Raphael Seth Email & Phone Number

In August 2008, I was covering the Olympics in Beijing for NBC News. For me, "covering" the Games meant being the lead package producer for three different correspondents, editing those packages, walking up to a platform to start hours of live shots, then interviewing any athletes who had competed that day. We worked 15-20 hours per day, every day, with no time off. It was a 50-50 blend of exciting and exhausting. When competition events were not sold out, NBC would distribute tickets to its employees as an extra bonus (and also to fill seats for the television broadcast). One night as I was finishing a particularly tough shift, my Executive Producer handed me a ticket to that night's Track and Field competition. The Bird's Nest stadium was right across the street, and I knew (from all the packages I had cut that day) that Usain Bolt was running in the 200 meter finals. In fact, the event was getting ready to start at that exact moment. I bolted from the news room (yeah, I said it!) and sprinted to the venue. As I checked my ticket I saw that my assigned seat was on the other side of the stadium in the upper deck. I could already hear the buzz building for the championship race. I would never make it in time. Passing through the gate, I saw that the Working Media section was right next to the track. But my credential for the Beijing Games did not allow me into that area. Could I sneak in? I was in a country that had unclear policies on breaking those kinds of rules. Could I be arrested? Taken away? If so, how would anyone find me? As anticipation for the race peaked, the stadium security guards (who were the Chinese National Police) left their posts to try to catch a glimpse of the race. Here it was: a bold and golden opportunity. I jumped the fence into the media section at trackside. There were no seats open so I ran down the steps to the front rail just as the starting gun fired. Everyone stood. The sound and frenzy churned into an emotional electricity that felt like rubbing a balloon on your head. But for your whole body. Usain Bolt crossed the finish line with a new world record and stopped 20 feet from where I stood to do his lightning bolt pose. I reached for my camera but had left it at my desk. This was for the mental hard drive. That moment shaped how I conduct my own life and work to this day -- a day steeped in exhaustion can end in glory, everyone (even the police) wants to be part of something special, and never pass up a bold and golden opportunity.

Listed skills include Broadcast, Broadcast Journalism, Television, Video Production, and 11 others.