Year: 2010

Update on ShareEdmonton

I’m still working on improving ShareEdmonton, slowly but surely, and I wanted to provide a brief update on my progress. Over the last couple of weeks, my primary focus has been on improving the event calendar. Making it faster, more complete, and easier to browse. There’s still a lot of work to do, but here are some of the recent improvements:

  • There’s now a Featured Upcoming Events page where I can highlight specific events.
  • Related events have been improved. For example, if you look at the page for this Saturday’s Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market, you’ll see other upcoming dates as well.
  • That feature highlights something else – events on ShareEdmonton are as granular as possible. Instead of just having one event for The Citadel’s upcoming run of Sweeney Todd that starts on February 6 and ends on February 28, each individual show time gets its own page. That’s important in helping to answer the question, what’s happening in Edmonton at a given time and place? There are only a few exceptions to this, such as International Week.

I’m going to continue to make it easier to find and browse events, especially by tag, like valentine’s day or family day. I have made good progress on making the calendar more complete too. Currently, there are more than 200 unique events in ShareEdmonton for February, with more than 600 different instances (a unique event would be “Sweeny Todd”, and each showtime would be a different instance). There are probably hundreds more that I don’t yet have in the calendar. It’s a tricky problem, but I’m working on it!

Another thing I’ve been working on is improving Places in ShareEdmonton, which includes adding more places! Most recently, I started adding places that have been made available as part of the City’s open data catalogue, such as Police Stations. That’s a handy page to see all the police station locations in Edmonton. I’ve got some more neat stuff coming with this, so stay tuned.

If you have feedback, let me know!

Notes for 1/31/2010

Here are my weekly notes:

Art Gallery of AlbertaArt Gallery of Alberta

Edmonton Notes for 1/30/2010

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Next Gen Engage YCYVNext Gen Engage YCYV

Photos of the Next Gen Engage event that took place on Thursday evening.

The Art Gallery of Alberta is now officially open!

A ribbon cutting ceremony was held this morning at the Art Gallery of Alberta, officially opening Canada’s newest art gallery and celebrating the thousands of people and many years of hard work that went into making it a reality. AGA Board Chair Allan Scott led today’s ceremony, and said in a statement:

“It is the AGA’s dream that a rebuilt, renewed Art Gallery of Alberta will serve as a cultural centre of excellence for the Alberta community today and beyond, for generations to come.”

Art Gallery of Alberta Ribbon Cutting

All levels of government were represented. Canada’s Minister of Public Works Rona Ambrose brought remarks, as did Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Norman L. Kwong and Minister of Alberta Culture and Community Spirit Lindsay Blackett. Minister of State and Western Economic Diversification Lynn Yelich was also present. Mayor Stephen Mandel brought remarks from the City of Edmonton, along with nearly all of the City Councillors. We also heard from architect Randall Stout, and AGA Executive Director Gilles Hebert.

Art Gallery of Alberta Ribbon CuttingArt Gallery of Alberta Ribbon Cutting

Many of the speakers paid tribute to Barbara Poole and her late husband John Poole, who in October 2001 donated $2 million in seed money for the gallery project. The Poole family continued to donate $1 million each October until 2004, bringing their total donation to $5 million. Randall Stout talked about how important community has been to everyone involved in the project, and he cited the Poole’s funding request as proof. Instead of requesting that part of the building be named after the family as is often the case, the Pooles requested only that the new AGA building be connected to the pedway system and LRT, that it be connected to the existing city network. In his remarks, Mayor Mandel called Barbara Poole “a gem, a jewel” and said that if Edmonton had a first lady, it would be her.

Art Gallery of Alberta Ribbon CuttingArt Gallery of Alberta Ribbon Cutting

The ribbon cutting:

The public will start streaming into the new building tomorrow morning at 9am, with the grand opening celebration lasting through Monday. If you weren’t able to get tickets to attend, fear not, the AGA is here to stay and there will be plenty of time to visit again, and again. A few quick facts to keep in mind as you explore the new building:

  • Steel, Zinc, Glass, and Douglas Fir are the key materials
  • 800 tons of structural steel were used in the framework of the building
  • 90% of the steel used was comprised of recycled material
  • 5000 individual steel pieces were custom made, and laid end-to-end would total 12 kilometers
  • 26 metres (86 feet) is the height of the atrium lobby
  • 190 metres (625 feet) is the length of the borealis

It really is quite amazing to see!

You can see all of my photos from the ceremony here, you can watch Allan Scott’s introduction here, and you can watch Mayor Mandel give his remarks here.

