By CS Ling and Greg Meeres

Here is Tip #2:  The Top 3 Mistakes Athletes Make from Dr. JoAnn, world renown sports psychologist and performance coach.  Dr. JoAnn is a sought-after guest expert by ABC, NBC, BBC-TV, and keynote speaker.

Get your pen and paper ready to record Dr. JoAnn's insights from her experience of working with top athletes and her own successful athletic career.  These insights not only apply to sports, but also to life, business, and relationships.

Thanks Dr. JoAnn!

On a personal note:
I have and still sometimes get stuck after realizing I made a mistake.  In the past, the shame and guilt would paralyze me.  I've since learned the art of laughing at myself.  I've learned to modify my thinking and behavior so I (hopefully) do not make the same mistake again.  Fact is I still make mistakes. We all do.  It is what it is.  I just choose to pick myself up and keep moving on.

It sounds simple, doesn't it?
Truth is, it takes consistent application of  tools like what we heard from Dr. JoAnn here and in Tip #1:  The 3Ps of Your Performing Edge.

If you have made mistakes, there is always another chance for you.
You may have a fresh start any moment you choose,
for this thing we call "failure" is not the falling down,
but the staying down.
~ Mary Pickard

Credits:  Dr. JoAnn Dahlkoetter (bestselling author of Your Performing Edge); www.wisdomquotes.com

Written by:  CS Ling
Video by:  Greg Meeres

CS Ling is a humanitarian at heart. She is an alumnus of the prestigious Terry Fox Humanitarian Award and 2008 USANA Children Champion Award.  CS is an occupational therapist and entrepreneur. Currently she offers her creative services to Boldfish Video Production as New Media Relations. Follow her on Twitter (@CS_Ling).

Greg Meeres owns Boldfish Video Production. He travels extensively coordinating, shooting and producing projects across planet earth. He can be reached at www.boldfish.ca

By David Hutchison  email david@transitionsadvertising.com

I just finished watching the flying fins of women's hockey defeat Sweden to win the bronze medal in overtime. I love women's hockey, sorry boys, but the girls can play. They play an exciting, fast paced game.

They can move the puck, they drive to the net, they throw themselves in front of blistering shots and make every sacrifice the men make. There are those who say, yeah but it's not as intense. Yes it is, it just hasn't worked it's way to the top of the pole yet.

If Canada had lost last night, we would all be on our knee's praying for the girls to salvage our dignity. In a couple of hours they will do battle with those ladies from south of the line and you had better believe this is going to be one "hell of game."

They know each other very well, both were expected to be here and have given it all to make those expectations come true. They will lay everything on the line. There will no sacrifice to great, no price to high to pay. When it is over, they will have given everything they have in the most demanding of team sports, hockey.

This will be a golden game, don't miss it.

See you tomorrow,

David Hutchison

David Hutchison is President of Transitions Advertising www.transitionsadvertising.com Canada’s creative voice of seniors advertising. David is Board President of Promoting a Culture of Peace for Children Society of BC www.wartoystopeaceart.com

by Marc Smith

One of the biggest attractions at the Olympics this year has been the Zip Line over Robson Square. As part of the Province of BC's Olympic entertainment site Zip Trek EcoTours has  offered up a truly once in a lifetime experience for locals and tourists alike.

A friend and Twitter colleague Stephanie  Cameron and I decided that we needed to experience it and bring some other Twitter folks along with us. Actually we thought that misery loves company and if we have to line up better to make it a party.

So at 7am Friday morning I was joined by J Holtslander, PurpleLara and co-conspirator Smuttysteff. We all arrived with coffees in hand and Smuttysteff treated us to some good old Tim Horton's. We hoped a 7am line up time would guarantee us  prime placement in the first few runs of the Zip Line. Wrong! The first crazies in line had arrived at 6am with thermal blankets and a thermos of coffee.

Lara Jay Steff and Marc

So there we were 7am and approx 50+ ppl in front of us. Over the next couple of hours we made a few trips to the Blenz at Burrard and Robson to refill coffee supplies + bathroom breaks. As well we started to get to know some of our neighbors all were local Vancouverites that had been enjoying the Games  and the excitement but had yet to Zip across Robson Square. Just behind us was a father and daughter that had tried twice before but unfortunately had tried to line up later in the day.

