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PinSanity Game from Team USA helps to kick off the Sochie 2014 Winter Olympic Games
The Sochie 2014 Winter Olympic Games are now in full swing and will run through February 23, 2014. I became hooked right away when I started watching the first prime time program which aired the night before the Opening Ceremony and introduced us all to Slopestyle snowboarding. We were immediately disappointed to learn that Shaun White decided to drop out of this competition at the last minute, but our disappointment didn’t last long once we met the other athletes and saw both the US men and women sweep the gold here.
6,000 athletes and team members from 85 countries are taking part in these Olympic Winter Games. 98 sets of medals are being contested in 7 Olympic sports, which is 12 more than at the Vancouver Games in 2010, and 14 more than the Turin Games in 2006. Much of the same Worldwide Olympic Sponsors are back, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Visa, Samsung, General Electric, Procter & Gamble, Omega, Panasonic, Dow and Atos. NBC Sports again has the rights to broadcast the games in the United States and has extended their contract through till 2020. NBC is featuring all of the events live online and will also broadcast events live and taped on their various channels.
Facebook is also a great way to follow all that is going in with the games, the athletes, the sponsors and NBC. NBC’s Facebook page has exclusive coverage, video interviews with athletes and extra content from Sochi and is integrating Instagram photos as well. Most athletes have their own official Facebook pages, where you can follow their journeys in Sochi.
The U.S.Olympic Committee has launched a Facebook page that includes a social-media and mobile game around pin trading. It’s called Team USA Pinsanity. Pin trading first became popular in the 1980s and involves the buying, selling and trading of commemorative pins at Olympic Games. It has since been called the No. 1 spectator sport during the Olympic Games.To get started “Lisa”, the game’s guide, takes you through a brief intro and provides you with a welcome pin that you can display on your pin 
board. Participants in this virtual pin trading game can enter for a chance to convert online pins into real-life prizes through the PinSanity Pin of the Week Sweepstakes.
The Sweepstakes is divided up into 10 weekly entry periods which began on December, 23 and ends on February 23. Any Pinsanity player who collects the Pin of the Week will be entered in a random drawing to win the weekly prize. This week it’s the Sochi Opening Ceremony pin and the prize is a pair of Team USA gloves. Four other randomly selected winners will also receive discount codes good towards purchases at teamusashop.com. Players can collect the pin via various methods which include winning it through Daily Spin. trading for it in the Daily Trade, answering correctly the Daily Trivia, purchasing it through the Pinsanity Shop, redeeming codes, finding it in a Pin Pack, or getting it as a gift from a friend.
The Official Rules also include an alternate means of entry which is by sending an email with their name and address to [email protected].
The Games so far have been receiving lots of social media buzz. I received an interesting Infographic today that the team at UberVU and Hootsuite released that have been tracking social conversations around the 2014 Sochi Olympics in the various platforms. From the opening ceremonies to the closing ceremonies and every event in between, they are analyzing what topics social cares about most and awarding those making the biggest splash with its very own gold medal. Unfortunately not all the topics have been positive. Take a look at the image below. Enjoy the rest of the Games.
