Me and CTV’s Lisa LaFlamme

Anyone who knows me knows that I love to learn about how things work from the back end. Behind the scenes tours are my fav. <3

I had the opportunity yesterday to take a private tour of the International Broadcasting Center (IBC) where CTV, NBC and all the international television stations are filming their 2010 Olympic coverage. Here’s the run down of the place written so that you can feel like you got a private tour too:

The IBC is just one big building of impressive! At first when you walk into the large open hall it feels like any other corporate building with wide walkways, information and accreditation booths, and a set of flat panel screens showing all the current Olympic coverage. Then you begin to notice the little things like how the walls are made of intricately woven wooden blocks that conceal doors to massive ballrooms and storage areas, and that every Winter Olympic flag from 1924 to 2010 have been hung from the ceilings that are a good four or five meters high.

Look outside the floor-to-ceiling windows towards the white sails of Canada Place, and you’ll notice a barrier of logs floating in the water surrounding the IBC. There’s a little grey boat patrolling the area no bigger than a tin can from where you’re standing. It’s the diving team patrolling the area for uninvited guests looking to crash the Olympic party. I wonder if they’ve ever caught anyone?

CTV

CTV Olympic Set

Up the escalators, you’ll find the CTV floor. Over a thousand workers are busy taping, reviewing footage, editing, and eating between shifts. You walk past the front desk with your temporary guest pass and wonder if anyone will stop you. Nah, you’re standing next to a guy with Norwegian curling pants. Between the glances and the “cool pants” comments, nobody notices you or checks your badge. You’re cool.

You walk through a narrow corridor with large makeshift cubicles lining the entire side. There are about six to a dozen seats and computers in each large cubicle station, and it’s obvious people are here to work. The temporary walls are covered in notices, schedules, highlighted segment lists, and Olympic paraphernalia. It’s crazy to think that all of this was put up just for the Olympics and it’ll all be gone by the end of March.

One lonely desk sits at the end of the cubicles for the girl who distributes pins. It looks like they’re all gone now, and she turns to see who you are. A long list of names is hung beside her computer with all the workers who need to exchange their CTV jackets for larger or smaller sizes. The list has grown so long she’s taped several sheets below it as people continually write and cross off their names once they’ve traded outfits.

It smells like food. You start to see why as you pass the pins girl and walk towards the end of the floor. It’s the Cafeteria and it’s loaded with free food. Outside food is not allowed in the IBC, so they’re providing everyone at CTV with food around the clock including ice cream bars, and all the Coca Cola beverages you can drink. The smell isn’t that great and even though you’re a guest, you’re technically not allowed to consume any Cafeteria food so you turn around and head towards the studios.

Loggers

On your way down, you pass a long set of tables with dozens of tired workers with their eyes glued to their monitors. They’re the “loggers.” Their job is to watch everything that goes on in the Olympics and take note of what happened, where it happened, and when it happened. They input the information in codes to the main database so that when a journalist needs to know what time Team Canada scored, they get what they need with a stroke of a key.

You reach another narrow hallway. There are windows in this hall that look into the sets and control rooms. It feels almost like you’re in bizarro world because so many of the sets look identical but with different names above the Olympic rings. CTV. RDS. You take a non-flash picture through a window of a live broadcast. The host notices you and you hope you haven’t annoyed her. You walk away quickly.

There’s a studio open and the guys inside invite you in to take pictures. How awesome! A guy named Pascal offers to pose for you. They’re all super chill between segments and you chat a bit about who’s got dibs on the Olympic set props once they’re done filming.

In the control rooms, the seats are surprisingly empty and the keyboards look intimidating. There are so many buttons! Everyone works in shifts and another one will start soon so most of the workers are grabbing a quick bite in the Cafeteria.

The Basement

Basement Floor of International Broadcasters

The tour of the CTV floor is over and you’re on the longest escalator ride of your life down to the IBC Basement floor where everyone who’s not CTV is working. It really is the longest elevator you’ve ever seen.

You enter through a set of double doors and feel like you’re about to enter a gigantic ballroom. It would be one, except the entire floor space has been taken up by temporary blocks of rooms containing mini sets and production houses from every participating country.

You sneak a peak into the open Korea house. It looks like a student lounge complete with couches, a fridge, and a guy reading a paper. You sneak a peak into the doors to the Russian television stations. A man sits at a desk as if he’s security and looks at you as if to say “what do you want?” The Russian room is sectioned off into smaller rooms all of which are closed so you quickly move on.

Norwegian Set

The Norwegian room is packed. They’ve flown in some last minute hosts and had to create a mini set within the tight space they’ve been given. It’s hot inside with so many people and you marvel at how warmly they’re dressed. They obviously didn’t get the memo about Vancouver’s warm winter climate.

You turn a corner and find the largest section of them all: NBC. They even have their own security station! You spot the moose that Stephen Colbert rode on his show last week. His production team left it in Vancouver and NBC didn’t know what to do with it so it’s just sitting in the hall without its antlers (they wouldn’t fit through the doors). You ask the security guard if you could please take a picture with it. He says he’s technically not supposed to let anyone except NBC personnel in, but since it’s for the moose he double checks with his boss. They approve. Yay! You snap a few photos and move on before anyone realizes you’re not supposed to be there.

The Olympic Flame

Finally it’s time to visit the flame. You walk outside and see the crowds covering the entire glass wall surrounding the viewing area. Thank goodness you don’t have to be part of that mass. Sadly though, spectators have been complaining about how IBC workers were allowed to walk right up to the flame, under and around it while visitors had to stay several meters back and behind a fence. They’ve since erected a short black fence around the flame that keeps IBC workers away from the flame too so your picture isn’t as nice as you had hoped it would be. That’s ok, you got a behind the scenes tour of the IBC. And you even managed to get a picture with CTV Anchor Lisa LaFlamme (even IBC workers don’t get that privilege).

Many thanks to @mor10 for the tour!

Note: If you want to take a tour of the IBC, CTV is conducting general group tours of their floor but I haven’t figured out how you can join in on the action and the volunteers at the accreditation center weren’t sure either. It’s a mystery really.

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Canadian Flag at Metrotown Mall

The streets, stores, billboards and malls of Vancouver were transformed this week in anticipation of the upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics. But is there a Vancouverite out there that’s really excited about it?

Most of my friends associate the Olympics with impossible traffic, higher parking rates, a clogged transit system that’s already at capacity, and rising prices. In fact, the only good thing I can think of that’s a direct link to the Olympics is all the cultural centers that are going to be popping up — and that’s only because I expect there to be lots of great ethnic food at each one. I hope I’m not disappointed.

Go Canada Go!