This Wednesday February 10th, W2 invites you to a ribbon cutting ceremony with Mayor Gregor Robertson! The reception will be between 9 am and 10 am, with the ribbon cutting at 9:30 am. Enjoy Salt Spring Coffee Co. and fresh croissants!
SARAH BUCHANAN WILL BE THERE TO COVER IT.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Olympic Literacy Practice
fromCommunications, ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation
tomedia@abc-canada.org
dateMon, Feb 8, 2010 at 7:39 AM
subjectMedia Release: Olympic Literacy Tips
hide details 7:39 AM (7 hours ago)
MEDIA RELEASE
For immediate release
Become A Literacy Champion!
Literacy tips and activities for the month of February
(Toronto, ON, February 8, 2010) – The Vancouver 2010 Olympics and Paralympics offer an excellent opportunity to cheer on your country while practicing literacy skills.
ABC CANADA offers the following list of literacy tips and activity ideas that your family can practice over the next month:
1. Find out where the Olympic torch has travelled by looking at a map. You can practice your numeracy skills by calculating the distance travelled. A detailed map can be found at: http://www.vancouver2010.com/more-2010-information/olympic-torch-relay/olympic-torch-relay-interactive-map/
2. Write a note of congratulations and send it to your favourite Canadian athlete.
3. Keep track of the number of gold, silver and bronze medals won by Canadian athletes in a spreadsheet to improve numeracy and computer literacy skills.
4. Find out more about Vancouver. Read about popular tourist attractions in British Columbia like the Rocky Mountains.
5. Read about interesting Olympic sports, such as bobsledding and skeleton.
6. Sing the Canadian national anthem to cheer on the teams.
7. Record all of the new competition records.
8. Research information about your favourite athlete; find out where they grew up, how they train, what their favourite food is, etc.
9. Invite friends and family to take part in your own competition – why not hold a Math Challenge?
10. Collect Olympic commemorative coins and add up your total.
11. Write trivia inspired by the Olympics, ex. Clara Hughes is the only Canadian athlete to win a medal at both the Summer and Winter Olympics.
12. Learn the history of the Olympics: origins, past and future host cities, and then locate these host cities on a map.
13. During timed events, calculate the difference between the top athletes’ performances to improve numeracy.
14. Identify all of the colours of the Olympic rings and match each to the flag of a participating country.
15. Find out your family’s heritage and follow the progress of your ancestors’ native countries.
16. Pick a sport that you are least familiar with and read up on its rules.
17. Spell the name of one participating country that starts with each letter of the alphabet.
For more information on literacy please visit ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation’s website: www.abc-canada.org .
Contact information:
Ashley Tilley
Communications Coordinator
ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation
Phone: 416-218-0010 ext.127
Toll-free: 1-800-303-1004 ext.127
Email: atilley@abc-canada.org
Nikki Luscombe
Communications Manager
ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation
Phone: 416-218-0010 ext.122
Toll-free: 1-800-303-1004 ext.122
Email: nluscombe@abc-canada.org
tomedia@abc-canada.org
dateMon, Feb 8, 2010 at 7:39 AM
subjectMedia Release: Olympic Literacy Tips
hide details 7:39 AM (7 hours ago)
MEDIA RELEASE
For immediate release
Become A Literacy Champion!
Literacy tips and activities for the month of February
(Toronto, ON, February 8, 2010) – The Vancouver 2010 Olympics and Paralympics offer an excellent opportunity to cheer on your country while practicing literacy skills.
ABC CANADA offers the following list of literacy tips and activity ideas that your family can practice over the next month:
1. Find out where the Olympic torch has travelled by looking at a map. You can practice your numeracy skills by calculating the distance travelled. A detailed map can be found at: http://www.vancouver2010.com/more-2010-information/olympic-torch-relay/olympic-torch-relay-interactive-map/
2. Write a note of congratulations and send it to your favourite Canadian athlete.
3. Keep track of the number of gold, silver and bronze medals won by Canadian athletes in a spreadsheet to improve numeracy and computer literacy skills.
