2014

Be green for more than an hour…

Edmonton is one of three Canadian cities chosen as finalists in WWF’s Earth Hour City Challenge 2014.

The Earth Hour City Challenge initiative was created by WWF in 2011 to celebrate cities that are taking innovative actions towards creating greener, cleaner and more sustainable cities to live in, while inspiring other cities to do the same.

Edmonton was selected as a finalist based on The Way We Green, “which uses community-centric commitments and publicly engaging actions to achieve a carbon neutral future.”

The winner of Canada’s Earth Hour Capital will be announced on March 27. You can also vote for Edmonton until March 20 in the “We Love Cities” campaign (check out more details here). Earth Hour 2014 takes place on Saturday, March 29 at 8:30 PM.

Headlines

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

It’s like spring out there! And you know what that means: crappy roads.
In a bit of a surprise move, the City announced it has contracted Calgary-based ENMAX to provide electricity to all of its properties over the next five years. In 2012, the City spent $38.4 million on electricity to run all City of Edmonton buildings, and the new deal is expected to result in savings of up to $1 million per year.
The federal government announced on Friday more than $5 million in funding over five years for WrapED, a new crime prevention program run by REACH that will help at-risk youth.
Here’s a crazy stat that helps explain why some of EPSB’s newest schools are overcrowded: “There have been 46 new neighbourhoods created in Edmonton since 2005, most south and west of Anthony Henday Drive. The children in those neighbourhoods now account for 20 per cent of the total public school population.”
It was a busy week for the Edmonton Oilers as they traded Devan Dubnyk to Nashville in exchange for forward Matt Hendricks, among other moves. Check out the OilersNation take: Congrats, you’re going to Edmonton.
Don’t miss Liane’s great story on the frightening amount of food Canadians waste each year ($27 billion worth). There’s a lot of great Edmonton-focused statistics in there too.
TEC VenturePrize, now in its 12th year, is adding a new stream for information & communication technology (ICT) entrepreneurs. Sponsored by TELUS, a total of $22,000 in prizes will be shared by the top three finalists.
Michael Ross has put together some statistics on neighbourhoods, complete with attractive maps!
Could students at the University of Alberta soon have a fall reading week? Other universities have already added the time off, apparently.
Jetpac City Guides “analyzed” Instagram pictures to determine the happiest cities in Canada – Edmonton came in at #9.
In Where Edmonton’s Essential Edmonton issue, a group of local foodies shared “their top choices for must-eat cuisine.” No major surprises in the list!
The Edmonton Eskimos announced this week that The Knothole Gang Kids Club will now be known as the Eskimos Kids Club.
Actress Jessica Biel made not one but two visits to Transcend Coffee when she was here with husband Justin Timberlake last week. She tweeted it was her “favorite Edmonton coffee shop!”
David Staples goes on the offensive in his latest column on Premier Alison Redford’s unwillingness to budge on LRT funding: “If Redford is saying she really can’t find a way to keep LRT expanding, we need to elect a government that can make it happen.”
You’ve only got until midnight on Monday, January 20 to take advantage of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra’s $20 seat sale. Great deal!

Glass and Brick Edmonton by Jeff Wallace

Upcoming Events

The Canoe Theatre Festival kicks off this week. Also starting this week is Part 2 of the National Elevator Project!
The Oilers host the Canucks at Rexall Place on Tuesday evening. On Friday, Phoenix comes to town.
The next Capital Ideas Edmonton event takes place on Wednesday at the Edmonton Journal over lunch. The theme this time is “Looking back, looking ahead: Three Edmonton stories”.
I’m really looking forward to the opening reception for the Edmonton Wayfinding Project at the Harcourt House on Thursday evening!
Ever want to explore the Royal Alberta Museum after dark? On Friday you’ll be able to at the first signature event of the year. A guest speaker will also provide a look ahead at the new museum.
Hopefully all the warm weather hasn’t impacted Ice on Whyte too badly. The annual winter festival kicks off on Friday.
Saturday afternoon is the annual Edmonton Oilers Skills Competition at Rexall Place.
Head down to the Edmonton Expo Centre on the weekend for the Edmonton Renovation Show.
Students will be gathered at the U of A this weekend for the fourth annual Student Sustainability Summit.
For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

Friday sunset over Whyte Avenue

You never know where your Creative Commons-licensed photos might end up

I’ve been a Flickr member since January 2005 and I have more than 19,000 photos hosted there. Nearly all of them are Creative Commons licensed, a decision I made a long time ago. I don’t post my photos to make money, I post them to share with others. Keeping them protected doesn’t benefit anyone, but by choosing a more permissive license, others can use my photos in their own work.

