onionbagblog
Twitter Tour of 2012
But this wasn't any old East End building site. In three years time, one billion people will be looking at the same building site, as the Games of the XXX Olympiad opens in London. Here's hoping they get to disembark from their bus.
Ah yes, the bus tour. The lovely nu meeja folk at London 2012 invited a number of London based bloggers for a state of the nation tour of the Stratford site. I wasn't alone in expecting hard hats, hi res jackets and a bit of a walk around.
Instead we were stuck in traffic on a Thursday night in some East End hell hole, only to be bussed around the building site with the doors remained firmly locked. A bit of a disappointment, and certainly not photographic friendly (if indeed you ever wanted to take photographs of a rather large building site.)
But we did have a half decent running commentary, as well as a very helpful bus driver who managed to sync the images on his plasma screen with the planned finalised architectural designs of each venue as the wheels on the bus went round and round.
Yes, it's easy to become frustrated at the lack of access that we had; being so close to what will become the epicentre of global sporting and cultural activities for two weeks in 2012, yet still so far away from actually experiencing the feel and ambience of the site.
But given that a building site is a building site is a building site, the early cynicism gradually disappeared as I got to see the scale of the project.
Endless facts and figures are available - we even had an on-board Olympic quiz (sample Q: How many corporate partners has London 2012 signed up with? Its all about the sport...) Instead I'd like to present my online observations from the 2012 Blogger's Tour in a medium in which they deserve.
Limited access meant limited opportunities to get out there and gather information. I was blessed with audioboo and Twitter, even though we were asked to turn off mobile devices as it would 'interfere with the rolling commentary' (yeah, right...)
So rather than bore you with construction stats (just Google 'em,) here is my online timeline from a rather enjoyable Thursday evening spent being bussed around a rather big building site in the East End.
Heading off to Stratford for a blogger's tour of the 2012 site. Who else is in? #
2012 Blogger's Tour 1
2012 Blogger's Tour 2
Mmm - so the 2012 Blogger's Tour is... a bus journey around East London. Open mind, but I (and others) was expecting site access. #
They better get this bloody East London traffic sorted out before 2012. Stuck on a bus. Not feeling sporty. #
Passing the time stuck on the 2012 bus with an Olympics quiz. "How many corporate partners do we have?" It's about the sport, isn't it? #
2012 Blogger's Tour 3
2012 Blogger's Tour 4
Fans of large scale building sites, as viewed on a bus, would love the 2012 Blogger's Tour. #
Hockey is replacing the Hackney Dogs Track. There's a legacy for you. #
I think I just saw the fosil of one of Ken's newts, right in the middle of the handball arena. #
Just passing the home of Leyton Orient, 2013. #
2012 Blogger's Tour 5
Cynicsm aside, the Aquatic Centre for 2012 already looks spectacular. Main stadium is meh. #
2012 Blogger's Tour 6
End thoughts:
The site itself didn't seem that large. Maybe that's because the majority of it still remains to be built? This is no bad thing, as ease of access should give a genuine village feel during the games. Post 2012 and the expected White Elephant might also become slightly easier to disguise.
The Aquatic Centre is stunning. OK, so describing some pylons of varied heights hammered into the ground as 'stunning' is perhaps stretching it; but this is the one venue where already you get a sense of the occasion, helped along with a genuine eye-turning design.
The Olympic Stadium is meh. You've seen one mega bowl, you've seen them all. I'm personally more impressed with the early '90s transformation of Meadow Lane from a wooden dump to a state of the art old Fourth Division ground. Still, at least the dear old O's will have the option to turn down a half-decent new ground, post 2012.
The tour itself was useful, albeit behind the windows of a bus. My lack of photographic evidence is partly in protest of this, partly because I couldn't be bothered. The bus full of bloggers all had their shutter fingers flicking away all evening. The images will be out there soon, once again I suggest a quick Google.
And so many thanks to the nu meeja folk of London 2012 for the invite. Not quite what I expected, but at least I'll be prepared for hopefully what will become an annual event over the next three summers.
As ever, the best bit of the evening was the impromptu blogger's booze up after hours. Lovely company with the likes of @ianvisits janeslondon @mattfromlondon @diamondgeezer Londonist Duncan and London Reconnections. The walk from the bar to our backroom table was the best leg stretching exercise I had all evening.
reply via twitter
| Thursday 21 May, 2009 |
But this wasn't any old East End building site. In three years time, one billion people will be looking at the same building site, as the Games of the XXX Olympiad opens in London. Here's hoping they get to disembark from their bus.
