VOA标准英语2010年-Vancouver Organizing Committee Faces O

Renee Smith-Valade is the Vice¹ President of Communications for Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC)

Staging an Olympics is a huge undertaking², and so is dealing³ with all of the international media which come to the host city to cover the Games.  The woman who heads up the communications team for the Vancouver Winter Games is Renee Smith-Valade.

Renee Smith-Valade's official title is Vice President, Communications.  And reporters who attend the Vancouver Organizing Committee's (VANOC) joint⁴ daily briefing with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) are quite familiar with her, as she serves as the official spokesperson for VANOC.

Smith-Valade told VOA one of the key communications objectives for the Vancouver Olympics was to present Canada's linguistic⁵ duality of English and French, which are also the two languages of the IOC. 

"We wanted to raise the bar a bit and right from the way in which we recruited the communications staff, to my own commitment to French, we've tried to build a communications team that is fluently bilingual.  And so whether it's here [in the Main Press Center] or in any of the other press centers, our spokes-people are able to answer questions in both French and English and not rely on the simultaneous or the consecutive⁶ translation," she explained.

Smith-Valade emphasized that with great teamwork, anyone who is speaking on behalf of the organizing committee is well prepared.  When the committee believes there are issues better addressed by others, they invite them in to field questions from the media.

"From our side we will often bring our leaders of transportation, of ticketing, of athlete experience, to make sure that as corporate⁷ spokes-people we're supplementing what we can say with people who are truly in the weeds on these subjects every day," she noted⁸.

Smith-Valade has previous Olympics experience.  Fresh out of college she worked for five years for the organizing committee leading up to the 1988 Calgary Winter Games in Canada.  After some years in politics in Calgary, she worked in public relations for eight years in the airline industry, before taking the VANOC job in 2005.

She credits her time in the airline industry for having her well-prepared for her role at these Olympics, especially dealing with the death of Georgian luge racer Nodar Kumaritashvili in a practice accident the day of the opening ceremonies.

"I would say that it is my crisis training in the airline industry that helped me know at that moment when you feel emotionally paralyzed what to do and how to start communicating that sad news," she explained.

Smith-Valade added that the story is still one that VANOC officials are dealing with.

"It was a tremendous shock to all of us, particularly in the contrast; we were in the middle of preparing the final communications for the joyous⁹ start of the opening ceremonies and it happened at the same time," she added.  "So it's been an ongoing¹⁰ issue throughout the Games, and we have been challenged everyday to make sure that we're not saying anything that will put us in a position potential legally down the road, because it's difficult to say what's going to come from his death."

Knowing how to answer the tough questions from the media, Smith-Valade said, is key.

"It's really standing¹¹ firm and not letting those kinds of questions get you down because they are going to come," she noted.  "They came in Calgary.  I went to Beijing, and I went to Torino.  The tough questions come in the first five or six days of the games, and if you're ready for it, and you're composed, and you feel confident in your answers and the confidence that the best part of the Games is still to come, then you make it through those sessions."

Renee Smith-Valade said in addition to making it through the media sessions, she and her staff have also worked hard in making sure the Vancouver Olympics Web site has been a source of good, fast, accurate and detailed¹² information about the Winter Games.

 

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 undertaking   

n.保证，许诺，事业

参考例句：

• He gave her an undertaking that he would pay the money back with in a year.他向她做了一年内还钱的保证。
• He is too timid to venture upon an undertaking.他太胆小，不敢从事任何事业。

3 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

4 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

5 linguistic   

adj.语言的，语言学的

参考例句：

• She is pursuing her linguistic researches.她在从事语言学的研究。
• The ability to write is a supreme test of linguistic competence.写作能力是对语言能力的最高形式的测试。

6 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

7 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

8 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

9 joyous   

adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的

参考例句：

• The lively dance heightened the joyous atmosphere of the scene.轻快的舞蹈给这场戏渲染了欢乐气氛。
• They conveyed the joyous news to us soon.他们把这一佳音很快地传递给我们。

10 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

11 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

12 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。