Olympians in Lenovo Blogger Program Open a Channel to Fans Worldwide,
Changing the Olympic Games Experience
BEIJING (Business Wire EON/PRWEB ) August 17, 2008 --
Olympic athletes taking part in the Lenovo “Voices
of the Olympic Games” blogging program have
found that blogging creates deeper connections with fans worldwide –
many they did not even know existed.
Lenovo is offering a blogging program and website for athletes
participating in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. The program builds on a
historic shift in the Olympic movement, because these are the first
Olympic Games where athletes are blogging during the competition time
period itself.
Some of the leading bloggers among the more than 100 athletes in the
program agree that blogs are a way to provide insight into the minds of
athletes as they train and compete – an inside
look into their lives, behavior and training that fans cannot get
anywhere else.
Lenovo has provided IdeaPad and other notebook PCs and video cameras to
more than 100 athletes from more than 25 countries and 29 sports who are
participating in the program. Their blogs are presented on the website www.lenovo.com/voicesofthegames.
To date, there have been 1,374 athlete postings on the forum, reaching
more than 8.5 million Olympic fans through conversations on third-party
blogs and social media sites.
From Beijing, Carissa Gump, a U.S. Olympic weightlifter, said athlete
blogs are even more popular than she had expected. “It’s
because people get to know us better, find out so much more information
about us, giving us more exposure. Readers feel like they have a
connection to us personally.” Gump lives in
Colorado Springs, Colo.
Until 2008, athletes were allowed to write blogs only until the opening
day of the Olympic Games, and could then resume their blogs after the
conclusion of the Games. This year, new regulations from the
International Olympic Committee enable athletes to write blogs about
their experiences off the field of play during the actual 17 days of
competition.
“Sometimes there’s a
story you really want to write, something you want to say, and it’s
so rare for fans to get the athletes’
perspectives on the competition, what we’re
thinking and feeling at the moment,” said
Seth Kelsey, a U.S. Olympic fencer. “Those
are the blog entries that get the most readers.”
Kelsey lives in Colorado Springs and Portland, Ore.
“I’ve been able to
reach friends and family in Peru and have received support from
Peruvians around the world,” said Peter
Lopez, a Peru Olympic tae kwon do athlete. “As
an athlete, that’s what I need, support from
people around the world. Most comments I get come from the blogs about
my personal experiences.” Lopez, originally
from Houston, Texas, trains in Los Angeles.
Lenovo is a Worldwide Partner of the Olympic Games and the Olympic Torch
Relay, providing more than 30,000 pieces of computing equipment to
manage the operations of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Four-thousand
athletes also visit Lenovo internet lounges inside the Olympic Village
each day, using PCs to maintain blogs, e-mail and surf the Internet.
Lenovo began offering personal computing technology to athletes in April
2008, asking them simply to use IdeaPad notebooks and video cameras to
share their experiences through a blog. Lenovo does not require athletes
to blog about their usage of Lenovo personal computing equipment, and
does not require athletes to sign contracts to participate.
“Lenovo’s goal
with this blogger program is to give athletes a starting point for
discussions and sharing of ideas and experiences about the Olympic Games,”
said David Churbuck, vice president, Global Web Marketing. “It
isn’t really a program about making millions
of impressions in the traditional marketing sense –
it’s about making thousands of connections
between athletes and fans.”
Olympic Medal Hopeful Talks About Handling Pressure - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Sze9j9GT9g
Why Olympic Athletes are Blogging - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dlsl6w5SaiU
About Lenovo
Lenovo (992) (ADR: LNVGY), designer of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch,
is dedicated to building the world's most innovative personal computers.
Formed by Lenovo Group's acquisition of the former IBM Personal
Computing Division, the company develops, manufactures and markets
reliable high-quality, secure and easy-to-use technology products and
services worldwide. Lenovo has major research centers in Yamato, Japan;
Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, China; and Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.
For more information, see www.lenovo.com.
See the original story at: http://eon.businesswire.com/releases/olympic/lenovo/prweb1220924.htm
Post Comment:
Trackback URL: http://www.prweb.com/pingpr.php/U3VtbS1QaWdnLVNpbmctWmV0YS1Db3VwLVNpbmctWmVybw==
Bookmark -
Del.icio.us |
Furl It |
Technorati |
Ask |
MyWeb |
Propeller |
Live Bookmarks |
Newsvine |
TailRank |
Reddit |
Slashdot |
Digg |
Stumbleupon |
Google Bookmarks |
Sphere |
Blink It |
Spurl
|