4. Find out more about Vancouver. Read about popular tourist attractions in British Columbia like the Rocky Mountains.
5. Read about interesting Olympic sports, such as bobsledding and skeleton.
6. Sing the Canadian national anthem to cheer on the teams.
7. Record all of the new competition records.
8. Research information about your favourite athlete; find out where they grew up, how they train, what their favourite food is, etc.
9. Invite friends and family to take part in your own competition – why not hold a Math Challenge?
10. Collect Olympic commemorative coins and add up your total.
11. Write trivia inspired by the Olympics, ex. Clara Hughes is the only Canadian athlete to win a medal at both the Summer and Winter Olympics.
12. Learn the history of the Olympics: origins, past and future host cities, and then locate these host cities on a map.
13. During timed events, calculate the difference between the top athletes’ performances to improve numeracy.
14. Identify all of the colours of the Olympic rings and match each to the flag of a participating country.
15. Find out your family’s heritage and follow the progress of your ancestors’ native countries.
16. Pick a sport that you are least familiar with and read up on its rules.
17. Spell the name of one participating country that starts with each letter of the alphabet.
For more information on literacy please visit ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation’s website: www.abc-canada.org
Contact information:
Ashley Tilley
Communications Coordinator
ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation
Phone: 416-218-0010 ext.127
Toll-free: 1-800-303-1004 ext.127
Email: atilley@abc-canada.org
Nikki Luscombe
Communications Manager
ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation
Phone: 416-218-0010 ext.122
Toll-free: 1-800-303-1004 ext.122
Email: nluscombe@abc-canada.org
Saturday, February 6, 2010
CiTR Olympic Coverage Plan - content needed
CiTR Olympic Coverage Plan - content needed
Brad from the CiTR news team presented to CJSF volunteers on January 29. We are invited to supply content for their coverage, and welcome to use theirs. Here is the outline of their plan, fully updated through Feb. 6:
1. Currently, CiTR has newscasts on Mondays and Fridays, 5-6 pm. Starting February 8th, they will begin 3 weeks of special Olympics coverage on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 5-6 pm. So, three hours a week to fill.
2. On Feb. 8th, CITR will produce an hour with the best of their CITR pre-Olympic coverage.
3. On Feb. 11th, they will be getting coverage of the Torch Relay at UBC.
4. On Feb. 12th, they will do a live broadcast of the protest at the Vancouve
r Art Gallery.
5. After that, each M-W-F the Olympics reports will be hosted live, 5-6 pm, from their UBC studio, with all-Olympic coverage, both pre-recorded and live interview segments and reports.
6. Daily they will produce 5 minutes of Olympic headlines and post them to the NCRA Program Exchange. At 8, 12, and 5, CiTR will be playing these headlines - promoting upcoming shows and highlighting previous coverage.
7. On Mondays and Fridays in the news hour, they will be doing regular segments with spokespeople from BCCLA and Pivot Legal Society.
8. They have launched a segment called "Eyes on the Street" that will serve as their user-generated Olympic coverage by means of a Twitter account (username: CiTRnews), voice mail (604-822-5334), and email (news@citr.ca).
9. They will post all their pieces to the NCRA Program Exchange. [yes!]
Things they plan to cover include: Torch Relay at UBC on Thursday Feb. 11. Olympics opening ceremonies Feb. 12. Big protest at the Art Gallery on the 12th. Women's March to end violence in the Downtown Eastside.
They ask for help with both content creation and involving citizens to report.
Pieces you post to the NCRA Program Exchange will be available to them.
Contact info:
News Department
CiTR Radio 101.9FM
233-6138 SUB Blvd.
Vancouver, B.C.
V6T 1Z1
phone: 604-822-5334 (newsroom)
email: news@citr.ca
web: www.citr.ca
follow us on twitter: @CiTRnews
become a fan on facebook: CiTR News
================
Hi Frieda,
It's Andrew - the other Co-Director of CiTR News 101. Everything is pretty accurate - there are only a few things I would add:
1. The Wednesday broadcast from 5-6pm will primarily be Olympics coverage from an arts perspective (hosted by Tracy Fuller of the Arts Report).
