Reborn Tech Maniac

Chapter 561 Private Olympic Torch Relay

……

The Los Angeles Olympic torch relay began on May 5 this year. After the fire was collected in Greece, it was directly shipped to the United States.The Soviet Union immediately announced in a slap in the face, "I won't go, you can play by yourself."

Of course, the torch relay on the American side was not affected, and it was carried out lively.It is estimated that approximately one in four Americans participated in the event.

However, the strangest and most criticized part of this torch relay is the acceptance of sponsorship - 3000 US dollars per kilometer, more than 1000 kilometers from the starting point of New York to the destination of more than 10000 cities and towns in Los Angeles. About $3000 million.

At the beginning, the International Olympic Committee certainly opposed this overly commercial approach, but finally gave in.And this is just one of the many compromises made by the International Olympic Committee since the date when the bid city for the Olympic Games was confirmed, and it is not so unusual.

The reason why the International Olympic Committee is so compromised is because of the "money shortage".

Originally, the "Olympic Charter" stipulated that the host city of the Olympic Games and its organizing committee must make guarantees to the International Olympic Committee and "undertake full financial responsibility for organizing the Olympic Games."

Until the last Moscow Olympic Games, the hosting process followed this rule.

But the problem is that apart from its political significance, the Olympic Games at this stage do not seem to show satisfactory benefits. After the excitement, what is often left is a sky-high bill.

If the host city is backed by a mechanism of national power, it naturally does not need to care about the profit and loss of money-the remaining surplus is earned, and the loss is shared equally by everyone, so there is no need to worry about it.

For example, in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, after the successful bid, the Japanese government invested 30 billion US dollars in the construction of stadiums and related supporting infrastructure, including transportation facilities and water supply systems.The world's first commercially operated high-speed railway, the Tokaido Shinkansen, was opened just a few days before the opening of the Tokyo Olympic Games. The capital expressway and the Tokyo subway system have also undergone a substantial expansion of the road network.

Taking advantage of the opportunity of the Tokyo Olympics, Japan has earned both face and liking, and everyone is happy.

In the 1980 Moscow Olympics, the Soviet Union invested 90 billion U.S. dollars in a historic record. As a result, the scene was deserted, and it was blocked and the national power was damaged. Contradictions can be covered up logically.

But the Montreal Olympics in 1976 were not so lucky. The cost was as high as 58 billion U.S. dollars, and the result was a loss of 24 billion U.S. dollars, which made the Montreal municipal government heavily in debt. It will be paid off in November.

The most serious loss in the history of the modern Olympic Games scares many cities that intend to bid for the Olympic Games. It is for this reason that there were very few competitors in the subsequent bidding process of the 1980 and 1984 sessions.

In order to have fun without paying bills, in November 1978, California, where Los Angeles is located, passed a law that prohibited the use of public funds to host the Olympic Games.

As a result, in the absence of financial assistance from the Los Angeles City Government, the Los Angeles Olympics faces two fates: either cancelled, or handed over to private companies for preparation.

During the negotiations with the Los Angeles City Government, the International Olympic Committee was forced to make major concessions, recognizing that as a special case, the Los Angeles Olympic Games was handed over to private individuals for the first time and organized in the form of industrial and commercial enterprises.

The so-called special case, I believe that only the world's number one power can win it.But as soon as this example is opened, a series of bottom lines will follow.The commercial sponsorship of the Olympic torch relay at US$3000 per kilometer is so eye-catching only because it is a traditional link.In fact, a discerning businessman like Tang Huan got more advertising opportunities in private.

With the opening of the Olympic Games just around the corner, these propaganda machines are naturally in full swing.After Tang Huan returned to the United States from Europe, he began to cooperate with the campaign non-stop.

On the entire Los Angeles Olympic torch relay route, the last two stops are San Diego, the southernmost tip of California, and Los Angeles, the host city. The penultimate stop is the three major cities in the San Francisco Bay Area—San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose.Tang Huan sponsored about 70.00% of the Olympic torch relay in the three places.

For Tang Huan, these expenses are naturally a drop in the bucket, not to mention that Fangyuan corresponds to San Francisco, EA corresponds to Oakland, and Zheru corresponds to San Jose.

