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.

Since 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.

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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 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.

ValleyFest in Lynn Valley is North Vancouver’s own community celebration site for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

The Torch Relay will make its way to the Lynn Valley Centre on day 104, February 10th with music and entertainment at 11:00am and the torch ceremony from 1:00pm – 3:00pm.

From February 12th until the 28th their daily activities roster is rather full and they’ll have a big screen so you can watch Olympic coverage from the Lynn Valley Centre plaza from 10:00am.

Special theme days at ValleyFest include Local Heroes, Youth night, Paralympics profile, First Nations, Seniors, and Mount Seymour showcase.

The Discovery Zone will have workshops with the likes of “Molly the Mountaineer”, a North Shore Museum and Archives display, Build a Bug lantern activity, as well as arts & library activities.

The Games Zone will have “Kurling” hosted by Curling BC and the North Shore Winter Club, Biathlon demos, speedskating and ski jumping demos, hockey shots, and Wii sports.

Concerts include performances by Dustin Bentall, Ready Steady Go, The Black Bear Band, Bobs & Lolo and more.

It looks like they have a nice, FREE, local celebration planned for the community and if you’d like to join them your best bet to get over there is by bus. You can take the 228 or 229 from Lonsdale / Seabus, 255 from West Vancouver or 210 from Burrard.

You can find more information, show times and maps on the ValleyFest website.

Related: Surrey’s Celebration Site, Richmond O Zone, 2010 Pavilions, all my Vancouver 2010 posts.

About an hour outside of Prince George along Highway 16 lies a practically unmarked treasure, the Ancient Forest.

What makes this plot of land so unique, aside from being a grouping of 800-2,000 year old cedars, is that it’s a rainforest… but it’s inland. Being 800km in from the coast of British Columbia this pocket is actually a snowforest and I was lucky enough to explore under the canopy of these aged coniferous giants last weekend.

The Ancient Forest is free to visit year-round but for the sake of learning a bit more about the area we were escorted by Trevor and Laurella of The Outdoor Life Adventure Company. We also had Dave Connell along with us who is an Environmental Planning Professor at the University of Northern BC. Together our group set out on snowshoes along a looped trail that takes about two hours to traverse.

Our first pitstop was at the “Big Tree”. Now I’ve seen some big trees in my time and this one’s at the top of the list at 16 feet in diameter.

We continued along the trail, over creeks, wood-planked bridges, and through clusters of trees reaching up to the sky. At one point I think it stopped snowing but flakes continued to float around like flour, gracefully sifted through the outstretched arms of the giants.

Dave said that he’s heard a visitor refer to the forest as “decadent” which is pretty spot on. Covered in snow we couldn’t spot the rich, entangled root systems or the natural mulch that lined the path however the are is filled with Red Cedars and various types of plants, fungi and lichen that thrive in a snowforest ecosystem.

From “old man’s beard” moss, to smooth flat fungus, or technicolor yellow striping along the side of the trees. Even in the dead of winter the forest is absolutely alive with colour.

“It’s a sense of awe and a sense of being,” said Dave. “And not like being in the city, but as in being human.”

We took the trail loop up to Treebeard Falls and then down and around to old Treebeard himself. A towering cedar with arms outstretched toward the sky, aptly named after the character in the JRR Tolkien books, The Lord of the Rings.

There are information signs at each specific point of interest on the trail and my favourite element was that some of the messaging was written on behalf of a tree.

Along our route there was evidence of the logging industry coming in and marking territory using bright orange spray paint. The Ancient Forest lies on a patch designated as “Block 486” and its future is still on shaky ground but there’s hope.

Without the continuing research and dedication from the folks at UNBC at the Dome Creek Forest Information Committee, the Ancient Forest may not be around today or in the future. There’s a documentary film available called Block 486 that explains a bit of the story.

Dave is hoping people like me can get the word out about this fantastic place and that we’ll be able to explore the non-timber side of forest economics. If we can get more visitors then maybe everyone will be able to discover just how special this area really is – making sure the land is protected and appreciated.

When I was growing up my family took part in many forest-exploring adventures. Each week it was a different park in the Lower Mainland and each summer it was a unique camping experience. I love being among the trees even when I can only get my fix by venturing down the lesser-known trails in Stanley Park. I’ve stood among the Redwoods in California and I’ve named my favourite Western Red Cedar in Stanley Park. Now, I’ve snowshoed the Ancient Forest.

Here’s hoping I can help just a bit by spreading the word so that this gem can live on for even more generations.

Extra info:
The Outdoor Life Adventure Company on Twitter @TOLAC
The University of Northern British Columbia on Twitter @UNBC
UPDATE! 2016 it became BC’s Newest Provincial Park!

Last month I talked about where everyone will be during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games. I plan on staying around town, making one quick day trip to Whistler, being extremely busy covering events for you all to enjoy, and watching the best in the world excel in their sport.

I wanted to take a moment to profile where my coverage can be found during the Olympics.

BC Living Magazine:
Over the next four weeks I will be providing original articles on various facets of the Olympics for BC Living. In their exclusive Games section they have everything from athlete profiles to TV listings and sporting news. You can read my first article that was posted last week that has some of my Opening Ceremony predictions.

True North Media House:
A collaboration of any and all in social media (bloggers, photographers, podcasters) who want to cover the Olympics their way, on their own sites. This site is a one-stop resource for independent content creators and will have a showcase of all registered reporters’ feeds. My involvement with TNMH will be to rally tweetups, photowalks, and opportunities for folks to gather and create content for themselves. Be sure to follow @TNMH on Twitter or my main account @Miss604.

Vancouver Access 2010:
A site put together by Robert Scales who has years of experience covering the Olympics in a social media capacity. Along with his team and co-developer Nadia Aly, they have already put up one of the most comprehensive “Free Attractions” posts for the Olympics that I’ve seen to date. I’ll be cross-posting some existing Miss604.com content in the form of a weekly digest and sharing photos. They’re @VancouverAccess on Twitter.

News 1130:
Over the next few weeks I’ll be checking in with News 1130am. I may have some radio coverage and will be checking out the operations of the official radio station of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics next week. Throughout the Games, if you have Twitter updates you’d like to get on their radar, tag them with #1130.

Miss604.com:
Follow along every day for about 2-5 entries about life in Vancouver (as usual) as well as Olympics coverage. You can subscribe to my Vancouver 2010 Olympics feed if you just want Games-related posts. My photos will all be on Flickr and I’ll also have up to the minute updates on Twitter @Miss604.

For a quick preview this week I’ll be attending/covering the CODE launch party, the grand opening of House of Switzerland Canada (stay tuned for Tweetup information), and attending The Blue Dragon.

Next Tuesday I’ll be riding along with the Torch Relay in Surrey, heading the BC Hydro Power Smart Village and ending the night at the Richmond O Zone — it’ll be a long day but just the beginning of the many adventures yet to come this month.