A once in a lifetime experience occurred today. I held in my hands all 6 of the Olympic and Paralympic medals! A first in modern Olympic history the IOC allowed the host nation to exhibit and make available to the general public actual Olympic medals. Here’s the story of my Gold Medal experience.

7am I arrived at the SFU Segal Graduate School for Business at Granville & Pender. Actually during Feb 12th to 28th it’s been transformed into the Canadian Mint Pavilion. In front of me were about 100 dedicated people mostly local Vancouverites.

In front and behind me were 2 people soon to become my Canadian Mint tour buddies Arjuna and Vena. We spent the next two hours sharing our Olympic experiences, passing on tips of what to see and what wasn’t worth the wait.

Click here to read and see more.

Home On Howe Window Display

When I walked in I discovered the store had been converted to a “Right at Home on Howe“  a 3,600 sq ft retail space transformed into a 17 day temporary home for Urban Barn employee Robbie Romu. Robbie was handpicked by Urban Barn President Rick Bohonis to live in the store 24/7 for the during of the 2010 Olympic Games. Knowing that the store would not be a destination during the Games they decided instead to create a respite from the chaos for both locals and visitors alike to enjoy.

Urban Barn invites the public to stop by anytime during the extended Olympic hours to hang with Robbie. You can watch TV with friends, sit and relax, play Wii, check email, you name it! In keeping with the spirit of the Games Urban Barn has used this opportunity to raise funds in support of the Canadian Paralympic Foundation (CPF), a registered Canadian charity dedicated to raising funds to support the development of sport for the benefit of Canadians with physical disabilities. The Goal is to raise $20,010.00 by March 21st. Please click here to donate or to learn more.

Here’s my exclusive chat with Robbie Romu himself. Hear in his words what the experience has been like.

Here are just some of the fun events planned to keep Robbie and his guests occupied for the rest of the Games.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010 Store Hours: 9:30 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
9:30 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. Wii Winter Games Daily Challenge
3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. “Are You Smarter than Robbie?” Game Show

Thursday, February 25, 2010 Store Hours: 9:30 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
9:30 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. Wii Winter Games Daily Challenge
7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Rock Band Challenge Night

Friday, February 26, 2010 Store Hours: 9:30 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
9:30 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. Wii Winter Games Daily Challenge
8:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. Comedy Night: Christopher Molineux hosts a night of laughs with
some of Vancouver’s top comedy acts. (Limited space; visit
www.homeonhowe.com to RSVP.)

Saturday, February 27, 2010 Store Hours: 9:30 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
9:30 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. Wii Winter Games Daily Challenge
8:00 p.m. – 7:00 a.m. Closed Event (Urban Barn Staff Slumber Party)

Sunday, February 28, 2010 Store Hours: 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Wii 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Winter Games Daily Challenge
Right at Home on Howe Wrap/Closing Party

Taking a walk with a friend enjoying the beautiful Vancouver sunshine we stopped at the local UPS Store on Nelson & Cambie to mail off a package. We walked in to a sea of video cameras from two local TV stations and a large group of regular folk with cameras. What did we walk into? A scandal maybe at the UPS Store?

Even better, we walked into what turned out to be an impromptu media scrum for star Indian Olympic Athlete Shiva Keshavan. Upon asking and following up with further research when I got home it turns out that  Mr. Keshavan was the worlds youngest Luge entrant ever to participate in a Winter Olympics (Nagano 1998).

Click here to read more, see the pictures and watch the video.

I live in Yaletown and I have to say living in one of the Olympic hot spots has been so exciting. It’s electric every waking moment of the day.

The excitement for me really started on Thursday when with friends I watched the Olympic flame being carried right in front of the building I live in on Mainland St. Here’s a brief clip of the torch passing in front of my friends condo. What you didn’t see was the mimosas and the fantastic buffet of food our hostess had arranged. We celebrated in true Yaletown fashion!

Friday a bunch of us tried to get into to see the opening ceremony at Live City Yaletown but as we feared the crowd was overwhelming and we were sure we wouldn’t get in. So instead we headed to the Mill Bistro as guests of the owner Daniel Frankel. An outdoor beer garden covered by tents plus large plasma screens meant the usually intimate bistro handled over 200+ people that night. Check out some of the photos from our time there courtesy of Daniel Frankel.

