Only 5 days until our competition begins. I learned the following today – this is the largest event WorldSkills has ever held. There are over 1,200 competitors. During the days of the competition, a crowd estimated at between 50,000 and 60,000 people is expected every day.This is an incredible venue. And the web design contest is the largest competition. Today was a day of orientation for me. The day began with a group breakfast at 6 a.m. We then took the shuttle to Anhembi Park (the site of the competitions). Shuttle left at 7:15 a.m. and we arrived at the park about 8 (a fair amount of traffic). There is a fair amount of walking involved once we arrived. Our initial meeting was in the Holiday Inn. This was the new expert orientation session (which was required – we had to sign in). It was a good overview of the materials covered on the website. I included a photo of the venue. Lots of people filled the room as we neared the start time. Those from the US sat behind people from Norway and adjacent to people from Korea and New Zealand. It is a world wide event.
After the training, we had time to wander the grounds a bit before lunch. We did encounter some interesting statues. I am not quite certain what this one meant.
We had a very hearty lunch. For those curious about the food, here is what we had. The food is very tasty.
After lunch we had a chance to see the location for most of the competitions. We were not allowed to enter as they are still finishing construction.
I was pleased to see the emphasis on recycling through the park.
I also found it interesting that accessibility is a universal concern and the signage is the same. I posted this for students in the CMWEB 150 class (web accessibility).
Jeff Gardner and I had a chance to briefly talk after lunch. I thought it appropriate to include a photo of the two ICC professors at WorldSkills.
After lunch, we visited a samba school. I took a number of videos. We also had supper at the school. I learned a lot about samba that I did not know. This particular school was founded in 1954. For example, the carnival events in Brasil host over 2 million people per day (and an additional 1 million foreigners). They also generated over $782 million during the days just before Ash Wednesday each year.
We took the bus back to our hotel after this event. There was a fair crowd waiting for busses.
On the way back to the hotel, I saw this graffiti. I thought it was pretty impressive.
All told, this was a fairly full day. The real work starts tomorrow as we begin working on the web design contest (and making changes to the test project). I do hope those reading these posts enjoy my notes from Brasil. As always, I look forward to your comments.
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