Meeting President Emmanuel Macron

It was the best of selfies, it was the worst of selfies. 

Presidential ones, that is. 

On Monday (22 July), French President Emmanuel Macron joined IOC President Thomas Bach in welcoming over 200 international (non-French) journalists to Palais de l'Élysée, akin to The White House on this side of the Atlantic. 

With thanks to Jill Jaracz of Keep The Flame Alive podcast, who posted to Instagram a photo of her arrival at said palace about an hour before the event (just in the nick of time), I was reminded, "Oh, that's today" (!!!) while seated in boxer shorts at my hotel, prompting a rush to get dressed and make way to the venue. 

The official invitation from Macron's staff went out last week to journalists of Paris Media Centre, the "unaccredited media center" for this Olympiad. Though my badge is still in review, my AIPS press card and a passport were enough to register. And after a short metro ride and four layers of security, we were inside the Elysee awaiting Macron's arrival. 

As reporters mingled, I caught up with USA Today's Christine Brennan, longtime friends Ed and Sheila Hula (founders of Around The Rings) and reporters from the Team USA Media Summit in town from the LA Times, Sports Business Journal, NBC and others. 

It was fun to swap pins with the press lead from Team Ukraine, a TV reporter from New Zealand's Sky network, and several Korean and Japanese reporters more obviously in the pin game.  

Around many corners of the ballroom in which we gathered (reminiscent of the East Wing dance hall in Washington), meters-long tables of gourmet coffees, French wine, exotic local cheeses, Olympic-tailored bread and a smorgasbord of meats and fresh fruit from across the nation were assembled by toque-donning chefs. 

And voila! Macron arrived accompanied by a military symphony and Bach as well as Paris 2024's CEO, speaking for several minutes about the shared journey to the eve of the XXXIIIth Olympiad. Here are some President Macron's remarks:

Remarks complete, Bach made a beeline for the sortie, briefly stopping to shake hands and chat with Brennan and moi (I asked the wherabouts of one of my clients to which Bach replied with surprise). 

Meanwhile, Macron -- much to the delight of the attendees -- stayed in the ballroom, working the crowd answering softball questions, posing for selfies and introducing the First Lady to a few VIPs.

By the time the impromptu receiving line reached my spot, we were in the garden and Keep The Flame Alive podcaster Jill and I swapped photo duties to capture the moment (thank goodness as my own selfie attempt was marred by the wind).

Shaking hands with President Macron -- whose grip is quite strong and confident -- I first thanked him for his team's marvelous hospitality, complimented his remarks and wished all of France great success with what is already turning out to be among the best Games ever. 

"Merci beaucoup!" 

This next part surprised me in that when another journalist interrupted the end of our handshake, Macron did not let go of my hand for about 20 seconds, insisting it was first my turn to finish the conversation and photo. 

Point, smile (or in my case keep talking), snap and the moment was complete, leaving Jill and I time to finally enjoy some drinks and catering in the garden, cheerfully toasting "To all the bullshit!" that got us to Paris.

Exiting the French palace, I snapped one last photo of what may be a presidential Citroen. So fancy! Nice touch.

Meeting Macron was definitely more personal than interactions with V.P. and candidate-turned-President Biden or Vladimir Putin, in 2010 and 2014, respectively. 

What will happen next?

Photos by Nicholas Wolaver

Remembering July 19, 1996

As the sun set on July 19, 2016, many an Atlanta Olympic veteran likely spent time reminiscing.

On this evening 20 years ago, the Centennial Olympic Games opened with great music, Georgia luminaries, star athletes and even a parade of pickup trucks!

The anniversary may be bittersweet for some, considering the night's greatest surprise in 1996 -- Muhammad Ali, who greeted Janet Evans and the world with torch in hand -- died earlier this year, a month or so shy of again celebrating his favorite Games experience (Ali wrote in his autobiography how he could not sleep after lighting the cauldron).

During the last week or so, Atlanta media pulled out the stops for 20th anniversary coverage. 

Local NPR affiliate WABE-FM created a series reliving the 1996 Cultural Olympiad -- great reporting in collaboration with ArtsATL.com. 

The station also aired a one-hour special and even wrote up Nike's new for 2016 Atlanta '96-inspired sneakers 

It was fun to read about the Atlanta History Center's plans to update the Centennial Olympic exhibition, which will close in a few weeks and reopen next year -- visitors can enjoy one of the 1996 opening ceremony costumes (a giant fish puppet) now on view in the entrance lobby.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution also created many column inches about Atlanta's Games, including a story about three couples who met and married while working at the Olympics (unmentioned with one couple's memories was my cameo role as neighbor encouraging a job application that led to their introduction).

