20 Aug 2012Thomson Reuters

Anyone who attended the London 2012 Olympic Games came into contact with many Gamesmakers – the 70,000 volunteers who welcomed the world to London with open arms and a distinctly British sense of humour.  Anyone who watched the opening and closing ceremonies will have been struck by the cast of thousands, which consisted almost entirely of amateur volunteers.  Here at Thomson Reuters, we encouraged employees to get involved by matching every day off they took to volunteer for the Games: so, if they volunteered for 10 days, they took five days’ vacation and the company provided the other five days at no cost to the employee.  Many of these employees connected our social intranet, so they could exchange tips and stories in the run up to the event.  We asked some of them what their role involved, and what the experience meant to them:

Penny McPherson, executive assistant, helped lay the foundations by working as a selection and training event volunteer.  This involved interviewing hundreds of potential Gamesmakers during 2011, and then helping guide Gamesmakers to the many training events which happened earlier this year.  “I made so many new friends through this experience, and interviewed a wide range of inspiring people.  The only downside was that I couldn’t apply to be a Gamesmaker myself, but I did at least get to attend the technical rehearsal of the opening ceremony.  Nearly all my volunteering took place at the weekend, so it didn’t disrupt my work schedule too much – but the level of interest and enthusiasm from colleagues helped inspire me to go the extra mile.”

Diana Barrett, finance project manager, volunteered as a Print Distribution team leader in the Aquatics centre, which involved copying and distributing start lists and results for the swimming, diving and synchronised swimming over the two weeks.  “Our client groups included press and TV commentators, sports information desks for athletes and coaches, and competition management. The first couple of days were manic as swimming has a huge number of start lists for heats but it soon settled down as we got into results and finals mode.  It was a wonderful, once in a lifetime experience with many happy memories of meeting new people all over London while en route to the Aquatics centre and at the Olympic Park, as well as making friends with other Gamesmakers.  Hearing the ovation from the stadium audience when the volunteers were being thanked at the closing ceremony was so unexpected, and brought a tear to my eye. I felt so proud to be involved.  I’m now in the cast of the Paralympic opening and closing ceremonies, so still have several weeks more fun ahead of me.”

Nicholas Creswell, vice president of talent, was a member of the opening ceremony cast.  In the 8 weeks leading up to the ceremony, he spent 150 hours rehearsing with the 7,500 other cast members.  “Rehearsals were intense but amazing.  The camaraderie among the cast was unlike anything I’ve experienced: we gave it our all from start to finish, even though most of us were effectively working seven day weeks and the weather conditions were generally appalling.  It helped that back in the office my colleagues were both excited and supportive, and as the final rehearsals ate into the working week I could balance work and performing.  I was one of the miners (aka warriors) who appeared out of summit of the tor at the start of the show, and then descended to the green and pleasant land where I helped create the mayhem of the industrial revolution.  By the end of the sequence I was standing on the stage, more or less under the Olympic rings as they came together and sparked off.  It was magical, and an honour to be one of those who presented this spectacle to the world.”

Jessica Brown, Training and Education Manager, worked in the Protocol team at Heathrow Airport, “meeting and greeting” the Olympics family which included athletes, officials, the IOC members and the world’s media, and dealing with their departures as they headed home. “My most memorable experiences include forming a guard of honour for the gold medal winning US women’s and men’s basketball teams and getting thanked by each and every one (which involved a lot of looking upwards!), meeting the King and Queen of Sweden, and trying to get 25 large kayaks from one end of the terminal to the other, as well working with a truly fantastic team of people.  So many of the people we interacted with made a point of saying a big thank you, which meant a lot.  As for the company’s matching policy, that made all the difference – along with the fact my manager could not have been more supportive.  My only negative is that I was cut out of the photos taken by the Reuters photographer at Heathrow!”