If you want to give people the right to share, use, and even build upon a work you’ve created, you should consider publishing it under a Creative Commons license. CC gives you flexibility (for example, you can choose to allow only non-commercial uses) and protects the people who use your work, so they don’t have to worry about copyright infringement, as long as they abide by the conditions you have specified.

My photos are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license (CC-BY-SA). That means that anyone can copy, redistribute, remix, transform, and build upon any of my photos, even for commercial purposes. All that is required is that I receive appropriate credit for the photo and that any new work that incorporates the photo is also licensed under the CC-BY-SA license.

Over the years, I have been so happy to see my photos in use by others. As you might expect, most of my photos are Edmonton-related, and they’ve appeared in annual reports for local companies, in many publications by the City of Edmonton, in local media, and even in local products and services. They’ve been used by many travel companies all over the world to help illustrate Edmonton and other places I have travelled to. It makes me feel good to see others use one of my photos to help make their thing better, whatever it is. Often people ask me for permission anyway, but they don’t need to.

In some cases though, my photos have been used in unexpected places. One such place was Gawker, which used this photo in a story titled ‘Whites Win Control of Nation’s Capital‘:

The photo was taken in May 2009 when I was on vacation in Washington, D.C. with Sharon. The photo is at Ben’s Chili Bowl, and I took the photo because that’s where newly-elected President Obama sat when he visited. You can read Sharon’s review of our experience here. Here’s the relevant section:

Near the end of our meal, a fellow patron approached our table, and pointed out to Mack that President Obama had sat in his chair not too long ago, just across from Mayor Adrian Fenty. Though we had noticed that the Seal of the President had been placed on the wall just above the chair, it hadn’t occurred to us that the reason for it was to act as a marker. Just above the seal was a blown-up photo of Obama and Fenty, as well as a smaller picture of the President posing with diner staff.

The man then asked Mack if his choice of seat thus pointed out his destiny to become the next President. Mack replied, “I can’t – I’m Canadian.”

For whatever reason, the Gawker story was circulating on Twitter in Edmonton today. No I’m not pleased that my face appears in Gawker’s race-baiting post, but whatever, the photo is free for use. I could request that they take it down I suppose, but the post was from 2011. Only in Edmonton does anyone still care!

I wasn’t going to write anything, but then I thought it would be interesting to highlight some of the other strange places my photos have been used. Enjoy!

Let’s start with another one from D.C., of Watergate. I have a few of the complex, and they have been used often to illustrate articles related to the famous scandal, like this one.

This photo of a Petro-Canada refinery was taken back in 2008 on the east end of Edmonton. It was used in an article in The Times of Israel titled ‘Turkey busts Iranian oil smugglers‘:

While visiting San Francisco in September 2010, we of course made a stop at Trader Joe’s, where I took this photo that was used last year when they increased the price of Two Buck Chuck to $2.49:

This delicious-looking grilled cheese sandwich was used in an article titled ‘“Pregnancy brain” – what did you forget?‘:

Don’t ask me why, but in 2007 I took a picture of some clean dishes in the dishwasher. It was used by the Natural Resources Defense Council in ‘The Great Dishwasher Debate‘.

Who doesn’t love the Edmonton Corn Maze! I took this photo in September 2010. It was used a little over a year later in an article titled ‘Family lost in a corn maze calls 911‘.

This photo, taken in Seattle in 2005, actually looks a lot better in the article where it was touched up, titled ‘Inuit demands spark angler concerns over Scottish salmon stocks‘:

While visiting Calgary in July 2010, I took this photo in the Marda Loop neighbourhood. It was later used in a satirical article titled ‘Marda Loop residents seek to ban ugly people from moving into the neighbourhood‘:

Back in 2008, Doctors Without Borders had an exhibit called Refugee Camp in the Heart of the City, which is where I took this photo of plumpy nut. It has been used in a number of articles about malnutrition, like this one.

I took this photo of Little Caesars Hot-n-Ready pizza in 2008. It was used in this article about a 12-year-old boy who stole money, went joyriding, and ate pizza.

This photo was used in an article about having a date at a driving range, highly appropriate as that’s when it was taken! Yes, that is Sharon.

