How I Became an NY Times Olympian

28 Feb

Above: The “NY Times Olympian” Foursquare Badge
Above: The New York Times’ Foursquare Page (http://foursquare.com/nytimes)
Last weekend, I took a long weekend trip to Vancouver, Canada to visit my friend, Dario. A week prior to the trip, I had no firm plans to go, but an interest in attending the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Coincidentally, that week I had collaborated with a team of brilliant editors, producers and marketers in creating a Foursquare brand page for The New York Times. Phase 1 of the NY Times presence on Foursquare was sharing a list of Vancouver tips during the Olympics. Vancouver Foursquare players following The New York Times on Foursquare, had the opportunity to unlock the “NY Times Olympian” badge by checking into NY Times-recommended venues. As somewhat of a Foursquare fanatic, I was 95% sure that I NEEDED to go to Vancouver to get the first badge that my team created (Paul Lau, the badge designer, is stellar!).
Dario and I were chatting and he asked if I’d be in Vancouver for the Olympics. That was the last straw. It was on. How could I miss out on such an opportunity? Within a few days, I booked my flight and had a place to stay (Dario and his biz partner, Ryan, were kind to let me stay with them!).
On my second day in Vancouver, I officially unlocked the NY Times Olympian badge by checking into the Granville Island Public Market, where a few new friends and I ate lunch and waited in the Altantic Canada House line, before giving up and taking the AquaBus back to downtown Vancouver. Great times, though.
While in Vancouver, I had the opportunity to try a few other NY Times-recommended venues including Vancouver Art Gallery and Salt Tasting Room. I was hoping to make it around to Vij’s Rangoli. That will have to wait for another time!

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