This preview of the HBO documentary series 24/7 (see below or use this link) as it focuses on the NHL’s “Winter Classic” (i.e. a game played outdoors in a large stadium) captures nicely the importance of storyline as an essential component to creating drama around a sporting event. While you nor I probably cared much about the long-standing rivalry between the professional ice hockey teams from New York and Philadelphia… after watching this 12 minute preview, chances are pretty good most of us are eager to see how the story ends. After watching, we are now part of the collective experience surrounding this event. This is also one of the primary objectives of Podium…. storyline = drama = powerful collective experiences.
When thinking about structure, I keep coming back to the concept of an “open-data dashboard.” I think the reason is that Podium will most probably end up being a structural hybrid and dashboard is the easiest way to capture this idea. Structurally this dashboard will have different sections (I’m completely smitten by the “tile concept” now being championed by Windows Mobile). The sections will include:
Note: I have purposely LEFT OUT any live video streaming section. I view Podium as something that enhances one’s viewing experience, whether s/he be at the event in-person or watching remotely at home or in a bar. Podium will be everyone’s 2nd screen in their multiscreen viewing experience. We intend to drive more traffic to live broadcast viewshipship and increase ticket sales. At the end of the day… (as I’ve written before), sports is a social activity that depends on drama. The better information spectators have about the storyline, the richer the experience will be for them. Thus, in 10 years if we sit down in our stadium seats or in front of the TV without an addiitonal digital screen at our fingertips, we’ll feel naked. Podium will be central to the experience of Olympic sports.
So… what I’d like to do is to start with the Drupal 7 CMS as the base-layer but to use either MongoDB or CouchDB, instead of the standard installation of MySQL. There is, apparently, a plug-in for MongoDB. One of the issues is whether Drupal 7 is HTML5 compatible at this point. I am very eager to stay away from having to build this “dashboard” for each and every platform flavor in the game today. Thus, while there may be some initial short-term performance sacrifices, I’m leaning towards HTML5. Perhaps, the “responsive HTML5” Omega Drupal framework will solve this issue.
I’m not sure. Should I be looking at the custom Web App approach, instead of Drupal? The nice thing about Drupal is that it’s already an accepted open-source tool in the open data world. Why try to recreate the wheel? The other nice thing is that with Drupal I can use the open-source data portal CKAN software. There’s a number of cities/governments already using CKAN package for their open data initiatives. The only problem is that I suspect CKAN using MySQL and I’m doing my best to be “leading edge” with the data.
For the wiki I can use Mediawiki with the Semantic-MediaWiki extension, which is also open source but I suspect not “NoSQL.” I don’t know… it’s nuts. There’s all this pieces and I’ve got to try to find a way to get them all to be:
You got any ideas? Please let me know… because as this project grows and starts engaging more and more people, we will soon be locked into our choices. Better to fiddle around now and make the right choices then to be sorry later. Drupal 7, HTML5, Hadoop, CouchDB, MongoDB, CKAN, RDF, MediaWiki, Socrata, and on and on. Lots of technologies to choose from. How would you build it structurally?
Ok… here’s the thing. My vision of where I see Podium going isn’t possible with today’s standard off the shelf tools. It's going to take some customization.
I like the aspect of wikis (like MediaWiki) whereby users can, themselves, add content. The problem is that it’s not "flat" text content we’re after but rather, it's a combination of data and structured content. When we look over at the standard open data platform being developed with Socrata or CKAN on top of Drupal 7, the issue we face is that the model is more of an upload and share. Implicit in this standard open data model is the idea that a data set is somewhat complete when it gets uploaded. That’s not how I see Podium.
Rather, I would like for Podium to be a place where people can both nominate the data sets, themselves, (i.e. female figure skaters) but also… contribute data on a piecemeal basis. In other words, we may know the names of the women figure skaters from the 1950;s, for example, but lack certain details on a majority of them. For instance, height and weight at the time of competition. Or even photos (headshots) of the competitors. I’d therefore, like Podium to empower individual users to add pieces of data. There may be a great grand-daughter of a French women’s figure skating Silver medalist who has scanned photos of her great grandmother. That user should be able to upload that piece of data into Podium. Think of it like a fill-in the blank data set. Over time… the Olympic community will make the data better and more complete.
