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Olympic Games

Emoto 2012

During the London 2012 Olympic Games, I was working with an arts based digital project called Emoto, which was an artist-led data visualization of the Games using Twitter. The project was developed by Future Everything using Lexalytics. Here is a video of the final sculpture of the tweets, which brought an additional creative layer to the content.

A Very Olympic Last night of the Proms

A Very Olympic Last night of the Proms

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The last night of sport at the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games coincided with the BBC’s Last Night of the Proms on 8th September and it was a night full of Olympic tributes. The programme included work by Josef Suk, which won a musical prize at the Los Angeles 1932 Olympic Games, back when there were also contests for artists, as well as athletes. His ‘Towards a New Life’ is now considered a classic Olympic fanfare and a fitting prelude to John Williams’ ‘Olympic Fanfare and Theme’, which took place in Part two of the evening

The popular Williams composition is an iconic Olympic musical score and was even greeted in the Royal Albert Hall with a solitary Olympic flag, which stood amidst a uniquely international collection of other flags in what is one of the most popular British nights of the year, watched all over the UK.

It was also a night for festival. In this unique year for the BBC Proms, now in its 118th season, it was made part of the London 2012 Festival, the primary Cultural Olympiad brand during Games time, running throughout the Proms season.

It was also apt then that Antonin Dvork’s Carnival was played in this important year, as it was first played at the original Proms in 1895. Dvorak – whose birthday in 1841 also fell on the 8th September – composed the piece imagining a ‘lonely, contemplative wanderer reaching at twilight a city where a festival is in full swing’. Played at twilight in London on the penultimate night of the London 2012 Games and within the London 2012 Festival programme, one could not imagine a greater festival in any fuller swing!

Whether by design or by chance, this Paralympic Games time finale was a wonderful climax to the London 2012 Games’ cultural programme, which could only be followed by a closing ceremony, which takes place on Sunday the 9th September at 730pm.

The evening concluded by bringing the Olympic programme full circle, with a rendition of Jerusalem, which also featured in the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony. There was also a surprise appearance of Team GB gold medalists, who accompanied the audience in a rendition of “Rule Britannia’, a Last Night of the Proms classic, and a special mention to London 2012’s Cultural Olympiad by Jiri Belohlavek, outgoing Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra – the evening’s star of the show.

Oscar Pistorius loses, now what?

Oscar Pistorius loses, now what?

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After last night's surprise result with Alan Fonteles Oliveira beating Oscar Pistorius in the 200m final, I've been asked by a few journalists for a comment. Here's what I've got to say on the matter:

FINAL UPDATE:  "The deeper issue underpinning this debate is what counts as a legitimate human within either Olympic and Paralympic sport. This is why the fall of Oscar Pistorius is more important than the fall of any other athlete before him, even Lance Armstrong. This is because Pistorius symbolizes the rise of the cyborg and the demise of the natural human. If his loss yesterday was fair, two conclusions are possible. Either, there are more like him coming and this will spark a tidal wave of change within Olympic and Paralympic sport, but, more broadly, in how society perceives ability. If his loss was unfair, then we may ask whether it is ok to transcend the normal human body and change people in a way that bears no resemblance to species typical norms. Either way, the debacle is a step forward for a transhuman view of sport, the only sure winner of which is technology. Just in case this is unclear, I think this is good for sport, as it exposes what has been there under the surface for some time. In fact, as the technology progresses to the nanoscale, our reinforcements - our prosthetics - will become imperceptible to the naked eye."

UPDATE: "Many people have asked why Pistorius didn't change his prosthetic blades as well, but any alteration would have prevented him from competing in the Olympic Games too, since the clause of his inclusion was very narrow defined. It seems daft to me that the IAAF and the IPC have a different definition of what is the appropriate length of a prosthetic device for a person to use. Of course, they don't. It's just that the IAAF don't have a definition at all, since they would prefer Pistorius not to enter the Olympic Games. However, Pistorius has suffered from wanting to remain eligible for each Games. It is a terrible world where a person with a disability must compromise their status within a disability community to be eligible for participation in a non-impaired world.  Pistorius raised the concern about the length of the new prosthetic devices some weeks ago. This is not sour grapes, it is a person who has a legitimate concern who feels it is not being heard. What's more, he is not alone in having raised this. I found his post-race interview quite uncalculated and measured. Not a tantrum at all"

"It would be a mistake to say that Oscar has been beaten at his own game, but critics have drawn parallels to his concern about Alan Fonteles Oliveira with arguments against Oscar's participation within the Olympic Games."

