Russia House, February 2010

The most expensive item on the list was the Sochi Russia House. It came at a price of close to $8 million. I've been to Russia House myself during Vancover Olympics, and I could almost hear the sound of money going down the drain in that place. From non-stop entertainment to all-you-can-drink open bar, the decadence was in the air. I was told it was a way to show the so-called "Russian hospitality." I didn't buy that argument, but if that was part of the Sochi PR campaign, sure...

The next most costly item on the list was the Olympic flag handover ceremony. That wasn't much of an eye-opener either. These things are staged to impress, so blowing that much cash on a five-minute show, likely to be seen by millions of people around the world, made marketing sense.

But it was a different line of spending that made me cringe. The report points out that Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko spent $29,980 on his 20-day stay at the Fairmont Hotel, plus $4,800 in breakfast vouchers and $300 for Internet access. By comparison, Canada’s Minister of State for Sport Gary Lunn billed Canadian taxpayers $10,213.49 for his Vancouver and Whistler hotel rooms from Feb. 4 to March 1. Not a bargain either, but the contrast is there. In fact, if you work out the numbers, Mr. Mutko's stay in Vancouver could probably have easily financed the equipment for the next generation of Russian bobsledders, for example. And I'm not talking about the elite up-and-coming athletes. I'm talking about the young kids back in the Russian periphery who have to share Soviet era sleds simply because their parents can't afford anything better. I understand that future Olympians have to be raised in Spartan conditions, but this is no Sparta, this is Absurdville, because these kids are the ones who will be expected to earn Russia those coveted medals in 2018 and beyond.

Of course, spending lavishly has always been part of elitist sub-culture in Russia.  And that is a bigger part of the problem. In Russia, for people in power, the magical word LUXURY still means status, and status means respect. For middle-aged power elite in Russia, it still comes down to the kind of shoes you wear, the kind of car you drive, and the kind of posh ambience you create around yourself.

When President Medvedev toured the United States at the end of June, he and President Obama went for a burger at Ray's Hell Burger in Arlington, Virginia. They went for a place that was as casual as it gets, very American, very conversation friendly... and, an absolute nightmare for any self-respecting businessman or politician in Russia. Anyone who considers themselves to be a prominent member of the business or political community in Russia wouldn't dare go to a burger joint for lunch. Instead, they would spend an hour driving to a very expensive restaurant, dine on the most expensive food and drinks imaginable.. all alone so as not to be bothered, and then spend another hour getting back to downtown Moscow to put on the busy face and go about their business again.

And that is exactly the kind of culture that Mr. Medvedev will have to fight, if he wants his Sillicon Valley mock-up project Skolkovo to succeed. When the Russian Presdient was visiting San Francisco in June, he Tweeted, "The biggest benefit that the Sillicon Valley provides is the conversation. Not the frivolous kind, but the business oriented, productive one."

And that is bang on. Skolkovo will never become the Sillicon Valley of the East, unless influential people in Russia don't stop wasting money on pretentiousness, trapped in their "insider" social circles. With the past focus on economy grounded in oil and gas, that might have still worked. But, with Russia's new ambition to re-orient themselves for technological innovations and being part of the global market, the love of ostentation has to be thrown out of the window because that is how the rest of the world operates. And that is the bottom line.

But, is all lost? As in, will Russia lose again in Sochi in 2014? Because winning the hockey title seems to be the ultimate goal for the Russians in Sochi, part of the "if we lose hockey, doing well in any other sport does not really matter" mentality. Hockey is the king of winter sports in the minds of Russians, so losing in Sochi is technically not an option, but is it?

After the Olympics here in Vancouver, one of the Canadian reporters covering hockey during the winter games was complaining to me about the unwillingness of the Russian players to talk to the English-speaking media after the matches. He also told me one thing that really stuck in my mind -- he said Russian players have this "world against us" attitude. An attitude that they have now extended to include the Russian media after videos showing key Russian players smoking at a restaurant after the game with Kazakhstan popped up on the Internet, causing a massive outrage at home. After learning about the videos, the Russian team went on an organized "media strike" when the entire team shunned the reporters, leaving many important tactical questions answered in the midst of the tournament.

