2014 Sochi Games press-conference for accredited media at the Main Media Center in Sochi

Sochi, Russia, 2014-1-27 — /travelprnews.com/ — The first press-conference for accredited media took place at the Main Media Center next to the Olympic Park today. The way of journalists and broadcasters’ work is determined due to the international standards for the staging of major events. To ensure a productive and comfortable environment for journalists and broadcasters at the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi, convenient accommodation and free Wi-Fi has been provided for them. The Coastal and Mountain Cluster media centers are located within walking distance of the Olympic venues. In total, more than 3,000 media representatives and around 11,000 broadcast representatives with rights to showcase the Games will visit Sochi.

Main Media Center

The Main Media Center opened on 7 January, exactly one month before the start of Russia’s first ever Winter Olympic Games. The Media Center features a total area of ​​158 thousand sq. m. across two floors, and is located in close proximity to the Olympic Park. During the Olympic Winter Games from 7 to 23 February, the Center will host more than 2000 leading international and Russian media representatives accredited to cover the competitions, as well as more than 6,000 television and radio broadcasters, representing approximately 70 companies from around the world.

The Main Media Center (MMC) includes an International Broadcasting Center with an area of ​​60 thousand sq. m. and a Main Press Center with an area of ​​20 thousand sq. m. Along with its location in close proximity to the 3-star hotel for media representatives, the Main Media Center occupies an area of around 20 hectares.

The press workroom, covering an area of 4,500 sq. m., is designed to accommodate 500 work places and the work room for photographers, which covers an area of ​​1,500 sq. m., can accommodate 100 guests.

There are four rooms available for press conferences in the Main Media Center: “Pushkin” with 465 seats, “Tolstoy” with 220 seats, “Dostoevsky” with 140 seats and “Chekhov” with 50 seats. There are also three rooms for speakers to prepare for press conferences.  These conferences, of which there are expected to be 18 per day in the peak period, will be available in eight languages ​​- Russian, English, French, German, Italian, Chinese, Korean and Japanese.

Information desks for the International Olympic Committee and the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee press services will be located in the media workroom and will serve as a reliable source of information for media.

The Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee information desk will be open from 8.00 to 24.00 from 24 January to 24 February. Media representatives can obtain background information about the Games in Sochi and request interviews with Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee representatives at this desk. Information support is available around the clock by phone on +7 862 445 10 00, and by e-mail at: media@sochi2014.com

The International Olympic Committee information desk will be open from 1 to 24 February from 9.00 to 18.00. Media representatives can obtain information on IOC operations and request interviews with official IOC speakers. Information support is available by calling: +7 862 445 19 23, e-mail: pressoffice@olympic.org

From 24 January to 24 February, the Main Press Center will be open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and from 25 to 26 February, it will be open from 8.00 to 22.00.

The International Broadcast Center will be open to representatives of broadcasters around the clock during the entire Olympic period starting from 7 January.

The walk from the Main Media Center to the closest venue in the Coastal Cluster takes 10 minutes and no more than 20 minutes to the furthest venue. The media shuttle to the Mountain Cluster can be reached from the Coastal Cluster in less than an hour.

The strategic location of the Main Media Center enables many media representatives and broadcasters to get to work in just a few minutes – an eight-story hotel featuring 600 rooms is located just 100 meters from the Main Media Center. Other hotels housing media are also nearby – the further distance being five and a half kilometers from the Main Media Center.

The common area, along the so-called “Main Street” of the Media Center, features a bank, post office and courier delivery, pharmacy, laundry and dry cleaning service, supermarket, Sochi 2014 licensed products shop, Internet café, gym, newsstand and much more. From 24 January to 24 February a number of shops will be open from 8:00 to 20:00.

The Main Media Center will include food courts, cafeterias, cafés, restaurants, bars and vending machines for the sale of food and beverages to the world’s press and broadcasters. McDonalds, the restaurant of the International Olympic Partner and the official restaurant of the Games, will be open in the Media Center’s main food court. This location was designed specifically for the Games in Sochi, and dishes available will be prepared with modern innovative technologies. Visitors will be offered the famous Big Macs, Chicken McNuggets and vegetable salads.

Gorki Media Center

The Gorki Media Center is situated at the very heart of the Mountain Cluster in the Gornaya Karusel complex, at a height of 540 m above sea level. This Media Center will host around 4000 broadcasters and 500 members of the press at the Olympic Games in Sochi. The Gorki Media Center will be the second key venue for the media after the Main Media Center, and its opening is scheduled for 24 January.

The Gorki Media Center has a total area of ​​30 thousand sq. m., which includes the Mountain Broadcasting Center and the Gorki Press Center. The Mountain Broadcasting Center covers five thousand sq. m., and the Press Center covers around three thousand sq. m.

The Media Center is a 10-35 minute drive from the Olympic venues in the Mountain Cluster, and 48-kilometers from the Main Media Center in the Coastal Cluster.