The city and Centennial Olympic Park also pulled out many stops to host a 20th anniversary "Relive the Dream" celebration hosted by Billy Payne, Andrew Young and a cast of medal-winning athletes.

It was fun to spend Saturday catching up with old friends while meeting new contacts. 

Unfortunately, the "dream" evening on July 16 was not all fun and Games due to two lightning delays. Though they eventually got the party started and the content was fun, a handful of attendees took the organizers to task on Facebook with a few harsh but apt emoticons and comments. 

One of my public relations mentors, his wife, a longtime Olympic historian friend and I spent much of the event playing armchair quarterback to the organizers, ultimately deciding/lamenting the majority of the crowd enjoyed themselves but the event's disarray provided a snapshot of snafus parallel to the issues that played out in grand fashion during those 16 days and nights of 1996. 

The anniversary event scene came complete with crass street vendors, tents and credentials for the feted "haves" gazed upon by the excluded masses of "have nots" and other elements that frustrated many of the worker bees from two decades back. 

When I mentioned our observations to a prominent Olympic historian yesterday, he replied with his take that Atlanta was the "first Olympics at which most of the athletes were professionals and the organizers were all amateurs" -- hysterical! 

But, hey -- where would we be without the Atlanta Games experience? I am thankful Payne went to church and scribbled "Olympics" on his working list of community projects in 1988, and that the experiences afforded in 1996 put me on track to attend my 10th Games at Rio starting next week.

I also appreciate the hard work that went into the anniversary event.

This evening the Olympic news outlet Around The Rings hosted a fun party in honor of the Atlanta milestone, and some of my favorite memories of '96 came to mind:

-- Watching the Opening Ceremony live in the kitchen of a Chinese restaurant with my sister, a fellow Olympic Village team member, before we returned to Georgia Tech for the late shift and athletes coming home for the evening

-- Getting acquainted with ACOG Communications Manager Dick Yarbrough and the organization's archivist during work hours (learned the most enriching and "real" Games stories from both of them)

-- Sharing many social gatherings with fellow 1995 USOC interns-turned-Atlantans during the pre-Games spring of '96

-- Following-up the ACOG experience with a bonus two months of Paralympic employment and an additional wave of fun times paired with hard work.

There are many Games-time friends with whom I've lost touch -- would love to reconnect with so many of these people. 

One person in particular is a Village volunteer who attended the University of Georgia. On the last night of the Atlanta Olympic Village, which was Aug. 6, 1996, the two of us visited 4,000 dorm rooms in search of Olympic pins, and I've missed the shared laughter over all the random stuff we discovered the athletes left behind. 

Here's hoping my long-lost friend Emily Sanders is out there and enjoying her Olympic memories as am I.

Photos via Yahoo, Nike, Atlanta History Center. Park photo copyright Nicholas Wolaver.

A Stitch In Time Saves Nine

Kudos to the U.S. Olympic Committee, which unfurled a new fundraising campaign that should sew up some hefty donations to Team USA.

Through the "Raise Our Flag" campaign unveiled in tandem with 100 days to go until the London 2012 Olympic opening ceremony, the national Olympic committee for USA invites anyone with a stitch of patriotism and a Visa credit card to fork over $12 (a bargain by many modern fundraiser standards) for an honorary, virtual loop of thread in the American flag to be carried into the Olympic Stadium on July 27.

The purchasing process is quick, easy and also impressive in its social media savvy -- in less than two minutes and with just a few clicks, I selected the quantity of stitches to purchase, entered payment details then crafted a Tweet-length dedication for thread marks No. 2861 and No. 2862 in case you want a peek -- these initial two donations are in honor of my mother, a seamstress, and father, who is a retired federal employee.

What I love most about this fundraiser is how simple it is to see who else is donating (assuming they opt to share their name disclosed via the online donor wall), and also the ease with which others may be guilted into a donation via Facebook, Twitter and other social media means.

For instance, as of tonight (Friday 20 April), many of the leading Olympic journalists -- such as USA Today's Christine Brennan, the Chicago Tribune's Philip Hersh, CNBC's Darren Rovell and Around The Rings' Ed Hula -- did not yet post a donation to the domestic portion of the Olympic Movement that's inspired their work and countless keystrokes of reporting. When they donate I will cheerfully update this post to reflect their generosity.

Not too many of the big sponsors' CEOs or USOC staff -- like Chief Communications Officer Patrick Sandusky -- yet purchased their stitches. But it's been a busy week and the program is new, and there's still time for these and other key folks to contribute.