Ilya Kovalchuk devastated after loss. Photo credit: Martin Rose, Bongarts/Getty Images

But, if the team can "organize" themselves against Russian media in the wake of the allegations of discipline violations, they can "organize" themselves against anyone else, including coaches, staff, and management. One thing they sure could not organize themselves against today were the Czechs who wanted the victory ... badly. The last time that the Czechs won was in 2005, and the spark with which they played today was akin to the spark with which Ovechkin, Kovalcuk and others ended the 15-year title drought in the gold game victory over Canadians in 2008. That spark was not even remotely present in the game against the Czechs today.

So what is next? Well, fixing attitudes does not come easy. Hiring coaches that can make their players leave all the drama on the bench, concentrate on the game and convince them to be open and polite with media might be more attainable.

Meanwhile, Russia is ending a disastrous Olympic season with a silver IIHF world medal. Not too shabby if you really think about it.

Autoradio in Vancouver

That is right. Russian radio is coming down to Vancouver to air Russian music and commentary during the 2010 Games. Russia's top morning radio station Autoradio will broadcast from the Russia House 8 PM to 5 AM PST every day February 12-28. Autoradio will broadcast from Vancouver to all of Russia, so that their listeners half a world away can get their morning fix of news and music from within the Olympic capital where it all happens. But, Vancouverites will also be able to tune in. Vancouver station AM 650 has leased its airtime to the Russians for the duration of the Games. So don't be surprised to hear Russian jingles on AM 650 on your way back from work. The Vice President of AM 650 Brad Philips says he is not sure if their station will do the same and go to the Sochi Olympics in four years time, but he says they are hosting the Russian radio because AM 650 has always been a community station, and the 60,000 Russians living here in Metro Vancouver are part of that community as well.

"It creates a great profile for us and raises awareness about the station," says Philips. "And, it is just another way to serve the community and be part of the excitement."

When I wondered if the administrators of AM 650 were at all worried that their listeners might be surprised to hear a foreign language radio instead of the familiar station, Philips said they are making announcements ahead of time to prepare their audience. Philips says he hopes that AM 650 listeners will support the station. "It is a once in a lifetime opportunity. It is not something usual, but we will be back to normal after February." Philips notes Russians will also play Canadian music as part of the CRTC rules that require all stations to broadcast a certain amount of Canadian content. But he says it is something Russians are happy to do. It makes sense for them to give the people in Russia a taste of the Canadian music while they are here.

AM 650 did not disclose how much Autoradio paid for their airtime, but Russians are sure spending big to get their presence in town noticed, all in an effort to promote their Sochi Olympics in 2014. Russians rented the Science World, one of the most spectacular and expensive venues in the city, to make it the official Russia House for the Games. The House promises to hold daily parties with lots of music and food. Russian athletes and celebrities are likely to pop up as well. Autoradio are planning their own party at the Russia House, bringing Russia's finest artists and musicians. But, I hear getting tickets to the Russia House might be tricky. So, line up early. And, give Autoradio a listen. Because are not music and passion for the sports the universal language we all understand?

Ivan Babikov In Competition

Getting second chances in life does not happen often, but it did happen to Ivan Babikov – a Canadian cross-country skier whose family came to Canada from Russia to look for a better life. An experienced skier in his native Russia, Babikov came to Canada in 2003 with little hope of ever racing again. Fast forward to 2009, and Ivan Babikov is on the Canadian Olympic team, representing Canada at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games. After years of struggling to get his Canadian citizenship, Babikov had to skate for Russia until 2008. He now calls the town of Canmore, Alberta his new home and training ground, and he is sure living his dream…

I caught up with Ivan on the phone after he arrived from Davos, Switzerland, where he was competing in a World Cup event. We had a quick interview that brought up many interesting details about one man's tough journey to the Olympics.

