Greeks are poised to meet the world (they hope)

By Photi Sotiropoulos, Communications Studies Student

I was in Panathinaiko Stadium on March 31 to greet the ceremonial Olympic flame. Even as 30,000 people gathered to watch the flame arrive, the carpet was being set in the middle of the arena.

Status quo seems to describe Athens as it prepares to welcome millions of people for the Olympic Games in August. Nothing seems to be ready yet, although there is a sense that everything will fall into place once the Games begin.

From March 21 to 28, I attended a series of seminars sponsored by the Ministry of Press and Mass Media of Greece for North American students studying communications and journalism. There were 20 in our group, 18 American students and two Canadians, Niki Messas, from the Université de Montréal, and I.

We were joined by Communication Studies Professor Nikos Metallinos, who helped us take advantage of this opportunity to witness how the city was preparing to deal with the pressures of being scrutinized under the international spotlight. The seminar series was co-ordinated by Concordia’s Hellenic Studies Unit (HSU) and Washburn University, in Kansas.

The seminars featured speakers of influence in Greece and the European Union. They gave us a condensed yet complete overview of how Greece has survived tumultuous ups and downs in the modern era, including the fall of the Ottoman Empire, dictatorship, and most recently, the global spotlight.

When most people think of Greece, they think Homer, Socrates, Aristotle and other great thinkers from the classical era. Being of Greek origin, I find this unfortunate, because it ignores Greece’s modern contributions to literature, music and the arts.

The Games are of great importance to the Greek people. After all, the first modern Olympics, in 1896, were held in Athens to acknowledge the spirit of the ancient games, first recorded in 776 BC. This could be a once-in-a-lifetime chance, at least in recent times, to enrich Greece’s economy and international stature.

The Greek government is spending upwards of $8 billion to prepare Athens and get everything up to speed. They will spend $1.6 billion for security, more than any other Olympic host has spent in the past.

However, although we were told that the government wants to evoke ancient traditions and convey a purer approach to the Olympic spirit, no specific details were mentioned.

I spoke with Dr. Lefteris Kousoulis, director of Legin & Pratin PR, the firm hired to handle public relations at the Olympiad. When I asked him if evoking the ancient spirit of the Olympic Games would mean a reduced presence of name brands and product placement, he replied that the commercial element is unavoidable.

Our seminars were held at Zappeion press centre, which will accommodate international journalists before and during the Olympics. The 20 students also visited ERT television and radio stations, as well as Mega TV.

Despite the fact that the carpeting was still being laid, the arrival of the Olympic flame at the Panathinaiko Stadium went off without a hitch, and the crowd exited in an orderly fashion. One can only hope that all the Olympic events in August will be conducted in the same manner, and that nothing will obstruct these unique games.