March 15, 2026 • 47 mins
Christine and JJ are always up for new adventures and experiences, especially when there are interesting visuals to describe and gab about!
This week, Talk Description To Me embarks on a new season of on-location escapades, sponsored by Air Canada. To kick things off, the description duo are invited to Toronto’s Pearson International Airport for the national airline’s official send-off of Team Canada’s Paralympic Athletes.
With athletic celebrities in team uniforms parading through the bustling airport, reporters setting up media scrums, and waiting passengers snapping selfies, Christine and JJ join the party, and do some serious invite-only people watching!
Big thanks to Madeline Long-Duke, Director of Commercial Communications at Air Canada, and Jessica Spremo, Vice President of Client Experience at Weber Shandwick, for the invitation and support!
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SPEAKER_00 (00:03):
Talk description to me with Christine Malik and J.J.
Hunt.
SPEAKER_04 (00:27):
Hi, I'm Christine Malik.
SPEAKER_00 (00:29):
And I'm J.J.
Hunt.
This is Talk Description, wherethe visuals of current events
and the world around us gethashed out in description-rich
conversations.
SPEAKER_04 (00:47):
We recently learned that our little podcast here has
some fans at Air Canada.
We grew up with Air Canada asour flag carrier, our own
national airline.
So when they offered to sponsora series of episodes and invited
us to share in someextraordinary experiences that
we could describe and pass on toyou, we jumped on board and see
(01:11):
what we do there.
Longtime listeners to ourpodcast will know us pretty well
by now.
But these are Canada episodeswill be shared on a variety of
platforms.
My name is Christine Mallet.
I'm a member of the RodCommunity, and a cultural
curator, and the line isorganization.
SPEAKER_00 (01:38):
My name is JJ Hunt.
I am a professional accessworker who described it.
We described it.
(02:06):
We are looking forward to it.
We were an internationalairport.
(03:10):
That is where we land to focusour attention.
When just a few days ago, on acold February afternoon, with a
healthy amount of winter snowstill on the ground, Christine
and I headed to the airport, AirCanada invitations in hand, to
describe the visuals of TeamCanada's Paralympic send-off.
SPEAKER_04 (03:32):
We are here at Pearson International Airport in
Toronto, YYZ.
It's February 26th, 2026, and weare here for the official
send-off of the CanadianParalympic Team.
Go, Canada, go! So JJ and I arehere to bring you the visuals of
(03:53):
this send-off.
So to have an audio-onlyexperience of the official
send-off sponsored by Air Canadaof the Paralympic team.
Very, very exciting.
So we are in a completelyfunctional gate.
This is not a set-aside area,this is a functioning gate.
We just got a call earlier forGuadalajara.
If anyone wants to seeGuadalajara, they're welcome.
(04:14):
So, JJ, since we're at thebeginning of the event, the
event hasn't quite started yet.
Can we start with somedescription about just broad
strokes, a gate, and then whathas happened to this gate to
make it festive and special?
SPEAKER_00 (04:27):
Yeah, absolutely.
So Pearson uh is a big airport,really big airport.
This is uh terminal, we're interminal one.
Uh there are two majorterminals.
It's massive.
We're at gate E85.
So that gives you a sense of thenumber.
And that would be the last gatein this terminal.
And so it the terminal is uhthis part of the terminal,
(04:49):
anyway, is really long with oneexterior wall of windows.
There's almost always anexterior wall of windows at
airports these days that allowscustomers, uh flyers uh who are
sighted to look out the windowand see that the jetway is
there, the plane is there, theall that being clean, the
luggage is is being put on.
So there's always a an exterioruh wall of windows in big
(05:12):
airports these days.
So this airport, this terminalthat we're in, big long, it was
probably a 10-minute walk towalk all the way along that one
uh, you know, the all the waythrough the terminal.
And then we turned a cornerright at the end, and right at
the end there's just a littlebit of an L.
Just a little run, just a littleturn, and then there are these
(05:34):
two or three gates in a onelittle closed off, not quite
closed off, but one slightlymore secluded area, and that's
what we're in.
It is just a gate, like it is itis a fully functioning gate.
We've got the industrial carpeton the floor, we've got the wall
of windows on the outside, lotsof uh seating bolted into the
(05:54):
floor, um, you know, waitingchairs, uh, there are a couple
of desks uh for um you know uhfor flight attendants and
boarding crew to uh to wait at.
There are stanchions and andropes to help people form lines,
there's uh like a littleconvenience store area to our
right and a subway sandwichshop, a couple of bathrooms,
(06:16):
very classic airport stuff.
And then kind of tucked in allaround are little bits of like
there's gonna be a party,there's gonna be an event here.
So there's um uh an Air Canadaum backdrop, so it's like an
off-white kind of beigey colorwith the Air Canada logo, the um
(06:39):
uh Canadian Olympic logo, theCanadian Paralympic logo.
We can talk about all thoselater.
Um uh for a backdrop in that'sbehind a podium, a small podium
with a single mic at it.
That's kind of separating two ofthese, uh the like two of the
boarding areas, two of thegates.
So there's like one block ofchairs behind it, and there's
(07:00):
another block of chairs in frontof it.
There are a couple of tables setup with uh you know with
sandwiches and and snacks that'sjust being set up now.
There are a couple of extrasecurity guards around, and then
there are these like cardboardcutouts of Paralympic athletes
that are against the the wall ofwindows, and these really
fantastic.
You know the uh you know theidea of a novelty check, the
(07:23):
oversized check?
You win the you win the lotteryand they make a giant check
that's got that's all fullybranded and it's got your name
on it.
They've got a version of thatthat is the um like uh the the
novelty boarding pass, that isthe the the boarding pass for uh
folks who are flying on theofficial flight, the Air Canada
flight, taking the Paralympicathletes to the Olympic Games.
(07:46):
So those are those are kind ofset up around, there are two or
three versions of that set uparound, too.
So, but otherwise, it's a gate.
Like there are people who arewalking around pushing their
rolly bags, there are people,you know, uh buying snacks at
the at the convenience store andgetting a sandwich from Subway
and you know, kicking back andtaking off their shoes as they
(08:07):
sit and wait in their chairswaiting for their flight.
This is an active airport, theseare active gates.
SPEAKER_04 (08:12):
And so what kind of Canada branding are you seeing
around that you wouldn'tnormally see, like flags or
coloration or logos?
What are you seeing iconiconographically speaking that
says Canada and Olympics?
SPEAKER_00 (08:26):
Yes, well uh a lot of the um uh the flights that
are in this area, like that arecurrently using this uh this
little wing of the terminal areAir Canada flights.
So you're already getting AirCanada branding.
The stanchions and the littleropes, all the ropes the that
are kind of like seatbelt ropes,they're like um you know bands
(08:46):
of nylon.
They all say Air Canada on them.
There's Air Canada, of course,on the signs for like boarding
now, Air Canada flying toMunich, Air Canada to
Guadalajara, there's the AirCanada stuff there.
So they're Air Canada's brandingis Canadian branding.
It it is the Maple Leaf.
Um, so we're seeing that.
And then all of those thingsthat I talked about before, the
(09:08):
um athletes, the cardboardcutouts, the the life-size
cardboard cutouts of theathletes, they're wearing their
Canadian uniforms uh forwhatever sport they're in, their
you know, their ski uniforms andwhatnot, and then the branding
on the back drops as well.
But otherwise, I gotta say, it'sit's a little low-key, not as
much kind of like big Canadianflag as I might have expected.
(09:32):
Interesting.
SPEAKER_04 (09:33):
I know, it's so Canadian of us because we all
feel it in our hearts.
I'm holding my hand to my heart.
We all feel it.
But um, and so those cardboardcutouts, I I instantly want one.
And there's a a tabletop curlingboard that also, if anyone's
wants to dispose of that afterthe event, I want to take that
home too.
SPEAKER_00 (09:49):
You want in on that?
SPEAKER_04 (09:50):
I want in on that action.
It's got little moving pieces,and I want to fling those down
right down the uh right down theline.
So, what do we what we think isgonna happen today?
There'll be a parade.
SPEAKER_00 (10:00):
Um there's gonna be, I think, uh some kind of parade
where the the Paralympians maketheir way to the gate.
Um I think there's gonna be amedia scrum, which is pretty
cool.
SPEAKER_02 (10:10):
I'm kind of looking forward to knowing what that
looks like from the outside.
Not that I've been in the middleof one because I don't want to
be, but what does that actuallymean?
SPEAKER_00 (10:16):
What does that look like in real time?
Yeah, so we'll we'll be able tocheck that out.
Um and then yeah, then there'sthe the actual boarding.
We're gonna be here as theathletes uh board.
I'm kind of excited about theidea that we get to be here and
s and and kind of and sayfarewell, say good luck, say do
your best.
SPEAKER_04 (10:36):
It's all they're like astronauts, right?
I feel this.
That Olympic athletes are likeastronauts, they have to be the
top in every way.
Yeah.
And not just in their skill, butin their composure, in their
emotional stability, in theircharisma.
And so these are the best of thebest of the best of the best of
us.
Yeah, I feel it too.
(10:56):
I feel the it's gonna be a veryexciting time.
SPEAKER_00 (10:58):
Yeah, it's a good day.
I'm I'm this is gonna be fun.
Christine was pretty interestedin the tabletop curling game.
So we hovered around a bit anddid a bit of table watching.
The game was set out on afolding table near the
sandwiches and drinks, andwaiting passengers were starting
(11:19):
to realize it was set up forthem.
The curling board was a longrectangle, about two feet long,
with a house orbit and centeredblue and red circles painted at
either end of the smooth whitesurface.
In place of curling rocks,players used metal marbles
encircled by thick bands ofrubber, which acted as
(11:40):
stabilizers and bumpers.
Some passengers would walk by,consider the board, and casually
slide a marble rock and thenhead back to their seats.
But others re-able in the ballis the thing that does the
rolling.
One guy, so into it.
So he's lean he he's he'sleaning forward, getting his
hand really close, and he'susing a flick technique and
(12:03):
flick, and so that that littleyeah, with his fingers, like a
little and then that rock goesall the way down to the other
end and hopefully stops in theyou know the the bullseye style,
the rings, and then he does allhis rocks, and then the other
guy's going and doing all his.
