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What to expect from Olympic security

The motto of Games organizers this week is "Know before you go," and this week the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) released a list of security tips for spectators heading to events and venues.

The motto of Games organizers this week is "Know before you go," and this week the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) released a list of security tips for spectators heading to events and venues.

When in doubt it's best to pretend that you're flying. Gates open two hours ahead of time for city venues, three hours early for mountain venues and four hours for opening and closing ceremonies. It's best to get there early to get through the security screening. Expect metal detectors, wands and bag scanners.

You should also take the time to read your ticket to confirm the time, date, gate and other relevant information. Don't lose them because lost tickets cannot be replaced or refunded - especially good to keep in mind if you paid $750 per ticket to see the gold medal hockey game.

Goes easy on the carry-on luggage. If you have a bag that's smaller than 15 cm by 15 cm by 30 cm or no bag at all then you get to go through the express line. If you have a larger bag then you will need to go through the regular line and security procedures.

When you pass through the medal detector you will be asked to empty your pockets, so you might want to be ready to do that. Taking off belts and other metal accessories that beep is also a good plan to avoid extra scrutiny.

VANOC has a list of items that people are not allowed to bring into venues, as well as behaviours that people should probably leave at home.

There's the usual list of prohibited things like knives and pepper spray, that no sane person would bring anywhere near a venue with so many police and military on hand.

Other items to leave at home include:

• All aerosol spray, flammable liquids, fireworks and water balloon launchers.

• Ambush marketing of any kind. Nobody will force you to remove your Nike shoes, but dressing head to toe in Adidas wear might set off a few alarms. Also, no leaflets, pamphlets or non-approved publications or promotional material will be allowed.

• No animals, except for service animals.

• No balls, Frisbees, racquets, hockey sticks, pucks or other sporting items.

• No bicycles, scooters, skateboards, skis, snowboards or sleds.

• No broadcast and lighting equipment.

• You are not allowed to broadcast and record on mobile phones or using other transmitting devices if it's for commercial purposes. By all means, take all the photos and video you like for personal reasons, although flash photography is not allowed.

• No glass containers or bottles, no folding chairs, no golf umbrellas or open umbrellas.

The complete list is extensive, and you can find it online at www.vancouver2010.com/olympic-spectator-guide/

 

Whistler welcomes the Na'vi

It took Whistler locals all of a day to come up with a nickname for the Olympic workers in their teal coats, which began to pop up everywhere last week. The group is being called "The Na'vi," after the blue race of peaceful forest dwellers from James Cameron's Avatar. Another name that has been suggested is Smurfs, but the Na'vi reference seems to be catching on fast.

 

Negative publicity abounds

February had not even started yet and already newspapers around the world were reporting negative and not-quite-accurate stories about the 2010 Games, from the lack of snow at the Cypress venue to the ongoing homeless dilemma in Vancouver.

"Vancouver's Olympics are heading for disaster," wrote Douglas Haddow in the Guardian on Jan. 31. Among Haddow's questionable observations was the nugget "just days before the opening ceremony, Vancouver is gripped by dread. Not the typical attitude for a host city, but understandable when you consider that everything that could go wrong, is in the process of going wrong."

Haddow then makes, with an abundance of misplaced commas, the accusation that the Games are somehow behind the province's decision to cancel 2,400 surgeries, lay off 233 employees and 800 teachers, and to recommend the closure of 14 schools. Obviously Haddow never lets demographics - and lower student enrollment throughout the province - get in the way of a good story.

With the security presence Haddow also compares Vancouver to Berlin after WWII, and says that "Scores of roads have been shut down, small businesses have been told to close shop and citizens have been instructed to either leave the city or stay indoors to make way for the projected influx of 300,000 visitors."

I guess we missed the memo or everything is that paragraph is inaccurate.

Sports Illustrated should probably stick to reporting actual sports after a negative column by Dave Zirin, "As Olympics near, people in Vancouver are dreading Games."

At least Zirin tried to be diplomatic, quoting a recent poll of public attitudes towards the Games taken by Angus Reid.

Some of the reasons given for the frowny faces Zirin encountered at the airport and on a bus include the rising costs and diminished returns from hosting the Games, cuts to city services, homelessness and impending demonstrations on the homeless issue.

The lack of snow at Cypress Mountain has also become an international story, and a legitimate one given the massive efforts on behalf of organizers to ensure that snowboard and freestyle events take place as planned.

 

RBC offers prepaid money cards

RBC Royal Bank is replacing the need for cash and credits by issuing pre-paid cards that use radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to make transactions.

The cards are by Visa and shaped like Coca-Cola bottles. They can be used at vending machines in Vancouver and Whistler at Games venues, as well as retail and food and beverage locations inside the fence.

The cards are available at any RBC Royal Bank branch, as well as online at www.rbcroyalbank.com/visagiftcard/. You can put up to $500 on a prepaid card, which can be used merely by swiping them in front of special terminals.

 

Inside the 2010 media kit

The 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games are anticipating a record audience for a Winter Games, with an audience estimated at roughly 3.5 billion. Coverage will be extensive with 10,000 accredited broadcast, print and Internet-based journalists in Vancouver and Whistler and thousands more unaccredited media getting more attention than they ever have in past games.

It's traditional for Games organizers to give members of the media a media kit that includes relevant information, and the 2010 Games were no exception.

Each reporter receives a backpack from IOC sponsors Acer computers, which has a laptop pouch inside and a rain cover stowed in the top. Each reporter also gets a short Ethernet cable to connect to the network in the media centre, a Richmond Oval mouse pad, and two USB thumbdrives packed with images and information - one from VANOC in the shape of a watch, and one from the Government of B.C.

There are two packs of Cold-FX with six pills in each, enough to stave off a cold for a week or so, as well as pins from Cold-FX and Sabuto. There's a pen, a notepad from McDonald's with a pull-out nutritional information chart.

There is a media guide that is packed with information on the venues and bus network, a lanyard with media centre contact numbers and three packs of Excel gum.

There's a pedometer, which can track how many steps you take in a day, a single Olympic-themed Snickers chocolate bar, and postcards from PEI and Newfoundland to promote tourism.

Compared to previous Games, the 2010 media package is on the austere side, perhaps a reflection of the economy.