Socialmediaworx

While this political election campaign season has been defined in large part by social media and the communication tools of the Web 2.0 world, it appears this summer’s Olympics in China are looking to be equally transformed by a greater democratization of social media access and coverage. That is, if the Chinese government doesn’t stand in the way.

Lenovo is launching a creative new initiative for this year’s games, fully embracing them as the Web 2.0 Olympics. Writes David Churbuck of Lenovo:

What is the Olympic ideal? The idea that propels the Games? In the end, in my opinion, it’s about the athletes. Some 12,000 extraordinarily talented and driven individuals and teams who are literally the best in the world. For me, the consummate athlete is not necessarily the champion who comes away with the gold, but the 11,000 athletes who won’t win a medal, the athletes who don’t have an agent, an endorsement deal, indeed, for some, even a glimmer of hope of standing on the podium hearing their national anthem. I want to know their story…What is the main event were the athletes themselves? What if, using Google’s Blogger platform and YouTube capabilities, Lenovo could offer any athlete a way to share their Olympic experience with their fans, family, friends, even the world?

This is a massive undertaking, but one that I am very excited about. The Olympics – while truly a phenomenal sporting event – can be distant and often feel unattainable. This makes it real. To chat with an Olympian online, see video of their life in the Olympic Village and even in just a small way, share in the Olympic experience.

To begin this project, Lenovo, in partnership with Ogilvy, are looking for 100 Olympic athletes from all over the world to start and maintain a blog through their Olympic experience. In exchange, Lenovo will provde the equipment and technical expertise necessary to get the athletes up and running during the Games. So if you happen to be an Olympic athlete, or know of one who would like to share their story, you can contact David or Rohit.

I think David has the right perspective on Lenovo’s role in working to create Olympics 2.0:

What I want for Lenovo out of all this is one simple piece of authentic, non-promotional recognition: “We were the PC supplier and sponsor to the Games who first enabled the connection between the fans and the athletes.”

I think this is the kind of healthy and genuine attitude that should extend to other brands as they consider their own approach to creating a branded social media initiative.

Certainly, more to come on this as the Olympics draw near.