtaking (I've always loved visiting stadiums here and abroad - Boca Juniors in Argentina being my favourite to date).

A few of my games maker colleagues joined me (Alex & James) and we shared our delights and took 1000s of photos/videos. The picnic was delicious and offered another great keepsake.

The ceremony itself was a joy. Completely different to the Olympic one, but equally as powerful. Some of the athletes stories nearly reduced me to tears as I was transfixed to the screen. Watching the A-Z of countries walk past us was long, but far better than watching on the TV... shame TV producers constantly tried to speed up the procession when clearly their disabilities restricted how fast they could go.



Spectacular display

The Team GB parade got the goosebumps going as ticker tape littered the sky. Such a proud moment. The goosebumps would return for the national anthem as the Queen opened the games (the Royal Family and Government were only about 25 rows behind us).

...and then the finale. The torch appears on top of the Orbit and he floats in. INCREDIBLE! The torch was lit by a footballer from Cansdales (who is known in my real job) and the fireworks boomed around our heads from all angles. Then sadly it was time to go home.


Incredible night!

It wouldn't be until 3am until I finally reached my bed but it was sooooo worth it. Thank you so much IPC for one of the best days in my life!

Day 1: IPC meeting and greeting

After two long years, I finally got to start being a games maker. The journey itself was epic.. 20min drive to Ealing Broadway from work at Gerrards Cross, then 17 stops to St Paul's to log in at The Grange Hotel.

I knew the hotel was only a temporary location and that was confirmed upon arrival. I was off to the Athletes Village! But first, to update my accreditation. That took an hour as clients quite rightly got preferential treatment. I was then whisked away on the Olympic Lane road network in a posh BMW...

Even being in an official car still didn't mean we could jump through security. The car was thoroughly checked before finally getting to the village entrance. More security though as my bag was checked in an airport style scenario.

IN!

The IPC information area is immediately to the left in amongst a plaza of a post office, shops, ticket office, salon and Samsung shop... all for the benefit of athletes, coaches and distinguised guests. I met my boss Malini (Secretary General for the Asian Paralympic Committee) and Bettina Kaus (official IPC staff member in Bonn, Germany). Both were very nice and they gave me the orientation tour.

Basically the info area has lots of leaflets, the history of the games and Paralympic movement (in DVD format), a statue of Dr Guttman who started it all back in 1948, past medals and the torch. Pretty cool area! My role was to meet and greet whoever walked in and ensure I dealt with all issues they may have.



The torch

The rest of the shift was a pleasure to be involved with. Met so many different people from all over the world with varying impairments. I would suggest I am very lucky to have been located in such a position.

Networking too... right up my street!

Particular hightlights were seeing Team GB being welcomed to the village... the national anthem and raising of the flag. Saw the legend that is Tani Grey-Thompson too.



Tani

And so it begins...

After a long 2 year wait... the day has finally arrived.

A few emails have been sent to me and it now seems like I am working in the IPC Information Area based in the actual Paralympic athletes village!! Looks like I will need some extra accreditation then..

3 shifts this week. All 2:30pm until 8:30pm. Next stop: Stratford

Training at The Grange

Last night I was invited to The Grange in St Paul's to take part in my games maker training. What started off being an unknown quantity (as I still am not 100% on what I will be doing), finished off in similar fashion.

Sat through some PowerPoint slides about the hotel venues etc, but was then taken away to a side room (with about 15 others) to be told that we were the lucky ones... The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) who are based in Germany, were in fact only bringing over key staff and we were to fill in the gaps of each department.

What an absolute honour and privilege to be working for the governing body of Paralympic sport! Feeling extremely proud to have been selected and can't wait for start.

In terms of my actual role, won't know until I get there unless they email me beforehand!

Looking the part!

You know it's getting near when you get invited to collect your accreditation and uniform.. having seen my university friend Ben Waring in his Olympic gear the other day, it's clear to see that the uniform and Games Makers made a real positive impact.