"The IPC have said that Oliveira's legs are within the rules, but here we have another debate about what the rules should be in the first place. Oscar's concern indicates that these athletes have changed their legs recently in such a way as to betray the rules, but only an inquiry will change this decision now. It sounds to me that there ought to be one, since it is highly unusual that an athlete should gain such great speed in the final stretch and that they could so dramatically change their running times from one Games to the next"

"It's hard to understand how a Paralympian could adjust their prosthetics in such a way as to dramatically alter their height, but the concern seems to be that the Paralympic rules are not tight enough."

"If the rules are all agreed, then last night was a great night for Paralympic sport. It needs more people who can compete with Oscar Pistorius to really bring about a change in the argument over whether there should be just one Games. With more athletes reaching the same level of Pistorius, I think we are closer to that point"

"This situation may be a reason to force Paralympians to use the same kind of technology, of course, adjusting to their individual body types."

"The big question emerging from the race last night is whether the Paralympic rules within the T43 200m race need to be tighter. It's normal that a past winner should face young challengers and that they should eventually dethrone the champion. However, this looks like an unusual win and the concerns have been raised by other Paralympians about athletes adjusting their blade dimensions."

"If Oliveira's prosthetic legs are bigger and better and legal, then Pistorius really ought to get some. If his body height precludes this and the only reason why Alan Fonteles Oliveira has longer blades is that he is taller, then Pistorius has been beaten by a more biologically privileged athlete. However, there might be an argument to divide athletes by height as well as disability - and this is something I've argued should be applied not just to Paralympic sport, but also the Olympics. In the same way that we separate athletes in weight divisions, height also has a huge impact on likely achievements"

"On a more subjective level, I've watched the race countless times now and it looked to me like Oliveira was much more reliant on momentum than Pistorius"

Professor Andy Miah is Director of the Creative Futures Institute at the University of the West of Scotland and is author of 'The Olympics' (2012).

The London 2012 Paralympic Games are Here

The London 2012 Paralympic Games are Here

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Here's my 'holding slide' for the Games time period.  Available for interview Contact: +44 (0) 757 898 4147 / @andymiah / email@andymiah.net Interview topics: doping, Olympic politics, London atmosphere, local issues, social media, Oscar Pistorius, sport technology, ethics, gene doping, cultural olympiad, London 2012 Festival, Olympic politics

Qualifications: primary research at 6 Olympic Games (Winter and Summer), Prof at International Olympic Academy, interviews live+recorded for major programmes (BBC Newsnight, CBC The Hour), writing for Washington Post, Guardian, Independent, Times). Dates: I will be in London 21-22 July, then 26 July - 13 August, then 1-10 September.

Games Time Interviews to date. Some of these are derived from the same source eg. a Reuters piece in English picked up by Bolivia, but I figure, if someone has bothered to translate it,  then it counts.

  1. Worldwide - Associated Press x3, BBC World Service x3 (with David Eades; with Gareth Mitchell) , Reuters, Reuters, University World News,
  2. Australia - ABC Radio, Canberra Times,
  3. Bolivia - Los Tiempos
  4. Brazil -  TV Globo, Meio y Mensagem
  5. Canada - CBC The CurrentCTV Globe & Mail, Vancouver Sun
  6. China - Tech Web,
  7. France - AFP
  8. India - The Economic Times, The Indian Express
  9. Indonesia - The Jakarta Post
  10. Italy - La Stampa, Linkiesta,
  11. Ireland - Irish Medical Times,
  12. Kuwait - Arab Times
  13. Netherlands - Sportgeschiedenis
  14. New Zealand - New Zealand Herald
  15. Japan - Japan Today,
  16. South Korea - TBS eFM's "This Morning" 
  17. Turkey - BBC online
  18. United Kingdom:  BBC News 24, BBC Online, BBC online,  Daily MirrorHuffington Post, BBC2 Newsnight, House Magazine, The Independent, Metro Blogs, Podium for 2012, Wallpaper Magazine (UK), Chris McEnroe Show, Sunday Express, Sunday Express, Wired Magazine (with Ian Steadman)
  19. United States of America - Boston Globe (USA), Chicago TribuneESPNFox News, The Atlantic, The Los Angeles Times, Salon, Wired,
  20. Vietnam - Talk Vietnam

