Alberta's Involvement in the Games
The global spotlight shines on Vancouver, but the glow reaches across our country. Alberta is capitalizing on opportunities to invest in our future, while celebrating excellence in sport, culture and the arts.
Alberta @ Vancouver 2010
Olympic Summary | Pre-Olympic Activites | Alberta Venues | After Vancouver 2010
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ATCO Celebrating Excellence ProgramMore than 4,300 essay submissions were received from young Albertans on the topic of how they are making a difference in their communities – through leadership, sport, culture and volunteer work. From these submissions, 166 young people in Grades 4 to 12 throughout Alberta were recognized for their commitment to building a better community with a one-day trip to Vancouver during the Olympic Winter Games. Eighty three additional youth also were randomly chosen to receive a laptop computer.“The entire trip was planned out extremely well and I don’t think things could have gone any better! I was exceptionally honoured to be part of this once in a lifetime experience. It truly was a way to “Celebrate Excellence."" “I would like to thank you for the incredible experience of sending my mom and me to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. It was truly the experience of a lifetime! I am proud to say that I will continue to be involved in volunteer work throughout the rest of my life. Thank you again!” Online Compositions | Photo Gallery | YourAlberta Blog | News Releases: Province invites Alberta’s youth to share stories on making a difference in their community (Dec 11, 2009) | Province displays Olympic spirit in celebration of Vancouver 2010 (Dec 18, 2009) | ATCO celebrates Alberta’s excellence in youth (Jan 28, 2010) |
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Pathway to Excellence ProgramThe Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks and Wildlife Foundation worked with the Olympic and Paralympic Secretariat to make it possible for 26 emerging high performance athletes chosen by their provincial sport associations to travel to Vancouver to see competitions in their own sport at the Olympic Winter Games.“I had so much fun seeing the men’s moguls …with such an outstanding outcome! This is an experience I will remember for the rest of my life. I can’t say enough how thankful I am and how much drive this has given me to excel in my sport.” Photo Gallery | YourAlberta Blog | News Release: Alberta’s emerging athletes heading to the Olympics (Feb 8, 2010) |
 Jenn Heil and training partner, Alex Bilodeau, Canada's first medalists |
Alberta's HeroesMost of Canada’s winter Olympic national sport organizations, sport medicine professionals, coaches and technical officials call Alberta home. Fifty-two per cent of Canada’s 2010 Olympic team (109 Olympians and 11 Paralympians) were born, live or train in Alberta at facilities like the Canmore Nordic Centre and Canada Olympic Park and Calgary Oval.Calgary-based WinSport Canada supports national sport organizations, encourages educational opportunities and subsidizes the operation of high-performance training and recreational facilities used by the nation's top athletes as well as the general public. Alberta Heroes Profiles | YourAlberta Blog | Photo Release: Albertans celebrate local winter Olympic and Paralympic athletes (April 6, 2010) |
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Alberta Staff and VolunteersTo support hosting, programming and promotional activities as well as media relations at Alberta's three venues, required the dedicated effort and many long days from 58 Alberta government employees from Tourism, Parks & Recreation, Public Affairs Bureau, Culture & Community Spirit and Agriculture & Rural Development. 75 volunteers shared information about Alberta and extended warm hospitality to visitors during 200 shifts at Alberta House and Plaza, and on the Alberta Train. YourAlberta Blog: From Calgary to Vancouver with Love (February 28, 2010) | Alberta's VANOC Volunteers“To the men and women in the Blue Jackets, you are the undisputed heroes of these Games,” hailed John Furlong, Chief Executive Officer of VANOC, during his closing ceremony speech.When VANOC organizers went looking for experienced technical officials to volunteer at the 2010 Games, they came to Alberta. During the ‘Creating Team 2010’ volunteer recruitment campaign in the fall of 2008, the Alberta government assisted VANOC with interviews of more than 400 sport specialists. The Games would not have been possible without the tireless effort of thousands of volunteers and over 4,500 Albertans applied for the challenge – more than any other contingent outside of British Columbia. They worked countless hours, rain or shine, with good humour and friendly smiles. |