--Ivan, first of all, congratulations on finishing in the top 10 in the men's cross-country ski team relay in Norway at the end of November. But, I heard that the Canadian team overall did not show very strong results in Finland just weeks ago. You actually did the best coming in 38th in the 15 km race. How is the team feeling about the results?

Yeah, in Finland, no one expected what happened to our coach. It was hard. He broke his hip. He will be back soon. Of course, we had to get used to working without him. It was hard in the beginning, but these little misfortunes are survivable, so it is ok. We still have time to prepare for the Olympics. We hope everything will be ok.

--How do you feel around your new Canadian teammates?

We have an awesome team. The guys are very friendly. We are all in it together, and no problems ever arise. We are a very close bunch and don’t make foes of each other.

--But, the language does not seem to be a barrier for you at all, does it?

No.

--When was your fist race as a Canadian athlete? And, how many races have you already completed for Canada?

Back in the day I was living here in Canada, but officially I was a Russian athlete. The sport is regulated by the International Federation, and every athlete has a license, so to speak, which defines what country you compete for. Back than, I still had Russian passport, so technically I represented Russia, although I was living and running races here. But, yeah, officially my first race for Canada was in December of 2008. And, right now, I am in my second season with the Canadian team.

--So, are you used to wearing the maple leaf on your uniform by now?

Of course, you get used to good things fast (laughs).

Ivan Babikov In Competition

--You were training and living in Canada when you came here in 2003. Did you make a decision to get the Canadian citizenship back than?

To be honest, when my family and I immigrated to Canada, I did not think that I would continue to race. I thought I would just get a job of some kind. I was doing relatively well in Russia, but I was not stellar. I had some good results, but I was not thinking about it seriously. I was not expecting to come here to race and represent Canada. I really came here looking for a better life for my family, so that my son could live in a good country, go to a good school and so on. When we came here, I was not even training, because I had a job in Toronto. So, I was not hoping for good results. But, than I had my first competition, did rather well and I thought why not try again? There were a lot of difficulties along the way, but it happened such that I am still here.

--Do you feel completely at home here now?

Yeah, Canada is probably home already. I have not been to Russia in a while. I have friends there of course. But, my entire family is now here.

--What did you find to be the most striking difference between your training and competitions representing Canada vs. Russia? For example, I heard Russian hockey players who come to play in the NHL say that that the training regimen here is a lot more individualistic, whereas in Russia, it is a lot more team centered with less freedom to do what you want to do.

I am a little surprised to hear that from the hockey players. Their sport is a lot more team-based. But, I think they have a point. It is sort of like that. I think it is because here in Canada you are being treated more as a human being. Canadians understand that if they make you comfortable, you will show better results on the track, you see? In Russia, it is not like that – there, everybody is put under the same label and being told, “Do this, because I know that is a good way to do it for everyone.”  Here, you are asked what will ultimately work for you, what you think works well to get better results. So, it is a win-win situation here: athletes feel good because we are being treated as human beings, and if we succeed, the system also wins.  It really is a double win. So, the approach here is simpler and more professional than in Russia. But, I think it is because the training system in Russia is a remnant of the way things were in the Soviet Union. There you treat training as you job. So, if you do not show up for work, you can be fired, etc. Your salary depends on it. And, here you do it as long as it is fun. Nobody is going to make you do anything, so if you want to go train, you do; if you don’t, than you don’t. In Russia, if you feel tired or do not feel well, they still say, “It is ok, go train.” Here, it is up to you. It is a more relaxed approach, but I think the results only benefit from that.

--So, it is the mentality that is different than?

Yeah, absolutely different. For Canadians - it is all about fun. For them, even if you do not do so well in a race, it is still fine. In Russia, even if you do well, you are being told,  “it is no good, you still have to work on this and that…,” and you don’t feel satisfied as the result of that.

--You are on Twitter a lot. But, Twitter is hot with athletes lately – some of them use it to interact with fans, others use it for self-promotion. Why do you use it? (YTFiles – Twitter is a microblogging platform that allows users to interact in 140-character messages).

