Friday, February 26, 2010

Vancouver 2010 The Final Week

Hi, my name is Brittney Moore and I am an intern with the International Games Division of the US Olympic Committee. For my internship, I have been fortunate enough to travel to and work in Vancouver, BC during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. The past 4 1/2 weeks have been incredible up here in Vancouver, BC. Since arriving in Canada, I have been working in a variety of areas and meeting a lot of amazing people. I started out my Games experience working in Team Processing where athletes receive their Opening and Closing apparel, as wells as Village Wear and gifting items (hats, scarves, gloves, shoes, etc).
I then went to Whistler, BC for a week to work in the Performance Services Center and assist with operational support services. After the Opening Ceremony, I was transferred back to Vancouver and I have been working in USA House for the remainder of the Games.
Of course, the days can be long (10+ working hours) and "days off" don't really exist, but I have been able to do some great work, meet both current and past Olympians (Seth Wescott), as well as celebrities (Cuba Gooding Jr. and Steven Colbert) and truly have a once in a lifetime experience.
I have also been able to see a few events, including Speedskating, Women's Ice Hockey and Women's Bobsled. Being in Vancouver for the Olympics has been exciting and a worthwhile experience. I can only hope that this will not be my last Olympic Games experience!


^Seth Wescott (Snowboard Cross 2010 Gold Medalist)

^Charlie at the Women's Hockey Game USA vs Sweden
(IG-Transportation Intern)

Amazing Awaits is Here!

Hi! My name is Rebecca Johnson and I am the New Media/Journalism intern with the USOC. This has been one of the most exciting and educational experiences of my life! The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games are coming to a close and life will be getting back to normal soon. During the Olympic Winter Games my department had rotating shifts throughout the day and evening in order to cover all of the events going on. We no longer worked our normal 8am-5pm shift, but rather from 8am-2pm, 2pm-8pm or 8pm-2am. Our team did an amazing job with Teamusa.org! There was so much going on, but we handled all of it, (even technical difficulties) and short staffed too! Before half of our department left for Vancouver, there were six of us to manage Teamusa.org, but during the Olympic Winter Games there were only 3 of us to manage it full time. So during our shifts we were individually and entirely responsible for all of the updates to the site-and believe me, people were watching! We ran everything (breaking news, top stories, team news, in the news, photos, photo galleries, blogs, videos, schedules, results, features, ads, polls and more)!


I have met so many amazing people since coming to work for the USOC! My supervisors are fantastic and I probably have the best coworker of all the interns! Yep, I'm pretty lucky to get to work with Emily Pan. :)

One of the most memorable moments here for me was when I was given the assignment of covering the USA Women's Hockey game against Finland at the World's Arena for Teamusa.org. I got to meet and interact with top reporters and photographers from all over the country. It was such an honor to have the opportunity to interview the players and head coach Mark Johnson. Before coaching the USA Women's Hockey Team, he was the star player for the USA Men's Hockey Team during the Lake Placid 1980 Olympic Winter Games and carried his team to victory over the Soviet Union. He was a key member of the "Miracle on Ice" Team, and I had the honor and privilege of meeting and interviewing him. I will never forget it!

The Intern Olympic Games are starting up tomorrow with Water Polo! We are a lot like the athletes in certain ways-we work hard, but play harder! It will be interesting to see how each of the teams develop their dynamic...

The USOC has a slogan, "Amazing Awaits." Well, 'Amazing' is here and happening now, each and every day. We live it and breathe it. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that I would be surrounded by Olympic hopefuls, Olympians and Olympic medalists all day, every day! We live, eat and hang out together. How many people can say that they have ever done that?!

I'm excited for what the future has in store for all of us here after the Olympic Winter Games come to a close and as the Paralympic Winter Games just begin!

Amazing Awaits!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

My name is Ashley Gartland and I am an intern with USA Boxing. I can't even begin to summarize everything I have learned and experienced since I started. As soon as I arrived I hit the ground running with immediate responsibility, and after two weeks I was sent to Cincinnati, OH to run the 2010 USA Boxing U-19s National Champions as the USA Boxing Representative. I met so many people and built great relationships, not to mention I was able to learn first hand how to run a USA Boxing qualifier. I really enjoyed planning and executing the event with our major sponsor R & R Promotions out of Cincinnati, they were very helpful in the execution of the event. Below is a picture from ringside...