Photo courtesy of Daniel Frankel

Photo courtesy of Daniel Frankel

photo coutrtesy of Daniel Frankel

Saturday & Sunday had me out in the streets both in the DT core as well as in my own hood of Yaletown. Buskers, street vendors and all the bars and restaurants were absolutely hopping! I was curious about how the crowds were effecting businesses other than those that in the F&B category so I asked a few local business owners about how it’s effected their business.

Val Litwin, a partner in Blo, said that business is as they expected. Right on schedule with their regular clients not scared away by the crowds. While Chris Breikss owner of 6S Marketing expected a slow down and adjusted his staffing accordingly. Here’s what he had to say:

So all in all I think Yaletown has benefitted from the past couple of days and as more people flock to this local hub the businesses can only prosper.

Marc Smith is Vancouver based event planner and will be reporting daily on various events happening around Vancouver. http://twitter.com/amuseconsulting

By Marc Smith

Yesterday, Feb 11th, saw yet another first in Olympic history occur in Vancouver. The first ever Pride House was opened in the heart of Downtown Vancouver at Qmunity, BC’s Queer Resource Centre. While to those of you who are not a member of the LGBT community this may seem small and insignificant it is in fact a major accomplishment and milestone. One I felt proud to be apart of and thrilled to be able to show the world that Canada is truly a country where diversity is celebrated.

Professional and Olympic caliber sports are one of the last remaining hold outs where people in the LGBT community feel they need to hide their authentic selves for fear of rejection from their peers and of course the almighty $$$ support from business and associations.

Politics aside Pride House Vancouver means that LGBT friends and family in Vancouver + all those visitors from around the world have a safe space to come hang out and celebrate the Olympic Spirit with others from their community.

I attended the official opening ceremonies and here is a video of the brief opening remarks from Qmunity Executive Director Jennifer Breakspear.

Right after the official ceremonies were over I was lucky enough to get an on camera chat with inspirational Marian Lay a 2 time Olympian (1964 & 1968), bronze medalist in 1968 and an openly gay woman. Hear what she had to say about Pride House and what it means to her.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about Pride House Vancouver. Please feel free to comment here, or send me a tweet.

Marc Smith is Vancouver based event planner and will be reporting daily on various events happening around Vancouver. http://twitter.com/amuseconsulting

Image via Wikipedia

Luck was smiling on me yesterday. I was gifted two tickets to see the dress rehearsal of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Opening Ceremonies!

Now don’t get all excited I’m not going to spill the beans about what I saw or who performed. I respect the producers wish to keep it a surprise. What I will do is tell you how I felt and the challenges and success of actually getting in to BC Place to see the dress rehearsal.

To start with the the line ups of people were amazing. We started at Robson and Beatty at 3:40pm and we didn’t get into BC Place until 5:05pm. Now luckily the dress rehearsal only had about a 1/3 capacity inside so if you are seeing the Official Opening Ceremonies I highly recommend giving yourself plenty of time to get inside so you don’t miss a thing.

The actual entrance into BC Place was at the corner of Nelson and Pacific and it was a bit of a zoo. Not much if any signage and no crowd fencing so it was almost a bit like a mosh pit. The Energy was electric, I saw many people I knew in the crowd and all faces were smiling and full of anticipation. I was already starting to feel my Canadian pride seeing how well mannered we all were + the huge volunteer force in their Olympic outfits.

So after getting through the airport like security we are now inside BC Place. Another line up at the concession stand. This was actually slower and more painful than security. Staff are really unsure and they actually ran out of the veggie dog my friend ordered so we had to wait 10 minutes on the side. Ok now we are in our seats, we enjoyed the remaining moments of the preshow. the sound was a bit echoed but that is what a dress rehearsal is for. To fix technical difficulties.

6pm sharp the dress rehearsal begins and my heart filled with pride. Multiple times during the show I had tears of joy in my eyes. The show was magnificent and even though most of the big performers weren’t there I was uplifted and truly awed. I think the world will really understand what it means to be Canadian. More importantly I think this will help Canadians remember what it means to be Canadian.

My only disappointment from the night is the realization that I won’t get to see in live on opening night. If you are going be loud, be proud, be Canadian!

Marc Smith www.twitter.com@amuseconsulting