4. 12 Feb - We will not be broadcasting live from the protest because we would need either a landline or a hard internet connection. But we will have reporters there who we will be talking to us live from the protest. While four of us have accreditation for the media centre at Robson Square, we don't have access to the actual opening ceremonies inside BC Place.
7. We will probably promo stories we are working on very briefly in the 5-min daily headlines. The headlines will be made available no later than 10pm each night through the NCRA program exchange in order to be played the following day.
10. We will upload individual stories to the program exchange as well, which stations can play as stand-alone pieces, if they wish.
Thanks for spreading the word. We'll be in touch.
Cheers,
Andrew Longhurst
Brad from the CiTR news team presented to CJSF volunteers on January 29. We are invited to supply content for their coverage, and welcome to use theirs. Here is the outline of their plan, fully updated through Feb. 6:
1. Currently, CiTR has newscasts on Mondays and Fridays, 5-6 pm. Starting February 8th, they will begin 3 weeks of special Olympics coverage on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 5-6 pm. So, three hours a week to fill.
2. On Feb. 8th, CITR will produce an hour with the best of their CITR pre-Olympic coverage.
3. On Feb. 11th, they will be getting coverage of the Torch Relay at UBC.
4. On Feb. 12th, they will do a live broadcast of the protest at the Vancouve
r Art Gallery.
5. After that, each M-W-F the Olympics reports will be hosted live, 5-6 pm, from their UBC studio, with all-Olympic coverage, both pre-recorded and live interview segments and reports.
6. Daily they will produce 5 minutes of Olympic headlines and post them to the NCRA Program Exchange. At 8, 12, and 5, CiTR will be playing these headlines - promoting upcoming shows and highlighting previous coverage.
7. On Mondays and Fridays in the news hour, they will be doing regular segments with spokespeople from BCCLA and Pivot Legal Society.
8. They have launched a segment called "Eyes on the Street" that will serve as their user-generated Olympic coverage by means of a Twitter account (username: CiTRnews), voice mail (604-822-5334), and email (news@citr.ca).
9. They will post all their pieces to the NCRA Program Exchange. [yes!]
Things they plan to cover include: Torch Relay at UBC on Thursday Feb. 11. Olympics opening ceremonies Feb. 12. Big protest at the Art Gallery on the 12th. Women's March to end violence in the Downtown Eastside.
They ask for help with both content creation and involving citizens to report.
Pieces you post to the NCRA Program Exchange will be available to them.
Contact info:
News Department
CiTR Radio 101.9FM
233-6138 SUB Blvd.
Vancouver, B.C.
V6T 1Z1
phone: 604-822-5334 (newsroom)
email: news@citr.ca
web: www.citr.ca
follow us on twitter: @CiTRnews
become a fan on facebook: CiTR News
================
Hi Frieda,
It's Andrew - the other Co-Director of CiTR News 101. Everything is pretty accurate - there are only a few things I would add:
1. The Wednesday broadcast from 5-6pm will primarily be Olympics coverage from an arts perspective (hosted by Tracy Fuller of the Arts Report).
4. 12 Feb - We will not be broadcasting live from the protest because we would need either a landline or a hard internet connection. But we will have reporters there who we will be talking to us live from the protest. While four of us have accreditation for the media centre at Robson Square, we don't have access to the actual opening ceremonies inside BC Place.
7. We will probably promo stories we are working on very briefly in the 5-min daily headlines. The headlines will be made available no later than 10pm each night through the NCRA program exchange in order to be played the following day.
10. We will upload individual stories to the program exchange as well, which stations can play as stand-alone pieces, if they wish.
Thanks for spreading the word. We'll be in touch.
