Showing posts with label #tnmh. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #tnmh. Show all posts
True North Strong and Free
True North Media House is virtual initiative which started at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics by media makers, enthusiasts and leaders from Vancouver's grassroots technology community. The idea was to aid media makers and documentarians with information, assistance and community events. When I heard about it I had to be a part. My greatest regret of these games was not taking the two weeks off work to enjoy the festivities and create more media! I did alright and was able to enjoy my time but my advice to others interested in documenting any great human event is to drop everything and soak it up.
Two of the leaders of True North Media House are heading to London to present about outsiders, online and social media. They will specifically be highlighting True North Media House, something that helped me stay in touch with the awesomeness of Vancouver's Olympics and allowed me to be part of something from wherever I was taking in the festivities. I wrote a few posts and put up a bunch of photos during the Olympics. Here is a wrap-up:
- The Olympic Torch Relay hits is Target a Photo Set
- Athletes Confused by the "Twitter Olympics"
- VANOC's Greatest Oversight at the 2010 Winter Olympics
- Exciting and inspiring Crowd-sourced Olympic Videos
- BONUS: Thanks to the Olympics I was able to test drive the Chevy Volt!
The Olympic Torch Relay hits its Target
I woke up last Thursday at 5:30 to get picked up and driven out to Port Moody City Hall. It was still dark when we jumped into a pickup with Serge who had been on the road with the torch all the way across Canada keeping the fleet of vehicles going. The energy of the people in the streets was amazing.
Serge wrote a great blog post about the trip with him. The torch made me remember what it was like to be a kid. To believe in something that can unify and excite us all. They were up before the sun and it was wet and cold but they were smiling.
Serge wrote a great blog post about the trip with him. The torch made me remember what it was like to be a kid. To believe in something that can unify and excite us all. They were up before the sun and it was wet and cold but they were smiling.
I quickly got over to Willingdon Avenue in Burnaby outside BCIT to tak pics of the torch relay from the street. Thousands of people took to the street to greet the flame as it ran past BCIT. Check out this for more.
It's all about the children and they loved the whole event. In these next few photos elementary school kids stood in a long line to touch a torch after the relay ran by them. Luckily we had a few torch bearers on hand to ensure that everyone got to touch the magic.
The last stop for me on my Torch Relay day was to see my cousin carry the torch past her school.
You can see all 200 of the photos I took of the torch relay February 11th on Flickr.

The last stop for me on my Torch Relay day was to see my cousin carry the torch past her school.
You can see all 200 of the photos I took of the torch relay February 11th on Flickr.
Athletes experience Social Media confusion at The 'Twitter' Olympics #TNMH
I recently read an article in Wired on athlete confusion around social media publishing policies. One skier told he 35,000 Twitter followers that "because of the Olympic rules (blackout period). I will not be able to post any updates from now until March 3rd. Sorry, it bums me out too!" The update was also posted to her Facebook, showing some savvy, nice one.
Apparently, the move was made based on a faulty understanding of the International Olympic Committee’s rules on blogging and social networking. There is no Olympic rule that sets up a blackout period for athletes according to Bob Condron, the Director of Media Services for the United States Olympic Committee. “Athletes are free to blog during the Games. Twitter is just a blog that’s written 140 characters at a time. You can’t act as a journalist if you aren’t,” says Condron. “You need to do things in a first person way.”
The IOC's concerns are about the very expensive exclusive advertising and broadcast sponsorship deals. Many of these athletes are sponsored by companies other than Olympic sponsors and photos of them in the Olympic venues or spirit may be considered 'offside'. For athletes with no major outside sponsor obligations these worries around twitter pictures and Facebook posts seem like a bit of joke for good reason, they are. No one can stop the wave of social media and this Olympics will confirm it.
Expect heavy social media activity among athletes in Vancouver. These are going to be the Twitter Olympics. On The Georgia Straight's website I found this list of about 50 Canadian athletes who tweet which stands in contrast to the situation with described in Wired. At least their article forced the US Olympic committee to clarify the situation for the athletes. The US Olympic Twitter page's recent tweets are a great example of dealing with the problem and some of the limitations of Twitter to serve customers.
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