Success in Olympic Trial

I blogged a few weeks ago on my way to trials for the London 2012 volunteer program.

Well I am delighted to say that I have been selected to represent my company as a volunteer, there is still a while to go in the process and at the moment I have no idea what I will be doing - friends have suggested I will be toilet scrubbing but I am just really excited that I will be there at this once in a life time event.

So next steps are that my employer (EDF Energy - as the 2012 sustainability partner) will send my name on their list of approved candidates to the organising committee who will interview us to make sure we are committed, although if we weren't I doubt we would have attended the assessment centre, they will then assign us roles, so should know what I will be doing by April next year.

Olympic trials

Today I join the list of many athletes hoping to feature at 2012, this may come as a shock to those of you who did not know how sporty I am, but I have a real shot of making 2012 in the volunteering team, now whilst I know this is not one of the most glamorous events, and working for free is not every one's cup of tea, I figure the Olympics are unlikely to be in the UK again in my lifetime so I may as well see if I can get involved.

It is actually a pretty good deal for me, my company are a main partner and so they will pay me for my time so it is basically a work placement for a couple of weeks.

First however I have to get through today, a full day assessment centre, featuring team tasks and eligibility criteria, they claim it is a lot of fun, but I will reserve judgement, the good thing is, if I mess it up, all I have lost is the chance to work for free, so pressure off a bit.

New Olympic Mascots

When I heard on the Radio this morning details of the new mascots for 2012 described I thought there was going to be another example of bad design decisions which seem to have plagued the games, after all there was wide spread ridicule at the observation tower and the 2012 Logo is in my opinion a real disgrace. Now when a new Logo is launched people do tend to dislike it as it is different and not something they are used to, over time however they get used to it and then start to like it. This is not how I feel about the 2012 logo, I have a 6 ft copy of the logo next to my desk at work (As we are a Tier 1 Partner) and even my Bank card has a 2012 logo. but still every time I see it I am reminded how much I dislike it. so hearing that Lord Coe & Co have selected two giant, one eyed Aliens filled me with dread.

Well here they are

And I like them, they are fresh and dynamic, I like their metallic look and think they are good characters with good merchandising potential, in short I think they have it right for once.

And their names, Wenlock and Mandeville are also a great touch, Greece may have started the Olympics, and it was as always the French who decided to try and create a global federation for them but it was at Much Wenlock in Shropshire that they really started and Stoke Mandeville where the Paraolympic games started. so in picking these names they are saying that unlike Football, Rugby, Cricket and others Great Britain may not be the first place you think of for the Olympics, but like so many other great institutions they too can trace their path back to these shores.