Tag Archives: christmas

Tough times for Edmonton charities

By Mack D. Male ·

Times are tough right now if you’re a charitable organization. Here in Edmonton, the outlook is pretty grim for a number of organizations:

Add up the above numbers, and Edmonton charities are short about $3 million. That’s a lot of money. The scary part is that I’m sure there are more than I haven’t been able to find yet.

The two bright spots I’ve seen are Santas Anonymous, which said it would meet the demand this year, and Stuff-A-Bus, which exceeded its goal.

While the news is terrible, it’s not that surprising. Last year donations across Canada dropped 5.3% from 2007 to $8.19 billion, the lowest figure since 2005. I’m sure we’ll see a similar or perhaps larger drop for overall giving in 2009. The fact is, philanthropy is a lagging indicator. This data is from the US but I think it applies to us too:

During the last 40 years, according to data provided by Giving USA, charitable giving fell in real terms (i.e., adjusted for inflation) in years in which the economy was in recession, or in years in which there was a significant stock market dislocation. Giving fell in 1980, 1987, and 1990. The last time the economy contracted was in 2001. That year, according to Giving USA, charitable giving fell 2.3 percent in real terms, after having boomed along with the stock markets and the economy at large in the late 1990s. But while the economy resumed its growth in late 2001, charitable giving slumped in real terms in both 2001 (down 1.4 percent) and 2003 (down 0.2 percent).

It’s a lagging indicator because charitable donations are seen as a luxury. You pay your bills first, then you make a donation. Not everyone sees it that way, of course, but on the whole, that’s the reality.

Hopefully that means local charities will have a better year in 2010.

There’s still time to help this holiday season! Here’s how:

Christmas Bureau of Edmonton 2009 Campaign Launch

By Mack D. Male ·

Today the Christmas Bureau of Edmonton launched its 69th campaign, challenging everyone to help provide for 65,000 less fortunate Edmontonians this year. The goal is to raise $1.6 million in the six weeks prior to December 25th. Councillor Henderson was on hand this afternoon to proclaim December 2009 as Christmas Bureau Month in the City of Edmonton. He echoed the thoughts of many in the room when he said that the Christmas Bureau is embedded into what makes Edmonton great. It’s amazing that they’ve been helping less fortunate families since 1940! Honorary Campaign Chairpersons Kevin Lowe and the Oilers Ladies also gave some remarks. I had no idea that Kevin Lowe has been involved with the Christmas Bureau for 27 years!

To help launch the campaign, the media were invited to participate in a gingerbread house making competition! I was fortunate enough to participate, representing new media along with The Unknown Studio. Here’s the “Twitter” house I came up with:

Christmas Bureau Gingerbread Competition

I had lots of fun, and was amazed at some of the houses the others created. Check out most of them in my photoset here. Thanks to the Christmas Bureau for asking me to take part.

To learn more about the Christmas Bureau, check out their website. You can donate, volunteer, or sponsor a family. You can also follow them on Twitter!

REVIEW: Staples Copy & Print Centre Online

By Mack D. Male ·

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! I did, and enjoyed a small break from blogging too. Time to get back into it!

staples logo One of the things I got Sharon for Christmas was a food calendar. I wanted to get her something related to photography and food, but another picture frame just didn’t seem that interesting. When I was in Staples one day, I noticed their advertising for the Copy & Print Centre, and specifically for the calendars. I took a card from the counter, and checked out the website when I got home. A couple of hours later and I had a professional looking calendar, filled with photos of food we’ve made together or of restaurants we’ve visited.

I found the website very easy-to-use, if a little basic. You can do pretty much everything online that you can do in the store. Want to print or copy something? Simply upload a file and go. You can also order custom items, such as business cards, labels, greeting cards, bookmarks, agendas, and calendars (you can download the price list in PDF here). Obviously I was interested in the calendar option.

There are four calendar styles to choose from: deluxe, classic, express, and year in view. I went with the deluxe, which lets you completely customize a full color calendar in two sizes (8.5” x 11” or 11” x 17”) and either 12 months or 18 months. Once you’ve picked those options, you can get started creating your calendar. They display some tips and tricks before you get started, which I skipped over the first time. I later went back and read them. They suggest organizing and uploading photos ahead of time rather than on the fly, and that turned out to be really good advice. By uploading your photos first, you can save your calendar before it’s finished and return to it later. It also makes it a bit faster to customize each page.

I chose a template in the 11” x 17” size and got to work. It took me quite a while to get all the images uploaded and organized and placed on the appropriate pages, but it was worth it. After you submit your order and select a store for delivery, you can download a digital proof in PDF (mine was just under 7 MB). A few days later, you’ll receive an email notifying you that your calendar is ready to pick up! Simply pay in store and you’re done. Very easy.

A few other quick comments on the website: it appears to be written in ASP.NET, which I thought was kinda cool. They also make use of some Telerik controls, such as the RadUpload component. Interestingly, I can’t find a single link back to the main Staples website – the Copy & Print Centre seems to be completely separate.

