Social Media and the Future of Citizen Journalism

Here’s a great film about the Vancouver 2010 Social Media coverage. Highlights include recognition that citizen journalists gave the Paralympic Games a profile, when broadcasters fail. As well, recognition of the different roles of citizen and investigative journalists.

Apart from the unique views that the elevation provides, the installation is also user interactive, people interested being offered the opportunity to influence the design of the light show and dedicate it to anyone or anything they might wish. A variety of dedications have already lit the skies of Vancouver, including a plea for more snow in Whistler.

According to Janet Miller, Manager of Communications for the Cultural Olympiad,  there have been around 11,000 submissions on the website from 134 different countries.

For those interested in influencing the nightly trajectory of the light beams, the site can be accessed here. Once registered the code, an email will be sent indicating when the created sequence will be projected. 4 active webcams are broadcasting the movement of the light beams at all times.

Originally developed for the Millennium Celebrations in Mexico, “Vectorial Elevation” is part of CODE, the Cultural Olympiad’s Digital Edition showcasing digital work that encourages people from across the globe to take part in and interact with.

“The air pollution in Mexico added to the magnificence of the show. Sadly, Vancouver has clear skies but the reflection from the water makes up for it” said the artist, Lozano-Hemmer.

The installation has also been on display in Lyon and Dublin.  However, for the Winter Olympics  “Vectorial Elevation” has been substantially extended, being now considered one of the world’s largest interactive artworks.

Rachael McAlister is a Master’s student at the University of the West of Scotland and is contributing to Culture @ the Olympics during his stay in Vancouver.

Taking advantage of the influx of  Olympic visitors, the Whistler Arts Council promotes the endives of local artists throughout the Village as part of its Arts Walk, which links 43 host galleries together hosted by a variety of spaces from coffee shops to hotel lobbies. However, it’s not only these locations that promote artistic interest. The centre of the village offers as well plenty of opportunities to explore or observe artwork.

Among these displays, the projects that aim to get the public involved are the ones that stand out the most. One such example is Oliver Roy’s , a self-described Snowboarder – Artiste, activity that involves putting a canvas out into the village and encouraging children to come add some paint to it and work with some of the draft designs already in place.

Standing outside his workshop tent, Oliver said: “There are about 8 kids constantly painting with us right now so it’s been very popular. We’re entertaining and there’s a good spectator pool. The Olympics allow us a great opportunity to showcase our art.”

The final pieces are to hang as a permanent fixture of Main Street, Whistler Library, long after the Games left the village.

Geoff O’Donnell is a Master’s student at the University of the West of Scotland and is contributing to Culture @ the Olympics during his stay in Vancouver.

A popular destination with tourists, the arts and recreation centre has embraced the Games, hosting many of the Cultural Olympiad events such as that of Tanya Tagaq, an Inuit throat singing with orchestral and contemporary influences. It has also created a community ‘living room’ with big television screens allowing people to come together to enjoy the sports.

However Diana Vandeveen, Roundhouse programme co-ordinator, declares she was shocked when ten of her staff had to be laid off a week before the Olympics started due to money diverted to finance the Games.

“People are not seeing the essence of what the Roundhouse community centre is”, according to Diana. In non-Olympic times the Roundhouse provides arts and recreational activities focusing on families and wellbeing of senior citizens.

The programming of the Roundhouse has been substantially reduced and the community centre had to rent their space to Casa Italia, the Italian House, for the eight weeks of competitions. The Roundhouse is not the only arts establishment whose funds were reduced in the eve of the Winter Games. Last year in September, members and supporters of the arts community in Vancouver protested against the cuts at the grounds of the Vancouver Art Gallery.

With Montreal finishing to pay its 1976 Games debt only last year, questions over the faith of Vancouver’s community projects remain open.

Rachael McAlister and Erin Linton are Broadcast Journalism Post Graduate students at the University of the West of Scotland and are contributing to Culture @ the Olympics during their time in Vancouver.

50% of the proceeds raised from the ’We Rock ‘ art exhibit will be given to the YWCA and are aimed to fund programmes designed to help educate children from deprived backgrounds.

Wesman, who is known for his seven official portraits created for the Calgary Games as well as for his later work, which was commissioned for the 1988 Seoul Summer Games, explained that he has a long history with the YWCA and the Olympics, and he believed that marrying the two together for the purpose of charity was a great idea.

“I’ve been associated with the YWCA for 45 years, helping with their programmes, teaching the kids. If we sell all these paintings the total would be quarter of a million, although I don’t think we’ll quite make that figure” he added.

The auction is located at the YWCA Hotel in Hornby Street where visitors can both view and leave bids on the paintings.  The auction closes on the February 28^th.

Mark Hodge is a Master’s students at the University of the West of Scotland and is contributing to Culture @ the Olympics during his stay in Vancouver.