Cheers,
Andrew Longhurst
Friday, February 5, 2010
Workopolis Exclusive Contract with Olympics
I think this might be an interesting labour-related Olympics story - especially the fact that Workopolis is "the exclusive Official Supplier of Online Recruitment Services for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games." Would be interesting to find out who they actually are, what services they supplied, how well the services worked for people, and what the financial arrangements were with them. I just went to the website and found only 1 job listing, and a place to click to volunteer.
Montreal Hotel Concierge Named Workopolis Ambassador at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games
Montreal, QC, February 5, 2010 – Hilton Montreal Bonaventure is proud to announce Concierge, Chantal Beaudoin, has won the coveted role as Workopolis Ambassador at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
The one-of-a-kind job offered by Workopolis, who is the exclusive Official Supplier of Online Recruitment Services for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, received hundreds of entries from across the country. Beaudoin’s submission which spoke to her talent, exceptional skill set and passion, garnered more than 2/3 of the over 73,000 votes and the prize position.
As the Workopolis Ambassador, Chantal will have the chance of a lifetime to experience the the Games first hand. In addition to gaining valuable work experience, she will have the opportunity to attend exclusive events and will assist Workopolis with their supplier hospitality programs. Beaudoin will be a face of Workopolis during the Games, and will need to draw upon her experience in the hospitality industry to meet the needs of the guests.
As a former tour guide, photographer, teacher, entertainer and even mascot, Beaudoin’s extensive work experience will come in handy for her new role. Fluent in French, English and Spanish, she has been working as a concierge for the Hilton Montreal Bonaventure for many years and the team at the Hilton is thrilled for her to participate in this once in a lifetime opportunity.
Beaudoin is very excited about the upcoming event “I can't wait to be there. I have been preparing for this event since October when I first applied for this dream job. I have worked hard but I also know that a lot of people believed in me, voted for me and I thank you very much for that – this really is a once in a lifetime experience” Chantal says.
Beaudoin will be blogging about her behind the scenes experiences via a Blog on www.ambassador.workopolis.com. As part of the prize, she will also earn a salary of $7,000 for the three-week job plus receive free accommodation, transportation and meals and have access to at least 18 sporting events and ceremonies.
About Workopolis:
Workopolis (www.workopolis.com) is the best resource for Canadians considering job transition and for employers seeking qualified job candidates.
Workopolis provides a fully bilingual suite of industry-leading products and solutions including:
Tools to help job seekers find the right next job, including career alerts, newsletters, and Resume Rescue consultation services; Tools to help currently employed individuals, considering a mid-term career move make a better decision; including expert career advice and an online salary calculator; NicheNetwork: Canada’s largest network of trade- and sector-specific job boards; ideal for accessing hard-to-find highly skilled candidates; A powerful resume database including user-friendly search functions and intuitive screening tools which are ideal to reach not only highly engaged job-seekers but also those casually interested in a mid-term job change.
Workopolis has 160 staff in 9 offices across Canada. Workopolis is an equal partnership of Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd. and Square Victoria Digital Properties Inc, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Power Corporation of Canada.
Workopolis is the exclusive Official Supplier of Online Recruitment Services for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
About Hilton Montreal Bonaventure
The Hilton Montreal Bonaventure is owned and operated by SilverBirch Hotels & Resorts. SilverBirch Hotels & Resorts is one of Canada’s leading hotel management companies and manages 24 hotels and resorts across Canada. The company manages independent hotels and hotels operating under major franchise brands, such as Crowne Plaza, Radisson, Hilton, Quality, Gouverneur, Best Western and Ramada.
–30 –
Image and bio available upon request. Video capturing the announcement can be viewed at www.ambassador.workopolis.com.
Contacts:
Jennifer Couvelier, The Tartan Group
Cell: (250) 592.3838
jennifer@tartangroup.ca
Montreal Hotel Concierge Named Workopolis Ambassador at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games
Montreal, QC, February 5, 2010 – Hilton Montreal Bonaventure is proud to announce Concierge, Chantal Beaudoin, has won the coveted role as Workopolis Ambassador at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
The one-of-a-kind job offered by Workopolis, who is the exclusive Official Supplier of Online Recruitment Services for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, received hundreds of entries from across the country. Beaudoin’s submission which spoke to her talent, exceptional skill set and passion, garnered more than 2/3 of the over 73,000 votes and the prize position.