But in addition to “data sets” we also have something that we’re tentatively now calling “content streams.” Content streams are a completely different type of information. Basically, this new data stream is unstructured. Think of all the data that flows through Twitter on a daily basis concerning the Olympic athletes. Just today, for example, there were thousands of “mentions” of athletes who compete in Winter Olympic sports. This ambient “chatter” is actually quite valuable data, albeit quite different than traditional data sets. Think of this ambient chatter as a sort of color commentary on these people and sports. We have “color commentators” in the broadcast booths of sporting events… thus, why shouldn’t we have ambient chatter flowing through various data streams.
In order to capture, store, organize, and share these new data streams we’re turning to new types of databases, known colloquially as “NoSQL” is a play on words with the traditional MySQL relational databases. Other people are calling these new unstructured databases “Document Object Databases,” which seems to me to be a better name for them. There’s a number of flavors of DODBs out there such as MongoDB and CouchDB.
What I’d like to see is a structured wiki that is built upon a DODB (NoSQL database). We also have even mentioned yet that 800 pound elephant in the corner of the computer lab… semantic data and RDF. Nonetheless, it’s pretty obvious that we’re all headed in that direction over the next couple of years. So, as you can see, the choices available on how to structure Podium are not exactly the right fit.
The more I think about Podium, the more I see it as a merging of data set, content wikis, and content streams. In other words, Podium is going to be a massive information portal. Now I know the word “portal” has been thoroughly denigrated over the past decade but there’s something right and true about the word that should make us give it another look. Podium will be like a giant community brain. It will be both a starting point and an end point depending on the type of user. Journalists will use Podium as a tool for research, spectators will use Podium as an entertainment medium, and developers will use Podium as data resource.
I can see Podium playing quite nicely with the myriad of new HTML5 readers (Flipboard, Pulse, et al) that are sure to evolve and become the dominant way people consume aggragted content. People will create customized RSS/JSON feeds (that won’t need to know the technical details) which can then be fed into their readers or other apps and services.
The point is that if you stop and think of the amount of data and content associated directly with the Olympic Games and their constituent sports (50+ sports), it’s staggering. Actually, it’s so large and so disparate that no one company could ever hope to organize it. Fortunately, we have seen what the community has done with Wikipedia, Ushahidi, or Open Streets Maps. Podium will stand upon the shoulders of these early crowd sourcing projects.
Therfore, Podium must be structured as an open source project. I will begin reaching out to various media companies, technology companies, and most importantly… the IOC, itself. In five years, there will be dozens of other open source hybrid data/content portals in lots of other verticals. I just happen to really like sports (rather than… art, medicine, automobiles, hunting, etc.) and the Sochi 2014 Winter Games are the perfect venue to launch Podium to the world.
I’m doing some research today for my new Podium.io (the top-level domain is .io) project and I wanted to capture some ideas and thoughts here (very rough). I will use this blog as a notebook and scratchpad for my thoughts. But first, let me give you a brief introduction of Podium so we’re all on the same page… more or less (feel free to give input). Podium.io aims to eventually become the first open data platform (think: “open data.gov” for an analog) for the global Olympic sports community… both Winter (7 sports) and Summer (26 sports). The project will launch its beta in February of this year and will intitially focus on building valuable open data sets for the Sochi 2014 Winter Games.