4 studios and 6 sites for live broadcasts have been built on the roof of the Gorki Media Center, where there is a beautiful view of Krasnaya Polyana and snow-capped mountains. Live reports will be conducted against the background of beautiful winter landscapes.

From 24 January to 1 February, the Gorki Media Center will be open from 8.00 to 22.00.

From 2 to 24 February, the Gorki Media Center will be open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and from 25 to 26 February, it will be open from 8.00 to 22.00.

The Gorki Media Center serves as a transport hub for representatives of the press  and broadcasters in the Mountain Cluster, from where comfortable buses take guests to accommodation and sports venues in the mountains. At the Transport information desk, representatives of the media and broadcasters can obtain any information on the provision of transport services in the Mountain Cluster.

With the media shuttle, the Coastal Cluster can be reached from the Mountain Cluster in less than an hour.

Its strategic location enables many representatives of the media and broadcasters to reach work in just 10-15 minutes – the Gornaya Karusel Mountain Resort with 1736 rooms, which has been earmarked for their accommodation, is located in close proximity to the Gorki Media Center.

Located in the common area, along the so-called “Main Street” of the Gorki media center, is a banking information desk, mailbox, pharmacy, laundry and dry cleaning service, supermarket, shop of Sochi 2014 licensed products, Internet café and much more. From 24 January to 24 February, shops will be open from 8:00 to 20:00.

The Gorki media center will include a food court, cafeteria and vending machines for the sale of food and beverages to the world’s press and broadcasters.

Press centers at Olympic venues

All ten Olympic competition venues in the Coastal and Mountain Clusters will have their own press centers during the Games.  In the Coastal Cluster, they will open three hours prior to competitions and close three hours after competitions are completed.  In the Mountain Cluster, the press centers will also open three hours prior to competitions beginning, but will close four hours after competitions finish.

There will also be catering services available to the media at all the competition venues, with hot meals and drinks provided for journalists in each press center’s lounge areas.

Olympic News Service

According to the requirements of the IOC, the Games should have service for the production of news content – Olympic News Service (ONS).

Working to the same standards of a news agency, ONS gathers, creates and publishes information relevant to the Games – athlete biographies, sports announcements and reviews, flash interviews with athletes, press conference reviews and information on the ceremonial events of the Games.  ONS materials are located in the closed information system “Info 2014” and are available to accredited media on personal devices (mobile version of the application, called My Info+) and from stationary terminals installed in the media centers of all Olympic venues.

Thanks to the Info 2014 system, accredited journalists will have direct access to the training and competition schedule, competition results (in real-time), quotes from the event locations (flash interviews), key facts about each sport in the form of competition announcements and reviews, athlete biographies, press conference reviews and daily transcripts briefings from the IOC and the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee, Games news, including statistical surveys and other important information, such as weather forecasts and the traffic schedule.

During the Games, the news service will produce around 400 news items daily. The ONS team consists of 90 employees and 100 volunteers fluent in written and spoken English and many of whom have experience in the media (news agencies, periodicals) and international sports competitions. The core ONS team consists of reporters based in the venues covering the competitions. These individuals will create announcements, reviews of sports events, and collect flash interviews of athletes and coaches at the venues immediately after competitions. The work carried out by these teams is coordinated by the central editorial headquarters of the Main Press Center.

Accommodation

In the Coastal Cluster, seven hotels and hotel complexes ranging from 3 to 5 stars will open their doors for representatives of broadcasting organizations and the press. In the Mountain Cluster, the staff of broadcasters and media representatives will be located in hotels in the Rosa Khutor Alpine Resort, as well as in 3 to 5 star hotels located at the Gorky Gorod complex at levels of +540m and +960m above the sea.  In total, around 15,000 rooms have been reserved for broadcasters – rights holders to show the Games and media representatives.

FreeWi-Fi and Internet

At the Games in Sochi, a Sochi 2014 Wi-Fi package will be provided for accredited press, enabling them to easily submit articles to editors, check emails or use social networks.

In addition to the Internet package, media representative will also receive free access to the Info system.

Media representatives and photographers requiring higher speed Internet to work with information or photographic materials have the option of purchasing an Olympic Internet package for 4000 rubles, which will enable them to connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi or cable.

Transport for the Media

The transport system for the Games in Sochi for accredited media representatives has been developed in close cooperation with the IOC and allows journalists, broadcast representatives and the Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) to quickly travel within the Coastal and Mountain Clusters and between them. The transport system for the media includes 18 routes that link the Olympic venues, media centers, airport and hotels for the media. The timetable has been carefully created so that media representatives can travel in the shortest time: for example, the route from the Main Media Center to the Bolshoy Ice Dome takes 5-6 minutes; the route from the airport to the Main Media Center takes 20 minutes.

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2014 Sochi Games press-conference for accredited media at the Main Media Center in Sochi

2014 Sochi Games press-conference for accredited media at the Main Media Center in Sochi