After 4+ hours in line we are now at the front and are up next. Smuttysteff gets interviewed by the CBC on what' it is like to wait in the lineup both for radio and for their web platform. Way to go Steff! With only minutes to go before we proceed up to sign releases and get into our harnesses we get a message from a Twitter colleague Mat Wilcox that she is at Robson Square and wants to photograph us as we continue our journey.

It was at this time that Steff decided to tell us that she was deathly afraid of heights. EEK! Here's Steff's personal recount of the journey about overcoming her fear http://www.smutandsteff.com/2010/02/did-it.html

So as they say a picture tells a thousand words so here is the remaining story of our Zip Line experience. All pics are courtesy of Mat Wilcox. See you on the other side

Was the lineup worth it? YES! I’ve heard thanks to the Province of BC that they are seriously considering extending the Zip Line during the March 12th to 21st Paralympic Games as well. Go BC!

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

by @bsainsbury

I'm Canadian, but I wasn't a hockey fan until tonight. My friend Barbara came in from White Rock and we'd originally agreed to go to Heineken House in Richmond. She arrived at Waterfront Station a little later than she'd planned. It's 45 minutes before the Canada-Russia hockey game - we made the decision to head into Gastown. My twitter buddies has let everyone know the bars and restaurants in that area are almost empty.

Not a half a block away there's no line-up at German House. How can that be? Inside the place is busy, but we're able to find two seats right up front of the two-story screen with a sound system that rattles windows two blocks away. Everyone is happy, there's a table of Aussies whooping it up at the next table - we're all becoming fast friends.

The hockey game starts and the room errupts ..

HE SHOOTS - HE SCORES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Two tables over, a hockey fan has his Sasquatch costume from last Halloween under a red hockey jersey. Girls keep pestering him for photos with him .. Who knew a hairy Halloween costume would be a chick magnet?

HE SHOOTS - HE SCORES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Everyone around me is an expert .. they know what icing, offsite are .. they can referee the game better than the officials ..

HE SHOOTS - HE SCORES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Russians did score a couple of times .. three actually .. we all boo'd. As I became a more experienced fan I realized this happens when the players allow the puck to stay in front of their net.  Canadian players got control of the puck again.

HE SHOOTS - HE SCORES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is fun! The Canadian players can do no wrong .. I notice there's no fighting in this level of play .. stopping the clock is frustrating to a new fan like me. Let's get this over with .. isn't it obvious Canada is going to win?

HE SHOOTS - HE SCORES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The intermission is awfully long .. I guess the players need some time to rest and get a pep talk from the coach. We're in the third period now and the Canadian players seem to have forgotten the thing about not letting the puck stay in front of their goal for any length of time. Luongo is a good goalie .. everyone at the table says it was a good decision to start him. I agree.

HE SHOOTS - HE SCORES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't know whether we scored in the third period or not. It's all a blur to this new hockey fan. Fans are getting frustrated that the Russians seem to have the upper hand. No-one is moving around .. we're all glued to our seats ..

HE SHOOTS - HE SCORES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

10 .. 9 .. 8.. 7.. 6.. 5.. 4.. 3.. 2.. 1.. The place goes crazy!! We sing O Canada .. there's much hugging and high fiving .. there's a run on the bar .. I think I have the hang of being a hockey fan.

Bonnie Sainsbury is a Social Media Strategist and co-founder of Duet Media .. and an avid hockey fan!

By Marc Smith

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.

Vena, Arjuna and Marc - the start of our golden experience

8:20am A good buddy Gus, who works in a building overlooking the Pavilion came by with an order of coffee and some fresh conversation. Always a nice treat

The Pavilion Staff came out and started to arrange the line ups, which by now was easily 300+ people long, into the classic zig zag formation with the help of stanchions. A wee bit of confusion ensued as to where to go when to go etc… after 12 days I would have thought this would be a piece of cake.

