Olympic Passion

It's no secret, Raincity staffers have demonstrated their passion for anything Olympics, Open Source and Social Media over the past 5 years...

During that time, as individuals and as a company we have had the honour to attend, cover and enjoy two Olympic games.

Raincity Studios is listed along side 9 other companies in the current issue of WE. The West Ender Cover Feature:Made In Vancouver.

Our city is a hotbed of creativity and entrepreneurial spirit. From the fashionable to the ecological, here are 10 businesses — new and established — we think are at the top of their game.

We are honored and exited to be featured with some of Vancouver's greatest and most innovative companies.

Tags:

• Drupal
• pioneer
• raincitystudios
• robertscales
• technologist
• Vancouver

Your support is kindly needed

South by Southwest 2010 is just around the corner and once again it is time for the community (YOU) to help select which panels will make the cut! I submitted an idea for a session on "Social Media and the Olympics" and I hope you'll consider voting for it. I think this session will be especially relevant since SXSW will be taking place after the closing of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. We'll be sure to have plenty of stories from trenches!

Please Vote "YES"!

Social Media and the Olympics: A Case Study - Robert Scales + panelists

Coverage of the Olympic Games is dominated by IOC's contracted rights-holder and accredited major media conglomerates however some feel there is a role for grassroots documentation of both sporting events and the cultural context. The related conundrums are discussed by social media makers who covered several Olympics Games.

You can also see "Then and Now.. Citizen media and the Olympics", a video recording of the panel I co-hosted at Northern Voice 2009.

Who Am I?

Robert Scales is one of the Co-founders of Raincity Studios - a pioneering open source and Drupal development agency in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is an advocate of Social Media and is often witnesses espousing on open source business models.

As a gonzo journalist, Scales has covered events including the Olympic Games in Turin and Beijing, the Dali Lama's visit to Vancouver and rock bands and tech luminaries at SXSW. Besides the various social media channels, his reportage appeared in MSM outlets as diverse as the BBC, 21st Century Herald (Shanghai), and Warsaw Daily.

Winner of a 2006 Canadian New Media Award, Robert also teaches at Vancouver Film School and acts as an advisor on various Boards. He participated in the Canada World Youth cultural exchange program as well as various social change workshops and training programs. He frequently presents at (un)conferences around the world about open source tech, business and culture.

How can you connect with me?

• Scales on Facebook
• My You Tube Channel
• Scales' Flickr photostream
• Twitter
• My Olympic coverage via Beijing 2008 Social Media Backpack

Thank you for your Support!

Hi, I'm Jeff. I'm the most recent addition to the Raincity Studios team, taking on the role of Marketing Director, and have just relocated to Vancouver from Montreal. It's only been a couple of weeks and I'm just starting to get acclimated to the city, but my experience thus far has been great. I thought I'd share a few things I've learned about the city so far:

5. Vancouver has a (Beautiful) Reputation

It may not be the best gauge of place, but you can learn a lot about a city by what people tell you when they find out you're moving there. Sure, this kind of assessment is bound to be full of stereotypes; I received several comments about organic food, lulu lemon and general fondness towards the caliber of homegrown decriminalized products. But more than anything, Vancouver seems to be a city that is admired by people everywhere. It falls into the category of "Canadian cities people outside of Canada have heard of" and I often received the same response: "oh, I've always wanted to go there - I've heard it's soooo beautiful!" Well, it's true. Vancouver is beautiful. Even on an gloomy overcast morning, knowing the mountains are just beyond the clouds and ocean's a stone's throw away makes up for it all.

4. Everyone has an opinion on the Olympics

Arriving at the vancouver airport, it's overwhelmingly apparent to any visitor that the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games are coming to Vancouver. From the ubiquitous Inukshuk to the giant sized LED olympic rings that greet you as you're leaving, the airport, like the city, seems painted in olympic colours. And all of this excitement has indeed stirred up a bit of controversy as anticipated costs are beginning to soar and locals residents are voicing their concerns over how the city will be impacted during and after the games.

While the opinions about the games are mixed, everyone I meet at least seems to have one. Some people are very enthusiastic and excited about the attention the games will bring Vancouver while others are more critical of the effect the games will have on the city and local culture. While both sides may never be completely happy with how the games turn out, it's encouraging to at least see so many people engaged and aware of what's happening. Coming off of the last summer olympics in Beijing where media coverage was problematic, I'm excited to see how Vancouver is going to pull this off and hopeful about opportunities for social media creators to record and share their olympic experience. The more people who have an opinion, the more people will be engaged and the more people will participate and help to shape the character of these games and influence how they will be remembered.

Join Fearless tomorrow at 10a.m. for Streams of History, yet another fantastic event powered by the Mobile Muse platform (a major part of this platform is the SIFT tool - an RSS, SMS, MMS photo, video, text and microblog aggregator developed by Raincity!).

More after the jump.