As the Workopolis Ambassador, Chantal will have the chance of a lifetime to experience the the Games first hand. In addition to gaining valuable work experience, she will have the opportunity to attend exclusive events and will assist Workopolis with their supplier hospitality programs. Beaudoin will be a face of Workopolis during the Games, and will need to draw upon her experience in the hospitality industry to meet the needs of the guests.
As a former tour guide, photographer, teacher, entertainer and even mascot, Beaudoin’s extensive work experience will come in handy for her new role. Fluent in French, English and Spanish, she has been working as a concierge for the Hilton Montreal Bonaventure for many years and the team at the Hilton is thrilled for her to participate in this once in a lifetime opportunity.
Beaudoin is very excited about the upcoming event “I can't wait to be there. I have been preparing for this event since October when I first applied for this dream job. I have worked hard but I also know that a lot of people believed in me, voted for me and I thank you very much for that – this really is a once in a lifetime experience” Chantal says.
Beaudoin will be blogging about her behind the scenes experiences via a Blog on www.ambassador.workopolis.com. As part of the prize, she will also earn a salary of $7,000 for the three-week job plus receive free accommodation, transportation and meals and have access to at least 18 sporting events and ceremonies.
About Workopolis:
Workopolis (www.workopolis.com) is the best resource for Canadians considering job transition and for employers seeking qualified job candidates.
Workopolis provides a fully bilingual suite of industry-leading products and solutions including:
Tools to help job seekers find the right next job, including career alerts, newsletters, and Resume Rescue consultation services; Tools to help currently employed individuals, considering a mid-term career move make a better decision; including expert career advice and an online salary calculator; NicheNetwork: Canada’s largest network of trade- and sector-specific job boards; ideal for accessing hard-to-find highly skilled candidates; A powerful resume database including user-friendly search functions and intuitive screening tools which are ideal to reach not only highly engaged job-seekers but also those casually interested in a mid-term job change.
Workopolis has 160 staff in 9 offices across Canada. Workopolis is an equal partnership of Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd. and Square Victoria Digital Properties Inc, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Power Corporation of Canada.
Workopolis is the exclusive Official Supplier of Online Recruitment Services for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
About Hilton Montreal Bonaventure
The Hilton Montreal Bonaventure is owned and operated by SilverBirch Hotels & Resorts. SilverBirch Hotels & Resorts is one of Canada’s leading hotel management companies and manages 24 hotels and resorts across Canada. The company manages independent hotels and hotels operating under major franchise brands, such as Crowne Plaza, Radisson, Hilton, Quality, Gouverneur, Best Western and Ramada.
–30 –
Image and bio available upon request. Video capturing the announcement can be viewed at www.ambassador.workopolis.com.
Contacts:
Jennifer Couvelier, The Tartan Group
Cell: (250) 592.3838
jennifer@tartangroup.ca
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression Olympic monitoring project
3 February 2010
Guardians of the Winter Olympics restrict free expression
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) has launched a campaign to monitor free expression violations related to the Winter Olympics. CJFE's Olympic Watch is highlighting recent incidents where the protection of the Olympic brand has led to threats to free expression.
U.S. journalist Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now!, was stopped at the British Columbia-Washington border on her way to Vancouver and interrogated about a speech she was scheduled to give, in order to determine if she was going to criticise the Olympics, reports CJFE.
Two "Toronto Sun" newspaper journalists were attacked while they were covering the torch relay in Ontario. One of the journalists, photographer Ian Roberts, 60, was treated for a head injury after he was pushed to the ground by security officers for the Torch.
And in Vancouver, the city used an anti-graffiti bylaw to have a piece of art removed from a local gallery. The work of art depicted five rings, four with unhappy faces.