Recap: DemoCampEdmonton10

Tonight was our tenth DemoCamp here in Edmonton if you can believe it, and we’re still going strong! Our last DemoCamp was a little over two months ago, so it was definitely time for the community to once again get together. Cam asked the audience for a show of hands to find out who was new to DemoCamp, and a surprising number had never attended before. It’s fantastic that more and more people are finding out about the event, and are coming to support local entrepreneurs. Thanks everyone – keep it up!

DemoCampEdmonton10DemoCampEdmonton10

Before and after tonight’s demos.

We had five demos this evening:

  • Dave Bodnarchuk from EventIQ started things off by showing us InviteRight. He spent most of the demo showing the slick table organization features of the tool. Event organizers or venue managers can arrange registrations by table visually, using a simple drag & drop interface, kind of like seat selection on the airlines. They’re currently working with McNally and Spruce Grove high schools to test.
  • Our next presenter was Kent Tong from eQube. He started by explaining that eQube plays in the gaming sector – gambling, bingo, etc., not video games! Kent focused on something called Lil’ Gecko, which is a mobile gaming device rented to casinos and other customers, but they also offer a complete end-to-end solution. They’re trying to come up with games (casual things like Bejeweled) that get the average person visiting casinos again.
  • Next up was Brian MacKay from Tooq, a tool focused on the contractor and small business sector. Currently a few weeks away from beta, Tooq right now helps you create and manage invoices. Eventually Brian and his team hope to create a job market based around the people using Tooq for invoices, estimates, and other tasks.
  • Fourth tonight was Dave Chan from pureLIGHT. He demonstrated preLIGHT and pureLIGHT, applications his team has written to help designers light scenes. The key difference is efficiency – pureLIGHT produces the same kind of quality as similar solutions, but with significantly improved workflow and on-the-fly tweaking (not to mention a far lower cost). I wrote about the other side of the company, 3DI, back in December.
  • Our final presenter of the evening was David Quail, who showed us Attassa. Reminiscent of Xobni, Attassa is focused on improving organization and context in email. You can view messages by conversation, and can see a list of related people for any given thread. You can also find attachments really easily. Attassa works with Outlook and the iPhone, and was developed in just two months!

All of the demos were quite well done tonight, with only minor hiccups along the way. Having said that, I’m not sure that people were buzzing as much about the demos at RATT as at past events. I think my demo of the night goes to Dave Bodnarchuk. Though he ran out of time, the app looks good and he’s already got customers signed up, so that’s always a positive! I also really liked Attassa, and I think it has great potential.

Here are some upcoming tech events to watch for:

Stay tuned to Startup Edmonton and GameCamp Edmonton for updates on their events too! You can always see the latest tech events at ShareEdmonton.

Thanks to everyone who came out tonight. See you at DemoCampEdmonton11!

Upcoming Speaking Engagements & Events

On Saturday I was invited to speak at the Annual Sustainable Campuses Conference, on the subject of Open Data. I gave an overview of open data, shared some examples of open data apps for sustainability, and described how open data arrived here in Edmonton. We also spent some time chatting about Twitter, both in general and how it is being used by the open data community. Thanks to the organizers for including me!

I’ve got a few additional speaking engagements coming up that I wanted to mention:

  • January 25-28: Social Media for Government (on ShareEdmonton)
    The conference started today and finishes tomorrow, with post-conference workshops taking place on Thursday. I’m leading the last workshop that afternoon, where I’ll be taking participants through a social media campaign from start to finish. We’ll look at examples of campaigns that have worked, as well as examples of what to avoid. There are some really smart people speaking at the event, such as Jas Darrah, Diane Begin, Troy Wason, Ken Chapman, Walter Schwabe, and many more.
  • February 5/6: What Happens Next? Future of Story (on ShareEdmonton)
    I’m really excited to be taking part in this conference, hosted by MacEwan’s School of Communications. I’m participating in a panel on “The Next New Journalism” along with Karen Unland and Colby Cosh. The panel will be moderated by Rey Rosales, Associate Dean at MacEwan’s Centre for Arts and Communications. I obviously have some strong ideas about the future of journalism and media, as I’m sure Karen and Colby do, so it should be interesting, and fun!
  • March 11: MacEwan Student Business Conference 2010 (on ShareEdmonton)
    This conference aims to connect students with business leaders and innovators. I’ll be taking part in a roundtable discussion on social media – what is it, why is it important, how can businesses use it, and how it relates to an overall communications strategy. Hopefully we’ll also have some great discussion about how students are using social media.
  • May 5/6: Technocon 2010 (on ShareEdmonton)
    I’m honored to be one of the keynotes for this conference, open to all City of Edmonton and University of Alberta IT employees. The conference focuses on three key themes: open, world class, and transformation. I’ll be talking about open data, open government, social media, transparency, and more all related to the theme of open. Can’t wait!