Articles published during the Olympic month

 

Pussy Riot sentence jeopardises the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games

Pussy Riot sentence jeopardises the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games

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While today’s sentencing of the Pussy Riot trio and the accompanying 100 year law banning Pride marches is devastating for many Russian citizens, it also jeopardises the integrity of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games, which will take place in less than two years. It may even be a bigger political issue than the complaints about China's entitlement to host the Games back in 2008 when Beijing staged the Olympics.

This is because there are many more visible activists who have stood on behalf of the Pussy Riot trio and who are visibly vocal in their rejection of the ruling. In comparison, China's capacity to silence dissidents forced the debates about human rights to the margins and obscured it from people's views once the Games began. There were not even any significant statements from athletes about the situation during the sports. While such statements would have compromised an athlete’s position in their Olympic team, history has shown that, when issues matter a lot, then these conditions of participation may be less significant to athletes, who know they are also moral role models for their fans.

What’s different about Sochi 2014 is that the issue of LGBTQ rights is much more alive and in the public domain within Russia than the human rights issue within China. Furthermore, at every Olympic Games, a Pride House is created – alongside the various national houses – and Russia’s domestic law is likely to make this impossible. Furthermore, as a population, the athlete community is much more switched on and emotionally connected to the issues surrounding LGBTQ rights and freedom.

As such, the IOC should expect to see all kinds of protest during the Sochi 2014 Games, unless the Pussy Riot trio are released early. Indeed, Sochi 2014 could give rise to similarly historical statements as were made by USA athletes Tommy Smith and John Carlos back in Mexico 1968. It seems inconceivable that none of the many LGBTQ athletes will use their moment in the limelight to highlight an issue that some of their peers and friends within the Russian Olympic team will feel unable to raise. It even brings into question whether the Games should have gone to Russia at all, given the Olympic movements promotion of non-discrimination.

At this moment between the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, where there has been much talk about a one Games future, leaders within the Olympic movement should make statements of support for Russian LGBTQ athletes, if only to ensure that the IOC frowns on this kind of regressive decision.

While this undoubtedly will not come, in one year when plans to create a Pride House during the Sochi 2014 Games surface again, this issue will erupt and catch the Olympic movement unawares unless it acts first.

 

Photo from Miss Barabanov at Sochi 2014 World Pavillion, Vancouver 2010, on Flickr

London 2012: The first social media Olympic Opening Ceremony

There has been a lot of talk about how London 2012 is the first social media Olympics, but did you notice just how much this concept was embedded into the Opening Ceremony?

First of all, behind every audience members’ seat was a personalized ‘pixel’ device, which they were asked to utilize and create ‘user generated content’ in the ceremony itself. Even the official media guide for the Opening Ceremony says there are no spectators; everyone participates.

Also, in the final main section of the Ceremony, a social media love story became the backdrop for the spectacle, where a modern day Charlie Chaplin pursued his girl using mobile phones, text messages, and social media messaging.

The final straw was the presence of Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide web, who appeared at the end of this segment, as if he was the architect of the entire modern day society we had just witnessed developing before our eyes.

Evidently, he was even tweeting from his desk during his appearance within the ceremony, including references to the World Wide Web Consortium and the Web Foundation. These two references aligned with the ceremony’s foregrounding of important social concerns, not least of which is free communication.

At the end of the sequence, Berners-Lee’s infamous words ‘This is for everyone’, referring to the World Wide Web, were displayed via the pixels in the crowd.