During the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing there were widespread reports of arrests, convictions, censorship and surveillance of journalists.
More and contact info at: http://www.cjfe.org/releases/2010/18012010olympicwatch.html
Guardians of the Winter Olympics restrict free expression
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) has launched a campaign to monitor free expression violations related to the Winter Olympics. CJFE's Olympic Watch is highlighting recent incidents where the protection of the Olympic brand has led to threats to free expression.
U.S. journalist Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now!, was stopped at the British Columbia-Washington border on her way to Vancouver and interrogated about a speech she was scheduled to give, in order to determine if she was going to criticise the Olympics, reports CJFE.
Two "Toronto Sun" newspaper journalists were attacked while they were covering the torch relay in Ontario. One of the journalists, photographer Ian Roberts, 60, was treated for a head injury after he was pushed to the ground by security officers for the Torch.
And in Vancouver, the city used an anti-graffiti bylaw to have a piece of art removed from a local gallery. The work of art depicted five rings, four with unhappy faces.
During the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing there were widespread reports of arrests, convictions, censorship and surveillance of journalists.
More and contact info at: http://www.cjfe.org/releases/2010/18012010olympicwatch.html
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Rights during the Olympics
BC Civil Liberties Association Legal Observers Program http://2010observers.bccla.org/
Protesters' rights page: http://olympicresistance.net/content/know-your-rights
Protesters' rights page: http://olympicresistance.net/content/know-your-rights
Monday, February 1, 2010
Live remote broadcasting - some notes
Reply to Jay's inquiry about livecasting his show remotely:
Live broadcasting would require that you have access to preferably wired broadband internet at the venue; a computer than can run Winamp and Shoutcast; a mixer, mics and peripherals you might need such as CD player; and also of course the consent of the venue to broadcast from that space for that period of time. It is possible to do live broadcasting over a phone line as well, we have the equipment, although that sound is likely to be a bit thinner. And of course you'd have to tie up a phone line for the duration of the show..
There are also coordination issues with live broadcasting over internet. We would have to have someone at the controls in the station to take responsibility for the starting and stopping of the feed during the livecast, as well as covering if anything goes wrong during it. There is also an issue of "latency" (i.e., delay). From Harbour Centre to CJSF the latency was 45 seconds and we had to synchronize watches. I don't know if the latency from the venue you want to use is the same or not - would be a good idea to test it. I'm also not sure if the latency is consistent or depends to some degree on traffic - we'd have to experiment. Whoever is in the studio can play music and do a cross-fade when the signal starts to come through. It would also be valuable to have a telephone connection as well as the internet, for feedback about conditions between the two ends of the feed - though perhaps it could be done with chat. So, as you can see, live remote broadcasting isn't entirely cut and dried, especially when it's not a permanent hookup.
Live broadcasting would require that you have access to preferably wired broadband internet at the venue; a computer than can run Winamp and Shoutcast; a mixer, mics and peripherals you might need such as CD player; and also of course the consent of the venue to broadcast from that space for that period of time. It is possible to do live broadcasting over a phone line as well, we have the equipment, although that sound is likely to be a bit thinner. And of course you'd have to tie up a phone line for the duration of the show..
There are also coordination issues with live broadcasting over internet. We would have to have someone at the controls in the station to take responsibility for the starting and stopping of the feed during the livecast, as well as covering if anything goes wrong during it. There is also an issue of "latency" (i.e., delay). From Harbour Centre to CJSF the latency was 45 seconds and we had to synchronize watches. I don't know if the latency from the venue you want to use is the same or not - would be a good idea to test it. I'm also not sure if the latency is consistent or depends to some degree on traffic - we'd have to experiment. Whoever is in the studio can play music and do a cross-fade when the signal starts to come through. It would also be valuable to have a telephone connection as well as the internet, for feedback about conditions between the two ends of the feed - though perhaps it could be done with chat. So, as you can see, live remote broadcasting isn't entirely cut and dried, especially when it's not a permanent hookup.
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