The London Olympics 2012 Start Now!

It’s here. Tonight is the opening ceremonies of the London Summer Olympics 2012. I couldn’t sleep last night; it was like Christmas Eve.

John Williams’ score is in my head – you know it  – Olympic Fanfare and Theme based on Leo Arnaud's “Bugler's Dream:” Bum bum bum bum-da-bum bum bum bum & doot-doot-doot-doot doo doo.

We will watch the United Kingdom’s response to China’s jaw-dropping opening. How will it start? The Queen in her jubilee year will open it but to what fanfare? Who will light the cauldron? What ancient rock stars will perform? Will non-Olympian, but rugby-hero and anti-bullying-advocate Ben Cohen be involved? (I think I’m only of handful who are thinking about Ben versus Beckham at the games.)

Starting 10 days out, I tweeted my favorite Olympic Moments of all time. For the sake of clarity, I’m repeating them here (but switching out the Winter Olympics moments for other Summer memories) for my personal top ten significant Summer Olympics moments.

10. Kerri Strug’s Gold Medal Vault. Atlanta, 1996.

Fresh out of college, I was living in my first apartment on my own and I was glued to the TV watching the Atlanta Olympics. It was the first Games on home turf since Los Angeles, and the first time when Russia, China and the US all vying for hardware in an American-hosted Olympics.

9. The US Boycott of the 1980 Olympics

This obviously is not favorite Olympics moment, but a significant one, that I wanted to add. As a seven year old, I didn’t understand politics or the difficulties in Afghanistan that still linger today. I did know that I wasn’t going to get to watch this magical sporting event that I only vaguely understood since the last Games occurred when I was three.

8. The Inaugural Women’s Marathon, Los Angeles, 1984

Joan Benoit

Gabriela Andersen-Schiess

Do you remember the inaugural women’s marathon in LA in 1984? I remember being glued to my TV during the summer to watch as many events as my parents would allow. I recall Joan Benoit being one of the favorites and watching her start to edge out from Grete Waitz. She had a lead early one and won the Marathon definitively. Then the focus moved on to Switzerland’s Gabriela Andersen-Schiess. Suffering from fatigue and dehydration, Gabriela painfully entered Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. There riveting issues was the debate about providing her medical aid immediately and subsequently disqualifying her or letting her finish and risking brain damage.

7. Carl Lewis Equaling Jesse Owens’ 1936 Performance, Los Angeles, 1984

Originally, I had ranked the US Entrance into Centennial Olympic Stadium, Atlanta, 1996, as one of significant memories. However as I was working to replace my Winter Olympics moments with Summer ones, I came across a rush of memories: Greg Louganis Accident and Redemption, Seoul, 1988; Zola Budd and Mary Decker Collision, Los Angeles, 1984; Juan Antonio Samaranch’s Final Closing Ceremony, Sydney, 2000, where he proclaimed, "I am proud and happy to proclaim that you have presented to the world the best Olympic Games ever." However, Carl Lewis and his feat of repeating Jesse Owens’ 1936 Berlin Performance, reminded us Americans, that we have the constant potential to be the best in the world if we only make that our goal.

6. Nadia Comăneci & her Perfect 10.0, Montréal 1976

This is my first vague memory of the Olympics – my parents who were recreational skiers back in the day had avidly watched the 1976 Winter Olympics, Innsbruck, Austria, in February. Married in January 1972, my mom and dad honeymooned in Innsbruck and felt an affinity for the games because they had been there four years prior. This excitement continued into July, and the Montréal were on the TV every evening. It is hazy, but I do remember the world’s reaction to the diminutive Romanian’s perfect score.

5. 2008 Drummers, Beijing, 2008

All eyes were on the Bird’s Nest, on August, 8, 2008 (8/8/08). The date was extremely auspicious as the number 8 is the Chinese lucky number, akin to our Western beliefs about the number 7. We all knew that Chinese had the human resources to out-maneuver, to out-perform and to out-shine any past Opening Ceremony. With the combination of edited reality in the form of CGI, lip-syncing, Han-only volunteers, Zhang Yimou and Zhang Jigang still awed the world with 2008 coordinated drummer pounding the heartbeat of the Games into a pulse racing rush.