As a lot of Canadians remind us, Vancouver 2010 was also a social media Olympics and can really claim being the first. However, nobody can contest that London 2012 was the first to make it a social media Opening Ceremony!

This post was first published in Metro

 

 

Your Twitter Guide to London 2012

Your Twitter Guide to London 2012

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The Olympics are upon us, you’ve charged up your mobile, you’ve wiped down your iPad, you have no data limits. Now, what should you do to make sure you don’t miss out on crucial information as the Games begin?

Here’s a quick guide to some of the key Twitter accounts that are worth following, but don’t forget to use Twitter lists and hashtags as a filter for information. It's not everything, but not a bad start. If there's anything significant I've missed, drop me a line!

 

The best way to do this is to discover which hashtags are beginning to trend around any particular event. It might be #100m or #archery, but you’ll find the best one by searching among your Twitter peers. Most likely, #London2012 will be far too populated to function effectively, but #London2012Festival might be a good tip for cultural activity.

 

The Organizers

@London2012 ‘the management’ – LOCOG’s primary account, a bit too much stuff

@SebCoe  ‘the boss’ - not many personalized tweets, but the top guy at LOCOG

@IamWenlock  ‘the Olympic Mascot’

@IamMandeville  ‘the Paralympic mascot’

@AlexBalfour2012 ‘the social media guy’ – LOCOG’s Head of Social Media, if the website goes down, blame Alex.

@London2012Fest – official account of the London 2012 Festival. If you don’t have a ticket for any sport, or even if you can’t get to London for the Games, then this is a good place to start, as you can participate in a range of cultural activities taking place wherever you are over the next 2 months.

@RuthMackenzie – Director of London 2012 Festival and a recent Twitter convert, good content, tweets, and replies.

@paulwoodmansey – PR for London 2012 Festival. If it’s on, Paul is there!

 

The IOC

@olympics – the main IOC account, not much engagement, but good links to Olympic family people (athletes, etc)

@AlexHuot – the IOC’s Social media Director, plugs into SXSW and other cool camps

 

The Help

@L2012Spectators - for travel advice, especially for ticket holders

@VisitBritain – in case London gets too much, find out what is happening elsewhere in the UK during the Games

 

The Culture

Remember that the Olympics are not just about sport, there are 12,000 cultural events happening around the Games period, many of which are free.

@ArtistsLead – Artists taking the lead is a series of major commissions around the UK, try to see them all for a really breath taking experience

@LegacyTrustUK – whether you knew it or not, there has been a lot of Olympic & Paralympic activity in your region funded by Legacy Trust. While their account is not very active, their links will take you to activity taking place in your region.

@thespacearts – perhaps the most innovative project of any Olympic Games ever, a collaboration between the BBC and Arts Council England to revolutionize broadcasting of cultural events

@edfringe – ok, it’s not really London 2012, but there is other art stuff happening during the Games, you know!

 

The Athletes

@TeamGB – scroll through who they are following to find your Olympic hopeful or hopeless

@ParalympicsGB – the primary account for British Paralympian team.

@TomDaley – not a swimmer, a diver!

@OscarPistorius – ‘the blade runner’ making history by qualifying for the Olympic Paralympic Games

@ChrisHoy – cycling legend

@MatthewCPinsent – rowing veteran

@SkeletonAmy – zooms down hills at the Winter Games

@NickSymmonds – the World’s most social media savvy athlete. Auctioned space on his left shoulder on eBay to fund his career. Winner would have their Twitter handle tattooed there during 2012.

@JDE66 –Jonathan Edwards, triple jump world record holder and overall London 2012 ambassador

Also check out the IOC’s Athlete Hub, which takes you to social media links for athletes: http://hub.olympic.org

 

The Media

@BBC2012 – the principal account for the London 2012 BBC team

@RogerMosey – Director of the BBC 2012 programme, follow him for a more personal insight into what the beeb are doing

@NBCOlympics – at the Beijing 2008 Games, the NBC Twitter list was the most followed worldwide and NBC partnered with Twitter to create a great guide to the Games for tracking athlete data.

