Edmonton Notes for 12/26/2009

Merry Christmas Edmonton! Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Tough times for Edmonton charities

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:

State of the Calgary Twittersphere – November 2009

Welcome to the ninth State of the Calgary Twittersphere, my look at the intersection of Twitter and Calgary. You can see last month’s stats here.

The source of the data this month is the same as last, primarily Twitter Search but also from Twitter directly. If a user has his or her location set to Calgary, Airdrie, Okotoks, Cochrane, Strathmore, or matching lat/long coordinates, they are considered a Calgarian.

For November 2009:

# of local users: 7468 (an increase of 185 from October)

To clarify, that means there were 7468 users who posted at least one tweet in November 2009 with their location set to something that makes them an Calgarian as described above. This number should be treated as a minimum – there are probably many more Calgary users without their location set or that were not captured for some other reason.

Here are the rest of the stats for November 2009:

# of tweets by local users: 314583
# of tweets by local users containing #yyc: 8078 (2.6%)
# of tweets by local users that were replies: 101430 (32.2%)
# of tweets by local users containing links: 83106 (26.4%)
# of tweets by local users that were retweets: 19614 (6.2%)
# of tweets by local users that were twooshes: 10867 (3.5%)

I think the retweet number might be a little off, due to the new retweet functionality on Twitter.com, but it’s close. Here are the numbers above in graphic form:

Here are the top clients used by local users for posting updates:

Some other interesting stats for the month:

Final Thoughts

Edmonton is catching up, but Calgary broke the 300,000 tweets in a single month barrier first! There were just 9 days in November with less than 10,000 local tweets posted. This is the second straight month that user growth in Edmonton has been larger too, though not by very much.

Since March, I have identified just over 17,600 local users. The number above, 7468, is how many of them were active in November.

December and 2009 year in review stats are coming soon!

State of the Edmonton Twittersphere – November 2009

Welcome to the eleventh State of the Edmonton Twittersphere, my look at the intersection of Twitter and Edmonton. You can see last month’s stats here.

The source of the data this month is the same as last, primarily Twitter Search but also from Twitter directly. If a user has his or her location set to Edmonton, St. Albert, Sherwood Park, Leduc, Nisku, Stony Plain, Fort Saskatchewan, Beaumont, Spruce Grove, or matching lat/long coordinates, they are considered an Edmontonian.

For November 2009:

# of local users: 5850 (an increase of 219 from October)

To clarify, that means there were 5850 users who posted at least one tweet in November 2009 with their location set to something that makes them an Edmontonian as described above. This number should be treated as a minimum – there are probably many more Edmonton users without their location set.

Here are the rest of the stats for November 2009:

# of tweets by local users: 290542
# of tweets by local users containing #yeg: 17282 (5.9%)
# of tweets by local users that were replies: 106992 (36.8%)
# of tweets by local users containing links: 63595 (21.9%)
# of tweets by local users that were retweets: 17756 (6.1%)
# of tweets by local users that were twooshes: 10054 (3.5%)

I think the retweet number might be a little off, due to the new retweet functionality on Twitter.com, but it’s close. Here are the numbers above in graphic form:

Here are the top clients used by local users for posting updates:

Here are the number of local users by community (besides Edmonton itself) for November:

Keep in mind that is based entirely on the text inside the location field of the user’s profile, and is definitely a minimum. Still, gives you an idea of the breakdown.

Some other interesting stats for the month:

Final Thoughts

User growth is still increasing, albeit rather slowly. There were only 9 days with less than 9000 tweets this month, and we broke the 12,000 per day mark for the first time.

Since January, I have identified just over 13,500 local users. The number above, 5850, is how many of them were active in November.

Calgary stats are up next, followed by December stats, then 2009 year-in-review stats. Stay tuned!

Notes for 12/20/2009

Here are my weekly notes:

Edmonton Notes for 12/19/2009

Less than a week until Christmas! Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Holiday Lights

Recent media links & thoughts

I read a lot about new media, journalism, publishing, news, etc. I always try to think about the things I read from both a global and a local perspective. Here are some thoughts on the things I’ve read recently.