9am the doors open and wait expect to be allowed in. Wrong, similar to the Zip Line it’s a managed flow of approx 10 people let in at a time.

9:20am We are inside! Oops now we are in another lineup, at least we are warm dry and have easy access to washrooms . Within 10 minutes we are moving again, greeted by Pavilion Staff and offered one white glove. Ok I have to admit at this point Arjuna, Vena and I looked at each other and exclaimed “I feel like Michael Jackson”

Our Michael jackson moment

9:30am Gloves on hand we proceed to the 2nd floor to enter our 3rd line up. This one is the one we have been waiting for. To touch Gold. Along the way a kiosk has been set up to allow visitors to exchange quarters for the Olympic Quarters produced by the Canadian Mint.

Over the next 30 minutes we are met by Pavilion Staff making sure everyone in the lineup has a white glove on.

10am Pavilion Security gives us a quick run down of what to expect inside the medal room (only 10 allowed in at a time) and what we can’t do. No photos would be allowed that in any way represented or suggested a victory sign, medal above head or medal held close to the body. These images are restricted and are only allowed for the privilege of Olympic athletes that have earned their medals. Absolutely fair enough!

10:20am We are allowed in!!!! Daniel Mallett, Olympic and Paralympic Medals Project Manager, gives us a brief explanation of the medals and then invites us in to see and touch the 6 medals.

Here’s Daniel’s presentation to us. Sorry for the poor lighting but the screen behind offset the exposure.

10:40am We’re through. Elated excited and feeling privileged to experience the glory of our medals up close. Arjuna Vena and I exchange contact details and promise to share photos. Another connection is made. GO CANADA.

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

by Judy Bishop - the Travelling Eye

Today's big question:  Who can refuse the opportunity to be photographed with that most Canadian of icons -- a Mountie in splendid red serge uniform?

Apparently, no one.  According to RCMP Sergeant-Major Bill Stewart, he has been hugged by thousands of people eager to pose with Stewart and his two officer colleagues on police horses.  The three are present in Whistler Village during the Games.  Skiers & snowboarders, athletes & tourists, media & workers, men & women, young & old - but especially foreigners, who can't believe they've lucked into the real thing.  All grin broadly for a photo with the patrician Stewart and his colleagues, some squealing with delight.

A 35-year veteran of the RCMP, Stewart is attending his 3rd Olympic Games in Canada.  He says there's a "remarkable" festive mood in Whistler's pedestrian-only village, one that has remained happy, peaceful and collegially-international.  The horses are a big draw - beautiful thoroughbreds that are obviously finely-trained to thrive in attentive crowds, while keeping a watchful eye.

Clearly, Whistler Resort is reveling in its moment to shine ... and the RCMP is only too happy to show off all that's Canadian !

'Judy Bishop – The Travelling Eye’ is a Vancouver-based photographer specializing in travel and experience photography. Her stock images are sold worldwide by Getty Images,   Judy was a board member of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics bid, and is a keen Whistler skier.   She is a long-time business/marketing columnist for Business in Vancouver newspaper, and sits on corporate boards.

Judy is also managing partner of Bishop + Company, a 20-year old management consultancy providing corporate & market strategy for technology and growth companies.  Contact info & story summary available. Follow Judy on Twitter @travellingeye

By Marc Smith

On My way to a client meeting today I decided to skip the crowds on Granville and and instead walked along Howe St. Now I walk this street all the time so I'm pretty familiar with all the businesses and what their windows usually display.  When I came by the Urban Barn I noticed the store looked remarkably bare compared to normal and yet a lot of people were inside lounging and talking. I had to check it out.

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

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

By Des Dougan

"Unique" is one of those words whose meaning has been devalued by overuse, mostly by over-the-top advertising, but there are still some truly unique experiences out there. We saw one today, when a BC native, Ashleigh McIvor, scored a unique triumph - the first ever Olympic Ski-Cross gold medal.

Another unique experience, and one I have had the pleasure and privilege of enjoying, involves getting down on your hands and knees and crawling underneath a piano - a concert grand, no less. So why, you ask, would you crawl under a piano?