That's not exactly officialcurling rules, but if you're
playing like flick curling, butI just love how into it the one
(12:25):
guy in particular is like theone guy's like standing up and
he's like just holding his handsat his side, flicking half of
his rocks or going into thegutters and whatever.
The other guy, he is lininghimself up perfectly, he is
leaning forward, he is into it,and he's winning.
SPEAKER_04 (12:42):
It's winning.
Tabletop hockey, air hockey isclassic Canadiana, but have you
ever seen this before?
SPEAKER_00 (12:48):
I yeah, I mean there are versions of shuffleboard uh
like that are basically curlingum uh that you find at bars and
things like that.
Uh a version like this, I'm I'mit's probably just a
commercially available game.
Like this is uh but no, Ihaven't I've I've played
definitely played some tablehockey in my day, but not this.
I haven't I haven't played thisbefore.
SPEAKER_04 (13:12):
I'd like to talk about branding because there's a
lot of that happening here.
There's there's Air Canadabranding, there's Olympic
branding, there's Paralympicbranding, and those are all
very, very intentional, and uhone of our favorite words on
talk description to be veryiconic, and so a lot of people,
sighted people would see themand instantly know what that
means.
So can we break down the visualsof some of those?
SPEAKER_00 (13:34):
Yeah, yeah, so absolutely, and you're right,
like a lot of that stuff is um,especially with all of those
things, they're send it aroundin Canada, the Maple Leaf.
Um, so it is exactly thaticonic.
We see it instantly.
Um uh if you are sighted and youare in Canada.
We're not huge flag waivers, butanything that that has a maple
(13:55):
leaf on it, we're gonna respondto right away.
So I don't want to start withAir Canada branding.
SPEAKER_05 (13:59):
Yes.
SPEAKER_00 (13:59):
So uh yeah, Air Canada is the flag-bearing
airline, the flag carrier.
It's a that's a legacy term fromthose the days of the national
airline.
And from a visual standpoint,what that means is Air Canada
literally flies the flag in itsbranding.
The airline logo is a bright redmaple leaf that's encircled by a
(14:20):
red ring that connects uh to thestem just on one side.
And then the name Air Canadaoften appears below or beside
that in simple black all caps.
Um these days a lot of the AirCanada planes, uh like almost
all Air Canada planes carry AirCanada branding, but the uh most
of them right now arewhite-bodied airplanes with this
(14:44):
with a black tail fin.
Like it's it might be even adark, technically a dark, dark,
dark blue, but it reads as blackum tail fin.
Um and then the name Air Canadain that simple black all-caps
writing over the windows alongthe front half of the plane on
both sides, and then that redencircled maple leaf logo on
both sides of the black tailfin.
(15:06):
Um, as the official airline ofthe Canadian Olympic and
Paralympic team, they'veactually created a custom design
for the Olympic livery.
Do you know about the Olympiclivery?
SPEAKER_02 (15:16):
I do not.
I do not.
Sounds very victorious.
SPEAKER_00 (15:20):
This is this is the plane, the actual plane that is
uh uh decorated to carry the uhuh the athletes to and from the
Games.
Okay.
Um uh and so there is a customdesign for the Olympic livery,
which is an Airbus 330, Ibelieve.
Um that's the the the plane thatthe team members are gonna take
(15:42):
to and from the games.
So to the sides of thiswhite-bodied uh airplane, huge
enlarged photographs of fourathletes have been added.
These huge, huge picturesprinted um on this uh like a
vinyl sticker, basically, andand you know, added on to the
sides of the airplane.
There are uh four athletes um oneach side of the airplane, the
(16:06):
same four athletes.
Um uh Alexis Cumont, uh theParalympic Alpine skier, is
depicted zipping downhill, kindof leaning into a turn.
Marie-Philippe Poulain is umpeering through the cage of her
hockey helmet.
Um Mikhail Kingsbury is afreestyle skier, and he is shown
seemingly floating through theair, kind of mid-twist.
(16:29):
It's like leaning backmid-twist.
Um Ina Forrest, the wheelchaircurler, is shown leaning forward
in her wheelchair, staringintently with her rock delivery
stick in hand.
And so those enormous, enormousstickers are on the sides of the
airplane, um, along with uh inbig black letters, the tagline
(16:50):
We fly the flag.
That's the you know the taglineof Air Canada.
Um uh it's in English on oneside of the plane, and then on
the other side, the same taglinein French, Hôte le Drapeau.
And then finally, um on the darkblue tail of that livery, the
air, the the usually red AirCanada ringed maple leaf has
been changed to gold.
SPEAKER_04 (17:12):
Oh and so how about Olympic and Paralympic uh icons?
SPEAKER_00 (17:18):
Uh the the Canadian Olympic uh logo is um uh a red
maple leaf over the Olympicrings, the the the five rings of
the Olympics.
And that's uh you know encircledby uh a thin red line in an oval
shape.
The Paralympic, uh the CanadianParalympic logo is uh is a play
(17:40):
on that.
So in this case it's half a redmaple leaf, but it's kind of
wavy, it looks almost like umlapping flames in a fire.
And then the rings, they're kindof um pulled together in a
slightly different way.
So you only get crescent shapesinstead of ring shapes, and
they're kind of clusteredtogether.
So those are on like in thisspace, those are on the
backdrops, those are on lots ofthe signs, and those are also on
(18:03):
the airplane as well.
So those are the the officiallogos of the teams.
The uniforms for the Olympic andParalympic teams, those are a
really big deal.
They're a really big design dealand big business.
Um the the the uh these outfits,these official uniforms are worn
by athletes, coaches, and staff,both during the opening ceremony
(18:23):
and closing ceremonies, but alsoat media ceremonies uh like at
medal ceremonies and duringmedia appearances, when they
travel, even when you're hangingaround the village, the idea is
that you are supposed to bewearing your parts of your
official uniform.
And I understand the athletes'trade.
Like, oh, I really love thatsweater.
Can I have that sweater?
I really and so you trade usyour sweater for someone else's
(18:44):
hat.
Oh wow.
Yeah, pretty cute.
In the old days, in the 1920sand 30s, like an official
Olympic or Paralympic uniformmight be like a simple sweater
with just the country nameacross the chest, kind of like a
varsity sweater, like like youwould find with like a with the
university name written acrossthe chest.
Uh in the 60s and 70s, that waskind of the era of the track
(19:08):
suit, which was more like awarm-up suit, nylon jackets and
pants in colors pulled from thenational flag.
Obviously, that's more of asummer games thing, um, but you
know, they had winter versionsas well that were kind of more
like snow pants.
But they were very yeah, theythey were like pull-on outfits,
warm-up wear.
Then in the 80s, more big namefashion designers got involved,
(19:31):
and now it's like you getfashion brands and high-tech
brands that put put togetherthese outfits that are like it's
a showcase for the brands,right?
And so these outfits are solddirectly to consumers.
Some elements of a team uniform,frankly, are more like costumes,
like theatrical costumes.
(19:51):
The stuff that you're gonna wearat the opening and closing
ceremonies, those are thoseoutfits are designed to look
good in a stadium or on TV whengroups of people are walking
through a gate or doing aparade.
Um those costume pieces make areally good entrance, but would
look really weird if you saw anathlete walking around the
(20:11):
village in one of those.
Um other parts of the of theofficial like clothing line, the
official uniform are gonna bemore like everyday fashion.
So that's what the athletes aregonna wear around the village.
Like uh performance uh coats andperformance snowpants and
touches and gloves and baseballhats.
For the last, I think it's fouryears, the Canada's team, uh
(20:33):
Team Canada's uniforms have beendesigned by Lululemon.
Um, and this year they've gonewith a look that I've heard
called a conceptual aesthetic.
A conceptual aesthetic.
The Canadian flag is cherry redand white.
Um, but for these games,Lululemon, that their palette
leans on these really deep reds,like dark burgundies, really
(20:56):
dark reds.
They've also got some coats andsnow pants in like this dark
silvery bluish green, reallyshiny colors that could be
described as cold or icy.
And they're also using chocolatebrown as a contrasting or a
secondary color.
So the jackets that they have,uh, because there's a whole line
(21:16):
of them.
A lot of the jackets are likehigh-fashion puffer coats, um,
with subtle images oftopographical maps of Canada
stretched across the wholegarment.
So that's where like this, likethere's some concept here,
right?
Like, so you get thesetopographical lines all the way
across some of these garments,and then you've got um
accessories like touches andbaseball hats, sling bags and
(21:37):
shoulder bags.
Oh.
And they and they these bagshave and and the and mittens.
Remember when you were a littlekid and you and you had your
mittens clipped to your to yourparka or whatever?
That's right.
Well, they've kind of taken thatidea and they've got straps that
connect to these sling bags andthese mittens that go over the
shoulders and over the neck, sothey look kind of like
(21:57):
suspenders.
Oh my god.
That's really fun.
Um the big fashion costume forthe Canadian team coming out of
like this was certainly the casefor the Olympic Games.
I'm guessing the Paralympic teamis going to be wearing the same.
At the opening ceremonies werethese big, they were called
quilt jackets.
They're like big chocolate brownshawl-like quilts in the puffy
(22:21):
parka material with a huge redmaple leaf on the front.
Like take up the entire front ofthese garments.
And then really low armholes,like at elbow height.
So they really do wear like ashawl, but made out of parka.
Puffy Parka material.
They were absolutely talkedabout at the Yeah, oh yeah,
(22:43):
these were a big deal.
I should also note thatLululemon is getting a lot of
international attention andkudos for their commitment to
accessible design in this year'suniforms.
Apparently they worked with theParalympic team to include
adaptive design elements intotheir clothing.
I know it's fantastic.
So they've got um uh seated fitstyles for athletes who use
(23:06):
wheelchairs, they've gotadaptive footwear, they've a lot
they're um all of their clothinguses um magnetic zippers and
pull-on loops, and they evenhave added braille elements.
So the zipper tab has the wordCanada in English text embossed
on one side, and then thebraille text embossed on the
other.
(23:26):
Oh and a lot of these inclusivedesign elements are these are
just part of the garments forthe Olympic team and the
Paralympic team across theboard, which really does create
a nice sense of unity across thewhole team, eh?