From Jeff Jarvis:

I’m not so sure journalism is storytelling anymore.

Jeff points out that saying “journalism = storytelling” is limiting. Journalism is about more than the story, it’s a process. I agree completely. Data, algorithms, aggregators – all are aspects of journalism. They always have been, of course, but their importance/visibility has been heightened lately, thanks to new tools and technologies.

From paidContent.org:

Time Warner’s CNN is taking a stake in hyperlocal aggregator Outside.in—the latest example of a big media organization making a play in the hyperlocal space.

Smart move, just like MSNBC’s purchase of EveryBlock. And the news today that Google is in talks to buy Yelp. The dollars are starting to flow toward local/hyperlocal news companies. You know how the saying goes: follow the money.

From TechCrunch:

So what really scares me? It’s the rise of cheap, disposable content on a mass scale, force fed to us by the portals and search engines.

From ReadWriteWeb:

In my view both writers and readers of content will need to work harder to get quality content. Right now ‘quantity’ still rules on the Web, ‘quality’ is hard to find.

Lots of others have already discussed the “content farm” issue that made the rounds in the blogosphere last week. My view on it is pretty simple: readers need to become more active. There’s so much information so easily available that you can’t afford to passively consume the news. You have to seek out sources and recommendations. Certainly we’ll get better tools (aggregators, filters, search engines) but I think readers need to make more of an effort. See also: Content farms v. curating farmers.

From Clay Shirky:

…one of the things up for grabs in the current news environment is the nature of authority. In particular, I noted that people trust new classes of aggregators and filters, whether Google or Twitter or Wikipedia (in its ‘breaking news’ mode.)

I called this tendency algorithmic authority.

Fascinating. I think there’s incredible opportunity, both globally and locally, to take advantage of this. Who do you trust for your news? Is it the same people/organizations that you trusted five years ago?

From Unlikely Words:

Ken Auletta from the New Yorker wrote a book about Google, “Googled: The End of the World as We Know It” and before he published it, he cut the last chapter of 25 media maxims.

Now you can read them online. A few of my favorites:

  • Passion Wins
  • Adapt or Die
  • Digital is Different
  • Don’t Ignore the Human Factor

And finally, one of my favorite new tools: Times Skimmer. We need more innovation like that at the local level!

Recap: Startup Drinks Edmonton 1

Tonight was Edmonton’s first ever Startup Drinks, sponsored by Startup Edmonton and Digital Alberta. A few dozen entrepreneurs got together at The Hat for drinks, food, and great conversation! The event was targeted at startup founders, employees, and funders, but anyone with an interest in local startups was welcome to attend. With no DemoCamp scheduled this month, Startup Drinks was a nice excuse for everyone to get together.

There was a bunch of food available (the sliders were yummy), and all drinks were just $6! I had a great time chatting with Don, Kyle, Brian, Sean, Sean, Tys, Andre, and many others. And don’t get me and Reg started on big ideas, because we don’t know where to stop! I didn’t get to talk to nearly as many people as I’d have liked, but everyone seemed to be busy with their own conversations.

Startup DrinksStartup Drinks

Startup Edmonton is a new organization focused on growing the local tech startup scene. Through events like Startup Drinks and Startup Weekend, the organization will help Edmonton-based entrepreneurs connect with one another. That’s important, and outside of DemoCamp, it’s something we’ve largely been missing here in Edmonton. Startup Edmonton also hopes to help startups in other ways, by connecting them with the people and resources they need. More than anything, Startup Edmonton will advocate for local startups. Investing in Edmonton-based entrepreneurs benefits us all, and that’s what Startup Edmonton is all about.

Thanks to Cam, Ken, and Mark for making tonight happen! You can keep up-to-date with Startup Edmonton on Twitter and Facebook, and watch for the website to launch early next year.