Podium is the final iteration of what started as an idea for a digital travel website that then morphed into a mobile application, and finally grew into a what I was calling a HTML5 digital dashboard. The basic premise of Podium was that there was (and still is) a lack of high quality relavent information focused on the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. As an American expat who actually lives here in the same region where the Games will be held, the lack of information was glaringly obvious and annoying. So I took it upon myself to fill this information void. Unfortuantely, as I began to look into building a website and/or a mobile application (iOS, webOS, Android, Mobile Windows) to address this information void it quickly became apparent that the Olympics are a data beast like no other. I started to get nervous ; ))
The Olympic Games are not simply the largest events in the world (sporting or otherwise). In fact, the Olympic Games is a *massive* global community of more than 15,000 athletes, close to 200 National Olympic Committees, dozens of International Sports Federations, hundreds of actual Olympic Teams, tens of thousands of staff and officials, hundreds of thousands of live spectators, and millions of fans following the action from around the world. The Olympic Games are basically an industry unto themself. As such, it quickly became clear to me that no single start-up could EVER hope to capture all that data and information, by itself. It’s not just data sets but also, all the data streams as well (think: Twitter, Facebook, blogs, etc.). The Olympic community is so massive that it’s now fractured into hundreds of data silos that never “talk” to one another.
Once I digested the enormity of the data challenge I was then confronted with the reality that there would hundreds of media outlets around the world, which would be building their own individual mobile apps. Media companies like NBC, Eurosport, The New York Times, RIA Novosti, ANO Panorama, The Guardian, not to mention, application developers like Foursquare, Uber, Zagats, Facebook, etc. would all be launching apps for the 2014 Olympic Games. I suspect London 2012 will be remembered as the last “broadcast-centric” Olympic Games. For me to try to compete with all of these corporate giants would be a fools errand. So… now I was not only nervous but also, stuck!!
I was just about to throw in the towell when I had a key insight that changed everything. The insight is that all these companies would need two things in order to be successful. First, the average spectator wouldn’t want to download 25 separate applications for a single event, even one as large as the Olympic Games. There would need to be a single platform upon which all these various apps could be discovered and hosted. Think of it as an “app store” for the Olympic community.
Secondly, in order to build these digital applications and websites, all of those global media companies would need fresh, accurate, and plentiful data. Data is the lifeblood of sports. Without data… one can’t create the storyline needed to build the tension and thus, the requisite drama.
Sports are, at their most basic level, a way for groups of us to share in a collective experience. It’s these collective experiences that we all seek out and which, really give true meaning to our lives. We are most alive and happy when we are part of a larger community that has its own common purpose. Whether that purpose is fighting a war or cheering on our home team is immaterial. What is critical is that there be drama (i.e. an unknown ending) and an opportunity to self-identify with others from our “tribe” (jerseys, face-paint, team colors). That’s why sports are such an important part of our lives. Sports are not, as commonly assumed, simply brief sojourns from the reality of everyday life but instead, sports are reality, itself. The magic of the Olympics is that they take this drama to a level not normally achievable with local city-based sports.
As a technology geek it occured to me that I *should be* focused on building the open data platform upon which all these global media companies would build their respective applications. This insight changed Podium from being a product to being a service. There are dozens of examples of open data platforms built by governments around the world… so I asked myself, why not do the same for the Olympic community. Actually, the IOC is like a government for the world of sports. Like the open data platforms in government, Podium.io will be built by the community, itself. Instead of agencies and ministries, Podium will recieve data from media companies, NOCs, IFs, Olympics teams, and if we are really successful, from the sporting public, itself.
Tomorrow I’ll start to examine different ways we might structure this open data platform. Do we want to use MySQL or NoSQL? Can we find a database “wiki” that uses CouchDB? Do we want to use tools like Mashery or Socrata? I don’t have the answers yet. We are entering uncharted territory.
What I do know is that we need to build a platform that is open and transparent, so that the majority of the Olympic community feels inclined to contribute (crowd source) in helping to build something that is bigger and better than what any single company could build. We pretty much know that the old broadcast model has reached its logical limit. Podium.io seeks to push the technical boundaries of how we can blend the roles of participants and spectators in Olympic sports. The journey has just begun. We’ve got two years to build this baby. We will do it together!