@PearceSport – the BBC’s sport anchor James Pearce, always in the thick of things

@C4Paralympics – for the first time, Channel 4 are broadcasting the Paralympic Games. Check in with this account for their contribution

@InsideTheGames – novel news start up for 2012

The Sponsors

Not all of the sponsors have Twitter profiles, but here are some examples that have generated a lot of activity. You can also visit the Olympic Sponsor pavilions when the Games begin.

@BPLondon2012 – Cultural Olympiad premier partner

@CadburyUK – expect free, Olympic themed chocolate

@CokeZone – Coca Cola has a number of Olympic twitter ids, this is the one for the Torch Relay, for which it is presenting partner. Keep an eye out for their pin trading id, to participate in the unofficial Olympic sport.

The Activists

@GamesMonitor – the Olympic & Paralympic watchdog, keeping tabs on all

@CounterOlympics – planning coordinated action on 28th July in London

@DropDowNow – campaign against Dow’s sponsorship of the Olympic Games

@Moratorium2012 - Stop the Arrests - campaign to stop sex worker arrests in London during Olympics

@NoSochi2014 – connect with the emerging protests around the Sochi 2014 Games

@OccupyOlympics – will there be an Olympic occupation during the Games? If so, this account will let you know.

@OlympicBoycott – the official protestors whose DIY protest t-shirts captured LOCOG’s attention

@OlympicMissiles – protesting the situation of missiles on residents’ homes

@OurOlympics – reclaiming the Games from the corporations

@ReclaimTheBard – the Reclaim  Shakespeare Company, campaign against BP involvement in the Cultural Olympiad

@SpaceHiJackers (the people behind the Official Protestor campaign)

 

In addition to these, here are some accounts that I'm using

@andymiah - my personal account

@media_2012 - for some of the alternative news from the #media2012 network

@CulturalOlympic - for all the cultural news

@emoto - a data visualization of Twitter emotions (I'm a collaborator)

 

 

A Day with the Olympic Flame (Police)

A Day with the Olympic Flame (Police)

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London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay , Dumfries On 21st June, Beatriz, Ethan and I spent a day following the Olympic torch down from Dumfries in Scotland to Bowness-on-Windermere. It began at 745am on a cloudy, grey morning and that turned out to be the best weather of the day!

I was accredited by LOCOG to be with the team and spent a reasonable proportion of the day around the delivery team, talking to torch bearers, police officers, and the Torch entourage (sponsors, crew, etc) about their experiences.

One of the most overwhelming take home messages from a range of people I spoke to were complements about the Metropolitan police officers involved. I wasn't expecting to hear this, especially as the presence of security is often seen as a negative aspect of the torch. However, people in the crowd and around the staging of events only had positive things to say about them and my experience reinforced this view.

I spent quite a bit of time talking to officers in detail about their experience. One of the team told me that they are 'all runners' and that, when they are assigned to running for the day - sometimes they are on bicycles - they cover approximately the distance of a marathon.

They work on a 4-week rotation, which meant they recently had a 4 day break and are due another in early July. One officer explained that it was very difficult to be away from the torch for that length of time and there was a real sense of emotional attachment to this assignment.

London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay, Bowness-on-Windermere

A police officer shadows the torch bearer from Ambleside, onto the Tern boat

On the boat from Ambleside to Bowness, the team had around 1 hr when they could relax a little and talk more.

London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay, Bowness-on-Windermere

The bow of the Tern, as it progresses on Lake Winderemere to Bowness.

At any one time, there are 2 pilot light flames accompanying the lit torches and the lanterns - traditional mining lantern designs - and a further 4 lit pilots on the bus. These lanterns stay with the officers 24 hrs a day. They even sleep with them I was told.

London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay, Bowness-on-Windermere

Throughout, it was apparent how the officers were constantly focused on the torch bearer's experience and I was surprised at how personable they were. Some of the photos I took convey this well. I didn't ask if they had received media training, but they were certainly very human in how they related to those people who entered their inner circle and very well versed to speak to media. I was with them at the half-way point in the relay, so I think they probably had answered the same questions 100 times by then.