Tony Caterina on the issues in 2009

It’s not surprising that City Councillors are often in the news, offering comment, explanations, and other thoughts on the latest decisions and issues. Some are generally in the news for positive reasons, others, not so much. Ward 3 councillor Tony Caterina is one of the members of council who seems to be mentioned for negative reasons more than positive ones (thanks to Dave for the photo). I mean, he’s even got his own hashtag on Twitter to track all of the bizarre things he says and does! I thought it would be interesting to take a look back at Caterina’s quotes throughout 2009. Ideally I could just point you to his voting record online, but we’re not there yet, so quotes will have to do!

A note on the data: I decided to make it simple and to only look at quotes from the Edmonton Journal. I searched the Canadian Newsstand database (anyone with an Edmonton Public Library card can access it for free) for “tony caterina” in the Edmonton Journal for any date in 2009. A total of 71 articles were found, up to December 3rd. For each one, I looked for direct quotes. I also added some quotes from articles written after December 3rd.

First off, here’s a Wordle of all the quotes:

And here, by subject, is a selection of Tony Caterina quotes on the issues in 2009. You can download all of the quotes I found here in PDF.

On the City Centre Airport:

"We’re talking about closing aviation down, and businesses, and putting people on the unemployment line. Really, that doesn’t make sense."

"In regards to economic development, it’s critical … here we are contemplating getting rid of something that’s already here. That just doesn’t make sense to me."

"If we’re not going to talk about the possibility of improved aviation service, what are the possibilities? From our perspective on council, we will want to push for that to be part of the debate."

On the Edmonton Indy:

"It’s not a cost, it’s an investment into promoting Edmonton as a world-class city. We made a decision as council to support this event because it is world-renowned … Given the exposure we have had, it’s money well spent."

"The publicity, you can’t even put a price tag on it. The Indy is being seen by countries around the world."

On EXPO 2017:

"The prudent thing would be to get a…firm commitment from the province and the federal governments (that) if this bid is successful, they are prepared to support the $2.3 billion."

On Budget 2010:

"We have gone all year asking administration to work on this budget, three per cent (plus) two per cent for (neighbourhood) renewal. They have certainly done that. It’s a very fair budget to everyone. If we don’t accept this recommendation on this after a full year’s work, then going forward from this, any time we ask them to do something, where’s the credibility?"

On Jasper Avenue:

"The pedway system is there. Certainly, we’re not going to get rid of that, but there probably needs to be better planning for the buildings that are going up. The main floor has to be commercial, more so. They should be concentrating on getting merchants back on the street so people have a reason to be outside, and not just in the pedway system. To bring people back on the street, you need something for people to attract them -clothiers and shoe shops."

On the York Hotel:

"They make everybody else look bad. The majority in the…industry are good operators, but you have the few who, they can’t comply or won’t comply."

On cats:

"I don’t know what it is about me, I’ve always denied that I like cats but I’m always the first one they come to."

"When it’s a cat involved, there are more people saying ‘just keep Fluffy, I’m not paying 250 bucks for it. It seems dogs have more value."

On infrastructure:

"We’ve been so far behind in infrastructure repairs. The more we can get done, the better. There are a little sharper pencils putting the prices out. This will help go a long way to making sure we come in with a very very reasonable tax rate for next year."

On the U-Pass:

"There’s enough residual benefits, from (lower) carbon dioxide emissions and fewer vehicles…We subsidize (student) tuition, we subsidize transit, we subsidize all kinds of things, but they’re an important group."

On the new ward system:

"Even with the system that we have now, you’re running against each other. There’s always a chance that one incumbent, as happened in the last election, or both, could be defeated. I don’t think that’s an issue for consideration."

On bike trails:

"There’s a limited amount of money and we have to look after higher priorities. Edmonton already has a lot of paths for a winter city — about 1,000 kilometres of bike trails and roads — so I think we’ve done a good job."

On the Citizen Panel:

"How many members, how many panels, do we need? We might as well just ask the public where to put the money. That’s a big part of the councillor’s responsibility. It sounds good to have public involvement, but at the end of the day that’s what council is here for."

