Olympic Games Maker; Role Specific Training
London 2012 Olympic Games
By Bryan Little
Training Day
You will have to excuse me for being rather vague about ‘things’. The presenters impressed on us that security was paramount during the period of the London 2012 Olympic Games. We were told not to release any information that may prove useful to a saboteur, extremist or terrorist. Any explanation here is intended to be generic rather than specific.
It was a grey day with the forecast for periods of rain sweeping swiftly across in the south-east of England when I was invited to attend a role specific training session. The journey was not easy, especially as it had to be undertaken during the early morning rush hour. It involved a bus, train, another train and the last leg on foot. I set off early at 07:20 to be at the venue in time for a 09:30 start. I got drenched on the footbridge, just changing from one train to the other. The second train was an all-stopper, chugging slowly through the suburbs of outer London. The rain got progressively heavier as I exited from the station and made for the venue.
Everybody was suffering from a soaking as we entered the building. We had to queue up to sign in and prove who we were by the production of one’s passport or driving licence. We were directed up two flights of stairs to a room which was named after a venue of a prior Olympic Games. The chairs were laid out in the classic formation and naturally everybody made for the back of the room.
The audience was made up solely of volunteers in the Technology group who had been assigned to Print Distribution Team. I sat in a row with a Danish woman, another woman called Claire and the person next to me in the queue, Michele (with only one ‘l’).She had already been assigned a test event where the shooting was being staged. I was rather miffed, since the email message had talked about something called ‘My Games Maker Workbook’ which I did not have. Some people had collected these workbooks at a prior orientation event at Wembley.
The training event was split into 3 sessions; Common Role Training that applied to all volunteers, Technology Training designed to place our role in the group and the Print Distribution Team which was specific for the role for which we had volunteered.
Common role training
The first session was hosted by a female presenter called Andrea. She was straight out of the box of children’s television presenters. We were all on first names terms …”the friendly Games”. She chose her words carefully so as not to offend anybody. The session started later than advertised. It all kicked off with an inspirational film about London 2012 Olympic Games and the importance of our role as Olympic Games Makers.
To get us going, we were asked to turn to our neighbour and conduct an exercise. We had to spell our names using the British Sign Language (BSL) alphabet. The next exercise was to match the title of the client groups with the description of each client group; there were 9 such titles.
Next we were asked to sit through a comedy video by Chris Addison & A.N.Other comedian (I don’t know his name). They enacted various scenarios that we supposed to express the meaning of an acronym that we were supposed to imprint in our minds. First we were shown how not to do it, followed by the correct way to do it.
I DO ACT
The humour was supposed to reinforce each letter of the acronym:
I Be Inspirational
D Be Distinctive
O Be Open
A Be Alert
C Be Consistent
T Be part of a Team
Afterwards we were split into 6 groups and each group was asked to come up with the characteristics of a letter in the acronym. When the time was up, one member from each group was chosen to speak on their behalf and list these qualities. At the end of each presentation, the speaker was clapped. I suppose the intention was to break the ice.
Diversity & inclusion
Diversity and inclusion was an exercise which involved the use of dreaded technology. Each of us had a ‘old mobile phone sized’ handset. Too much time was taken up in ensuring the handsets were working and that we were all seeing the same message. It was just like being on ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire’ when the audience is asked to vote. There were 6 scenarios on which we were asked to select; A, B or C. Some of the answers were deliberately ambiguous. No answer was wrong, according to the presenter. In my opinion, the last question about social network sites was unanswerable.
Communication
Communication was about the various means of passing information between one another. We were told that we had to be careful what we said and to make sure that we were not overheard or used alarmist language. The wrong combination of words could be misconstrued or misinterpreted.
Boundaries of responsibility
Boundaries of responsibility told us exactly what our role was and how we interacted with other groups at the Games. We were told how far we could go and when we had to escalate a potential problem to a line manager.
Health & well-being
Health and well-being instructed us how to look after ourselves during the Games. We were told to maintain stamina, look after our bodies and keep well hydrated. Most importantly, we should get plenty of sleep.
Delivering a secure games
Delivering a secure games consisted of the roles escalating, acting and informing. Basically we were told not to bury our heads in the sand to any situation. We had to use common sense. Any suspicious items should be reported immediately. Do not ignore anything that is out of the ordinary. Enter anything suspicious on your IRC - Incident Report Card.
Delivering a sustainable games
Delvering a sustainable games was an essential element if we were to provide for a green Games. Anything that could be recycled …should be. One of the main objectives of the Games is to minimise the amount of rubbish tipped into landfill sites.
