Rio 2016: Olympic Qualification

Now that a good amount of time has passed since the Rio 2016 Olympics, I think I can share some behind-the-scenes stories and everything I experienced working on them without causing any institutional crisis, scandal, or anything like that… and it will still be an emotional story.

Please note that, since I am speaking from my own perspective and including many images, I can't deny that it might end up sounding a bit like "my dear diary," especially because many (but not all!) politically correct discourses have only made me want to act in opposition to what they are trying to impose.

My Behind-the-Scenes Experience at Rio 2016

Even after so much time has passed, I will try to follow a chronological order, and this text is an exact continuation of what I wrote in... April 2016 Telling the story of how I got my first professional work permit so I could do what was, in my entire life, the only job with a formal employment contract: Assistant Operations Leader, Event Services; MDR, EVS – RC4 (Badminton)…and it was so, so worth it, it was worth it for this whole life!

The Acronym Challenge: What are MDR and EVS?

Did you happen to feel challenged when you saw all those acronyms?
The first few times I felt completely lost!

Precisely because I had never been an employee of any other company, to this day I can't say whether they are widely used in the institutional environment or if they were exclusive to the Olympic Committee. The fact is that the first steps after being hired were precisely introductory classes to this whole new reality with which I would be intensely living for the next five months.

The Rio 2016 and Paralympic logos are visible on the training slide projected onto a screen titled "What is the role of MDR?". The list of topics includes ensuring the well-being of the EVS team, allocating the team by function, clarifying doubts, distributing materials (radios, megaphones, maps), and addressing issues related to work schedules. A person is standing to the right of the projection. — The training slide that got me excited for the MDR role at the Rio 2016 Games, especially the last item about work schedules.

I was particularly enthusiastic about the last item on the list, as I spent at least ten of my twenty years in the Brazilian Air Force precisely dealing with the complex schedules of air traffic controllers, and I felt that that acronym, “MDR“"It was nothing more than a reinterpretation of the military 'operational adjutant' role, and, without wanting to sound arrogant, I was certain they called the right guy for that part.".

And what about the "“EVS“ ?

Well, that's an almost obvious acronym for EVentoS… an activity in which I was eagerly welcomed and whose performance helped me to heal any remnants of the anxious-depressive disorder and the occasional episodes of panic attacks that consumed me during my last years in the Air Force.

For a man who, between 2007 and 2009, could barely go shopping in a crowded market without his wife by his side, the liberation from the fear of hierarchical injustice, coupled with the responsibility of bilingual interaction at corporate events and the hundreds (or even thousands) of people present... was a true rebirth!

Not only did I smile, but I had to restrain myself from shouting with joy when, through that slide, I was finally introduced to what I had been summoned to do.

The truth is that I was called and hired to perform activities exactly like those I had already been doing for half a decade and, without a doubt, those that I enjoyed doing most in my entire life!
The most perfect definition of this situation: SOUP IN HONEY!

Training slide projected onto a screen with the title "EVS Roles". The mascot Vinicius illustrates various roles: Queue Guide, Seat Locator, Credential and Ticket Controller. In the lower right corner, the role "Office Assistant / Resource Management (MDR)" is highlighted. Participants' heads appear in silhouette in front of the screen. — The slide that defined my mission. In the bottom right corner, the confirmation: “Resource Management (RMM)”.

Volunteers or Paid Workers?

Out of respect for the many who interacted with me during this journey, I feel obligated to state that at that time I would not have been able to carry out the entire routine of activities proposed on a voluntary basis.
Without a doubt, I would have felt even more important and heroic if I had done it that way, but the fact that I was paid doesn't invalidate my account.

Finally, the EVS They were all the “volunteers” — hence the explanation in the previous paragraph — who wore green shirts and set the world on fire with their megaphones, armchairs, inflatable hands… and these were only the things people immediately perceived: our journey was rewarding and far more complex than this “tip of the iceberg”!

In the Next Chapter: The "Brazilian Miami"!

My intention is precisely to tell a little more about this whole journey, but this text ended up becoming a bit too technical and is already getting rather long…

Therefore, I invite you to come back here another day and read another chapter of my Olympic saga: the part where I was... sent to MPC (Media Press Center) of Barra da Tijuca, the “Brazilian Miami”!

Exclusive behind-the-scenes footage: Me, Geovane Souza, in the highly restricted Olympic Village, the heart of the games where only a few could enter.

And you? Did you work in the gaming industry?
Thank you for reading this far, and feel free to comment:

What was the acronym for your field?
How was your experience?

Share, correct, or suggest!
Follow me on social media (all links are right there at the bottom of the page): you can definitely help me keep these Olympic memories alive!