It is cool to see two donors confirmed so far with the surname "Ross" (though neither with the first name Betsy) and that USOC CEO Scott Blackmun purchased several loops about which Julie Andrews listed among a few of her favorite things.

So, a needle pulling thread may eventually see donations posted by President Obama, Oprah Winfrey or even Steve Martin and costars from The Three Amigos (famous for exclaiming "We can sew!" and "Sew like the wind!" -- though not sure we may count on a donation to Team USA from amigo Martin Short, who is Canadian; oh, well, they've got red mittens to sew north of the border).

I sincerely hope this fundraising program meets tremendous success. Like the headline of this post proclaims, a stitch in time saves nine (and it's all about the Benjamins).

Photos via USOC

Help For Haiti

It's tough to watch/read/hear the headlines streaming in from Haiti.

On the Olympic front, Around The Rings reported yesterday that contact with the Haiti Olympic Committee is not yet re-established following the Haiti earthquake.

A few years ago, a friend told me about Shelterbox, the international relief organization that delivers portable shelters and supplies to disaster regions worldwide. It was good to see that CNN included Shelterbox among many options to send help for Haiti.

Same day update: Around The Rings reported afternoon Jan. 14 that the Haiti Olympic Committee leadership is safe.

Pele Power

Just read a Jan M. Olsen report for the Associated Press regarding the Olympic feats, and 2016 Olympic bid contributions, of Pele. Interesting read.

Contemplating some of the Rio bid's tactics, as reported in the news today, I keep coming back to a few quotes from Olympic bid-related conversations in Beijing.

During the Around The Rings breakfast event in Beijing, at which all four 2016 Olympic bid city CEOs were quizzed, Patrick Ryan, leader of Chicago 2016, made a remark that stuck with me.

He said (paraphrasing here) that one of the biggest lessons they took from previous Olympic bids was the notion that remaining humble [in the eyes of the IOC] is a key factor for the potential success of the bid by any candidate city.

Some of the Rio 2016 comments today -- at least as they were portrayed by media -- started to smack of "sans humble." When people ask me "why do you think Chicago may win?" this is now part of the response: Chicago remains humble in the process.

No matter the 2016 city chosen on Friday, the Games of the XXXIst Olympiad will be spectacular. Let the Olympic nail biting continue!

Photo via Yahoo! News and Associated Press/AP Photo/POLFOTO, Tariq Mikkel Khan

Odds for 2016 Olympic Vote

During the next few days, it's safe to anticipate a deluge of Olympic bid coverage and buzz. I predict that some media outlets will even quote Olympic industry experts and polls and GamesBids.com, InsideTheGames (cast a vote on the right side of home page online) and/or Around The Rings, which each have good info on the quest for 2016 and other future Olympic bids.

A friendly fellow P.R. pro alerted me that Mickey Richardson, CEO of Bookmaker.com ("one of the largest sports books in the world") apparently "... tasked his team of experienced odds makers with analyzing the chances for each city to take this event and have listed Tokyo as their favorite to host the games, with Madrid as a close second."

I think it would behoove their odds makers to take a look at GamesBids.com, InsideTheGames and Around The Rings, as Tokyo and Madrid are consistently ranked the least likely to win the 2016 hosting duties in their polls.

But I'll keep an eye on this -- it's a safe bet that President Obama's decision to head to Copenhagen is a game changer. Any other odds makers out there want to comment with their two cents as to who will claim the 2016 prize?

I asked of Bookmaker.com, "What odds did this Bookmaker have on Sochi 2014, London 2012, Vancouver 2010 (GamesBids.com posted a report about an Australian oddsmaker on this one) or other recent winning cities? What is [Bookmaker.com's] track record for picking the right cities?" -- will post their response as received (they acknowledged this might be a new category for the Bookmaker.com team).

IOC Member Anita DeFrantz & Olympic Villages

Since the 1996 Olympic Games, I've crossed paths with International Olympic Committee Member Anita DeFrantz a few times: During the Atlanta Games and their "one year later" celebrations, at Olympic media events, USOC or Olympic bid functions and most recently at the LA84 XXV celebration in Los Angeles.

DeFrantz shared a few minutes to describe her part in shaping the Olympic Villages of the LA Games (see video), and some of her remarks in California relate back to her answers at an Around The Rings Newsmaker Breakfast event in Beijing last summer (also on the video) held at the McDonald's on the Olympic Green.

During the Q&A with Around The Rings publisher Ed Hula and U.S. Olympians chief Willie Banks (a three-time Olympian and part of the Atlanta Olympic Village leadership team), DeFrantz answered questions about how each Olympic organizing committee can succeed by creating a pro-athlete environment at their Olympic Villages and venues.