Even the Olympic sponsors who were with the team confounded my ideas about how they may simply devalue the Olympic symbol. While people on the ground reported how the sponsors may have trivialized the experience at the evening events, on the boat, the sponsor reps spent time talking to the torch bearers, explaining the history of the torch design and seemingly trying to enrich the torch bearer's experience of their brief time with the team.

London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay, Bowness-on-Windermere

LloydsTSB sponsor rep speaking to the torch bearer en route to Bowness

At the same time, the VIPs who found themselves around the torch were really not placed centre stage. If anything, they were relegated and given reasonably short shrift in the experience, which was quite heart warming.

London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay, Bowness-on-Windermere

The torchbearer arrives to the stage for the cauldron lighting

When starting out on the day, I was not sure how or what I would report, but the story turned out to be the entourage around the torch bearer and the experience within that quite tightly constructed bubble where the performance of the relay is delivered. It is a place of considerable collaboration between the police, LOCOG, and the crew, along with the local teams that must work with them to ensure everything stays on schedule.

I'm sure I would not like to have got in the way of their work - one of the official photographers did bump me out the way at one point when I got in his shot, but that's not unusual - and I'm sure there are some who have felt the wrath of this team - and the wider police work around the torch - at key moments when the torch may have seemed vulnerable. I was also surprised that this turned out to be my story of the day, as stories about the police around the torch historically are more critical than anything.

However, when all goes well, people in the crowd conveyed to me how they felt the police helped to make the experience memorable, in a good way. Nevertheless, I think the torch bearers themselves were the main beneficiaries of their conduct.

London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay, Bowness-on-Windermere

Torch bearers from the day line the route for the final runner

London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay, Bowness-on-Windermere

Palgrave Handbook of Olympic Studies

Palgrave Handbook of Olympic Studies

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The Palgrave Handbook of Olympic Studies is out now with a chapter by Jennifer Jones and I on the Olympic Movement's digital assets,  monetization and more.

The Olympics (2012)

Dr Beatriz Garcia and I have just launched the website of our new book, due for publication by Taylor and Francis in February 2012. It is titled 'The Olympics: The Basics' and features within the renowned Routledge series 'The Basics'. The website to the book is a unique attempt to build content around the Subject Index for the book. On the months leading up to publication, we will add resources that complement  discussions in the book, providing fascinating insights into the Olympic movement and Games. You can also follow the book on Twitter, where we wil post new resources from the site.  

Cultural Olympiad Digital Edition

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The Vancouver 2010 Games has delivered a massive programme of digital art work. take a peek at some photos starting here.

Olympic Museum, Lausanne (2009, Dec)

Last week, I was back in Lausanne and spent a couple of days in the Olympic Studies Centre at the International Olympic Committee Museum. I first visited the Olympic Studies Centre in Lausanne during the Winter of 2001, when I was researching the International Olympic Committee’s Medical Commission and Ethics Commission. The Ethics Commission had only just been established and I was able to attend its first press conference at the IOC HQ, which is a couple of miles west from the museum in Vidy. The OSC consists of a library where a wide range of Olympic related publications are held, along with the IOC’s archive, which provides access to its meeting minutes, correspondence and multimedia documentation. It’s such a beautiful location and an optimal working condition. If ever you get a chance to visit, take it.

The trip was pretty useful, managed to progress a lot of the research on Computer Games and Sport, which was v helpful. Also managed to catch up with Dick Pound briefly, who was in the museum's Olympic Studies Centre researching his latest book.

In case you’re wondering what the totem is all about in the picture above, they’ve just installed their Vancouver 2010 exhibition, which foregrounds the ‘four host nations’ dimension of their Games. This photograph is taken at the entrance to the museum. More photos here:

London 2012 Creative & Digital Industries (2009, June 19, Manchester)

London 2012 Creative & Digital IndustriesManchester, 2009.06.19

Paul Newman Media City

5 BBC depts., 1600 jobs BBC Five Live BBC Childrens BBC Sport

Local radio, comedy, some news and current affairs

Peter Salmon, BBC North -    chief commissioner of Media City

Anne Thompson NWDA, Sector Leader Sport

Scale of Olympics ME: numbers of media are inaccurate. These are the IOC and Organizing Committee accredited figures 13k broadcast, 7k print. But in Beijing, you had another 11000 media present and many more without accreditation from the official broadcasters.