Ah yes, the bus tour. The lovely nu meeja folk at London 2012 invited a number of London based bloggers for a state of the nation tour of the Stratford site. I wasn't alone in expecting hard hats, hi res jackets and a bit of a walk around.
Instead we were stuck in traffic on a Thursday night in some East End hell hole, only to be bussed around the building site with the doors remained firmly locked. A bit of a disappointment, and certainly not photographic friendly (if indeed you ever wanted to take photographs of a rather large building site.)
But we did have a half decent running commentary, as well as a very helpful bus driver who managed to sync the images on his plasma screen with the planned finalised architectural designs of each venue as the wheels on the bus went round and round.
Yes, it's easy to become frustrated at the lack of access that we had; being so close to what will become the epicentre of global sporting and cultural activities for two weeks in 2012, yet still so far away from actually experiencing the feel and ambience of the site.
But given that a building site is a building site is a building site, the early cynicism gradually disappeared as I got to see the scale of the project.
Endless facts and figures are available - we even had an on-board Olympic quiz (sample Q: How many corporate partners has London 2012 signed up with? Its all about the sport...) Instead I'd like to present my online observations from the 2012 Blogger's Tour in a medium in which they deserve.
Limited access meant limited opportunities to get out there and gather information. I was blessed with audioboo and Twitter, even though we were asked to turn off mobile devices as it would 'interfere with the rolling commentary' (yeah, right...)
So rather than bore you with construction stats (just Google 'em,) here is my online timeline from a rather enjoyable Thursday evening spent being bussed around a rather big building site in the East End.
Heading off to Stratford for a blogger's tour of the 2012 site. Who else is in? #
2012 Blogger's Tour 1
2012 Blogger's Tour 2
Mmm - so the 2012 Blogger's Tour is... a bus journey around East London. Open mind, but I (and others) was expecting site access. #
They better get this bloody East London traffic sorted out before 2012. Stuck on a bus. Not feeling sporty. #
Passing the time stuck on the 2012 bus with an Olympics quiz. "How many corporate partners do we have?" It's about the sport, isn't it? #
2012 Blogger's Tour 3
2012 Blogger's Tour 4
Fans of large scale building sites, as viewed on a bus, would love the 2012 Blogger's Tour. #
Hockey is replacing the Hackney Dogs Track. There's a legacy for you. #
I think I just saw the fosil of one of Ken's newts, right in the middle of the handball arena. #
Just passing the home of Leyton Orient, 2013. #
2012 Blogger's Tour 5
Cynicsm aside, the Aquatic Centre for 2012 already looks spectacular. Main stadium is meh. #
2012 Blogger's Tour 6
End thoughts:
The site itself didn't seem that large. Maybe that's because the majority of it still remains to be built? This is no bad thing, as ease of access should give a genuine village feel during the games. Post 2012 and the expected White Elephant might also become slightly easier to disguise.
The Aquatic Centre is stunning. OK, so describing some pylons of varied heights hammered into the ground as 'stunning' is perhaps stretching it; but this is the one venue where already you get a sense of the occasion, helped along with a genuine eye-turning design.
The Olympic Stadium is meh. You've seen one mega bowl, you've seen them all. I'm personally more impressed with the early '90s transformation of Meadow Lane from a wooden dump to a state of the art old Fourth Division ground. Still, at least the dear old O's will have the option to turn down a half-decent new ground, post 2012.
The tour itself was useful, albeit behind the windows of a bus. My lack of photographic evidence is partly in protest of this, partly because I couldn't be bothered. The bus full of bloggers all had their shutter fingers flicking away all evening. The images will be out there soon, once again I suggest a quick Google.
And so many thanks to the nu meeja folk of London 2012 for the invite. Not quite what I expected, but at least I'll be prepared for hopefully what will become an annual event over the next three summers.
As ever, the best bit of the evening was the impromptu blogger's booze up after hours. Lovely company with the likes of @ianvisits janeslondon @mattfromlondon @diamondgeezer Londonist Duncan and London Reconnections. The walk from the bar to our backroom table was the best leg stretching exercise I had all evening.
reply via twitter
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