I would not say I Tweet a lot. There are other guys on the team who are even more active than me. I kind of do it sometimes just because everybody does it. People follow me, it must be of interest to someone.  I just like to inform people about what I do, where I am, how I feel and so on. I think it is more for myself too, just to let go of some emotions. Just to show what I did and show to someone that I train, and I feel better because of that (laughs).

--Did you set your aspirations for Vancouver 2010?

No, I try not to think about it. Many North Americans have that mentality, as you said, of setting goals and striving toward something. I try not to think about it and see what happens. I will do my best to get the best results, but the thought of it is not in my head. I don’t wake up every morning and think about it – I think it would be too hard psychologically, especially for me. I never make grandiose plans. Of course, I go train every day and do the maximum to squeeze out everything from myself in training and competition, but the results vary: sometimes you don’t do well, sometimes you do better…

--Were you part of the “Own The Podium” program heading into the Olympics, or did the change of citizenship interfere with that? (YTFiles – “Own the Podium” is program launched in 2005 to prepare Canada to become the top winter sporting nation in the world by 2010).

Yes, they support me. They supported me all the way back since 2006, when I was just settling in. They understood that I am a team candidate, and backed me up. Getting citizenship ended up being a very long process, but the program managers tried to help me, which was kind of them.

--Do you hope to race in Sochi, Russia at the 2014 Olympic Games, or you are not making such long-term plans yet?

Of course I would want to. It would have been great. The Olympics will be in Russia. But, we will see. So far, I have the desire to compete for as long as I can. But, you never know how it will turn out with health and everything. Of course, if I have the means, the desire to race and good health, I will be there.

--You think the "home charm" will work?

I do not know where my home charm is anymore (laughs). I hope that it will help me here in Canada, and it will help me in Russia too.

--During the Olympic Games in Vancouver, there will be the Sochi 2014 Russia House where many of the Russian athletes, officials and entertainers will gather for the duration of the Games. Are you going to pay a visit?

I will be in Whistler. There will be a Canada House there. So, going to Vancouver for Russia House would be a long trip. The same thing happened in Turin (YTFiles – the capital of the 2006 Winter Olympics) where the Russia House was a four-hour drive from the skiing venues. That is why we never actually showed up at the Russia House back than. Typically, athletes like us who have a long stretch of competitions do not even have a chance to get out and see the Opening or Closing ceremonies. We start on the second day of the Games and go until the last, so we do not like to spend time and energy on things like that. But, if I had a chance to drop by, why not? I would go. I keep in touch with the guys from the Russian team, we are still friends.

--So, you do keep up in touch with the Russian national team?

With the athletes, yes. Because we were all on the same team at one time and represented the same country. Of course, things like that do not just go away…

--Why did you choose to settle down in Canmore, Alberta? Was it for training purposes?

Yeah, when I first came, I got in touch with Cross-Country Canada and I was told that the team is being formed here in Canmore. But, the training conditions here make for a very good training ground – the hills and the snow…Canmore is a hub for skiing and biathlon in a way.

--Have you had a chance to explore Canada and travel around? Or, are you entirely focused on training and competitions right now?

All my travel is limited to competitions – so when there is a Cup of Canada, or the National Championships, I travel around. So, of course I go places, but all of Canada? I did not explore all of Canada yet.

--What do you love to do in your free time, if there is such a thing for you?

Yeah, there is very little of it. But, I spend most of it with my family, my wife and son, or in front of a computer.

Ivan Babikov In Training

Ivan Babikov In Training

YTFiles -- Photos and video attached are courtesy of Ivan Babikov. The interview was translated from Russian.

In essence, the concept of citizen reporting is fairly simple – you see something newsworthy happening around you, you reach for your laptop or smart phone, snap a few photos, upload it to a hosting platform, add commentary, … and, boom, you have a citizen report before any major news wires find out that the news even happened. The simplicity and promptness of citizen journalism is what is slowly making it the new way to do news-gathering. But, for many Internet users here in North America the concept of “citizen journalism” is still a little fuzzy -- many are still unsure about the legalities, logistics and the editorial integrity of citizen reporting. In many places in Russia though, the concept of taking the responsibility to report news while doing it for free is still very, very raw.

