Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay Route in Vancouver

Comments 48 by Rebecca Bollwitt

After 105 days on the road the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay is making its way to the host City at the end of this coming week. We know a few special guests will be carrying the flame for a leg, including Steve Nash (NBA) and Trevor Linden (NHL). Here’s the official Torch Relay map for its journey through Vancouver proper.

NOTE These times are when the legs begin, there are several torch-bearers on each leg as they only go about 300 meters each. These are NOT exact times for the people mentioned below, these are the starting times of the legs.

February 11, 2010 Day 105 – Vancouver

Safeway parking lot, Kingsway Avenue and Tyne Street
49th Avenue and Killarney Street
Trout Lake Community Centre, 3350 Victoria Drive
Vancouver City Hall, 12th Avenue and Cambie Street
BC Children’s Hospital, 28th Avenue and Oak Street (Jann Arden)
RCMP Monument, 37th Avenue and Heather Street
41st Avenue and West Boulevard
Musqueam Administration Building, Salish Drive
University of BC, Main Mall
Point Grey Village, 10th Avenue and Sasamat Street
Burrard Bridge
David Lam Park, Yaletown
12:46 pm
1:15 pm
2:13 pm
2:48 pm
3:15 pm
3:30 pm
4:43 pm
5:19 pm
6:14 pm
6:52 pm
7:44 pm
8:00 pm

February 12, 2010 Day 106 – Vancouver

Prospect Point, Stanley Park (Schwarzenegger to Coe)
Denman Street and Davie Street
Inukshuk, Beach Avenue
BC Pavilion, Robson Street and Howe Street
Chinatown Millennium Gate, Pender Street and Taylor Street
Victory Square, Hastings and Cambie Street
Aboriginal Friendship Centre, Hastings and Woodland Drive
Hastings Community Centre, East Hastings Street and Renfrew Street
Adanac Street and Rupert Street
Thunderbird Community Centre 5th Avenue and Cassiar Street
Canada Line Olympic Village, 2nd Avenue and Cambie Street
Granville Island to Yaletown Ferry Docks (Rumoured to be by Dragon Boat)
Yaletown Ferry Docks, foot of Davie Street
Aboriginal Pavillion, Georgia Street and Homer Street
6:21 am
7:51 am
7:55 am
8:27 am
9:00 am
9:13 am
9:45 am
10:29 am
10:38 am
11:18 am
12:38 pm
12:59 pm
1: 27 pm
1:44 pm

Click here to download the full PDF map including celebration site locations.

Update February 8, 2010 I have updated the post with a few of the torch-bearers’ names including Arnold Schwarzenegger [via Vancouver Sun]. Since many on Twitter expressed confusion over this selection, I thought I would put it to a poll.

[poll id=”46″]

Update February 11, 2010 My sources tell me Steve Nash will run at 4:16pm on February 11th (today) and that Michael Buble will be along Pacific around 7:50pm. Also, Trevor Linden will be at 3:50pm today near Main and 37th.

Vancouver 2010 House of Switzerland Grand Opening

Comments 6 by Rebecca Bollwitt

Tonight starting at 4:30pm the doors of House of Switzerland Canada will be opened to the public over at Bridges on Granville Island. The restaurant remains open throughout the games, serving up delicious Swiss creations but tonight, it’s all about the party.

House of Switzerland Canada

I’m sitting in the back corner doing some blogging alongside over $200 in Swiss merchandise. I have a grand prize Lindt gift basket, some Zimtstern belts, Zimtstern hats, aprons, and a Lindt cookbook up for grabs. Come on by, spot me, tweet about this event, and I’ll do a draw around 6:00pm for the prizes.

House of Switzerland Canada House of Switzerland Canada

House of Switzerland Canada House of Switzerland Canada

As a bit of disclosure, I am here independently as accredited media for House of Switzerland. I asked if I could come live blog from their event and they enthusiastically said, “YES!” and offered up the prizing to boot.

DSCN2325

Update: Chef Béda Zengg (whom I met in Switzerland) just dropped off this food. It’s probably better than you join me as soon as possible since I won’t be able to finish all of this myself. I have a table reserved for visitors if you’re able to come by right now.

Update: For the next month, the coffee supplier at Bridges is the Swiss company, Nespresso.

House of Switzerland Canada - @GastonReport House of Switzerland Canada 2010

Update: French reporter and Twitter personality @GastonReport stopped by to say hello then I stepped outside to watch the opening ceremonies.

House of Switzerland Canada 2010

Update: Thank you to everyone that came by, which I believe was about 20-30 people just for the Tweetup at various times. Congratulations to Bev Davies who won the $150 chocolate gift basket and thanks to KLParrot, ArianeC, Photodreamz, VancouverLens, Raul, and more who stopped by. Bridges will be open daily and you can find a list of special House of Switzerland events on their website.

