The Olympic Games always come with a high degree of expectations about the stories that will captivate us and that we will remember for years to come. For instance, I am not even a skater, but I will always remember Shizuka Arakawa at the Turin 2006 Winter Games, winning a gold medal in figure skating for Japan. I am sure you have your own memories of past glories in Olympic history.
Along with following the many stories of athletes' pursuit of perfection and winning, I am always interested in the ways in which technology evolves at every Olympic Games. The Games always showcase a fascinating display of the latest technology, and the speed with which information is shared around the world continues to accelerate. I remember having to wait until the "special report from the Olympics" aired on TV before learning all the results! Back then, it was hard to imagine that there would be a time when the world could learn all the wonderful stories from the Games in real time, across continents.
We, in the Office team, wanted to make our own contribution at the Winter Games in Vancouver to enable storytelling. That is why we ran a contest to recruit bloggers who will be using Office 2010 to document the legacy of the Winter Games for the world -- behind the scenes and in real time.
Last Tuesday, Amber Borowski Johnson and Dylan Derryberry were announced as the winners of our contest. They'll be at the Games, and will be using the latest Office 2010 technology to provide a behind-the-scenes view from Vancouver alongside Team USA. With Office 2010, Amber and Dylan will:
These stories will all be showcased on the newly redesigned USOC Virtual Press Room, which is built on SharePoint 2010 and the latest Silverlight technologies. Along with serving as the central hub of news for the Games, the Virtual Press Room will also improve USOC information sharing by providing journalists with easy access to a wealth of athlete and event resources (including instant access to personal updates from athletes via Twitter, and much, much more).
I am very excited to learn about the Olympic stories through Amber's and Dylan's blogs using the latest technology! What about you?
What is your favorite memory in Olympic history? How did technology help capture that story?
What is your favorite memory of technology innovation in Olympic history?
I hope you will join me in this dialogue on technology and its impact on how people communicate all over the world. I look forward to your thoughts.
-- Takeshi Numoto
Corporate Vice-President, Office Product Management Group
Microsoft Corp.
This post was mentioned on Twitter by Officegal: RT @tweetmeme Office at the Olympic Games: New technologies for storytelling - The Microsoft Office Blog - The Office... http://ow.ly/1o08JA