The organization of the torch relay is very open. The public can not only watch the process of the torch relay on the road at close range, but also have the right to vote on the selection of the torch relay.

In other words, under commercial operations, the torch relay has become a big party, far more down-to-earth than the previous Olympic Games.

Not surprisingly, Tang Huan is also one of the torchbearers, and the road section he is in charge of is in San Jose, which is the Silicon Valley.

Under the continuous publicity, high-tech companies in Silicon Valley have shown the same enthusiasm for this event. After all, this is a publicity platform for the whole United States.

Tang Huan became the first torchbearer on this section. It’s not that he doesn’t know how to be humble, but running with a 1kg torch is not as easy as it looks. It really tests your physical fitness.

At the beginning, Tang Huan specifically asked whether the two founders of HP, William Hewlett and David Puckard, were interested in participating, but both of them were too old to adapt to the strenuous work.

Next, Tang Huan learned about the meaning of Intel founder Robert Noyce. The other party is less than [-] this year and should be competent.But Robert Noyce had a heart condition, and he might not be used to such a lively occasion, so after much consideration, he refused.

When these most experienced seniors in Silicon Valley withdrew one by one, Tang Huan became No. 1. This was also elected by the votes of the people in the San Francisco Bay Area, and no one else was qualified to steal the limelight.

Tang Huan was followed by four volunteers who acted as guards, one of whom was Li Zhi, who came from Xiangjiang to study in a university in the United States through the Shennong Foundation Student Fund.

This is also a major feature of the organization of this Olympic Games, that is, various activities recruited an unprecedentedly large number of volunteers, most of whom came from various universities, and some Chinese students also got the opportunity to exercise.

Tang Huan completed his section of the road smoothly, and there were no unexpected incidents such as torch robbery. Even if there were any, he could have kicked them over.

"Help me take care of this souvenir first." Tang Huan handed the extinguished torch to Li Zhi, and gave a few words of advice.

……

In addition to Tang Huan himself participating in the torch relay, many well-known people in his company were selected as torchbearers, especially urban heroes like the Oakland Raiders who won the Super Bowl, which are even more popular.

It can be said that the private torch relay is not only helping Tang Huan to build up his reputation, but also seeing Tang Huan's achievements in the San Francisco Bay Area for five years from the attitude of people's support.

As the torch passed to the next stop, the carnival in San Francisco came to an end, and Tang Huan was also preparing to move to Los Angeles.

The two younger cousins, Han Sining and Han Siwei, who wanted to watch the Olympic games live, had arrived in San Francisco under the leadership of their parents Han Anyong and Wen Ya.

In order to treat rheumatism, uncle Han Anyong came to the United States accompanied by his wife Wen Ya. He is familiar with the situation here, but Han Sining and Han Siwei feel that everything is new, and they have been lingering here since they arrived in San Francisco. Their cousin Meng Jing, who was in school, took them out to play.

Seeing the two little followers making such noise in the United States, Meng Jing was annoyed and decided to "teach them a lesson".

After confirming the amount of pocket money on Han Sining and Han Siwei, Meng Jing first led them to meet the younger generation, that is, Tang Huan's child.

Looking at the lovely twins, Han Sining and Han Siwei couldn't help being a little stunned, and these little nephews were also very weird, and they stretched out their little hands to greet each other.

Amidst Meng Jing's snickering, Han Sining and Han Siwei spent all their wealth to support the scene, so naturally they couldn't afford to hire their cousin as a tour guide.

The two brothers were not easy-going, after some discussion, they decided to get back the loss from their cousin, so when they saw Tang Huan, they flattered, "Brother, you are really good!"

Tang Huan had already heard the joke directed by Meng Jing, and he could guess from the playful smiles of the two of them that they were planning to "pay the debt of the son to the father".

He didn't point it out, and asked nonchalantly, "How am I so good?"

The eldest cousin Han Sining gave the answer without thinking, "When you held the torch, so many people cheered for it, you are both majestic and handsome."

The little cousin Han Siwei felt that his lines had been taken away, so he couldn't help but glared at his elder brother, and then answered wisely, "You've got us so many nephews, that's amazing!"