Let’s finish with another popular food photo, taken in September 2010 in San Francisco. Sharon wrote about our meal at Sam Wo here. Unfortunately, the restaurant closed down in 2012 though their website was updated in July 2013 to say they are in search of a new location.

There are lots of other somewhat-less-interesting examples too, with photos of technology, the Stanley Cup, Starbucks Iced Coffee, and much more being used in articles all over the world. It’s neat to see all of the places my photos have ended up!

You can check out all of my photos at Flickr.

Edmonton City Council Initiatives for 2013-2017

With the adoption of Policy C518 (pdf) in March 2006, City Council started identifying and assigning Council Initiatives, “projects that Council deems would benefit from having a Councillor as a sponsor.” At its December 11, 2013 meeting, our current City Council approved the list of initiatives for the 2013-2017 term.

The following initiatives from the 2010-2013 term were renewed (the Councillor assignments, as volunteered, are in brackets):

Northern Relationships/Circumpolar (Gibbons, Iveson, Caterina)
Arts & Culture (Henderson, McKeen)
Economic Development
- Heartland (Iveson, Gibbons)
- Startups (Oshry)
- Port Alberta (Nickel)
Housing (Iveson, Henderson)
Edmonton’s Poverty Elimination (Iveson, Henderson, Sohi)
Indigenous Peoples Strategy (Iveson, Caterina, Henderson)
Multiculturalism (Iveson, Sohi)
Next Gen (Oshry, Knack*)
Public Transit (Knack, Sohi)
Recreation (Anderson)
Seniors (Knack, Sohi)
Traffic Safety (Esslinger, Loken)

The following initiatives are new (the Councillor assignments, as volunteered, are in brackets):

Child Friendly Edmonton (Esslinger)
Communities in Bloom (Nickel)
ELEVATE (Esslinger, Walters)
Public Engagement Initiative (Henderson, Walters)
Urban Isolation/Mental Health (McKeen)
Winter Cities (Henderson, McKeen)
Women’s Initiative (Iveson, Esslinger)
Post-Secondary Relations (Iveson, Knack, Esslinger)

Here’s a look at all the initiatives by Councillor for the 2013-2017 term:

Councillor	Initiatives
Anderson (Ward 9)	– Recreation
Caterina (Ward 7)	– Northern Relationships/Circumpolar – Indigenous People’s Strategy
Esslinger (Ward 2)	– Child Friendly Edmonton – ELEVATE – Women’s Initiative – Post-Secondary Relations
Gibbons (Ward 4)	– Northern Relationships/Circumpolar – Economic Development – Heartland
Henderson (Ward 8)	– Arts & Culture – Housing – Edmonton’s Poverty Elimination – Indigenous People’s Strategy – Public Engagement Initiative – Winter Cities
Iveson (Mayor)	– Northern Relationships/Circumpolar – Economic Development – Heartland – Housing – Edmonton’s Poverty Elimination – Indigenous People’s Strategy – Multiculturalism – Women’s Initiative – Post-Secondary Relations
Knack (Ward 1)	– Next Gen* – Public Transit – Seniors – Post-Secondary Relations
Loken (Ward 3)	– Traffic Safety
McKeen (Ward 6)	– Arts & Culture – Urban Isolation/Mental Health – Winter Cities
Nickel (Ward 11)	– Economic Development – Port Alberta – Communities in Bloom
Oshry (Ward 5)	– Economic Development – Startups – Next Gen
Sohi (Ward 12)	– Edmonton’s Poverty Elimination – Multiculturalism – Public Transit – Seniors
Walters (Ward 10)	– ELEVATE – Public Engagement Initiative

The following initiatives from the 2010-2013 term were considered complete and are now discontinued:

City of Learners (mandate complete and to be continued by EPL)
Community Sustainability (to be re-focused through ELEVATE)
Environment (moving into implementation)
External Affairs (covered with board appointments)
Transforming Edmonton (mandate complete and operationalized)
Agri-Food/Urban Agriculture

Council approved the above initiative assignments and closures unanimously. The next step is for Administration to bring forward updated Terms of Reference for each.

One impact of declaring these initiatives is that Administration is required by the policy to include all Council Initiatives in business plans and budgets. That makes it possible (to an extent) to track resources and progress on each.

These initiatives aren’t highlighted and assigned just for show. You can expect to see Councillors at any media events related to their initiatives of course, but there’s a lot of behind-the-scenes work that each will do as well.

