On August 19th we were invited by the London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games to take a tour of the site that will hold the London 2012 Olympics. The tour, conducted by Morag Reavley of LOCOG, was both thoroughly enjoyable and a great insight into what the Olympics might be like. The work being done at the Lower Lea Valley site is truly inspirational, and being there amongst the rapid progress being made really does get the appetite whetted for a bit of Olympic action. The bus journey around the Olympic Park was very informative, but there were a few highlights in particular we thought we'd share with you: The stadium, already well on its way to taking shape, is a very impressive structure. It will be holding the athletics of the Games and will, as with most Games before, end up being the centre piece of the events where other activities such as the opening and closing ceremonies will also take place. From what we saw, it will make a worthwhile jewel in the crown and will serve its purpose with great aplomb.

According to an article in The Economist the phenomenon of user generated content has infected healthcare with millions of people contributing information about healthcare topics ranging from avian flu to acupuncture and infertility. According to market research firm Jupiter over 20% of American internet users have created some sort of health-related content. The Economist argues that this explosion is driven in part by the broader internet trend of more people with broadband access and easier to use software that makes content creation much simpler.

There’s an interesting post by Nina Simon on her Museum 2.0 blog about how museums can learn from the gaming community about engaging with their community influencers.

Community influencers operate in the social space that surrounds a game and often have more influence with other users than those who have high scores.