Dear, members
The Tokyo 2020 working group sent out a web survey a while back asking all of you about your plans for the Olympic games of Tokyo 2020. From that web survey, we learned among other things that many were previously booked in non-official lodgings or lacked accommodation. We hope that you are now booked and confirmed in an approved hotel. From the same survey, we also could deduce that when we all are in Tokyo the preferred method of communication is a WhatsApp-group chat followed by information on Facebook.
While some of us are in Tokyo there might be occasions when you want to ask something, ventilate a matter, try and coordinate a commute, or whatever purpose you might have. One of the mandatory things to bring to Japan is a smartphone, well charged and loaded with all the apps needed. As we have been promised wi-fi even on the buses to and from the MPC and the venue, many hours and perhaps a lot of waiting time, it is perfect to use apps for communication rather than expensive roaming capacity. Most of you probably can make use of the time on the bus for work so let’s hope that TOCOG will make good on their promise of free wi-fi on buses.
To try and facilitate communication between us all there will be a WhatsApp group established – to enroll you need to give us some information, almost another excel-spreadsheet that we now have filled in so many of. See more info below on how to enroll.
This does not imply that the IAEJ board members will have time to help out and facilitate while in Tokyo, everybody usually has a very full plate of work assignments during a championship. Our hope is that the group itself will be able to take turns and helping each other out when in need. It will be the first try for all of us, let’s pull together and share the load.
With barely two weeks until game time, we hear a lot about people having trouble with their activity plans, some even being rejected. The main issue does not seem to be the places listed to go listed in the activity plan but rather the reasons for demanding to not quarantine at all in comparison to three days. At this point in time, it is difficult to say whether there is a wording that will get you out of three days quarantine. This is in stark contrast to one of the things that were specifically promised during the press briefing after version 2 of the Playbook – that we could all get out of the quarantine and just apply for specific oversight. This is a promise that right now it seems TOCOG will not be able to fulfill, perhaps it all falls back on the strict regulations from the Japanese Government. Given the uncertainty, be prepared for a few days confined to your hotel room.
As many of the systems and apps mandatory to use and feed information to is not working up to par and it seems to be an overload of administrative work in the TOCOG organization – we recommend all members to have all vital information provided to the different system ICON, ADS, OCHA, etc on paper as well. Be prepared to show and prove that you have done your homework when you arrive at the airport in case the many many TOCOG systems do not deliver as promised. We are still waiting for the most crucial one – the booking app for day passes to our workplace. Be ready to fill in your wishlist on the 15th of July.
On that note – who wants to enroll in a WhatsApp-group?
Sincerely
Your working group members – KimJonJan
Kim Lundin, Jon Stroud and Jan Tönjes
How to sign up to IAEJ Tokyo 2020 Games chat
Send an email to kim @ witnet . se, by providing this information you accept to share the details below with the group.
Including:
Name
Email
Mobile number with country code
Nationality
Accreditation type
Media
Disciplines covered
Arrival date
Departure date
Hotel in Tokyo
Why do we want so much information – mainly because there are many members that neither of us are familiar with or know on a personal level. In order to enable people to help out, more information makes it easier.
WhatsApp Desktop is a tool for your Mac/PC and connects through your phone number