In addition to the initiatives above, Councillors are also appointed to various boards and committees. There is a limited amount of overlap.

I am a little surprised that the Environment initiative was closed, with no related initiative put forward to replace it. Especially given the direction Edmonton is heading as a leader in sustainability and waste management. I am very pleased to see a new initiative focused on public engagement, however.

* – Though the documents do not reflect it, Councillor Knack has confirmed that he too is on the Next Gen initiative.

Recap: Edmonton’s Economic Impact Luncheon 2014

“This is a new Edmonton, with a new mayor, a new confidence, and a new energy,” EEDC President & CEO Brad Ferguson told attendees of the sold-out 2014 EEDC Impact Luncheon today. Hundreds of Edmontonians, including a large number of political dignitaries, filled the Shaw Conference Centre for EEDC’s annual state of the economy. Brad wasted no time in reiterating a message he has been consistently delivering since taking over a little over a year ago. “Our ability to compete and to be different has never been more important,” he said.

Deputy Premier Dave Hancock brought greetings from the Province of Alberta, and made note of the number of his colleagues that were in attendance. “There are so many of us here, because we believe that the partnership that we have with EEDC, with the City of Edmonton, and with the Capital Region, is so important.”

Mayor Don Iveson also brought opening remarks. “Right now our city is one of the best places in the world to take a risk, launch an idea, or start a business,” the mayor said. “There is a renewed sense of optimism here in Edmonton.”

After lunch, it was on the main event. You can listen to Brad’s entire speech here:

“Last year was a great year,” Brad said. “Our objective was to outperform every other regional economy in North America, and we did.” He highlighted our city’s economic performance and rosy outlook through a series of measures:

	2013	2012	Change
GDP	$81.675 billion	$78.286 billion	+4.3%
Population	1.2 million	1.15 million	+3.9%
Net Jobs	19,700	26,500	-34.5%
Unemployment	4.8%	4.4%	-0.4%
Inflation	1.1%	1.3%	-0.2%
Building Permits	$3.0 billion	$2.5 billion	+22.6%
Major Projects	$220.0 billion	$193.5 billion	+13.6%

Obviously the increased GDP, population, and jumps in the number of building permits issued and major projects identified are positive. Brad noted that although the number of jobs created in 2013 was actually down, context is needed. “One out of every ten jobs created across the country was created here,” he told us.

Brad opened his speech with another measure, of course. Last year he rated Edmonton’s efforts on image and branding at 1.5 out of 10. “I didn’t want to understate the work that needed to be done,” he confessed. It was one of the catalysts for the major changes that EEDC has undergone over the last year. His ranking today? With some input from Councillor Sohi, 2.5 out of 10. “We have a long way to go, but it’s a 66.6% improvement over last year!”

Though Edmonton had a strong year in 2013, the future is even brighter. “We’re anticipating us contributing $2.1 trillion of economic contribution to the country” over the next two decades, Brad told the audience. A large reason for this, is development related to the oil sands. But for all the good work going on, Brad said we need to do more.

That led to his core takeaway for the day:

“The only way forward is to embrace the mantra of: cleaner, greener, safer, faster, cheaper. We need to build our industries and build our entrepreneurs, and activate the country in doing so.”

Embracing that mantra is what will lead to the next wave of innovation, key to diversifying our economy, Brad told us. “The oil sands and the industrial supply chain are the platform of which we get to diversification.” And now is the right time, because our capabilities have caught up with our ambitions. “There’s nothing holding us back.”

Brad went on to connect this opportunity with Edmonton’s place in the country. “We can’t do it alone,” he said. “We need to open up the access point and invite the rest of the country to participate.”

With that, Brad described five big priorities for the year ahead:

Alert the world to the energy in Edmonton
Attract & active those seeking opportunity
Enhance & expand our influence as an economic powerhouse
Diversify by using our strengths as a platform for innovation
Operate as one interconnected, interdependent region

On that last point, he noted “that doesn’t mean amalgamation all the time.” Instead, Brad called for relationships and partnerships with other communities.

“Gone are the days where things happen to us,” Brad declared. “Our strategy is sound, our success lies in our ability to move forward with intention.” It was a confident conclusion to an excellent speech.

Once again the Edmonton Journal livestreamed the event. You can watch part one here, and part two here.