Here are a few other upcoming events I’ll be at:

Hope to see you at a few of them!

Sneak Peek at the new Art Gallery of Alberta in Edmonton

Nearly thirty people from Edmonton’s very active social media community attended the blogger sneak peek today at the new Art Gallery of Alberta in downtown Edmonton. Armed with smartphones, video cameras, audio recorders, and lots of digital cameras, we toured the new building with Sarah Hoyles, the AGA’s Media Relations and Communications Coordinator, and Gilles Hebert, the AGA’s Executive Director.

Art Gallery of AlbertaArt Gallery of Alberta

The very striking building is situated at #2 Sir Winston Churchill Square, on the northeast corner between City Hall and Chancery Hall/Century Place. I think it is just as beautiful on the inside as it is distinct on the outside. Everyone is in for a real treat when it officially opens to the public on January 31!

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to visit the building with Torch Reporter Chris Wheeler, so I thought I’d start this post with some of the under-construction shots I took at the time:

Art Gallery of AlbertaArt Gallery of Alberta

Art Gallery of Alberta

And here’s one of AGA Board Chair Allan Scott, who has been working to make the new AGA a reality for more than ten years:

Art Gallery of Alberta

On to today’s tour! We met in the foyer, right underneath the borealis.

Art Gallery of Alberta

Here’s a shot of our guides, describing the borealis above:

Art Gallery of Alberta

Our first stop, after the coat check, was Zinc, the Art Gallery of Alberta’s new restaurant. Still under active construction, we got a very quick glimpse at what dining in Churchill Square might be like. As Sharon remarked, standing in Zinc is reminiscent of standing inside Cactus Club Bentall 5 in downtown Vancouver.

Art Gallery of AlbertaArt Gallery of Alberta

Here’s Chris and Sharon, representing Edmonton’s food bloggers:

Art Gallery of Alberta

Next we ascended the grand staircase to the third level, which provided us with a fantastic eye-level view of the borealis, as well as the opportunity to step outside onto the City of Edmonton Terrace.

Art Gallery of AlbertaArt Gallery of Alberta

We slowly made our way back downstairs, pausing on the second level to learn more about the way the new building is meant to capture snow. It’s explained in this video, which also provides a sneak peek at Storm Room, an interactive ten-minute exhibit featuring water, among other things:

Passing by the front entrance, we next visited the basement level, which features a number of education spaces (the rooms are named after colors, such as orange and yellow), theatre space, the AGA sales office, and the LRT entrance.

Art Gallery of AlbertaArt Gallery of Alberta

Art Gallery of AlbertaArt Gallery of Alberta

A lot of thought went into the design of the new AGA, something that architect Randall Stout illustrated very well during his talk back in September. It’s a building that you have to visit multiple times – it looks different depending on the season, weather, and time of day. It’s a fantastic addition to Edmonton’s downtown, and to the city as a whole.

Art Gallery of AlbertaArt Gallery of Alberta

Thanks to everyone who made it out to the tour today! You can see the rest of my photos here.

Here are some of the other posts from today’s tour (I’ll update as more appear):

Ice on Whyte 2010

Yesterday was the final day of Ice on Whyte 2010, Edmonton’s ice carving festival (now part of Winter Light). Sharon and I had been planning to stop by ever since the festival started ten days ago, but for whatever reason we never made it out. We made up for it yesterday though, visiting twice – once during the day and once at night!

Here are some day & night shots of Ice on Whyte 2010:

Ice on Whyte 2010Ice on Whyte 2010

Ice on Whyte 2010Ice on Whyte 2010

Ice on Whyte 2010Ice on Whyte 2010

Ice on Whyte 2010Ice on Whyte 2010

Ice on Whyte 2010Ice on Whyte 2010

Ice on Whyte 2010Ice on Whyte 2010

Ice on Whyte 2010Ice on Whyte 2010

Ice on Whyte 2010Ice on Whyte 2010

You can read Sharon’s post here,  read about the ice carving competition winners here, and you can see the rest of my photos here. Check out the Winter Light site for more upcoming events!

Notes for 1/24/2010

Here are my weekly notes:

Edmonton Notes for 1/23/2010

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Finally, Edmonton has its own mug at Starbucks!

Edmonton Starbucks Mug