Alexander Zolotarev, SochiReporter Founder and CEO

But, where there is a challenge, there is an opportunity. And, with the Winter Olympic Games coming to Russia in 2014, a group of citizen media enthusiasts headed by Moscow State University Faculty of Journalism lecturer and the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism Fulbright Scholar Alexander Zolotarev decided to give the “made-in-Russia” citizen journalism a try.

Now, why tether citizen journalism, a city in Southern Russia and the Olympics? Well, the upcoming 2014 Olympics in Sochi are a big deal for Russia. From what I am hearing and seeing on Russian news wires and blogs, there seems to be a genuine interest and excitement about the Games. However, there has been some controversy surrounding the Olympic construction in the city. Concerns over the potential threat to the region's ecosystems have been raised in the past. But, these are the issues that any Olympic city faces. And, if that is something that might get conversations going, there needs to be a place for people to talk about it. The idea is that the city is going through a major transformation heading into the Games and there is a need to provide a portal for discussion to take place.

But, any experiment needs a test lab. So, Zolotarev and the team have created a platform that lets the residents of Sochi try their hand at citizen reporting – the recently launched Drupal based portal is called SochiReporter, and it has all the tools necessary for people to create, share and distribute content about their city.

Exclusively for this blog, I got a chance to talk with Alexander Zolotarev, the man behind the idea of SochiReporter. Alex works out of Sochi and Moscow, coordinating both the entrepreneurial and editorial aspects of the project.

Alexander, when did the site officially launch, and what is the latest news on SochiReporter?

SochiReporter officially launched on October 27. We started testing the website in the middle of September granting access to a limited group of people: friends, colleagues, web experts and professionals.

The latest video report featured on the site brings the opinions of the citizens of Sochi about the new Sochi Olympics logo, which was presented recently. The design is based on the domain name of the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee - sochi.ru, which conveys the idea of the hi-tech Olympics, and how the Olympics are adjusting to the digital age and aim at being closer to and reaching the younger audience, the digital generation. So one of our ‘sochireporters’ – as we call our citizen journalists – made a video in which she asks Sochi locals, ranging from a neighborhood fisherman to a hotel administrator – how they like and understand the new logo. Exciting!

How and when did the idea of SochiReporter come to you?

It was like a flash, which came into my mind soon after the city was elected to host the 2014 Winter Olympics.  It was a great opportunity to bring to life my passion for the digital technologies and the new media. In 2007-2008, I was writing a thesis about it at the Faculty of Journalism Moscow State University which I am a graduate of, and at the same time was a Fulbright scholar in the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism. I heard about the Knight News Challenge and decided to apply. So the jurors at the Knight Foundation liked my idea of building a digital archive of the pre-Olympic city involving citizen journalists and I became one of the winners of the 2008 contest.

So, the project is funded by the Knight Foundation?

Yes, correct. By the way, the contest is still on, in its fourth year, and you can apply. The deadline is December 15.

Do people in Sochi know about your project? Are they aware of the brand and functionality? How willing are they to participate?

SochiReporter Journalism 2.0 Workshop

Yes, I am actively promoting the project in Sochi, bringing to light the new opportunities and functions, which SochiReporter gives. We had a good media coverage of our seminar called ‘Journalism 2.0: the New Trends’ which we organized at the end of July for the students of five leading Sochi-based universities,  and at this seminar then I announced the contest for the best story, photo and video among those students.  We provided them with cameras, HD video cameras and voice recorders, basically armored them with the tech gadgets which helped them produce their materials.  Our tech partners Kodak and Olympus presented the devices to the young people.

Those last three weeks I gave about 20 presentations and open lessons in Sochi-based schools and universities, meeting with high school teachers and presenting the project for university professors at the thematic meeting in the House of Education of Sochi, talking with young TV journalism students in the TV school for teenagers, etc. The young people are our key audience (hence our colorful, ‘adrenaline’ design), as they are the most active web users in Sochi.