The luncheon was also an opportunity for EEDC to launch its 2014-2016 Statement of Intent:

The decade ahead will be one where competitiveness will take on a whole new meaning in everything we do. Alberta is expected to continue as a high-growth jurisdiction in a low- growth world, making Edmonton a prime location for the attraction of business, investment and people. Global demand for resources will drive opportunities for capital expansion, while also attracting an aggressive assortment of new competitors in search of a share of the local market. These realities will have significant impact on our local economy, and the role of an effective economic development agency has never been more important.

You can learn more about EEDC and what they have planned for 2014 at their new website. You can read my recap of last year’s event here.

Media Monday Edmonton: Update #97

Here’s my latest update on local media stuff:

The Yeggies are back! Nominate your favorites from 2013 until the end of February. There are five new categories this year, including “Best in Photography” and “Best in Public Service”. I’m very happy to be joining the organizing committee this year (so no nominations for me please).

NASH76, the Canadian University Press’ 76th national conference, wrapped up yesterday. Held at the Chateau Lacombe downtown, it attracted hundreds of young journalists from across the country. This year’s theme was MASH UP, “a nod to the union of journalism and entrepreneurship, with sessions on new media, start-ups and self-employment.” Here are some highlights from the event. Ezra Levant was there, and he didn’t disappoint.
Media-related thread on Reddit today: what’s your favorite radio station?
The first Art of Conversation for 2014 is taking place on January 23 at The Parlour, co-hosted by Rob Christie and Audie Lynds! The event starts at 4:30pm and goes until, whenever!
The Edmonton Senior and Calgary Senior newspapers are looking for a reporter/editor to join the team, based in St. Albert.
Happy belated birthday to Ziyah Karmali!
Here are Linda’s latest social media notes.
Via Karen, an interesting article on campus journalists in Canada.
Here’s an Ode to CTV Morning Live by Jason Lee Norman.
Marty Forbes teases the return to Edmonton of “an old radio pal”. Any idea who he’s talking about?
In her latest social media column, Allison Salz explores online personas. I say, just keep the 1% rule in mind.
The next Capital Ideas Edmonton event takes place on January 22 at the Edmonton Journal.
Speaking of Capital Ideas, Karen posted two parts in a “looking back, looking ahead” series a couple weeks ago. Here’s part one, and here’s part two.
Another quick reminder about the ONA Yeg Conference taking place on February 22.
Are any of you still watching HBO’s The Newsroom? It’s third season, set to air this fall, will be the last.
Postmedia reported a loss of $11.8 million in the first quarter. Calgary has been hit hard lately, with production of the Herald being outsourced and a classifieds call centre being shutdown.

You can follow Edmonton media news on Twitter using the hashtag #yegmedia. For a great overview of the global media landscape, check out Mediagazer.

So, what have I missed? What’s new and interesting in the world of Edmonton media? Let me know!

You can see past Media Monday Edmonton entries here.

Edmonton Notes for 1/12/2014

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

A Theme Song for Edmonton

Via Omar, I came across this intriguing “theme song” for Edmonton.

Does anyone know anything about it?

