Olympians in Lenovo Blogger Program Open a Channel to Fans Worldwide, Changing the Olympic Games Experience
BEIJING--(Business Wire)--
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.
Lenovo
Bob Page, +86 150 7720 7755
or
Tamara Jacobs, +86 15077207753
Copyright Business Wire 2008