Ben and I



Verity and myself took the long road to East London to visit the UCAD building. Rather annoyingly, poor Vez had to sit and wait in the car park for an hour whilst I passed through various checkpoints.

First of all it was to collect my accreditation, then into a waiting room to wait for my number to be called. Entered the men's changing rooms to try on various items of clothing.. all medium. Knew that anyway but they made me go through the process!

It was then on to the massive warehouse where piles of Adidas equipment were being stored. All my new equipment was collected by some smiley volunteers and then into the shop where it was scanned (Tesco style). Thankfully the bill came to £0!

The task for the rest of the day was to navigate the rest of London hoping not to get robbed!

Treated Vez to a night of Billy Elliot where numerous Games Makers had also taken advantage of the 2012 promotions too. Great show.

Putting the GREAT back in Britain...

Never one for negativity, my views on London hosting the Olympics were always going to be positive ones. I wish, however, the same could be said for the many Facebookers, Twitterers and media outlets out there who preferred to dwell on the economic uncertainty instead during the build up.

Whilst the games were always going to cost a few quid, you can't put a price on morale and pride which seems to have returned in abundance last week. With some lateral thinking you can also see a better sporting infrastructure, transport network, regeneration of East London, current and future tourism, increased public spending, not to mention the inspiration to us and our children (I could go on!).

The eyes of the world are upon us and no one really cares about some of the logistical issues that ALL host countries have to overcome.

As a marketeer, ROI is a common concept to me, but I'm confident that London's ROI/legacy will continue to drag us into a more profitable and happier place.

I wish the Games lasted longer!

Olympic fever

As the Olympics enters into its 2nd week, it's been impossible not to get carried away with Team GB success. I've been one of the lucky ones having seen 5 different events already (Team GB football at Old Trafford, Wimbledon tennis, Team GB basketball, the cycling time trail and football at Wembley).

Whilst my quest and hunger for more tickets continues, I am now rapidly approaching my Gamesmaker stint for the Paralympics, made even more real by the collection of my uniform and accreditation on Saturday and the training session next Wednesday.

Details of my volunteering are still vague, but I do know that I will be based at The Grange in St. Paul's working as an IPC (International Paralympic Committee) assistant team member. 8 shifts confirmed 2:30pm til 8:30pm.

Very excited now.. and even have 2 tickets for the Paralympic athletics and the closing ceremony too to look forward to as well!

Watch this space...

Watching history in the making (Football)

Strangely it was the day before the Olympics officially started but yesterday provided my first taste of Olympic action. Old Trafford proved the perfect backdrop for 2 matches; Uruguay v underdogs UAE and Senegal v Team GB (first appearance since 1960!).



DJ Spoony interviewing Uruguay fan

A packed stadium showed the desire the public have to be involved in such a massive event (and for the reunion of England, Wales, Scotland & NI) but the constant booing aimed towards Luis Suarez clearly showed the venue was packed full of Liverpool haters! (not really in the Olympic spirit).

UAE provided a stern test for Suarez and co, surprisingly taking the lead. The game swung on a Suarez dive when the resulting freekick was perfectly curled in. That spectacular goal waas the catalyst for Uruguay to get the win but it certainly wasn't deserved and Suarez did no favours at all with his petulance.



UAE warm up

Final score 1-0.

It was then the turn of Team GB (Bellamy, Richards and Giggsy). It was a bad tempered match and the Senegalese were guilty of seriously dirty tactics but our boys showed they were up for the fight.

Man on the match Bellamy got a deserved goal before being hammered in the penalty box. Somehow the referee deemed it not a foul and Bellamy hobbled off to a standing ovation. That change proved to be decisive as replacement Ramsey gave the ball away at our corner and a fast breakaway got the equaliser.

Final score 1-1. The crowd were certainly disappointed but all was not lost.

I was then faced with the epic task of returning my father safely back to the Midlands before getting myself back to Wycombe. 2am landing on a work night Zzzzz.



Equipped with the flag