Her work on the Villages for 1984 definitely remains part of the Olympic Village experience for each Games since.

Headshot photo via International Olympic Committee / Olympics.org bio for Anita DeFrantz

Less Than One Year

Just the other day (Oct. 2 to be exact), the calendar marked “one year to go” for the International Olympic Committee’s selection of the 2016 Olympic host city. Four cities – Rio de Janiero, Chicago, Madrid and Tokyo – remain in the running to host the Games of the XXXIst Olympiad.

Toward the conclusion of the Beijing Games, on level two of the Olympic Green McDonald’s, the top executives for all four cities gathered for the only combined press conference, a media breakfast and panel discussion hosted by the team at Around The Rings.

It was an interesting press conference, featuring some of the world’s smartest business and sports executives (with their P.R. counsel at their side – loved it!). ATR Founder Ed Hula was the moderator, with topics such as each bid city’s key messages and challenges covered while a couple dozen Olympic Movement reporters took notes and TV cameras rolled.

During the Q&A session following the program, I took the opportunity to pose the question, “What keeps you up at night about your bid and competition for the Games hosting duties?” Unfortunately, the metonymy “keeps you up at night” was lost in translation for CEOs of Rio, Tokyo and Madrid (each executive fell back to their message points about their strengths, a sign their media relations counselors trained them well).

It was very cool that Chicago’s Olympic bid leader, Mr. Patrick Ryan (Aon Corporation founder and executive chairman), gave a frank yet upbeat answer, reporting that Chicago’s main challenge (and cause for “lost winks” of sleep – another phrase sure to be lost in translation) is that The Windy City is well known in North America but not so much globally (while the cities from Japan, Spain and Brazil each are by-and-large ‘brand name’ destination cities with worldwide recognition). Thank you, Mr. Ryan! (His team created some great videos in China.)

Ryan’s remarks inspired me (during my last few days in China) to ask several hundred people, “Have you ever heard of Chicago?” and/or “Do you know what makes Chicago a great potential Olympic host?”

It was fun to learn that lots of the unofficial poll responders were very familiar with Chicago, with most having a favorable impression (though mostly from feature films of John Hughes).

Mr. Ryan’s sleepless in Chicago nights might be justified, however, as very few of those questions (mostly Chinese nationals or Europeans) could name any major sports events or teams from Lake Michigan’s shoreline metropolis (I laughed hard when one person from Japan actual mentioned my girlfriend’s hometown of Milwaukee, Wis., and their Brewers as a 'Chicago sports team').

One Mr. Nice Guy in Beijing who also took time to answer my Olympic Bid questions was none other than Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. This guy ROCKS! I would love to see Chicago win 2016 for a million reasons – among them, to affirm Mayor Daley’s remarks (which he graciously repeated when I had a Flip Camera snafu inside USA House in Beijing -- see video).

It will certainly be intriguing to track the candidates during the next 350-or-so days, and I’ll post some additional details and comments on each city in future posts. Good luck, Chicago. Boa sorte, Rio. 良い運 to Tokyo and buena suerte, Madrid. And THANK YOU, Obrigado, Gracias and ありがとうto the bid executives for answering my P.R. questions on site at the Around The Rings breakfast event.

Feeling Very Olympic Today

Games Day One. Spectacular!

Started the day at 7 a.m. with a taxi ride for first visit to the Olympic Green, which is grand central Olympic station north of the city. My colleague Paul and client Julie shared a cab to just east of the Bird's Nest, scene of the greatest Olympic Opening Ceremony of all time just eight hours prior.

Our mission: Find the McDonald's pavilion, host of the Around The Rings breakfast press event slated to include World Olympians Association President Richard Fosbury. Though this high jumping gold medalist had to jump to another event, the breakfast was no "flop." But before I get to why ...

The taxi driver tried his best, but just could not get us to the right stadium. I think we visited two other massive stadiums in Beijing before we spotted the Bird's Nest on the horizon. Then there were the races from security gate to gate, in search of "the other one" to provide access onto the Green. Where are those padded insoles when you need them most?

Turned out we were about a mile south of our destination by the time we got on the Green. Which brought the question: Hike? Or risk another cab ride into infinity?

We walked. Well, we sort of race-walked, past some of the largest Olympic venues and other buildings I have ever seen. And everything -- EVERYTHING -- is covered with the gorgeous "look of the Games" colors, flags and emblems.

After three screening areas, 45 minutes, litres of perspiration and a few choice words, we at last arrived at what had become to us "Xanadu" with Golden Arches. But no Fosbury!

But also, no worries. His replacements turned out to be very cool and very experienced in the WOA and the Olympic scene.