In the words of Craig Addy, founder of Vancouver's one-of-a-kind Under the Piano, a business that bathes the listener in improvised piano music:

When you crawl under my grand piano and nestle amongst opulent quilts and cushions you are treated to about 40 minutes of piano improvisations. You are surrounded by the music and enveloped by the sound. Your entire body is bathed by sound vibrations. You get to enjoy your very own personal concert and a remarkably relaxing and healing experience.

Every word there is true - the sound vibrations envelop the listener and you emerge incredibly relaxed and feeling totally at peace.

Craig, a classically-trained pianist, has developed a business idea that he believes is the only one of its kind in the world. If you're in this wonderfully warm and welcoming city for the Olympics and are looking for a memento unlike any other, visit Under The Piano - you won't regret it.

Des Dougan is Principal of Dougan Consulting Group, which provides technology support services to small businesses in the Metro Vancouver area. Des can be contacted here and via @ddougan on Twitter.

By CS Ling

I've had enough of crowds  especially after being sandwiched on all sides by people of all sizes AND who are invariably much taller than me.   My goal on Saturday was to get out of Robson and Granville as quickly as possible. Yet, I could only move as the crowd moved... one small step at a time.  Yes, I am one of thousands of people who created the wall-to-wall mass of human beings in Downtown Vancouver over the weekend.  Exciting but not terribly enjoyable for the 5'3" petite me.

After twenty minutes of  being pressed up against people, I finally crossed over Granville Street and made my way down to the Aboriginal Pavilion.   There, I found the highlight of my day.  There, I found The Sacred Space.

All tension and stress left my body as I watched Chief Mike Retasket of the Shuswap Nation perform a mesmerizing dance to the sound of song and drum;  his headdress and regalia breathtakingly intricate.

The essence of his being was evident in every single move, every single action.  Chief Mike Retasket danced to the rhythm of life.  I was in awe.

When the dance was over, Chief Retasket greeted spectators one by one, shook their hands, and welcomed them to Canada.  There was such joy in his face.  The countenance was such that he made us all feel like we just entered into his home -  a warm welcome home to The Sacred Space.

Written by: CS Ling
Photos by:  CS Ling

CS Ling is a humanitarian at heart. She is an alumnus of the prestigious Terry Fox Humanitarian Award and 2008 USANA Children Champion Award.  CS is an occupational therapist and entrepreneur. Currently she offers her creative services to Boldfish Video Production as New Media Relations. Follow her on Twitter (@CS_Ling).

For an Olympic hosting city, it was rather quiet in Downtown Vancouver Monday night. The 7pm booze restriction curbed the incessant public drinking which occurred the previous week and the streets were more like an average Friday night. It wasn't bad, but nowhere near the raucous throngs of crowds we were used to.

It seems a couple of factors played into the huge drop-off. One definitely had to do with the loss of Brodeur and the boys the night before. The prior night and all of Monday offered a sombre mood in Downtown. Also, many people I spoke to just needed a break from the partying. Consecutive days of partying last week just took too much of a toll on people's bodies.

With all this being said, look for the crowds to only get bigger with the big bash nearing its end... until next week, when we face crickets chirping on Granville.

By CS Ling

Attention Men!
If you have ever complained about "throwing away money" on flowers (especially since you paid an astronomical amount on Valentine's Day a week ago), you will want to make the most of this AMAZING deal !

Attention Women!
If you have ever stopped to admire flower bouquets but walked away after 10 minutes because you could not bring yourself to spending "that much" on fresh cut flowers, I have news for you !

On Sunday, at the northeast corner of Burrard Street and Hastings Street, I discovered that I can buy THREE bunches of fresh, beautiful, healthy tulips for only $ 5 !!!    THREE BUNCHES !! That's a MEGA DEAL !

Can you hear my excitement ?  Can you guess what I will be doing this upcoming week?  And you can be sure that I will be spending more than $5 !