Yesterday @DChernyshenko was with #IPC @Paralympic President Sir Craven discussing #Sochi2014 nation-wide initiatives yfrog.com/hsnu0iej
— Sochi 2014 (@Sochi2014OC) December 13, 2011
RT @S_Shipunova: В Сочи сейчас 16 градусов тепла. Впору загорать, а не елки ставить! Счастливые люди…Можно ставить елки и загорать!
— Дмитрий Чернышенко (@ChernyshenkoRu) December 13, 2011
Translation: In Sochi today, it’s a warm 16 degrees Celsius. It’s feels more like a day for sunbathing than putting up the Christmas tree. How lucky are the people who live in Sochi who can do both!
The Sochi 2014 Marketing Club has met in Moscow at the TOURBILLON (Swatch Group) boutique in Moscow. The meeting was arranged by the IOC Global Partner and official time-keeper for the Olympic Games since 1932, OMEGA….
Click the link below to read full article:
Some recent construction photos from Olymstroy on the figure skating arena. The roof has been installed (just in time for WInter weather) and the project continues on schedule.
This short documentary chronicles work done by SK Most Corporation from May 2009 (the official start of construction) up to November 2011 The construction so far on this critical 32-kilometer stretch of the road from Adler to Krasnaya Polyana includes excavation of five of the twelve tunnels, as well as, completion of 24 road and 22 railway bridges.
RT @Sochi2014OC Another great consturction in action video shot at Olympic SubVillage “Roza Khutor” #Sochi2014
The historic and iconic Riviera Park in central Sochi has just been equipped with free wifi. The Sochi municipal Department of Culture recently announced that internet speeds will begin at 3 megabits per second and should increase over time.
RT @ChernyshenkoRu The race for the 2014 Sochi Olympic coins has begun… RT @Chernyshenko Креативный интерактив от партнера #Сбербанк - Гонка за монетами #Сочи2014 началась! :-)
How time flies!! We’ve reached another magical milestone… 1,000 days until the start of the Paralympic Games. To mark the date, the SOCOG team threw an event to educate the citizens of Sochi that the Paralympics are not about sympathy or limitations but about competition/accomplishment and to remind the citizens that those less able-bodied amongst us are deserving of respect and consideration. Check-out the photos above for a glimpse into a special day.
The Rezidor Hotel Group announces the Sochi Radisson Blu Resort & Congress Hotel. The property featuring 500 rooms is scheduled to open its doors in Q1 2013.
We are delighted to add this hotel to our growing Russian portfolio. The property will enjoy a beachfront location and comprise one of the largest conference centers in Russia - it will be a true landmark
said Kurt Ritter, President & CEO of Rezidor.
Our development will follow the most modern and ecological construction standards. The property will be the first hotel project built within the frame of preparation for the Winter Olympics in 2014. We are glad to start this project together with Rezidor, a highly recognized hospitality company, and are looking forward to a successful cooperation
commented Abbas Aliev, President of Hotel Development CJSC.
Besides 500 modern guest rooms with Radisson Blu signature services such as free high speed internet access, the hotel will offer a comprehensive range of food and beverage; including an all day restaurant, 2 specialty restaurants, 2 bars and a nightclub. The Radisson Blu Resort & Congress Hotel, Sochi will be a year-round destination. The hotel is already under construction - the opening in early 2013 will allow one year of preparation before the Winter Olympics.
Sochi 2014 head Dmitry Chernyshenko:
The real legacy of Sochi 2014 lies in bringing about a deep change within Russian culture. Through our Sochi 2014 volunteer movement, thousands of young and enthusiastic Russians are reintroducing the concept of volunteering back into the Russian society, something that has been absent for far too long…
Only between 5 to 9 percent of Russians are involved in volunteering today, compared to an average of approximately 30 percent in other European countries. Slowly, the attitude towards volunteering is changing again in my country, and this change is driven to a large extent by enthusiastic young people. The volunteering vision of Sochi 2014 was a determining factor in the International Olympic Committee’s decision to award the Olympic Winter Games to our city…
I am certain that Sochi 2014 will live up to its promises. Our ultimate goal is to inspire millions to join the revived volunteer movement across Russia, making a meaningful contribution to society that will leave a lasting legacy for generations to come.