SPEAKER_04 (23:39):
I'm curious about how and if any of this trickles
down into popular culture andpopular clothing wear.
And so after the Olympics, arethere versions of this the way
some people wear, like a hockeyjersey or a team shirt?
Does this filter down?
SPEAKER_00 (23:55):
Absolutely.
You can buy almost all of thethings that I just mentioned
here and lots more on online atLululemon, at the at the the you
know, whoever the sell theofficial sellers are, probably
on their on the uh the Olympicand Paralympic uh websites and
whatnot.
And there will be items ofclothing that will be really
popular.
This is really you know, reallya big hit.
(24:15):
Uh the sweater is reallypopular, this jacket is really
popular, um, this hat is reallypopular, and like every year
there are one or two items thatare like, oh, the must-have
items for the teams.
SPEAKER_03 (24:26):
So we don't know what those will be yet, right?
SPEAKER_00 (24:28):
Who knows?
I don't know.
I mean, listen, my fashion bloghasn't blown up yet with what
yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (24:34):
Your fashion blog.
Okay, let's put that aside forthe moment and then say in a
month or so might you be seeingthis on the streets?
SPEAKER_00 (24:42):
Absolutely.
Yeah, there will definitely be.
Uh like I bet those if I had toguess, some of those coats with
the topographical maps on them.
SPEAKER_04 (24:50):
I instantly wanted one when you described.
Those are cool.
Yeah, soon after, a few of theathletes began to arrive, and
members of the press started togather.
We actually got into the airportseveral hours earlier, and we
went through security with anumber of journalists who were
(25:10):
traveling in pairs of ordinaryreporters and camera operators,
and some teams were wheeling andfolding cards here and tripod.
This was all new to us.
So I asked JJ to describe howmembers of the media were
setting up and covering theevent.
So, JJ, I very much feel likewe're in this privileged
(25:33):
position here because we're sortof behind the scenes of stuff
that we don't normally getaccess to.
And one of the things that'sgoing on is we'll be uh making
wiggly air quotes, a mediascrum, which I just love to say.
And so what that's gonna mean alot of um visual media, a lot of
popular media interacting withthe athletes, and so I believe
(25:54):
that's being sort of assembledas at the moment.
So, what are you seeinghappening in that respect?
SPEAKER_00 (25:59):
Yeah, so the the the the podium and backdrop area has
has changed quite a bit.
So the backdrop is still there,um, but the podium has been
pulled away, and instead uhwhere the podium was, now is a
row of cameras, uh, TV cameras,um uh and smaller media cameras
as well.
It looks like one, two, three,four, I see five, six cameras.
(26:24):
Um and each camera has a cameraoperator behind it.
These are all uh, you know, theythese range from what would have
been an old-fashioned camcordersize, the one that you would
kind of hold on your shoulder,that kind of camera, to um just
like a nice high-end um personalcamera that's a digital camera.
So they range their all oh, itlooks like two more, three more
(26:46):
people who are now are alsothere filming in um with cell
phones, because cell phones arebeing used.
There are uh like microphones,and it looks like there are
someone's being interviewed now.
SPEAKER_01 (26:58):
Is this like a press conference style?
Yeah.
Is that what a press conferencemight look like?
SPEAKER_00 (27:03):
I paused there for a moment because I wondered if it
was going to be amplified uhinto it and presented out.
It it doesn't seem to be, but itis exactly that press conference
style.
So normally, um, if you'rewatching on TV, you see the
view, obviously, from one ofthose cameras.
We're behind that scrum.
There's now a second layer ofpress that are standing on
(27:24):
chairs.
Oh they've got people, they theykicked passengers out of their
waiting area seats.
Sorry, what all are and they'restanding up on chairs with
cameras held high and andthey're filming down into this,
into this media scrum.
Some people are like somereporters are leaning in with
microphones.
(27:45):
Um, and uh, you know, I can justsee that a couple of the
microphones have branding onthem.
Um and uh but I still can't makeout who exactly is being
interviewed in there because Ican't hear them and there are uh
so many people around.
The other thing I'll mention islike what's going on with the
crowd of like the crowd of folkswho are just waiting for their
(28:07):
airplanes.
Some people not paying anyattention to this going on.
They're just waiting for theirairplane.
Some of them are gettingsandwiches because they all of
those sandwich tables that havebeen left out are those
sandwiches.
This is lovely, they're just foreveryone at the gate.
So folks are like getting theirsandwiches, getting their wraps,
and you know, filling theirbackpacks with cans of coke and
(28:28):
whatever.
And uh, and then others areobviously very interested in
what's going on.
So there are a handful of otherswho are not part of the media
scrum, but they've also gottheir cell phones out and
they're filming and they'rewatching and they're listening.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (28:43):
Something's happening.
There's a I I think there mustbe an interesting visual vibe
when there's celebrities in theroom, and so everyone knows
there's some notable people.
Otherwise, why would there becameras?
And I'm always curious about howthat changes the visual dynamic
of how people move around aspace and interact with each
other.
SPEAKER_00 (29:01):
Yeah, it is interesting.
I can't see who's beinginterviewed, but I know
something important is happeningwhere all everyone's facing the
same direction.
You've got cameras and phonesall facing in the same
direction.
And every like there's a lot ofpeople craning necks.
Like standing a little talkingabout who's going on, what's
going on over there?
Yeah.
Uh it is interesting to be in aspace where there is uh yeah,
(29:25):
there's a there's a celebrity,there's a there's an athlete.
You know, uh when you and I met,we were uh playing goal ball
together, right?
We were playing pickup goalball.
SPEAKER_05 (29:35):
Yeah, that's how we met.
SPEAKER_00 (29:35):
That's how we met.
And some of the members of theuh Paralympic goal ball team
would come and occasionallyscrub like scrimmage with us
just to get there, just to havea little bit of a workout.
Yeah.
They were obviously slumming.
Yeah, exactly.
They were leagues better than wewere.
But I remember like when one ofthose athletes would walk into
the gymnasium on any like youknow, random Thursday night,
(29:58):
there was a like a feeling inthe air.
SPEAKER_04 (30:01):
It was a little static in the air.
It's really true.
It's really I was an observer,not a player, but I felt it too
that there would they had aforcefulness and an energy, and
I knew who they were and whythey were there.
So it was partly theirpersonalities, because I don't
think you get there by beingtimid, but it was also just the
knowledge.
This is someone who's an expertin this thing.
(30:21):
Oh, yeah, and here they are withus.
SPEAKER_00 (30:24):
It was a big deal.
I remember uh I I took a I tooka ball to the face at one point
because I wasn't very good.
I I didn't have good form in myblocking, and I dove, I took a
ball right to the face, and Igot a black eye.
Oh and I wore that black eye soproudly, I walked around like I
got this from a Paralympian.
SPEAKER_04 (30:45):
Lovely.
And with the the the selfieculture, are you seeing that
people who might not be herespecifically for this event are
kind of going, Oh, somethingfamous is going on.
I want a picture of myself infront of this.
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00 (31:00):
So I just I as you were talking, I was scanning to
see what I could see, and therewas a woman who got walked right
up to the front, uh, you know,wearing her parka, getting ready
to, you know, board theairplane.
She walked right up behind thecameras, took a photo, and then
immediately got got her thumbsto work.
And if I had to guess, that wasa take and sense.
Here I am at the here's what I'mdoing.
(31:22):
I saw uh earlier as we werewalking around a couple of
flight attendants who werecarrying uh little paper um
Canadian flags with them.
And they stopped in front of thein front of one of the posters
that had the the Air Canadabranding, that had uh, you know,
a you know a photograph of oneof the uh Paralympians, and they
stopped the two of them in theirflight attendant uniforms or
(31:44):
Trim Air Canada flight attendantuniforms.
They're they're made up andready for work.
They got their flags and theycuddled up nice and close, and
one of them held the camera highin the air, and they took the
photo of selfie down so thatthey could catch them and the
poster, the branding behindthem.
It's absolutely the case thatthe um uh there are
professionals taking photos,there are uh individuals taking
(32:06):
photos, and then there are lotsof people taking selfies.
People want I was here.
After the media scrum, thingsquieted down a bit.
We stopped for a break, had afew sandwiches, and then Chris
sat down for a moment while Iwent off to stretch my legs.
I walked out of the party gateand turned the corner into the
long vaccinated terminal, anddiscovered a completely gaggle
(32:31):
of athletes and air-handedambassadors approaching
completely bagged in the mainfoot with hair athlete in the
front, waving flight attendantsand pilots behind them, and
waving passengers gathered atthe left and right, like kids
lining the curb at a holidayparade.
(32:51):
Luckily, I had the mic with me,so I started describing as the
roving party made its waythrough the terminal all the way
to the send-off gate.
Okay.
So just JJ here.
Right now, the Paralympians arecoming all the way through the
terminal.
A whole group of folks led byseveral athletes in in
(33:14):
wheelchairs, they're makingtheir way through the airport
with Team Canada signs beingheld by Air Canada employees,
flight attendants chanting,people in uh in their seats all
through the terminal are uhturning to watch the athletes as
they make their way through thespace.
(33:36):
There's a huge lineup of peoplethat's gathering around behind
for this parade, too.
So lots of folks um who are umpart of the official um like
parade, part of the officialceremony, but also people who
are just gathering behind andfollowing the athletes,
following the Paralympians,okay.
(34:03):
Chris, Chris, they're coming,they're coming.
All right, so the athletes justmade their way.
So the athletes have just madetheir way through the whole
tunnel.
Excuse me.
And they're now entering ourgate area here.
So led by one, two, three, fourfive athletes in wheelchairs and
(34:27):
power scooters, several otherathletes coming behind, all in
uniform.
We talked about the uniformsearlier.
So these are like um burgundysweaters with the topographic
maps in lighter red, kind ofspread across them.
We've got um zoom of athletesand family members all the way
in flags.
(34:47):
Interesting, some of the mediafolks are right in the parade.
So some of the professionalcameras are being are filming
from right inside the parade,and a couple of the
broadcasters, some of the on-airpersonalities from local um
radio uh television stations,they're holding up cell phones.
They're walking inside theparade and filming themselves,
and then others as um as thewhole parade comes in.