Let's do the math ...  for $15 at a store, I get 15 stems of tulips.  At Niceto Yalan's tulip stand, for the same $15,  I get FORTY-FIVE stems of beautiful, colorful tulips!   Imagine the number of vases I can fill!  Imagine the number of people I can buy flowers for!  (A confession:  When I did the math, I calculated it three times because I could not believe I get FORTY-FIVE stems for only $15!!)

A flower's appeal is in its contradictions - so delicate in form yet strong in fragrance, so small in size yet big in beauty, so short in life yet long on effect. ~ Adabella Radici

Written by:  CS Ling
Photos by:  CS Ling
Quote  from www.quotegarden.com/flowers

CS Ling is a humanitarian at heart. She is an alumnus of the prestigious Terry Fox Humanitarian Award and 2008 USANA Children Champion Award.  CS is an occupational therapist and entrepreneur. Currently she offers her creative services to Boldfish Video Production as New Media Relations. Follow her on Twitter (@CS_Ling).

by Judy Bishop - The Travelling Eye

Sunday's Canada-USA Olympic hockey game was epic in its build-up, embodying the mostly-civilized rivalry universal to countries bordering each other.  Whistler was abuzz with the energy.  Watching the game from one of the social epicentres of Whistler resort - the Garibaldi Lift Company (GLC) located at the base of the ski runs - seemed like just the ticket for this one.

That afternoon, I skied around the mountain with photo gear, bagging images to give reader of this blog a 'feel' for Whistler during the Games. (And to clear the effects of the previous night's champagne party.)  I had to tear myself away from the dreamy, uncrowded beauty (see photos) but the Canada-USA game beckoned.  So did the friends who secured a precious table at GLC by 3PM - a lineup had already formed for the 4:30PM faceoff (way to take one for the team, guys).  GLC doubles as MuchMusic TV's base for the Games, with predictable fun and noise - complete with hot tub for the hearty and the well-lubricated.  Much Music TV cameras caught alot of the action, including our bouncy group.

GLC was a wild mix of Canadian and Americans cheering - including a delightful Bostonian engineer, Matt, who had only arrived the night before at Whistler on his first visit.  Through persistence, he found a bed in Pemberton, not knowing he'd also stumbled upon a generous and raucous crew of youngish locals + Vancouver pals who merged him into their happy posse.  Stoked from a day of sunny backcountry skiing, and convinced the USA was going to whack Canada, Matt was stunned by the warm, unconditional welcome he felt from both his hosts and Whistler in general.  Highly recommend mixing up the cheering sections ... great dynamic !

A lovely story: Pemberton's Robert Megeney carefully unpacked a hand-hooked rug (see photo) sent to him by his aunt Phyllis Megeney of Amherst, Nova Scotia.  Phyllis loved the idea of sending a little bit of the East Coast to the West - she wanted Robert and fiance Valerie Butters to have something unique to help celebrate the Olympics.  Judging by how carefully Robert handled and carried this wonderfully-handworked rug, it will surely hold pride of place in their home.....

We all know that the USA trumped Canada in that game.  No matter.. there's still time for us to win gold.  But no question - the GLC was a premium spot to watch the game !

'Judy Bishop – The Travelling Eye’ is a Vancouver-based photographer specializing in travel and experience photography. Her stock images are sold worldwide by Getty Images,   Judy was a board member of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics bid, and is a keen Whistler skier.   She is a long-time business/marketing columnist for Business in Vancouver newspaper, and sits on corporate boards.

Judy is also managing partner of Bishop + Company, a 20-year old management consultancy providing corporate & market strategy for technology and growth companies.  Contact info & story summary available. Follow Judy on Twitter @travellingeye. EM: judy@judybishop.ca

“A rampage by young hockey fans after the Canucks' loss to the Rangers in the Stanley Cup finale Tuesday night left as many as 200 injured and more than 50 arrested. Dozens of downtown stores had their windows smashed and there was some looting. As many as 500 officers, many equipped with riot gear and using large doses of tear gas, battled into the early morning against a "hard-core throng" that had spilled onto downtown streets. There were complaints that innocent people were tear-gassed and left without any avenue of escape. ”  NY TIMES - June, 1994

Credit is given to the New York Times almost 16 years later and rings very clearly in my mind as a night that changed the way the world looked at a city known for being quaint and unassuming.