IOC Member Anita DeFrantz and Olympian (and former Atlanta Olympic Village Colleague) Willie Banks, now president of U.S. Olympians, were the guests of honor, and we noshed on McMuffins while they answered questions from Around The Rings and other attendees.

For Mr. Banks, I posed a question about the WOA's challenges to track down Olympians in remote nations. He answered with great information about the WOA's mission and how the organization is establishing chapters in National Olympic Committee affiliates.

For Ms. DeFrantz, my question related back to discussion of the previous evening: How is the IOC going to tackle the challenge of the time it takes more than 200 participating NOCs to enter the stadium (my suggestion, for anyone interested, is to keep the tradition of letting every participant encircle the stadium behind their flag, but to have two, three or even four simultaneous entry points so there are up to four NOCs announced at once). DeFrantz responded that the IOC has looked at the challenge and considered options, but it is a fine balance to switch traditions entrenched in the Olympic lexicon.

We had barely finished our last round of hash browns when we trekked to the Main Press Center (MPC), the left ventricle of the media heart of the Games (the right ventricle being the next door neighbor International Broadcast Center (IBC). With thanks to the Vancouver 2010 media relations team, our MPC Day Pass and tour helped me reconnect with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Social Butterfly reporter/blogger Jennifer Brett to compare notes on our Games experiences thus far (I suspect you can read about her afternoon cooking adventure in her blog).

The MPC is only steps from the Olympic Sponsor Village on the Green, but there is a Great Wall of China security fence between the two. So to solve the challenge: MORE walking! My girlfriend would be proud of all these hikes! For me, I just get tired!

We needed to check out a few of the sponsor pavilions that British Columbia's Premier will visit next week, and we were greeted by a smiling Edelman colleague and our client, GE, at GE's Imagination Center, which is absolutely fabulous (I'll write more on their pavilion in future entry when we return next week). We were hosted for a quick tour, then our walking adventure resumed to find the Olympic Green's newly opened train station to get us back home to City Center to prepare for our evening event at B.C. Canada Pavilion.

I've not written much yet on our media mission for the pavilion. In addition to working with all of Canada's media deployed for the Games, Edelman Beijing and yours truly have been busy inviting media to experience all that B.C. Canada Pavilion offers as a destination in the Olympic City. Tonight, the pavilion hosted its third consecutive VIP evening, and media were on site in droves, including new friends from the Vancouver Sun, The Province, Global TV, CTV, Associated Press TV and the Reuters IOC Writer, who mentioned he'd seen this blog and gave me one of the best pins of Beijing (the coveted Reuters China pin -- thanks, Karolos!).

So tonight I'm blogging with some post-media event bliss, and some Games euphoria setting in for a fortnight. Can only guess what tomorrow's adventures will bring, and can hardly wait!

Ronnie At The Games

Though I'm a huge fan of the big documentary film that took on the Golden Arches, I also am a lifelong fan of McDonald's continued support of the Olympic Movement.

According to information sent from the Help A Reporter Out call for Olympic suggestions, Ronald & Co. started supporting the Olympic Family as early as 1968 when athletes in Grenoble, France, were homesick for burgers, fries and the like (the Illinois-based company reportedly answered the call by airlifting food to the Games).

My earliest McD & Games memories take me back to 1984 and commercials involving Sam The Olympic Eagle mascot and Ronald thick as thieves (and perhaps as thick as Grimace -- the purple and possible inspiration behind 1996 Olympic mascot, Izzy). And speaking of the 1996 Games, as a staff member in the Olympic Village my colleagues and I supped daily on McNuggets and sauce (action repeated in Sydney's Olympic Village during volunteer gig -- they had exotic curry and spice sauce for dipping down under - OY!).

In Beijing, I've visited one 24-hour Mickey D and did my best to order a happy meal ('smile meal' in Mandarin, from what I can tell) to receive a mascot Fu-Wa as the "prize" inside. Not sure whether I'll be back to collect all five mascots, but will visit the Olympic Green McDonald's pavilion opening (as work schedule permits) at which the likes of Carl Lewis and other Olympians are slated to attend.

We also scheduled our client, British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell, to share the stage at the Around The Rings/McDonald's Newsmaker Media Breakfast on August 13 (he will join VANOC to discuss the status of preparations for the 2010 Winter Games). If you're an Olympic nut like me, you need to be reading Around The Rings and the great daily content by Ed and Sheila Hula and their Atlanta-based (yet on the ground in China) team. Thanks to McD's for a great central location for their events!

Wondering whether Morgan Spurlock will attend.

Be sure to check out the website for this sponsor, on which they have an Olympic video contest (deadline to vote is August 7, so hurry up and cast your ballot).