One Year To Vancouver

It sort of snuck up on me -- only one year to go until the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Opening Ceremony!

This morning The TODAY Show had some live segments from Whistler in British Columbia, and it is definitely Canada's spotlight for the next 365 days.

My colleagues at Edelman's Vancouver office have been dripping news and stories from the day, which included the Hudson's Bay Company (Hbc) unveiling of the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay uniforms, in conjunction with the newly unveiled 2010 Vancouver Olympic Torch! (disclosure: Hbc is a client of Edelman, the firm where I work).

First impressions of the torch: I love it! Within seconds of seeing the design, it first reminded me of a fiberglass competition bow (as in Robin Hood) minus the string, matching quiver and arrows. Then it sort of invoked memories of the Kryptonite crystal that Kal-El tossed into the Canadian waterways, building his arctic Fortress of Solitude in Richard Donner's version of "Superman: The Movie."

According to reports, the torch is three feet, er, one metre long, and the more I look at it the more I can't wait to see it crossing Canada. VANOC's online animation of the ignited torch is pretty sweet. What do you think?

The uniforms by Hbc are pretty snazzy, too. The striking "look of the Games" colors are going to really warm up the scene when the torchbearers are surrounded by snow-covered Canadian landscapes.

There are some good "one year to go" reports in the news, starting with the Associated Press' travel feature on Vancouver, which paints an accurate picture of the city and the Olympic host region. Jeff Lee at the Vancouver Sun did a great summary of the day's events (we worked with him in Beijing last summer and his coverage of the Games is very good).

British Columbia will be a magnificent backdrop -- have visited the city twice so far, and flying in to the airport there is similar to landing at Colorado Springs (those mountains and the downtown skyline are really something).

The countdown continues. Vancouver, see you soon!