Day 1 – Arrival
Ok, so today was the day,… on the plane at 9:55am this morning after a nice little breakfast with my favorite girls and then off to Vancouver. The flight was good, a nice little upgrade certificate made it all that much more enjoyable, with a brief connection time in Toronto, just about 6 hours later I was in the land of blue, turquoise and green. (the Olympic colours in Vancouver)
Steve and I grabbed our bags from the very busy luggage carousel and made our way out in search of the shuttle that would take us to our hotel. Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, we hopped into the econoline van and we were off to the Coast Vancouver Airport Hotel. Not a bad spot, nestled between a highway and the runways @ YVR, I am sure for the 4 or 5 hours a night we will get to spend in our rooms it will be quite nice. Not kidding by the way, once the men’s hockey event gets under way, our last game of the day gets rolling at 9:00pm, local time, which doesn’t get us out of the rink and back to the hotel until somewhere around 1:00am.
Anyways, after we arrived, checked in, located the additional gear we had shipped in advance, we grabbed a cab for downtown in search of our colleagues and our credentials, which anyone will tell you, is worth its weight in gold around here. After meeting up with the team of writers and department managers at their downtown hotel, Steve and I made our way to the MMC (Main Media Centre in Olympic lingo) to have our credentials activated and get all the other media related details. Once we were checked in and scanned and x-rayed, (not kidding again!) we were on to the photo desk to receive our photo specific briefing material, photo position arm band and Pocket Wizard certification we were just about covered. Oh, we did receive a swag bag along the way, which had a number of items in it, including a Snickers bar. Yum! I then sought out the Nikon Pro Services booth to get the lowdown on their protocols and procedure and I was completely blown away by the number of huge lens cases and camera body boxes they had in back room which are to be utilized as loaner gear during the event. Unbelievable!
Finally, on to the rink for the dime tour, GM Place, or Canada Hockey Place as it is known for the time being. (more Olympic lingo) After a few rookie laps around the outside, we found our way in and began the search for our office space,… where we would be living for the next 20 odd days. We did take a few moments to watch the rehearsal going on inside and we were again, amazed by the Vancouver 2010 Olympic branding.
Of course, by this point, it is now 9:00pm local time (midnight back home) and time for us to grab some dinner before cashing out for the night. A quick bite at a nearby Milestones and Steve and I grabbed a cab for home,… Uh, I mean the hotel.
That’s it for today, quite enough really, but definitely, more to come!
Enjoy,
MM
