Interview with David Gillan - Games Maker
One day during the Olympics we saw lots of people in purple and red and had a big discussion about what they did. We came up with lots of crazy ideas but wanted to know for sure. Lucky for Room 1 Mr. Martens has an awesome Uncle who actually worked at the Olympic games. So we asked him a few questions about what it was like to be involved in the Olympic Games.
Q: What did you think of the London Olympics?
A:I thought they were absolutely fabulous.
Q. What did you do at the Olympics?
A. I worked as a Games Maker at Wembley Arena which staged the Badminton and the Rhythmic Gymnastics.
Q. What is a game maker?
A. Games Makers were volunteers from all walks of life, all ethnic backgrounds and all age groups. They were the people in purple and gold tops and light trousers who did many jobs from medical and IT support to crowd control, checking tickets etc.
Q. How did you get to be a games maker?
A. There was an online application process which started at the end of 2010. 250,000 people applied and about half of them were interviewed during 2011. I was one of the 70,000 successful applicants who were selected to be Games Makers. We all had to do 3 full days training as well as interactive online training.
Q. Did you get to choose your job or was it chosen for you?
A. No, I had no real choice in what I did or where I worked. However on the application form you had to indicate preferences and I did indicate that I was interested in the Protocol activity.
Q. How were the jobs chosen?
A. Everyone who worked on what was called the field of play - athletics track, swimming pool, cycling, shooting etc - had some experience of that sport either as a coach, referee or a member of a registered club. Similarly medical, press, media, IT etc volunteers all worked in those fields in real life with the appropriate qualifications. In our Protocol team at Wembley Arena we had a doctor, a lawyer, several teachers and a wide variety of others including unemployed people and those, like me, who were retired.
Q. What was your job at the games?
A. I worked in the Protocol Team, who were in charge of looking after all important visitors to the venue at which we worked. As I said I only worked at Wembley Arena but we had visits from Prince Charles, Princess Anne and her husband, Prince Edward, Lord Coe as well as various Royal Family members and Presidents from numerous other countries who were good at Badminton and Rhythmic Gymnastics.
Q. Did you get to meet any of the royals or presidents?
A. Yes, I saw practically all of them and actually got introduced to Princess Anne and spoke to Prince Edward, the Prime Minister (a lady) and the Crown Prince of Denmark. Most of the Royals, Presidents, Prime Ministers and other VIPs came into our Hospitality Lounge for drinks or food, or just to catch up with their emails, either before or after watching the sport.
Q. Were you lucky enough to see any New Zealanders compete?
A. Not live at Wembley, no. But, of course, I saw some on the television.
Q. What did you have to do for them?
A. Basically we manned the Hospitality Lounge for the "Olympic Family" and other VIPs, as well as looking after their reserved seating in the stands. We had to ensure that only accredited people were allowed into the lounge or the reserved area in the stands, and to look after them when they were in the lounge or watching the sport
Q. Are you going to the Closing Ceremony?
A. No - you had to have a ticket. But I did go to one of the dress rehearsals of the Opening Ceremony.
Q. Now the Olympics is over what are you going to do? Do you get to keep your stuff?
A. Yes; we keep all our uniform (jacket, shirts, trousers, trainers etc - all made by Adidas). I retired from business at the end of 2011 so I was able to devote all my time to the Olympics. I will now go back to my reading, gardening and walking as well as planning all our travel, including of course our visit to NZ to see you all next January and February.
A:I thought they were absolutely fabulous.
Q. What did you do at the Olympics?
A. I worked as a Games Maker at Wembley Arena which staged the Badminton and the Rhythmic Gymnastics.
Q. What is a game maker?
A. Games Makers were volunteers from all walks of life, all ethnic backgrounds and all age groups. They were the people in purple and gold tops and light trousers who did many jobs from medical and IT support to crowd control, checking tickets etc.
Q. How did you get to be a games maker?
A. There was an online application process which started at the end of 2010. 250,000 people applied and about half of them were interviewed during 2011. I was one of the 70,000 successful applicants who were selected to be Games Makers. We all had to do 3 full days training as well as interactive online training.
Q. Did you get to choose your job or was it chosen for you?
A. No, I had no real choice in what I did or where I worked. However on the application form you had to indicate preferences and I did indicate that I was interested in the Protocol activity.
Q. How were the jobs chosen?
A. Everyone who worked on what was called the field of play - athletics track, swimming pool, cycling, shooting etc - had some experience of that sport either as a coach, referee or a member of a registered club. Similarly medical, press, media, IT etc volunteers all worked in those fields in real life with the appropriate qualifications. In our Protocol team at Wembley Arena we had a doctor, a lawyer, several teachers and a wide variety of others including unemployed people and those, like me, who were retired.
Q. What was your job at the games?
A. I worked in the Protocol Team, who were in charge of looking after all important visitors to the venue at which we worked. As I said I only worked at Wembley Arena but we had visits from Prince Charles, Princess Anne and her husband, Prince Edward, Lord Coe as well as various Royal Family members and Presidents from numerous other countries who were good at Badminton and Rhythmic Gymnastics.
Q. Did you get to meet any of the royals or presidents?
A. Yes, I saw practically all of them and actually got introduced to Princess Anne and spoke to Prince Edward, the Prime Minister (a lady) and the Crown Prince of Denmark. Most of the Royals, Presidents, Prime Ministers and other VIPs came into our Hospitality Lounge for drinks or food, or just to catch up with their emails, either before or after watching the sport.
Q. Were you lucky enough to see any New Zealanders compete?
A. Not live at Wembley, no. But, of course, I saw some on the television.
Q. What did you have to do for them?
A. Basically we manned the Hospitality Lounge for the "Olympic Family" and other VIPs, as well as looking after their reserved seating in the stands. We had to ensure that only accredited people were allowed into the lounge or the reserved area in the stands, and to look after them when they were in the lounge or watching the sport
Q. Are you going to the Closing Ceremony?
A. No - you had to have a ticket. But I did go to one of the dress rehearsals of the Opening Ceremony.
Q. Now the Olympics is over what are you going to do? Do you get to keep your stuff?
A. Yes; we keep all our uniform (jacket, shirts, trousers, trainers etc - all made by Adidas). I retired from business at the end of 2011 so I was able to devote all my time to the Olympics. I will now go back to my reading, gardening and walking as well as planning all our travel, including of course our visit to NZ to see you all next January and February.