Uniforms
Uniforms was the penultimate topic which provided a list of kit that will be provided to an Olympic Games Maker. The list of dos & don’ts regarding our Olympic kit were stressed: e.g. we must not role our trouser legs up in warm weather. We were told what is acceptable and what is not. We are the visible face of the Games. How we acted could be remembered by the spectators from all over the world.
Accrediation
Accrediation was the final topic of the first session. On a designated day and at a designated time we have to collect our Games uniforms, our accreditation badge and out travel tickets. We have to travel in our uniforms but with our accreditation hidden. This is the next step along our road to becoming an Olympic Games Maker.
With that the first session was concluded. We were allowed a 15 minute breather to have a comfort break and stretch our legs. During this period they served tea, coffee and biscuits. At the end of the break we collected the inserts for the remaining 2 sessions
Technology Group
The second session was hosted by Gareth; a straight talking, down to earth trainer. As members of the Print Distribution Team we found the information delivered in the next two sessions very pertinent.
... portable scoreboards ...
The session started off with a verbal picture of the enormity of organizing such a prodigious event. This consisted of a list of equipment that had been purloined by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG). One anecdote was that if you are responsible for organising an event this summer, you would be out of luck as far as portable scoreboards are concerned. All of them had been purloined for Olympic events.
The main partners, providers and suppliers are the groups that the volunteers have to work alongside during the Games. It was impressed upon us that we all have a role to play in making a successful Games.
Acronyms were explained of other members in the adjacent hierarchy to our role. We were told of their functions and responsibilities and how we interfaced to them. Some were paid members of the Olympic Games; others were paid by the partners of the Games while the remainder were volunteers like ourselves. There are too many acronyms to mention here and besides they would bore you to death.
At this point the presenter asked if there were any questions. This was an invitation for the flood gates to open. Everybody asked a specific question about their particular circumstances regarding the Olympic Games. There was a danger that this could escalate into a free-for-all. Luckily, the presenter issued an ultimatum that individual questions would be answered at the end of the session.
Print Distribution Team
The final session of the day was also hosted by Gareth. It was all about our role as members of the Print Distribution Team. Our role would involve a lot of walking around the venues. We had to be sure that we were fit and up for the challenge. We had a commitment to deliver printed result sheets to a varied number of customers within published times.
It was impressed on us the importance of our role in the whole scheme of things. A failure would be certain to attract the attention of the media. It was a case of no news is good news. If we did our jobs properly, we were invisible as far as the spectators were concern; that would be reward in itself. Many events had print distribution rooms even though they were not considered to be participating sporting venues of the Games.
An example of the set of printed sheets we had to distribute was handed out. Each set consisted of a cover sheet detailing what each pack contained. This was followed by examples of signed delivery notices that proved we delivered the results on time and finally there were the photocopies themselves.
...40% reduction in paper...
Although there are more modern methods of recording events, none of them provided the longevity required. It is one of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) commitments to keep all records on paper. One of the objectives of the London Games is a 40% reduction in paper from that of the Beijing Games.
Invitations to venue specific training will follow as a matter of course. At each venue there are specific pathways to be followed. These are dedicated routes to make sure that we do not interfere with the proceedings. The purpose of the venue specific training is to make us aware of our surroundings.
There may also be a series of test events prior to the Games that the volunteers would have to attend. These are planned to test the robustness of our processes and procedures to cover the varied sporting events. They are designed to highlight any shortcomings that need to be ironed out before the Games proper.
Xerox is the supplier of the laser printers and photocopiers. Their role is the correct operation of their equipment, supply of photocopier paper and toner ink cartridges. They are responsible for changing the ink cartridges and making sure there is sufficient paper in the trays. However, we may need to draw their attention that a machine has reached a critical phase in its operation.
Post event
The session came to a natural conclusion around 13:15, just short of the programmed 4 hours. Some of us had explicit questions relating to our role and were able to approach the presenters to learn the answers. As I was about to exit the building, I spotted a small restaurant on the ground floor. I decided that I needed some sustenance before heading back home. I noticed that there was a fellow Games Maker just in front of me in the queue. Subsequently, I found out that they were a volunteer at the rowing venue, namely Eton Dorney.
...the Hackney Empire.
My return journey was a mirror-image of my early morning route. The only difference was that the rain had abated but the times of the trains were few and far between. This enabled me to seek out the location of the Hackney Empire. This is an iconic venue which has stood the test of time. However, the play bills reflected the sign of the times.
A couple of days after the training my shifts were posted on the website. No names, no pack drill! Since each of my shifts is more than 6 hours, I am entitled to a meal voucher. All I have to do now is to wait for the inevitable email to pop into my mail box.