Olympic Volunteer Press Conference

By Bruce Lerch

July 17, 2008

Funny thing happened to me as I arrived at the Media Centre for my first day of work as a volunteer - I was drafted to participate in a press conference. And not just any press conference - this was to discuss the Olympic Volunteer program, highlighted by none other than the gentleman from BOCOG (Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games) who is the head of the entire program overseeing 500,000 volunteers from around the world.

I am second from the end in the blue jacket. The whole experience was rather surreal, and here is one article explaining the entire reason for the conference. It all started as I was being given a tour of the media centre facility, and I happened to see my name on a sheet of paper tacked on a bulletin board outside one of the press conference rooms. My guide brought me back to my manager, who informed me that I was invited to be a part of Mr. Liu Jian's press conference to represent the group of foreign volunteers that have come to Beijing. That one kind of surprised me as no one ever told me why they picked me.

You can also read about my day in this article, which has a loose translation of my opening remarks, and this article titled "Bruce In Action," which is just a short blurb about what I said. There are many other articles and pictures I found while browsing at my workstation, but I seem to be unable to locate them from my own laptop.

They brought me back upstairs, and as I walked down the wall, I started to notice I was being tracked by TV cameras and photographers snapping pictures. Literally, they scrambled to get shots of me walking once someone apparently pointed out I was participating.

I did a 20-minute stand-up interview with a reporter from Asian Television Limited named Teresa Wong Wai Pui, which consisted mainly of asking my impression of Beijing, asking what I knew of China (which again led me back to our class) and me saying a couple of Chinese phrases I had learned and trying to count to 10 in Chinese (I stumbled over 7 and 9...sorry Shujen!). They kept filming B-roll of me for the rest of the afternoon as well, so I am hoping I'll be able to find a finished product of that experience to share with you all.

I was then whisked away to a green room, where I was given a pre-interview (they seemed satisfied with my answers after only two questions) and was able to meet the BOCOG representatives, including Mr. Liu. Mr. Liu gave me a VERY enthusiastic handshake, gripping my shoulder with his other hand and pumping the heck out of both. Through a translator, he expressed his appreciation for my coming to Beijing and for participating in his press conference, and asked about my experience thus far.

In turn through the translator, I discussed the training we did in our class with Paul Niwa and Shujen Wang back at Emerson and explained all of the things we did to prepare (this brought a HUGE smile to his face), and I thanked him for setting up the tours of the city we'd spent during our first few days and told him how honored and happy I was to be here.

Another enthusiastic handshake followed, and then he put an orange bracelet with Chinese writing on my wrist, which is a symbol of the volunteers, and said he looked forward to hearing my comments in front of the media. We were all walked into the press room, which was jammed with both print and broadcast reporters. Fortunately, I work as a reporter so I have been on the other side of these things before, and the sight of 20-plus television cameras didn't phase me (not too much anyway).

I was one of three volunteers participating, but the only English-speaker on the podium. When I was introduced, I had to make a short speech while taking pauses so the translator could re-tell what I was saying. I talked about how happy I was to have been selected, the training class we took to help prepare us not only for our jobs, but to speak and be able to handle the cultural aspect of Beijing, and closed with my thanks and how honored I was to represent my school, my country and to help the people of Beijing have a chance to show their city to the rest of the world.

 

I wasn't asked any questions during the conference, but as soon as it ended, I was swarmed by reporters. I held court for about 30 minutes, asking various questions from reporters of various news outlets around the world. I was also asked by a reporter from the Associated Press if anyone from BOCOG had given us instructions to not speak about Tibet, which we have not. To paraphrase what I told him, I said "we're here to work and support the Olympics. Obviously I am aware of the situation and appreciate why you have to ask me that question, but no one has told us what to say or what not to say about anything. I have no comment for you personally, and I really am here simply to perform my volunteer duties and help support the people of China."

The rest of the questions were about the things I discussed in my intro speech.  I talked at great length about our training class at Emerson and about touring the city and seeing the Great Wall, Summer Palace, Ming's Tomb, eating Peking Duck (my personal favorite) and seeing the Peking Opera, and everything else we've done. A number of reporters also requested my phone number to contact for comments throughout our stay, and one of the foreign reporters actually referred to me as the "voice of America in Beijing." I imagine they'll forget all about me once President Bush starts speaking, though.

Afterwards, I was thanked by everyone from BOCOG that had participated (a number of them stood nearby as I answered questions, so they must have been pleased) and spent the rest of the day being trailed by cameras, giving me my 15 minutes of fame moment I suppose. All in all, it was a bit surreal, and I wasn't at all expecting to do anything like that, but I think it went very well. And I won't deny it - it was a lot of fun :)

The best part for me was, riding back to our dorms on the subway, I saw a clip from the conference while I was on the train. And yes, they used a clip of me speaking during my speech. A couple of Chinese women standing next to me looked at the screen, back at me, back at the screen, and back at me again and smiled. Apparently, a big American guy with facial hair isn't common around here, so I wasn't hard to recognize...