How big is the pool of Sochi reporters at this point?

About 40 citizen reporters. We have been on for 5 weeks. But we are steadily growing as new users register on the website.

Are you happy with the content you are getting? What do you consider to be your greatest success with SochiReporter so far? What are some of the things that still need to be figured out?

I like the content which is being generated and uploaded on the website and I like the personal styles and voices of our reporters. One of the interesting things which SochiReporter presented on the website is the so-called Time Machine, a special section which helps to organize and archive all the materials generated by users, including the videos. It will enable any tourist or journalist who comes to Sochi in 2014 to travel back to any date in the past and see the picture of the day, all the stories and photos and videos which were uploaded by users on that day.

We still need to extend the English version of the website and introduce the more functional social network component, which we are working on now.

Citizen journalism is still in the up-and-coming stage in Russia.  Does that help you or work against you in your project?

SochiReporter has an opportunity and was actually born to promote the digital tools in Sochi, and foster the ‘webization’ of the city, which is preparing to host the Olympics. So we are experimenting in finding new ways to attract and involve users, the Sochi citizens, to generate content and tell the story of their city, the story of transformation. We don’t expect the stories to be professional in a journalistic way, as our reporters are not professional journalists. But we expect their stories be hearty and sincere. And this is very important.  This is thrilling!

How do you see SochiReporter growing after the 2014 games?

Do you think we’ll turn into an e-shop and will sell tickets to the post-Olympic skating rink? I’m kidding.  Well, if stars align, by 2014 SochiReporter will grow into a known and strong web resource, and it should continue being. I see no reasons not to. Olympics are not just a destination, it’s also a factor that affects and leaves a huge legacy behind.  And as time goes by, and technology develops, I bet SochiReporter will evolve.

Alexander Zolotarev is on Twitter @ZanderZolotarev. SochiReporter also has a Twitter account of its own @SochiReporter.

Video showing how SochiReporter was created

All photo and video materials were kindly provided by Alexander Zolotarev.

The ceremony is being live-streamed on the Sochi 2014 official website www.sochi2014.ru.

I will be watching live!

And this is a snapshot of the new site featuring the new logo:

But, did you know that the next Winter Olympic Games after Vancouver would be held in Sochi, Russia? From talking to people about Sochi, I realized that North Americans do not really associate the word “Sochi” with Russia. My friend once asked me if Sochi was some place in Japan. Well, I know the name is sort of unusual for a city in Russia, but the tiny town of Sochi will indeed be welcoming the world for the 22nd Winter Olympiad in 2014. And, it sure hopes to show class while doing that. I hear the 2014 Games are a tremendous occasion for Russians, and Sochi is sure to be worked up to impress.

I get a sense that whenever Russia gets to host a major international event nowadays, it becomes almost a pride thing to do really, REALLY well. Such was the case with the Eurovision 2009 Song Contest that Russia hosted this past May. Eurovision is an annual singing competition that is becoming a showbizz bonanza of multinational scale. This year, it was the first time in the event’s 55 years of existence that Russia got to host the contest. The outcome? Russians built the biggest and the flashiest stage in the history of the contest with lots of other perks, which in the end had Russia put together the most expensive edition of the contest – the bill came down to a whopping 40 million dollars.

So, when it will come to making the 2014 Games stand out, I am sure Russia will not hold anything back to make sure that its Games become the best Olympic Games ever.

Today’s launch of the Olympic brand, emblem and slogan of the 2014 Games will sure be a huge milestone for Sochi. And already, sky is the limit -- the Olympic news source GamesBids.com quotes Sochi 2014 President Dmitry Chernyshenko saying the Sochi 2014 logo will be the most innovative in the history of the Olympic Games. "It's a totally new experience and it's our philosophy, our way of thinking - it's quite simply unique", explained Chernyshenko.

Whether the new Olympic brand and Russia’s Games are going stand up to the hype remains to be seen.

Coming up on this blog: Sochi 2014 Russia House at the Science World in Vancouver – will it be the hottest ticket in town during the 2010 Vancouver Games?