On the idling bylaw:

"All it’s going to do is pit neighbour against neighbour. I would have to agree with my constituents that have phoned in to say this sounds like the silliest thing we have done here in a number of years. I think this is a little excessive. People in general are good. They understand the environment and will do what they can in order to mitigate their contribution to … pollution."

On bloggers (thanks Dave for saving it):

"A number of bloggers — who knows where they come from — are treated as gospel."

As you can see, not all of the quotes are negative. As an aside, I think Scott McKeen wrote more about Caterina than anyone else this year. He must love him 😉 In quite a few articles, Caterina is mentioned as the only councillor to vote for or against something. He likes to be different, I guess! I couldn’t find a quote, but earlier this year Caterina said he worked longer hours and spent fewer nights at home when he worked in the private sector. That’s no surprise though, as Caterina apparently likes to get out of his duties as a city councillor.

Some other related reading you might be interested in:

Anyone else looking forward to more fun with #toncat next year? Election day is October 18, 2010.

Social Media and Ask Premier Ed

Yesterday CBC Edmonton’s John Archer called to get my take on the “Ask Premier Ed” campaign, Premier Ed Stelmach’s latest foray into the world of social media (as you know I don’t like to be called a social media expert, there’s no such thing). The premier has had a Twitter account for a little over a year now, but it has always been used to broadcast messages, never to interact with Albertans (in Twitter-speak, that means @PremierStelmach doesn’t post replies). The idea with the “Ask Premier Ed” campaign was to get Albertans to post questions on Twitter or on the premier’s website. I thought the idea had potential, but unfortunately, I don’t think it has turned out as well as it could have. It certainly hasn’t changed the premier’s broadcast-style communication (see DJ’s great overview of Stelmach’s communication issues).

Over the last couple of weeks, many Albertans have submitted questions. Yesterday, Premier Stelmach started posting responses. He’s doing that using YouTube videos. In each video, the premier is seated behind his desk with a laptop (and a bunch of other interesting things visible). He gets a question from the laptop, then answers it unscripted (of course the questions are probably prescreened).

Is “Ask Premier Ed” social media? I would say no. The campaign uses Twitter to crowdsource questions, and YouTube to host video responses to some of those questions, but that’s it. Social media is about more than just having an account. It’s about people, and about the interactions between people. How do you have interactions? On Twitter there are replies. On YouTube there are comments and video responses. People use those mechanisms to have a conversation, to have a dialogue. That’s what’s missing from “Ask Premier Ed”.

Here’s what I told CBC:

"If people are asking questions on Twitter, for instance, I might ask the question and then you might respond to it and somebody else might chime in and there’s a bit of a dialogue going on around the question," Male said.

"That’s the kind of thing that would be great for the premier to be participating in …and that’s what’s missing here."

The funniest part of the article is this:

Stelmach spokesperson Tom Olsen said the video responses are a lot like having a conversation with Stelmach in a coffee shop.

Like having a conversation in a coffee shop? Really?

A couple of suggestions for Premier Stelmach and his team:

  • Answer questions as they come in, on Twitter! Make use of that reply function.
  • Some answers just can’t fit into 140 characters, I get that – post them on a blog! That way Albertans can continue discussing it in the comments and on their own blogs.
  • Instead of one ten minute video for a few questions, why not one short video per question and answer?
  • Why not display the question on screen as Premier Stelmach looks at his laptop? The video is pretty high quality – how hard could it be to add an overlay or two?

And don’t forget – as you start conversing with Albertans, rather than just broadcasting to them, use your human voice! We’re all humans, after all.

Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great that Premier Stelmach and his team have a Twitter account and are at least trying. That’s more than you can say for a lot of politicians. I just think they have room for improvement!

You can listen to a radio clip at CBC (link on the right) and look for the story on CBC Television tonight with Kim Trynacity at 5:30 and 6.

Also: Check out this post from DJ Kelly, posted on December 3rd. He’s way ahead of me!