(35:20):
Now is when the flags arewaving.
So Canadian flags being wavedall over the place, and uh, and
like everyone has made their wayinto the space now, and lots of
folks standing on their feet.
So all those sandwich eaters,all the folks who are just here
waiting for their plane, theyare all on their feet to watch
(35:43):
again.
We talked about what it's whatit does when celebrity enters
the room, right?
Everyone knows, even if youdon't recognize the individual
athlete, you recognize theattention.
You recognize everyone's turn tolook, lots of cameras on.
So all of those athletes are nowin the in the boarding gate area
that we are in.
Um people are starting to settleback down, get back into their
(36:05):
chairs, and look at theirphones.
What did I get?
What did I capture?
Can I send it to anyone?
Like all of that stuff ishappening now, and then all uh a
lot of the athletes have movedto a uh to an area that's kind
of behind the um the backdrop,and I guess there's gonna be
more media scrum and so far uhand so forth over there.
Wanna go check it out?
(36:26):
See if we can fight our waythrough?
Okay.
The crowds have gotten thicker.
It it's like the number ofpeople in this gate area
probably doubled in the last twominutes.
Oh wow.
Yeah, yeah, it's pretty wild.
Okay, let's see if we can fightour way through.
So there's uh uh what looks likeone family uh to our left, um,
(36:47):
where there's a kid who'srocking two paper Canadian
flags, rocking back and forth onhis heels, doing his own little
flag show.
So flags above, flags down theside, crisscross in front, like
he's doing a little dance all byhimself.
There's no other activity ofthat sort going on.
A lot of the flight attendantsthat were part of the parade
coming in, they've all gatheredtogether, um, you know, just
(37:10):
aside, and they're chattingexcitedly, like, you know, they
were just part of this party.
They were just not part of theand now they're taking selfies,
all the flight attendants in agroup, some of the flight
attendants holding up the peacesign, and one flight attendant
holding up his camera up highand taking photos down into the
whole crew.
They're having their littleparty.
Um, and yeah, and now the crowdsare kind of dispersing a little
(37:33):
bit.
Oh, and I should say, almost allof the free sandwiches are gone.
Nope.
So the lineup at Subway hasgotten a lot longer.
SPEAKER_02 (37:39):
That's how it works.
Got it.
Okay.
We're waiting for the desserttable.
Yeah, that's right.
I'm not performing in theParalympics.
That's right.
Bring on the square.
SPEAKER_00 (37:48):
Bring on the two-bite brownies, right?
Where are the nanaimo bars?
SPEAKER_02 (37:52):
That's patriotic.
It's only patriotic to eat atanything.
SPEAKER_00 (37:55):
If you can get a nanaimo bar and a butter tart in
one dessert, come on.
SPEAKER_04 (38:02):
It'll be a lost opportunity if it doesn't
happen.
SPEAKER_00 (38:04):
Peak Canada, right there.
So glancing about the this kindof gate area now, I'm there are
lots of because there are well,I don't know how many different
athletes, must have been 20 uhParalympic athletes who came in
during that parade.
They've all broken up intolittle groups.
(38:24):
So uh one or two athletes withthis news camera and this news
team, and then another couple ofathletes over here with this
news camera and this news team.
And um so there are all sorts ofthese conversations going on,
all sorts of these official uhum, you know, interviews
happening, some that are beinguh set against official
backdrops that were uh set up aspart of the the decorations of
(38:48):
this of the space, the um, youknow, the the the branded Air
Canada backdrops, some are justbeing taken with um uh you know
regular airport scenes uh asbackground.
So one of the things I findreally interesting watching the
media do their work, theprofessional media, is a lot of
the uh a lot of these crews havehave big cameras, have big
(39:12):
professional cameras, andthey're also using cell phones.
So reporters who are I Irecognize from local news
stations not only recordingcontent to big camera for air,
but also recording content oncell phones, but in a
professional way.
(39:32):
So I don't think those are I'mguessing, but I don't think
those are clips that are fortheir own personal use.
I think those clips are to beposted on social media in a
professional capacity.
You can like that's somethingthat is done more increasingly
these days, where you getprofessional news and opinion
pieces and so forth delivered onsocial media recorded by those
(39:55):
per uh by those reporters, and Ithink that's what we're that's
what we're catching glimpses ofhere.
SPEAKER_03 (40:00):
I have no idea.
So maybe say CBC has anInstagram account or something,
exactly how you might seesomething like that.
SPEAKER_00 (40:06):
Or or even the reporter themselves.
Like I bet some of that stuffwould be both the reporter, they
have a professional feed, butalso, yeah, like the the
broadcaster would have their ownfeed, and so that some of that
content could be um could beaired there, some of it might be
for personal professional socialmedia, if you know what I mean.
(40:28):
Yeah, that's fascinating.
I don't think even two years agoyou would have seen that kind of
thing.
That's that's that's my sense ofit, but I think that's right.
SPEAKER_04 (40:38):
Well, and it's I I hear sight of people say this
all the time that phone camerasare so good these days, so that
you could it's it's comparableto maybe to in some degree what
you're getting from the bigcameras.
SPEAKER_00 (40:49):
Absolutely, it's you it's certainly usable.
Like there's nothing about itthat is uh um that is awkward or
substandard.
It's absolutely usable.
By the way, uh a flightattendant just walking by.
This is an Air Canada flightattendant again, full uh
uniform, which is like a skirtsuit, uh, you know, well done
up, ready for to do her job.
(41:10):
She's got a Canadian flag drapedacross her back, like she's an
athlete that's just won herevent.
So Chris, a lot of the folks, uhlike a lot of the uh the
Paralympians, the athletes, havelooks like they've done their
official interviews, they'vedone their photo ops in front of
(41:33):
the uh the branding backdropsand whatnot.
Um and now a lot of them havelike they've stripped off the
outer layers of their uniforms,so they're they're official
sweaters, but they're all stillwearing the same matching uh
like sweatpants and the samematching hats, but they've
they've they've you know takenoff the outer layer sweaters and
they've they've gone over to thefar corner of the space and
(41:56):
they're like chilling out,they're hanging out, they're
just having conversations.
And I mean, these are probablyathletes from a variety of
different sports, they might notall know each other.
SPEAKER_04 (42:08):
That's very interesting to me, eh?
Like, how well do they know eachother?
Because it is very differentsports, different parts of the
country.
That's right.
Different disabilities.
SPEAKER_00 (42:16):
But here they're gonna, that's exactly all of
those are uh that would put themin different rooms, different
spaces, different trainingfacilities, different coach
coaching staffs.
But now they're here, they'rehanging out, they're in uniform
matching uniforms.
They're Team Canada, and they'regetting to they're hanging out
together, and they're all gonnabe on the same flight together
(42:36):
now, too.
So the party's gonna continue.
The party's gonna go from here,all back, you know, onto the
airplane, and then they're gonnaget to the Olympic Village, and
you know, they're with theircrew, they're with their people,
they're with their team.
The party was starting to winddown, and the athletes had a
plane to catch.
But before the Air Canada flightcrew got to work, they wanted an
(42:59):
official photo with theathletes.
Flight attendants, pilots, andParalympic athletes rushed in
from every corner of the spaceto join the ever-expanding group
photo.
Okay, so now uh the several ofthe Paralympians are lined up in
(43:19):
front of the uh the backdropbanner that we talked about
earlier.
The podium has been removed, andthe flight crew is standing
behind them.
So we've got uh Paralympians, uhfour five four athletes in
wheelchairs who are at at the frin the front row.
They're holding one of thoseoversized boarding passes, the
(43:39):
novelty boarding pass.
Behind them are board or gatecrew, um pilots and flight
attendants, as well as otherathletes standing behind them.
So flight attendant uniforms inlike skirt suits and pant suits,
and um pilot uniforms, which areblack suits with black caps.
(44:00):
And black ties.
And then all oh, it looks likemore athletes are piling in.
So now it's good, now it's likethe family photo where people
pile in.
At first it was organized.
Now we've got athletes who arecoming in, who are walking and
standing in behind.
One of the pilots is handing outlittle tiny paper air can or
(44:21):
Canadian flag flags.
And so this is there's someprofessional lighting set up
here.
There are professionalphotographers who are taking
pictures.
There are also, oh, looks likewe've got some coaching staff
coming in.
Now the group's growing evenmore.
So there must be probably 25people now piled into this
photo.
unknown (44:41):
Oh wow.
SPEAKER_00 (44:42):
Yeah, so yeah, the athletes in wheelchairs, it's
like, guys, you gotta comeforward.
So now they're they're movingforward and more.
Oh, there's a flight attendantjust went whipping right past.
She's running in with her flag.
Everyone wants in on this photo.
And those who are just likewaiting for their for their
gate, waiting for their flight,they're they want in on this
(45:02):
too.
They're standing, they're takingphotos of the of the athletes.
Oh my god.
Okay, the backdrop is literallylike wobbling.
It's being pushed, it's beingtilting back and forth.
Lots of big smiles.
(45:23):
Oh, a couple of flightattendants were not happy with
their position.
They're running from one side ofthe.
Yeah, I think they were told,come on, there's too many on the
right, you've got to move to theleft.
So they get they moved across.
SPEAKER_05 (45:32):
It's like the class photo.
SPEAKER_00 (45:33):
It really is.
Um photographer always has totell a joke to get to get the
smile.
Did you catch that laugh?
SPEAKER_02 (45:44):
I did.
I I didn't know why.
SPEAKER_00 (45:46):
That's right.
SPEAKER_02 (45:46):
I want to know what he said.
SPEAKER_00 (45:48):
They got jokes, they got one-liners.
Why not?
SPEAKER_02 (45:51):
That's right.
I guess that's one of yourqualifications.
SPEAKER_00 (45:54):
That's right.
Can you tell a cheap joke to thephone?
That's right.
No, that's right.
And I can tell you, no one islooking grumpy in this photo.
There are a lot of very genuinesmiles in this group of people.
The athletes, the Air Canadaemployees.
There are a lot of very happypeople in this space with us
(46:17):
right now, Chris.
There you go.
Athletes throwing their hands inthe air for that one last photo.