There’s lots more in store and if you do make it by, let me know how you enjoyed the experience (once you come down off the Lindt chocolate high). I’ll be back on Valentine’s Day for another one of their signature events.

Vancouver 2010 Katarina Witt and Elizabeth Manley at GE Ice Plaza Robson Square

Comments 2 by Rebecca Bollwitt

Just a quite note about this exciting public event with Katarina Witt and Elizabeth Manley taking place at GE Ice Plaza this Sunday at 11:30am.

Christmas @ GE Plaza

The figure skating stars of the Calgary 88 Olympics will be reunited on the ice at Robson Square. The event is open to the public, media, and young skaters from the Coquitlam Skating Club will be there too. Robson Square is hosting a series of free events during the Games including free public skating, concerts, and the free Olympic Zipline overhead launching February 12th.

Twitter Hashtags for Vancouver 2010

Comments 16 by Rebecca Bollwitt

Many people have been wondering what the official Twitter hashtag for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games will be. To give a bit of background I’ll explain the purpose of a hashtag.

Every word on Twitter that is published from a public account is searchable on Twitter (see: search.twitter.com or Twitter Search in Plain English). When someone puts a pound sign or hashtag in front of a word that is a signal that it’s a topic or trend to follow. The most helpful usage is when you’re attending an event. Everyone at the event can say updates such as “I’m here at ABC Conference, it’s fun! #ABCconf.” Now anyone wishing to follow that conference can just search #ABCconf on Twitter and see all updates from attendees. Using the hashtag also makes the topic a link on Twitter so when it shows up on your Twitter profile, you can click #ABCconf and see all results under that topic.

Back to the Olympics… I’ve heard of the following being used when posting updated about the Games: #Olympics, #Vancouver2010, #Vancouver, #Van2010.

Trending AgainSince you only have 140 characters in which to post your update on Twitter, the shortest tag is usually the best. I’ll be using #Van2010 throughout the Games and I’ve heard a few others will as well. I’m assuming that #Olympics or simply #Vancouver will be trending on Twitter (meaning they’ll be the most-spoken terms throughout all of Twitter globally) during the month of February.

If you’re ever wondering why a word or phrase is a “trending topic” on Twitter, you can check out WhatTheTrend.com.

In Whistler, they have notified media that they can use #Whistler30 for news and updates. This means you can monitor #Whistler30 (using a Twitter search) to see all news coming out of the region. They have also publicized #WhistlerW5 for any media wanting to know any “Who, What, When, Where, Why” information about Whistler.

In Vancouver, social media reporters, indie journalists, bloggers, photographers and podcasters can tag their information with #TNMH which is the True North Media House. This is an independent collaboration of content producers who want to get their information out to a broad audience.

To specifically mark tweets as being Olympic-related, I’m going with #Van2010 for now, although more suggestions are welcome.

[poll id=”45″]

You can follow all of my updates on Twitter @Miss604 and I’ve also created a list of Vancouver 2010 people on Twitter which you can follow here.

MuchMusic Live in Whistler – Much on Demand

Comments 5 by Rebecca Bollwitt

MuchMusic is coming to Whistler February 12th until the 28th and will broadcast their daily Much on Demand (MOD) show live from the Garibaldi Life Co (GLC).

VJs Sarah Taylor, Tim Deegan, Jesse Giddings, and Liz Trinnear will host segments of MOD LIVE @ THE BASE every day. “We are so excited to be hitting Whistler in true MOD style!” said MuchMusic VJ Jesse Giddings. “As a B.C. native, I’m very proud to bring the Olympic Games spirit to our youth audience in this completely new, non-traditional way. For once in my life, February is going to be my favourite month of the year. Bring on the cold!”

MOD LIVE @ THE BASE Afternoon Show
2:00pm PT – 3:00pm (1 hour)
A live hour that includes highlights of the Games, music videos, and interviews with celebs, artists, and athletes.

MOD LIVE @ THE BASE Evening Show
7:00pm PT – 8:00pm (1 hour)
The evening broadcast picks up where the afternoon show left off with more interviews, more music videos, and stories from the Games that day.

Much Music will also be the exclusive broadcaster of the Vancouver 2010 Victory Ceremony concert series in Vancouver and Whistler. Every night at 8:00pm they will air live concerts that will include: Nelly Furtado (Feb 14), Barenaked Ladies (Feb 16), Paul Brandt (Feb 17), Hedley (Feb 18), Theory Of A Deadman (Feb 19), Stereophonics (Feb 20), Trooper and Loverboy (Feb 21), Billy Talent (Feb 23), INXS (Feb 24), Great Big Sea (Feb 26) and more.

I’ll be heading up to TEDxWhistler February 18th and will also stop in to see the VJs at MOD LIVE. If you’re in the village, stop on by to check out some of the free live entertainment.