After the success of my first two contests (one which is still ongoing) BC Hydro has asked me to make another contest announcement this afternoon. They have two tickets for the Women’s 500m qualifier short track speed skating happening tomorrow that they want to give away over Twitter.

Contest:
For this one BC Hydro Power Smart would like to boost up their Twitter presence. To enter to win these tickets follow them on Twitter @PowerSmartBC in an attempt to be their 400th follower. The only way to enter the contest is by doing this so they’ll keep track then notify the 400th person. This will run until they reach their goal (or at least until tomorrow morning) and the winner will be notified tomorrow morning by the Power Smart folk.

Rules and regulations:
Winner must be able to pick up their tickets from the BC Hydro Power Smart Village at 333 Dunsmuir Street. The winner will need to bring a copy of the email I will send saying they have won and will need government ID to prove their identity. Tickets are for tomorrow’s event starting at 5:00pm over at the Pacific Coliseum.

Update: BC Hydro Power Smart has reported that @KevinWalton is the winner, congratulations!

Yesterday I launched a contest with BC Hydro Power Smart to win tickets to a men’s ice hockey semi-final game.

Turns out they have much more to give Miss604.com readers as I’ve been offered tickets to tonight’s opening ceremonies. I only have two hours to run this contest so that the winner can pick up tickets in time so here we go.

Contest:
Leave a comment between 1:20pm and 3:00pm 2:45pm on this post about the Olympics (anything you like). I will draw a winner randomly at 3:15pm 2:50pm. The winner will be notified by email and must be able to confirm within 30 minutes that they can pick up their ticket tonight.

Rules and regulations:
Winner must be able to pick up their ticket for the opening ceremony (tonight at 6:00pm at BC Place) from the BC Hydro Power Smart Village at 333 Dunsmuir Street. The winner will need to bring a copy of the email I will send saying they have won and will need government ID to prove their identity.

That’s it, good luck everyone and Go Canada!

Update: This contest will need to close at 2:45 so that the winner can get their tickets and get into the ceremony on time.
Update: I just drew the winner and it’s Katy, congratulations!
Update: Katy has claimed the prize and is on her way to the Power Smart Village.

My first posts about the Vancouver 2010 Olympics was in November of 2007 although I’ve been following the lead up to the Games ever since I heard the IOC announcement of “Vancouver” for 2010 from my desk in Boston back in 2003.

Can you believe it’s actually here? I wrote a tweet this morning that simply said, “Welcome to probably your biggest day ever, Vancouver.” My husband woke up even more excited than a child on Christmas morning.

After watching the torch relay come through a crowd of thousands on Georgia Street we headed over to the countdown clock in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery. It reads, “Day 0000”. This is it. The Olympics are here.

A small group of colleagues stood in front of the clock and cheered, “Go Canada!” as their photo was taken. Within seconds more people joined in their photo. Complete strangers stood arm and arm to pose for another photo, together. Soon enough it became one massive photo opportunity with all participants chanting young and old chanting, “Go Canada!”.

To say I’m excited is an understatement and I told my husband already that I’m going to cry during the opening ceremony. The world’s eyes are now on my city and I’m lucky enough to be right smack dab in the middle of it all.

Across the city rounds of “O! Canada” are being sung and I’ve heard it at least twice already here at Robson Square. All I have to say is, Go Canada Go!

See also: John’s countdown to the Games from the eyes of an American in Vancouver.

This is it, one of the biggest days ever in the history of Vancouver is upon us as the 2010 Olympic Winter Games kick off this evening. With the mysterious opening ceremony tonight at BC Place (including performances and the lighting of the torch) everyone wants to make sure they can catch the action.

Photo credit: John Bollwitt on Flickr

Here are a few options for catching the opening ceremony:

Television
Live television coverage starts at 4:00pm on CTV and it will also be streamed online on the CTV Olympics site.

Radio
As the official radio station of the Games, News1130 will stream live audio from tonight’s ceremony on air and on their website starting at 6:00pm.

LiveCity
On the big screens at LiveCity Yaletown they’ll be playing the opening ceremony from all Winter Games since Calgary 1988. At 5:30pm they’ll have a pre-show for Vancouver before the main event begins at 6:00pm. The first 1,000 people through the gates will get a pair of red mittens.