SPEAKER_04 (46:33):
This episode was recorded in Terminal One of
Toronto Pearson InternationalAirport and in studio in
Toronto, Canada, with atechnical production by Jacob
Symansky.
Big thanks to Madeline LongDuke, the Director of Commercial
Communications at Air Canada,and Jessica Sprimo, Vice
(46:54):
President of Client Experienceat Weber Shandwick, for the
invitation and support.
Stay tuned for more Air Canadaadventures in upcoming episodes.
Talk description to me with Christine Malik and J.J.
Hunt.
SPEAKER_04 (00:27):
Hi, I'm Christine Malik.
SPEAKER_00 (00:29):
And I'm J.J.
Hunt.
This is Talk Description, wherethe visuals of current events
and the world around us gethashed out in description-rich
conversations.
SPEAKER_04 (00:47):
We recently learned that our little podcast here has
some fans at Air Canada.
We grew up with Air Canada asour flag carrier, our own
national airline.
So when they offered to sponsora series of episodes and invited
us to share in someextraordinary experiences that
we could describe and pass on toyou, we jumped on board and see
(01:11):
what we do there.
Longtime listeners to ourpodcast will know us pretty well
by now.
But these are Canada episodeswill be shared on a variety of
platforms.
My name is Christine Mallet.
I'm a member of the RodCommunity, and a cultural
curator, and the line isorganization.
SPEAKER_00 (01:38):
My name is JJ Hunt.
I am a professional accessworker who described it.
We described it.
(02:06):
We are looking forward to it.
We were an internationalairport.
(03:10):
That is where we land to focusour attention.
When just a few days ago, on acold February afternoon, with a
healthy amount of winter snowstill on the ground, Christine
and I headed to the airport, AirCanada invitations in hand, to
describe the visuals of TeamCanada's Paralympic send-off.
SPEAKER_04 (03:32):
We are here at Pearson International Airport in
Toronto, YYZ.
It's February 26th, 2026, and weare here for the official
send-off of the CanadianParalympic Team.
Go, Canada, go! So JJ and I arehere to bring you the visuals of
(03:53):
this send-off.
So to have an audio-onlyexperience of the official
send-off sponsored by Air Canadaof the Paralympic team.
Very, very exciting.
So we are in a completelyfunctional gate.
This is not a set-aside area,this is a functioning gate.
We just got a call earlier forGuadalajara.
If anyone wants to seeGuadalajara, they're welcome.
(04:14):
So, JJ, since we're at thebeginning of the event, the
event hasn't quite started yet.
Can we start with somedescription about just broad
strokes, a gate, and then whathas happened to this gate to
make it festive and special?
SPEAKER_00 (04:27):
Yeah, absolutely.
So Pearson uh is a big airport,really big airport.
This is uh terminal, we're interminal one.
Uh there are two majorterminals.
It's massive.
We're at gate E85.
So that gives you a sense of thenumber.
And that would be the last gatein this terminal.
And so it the terminal is uhthis part of the terminal,
(04:49):
anyway, is really long with oneexterior wall of windows.
There's almost always anexterior wall of windows at
airports these days that allowscustomers, uh flyers uh who are
sighted to look out the windowand see that the jetway is
there, the plane is there, theall that being clean, the
luggage is is being put on.
So there's always a an exterioruh wall of windows in big
(05:12):
airports these days.
So this airport, this terminalthat we're in, big long, it was
probably a 10-minute walk towalk all the way along that one
uh, you know, the all the waythrough the terminal.
And then we turned a cornerright at the end, and right at
the end there's just a littlebit of an L.
Just a little run, just a littleturn, and then there are these
(05:34):
two or three gates in a onelittle closed off, not quite
closed off, but one slightlymore secluded area, and that's
what we're in.
It is just a gate, like it is itis a fully functioning gate.
We've got the industrial carpeton the floor, we've got the wall
of windows on the outside, lotsof uh seating bolted into the
(05:54):
floor, um, you know, waitingchairs, uh, there are a couple
of desks uh for um you know uhfor flight attendants and
boarding crew to uh to wait at.
There are stanchions and andropes to help people form lines,
there's uh like a littleconvenience store area to our
right and a subway sandwichshop, a couple of bathrooms,
(06:16):
very classic airport stuff.
And then kind of tucked in allaround are little bits of like
there's gonna be a party,there's gonna be an event here.
So there's um uh an Air Canadaum backdrop, so it's like an
off-white kind of beigey colorwith the Air Canada logo, the um
(06:39):
uh Canadian Olympic logo, theCanadian Paralympic logo.
We can talk about all thoselater.
Um uh for a backdrop in that'sbehind a podium, a small podium
with a single mic at it.
That's kind of separating two ofthese, uh the like two of the
boarding areas, two of thegates.
So there's like one block ofchairs behind it, and there's
(07:00):
another block of chairs in frontof it.
There are a couple of tables setup with uh you know with
sandwiches and and snacks that'sjust being set up now.
There are a couple of extrasecurity guards around, and then
there are these like cardboardcutouts of Paralympic athletes
that are against the the wall ofwindows, and these really
fantastic.
You know the uh you know theidea of a novelty check, the
(07:23):
oversized check?
You win the you win the lotteryand they make a giant check
that's got that's all fullybranded and it's got your name
on it.
They've got a version of thatthat is the um like uh the the
novelty boarding pass, that isthe the the boarding pass for uh
folks who are flying on theofficial flight, the Air Canada
flight, taking the Paralympicathletes to the Olympic Games.
(07:46):
So those are those are kind ofset up around, there are two or
three versions of that set uparound, too.
So, but otherwise, it's a gate.
Like there are people who arewalking around pushing their
rolly bags, there are people,you know, uh buying snacks at
the at the convenience store andgetting a sandwich from Subway
and you know, kicking back andtaking off their shoes as they
(08:07):
sit and wait in their chairswaiting for their flight.
This is an active airport, theseare active gates.
SPEAKER_04 (08:12):
And so what kind of Canada branding are you seeing
around that you wouldn'tnormally see, like flags or
coloration or logos?
What are you seeing iconiconographically speaking that
says Canada and Olympics?
SPEAKER_00 (08:26):
Yes, well uh a lot of the um uh the flights that
are in this area, like that arecurrently using this uh this
little wing of the terminal areAir Canada flights.
So you're already getting AirCanada branding.
The stanchions and the littleropes, all the ropes the that
are kind of like seatbelt ropes,they're like um you know bands
(08:46):
of nylon.
They all say Air Canada on them.
There's Air Canada, of course,on the signs for like boarding
now, Air Canada flying toMunich, Air Canada to
Guadalajara, there's the AirCanada stuff there.
So they're Air Canada's brandingis Canadian branding.
It it is the Maple Leaf.
Um, so we're seeing that.
And then all of those thingsthat I talked about before, the
(09:08):
um athletes, the cardboardcutouts, the the life-size
cardboard cutouts of theathletes, they're wearing their
Canadian uniforms uh forwhatever sport they're in, their
you know, their ski uniforms andwhatnot, and then the branding
on the back drops as well.
But otherwise, I gotta say, it'sit's a little low-key, not as
much kind of like big Canadianflag as I might have expected.
(09:32):
Interesting.
SPEAKER_04 (09:33):
I know, it's so Canadian of us because we all
feel it in our hearts.
I'm holding my hand to my heart.
We all feel it.
But um, and so those cardboardcutouts, I I instantly want one.
And there's a a tabletop curlingboard that also, if anyone's
wants to dispose of that afterthe event, I want to take that
home too.
SPEAKER_00 (09:49):
You want in on that?
SPEAKER_04 (09:50):
I want in on that action.
It's got little moving pieces,and I want to fling those down
right down the uh right down theline.
So, what do we what we think isgonna happen today?
There'll be a parade.
SPEAKER_00 (10:00):
Um there's gonna be, I think, uh some kind of parade
where the the Paralympians maketheir way to the gate.
Um I think there's gonna be amedia scrum, which is pretty
cool.
SPEAKER_02 (10:10):
I'm kind of looking forward to knowing what that
looks like from the outside.
Not that I've been in the middleof one because I don't want to
be, but what does that actuallymean?
SPEAKER_00 (10:16):
What does that look like in real time?
Yeah, so we'll we'll be able tocheck that out.
Um and then yeah, then there'sthe the actual boarding.
We're gonna be here as theathletes uh board.
I'm kind of excited about theidea that we get to be here and
s and and kind of and sayfarewell, say good luck, say do
your best.
SPEAKER_04 (10:36):
It's all they're like astronauts, right?
I feel this.
That Olympic athletes are likeastronauts, they have to be the
top in every way.
Yeah.
And not just in their skill, butin their composure, in their
emotional stability, in theircharisma.
And so these are the best of thebest of the best of the best of
us.
Yeah, I feel it too.
(10:56):
I feel the it's gonna be a veryexciting time.
SPEAKER_00 (10:58):
Yeah, it's a good day.
I'm I'm this is gonna be fun.
Christine was pretty interestedin the tabletop curling game.
So we hovered around a bit anddid a bit of table watching.
The game was set out on afolding table near the
sandwiches and drinks, andwaiting passengers were starting
(11:19):
to realize it was set up forthem.
The curling board was a longrectangle, about two feet long,
with a house orbit and centeredblue and red circles painted at
either end of the smooth whitesurface.
In place of curling rocks,players used metal marbles
encircled by thick bands ofrubber, which acted as
(11:40):
stabilizers and bumpers.
Some passengers would walk by,consider the board, and casually
slide a marble rock and thenhead back to their seats.
But others re-able in the ballis the thing that does the
rolling.
One guy, so into it.
So he's lean he he's he'sleaning forward, getting his
hand really close, and he'susing a flick technique and
(12:03):
flick, and so that that littleyeah, with his fingers, like a
little and then that rock goesall the way down to the other
end and hopefully stops in theyou know the the bullseye style,
the rings, and then he does allhis rocks, and then the other
guy's going and doing all his.
That's not exactly officialcurling rules, but if you're
playing like flick curling, butI just love how into it the one
(12:25):
guy in particular is like theone guy's like standing up and
he's like just holding his handsat his side, flicking half of
his rocks or going into thegutters and whatever.
The other guy, he is lininghimself up perfectly, he is
leaning forward, he is into it,and he's winning.
