Sleepless in Vancouver: Cedar Rapidian sees games from Canadian side

Working at the Winter Olympic Games provides plenty of emotional rewards but very little sleep, Cedar Rapids resident Heather Smith says.

The 39-year-old founder of de Novo Alternative Marketing in Cedar Rapids has been working or two weeks at the Olympic curling venue, Hillcrest, helping athletes, media, and V.I.P.'s with transportation, privacy issues, security clearances and other issues.

Canadian hockey great Wayne Gretzky and the King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden are among the many celebrities she's encountered.

“It's dealing with the language barriers and trying to give directions in English when the person's main language is Japanese,” she said. “It's a lot of hand gestures.”

All the walking has shrunken Smith's waistline, and she's often cold from the damp chill air of Vancouver. Her team keeps going from 5 a.m., when the buses begin running, until 1:30 a.m., when the last bus departs.

“We're running on pure adrenaline,” Smith said. “Sleep, we have determined, is optional.”

Smith is one of six employees of GameDay Management Group who organize and assist about 20 Canadian volunteers at the curling venue. She said the spirit of the 25,000 Canadian volunteers who handle much of the grunt work at the Olympics is inspiring, and the work rewarding.

“Many of them have traveled all the way across Canada to be here,” she said. “They're calling in favors from their brother-in-law so they can sleep on someone's couch. The stories of what they did to be here are incredible, and they work long shifts of eight to 10 hours, so we reward them whenever we can.”

Smith and the volunteers can sometimes take a break during an event to watch part of a curling match. She arrived at Hillcrest with no understanding of the sport.

“I came here thinking a sport you could play with a beer in one hand was much of a sport, but I've learned otherwise,” Smith said. She said the sport that resembles shuffleboard on ice to outsiders is actually very intricate and strategic.

“There are curling clubs all over Canada,” Smith said. “A number of my volunteers requested the curling center because they were interested and into the sport.”

When it's come to United States versus Canada matchups, Smith has found herself in a touchy area. She recalled hearing “lots of cheering and smack-talking” as the Canadians were watching the men's hockey match between Canada and the United States on television in the next room. The talk turned to stunned silence when Canada went down in defeat.

Realizing how much the defeat in the national sport meant to the Canadians, Smith was silent too.

““Anything I said would have been wrong,” she said. “I almost felt like apologizing.”

She rarely has any idea what's happened at other Olympic venues until late in the evening because she's so focused on the curling venue.

The Canadian people have been impressive in their warmth and hospitality, Smith said.

Gretzky's arrival was shrouded in secrecy, she said, “but like most of the Canadians I've met, he was nothing but gracious, unassuming and kind.”

Read Heather Smith's own writing about her Olympic work experience at her blog:

http://www.thinkdenovo.blogspot.com/