Following the model of BCMC the village of Whistler, one of the main hosts of the Olympic outdoor competitions, has put together a similar centre catering for the media in town interested in following stories out the beaten Olympic track: the Whistler Media House. Located in the vicinity of the Whistler Medal Plaza and the shrine dedicated to the fallen Georgian athlete, Nodar Kumaritashvili, the house provides free wifi, production spaces, a media theatre as well a connection point with other Whistler organizations. In fact, sources indicate that VANOC accredited media usually located in the Press Centre just walking minutes away from the Whistler Media House, make daily their way to the press conferences held at the here to meet athletes and their families. Unlike in Vancouver, where the BCMC operates independently from the other media houses such as W2 or True North Media House, in Whistler the media house brings all these stakeholders together. It is here where the Blackcomb Media Hub first communicates about its support to journalists with mountain access, rental equipment and mountain specific information. However, in order to get free or discounted access to the mountain journalists need to prove their interest in mountain related stories.

The Resort Municipality of Whistler is also present at the Whistler Media House their booth highlighting a wide range of activities in the area from tourism to culture. In fact, the Whistler Media House together with their partners offers a comprehensive list of online and digital resources, exceeding 1TB of data, for journalists ranging from photos to raw b-rolls and even story ideas. Similar information is provided by BCMC and can be accessed via the centre’s searchable archives as well as in its links and resources area of the website.

For those interested, here is a list of digital resources for the Winter Games. Part of the information comes from data compiled by the Resort Municipality of Whistler and part from our own research. Most sites require users to register.

• Whistler Media House
• British Columbia International Media Centre
• 2010 Winter Games Secretariat Resort Municipality of Whistler (data password protected)
• Tourism Whistler (request access privileges)
• Whistler Blackcomb (all media indexed and named for identification)
• Olympic Torch Relay

For BC, Vancouver, Canada related resources please check:

• Tourism BC
• Canadian Tourism Commission (data password protected)
• City of Vancouver (no registration required; FTP download)
• Tourism Vancouver

On the 26th of February, the International Olympic Academy Participants Association (IOAPA) are holding a reunion in Vancouver for all past participants who are in the city for the Games.  The event will be held between 5pm-7pm within the Reception of 1090 Boulevard, followed by a further chance to connect at Subeez Restaurant, on the corner of Homer and Smithe, from 7pm until late.

Please RSVP to Katherine Ringrose if you wish to attend.

The technical operations centre for the Vancouver Games, Atos Origin has its offices located at a distance from the events. It is there alone that they house over 800 services, 6,000 computer terminals and employ a team of more than 2000 working in 12 hours shifts to overlook and maintain the systems during Games time. Patrick Adiba, Executive Vice President of Olympic Games for the company states that their one goal is “delivering a flawless IT experience to athletes, Olympic officials, media, volunteers and spectators”.

Looking forward, Atos Orgin’s work has already began to prepare for the forthcoming 2010 Singapore Youth Olympics and London 2012 games – with plans to continue their work within the Olympic movement with Sochi 2014 and Rio 2016. At the same time, they are working with representatives, preparing the layout of infrastructure and finalising partnerships with mobile communication companies in the UK.

Atos Origin are working towards the generation of the “Olympic Data Feed”, designed together with the IOC, in order to aggregate all data streams to the newswires, websites and Olympic intranet in order to provide a consolidated source of information. In addition to this, Atos Origin are looking of ways to “virtualise” their current infrastructure to allow for less energy and hardware than was used during the 2008 Beijing Games.

The Vancouver Art Gallery, located in Robson Square, which includes the British Columbia Canada Pavilion at its 4^th floor,  is marking the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games with a dynamic exhibition of British Columbia’s renowned artists.

Visions of British Columbia: a Landscape Manual displays the work of 37 artists who take inspiration from the natural environment.Among them is Emily Carr, one of the province’s most famous artists. Her painting, ‘Old Time Coast Village’ is an impressionist’s view of the natural settings of British Columbia.

This piece in particular had a big influence on modern artist, Jin-me Yoon, who uses it as a backdrop to her photo installation: ‘A Group of Sixty-seven.’ Remembering Canada’s lifting the immigrations restrictions to several Asian countries including South Korea, Yoon’s native land, the artist places images of Korean-Canadian immigrants in front of a traditional setting as a means to highlight the country’s move towards a more diverse demographic.

Other works on display include Jeff Wall’s light boxes which bring to life mundane urban photographs (photo) and Brian Jungen’s impressive 40-foot whale skeleton, ‘Cetology’, suspended from the gallery’s ceiling made entirely from recycled plastic chairs. (photo)

There are also interactive displays inspired by the BC forest and the green technology being introduced into the area. A focal point is the 500-year-old Spirit Tree, part of the BC Canada Pavilion at the Beijing Summer Games.

However, due to space limitations, the Vancouver Art Gallery is showcasing only 2% of its collections. Nevertheless, with the $50 million donation the Gallery received from the province of BC, the hopes are that more of these collections will be made available to the public.

”The long term goal is to build a gallery twice the size of the existing building. It will be an architecturally significant building. There will be an intense selection process for a local designer but the first priority is to find a suitable site in Downtown Vancouver” says Andrew Riley, Public Relations Manager of the Gallery.

Mark Hodge and Rachael McAllister are Master’s students at the University of the West of Scotland and are contributing to Culture @ the Olympics during their stay in Vancouver.