As the crowds around the Olympic Stadium turn their attention to the Medal Plaza, there is a temporary lull for Tristan van Maurik, one of the volunteers staffing the EA Social Zone just across the way from the podium area.
The Social Zone is all about engagement with European Athletics followers, offering them the chance to interact with the 23rd Championships, and many of its athletes, in a variety of ways in a relaxed, laid-back setting.
“This is all about enhancing the experience of the Championships for fans,” says Tristan, who is about to start a course of study in sports and marketing at Amsterdam’s University of Applied Sciences.
“People can drop in here and chill out on our seats and cushions, and they can share their experiences in different ways.
“We invite them to take pictures and share them on Twitter or Instagram with the #ECHFAN and #ECH2016 hashtags. Then we can print them off a copy in store.
@JazminJayne thank you! #ECHFAN #ECH2016 pic.twitter.com/cjom8nLQvv
— Patrick Aerts (@patrick_aerts) July 9, 2016
“We also get athletes dropping by to have pictures taken with the fans and answer questions they have sent by email.”
On the counter lie a range of water bottles and tee-shirts which are prizes on offer to those who show interactivity above and beyond expectation.
“If someone comes back with a picture they have hashtagged and it has more than 1000 likes, they get a prize,” he said.
Prizes are also on offer for those making a cool selfie with an ECH2016 event in the background and sharing it with #ECHFAN.
[FACEBOOK ID='https://www.facebook.com/Amsterdam2016/videos/1261880137164443/']
“When I heard that Amsterdam was about to host its biggest sporting event for almost 100 years I thought I wanted to make the most of it, so I asked if I could help.”
“It’s been really, really good here. We had more than 1100 people here on Friday, and we are heading for the same kind of total today on Saturday and Sunday.”
As he spoke, a display behind his head showed the running totals of those who had engaged with the Social Zone thus far – Instagram was approaching 5,000, while Twitter was spinning through the numbers, 68,741, 68,742, 68,743….
Two Hungarian athletes L. Juhase and F. Fertig are #ECHFAN. They enjoy the Social Zone as much as they can #ECH2016 pic.twitter.com/dolyJvtOOQ
— Amsterdam 2016_en (@Euro_Champs) July 6, 2016
Among the other attractions on offer within the Social Zone is a service offered by blndr - whose representative Bibi Den Haan was on hand - which can put fans into a picture with the backdrop of some of their favourite Dutch athletes, making it look as if you have all been pictured together, and then printing it out.
Your correspondent now has a picture of himself side by side by his good friend Dafne Schippers…