Author: John Gregory

I have been fabulously privileged to share our love for canoeing with the rest of the World. Rio was a huge inspiration; deeply disturbing; profoundly sad and proof in the value of teamwork.

• We have all grown in our own ways since London 2012. The Olympics upholds the faster, higher, stronger motto. Personal bests. New records. Outstanding achievements. The Brazilian nation. Our ICF media team.
• The deprivation that is very visible around Rio is deeply disturbing. It can’t be hidden behind fluorescent Olympic colours. Nevertheless, we witnessed great individual stories of out-reach for example New Zealand’s Mike Dawson. The fact that we left more cognizant of this has to be positive. We pledge to come back. We ask the IOC to please donate all the stuffed toy mascots to the local kids in Rio.
• The canoeing world is left with a deep sense of loss too. We lost one of our own canoe slalom community. German women’s coach Stefan Henze was tragically killed in a taxi in Rio. Stefan was an Olympic silver medallist in Athens.
• We saw incredible teamwork, the Brazilian’s came together and embraced the overseas sporting world. Athletes from different nations lent a hand to each other. Sport does unite us.

Content is the Kingdom

So what do healthcare, canoeing and charity spotlights have in common? Simple. Content. The process is surprisingly similar. Arguably, the ultimate goal is to increase brand authority in each case. To me now, only the topic is different. Three once vastly separate aspects of my life have now converged more than I could ever have imagined. Skills learnt in one facet benefit the others and vice-versa.

If you do provide valuable content, your target personas will trust you. They will also share your content and become ambassadors for your brand. This expands your reach and drives new contacts to find you.

In the space of three weeks, I produced a 24,000-word blog series and more than 1,000 live tweets using hashtag #ICFslalom and #ICFsprint. We have one final post soon on the social analytics and what this means for the business world.

Don’t forget the Paralympics. These athletes deserve our attention and recognition too. I will be tweeting #ICFparacanoe @PlanetCanoe

I didn’t compete. That doesn’t matter. I know I have left Rio, faster, higher, stronger and more enriched than when I arrived. Adeus Rio.

Photo credit: Balint Vekassy, ICF photographer. In my opinion, the very best image from the canoe slalom in Deodoro. Pictured is Jana Dukatova (SVK).

Opencity Inc. thinks giving a spotlight to charities is important and one way we can be socially responsible.