The only thing I regret is not being there for the last day to see the medal ceremony for the young athletes that qualified for the Youth World Chmapionships. Not to mention being able to see 2 time Olympian Rau’shee Warren fight in a showcased bout. But, as many people have told me, being able to go to Opening Ceremonies is an unbelievable opportunity that I should take. So I did, and I will say it was AMAZING!


Since then I have been working on sending the qualifying athletes to the Youth Worlds in Baku, Azerbaijan in April. While I am managing this process I have been working with our Equipment and Apperal Sponsor, Everlast, to come up with outfitting for Team USA when they compete againt Italy at the end of March and beginning of April. I am also in the process of putting a plan together for improving how we can hold our #1 and #2 athletes accountable so we can provide them better support as a NGB.

As you can tell I have been nothing short of busy since I set foot at the OTC, but I would not have it any other way. The intern class is awesome and I am so happy to be here with them. We have a great group of people, I only wish I could spend more time with them. Everyone likes to have a good time and try new things, such as learning Judo during orientation - which was awesome! I am so happy to have this opportunity to work with an NGB and the USOC. This past month has been unforgettable, I can only imagine how great these next few months and hopfully years will be!

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Life as a Media Relations intern

Hello everyone, my name is Taylor Thomas and I’m one of the two new Media Relations interns for the Olympic Committee. In May 2009, I graduated with a Public Relations degree from Purdue University (Boiler Up!). I moved here from Muncie, Indiana…home of Garfield and David Letterman. I’ve been in Colorado Springs for a month now, and I absolutely love it. Coming from Indiana, I’m used to looking at miles and miles of cornfields. I still can’t believe that everyday when I look out my window, I get to see Pikes Peak. Since being here, I’ve met great friends from all around the country. We’ve gone to a USA Women’s Hockey vs Finland game at the World Arena, hiked Garden of the Gods, spent a weekend in Denver, volunteered for USA Wrestling, and are about to compete in our own Intern Olympics (GO TEAM 2)!



The first weekend we were here, most of the interns went a few miles away to Garden of the Gods. Garden of the Gods is a public park which has numerous trails for hiking, walking, mountain biking, rock climbers, and horseback riding. Interns, Courtney, Megan, and I hiked for about an hour, while taking gorgeous pictures of the red rock as well as Pikes Peak.



Last week, as an intern class, we went to see the USA Women’s Hockey team play in their final scrimmage against Finland. The US team won 5-1! This was my first professional hockey game and I absolutely loved it. Considering I can’t even skate backwards, these women were amazing.

I can’t believe I am working for the United States Olympic Committee. In a short amount of time, I have learned so much since being here. It’s extremely exciting to work for the USOC right now because of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games. Since I work in media relations, we are very busy dealing with media requests, producing Athlete of the Month nominations, writing scripts for ‘Going for the Gold’ Vodcast videos, and handling fan mail.

Living on the Olympic Training Center is surreal. I would’ve never thought that growing up, I’d be working at the place where ‘amazing awaits’. I’m constantly surrounded by the best of the best athletes which represent our country in competition every four years.

I can’t wait for what the next four months here in Colorado Springs brings. I’m extremely lucky to have this opportunity. I love the group of interns here, and am having so much fun everyday.

Hello from sunny California!

Hey everyone,

My name is Dana Leenheer and I am the Venue Operations Intern at the Chula Vista Olympic Training Center in sunny California. I recently graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelors of Arts degree in Sport Management, GO BLUE! I am originally from Grand Rapids, MI. I had never visited California before this internship. The weather here is amazing! It has been in the 60s to 70s and at least partly sunny almost everyday I have been here, except for a brief rain storm one weekend. I guess Ann Arbor, Michigan just received 10 inches of snow over the past couple of days, so I feel like I am in paradise here.



As I said earlier I am the Venue Operations Intern at the CVOTC. I have really enjoyed the experience so far. The internship has changed week to week so it definitely keeps me on my toes. My job entails working with venues, transportation, administration, events, and other areas as needed with my main focus being venues/events. The people I have met here are awesome and I am learning a lot about how the Olympic movement functions and how that relates to how a training center operates.