Tang Huan, who was drinking from a cup, couldn't help laughing, and sprayed out a mouthful of water.

He stretched out his finger, flicked Han Siwei's little head, and said with a smile: "It's good to know. To be an uncle, you have to look like an uncle. Don't forget during the Chinese New Year. You have to give the red envelopes to your nephews." Get ready."

Han Siwei wrinkled his face immediately, and said truthfully, "We just went bankrupt."

"Now that I'm in America, I'll teach you two brothers a lesson." Tang Huan smiled slightly, "Teach you how to support yourself."

"We're here for a trip." Han Sining, who felt that the plan was going to fail, planned to run away.

Tang Huan took out two 20-dollar bills and waved them at Han Siwei, who was standing there, "Do you want to get out of bankruptcy?"

"I think!" Han Siwei, who was not yet ten years old, nodded sincerely.

"Then I will arrange a job for you." Tang Huan put a 20 dollar note in Han Siwei's hand, "Be the kindergarten monitor for a week first, and then decide the next step based on the evaluation."

"Let's not talk about the monitor, I can be a teacher." Han Siwei accepted the task with a smile on his face.

"I'll be the teacher." Seeing his younger brother give in, Han Sining decided to follow his example.

"Okay, I'll let you be the teacher." With an inexplicable smile in Tang Huan's eyes, he handed another 20 dollars to Han Sining.

He could tell that his two little cousins ​​were a bit squeamish and arrogant, so let them have a closer look at the power of supernormal children? ——Little nephews don't just ask for red envelopes.

……

After arriving in Los Angeles, Tang Huan first inspected the news center he donated to once again.It applies the communication technology of Pacific Telecom and the computer technology of Fangyuan and Zheru, which can be called the most modern office technology.

Media reporters can get one-stop services of writing, printing, photocopying, faxing, e-mail, etc. here, and deliver the latest news of the Olympic Games at the fastest speed.

Observing the volunteers who had received technical training, and busy instructing the media professionals who were basically in place how to use the latest office equipment, Tang Huan asked, "How, are they all used to the office environment here? "

"At least half of the reporters have used Fangyuan personal computer and Zheru's word processing software before, so the speed of acceptance is quite good." The person in charge replied with a relaxed expression.

Tang Huan nodded slightly in satisfaction, but when he saw the dense wires like a hive, he couldn't help frowning, but in the end he could only shake his head and give up.

Computer access to online services such as e-mail based on the telephone network through a modem often requires opening two lines, because telephone voice and data communications cannot coexist on the same line.

Communication companies are of course willing to see users apply for an additional line, because this means an extra income.

However, it is precisely because of this immediate profit model that various communication companies are not very enthusiastic about finding upgrade solutions for data services on traditional telephone networks. As a result, ISDN - Integrated Services Digital Network, a completely digital line, has become a universally recognized The next generation telecommunications network successor.

Pacific Telecom's communication solution for the Los Angeles Olympics was very successful, but it also clearly exposed the shortcomings of the existing analog telephone network, thus attracting criticism for its delay in building the next-generation network.

Listed companies really cannot turn a blind eye to the influence of public opinion like this.

Chuck Smith, CEO of Pacific Telecom, said with a wry smile after the meeting: "Originally, I wanted to report to you in detail on this issue after the Olympics, but now it seems that the hype has become a bad one."

Tang Huan, who had heard such rumors from Tang Wenmao a long time ago, waved his hands disapprovingly, "Be safe and don't be impatient. The technology roadmap is all in my mind, and those industry commentators simply pretend to understand. The traditional simulation The telephone network, not so useless, it's not out of the question to have a data rate of 56kpbs."

Hearing Tang Huan say such a high indicator, Chuck Smith couldn't help being a little skeptical, but he couldn't refute it, so he turned to ask: "Then can realize voice calls and data services on one line at the same time like ISDN?" Is it?"

"Don't worry, there is a solution to this limitation." Tang Huan replied firmly, and then pointed out meaningfully: "The Bell System has left us the best traditional telephone network in the world, and its value is far from being fully developed. Come out, I have a lot in mind."

Seeing that his boss was so ambitious and unpredictable, Chuck Smith had no choice but to calm down and nod in agreement.

(End of this chapter)