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Alberta DayVANOC declared February 17 Alberta Day – a day to showcase our province to national and international audiences. The day’s theme, “Unexpected Alberta”, focused on our diverse artists and performers, businesses, world-class culinary arts and food products, our world famous tourism destinations and festivals and most of all, on our people.Alberta Day kicked off with public tours of Alberta House and a news event hosted by Olympic gold medalist Kyle Shewfelt at the BC International Media Centre, and a performance by Alberta musician John Wort Hannam. Thousands of guests viewed Aboriginal art exhibits, a display of T-Rex bones from the Royal Tyrrell Museum, received Alberta giveaways and enjoyed five free concerts at Alberta Plaza. A small number of event and victory ceremony tickets were awarded to visitors on Alberta Plaza who correctly answered questions about Alberta. Winners were very excited as they would not otherwise have been able to see an Olympic event. The evening culminated in an Alberta-produced concert leading into the Victory Ceremonies at BC Place. Performances by Francophone group, Allez Ouest with their vibrant prairie sound, lush harmonies and acoustic instruments; rap artist and Edmonton’s Poet Laureate, Cadence Weapon; DJ Jay Mak, founding member of the aboriginal hip hop group Team Rezofficial; and Raghav, an Indo-Canadian with a unique fusion of hip-hop, R&B, Bollywood, reggae, Indian classic and soul; showcased Alberta’s amazingly talented and diverse artists. Calgary’s Paul Brandt, internationally renowned singer-songwriter and the most-awarded male Canadian country artist in history, wrapped up the spectacular Alberta Day festivities. Photo Gallery | YourAlberta Blog | News Release: Alberta takes to the world stage at the 2010 Winter Olympics |
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AlbertaVan2010 ... OnlineThe Alberta @ Vancouver 2010 online presence showcased Alberta's athletes, artists and Alberta's purpose and activities at the Games. Beginning in February, the integration of social media and PlazaLive streaming video on the website allowed Albertans at home and international visitors the ability to connect real-time to what was happening in Vancouver. The website received more than 46,500 visits during February alone, up 344 per cent from January. 6 per cent and international reach almost doubled during that period.
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Alberta in the MediaTravel Alberta estimates its media relations activities around the Olympics will generate media coverage worth $70 million (calculated on an advertising equivalency basis).The value of media coverage of the seven pre-Olympic World Cup events broadcast, published and evaluated to date is estimated at $1 million, not including the 350 hours of national and international TV coverage of the events. Media from around the world, including the International Olympic Committee Rights Holding Broadcasters covering the 2010 Winter Games, were supplied with stunning visuals of Alberta, and video stories about unique and authentic tourism and travel experiences from every region of the province. More than 150 local, regional national and international media were hosted on the Alberta Train during the Olympics including NBC, BBC, New York Times, CNN, CBC, Globe and Mail, Vancouver Sun, ARD (German Rights Holding broadcaster) and Foxtel/Channel 9 (Australian Rights Holding broadcaster) as well as TV broadcasters from Japan, China and Brazil. Media guests on the Alberta Train were supplied with stories, visual images, key event dates in Alberta and industry contacts loaded on an Apple iPod Touch that will be a permanent resource for journalists to research and produce travel stories about Alberta. “WOW – such a smart promotional device, and I am happy to receive it! Thank you for being such good friends of AM, too.” A number of media events were also held in Alberta and at Alberta House and other venues in Vancouver:
“... the Albertans were far from asleep at the switch when picking the best spots at the Games to showcase their inimitable can-do qualities.” "The Olympics are an opportunity not only to showcase international sport, but also to celebrate international arts and culture," says Hardy, who's been in town this week drumming up interest in his Spring and Fall 2010 collections. "Fashion is a part of that, too." |
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