Celebration Sites

Whether you’re at home, with friends, or at a public site, I have a feeling the entire Province, nation and maybe a big chunk of the world will have their eyes, hearts, and spirits focused on Vancouver tonight.

Another pavilion powering the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games is the BC Hydro Power Smart Village. Located on Dunsmuir from February 10th until March 21st it will feature state of the art energy saving attractions and activities.

The Expression Wall
The digital Expression Wall is for anyone to colour, write, and create using an infrared marker.

Home of the Future
“A showcase for the latest in home conservation, from smart appliances and a solar garage housing a plug-in vehicle to a green wall and hybrid water heater.”

Club Energy
Featuring the Sustainable Dance Floor, an interactive floor that lights up the more you dance on it. “From Sustainable Dance Club, a company headquartered in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. It generates its own power by translating the vertical movement of the floor into electricity. If you’ve ever been to a dance club, you know how much the floor moves when a popular song comes on.”

The Volt
Chevrolet’s electric vehicle, the Volt, is also on display at the pavilion. I had the chance to ride in it the other morning and it was pretty amazing.

There will be daily dance lessons (from salsa to swing) and all out dance marathons for those who just want to get down and light up the floor. The Power Smart theatre will be showing daily Games coverage, there’s a featured Paralympic Games showcase, and a mobile conservation lab to teach you the ins and outs of saving electricity.

If you can’t make it out to the village, our friends at Social Signal have created the Power the Games Facebook application for BC Hydro, which you can add to your profile.

I haven’t been by yet but I’ll be heading there throughout the Games to check things out and maybe I’ll attempt to bust some sort of move out on that dance floor.

Photo credit: City Caucus on Flickr

Price: Free
Hours: Feb 10-28 10:00am – 8pm weekdays and until 10pm Fri & Sat
Read more: Vancouver 2010 Pavilions and Hospitality Houses and all posts in my tag: pavilions.

Olympic Ticket Giveaway

BC Hydro Power Smart Village has generously offered up two tickets to one lucky Miss604.com reader for the Men’s Semi-Final Ice Hockey game February 26th at Canada Hockey Place.

There are three ways you can enter to win these tickets:

or

or

You can combine A, B, and C for 4 entries or just enter individually however you choose. I’ll calculate all the entries and I’ll do a live draw at the Power Smart Village at 10:00am on Saturday February 20th at the Club Energy dance floor. Contest will close at noon Friday February 19th so that I have time to put all the entries together for the draw.

Update February 16, 2010 The re-tweet tracking system (Tweetmeme) only archives tweets for 7 days. Since the contest runs for 8 days, do not be alarmed if you see your original/early entry no longer on the re-tweet list. I have already archived the first 6 days so no entries will be lost at all.

Update February 19, 2010 The contest closed at 12:00pm today and all entries (by Flickr, Twitter or comment) were received. I will compile all participants into one master spreadsheet list and do the draw tomorrow morning from the Power Smart Pavilion at 10:30am. Feel free to stop by for the draw as the winner will have to collect their tickets from there regardless.

Update February 20, 2010 I have to stay close to home this morning so I’ll post video of the draw online at 10:30am so all can see the draw.

Update February 20, 2010 I did the draw this morning and recorded a video of the process. Unfortunately the sound didn’t work but to avoid a re-draw here is the video anyway:

Thanks to my mom for helping me compile all 1405 entries that came in through Flickr, Twitter and comments. Also, thank you to everyone for entering and sharing some awesome tips. Congratulations to @WayneRacine on Twitter. Wayne, you have 24 hours to confirm your prize and I have sent you a Direct Message about this.

Fine print: Tickets are for the 12:00pm semi-final game on February 26, 2010. Commenters must enter a valid email address and confirm within 24 hours of notification that they can use their prize. Twitter users will also have 24 hours to confirm their winnings and will be notified by “@” or direct message. Tickets can be picked up from the Power Smart Village with valid government ID. Ticket may not be used in any other contests. If the winner cannot attend another name will be drawn.