Headlines

More ridiculous rhetoric from Alberta Premier Alison Redford on LRT funding this week. “At the end of the day, it’s not about me deciding whether the Southeast LRT is a priority for Edmonton.” Thing is, both Edmonton & Calgary have already decided that LRT is vital for their futures, and the reality is that having completed networks in both cities is vital for the future of the province too. But the cities can’t do it alone (or they would). When will the Province realize that?
“We need to have a grown-up conversation and review about amalgamation.” That’s what Edmonton Chamber of Commerce CEO James Cumming said in a speech at the Realtors Association of Edmonton conference this week. The comments drew quite a bit of criticism. St. Albert mayor Nolan Crouse, who is also chair of the Capital Region Board, said “I think it’s totally off-side for him to be meddling in capital region business.”
They’re back! Nominations are now open for the Edmonton New Media Awards, affectionately known as The Yeggies.
Edmonton is starting to warm up to winter festivals, says The Local Good.
EPS has released the Checkstop results for 2013: there were 1905 impaired driving charges and 848 roadside suspensions laid in 2013 by the Edmonton Police Service.
Icelandair starts scheduled service from Edmonton this spring, and to celebrate they are hosting YEG Hunt, a ticket giveaway on the streets of our city. Watch for them starting January 21.
This is neat: three solar lamps are going to be installed at the Stanley A. Milner library downtown to help those who suffer from a lack of sunlight exposure.
Here’s another innovation from Edmonton Transit – you can now get bus schedule information via email. Simply send an email to ETSLive@edmonton.ca with your stop number in the subject line.
Rough week to work for the Oilers organization (okay, okay, rough few years). First up, here’s an open letter to Mr. Katz at the Copper & Blue blog. “If your Pharmacy chain was consistently losing money, wouldn’t you reconsider who you had in your C-level positions?”
Second link is from David Staples: “No National Hockey League team has won less often in the last six years, the Daryl Katz ownership era in Edmonton, than the Oilers.”
Third we have a thoughtful piece by John MacKinnon: “And so, as the team struggles, the connection between the fans and the Oilers is not unlike the decrepit knee joint of an aged athlete, a bone-on-bone grating where the unkept promises of management meet the unrealized expectations of long-suffering fans.”
The Edmonton Police Service conducts a bi-annual Citizen Survey, and the latest edition is happening right now via random phone calls. The results will be presented in late spring.
Here’s a feature on Jaime Calayo, the graphic designer I linked to a few weeks ago that created the crests for each neighbourhood.
I meant to link to this a while back. Tamara wrote a post about Make Something Edmonton at the start of the year, and it stirred up a bit of controversy.
In case you missed it: lots of food news in Sharon’s weekly food notes!
Speaking of food, the deadline to submit a favorite for the 2014 Tomato Top 100 is January 25, so get on it!
Have someone to nominate for Avenue Edmonton’s annual Top 40 Under 40? Fill out the nomination form here!
Nominations are also open for the City of St. Albert’s Community Recognition Awards. The deadline is February 15.
As we approach the peak of the flu season, here’s an update from the Province: “nearly one million Albertans have been immunized at more than 1,800 locations, including pharmacies, doctors’ offices and influenza clinics.”

I love this photo of Jasper Avenue by David Sutherland

Upcoming Events

Head over to Startup Edmonton on Monday evening for the next Edmonton Python Meetup.
Justin Timberlake is in town with concerts both Monday and Tuesday evening!
EEDC’s annual Impact Luncheon takes place at the Shaw Conference Centre on Tuesday.
Wednesday is the 2014 edition of the Edmonton Whiskey Festival, supporting the MS Society of Canada, Alberta Division.
After winning both their season and home-openers against the Colorado Mammoth, the Edmonton Rush look to make it three straight wins when Calgary comes to town on Friday night.
The Edmonton Motorcycle Show kicks off on Friday and runs all weekend.
Cool event taking place on Saturday evening featuring the Sailin’ On food truck and lots of great local music!
Bridal Fantasy takes place on Sunday at the Edmonton Expo Centre.
For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

There’s still a lot of snow out there!

Embrace winter in Edmonton at Deep Freeze 2014

This year marks the 7th annual Deep Freeze: Byzantine Winter Festival on Alberta Avenue. It’s one of my favorite festivals of the year, and each iteration seems to get better and better.

The Deep Freeze Winter Festival is a free family event that brings together the Ukrainian, Franco-Albertan, Franco-African, First Nations, and Acadian/East Coast communities to revel in the magic and beauty of winter.

Sharon and I went down to check it out this afternoon and had a great time. It was relatively warm today, which meant that melting snow had made the roads quite mucky. By mid-afternoon it had started cooling down however, enough that a light snow could start to fall.

Here’s a short video to give you a taste of what to expect at Deep Freeze:

Nearly every event says it has “something for everyone” but at Deep Freeze, that’s really true!

Want to take a horse-drawn wagon ride? You can do that!

Want to roast hot dogs or taste some cabane a sucre? You can do that!

Want to play a little street hockey? You can do that!

Hockey isn’t your sport? No problem. How about curling? You can do that!

Want to check out the ice and snow sculptures? You can do that!

How about sledding? Or sliding? Or snowshoeing? Or skating? You can do all of that too!

Want to try your luck in a Deep Freezer Race? You can do that!

Are you a kid who needs to warm up? By the fire or indoors, you can do that!

Are you an adult who needs to warm up? By the fire, indoors, or with a shot of Baileys from the ice bar, you can do that!

Want to just walk around and enjoy the sights and sounds? You can do that!

There’s so much to see and do at Deep Freeze, you basically have no excuse for staying indoors. If you missed it today, you still have all of Sunday afternoon to head down to Alberta Avenue. For the love of winter, get out and enjoy the Deep Freeze Festival!

