Getting to London was uneventful. I was fortunate with my arrival time and the number of people going through customs. Despite all of the warnings (on Canadian TV) about the lineups and lack of Customs officers, there were only eight people in front of me and I was put right through – no questions asked. When I walked through the "nothing to declare" line with my baggage, three officers nodded and said have a nice stay. They didn't bother to look at my suitcase or anything. Getting to the bed and breakfast involved taking the "Underground" or the "Tube" and then travelling on the DLR – Docklands Light Railway. Most of the one hour journey was spent underground. However, the last 20 minutes was above ground on the railway. The biggest surprise thus far….nothing Olympic looking. There were no signs at the airport, nothing in the Underground and nothing on the railway. Because I knew that the ExCel centre was a venue, I looked at it closely and notice a huge banner at the end of it. Other than that – not a thing. I guess that will be "coming soon!" given the time frame involved.
Tomorrow I will spend some time familiarizing myself with the Underground and DLR so that I get to work on time on Monday. Monday involves an all-day training session for new employees as well as accreditation and uniform assignment. Tuesday I report to my assigned leader and I'm sure find out much more about this gig! Eventually, I have to also participate in a four-hour leadership training course. To prepare for the training, I have to been asked to think about the following two questions and be prepared to talk about my responses:
1) What skills/experience do you have that will help you perform your leadership role at the Games?
2) Can you identify one element of preparation that you will undertake between now and the Games to help you in your role as a leader?
I have been in touch with my friend Dana (a Canadian project manager extraordinaire) who has been here working for several months. She has been a great resource for me thus far. She indicated that when she came, she also had someone here from Canada who could answer questions for her. For the Georgian EVNT students, this stage is similar to the recruitment and selection wherein we saw the statistics about hiring through referrals being the most popular way amongst employers to hire. This holds true for starting a job at a mega-event where you know other staffers. Call on their expertise and start asking questions! Housing, local transportation, cell phones, voltages, working hours (how early does the craziness begin), do we need workboots, etc. are all examples of questions we have asked.
There were very few photo opps today, but I snapped a couple along the Underground and DLR ride.
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