SPEAKER_04 (12:42):
It's winning.
Tabletop hockey, air hockey isclassic Canadiana, but have you
ever seen this before?
SPEAKER_00 (12:48):
I yeah, I mean there are versions of shuffleboard uh
like that are basically curlingum uh that you find at bars and
things like that.
Uh a version like this, I'm I'mit's probably just a
commercially available game.
Like this is uh but no, Ihaven't I've I've played
definitely played some tablehockey in my day, but not this.
I haven't I haven't played thisbefore.
SPEAKER_04 (13:12):
I'd like to talk about branding because there's a
lot of that happening here.
There's there's Air Canadabranding, there's Olympic
branding, there's Paralympicbranding, and those are all
very, very intentional, and uhone of our favorite words on
talk description to be veryiconic, and so a lot of people,
sighted people would see themand instantly know what that
means.
So can we break down the visualsof some of those?
SPEAKER_00 (13:34):
Yeah, yeah, so absolutely, and you're right,
like a lot of that stuff is um,especially with all of those
things, they're send it aroundin Canada, the Maple Leaf.
Um, so it is exactly thaticonic.
We see it instantly.
Um uh if you are sighted and youare in Canada.
We're not huge flag waivers, butanything that that has a maple
(13:55):
leaf on it, we're gonna respondto right away.
So I don't want to start withAir Canada branding.
SPEAKER_05 (13:59):
Yes.
SPEAKER_00 (13:59):
So uh yeah, Air Canada is the flag-bearing
airline, the flag carrier.
It's a that's a legacy term fromthose the days of the national
airline.
And from a visual standpoint,what that means is Air Canada
literally flies the flag in itsbranding.
The airline logo is a bright redmaple leaf that's encircled by a
(14:20):
red ring that connects uh to thestem just on one side.
And then the name Air Canadaoften appears below or beside
that in simple black all caps.
Um these days a lot of the AirCanada planes, uh like almost
all Air Canada planes carry AirCanada branding, but the uh most
of them right now arewhite-bodied airplanes with this
(14:44):
with a black tail fin.
Like it's it might be even adark, technically a dark, dark,
dark blue, but it reads as blackum tail fin.
Um and then the name Air Canadain that simple black all-caps
writing over the windows alongthe front half of the plane on
both sides, and then that redencircled maple leaf logo on
both sides of the black tailfin.
(15:06):
Um, as the official airline ofthe Canadian Olympic and
Paralympic team, they'veactually created a custom design
for the Olympic livery.
Do you know about the Olympiclivery?
SPEAKER_02 (15:16):
I do not.
I do not.
Sounds very victorious.
SPEAKER_00 (15:20):
This is this is the plane, the actual plane that is
uh uh decorated to carry the uhuh the athletes to and from the
Games.
Okay.
Um uh and so there is a customdesign for the Olympic livery,
which is an Airbus 330, Ibelieve.
Um that's the the the plane thatthe team members are gonna take
(15:42):
to and from the games.
So to the sides of thiswhite-bodied uh airplane, huge
enlarged photographs of fourathletes have been added.
These huge, huge picturesprinted um on this uh like a
vinyl sticker, basically, andand you know, added on to the
sides of the airplane.
There are uh four athletes um oneach side of the airplane, the
(16:06):
same four athletes.
Um uh Alexis Cumont, uh theParalympic Alpine skier, is
depicted zipping downhill, kindof leaning into a turn.
Marie-Philippe Poulain is umpeering through the cage of her
hockey helmet.
Um Mikhail Kingsbury is afreestyle skier, and he is shown
seemingly floating through theair, kind of mid-twist.
(16:29):
It's like leaning backmid-twist.
Um Ina Forrest, the wheelchaircurler, is shown leaning forward
in her wheelchair, staringintently with her rock delivery
stick in hand.
And so those enormous, enormousstickers are on the sides of the
airplane, um, along with uh inbig black letters, the tagline
(16:50):
We fly the flag.
That's the you know the taglineof Air Canada.
Um uh it's in English on oneside of the plane, and then on
the other side, the same taglinein French, Hôte le Drapeau.
And then finally, um on the darkblue tail of that livery, the
air, the the usually red AirCanada ringed maple leaf has
been changed to gold.
SPEAKER_04 (17:12):
Oh and so how about Olympic and Paralympic uh icons?
SPEAKER_00 (17:18):
Uh the the Canadian Olympic uh logo is um uh a red
maple leaf over the Olympicrings, the the the five rings of
the Olympics.
And that's uh you know encircledby uh a thin red line in an oval
shape.
The Paralympic, uh the CanadianParalympic logo is uh is a play
(17:40):
on that.
So in this case it's half a redmaple leaf, but it's kind of
wavy, it looks almost like umlapping flames in a fire.
And then the rings, they're kindof um pulled together in a
slightly different way.
So you only get crescent shapesinstead of ring shapes, and
they're kind of clusteredtogether.
So those are on like in thisspace, those are on the
backdrops, those are on lots ofthe signs, and those are also on
(18:03):
the airplane as well.
So those are the the officiallogos of the teams.
The uniforms for the Olympic andParalympic teams, those are a
really big deal.
They're a really big design dealand big business.
Um the the the uh these outfits,these official uniforms are worn
by athletes, coaches, and staff,both during the opening ceremony
(18:23):
and closing ceremonies, but alsoat media ceremonies uh like at
medal ceremonies and duringmedia appearances, when they
travel, even when you're hangingaround the village, the idea is
that you are supposed to bewearing your parts of your
official uniform.
And I understand the athletes'trade.
Like, oh, I really love thatsweater.
Can I have that sweater?
I really and so you trade usyour sweater for someone else's
(18:44):
hat.
Oh wow.
Yeah, pretty cute.
In the old days, in the 1920sand 30s, like an official
Olympic or Paralympic uniformmight be like a simple sweater
with just the country nameacross the chest, kind of like a
varsity sweater, like like youwould find with like a with the
university name written acrossthe chest.
Uh in the 60s and 70s, that waskind of the era of the track
(19:08):
suit, which was more like awarm-up suit, nylon jackets and
pants in colors pulled from thenational flag.
Obviously, that's more of asummer games thing, um, but you
know, they had winter versionsas well that were kind of more
like snow pants.
But they were very yeah, theythey were like pull-on outfits,
warm-up wear.
Then in the 80s, more big namefashion designers got involved,
(19:31):
and now it's like you getfashion brands and high-tech
brands that put put togetherthese outfits that are like it's
a showcase for the brands,right?
And so these outfits are solddirectly to consumers.
Some elements of a team uniform,frankly, are more like costumes,
like theatrical costumes.
(19:51):
The stuff that you're gonna wearat the opening and closing
ceremonies, those are thoseoutfits are designed to look
good in a stadium or on TV whengroups of people are walking
through a gate or doing aparade.
Um those costume pieces make areally good entrance, but would
look really weird if you saw anathlete walking around the
(20:11):
village in one of those.
Um other parts of the of theofficial like clothing line, the
official uniform are gonna bemore like everyday fashion.
So that's what the athletes aregonna wear around the village.
Like uh performance uh coats andperformance snowpants and
touches and gloves and baseballhats.
For the last, I think it's fouryears, the Canada's team, uh
(20:33):
Team Canada's uniforms have beendesigned by Lululemon.
Um, and this year they've gonewith a look that I've heard
called a conceptual aesthetic.
A conceptual aesthetic.
The Canadian flag is cherry redand white.
Um, but for these games,Lululemon, that their palette
leans on these really deep reds,like dark burgundies, really
(20:56):
dark reds.
They've also got some coats andsnow pants in like this dark
silvery bluish green, reallyshiny colors that could be
described as cold or icy.
And they're also using chocolatebrown as a contrasting or a
secondary color.
So the jackets that they have,uh, because there's a whole line
(21:16):
of them.
A lot of the jackets are likehigh-fashion puffer coats, um,
with subtle images oftopographical maps of Canada
stretched across the wholegarment.
So that's where like this, likethere's some concept here,
right?
Like, so you get thesetopographical lines all the way
across some of these garments,and then you've got um
accessories like touches andbaseball hats, sling bags and
(21:37):
shoulder bags.
Oh.
And they and they these bagshave and and the and mittens.
Remember when you were a littlekid and you and you had your
mittens clipped to your to yourparka or whatever?
That's right.
Well, they've kind of taken thatidea and they've got straps that
connect to these sling bags andthese mittens that go over the
shoulders and over the neck, sothey look kind of like
(21:57):
suspenders.
Oh my god.
That's really fun.
Um the big fashion costume forthe Canadian team coming out of
like this was certainly the casefor the Olympic Games.
I'm guessing the Paralympic teamis going to be wearing the same.
At the opening ceremonies werethese big, they were called
quilt jackets.
They're like big chocolate brownshawl-like quilts in the puffy
(22:21):
parka material with a huge redmaple leaf on the front.
Like take up the entire front ofthese garments.
And then really low armholes,like at elbow height.
So they really do wear like ashawl, but made out of parka.
Puffy Parka material.
They were absolutely talkedabout at the Yeah, oh yeah,
(22:43):
these were a big deal.
I should also note thatLululemon is getting a lot of
international attention andkudos for their commitment to
accessible design in this year'suniforms.
Apparently they worked with theParalympic team to include
adaptive design elements intotheir clothing.
I know it's fantastic.
So they've got um uh seated fitstyles for athletes who use
(23:06):
wheelchairs, they've gotadaptive footwear, they've a lot
they're um all of their clothinguses um magnetic zippers and
pull-on loops, and they evenhave added braille elements.
So the zipper tab has the wordCanada in English text embossed
on one side, and then thebraille text embossed on the
other.
(23:26):
Oh and a lot of these inclusivedesign elements are these are
just part of the garments forthe Olympic team and the
Paralympic team across theboard, which really does create
a nice sense of unity across thewhole team, eh?
SPEAKER_04 (23:39):
I'm curious about how and if any of this trickles
down into popular culture andpopular clothing wear.
And so after the Olympics, arethere versions of this the way
some people wear, like a hockeyjersey or a team shirt?
Does this filter down?
SPEAKER_00 (23:55):
Absolutely.
