Sports Illustrated is roughly divided into two major division: editorial and publishing. Or, as they are known in the trade, edit and pub. Or, as they are known at Time Inc., church and state. Basically, the idea of the two distinct divisions is that you keep the editorial and publishing sides fairly separate so that advertising would not unduly influence the editorial content. My department, technology, works for both the editorial and publishing sides. This wasn’t always the case; there used to be two technology departments for each magazine. And another set of technology departments for the core Time Inc. groups. But that’s like having different janitorial staffs for each magazine division. It was a little nutty.
One of the major undertakings of Sports Illustrated at the Olympic Games in Athens is the publishing division’s hospitality program. The idea behind the hospitality program is to provide guests with dream vacations to major sporting events. Guests do not have to worry about anything on these programs. All of their tickets, meals, and rooms are set up before they ever arrive in Athens. It’s a really nice vacation, and the pub side does a great job of making people happy.
One event of the hospitality program is the SI party. Keep in mind that it is part of the dream vacation, so there is an open bar, good food, and scenic settings. Athletes are invited to have a good time, and they get to mingle with the guests.
I went to one of these parties on Saturday night. I got there after work at around 1 am, but had a great time. Almost all of the events at the Olympics were completed, so there were many athletes in attendance in the party. I met a couple of quite famous athletes and really enjoyed myself. Athletes are generally in excellent shape, and there is nothing quite like being in a party full of happy dancing healthy people. There was very little smoking and a lot of dancing.
A party without Australian athletes dancing on the bar just isn’t a party.
The DJ was quite good. He changed musical styles quite a bit, and mixed in different albums from around the world. A good call considering that many people at the party were not from the US or Europe.
A woman dressed in mirrors danced to a techno beat while lasers shot at her.
I didn’t get home until 7:30 am; I’m still bit tired right now. It was a good party.