Seattle Business Networking Blog

When Bruce Dickinson and others at Seattle’s Rainier Industries huddle around the TV to watch figure skating at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, they can’t wait until each performance is over.

That’s because Rainier designed and built the “kiss and cry” set where anxious skaters sit -- with TV cameras running -- and await their scores. If scores are good, kisses all around. But the tears flow after disappointing results.

“The kiss and cry has been the most visual thing on TV. We are freaks here just waiting to see it,” said Dickinson.
Rainier Industries was one of only a handful of Washington companies that landed contracts with Winter Olympics organizers.

But the company’s handiwork is getting a lot of exposure, thanks to worldwide TV coverage. In addition to the figure skating set, Rainier also built and designed a dozen 40-foot towers covered with gigantic images signifying that a venue is for skating, hockey or other events.

Dickinson said the towers were built from completely sustainable materials, including Canadian lumber, and the towers change colors every four minutes with internal LED lighting.

It’s the kiss and cry set, though, that is getting most of the attention. The backdrop with the Olympic rings is made from high-end acrylic. It alone is a $60,000 piece, Dickinson said.

Dickinson said Rainier would love to get the set back. But it has been tagged as a legacy piece and is likely to wind up in a museum in Vancouver to commemorate the 2010 Winter Games.

“It would be cool to have it in our office,” Dickinson said. “We could set it up and do work performance reviews in front of it.”

Bruce Dickinson
Vice President
Rainier Industries
18375 Olympic Ave S
Seattle, WA 98188