This past weekend we held the So Cal BMX Nationals here at the training center. This was my first experience working with this sport. I had actually never watched a BMX competition on TV or in person before so this was a chance for me to experience the sport and see what it is all about. I was amazed by the wide range of ages of the participants. There was a 5 year old and under category all the way up to 40 and over!

I love it here in California and would highly recommend this internship to anyone wanting to learn about this area of the sport industry. I feel very lucky and honored to be a part of this program, and I am excited to see what the next 4 months bring!



Dana Leenheer
Venue Operations Intern
Chula Vista OTC

Friday, February 5, 2010

I'm Just Livin' the Dream!

Hey,



My name is Spencer Duke. I am an intern in Paralympics (THE best department in the complex) where I work with Community Programs. Though I anticipated having a great experience, I have been shocked with how much I like both the work and the people. It has been really busy, but that's great when you enjoy what you are doing. I'm from Edmond, Oklahoma where I attend the University of Central Oklahoma. Were it not for this great opportunity, I'd be finishing up my junior year as an Exercise and Fitness Management major. I am also a student athletic trainer in the Broncho Athletic Department. (Go Bronchos!)

As I said, I work with Community Programs in the Paralympics department and I consider it the best on complex. We have lots of great things happening. I am currently involved with the Paralympic Experience Vancouver which is an event where we take students and leaders with physical disabilities to the Paralympic Games in Vancouver. I’m also working on the Developing Amazing Leaders Conference which will be held here in Colorado Springs towards the end of my internship.



I can't believe I've written two paragraphs without mentioning how much I LOVE COLORADO. I've been able to experience many new things that simply are not possible in Oklahoma. During our first weekend here, a couple of my fellow interns and I headed out to visit the Garden of the Gods. I had never seen anything like it before and was amazed with the crazy rock formations that I saw. We spent a couple hours hiking the trails and climbing our way up the rocks which was pretty cool.



Shortly after I began the internship, I heard people talking about "The Incline." Being new to the area, I had no idea what they were talking about and soon learned that it was pretty much a big set of stairs on the side of a mountain. I was told it was something that I had to do so my roommate and I decided to give it a shot during our second weekend in Colorado. We thought we'd walk up the stairs to enjoy the view. I heard the warning but never really believed we had anything to worry about. We're both in decent shape, or so I thought we were.



We arrive at the base of the incline and decided we were going to take it slow. Still, we wanted to see what our time would be. We started a timer and began our trek up the incline without a care in the world. 3 minutes later we took our first break. I knew then that we were in way over our heads. My legs were burning, I was already breathing hard, and our adventure had just begun. People began to pass us and we would ask them how much longer it would take until we got to the top, and most of the times we were met with laughs and them saying “You’re saying that now? This is the easy stuff.” We were not pleased, but we pressed on.

As we got higher, it got colder. And people began to pass us at a much quicker rate. We had gone from going 3 minutes between breaks to taking a break every 20-30 seconds. When we stopped, it was no longer just getting a swig of water and catching our breath. Instead we were practically collapsing onto anything we felt safe enough to sit on. One minute breaks to catch up on our breathing became five minute survival periods. We began mapping out our breaks.

After over an hour of this, we finally reached the top. We were thrilled and both of us talked about how that was the hardest thing we had ever done. We took a couple of minutes to enjoy the amazing view. Words don't do justice, so I won't even try. Suffice it to say that we could see everything for many miles to the east and Pike's Peak to the west. We decided to take the long way down on the Barre Trail which was actually pretty cool. The trail was somewhat icy in spots but was a nice change of pace after we nearly killed ourselves on the way up.

So I survived the incline and have many more things planned. I want to ski/snowboard for the first time. My 21st birthday will be happening soon. My girlfriend, Stacey, will get to come out and visit. The 2nd Intern Olympics will be taking place (I guarantee a win for Team Number Four!). And all the while I get to work on behalf of some of the most inspiring athletes in the world.




This opportunity has already been a life changing blessing and I get to do it for four more months. Sweet!

Spencer Duke
Paralympic Community Programs
Colorado Springs OTC