I had the distinct privilege as a citizen of this city to walk the streets on Friday evening and take in a number of Olympic sights and sounds relishing the positive and patriotic outbursts of joy.

As I walked southbound on Granville, negotiating wayward red mittens and flag pole tips, I strolled through a crowd of young Vancouverites swearing, smoking marijuana, drinking open liquor and all I could picture was the footage from the Riot of 1994. I wondered how these fans would celebrate a gold medal win in hockey compared to the gold medal win in skeleton by Jon Montgomery.

People who had never even heard of the sport skeleton were screaming for an Olympic win by a man who filled the hearts of millions with pride, all the while throwing their half-filled cans and bottles into gutters to hide from police as they walked past. I witnessed a guest from the Netherlands voice her concern for the behaviour of the group and felt shame wondering how the world viewed us in those moments. I realised that with the good there had to be some bad and I shared a smile with her reassuring that she wasn't alone in her judgement.

I decided to look ahead and see what I could learn about those who may want to cross the line by looking at their own words through social networking.

I discovered a number of status updates on Facebook indicating how inebriated people intended to get this weekend as they partook in celebration of others achievements. I noticed a number of individuals who stated they would take on a cop if police got in the way of their right to celebrate and then I found one young man who last night was able to get so drunk that he passed out at the bar awaking in the drunk tank and making it home in time to go to work. 

Vancouver is an amazing city complete with a number of incidents in our past that chronically dictate our future.  Isn’t it ironic, that those who protect our city, may collectively sigh a breath of relief should Canada not qualify for the Ice Hockey gold medal game all because of how we as a city behaved over 15 years ago?

Hopefully, the Olympics becomes our time to not only show the world who we are as a whole but to show those we share our city with that we have grown past the self-entitled and alcohol fuelled maniacs that some of us become whenever we find or get close to success. I want to be proud for a number of reasons at the end of these Olympic games and I hope it includes the behaviour of every single fan.

Jesse Miller

www.millerconsultingservices.ca

By Marc Smith

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).

The Manager of the UPS Store # 209 Mr. Paramjit Teja, who is known to the Keshavan family as “Uncle”, was instrumental in arranging all the hospitality needs for the friends and family that travelled with India’s Winter Olympic Star. Part of the entourage was 6 “super fans” from Italy that have followed and supported Shiva in his Olympic Dream since his performance in Torino’s Games in 2006. the energy in the store was quite a buzz.

I was lucky enough to capture almost 6.5 minutes of the interview between Shiva and the reporter from Shaw TV. I apologize for the sound quality but this was too good an opportunity to pass up. So please watch and enjoy. I was 5 feet away from an Olympic athlete days after his competition. What a great experience!

After the interview Shiva was asked what his plans for the rest of his stay in Vancouver consisted of. He said " I have two other colleagues/friends from India that are here to compete and I will be at their side and in the stands cheering for them and giving them all the support and wisdom I can share from my 4 Olympic experiences". An answer was truly worthy of an Olympian.

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

by Judy Bishop - The Travelling Eye

Whether they're helping us park, eat, drink, laugh, be safe or be silly, we wouldn't get far at Whistler during the 2010 Olympics without the people who work long hours in a wide variety of roles.

That's not to say it's all work and no play ... far from it.  From what I've observed, working the 2010 Games might be almost as much fun as being a visitor.  Thanks guys and gals .. you're our unsung heroes !

'Judy Bishop – The Travelling Eye’ is a Vancouver-based photographer specializing in travel and experience photography. Her stock images are sold worldwide by Getty Images,   Judy was a board member of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics bid, and is a keen Whistler skier.   She is a long-time business/marketing columnist for Business in Vancouver newspaper, and sits on corporate boards.

Judy is also managing partner of Bishop + Company, a 20-year old management consultancy providing corporate & market strategy for technology and growth companies.  Contact info & story summary available. Follow Judy on Twitter @travellingeye.  EM: judy@judybishop.ca