4. Clepsydra, Athens, 2004

The games returned to Athens after the sting of the IOC awarding Atlanta the Centennial Olympics. I remember having a dream in 1997, just days before the IOC’s decision announcing the 2004 host that Athens would win the bid. (My dream including the originally bid’s logo, http://content.sportslogos.net/logos/27/1758/full/7015.gif, which I never recalled seeing before.) Finally the day had come for Greece to welcome the world home, and the pageantry was amazing. In movement of the Opening Ceremonies called Clepsydra, the water clock, The AOGOC visually told the world the complicated, tempestuous but beautiful history of Greece in a stunning parade with Eros giving his blessing.

3. Michael Phelps's 7th Gold, Beijing, 2008

I wasn’t alive for Mark Spitz. If I were, he would have made this list. However, Michael Phelps’s races were inspiring and collectively we wanted him to best Spitz, because then, we could show the world that America’s only completion is ourselves – not the Russians, not the Germans, not the Chinese. We truly are the only people who hold the bar so high for ourselves, and through diligence, we will surpass our expectations. I think that I held my breath during each lap, like my not consuming oxygen would help him (and regardless that the footage was televised about half a day later.) Hope and desire and fandom don’t always allow for reality to crash in.

2. Cathy Freeman’s Gold, Sydney, 2000

Ten days after setting the world on fire with the lighting of the Olympics Cauldron through the beautiful though-glitched water ignition, Cathy Freeman burned up the track in 400 meter final in front of a jubilant home-nation crowd.

Freeman won the Olympic title in a time of 49.13 seconds, becoming only the first Australian Aboriginal to win goal in a solo event. (Nova Peris-Kneebone won goal in for field hockey in Atlanta). After the race, Freeman took a victory lap, carrying both the Aboriginal and Australian flags, despite the fact that unofficial flags are banned at the Olympic Games. Though the Aboriginal flag is recognized as official in Australia, it is not a national flag and therefore not recognized by the IOC. However, her lap was without incident and the Aussies cheered her on.

1. Antonio Rebollo Igniting the Cauldron, Barcelona, 1996

In this one magical motion, Antonio Rebollo captured the imagination and awe of the globe; this lighting still gives me chills. This smooth, fluid act remains the pinnacle of all Olympic memories for me. In the climax of the ceremony, the paralympian lights the tip of his arrow from the Olympic torch and shoots it up into the gas floating above the cauldron – it erupts into flames – to the cheering throngs of athletics, coaches, supports and fans in the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys.

I hope that tonight’s ceremony adds many thrilling and awe-inspiring moments to my memories.

Happy Opening Ceremonies!

myPics: Pilgrim Monument

Not yet named travel entry: Dartmouth College

It's been a while since I posted on my own blog, but here is an entry that was originally posted on Frankly Penn (the University of Pennsylvania Alumni blog) on June 27, 2012. I have made minor edits.

For those who don't know my day job, I work in Alumni Relations. Not everyone understands what I do on a daily basis.

Baker Library, quintessential Dartmouth

Alumni relations professionals advance the mission of their institutions and serve and support its alumni - graduates of an educational institution - reflecting the values of the institution. We reinforce the principles of honesty, integrity, and trust, which form the basis for long-term relationships and engagement with the school. For the majority of us, we manage and direct the work of alumni volunteers who are promoting the image of the College or University to their school peers.

Annually, the Alumni Relations groups of the 8 Ivy League Universities as well as MIT and Stanford gather for the Ivy Plus Alumni Relations Conference, or Ivy+ for short. It is three-day forum at a peer institution where were meet our colleagues who do the same work we do in order to hone our craft. This year, the conference was hosted by Dartmouth College.

Dartmouth Hall, the original college building

Nestled in the town of Hanover, NH, Dartmouth College sits as an idyllic institution of higher education. So perfect is the image, Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953 said “this is what a college is supposed to look like.” It is quite charming and, if Penn didn’t exist, I would agree with Eisenhower (for the record, I think that Brown, Cornell, Columbia, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Stanford and Yale are all what college is supposed to look like.)

The Dartmouth Alumni Relations staff dazzled us with their school pride and shared with us their traditions like the Dartmouth Outing Club First-Year Trips, the Salty Dog Rag, the Winter Carnival, and Homecoming. From D-Term to Animal House, from Sophomore Summer to Occom Pond, we were taken on a crash course of all that is Dartmouth. By the end, several of us were seeing green – Dartmouth Green.

