First Shift

So the day of my first shift dawned and I didn’t have to be there until 3pm (due to be there until 11pm) so faffed around in the morning, sorting things out and generally relaxing. Got myself ready and headed off to catch the bus. 

It was quite a walk to the stadium from the bus stop and my nice uniform hat was very useful, if a bit big.
Heading through the security checks, found workforce and went to see where we needed to be for the shift. Bumping into a couple of other volunteers, also doing the same role with no idea where to go, we eventually met the rest of the team.

We are a small but perfectly formed team of 6, though one member was not there on shift today. We were introduced to our team leaders who are the “Great Big Events Company”, not volunteers but part of the production team, so working closely with the broadcasters. 

Our role is to wheel out 2 large screens onto the track or to the field events, so they can be used to announce the athletes to their finals, instead of, like the swimming, having a fixed point of entry, they athletes will come through the door created by the screens and head to their start or waiting area if it is a field event.

We split into 2 teams of 3, each having a Big Events staff member or two, working with us, and each team (North and South) having 2 screens to get into place. My team has Marcus and Gillian in (Gill is a former Australian Heptathlete so this is her first time on the volunteer side of the proceedings) The other team has Chris and Laura (plus one we have yet to meet)

As the North team, we will be looking after the 100m & 200m starts, plus the field events that take place at the North end of the stadium. The South team funnily will be in charge of the South end starting events (which I don’t think are quite so many, so we should be busier)
We are only needed for final announcements, so there will be a bit of down time in between events where we might be able to watch some of the sport going on.

As the broadcasters were rehearsing their timings for events and medal ceremonies, there were a few athletes from local clubs and some junior athletes there, acting as Athletes for taking part in the races, the announcements and for the field events, so the cameras could find their positions.
We were also asked to stand in, when they tested the timings for athletes being announced through our screen, then a few had to go and join the start lines for races, plus we also got involved in a test medal ceremony for relay. It was all a lot of fun, even though it seems that when competition actually starts we won’t have that much to do.
We will, however, be wheeling the screens out onto the field of play in front of the whole stadium audience, so there’s no room for error as people will be watching closely.  I am hoping that some of my friends who have tickets will be able to get pictures of me in action. But see if you can spot me on the TV.

We were finished well before 9pm so were able to go and get some food and then head off to find the bus home. Chris was heading in a similar direction, but we worked out probably too far apart to make the same bus, but got back eventually with the aid of google maps just to set me on the right path.
Another free day tomorrow then we start our evening shifts in earnest for 5 days.