I was really impressed with the result (the photo above is from the proof). It actually does look like a professional calendar that you’d buy in a store! It helps to have high resolution photos too, I guess. On the very back of the calendar is the Copy & Print Centre logo, but otherwise it’s completely free from logos or advertising. I wonder if you could pay to have that removed? Maybe for large orders.

I’m happy to report that Sharon loved her calendar! So did her sister actually, so much so that she set about creating her own soon after seeing Sharon’s. It’s a unique, easy-to-create gift. Based on my experience, I’d definitely recommend the Staples Copy & Print Centre online.

Tracking Santa in 2008

By Mack D. Male ·

It’s that time of year again! Santa has started making deliveries around the world and will be coming down your chimney before you know it. He just arrived in Pinsk, Belarus according to the noradsanta account on Twitter! Santa is getting some help from Bitz the Twittering elf, who is keeping the account up-to-date. Very cool.


“Santa Claus is coming to town” by Zanastardust

There are a number of different ways to track Santa this year. Here are some of my favorites:

For a few more options, check out this post at Search Engine Land.

Happy Holidays!

Xmas Shopping on Saturday the 23rd

By Mack D. Male ·

I watched the evening news at 6 tonight, and their lead story was on the holiday shopping rush. They had cameras around the city throughout the day filming the madness. I too went shopping today, but not until about 7 PM this evening (no I didn’t just start, I was picking up some of the last items on my list). And actually, I think that might be the best time to go!

Traffic was light, the lines were very short, and everyone was surprisingly friendly during my time shopping this evening. I guess if you weren’t sure what you were looking for, waiting until the 23rd isn’t the best idea. If you know exactly what you’re after however, as I was, then perhaps it is the best time to go!

Apparently today (the last Saturday before Christmas, or December 23rd, this year it happens to be both) is the busiest shopping day of the year!

Starbucks vs. Second Cup at Christmas

By Mack D. Male ·

Post ImageAs a self-described caffeine addict, I end up spending a lot of money on drinks at Christmas from Starbucks and Second Cup. When I need a good fix, I usually just have my Caramel Macchiato from Starbucks, but when it’s Christmas I tend to have a lot of lattes (and I guess, less caffeine). I realize that Starbucks vs. Second Cup is nothing like Coke vs. Pepsi, but it’s interesting nonetheless. My Grandma, for example, prefers Second Cup while I prefer Starbucks – but what about at Christmas? Here’s a quick comparison:

  • In terms of the cups, I think Second Cup wins. I really like the red cup at Starbucks, but the Second Cup one looks so much more festive (and more colorful!). I also like that they make the cardboard sleeve pink too. That being said, Starbucks has the much better marketing campaign! Check out http://www.theredcup.com.
  • My favorite drink of all is definitely the Eggnog Latte at Starbucks. Unfortunately there is nothing similar at Second Cup.
  • Both shops have a Gingerbread Latte, but I think the Second Cup version tastes much better.
  • The Peppermint Mocha at Starbucks and the Candycane Latte at Second Cup are somewhat similar, but I much prefer the Peppermint Mocha.
  • I don’t buy hot chocolate, so I am not sure how their respective holiday versions stack up!

What’s your favorite? Any other coffee houses with good Christmas offerings?

Eggnog Season

By Mack D. Male ·

Post ImageI mentioned earlier this month that the Starbucks Christmas Drinks are one of my favorite parts of the holiday season, and the Eggnog Latte is far and away my favorite (a quick search reveals I mentioned this in 2004 too). I think it’s because I like Eggnog itself so much! Last night I went grocery shopping with Kim and Tom, and bought a litre of Eggnog. As I poured myself a glass in the office, Dickson (who hates eggnog, by the way) asked why they only sell it during the holidays. Good question, and I haven’t found a really good answer. This one is the best I could find:

Today eggnog is used in a very different way. Now stores only sell eggnog around the holidays because eggnog is seen strictly as a holiday drink. Wealthy Brits often celebrated eggnog because it was a new drink that would not spoil. Considering that refrigerators were not yet invented, this was a big deal. This may be an explanation for why it is only served around the time of cheer and celebration. For some, eggnog is a drink that is symbolic of the holiday season in general.

I also found an interesting eggnog history, a recipe for Holiday Eggnog from the Alberta Egg Producers, and a bunch more recipes for things like Chocolate Eggnog and Eggnog Martinis. If you want to try my favorite holiday drink, pour some rum into your eggnog!

Starbucks Eggnog Latte

By Mack D. Male ·

Post ImageI really don’t like how stores start playing Christmas music and displaying decorations the day after Halloween, but one thing I do like is that Starbucks starts serving their Christmas drinks around this time of year. I am currently drinking my favorite, the Eggnog Latte, but they also have a Gingerbread Latte and Peppermint Mocha as part of the Christmas drink lineup. I am a complete eggnog addict, so this latte just hits the spot.

The barista told me that the red Christmas cups and all the other decorations and stuff will be arriving on November 10th. She also said that in many major cities in the US, they are leaving red cups on cars and other places with gift certificates (or something to that effect). I guess I’ll have to keep my eyes peeled when we’re in California this weekend.