You can buy almost all of thethings that I just mentioned
here and lots more on online atLululemon, at the at the the you
know, whoever the sell theofficial sellers are, probably
on their on the uh the Olympicand Paralympic uh websites and
whatnot.
And there will be items ofclothing that will be really
popular.
This is really you know, reallya big hit.
(24:15):
Uh the sweater is reallypopular, this jacket is really
popular, um, this hat is reallypopular, and like every year
there are one or two items thatare like, oh, the must-have
items for the teams.
SPEAKER_03 (24:26):
So we don't know what those will be yet, right?
SPEAKER_00 (24:28):
Who knows?
I don't know.
I mean, listen, my fashion bloghasn't blown up yet with what
yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (24:34):
Your fashion blog.
Okay, let's put that aside forthe moment and then say in a
month or so might you be seeingthis on the streets?
SPEAKER_00 (24:42):
Absolutely.
Yeah, there will definitely be.
Uh like I bet those if I had toguess, some of those coats with
the topographical maps on them.
SPEAKER_04 (24:50):
I instantly wanted one when you described.
Those are cool.
Yeah, soon after, a few of theathletes began to arrive, and
members of the press started togather.
We actually got into the airportseveral hours earlier, and we
went through security with anumber of journalists who were
(25:10):
traveling in pairs of ordinaryreporters and camera operators,
and some teams were wheeling andfolding cards here and tripod.
This was all new to us.
So I asked JJ to describe howmembers of the media were
setting up and covering theevent.
So, JJ, I very much feel likewe're in this privileged
(25:33):
position here because we're sortof behind the scenes of stuff
that we don't normally getaccess to.
And one of the things that'sgoing on is we'll be uh making
wiggly air quotes, a mediascrum, which I just love to say.
And so what that's gonna mean alot of um visual media, a lot of
popular media interacting withthe athletes, and so I believe
(25:54):
that's being sort of assembledas at the moment.
So, what are you seeinghappening in that respect?
SPEAKER_00 (25:59):
Yeah, so the the the the podium and backdrop area has
has changed quite a bit.
So the backdrop is still there,um, but the podium has been
pulled away, and instead uhwhere the podium was, now is a
row of cameras, uh, TV cameras,um uh and smaller media cameras
as well.
It looks like one, two, three,four, I see five, six cameras.
(26:24):
Um and each camera has a cameraoperator behind it.
These are all uh, you know, theythese range from what would have
been an old-fashioned camcordersize, the one that you would
kind of hold on your shoulder,that kind of camera, to um just
like a nice high-end um personalcamera that's a digital camera.
So they range their all oh, itlooks like two more, three more
(26:46):
people who are now are alsothere filming in um with cell
phones, because cell phones arebeing used.
There are uh like microphones,and it looks like there are
someone's being interviewed now.
SPEAKER_01 (26:58):
Is this like a press conference style?
Yeah.
Is that what a press conferencemight look like?
SPEAKER_00 (27:03):
I paused there for a moment because I wondered if it
was going to be amplified uhinto it and presented out.
It it doesn't seem to be, but itis exactly that press conference
style.
So normally, um, if you'rewatching on TV, you see the
view, obviously, from one ofthose cameras.
We're behind that scrum.
There's now a second layer ofpress that are standing on
(27:24):
chairs.
Oh they've got people, they theykicked passengers out of their
waiting area seats.
Sorry, what all are and they'restanding up on chairs with
cameras held high and andthey're filming down into this,
into this media scrum.
Some people are like somereporters are leaning in with
microphones.
(27:45):
Um, and uh, you know, I can justsee that a couple of the
microphones have branding onthem.
Um and uh but I still can't makeout who exactly is being
interviewed in there because Ican't hear them and there are uh
so many people around.
The other thing I'll mention islike what's going on with the
crowd of like the crowd of folkswho are just waiting for their
(28:07):
airplanes.
Some people not paying anyattention to this going on.
They're just waiting for theirairplane.
Some of them are gettingsandwiches because they all of
those sandwich tables that havebeen left out are those
sandwiches.
This is lovely, they're just foreveryone at the gate.
So folks are like getting theirsandwiches, getting their wraps,
and you know, filling theirbackpacks with cans of coke and
(28:28):
whatever.
And uh, and then others areobviously very interested in
what's going on.
So there are a handful of otherswho are not part of the media
scrum, but they've also gottheir cell phones out and
they're filming and they'rewatching and they're listening.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (28:43):
Something's happening.
There's a I I think there mustbe an interesting visual vibe
when there's celebrities in theroom, and so everyone knows
there's some notable people.
Otherwise, why would there becameras?
And I'm always curious about howthat changes the visual dynamic
of how people move around aspace and interact with each
other.
SPEAKER_00 (29:01):
Yeah, it is interesting.
I can't see who's beinginterviewed, but I know
something important is happeningwhere all everyone's facing the
same direction.
You've got cameras and phonesall facing in the same
direction.
And every like there's a lot ofpeople craning necks.
Like standing a little talkingabout who's going on, what's
going on over there?
Yeah.
Uh it is interesting to be in aspace where there is uh yeah,
(29:25):
there's a there's a celebrity,there's a there's an athlete.
You know, uh when you and I met,we were uh playing goal ball
together, right?
We were playing pickup goalball.
SPEAKER_05 (29:35):
Yeah, that's how we met.
SPEAKER_00 (29:35):
That's how we met.
And some of the members of theuh Paralympic goal ball team
would come and occasionallyscrub like scrimmage with us
just to get there, just to havea little bit of a workout.
Yeah.
They were obviously slumming.
Yeah, exactly.
They were leagues better than wewere.
But I remember like when one ofthose athletes would walk into
the gymnasium on any like youknow, random Thursday night,
(29:58):
there was a like a feeling inthe air.
SPEAKER_04 (30:01):
It was a little static in the air.
It's really true.
It's really I was an observer,not a player, but I felt it too
that there would they had aforcefulness and an energy, and
I knew who they were and whythey were there.
So it was partly theirpersonalities, because I don't
think you get there by beingtimid, but it was also just the
knowledge.
This is someone who's an expertin this thing.
(30:21):
Oh, yeah, and here they are withus.
SPEAKER_00 (30:24):
It was a big deal.
I remember uh I I took a I tooka ball to the face at one point
because I wasn't very good.
I I didn't have good form in myblocking, and I dove, I took a
ball right to the face, and Igot a black eye.
Oh and I wore that black eye soproudly, I walked around like I
got this from a Paralympian.
SPEAKER_04 (30:45):
Lovely.
And with the the the selfieculture, are you seeing that
people who might not be herespecifically for this event are
kind of going, Oh, somethingfamous is going on.
I want a picture of myself infront of this.
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00 (31:00):
So I just I as you were talking, I was scanning to
see what I could see, and therewas a woman who got walked right
up to the front, uh, you know,wearing her parka, getting ready
to, you know, board theairplane.
She walked right up behind thecameras, took a photo, and then
immediately got got her thumbsto work.
And if I had to guess, that wasa take and sense.
Here I am at the here's what I'mdoing.
(31:22):
I saw uh earlier as we werewalking around a couple of
flight attendants who werecarrying uh little paper um
Canadian flags with them.
And they stopped in front of thein front of one of the posters
that had the the Air Canadabranding, that had uh, you know,
a you know a photograph of oneof the uh Paralympians, and they
stopped the two of them in theirflight attendant uniforms or
(31:44):
Trim Air Canada flight attendantuniforms.
They're they're made up andready for work.
They got their flags and theycuddled up nice and close, and
one of them held the camera highin the air, and they took the
photo of selfie down so thatthey could catch them and the
poster, the branding behindthem.
It's absolutely the case thatthe um uh there are
professionals taking photos,there are uh individuals taking
(32:06):
photos, and then there are lotsof people taking selfies.
People want I was here.
After the media scrum, thingsquieted down a bit.
We stopped for a break, had afew sandwiches, and then Chris
sat down for a moment while Iwent off to stretch my legs.
I walked out of the party gateand turned the corner into the
long vaccinated terminal, anddiscovered a completely gaggle
(32:31):
of athletes and air-handedambassadors approaching
completely bagged in the mainfoot with hair athlete in the
front, waving flight attendantsand pilots behind them, and
waving passengers gathered atthe left and right, like kids
lining the curb at a holidayparade.
(32:51):
Luckily, I had the mic with me,so I started describing as the
roving party made its waythrough the terminal all the way
to the send-off gate.
Okay.
So just JJ here.
Right now, the Paralympians arecoming all the way through the
terminal.
A whole group of folks led byseveral athletes in in
(33:14):
wheelchairs, they're makingtheir way through the airport
with Team Canada signs beingheld by Air Canada employees,
flight attendants chanting,people in uh in their seats all
through the terminal are uhturning to watch the athletes as
they make their way through thespace.
(33:36):
There's a huge lineup of peoplethat's gathering around behind
for this parade, too.
So lots of folks um who are umpart of the official um like
parade, part of the officialceremony, but also people who
are just gathering behind andfollowing the athletes,
following the Paralympians,okay.
(34:03):
Chris, Chris, they're coming,they're coming.
All right, so the athletes justmade their way.
So the athletes have just madetheir way through the whole
tunnel.
Excuse me.
And they're now entering ourgate area here.
So led by one, two, three, fourfive athletes in wheelchairs and
(34:27):
power scooters, several otherathletes coming behind, all in
uniform.
We talked about the uniformsearlier.
So these are like um burgundysweaters with the topographic
maps in lighter red, kind ofspread across them.
We've got um zoom of athletesand family members all the way
in flags.
(34:47):
Interesting, some of the mediafolks are right in the parade.
So some of the professionalcameras are being are filming
from right inside the parade,and a couple of the
broadcasters, some of the on-airpersonalities from local um
radio uh television stations,they're holding up cell phones.
They're walking inside theparade and filming themselves,
and then others as um as thewhole parade comes in.
(35:20):
Now is when the flags arewaving.
So Canadian flags being wavedall over the place, and uh, and
like everyone has made their wayinto the space now, and lots of
folks standing on their feet.
So all those sandwich eaters,all the folks who are just here
waiting for their plane, theyare all on their feet to watch
(35:43):
again.
We talked about what it's whatit does when celebrity enters
the room, right?
