Where exactly?

I thought I'd do a little Olympic flavour this week and my inspiration comes from our friends at NBC studio who have hundreds of people in London assigned for their extensive TV coverage. Hundreds of people looking after the smallest of details, handling incredibly complex technology for satellite transmission, making sure their viewers are given only the best when it comes to sports entertainment and having at their disposal only the best in their field. Add on hundreds more back in the US doing research and you have a large company doing what it has been doing for over 60 years.

So why wouldn't I get a laugh, when looking for Australia on their web site over the weekend, I find we have magically been transported back to Europe. Seems no one had bothered to check the old chestnut mixup with Austria as I found Australia, "Located in central Europe, bordered to the north by Germany and the Czech Republic, to the west by Switzerland and Liechtenstein, to the south by Italy and Slovenia, and to the east by Hungary and Slovakia. Is primarily mountainous with the Alps and foothills covering the western and southern provinces."

Makes the last tourism campaign of "where the bloody hell are you" seem quite apt and if it was true would make my flights to Germany about 22 hours shorter. I bring all of this back to accurate information being freely available to everyone with any kind of access to technology today. I'm guessing with all that satellite technology at NBC's disposal, no one bothered to check and someone who hasn't left the confines of greater north America and didn't pass high school geography was given the job of loading the relevant or in this case contrary information onto the web site.

It's always the small things that catch companies out and make others remember the errancy of their story. Comedians ( on other channels of course ) will have their way with NBC and no doubt the social media platform will be alive with heckles at the expense of the broadcasting company. The broadcast will be flawless, the commentators will be erudite and pithy in their discourse on the athlete's endeavour but people will still be talking about the little mistakes that people and countries especially, take umbrage over.

I'm pleased to say after the weekend, we made it back to where we belong, an island in the middle of nowhere. It might be a long way from anywhere NBC considers important but to us it means a lot and we'll no doubt continue to take great delight at the ineptitude of a company that should know better. It's good to know that our "sister" country Austria can find humour in the situation as well, when you see the biggest selling T-shirts at Vienna airport proudly stating, "Austria - no kangaroos".

The little things always count, especially when we are the biggest little thing in the Southern Pacific.