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 :)
Tuesday 25 September 2012
Thursday 20 September 2012
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!
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!
Wednesday 19 September 2012
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...
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...
Tuesday 18 September 2012
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?????
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?????
Tuesday 11 September 2012
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..
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..
Monday 10 September 2012
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
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.
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!!
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.
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| Two Irish double gold winners |
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!!
Sunday 9 September 2012
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.
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!
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
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.
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| 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
Thursday 6 September 2012
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!
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.
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.
Tuesday 4 September 2012
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...
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.
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.
Sunday 2 September 2012
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.
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| View from the village |
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