Everyone knows, even if youdon't recognize the individual
athlete, you recognize theattention.
You recognize everyone's turn tolook, lots of cameras on.
So all of those athletes are nowin the in the boarding gate area
that we are in.
Um people are starting to settleback down, get back into their
(36:05):
chairs, and look at theirphones.
What did I get?
What did I capture?
Can I send it to anyone?
Like all of that stuff ishappening now, and then all uh a
lot of the athletes have movedto a uh to an area that's kind
of behind the um the backdrop,and I guess there's gonna be
more media scrum and so far uhand so forth over there.
Wanna go check it out?
(36:26):
See if we can fight our waythrough?
Okay.
The crowds have gotten thicker.
It it's like the number ofpeople in this gate area
probably doubled in the last twominutes.
Oh wow.
Yeah, yeah, it's pretty wild.
Okay, let's see if we can fightour way through.
So there's uh uh what looks likeone family uh to our left, um,
(36:47):
where there's a kid who'srocking two paper Canadian
flags, rocking back and forth onhis heels, doing his own little
flag show.
So flags above, flags down theside, crisscross in front, like
he's doing a little dance all byhimself.
There's no other activity ofthat sort going on.
A lot of the flight attendantsthat were part of the parade
coming in, they've all gatheredtogether, um, you know, just
(37:10):
aside, and they're chattingexcitedly, like, you know, they
were just part of this party.
They were just not part of theand now they're taking selfies,
all the flight attendants in agroup, some of the flight
attendants holding up the peacesign, and one flight attendant
holding up his camera up highand taking photos down into the
whole crew.
They're having their littleparty.
Um, and yeah, and now the crowdsare kind of dispersing a little
(37:33):
bit.
Oh, and I should say, almost allof the free sandwiches are gone.
Nope.
So the lineup at Subway hasgotten a lot longer.
SPEAKER_02 (37:39):
That's how it works.
Got it.
Okay.
We're waiting for the desserttable.
Yeah, that's right.
I'm not performing in theParalympics.
That's right.
Bring on the square.
SPEAKER_00 (37:48):
Bring on the two-bite brownies, right?
Where are the nanaimo bars?
SPEAKER_02 (37:52):
That's patriotic.
It's only patriotic to eat atanything.
SPEAKER_00 (37:55):
If you can get a nanaimo bar and a butter tart in
one dessert, come on.
SPEAKER_04 (38:02):
It'll be a lost opportunity if it doesn't
happen.
SPEAKER_00 (38:04):
Peak Canada, right there.
So glancing about the this kindof gate area now, I'm there are
lots of because there are well,I don't know how many different
athletes, must have been 20 uhParalympic athletes who came in
during that parade.
They've all broken up intolittle groups.
(38:24):
So uh one or two athletes withthis news camera and this news
team, and then another couple ofathletes over here with this
news camera and this news team.
And um so there are all sorts ofthese conversations going on,
all sorts of these official uhum, you know, interviews
happening, some that are beinguh set against official
backdrops that were uh set up aspart of the the decorations of
(38:48):
this of the space, the um, youknow, the the the branded Air
Canada backdrops, some are justbeing taken with um uh you know
regular airport scenes uh asbackground.
So one of the things I findreally interesting watching the
media do their work, theprofessional media, is a lot of
the uh a lot of these crews havehave big cameras, have big
(39:12):
professional cameras, andthey're also using cell phones.
So reporters who are I Irecognize from local news
stations not only recordingcontent to big camera for air,
but also recording content oncell phones, but in a
professional way.
(39:32):
So I don't think those are I'mguessing, but I don't think
those are clips that are fortheir own personal use.
I think those clips are to beposted on social media in a
professional capacity.
You can like that's somethingthat is done more increasingly
these days, where you getprofessional news and opinion
pieces and so forth delivered onsocial media recorded by those
(39:55):
per uh by those reporters, and Ithink that's what we're that's
what we're catching glimpses ofhere.
SPEAKER_03 (40:00):
I have no idea.
So maybe say CBC has anInstagram account or something,
exactly how you might seesomething like that.
SPEAKER_00 (40:06):
Or or even the reporter themselves.
Like I bet some of that stuffwould be both the reporter, they
have a professional feed, butalso, yeah, like the the
broadcaster would have their ownfeed, and so that some of that
content could be um could beaired there, some of it might be
for personal professional socialmedia, if you know what I mean.
(40:28):
Yeah, that's fascinating.
I don't think even two years agoyou would have seen that kind of
thing.
That's that's that's my sense ofit, but I think that's right.
SPEAKER_04 (40:38):
Well, and it's I I hear sight of people say this
all the time that phone camerasare so good these days, so that
you could it's it's comparableto maybe to in some degree what
you're getting from the bigcameras.
SPEAKER_00 (40:49):
Absolutely, it's you it's certainly usable.
Like there's nothing about itthat is uh um that is awkward or
substandard.
It's absolutely usable.
By the way, uh a flightattendant just walking by.
This is an Air Canada flightattendant again, full uh
uniform, which is like a skirtsuit, uh, you know, well done
up, ready for to do her job.
(41:10):
She's got a Canadian flag drapedacross her back, like she's an
athlete that's just won herevent.
So Chris, a lot of the folks, uhlike a lot of the uh the
Paralympians, the athletes, havelooks like they've done their
official interviews, they'vedone their photo ops in front of
(41:33):
the uh the branding backdropsand whatnot.
Um and now a lot of them havelike they've stripped off the
outer layers of their uniforms,so they're they're official
sweaters, but they're all stillwearing the same matching uh
like sweatpants and the samematching hats, but they've
they've they've you know takenoff the outer layer sweaters and
they've they've gone over to thefar corner of the space and
(41:56):
they're like chilling out,they're hanging out, they're
just having conversations.
And I mean, these are probablyathletes from a variety of
different sports, they might notall know each other.
SPEAKER_04 (42:08):
That's very interesting to me, eh?
Like, how well do they know eachother?
Because it is very differentsports, different parts of the
country.
That's right.
Different disabilities.
SPEAKER_00 (42:16):
But here they're gonna, that's exactly all of
those are uh that would put themin different rooms, different
spaces, different trainingfacilities, different coach
coaching staffs.
But now they're here, they'rehanging out, they're in uniform
matching uniforms.
They're Team Canada, and they'regetting to they're hanging out
together, and they're all gonnabe on the same flight together
(42:36):
now, too.
So the party's gonna continue.
The party's gonna go from here,all back, you know, onto the
airplane, and then they're gonnaget to the Olympic Village, and
you know, they're with theircrew, they're with their people,
they're with their team.
The party was starting to winddown, and the athletes had a
plane to catch.
But before the Air Canada flightcrew got to work, they wanted an
(42:59):
official photo with theathletes.
Flight attendants, pilots, andParalympic athletes rushed in
from every corner of the spaceto join the ever-expanding group
photo.
Okay, so now uh the several ofthe Paralympians are lined up in
(43:19):
front of the uh the backdropbanner that we talked about
earlier.
The podium has been removed, andthe flight crew is standing
behind them.
So we've got uh Paralympians, uhfour five four athletes in
wheelchairs who are at at the frin the front row.
They're holding one of thoseoversized boarding passes, the
(43:39):
novelty boarding pass.
Behind them are board or gatecrew, um pilots and flight
attendants, as well as otherathletes standing behind them.
So flight attendant uniforms inlike skirt suits and pant suits,
and um pilot uniforms, which areblack suits with black caps.
(44:00):
And black ties.
And then all oh, it looks likemore athletes are piling in.
So now it's good, now it's likethe family photo where people
pile in.
At first it was organized.
Now we've got athletes who arecoming in, who are walking and
standing in behind.
One of the pilots is handing outlittle tiny paper air can or
(44:21):
Canadian flag flags.
And so this is there's someprofessional lighting set up
here.
There are professionalphotographers who are taking
pictures.
There are also, oh, looks likewe've got some coaching staff
coming in.
Now the group's growing evenmore.
So there must be probably 25people now piled into this
photo.
unknown (44:41):
Oh wow.
SPEAKER_00 (44:42):
Yeah, so yeah, the athletes in wheelchairs, it's
like, guys, you gotta comeforward.
So now they're they're movingforward and more.
Oh, there's a flight attendantjust went whipping right past.
She's running in with her flag.
Everyone wants in on this photo.
And those who are just likewaiting for their for their
gate, waiting for their flight,they're they want in on this
(45:02):
too.
They're standing, they're takingphotos of the of the athletes.
Oh my god.
Okay, the backdrop is literallylike wobbling.
It's being pushed, it's beingtilting back and forth.
Lots of big smiles.
(45:23):
Oh, a couple of flightattendants were not happy with
their position.
They're running from one side ofthe.
Yeah, I think they were told,come on, there's too many on the
right, you've got to move to theleft.
So they get they moved across.
SPEAKER_05 (45:32):
It's like the class photo.
SPEAKER_00 (45:33):
It really is.
Um photographer always has totell a joke to get to get the
smile.
Did you catch that laugh?
SPEAKER_02 (45:44):
I did.
I I didn't know why.
SPEAKER_00 (45:46):
That's right.
SPEAKER_02 (45:46):
I want to know what he said.
SPEAKER_00 (45:48):
They got jokes, they got one-liners.
Why not?
SPEAKER_02 (45:51):
That's right.
I guess that's one of yourqualifications.
SPEAKER_00 (45:54):
That's right.
Can you tell a cheap joke to thephone?
That's right.
No, that's right.
And I can tell you, no one islooking grumpy in this photo.
There are a lot of very genuinesmiles in this group of people.
The athletes, the Air Canadaemployees.
There are a lot of very happypeople in this space with us
(46:17):
right now, Chris.
There you go.
Athletes throwing their hands inthe air for that one last photo.
SPEAKER_04 (46:33):
This episode was recorded in Terminal One of
Toronto Pearson InternationalAirport and in studio in
Toronto, Canada, with atechnical production by Jacob
Symansky.
Big thanks to Madeline LongDuke, the Director of Commercial
Communications at Air Canada,and Jessica Sprimo, Vice
(46:54):
President of Client Experienceat Weber Shandwick, for the
invitation and support.
Stay tuned for more Air Canadaadventures in upcoming episodes.
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