The Architecture Sochi website has an interesting article detailing the construction of a road that connects the Alpinka Service Resort to the finish zone in the Rosa Khutor Resort. All that remains to be done is the installation of the signage and guard railings, as well as, the testing of the power supply systems, video surveillance, fire fighting, and ventilation in the tunnels. The two-lane road stretches some 11 kilometers in length and rises almost one kilometer in height. The road includes two tunnels with a total length of about 600 meters and 10 bridges. The final bridge, which spans more than 160 meters, is amongst the top 10 highest altitude bridges in Europe.
It is expected that at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi there will be more than twice as many interpreters than were at the 2006 Olympics in Turin. On Saturday, SOCOG hosted a conference called, “Sochi 2014: Issues of Translation”, which was attended by over 650 translators, language school instructors, and employees/owners from translation agencies.
Also in attendance was the head of IOC Media Relations, Anthony Edgar; the Chief Interpreter for the London Games, William Weber; a linguistic consultant, Maureen Sweeney; as well as, Andrei Tsybenko, the Director of Oral English Translation for the Department of Language Services Foreign Minister .
Our goal is to communicate at the Olympic and Paralympic Games in one language, and this forum is another step in our journey to reach that goal,” said Dmitry Chernyshenko.
Gerard Dielessen, the General Director of the Netherlands NOC, recently visited Sochi and afterwards put together this short video of his walkthrough of the Coastal Cluster.
He writes,
“About 50,000 people work 24 hours a day on the Sochi 2014 project and it’s currently the largest construction site in the world. This winter (in February) the first test events: skiing, biathlon, snowboard and freestyle will be held in the Mountain Cluster.
Sochi will organize in about 2.5 years the most compact Olympic Games ever held. All ice stadiums will be built in a circle within a diameter of not more than two kilometers, including the Olympic village. I visited the coastal cluster in recently (third time in 2011) and saw the enormous progress of the construction. All the stadiums will be ready in time as well as entirely new infrastructure. (183 new properties in all will be built..)
The short video shows the construction of the Coastal Cluster on the Black Sea. Enjoy! And see you in Sochi2014.”
Thanks to Sochi2014 for heads-up on Facebook!
Russia’s Meteorological Agency (Росгидромет RosHydroMet) has launched a brandnew website (for now only in Russian) that will serve as the public interface for all the information and services it will provide over the next few years in conjunction with the Winter Games. The website URL is http://pogodasochi.ru/ (pogoda = weather). …and we like their creative slogan, “Always fresh forecasts.”
Now that it’s Christmas season, the SOCOG team has posted on its Facebook page at first look at some of the official Sochi 2014 souvenirs and gifts. The online store is scheduled to be activated in the next few weeks and we expect that the direct URL will be: shop.sochi2014.com We’ll keep you posted as we get more information.
RTT (retweet translation): @ChernyshenkoRU …the European Alps may be without snow in the beginning of December for the first time in 50 years… but the Sochi 2014 Mountain Cluster is covered in whiteness. See Dmitry Chernyshenko’s snapshot of the ski jumping construction site (above).
Bosco Sport outfits Sochi in high style… this Winter 500 volunteers for the test events in the Mountain Cluster will be “kitted out” in Bosco gear. As you might remember from Vancouver… Bosco Sport is the distinctive Russian sporting apparel brand that inspires strong opinions. While some fashion traditionalists may question its “post-modern” Baroque style… there are now legions of devoted Bosco fans throughout the world. Their numbers are sure to grow as the 2014 Winter Games approach. We think that Bosco is one of the first Russian consumer brands that captures that aspect of the Russian “cultural code” that adores opulence. Bosco is bold, bright, and beyond the price range of most. Stay tuned to see if Bosco can make the transition from kitsch to luxury brand. Not unlike the transformation of “brand Russia,” itself. We think both brands have a great shot at success!!