Christine Tempesta, Director, Strategic Initiatives, delivering her TEDx-style speech (note the ice sculpture of a beaver – MIT’s mascot)

Each of my colleagues found our specific conference track – focused on our area of expertise, including Affinity Groups and Shared Interest Groups; Alumni Education and Travel; Classes and Reunions; Clubs and Regional Associations; Marketing, Communications and Technology; Student and Young Alumni Programs; and Volunteer Management and Alumni Boards. In these sessions, we discussed best practices and shared success stories that we can hopefully adapt at our home University. The intent is that when we return to our campus, we follow up and continue the conversations started at Ivy+. I've already been in touch with my wonderful peer at Dartmouth, and I'm working on my follow up to my presentation, "Are Small Clubs Dying?" to the attendees.

Vijay addressing the Ivy+ crowd

Outside of our tracks of expertise, we had daily plenary sessions. Two of these featured Christopher Trimble, adjunct professor of Business Administration and Vijay Govindarajan, the Earl C. Daum 1924 Professor of International Business, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College – the authors of The Other Side of Innovation. During Ivy+, their discussions were based on our pre-conference reading (a.k.a. homework), How Stella Saved The Farm: A Wild and Woolly Tale About Making Innovation Happen, a fable based on their business best-seller. The discussions revolved around how to change the way we think about the planning for the future (where will the firm be in 20 years and what products or services will being the firm there) and addressing the need of mutual respect for the business’s production engine and its innovation team (both of which will be in conflict with each other).

The Tower Room, in Baker Library – the statue is a tribute to the original mission of the College

The other plenary discussion was from Peter Post, Director, The Emily Post Institute, and a follow Penn alumnus, who discussed the etiquette of tough situations. Peter annually comes to Dartmouth during their sophomore summer for a lunch which pairs the current sophomore class (the Class of 2015) with the matching 50th reunion class (the Class of 1965). The lunch is a wonderful opportunity for the two classes to make connections and discover each others class, while learning (or refreshing) their table etiquette. For us, though, Peter focused on what the contemporary meaning of etiquette is while being true to his great-grandmother’s mission: etiquette is the relationship between two people that is respectful, considerate, and based in honest. In remembering these three tenets, Peter assured us that we would have proper etiquette in the business world. He finished his talk with some role play to manage some of the most challenging interactions in today’s social world.

The Steam Tunnel Tour (picture from the Ivy+ Facebook page)

We talked shop, but we had fun too. On Wednesday, we had the options of a tour of the Hood Museum of Art for the show – Nature Transformed: Edward Burynsky’s Vermont Quarry Photographs in Context, a walking tour of campus led by Dartmouth sophomores or underground steam tunnel tour. On Thursday, we had a Dr. Seuss-themed Oh, the Places You’ll Go! excursion (Theodor Seuss Geisel is a Dartmouth Class of 1925 alumnus), which mirrored the Dartmouth Outing Club First-Year Trips, to the Connecticut River for either canoeing or kayaking, to King Arthur Flour Store and Bakery, to Simon Pearce – glassblowing and pottery studio, to a guided hike along the Connecticut, to the Hood Museum for the presentation “Ancient Art, New Media: Bringing the Past to Life,” or to the Harpoon Brewery. I opted for Harpoon in neighboring Vermont.

I am enjoying my excursion at Harpoon

At the end of the three days, the conference ended with a handful of TEDx-styled talks from our peers, including our own Elise Betz. They were charming, informative, evocative and emotional. The motivational chats moved the audience and summarized the amazing experience of getting to spend 3 days with our Ivy+ peers, sharing our skills, brainstorming ideas and meeting such impressive people who love their alma mater! Ending on a high note, we announced that Penn would be hosting Ivy+ in 2013. It’s a lot of work, but we’re looking forward to it. 

For your information, Peter Post’s guidelines for good business lunch etiquette

myPics: Don't Tread on Me

I am a little bit of a vexillogist. The current naval jack is apocryphally based on the first Union Jack of the United States. Reintroduced in September 11, 2002 on all navy ships in support of the War on Terrorism, the USS Constitution has been flying this jack since the 1980 as the ship's privilege since she is the oldest active ship in the navy. This photo comes from the deck of Old Ironsides.

In a honor of our Independence Day, I posted this photo on facebook.  I took it while I was in Boston this April for the Marathon. However, the picture of the naval jack is altered.  The wind was blowing in the opposition direction and I actually got the text in reverse.  I didn't think that anyone would mind if I flipped the photo in order to show off the text originally from the Gadsden flag. So below I posted the original photo, untouched.

Happy Independence Day.