CompeteFor -    main mechanism to receive contract opportunities -    must be registered and published

Claire Stocks (Editor, Olympics, Sport Interactive) & Tim Plyming, Chief Executive, Digital Olympics BBC Sport

Beijing 2008

Digital Olympics

4.5million visitors to website each day 2million of them looking at clips

2004 – Athens 2.5million live streams

2008 - Beijing 38-40 million live streams

Digital Olympics -    bring all parts of technical development to crecendo in 2012 last 3 Olympics have been described as a digital games, but nobody has really delivered this yet

we have a unique timing clash – switch off of analogue

Digital Britain provision of 2mbps broadband in every homoe by 2012 raise awareness of digital content

30% of population happy wth analogue signal

audience expectation -    extended choice, immediacy, interactivity

Beijing Tv – 74% Online – 31% Radio – 15% Mobile – 2%

aspiration for 70% online reach

nbc Beijing 2008 -    first time they developed rich video services -    Beijing was biggest event in us history -    But rich digital services were complimentary

Sold out advertising target within a week of Games

Hours BBC put in can at last games Sydney – 300hrs Athens – 1250hrs, 4000 HD Beijing, 2750hrs, 4000 HD London – 5000hrs, 5000 HD

How connect audiences across all platforms to this HD content?

3 phases towards 2012 1.    build up: news stories 2.    2011: countdown phase – cultural Olympics, torch relay, music festivals 3.    2012: programme of events leading to games time. ME: but what about Games time as a distinct phase? How can you integrate non-sporting dimensions?  How involved with non sport depts. Of bbc be with other content

Pulling all content together ME: but people don't want a distinct platform, they want you to allow them to pull it into something else, like Facebook

Legacy from Olympics – an integrated platform for post Games events

IPTV -    2012 first IPTV Olympics

Mobile -    in Beijing, followed live text commentary

ME:  what about street reporters?

Unless got a high end unlimited device, you’re not really using mobile for video

Audio might be the main story for mobile, not video

Radio (DAB)

Live Sites -    interactive services, interact with mobile, Bluetooth download zones

ME: are there plans to deliver navigation and orientation content to mobiles, rather than produce print material?

Alex Balfour

25% of world online by 2012 (+44%) 17 countries will have > 60% broadband penetration by 2012, uk 58% to 74%

people having conversations online Mobile trends: - mobile penetration 100% in Western Europe

early adoption 13.5% vs innovators 2.5%

8 yr cycle to get to 60% penetration

simple new media model 1.    new media products and services (help efficiency or cost effective) (eg. ticketing, education programme) 2.

put out on YouTube, Flickr

ME: if you are in the 2.5% of innovators, what platforms are you looking at for use in 2012? Is Twitter a clear commitment for instance? Are there others that you think people here should be working with, developing the applications, etc.

If not on Facebook, then we’re invisible.

ME: Can we engage people in Olympic park using digital? Eg. harnessing the Sponsors venues, which are the most prominent – or around pin trading, the other major games time cultural experience.

ME: how are you working with Olympic park infrastructure to make it more interesting?

Cultural Olympiad – artists taking the lead

ME: What are you not yet into, but which you have plans to be involved with?

Opportunities around venues, dressing buildings etc

Bring together digital content.

ME: you talk about dressing venues, have you found that you can talk to the individual sponsors who will be in the venue to build digital into their programmes?

My2012 -    technology platform and sponsor already -    channelled through social networks

Inspire Mark programme

Sponsors have expressed interest in digital

ME: Is digital the first way in history that sponsorship will enter Olympic venues?

To contact me: 200 word email

Debbi Lander

SKV Equivalent Advertising Cost

Q and A

www.londonolympics2012.com -    how can we get support?

Brand protection -    have been looked at and we’ve approved or raised questions