Edmonton Notes for 12/20/2008

Here are some Edmonton-related things I found interesting this week:

• The City was awarded a silver medal for leadership from the Institute of Public Administration of Canada for its program to assess and manage $33 billion worth of roads, sewers, bridges, LRT lines, and other infrastructure.
• NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman was in town this week, and said that a new arena is vital for the future of the Oilers and of the city itself. Councillors disagreed.
• You may have heard about Edmonton’s $11 house. On Monday, The Journal published an interview with the man behind the idea, David Stockburger. He and his wife are not even close to the goal of 25,000 entries, and chances are, the contest will be cancelled.
• Also on Monday, local social media strategy firm fusedlogic announced the fusedlogic Food Bank Challenge in partnership with the Edmonton Food Bank. The goal is to have one million pictures of one million food items by the end of 2009. You can learn more here. Disclosure: I do some contract work for fusedlogic.
• Electronic Arts is making job cuts and taking other cost cutting measures – will Bioware be affected?
• On the same topic – Edmonton is clearly not immune to the economic downturn. In the latest CIBC World Markets’ economic rankings, the city fell from first to fifth.
• The 9th Annual Downtown Edmonton New Year’s Eve Celebration will start at 7pm on December 31st. The city has partnered with the University of Alberta this year. The event features three indoor venues, and many outdoor activities. Parking is $1 after 6pm, and transit is free from 6pm until 3am.
• I’ll be mentioning this again soon, but mark your calendars now – DemoCamp Edmonton 5 will take place on January 7th, 2008.