You can see more photos here. Be sure to follow @DeepFreezeYeg on Twitter too. If you like what you see, consider volunteering or donating for next year!

Edmonton Vaporware: The Arena District

Though the video game industry probably comes to mind first when you hear the term vaporware, it is increasingly being used to describe announcements and predictions that never come to pass in other industries too. Like construction. The construction of, for instance, big “transformative” projects that will unfold over a number of years. Sound familiar?

As you know, Edmonton’s shiny new downtown arena is being funded in part through a Community Revitalization Levy (CRL). The idea is that “projects funded by the CRL spark new developments, and property values rise on existing developments.” From the beginning, the arena was sold to Edmontonians as a catalyst for additional downtown development. It was clear that additional development would be part of the success of any deal. Here’s what the Katz Group’s Bob Black told the Journal in February 2010:

“In order for citizens of the city to have a reasonable assurance that the community revitalization levy debt will be retired by the city, then you have to have that collateral development.”

Even earlier than that, in September 2009, the Downtown Business Association’s Jim Taylor was arguing for ensuring that surrounding development took place:

“Somebody has to say that they’re building a casino or a hotel there, and you don’t get any money from the CRL unless those projects are part of it. So that funding is only available if those projects are there. It’s not, ‘We’ll do a CRL and hope that those projects are there. It’s: ‘The CRL is not available, the money is not borrowed, unless those specific developments are there too.'”

Of course, he and many other business leaders softened their stance over the years and no such requirement was ever put in place. In fact, I’d say the volume about what would be built was turned up, though details and commitments were always lacking.

In January 2011, U of A provost Carl Amrhein talked about the creation of “a university village” for student housing as part of the district. Also that month, local realtor Terry Paranych said if the arena goes ahead, he’d “build two condo towers, one 40 storeys, one 50 storeys.”

In December 2012, the Katz Group and its partner WAM Development Group stopped talking about individual projects and promised something much grander:

“If a new arena is approved, the Katz Group and partner WAM Development Group hope to push ahead this spring with $2-billion worth of nearby development, including 28 and 32-storey office towers. Plans also include two 35-storey or taller condominium highrises, a 10-storey condo building, a 26-storey luxury hotel and other commercial space along with a proposed open-air Oilers Plaza.”

Another article discussed potential tenants:

“Main anchor tenants are expected to include a VIP theatre complex, a grocery store and the headquarters of a major telecommunications company, according to a 60-page overview of the district by the Katz Group and partner WAM Development Group.”

Yet despite all the hype, there have been no commitments. It’s all just talk. Just vaporware.

In March 2011, the Journal’s Gary Lamphier made this clear:

“Not a single other developer has been willing to publicly commit hard cash toward the project. Despite recent talk from the city’s chief financial officer about proposed hotels, a casino and other projects, she hasn’t identified a single one by name. I’ve talked to roughly a dozen developers, consultants and commercial real estate brokers over the past 15 months in an attempt to flush out anyone who is willing to stand up and be counted as a participant in the arena redevelopment. I haven’t found one.”

The arena deal was finally approved, but still there have been zero commitments. And so we find ourselves in January 2014, clinging to the hope that a new tower for City of Edmonton employees will finally kickstart the development:

“Jim Taylor, executive director of the Downtown Business Association, said putting up an office tower a block from the arena would likely stimulate other development.”

Avison Young’s Cory Wosnack is even more optimistic:

“If WAM and Katz Group are successful (with the office tower proposal) — and I believe there will be an announcement within days — then the hotel deal can be announced, the retail can be announced and the domino effects begin.”

Is anyone still buying this nonsense?

Rogers Place

Perhaps the worst part about the proposed tower is that municipally-owned or leased properties do not pay property tax. Which means that all or most of the tower would not contribute to a lift in taxes within the CRL boundary. That land could have been used for a revenue-generating property instead, one that would actually help to pay down the CRL debt.

What about the Ultima Tower, you say? It was going to go ahead with or without the arena. What about the proposed, 71-story Edmontonian tower? Like the Aurora project before it, The Edmontonian has been vaporware since at least 2007, so there’s no reason to expect anything different now.

We’re being played, and the sad thing is, we’ve seen this story before.

In the world of video games, some have managed to shed their vaporware status and go on to be quite successful. Maybe that should give us hope that the arena district in Edmonton can do the same. Maybe there really is a master plan and an order in which these projects will unfold. But I’m not holding my breath.

UPDATE 2: There was some confusion about the paragraph above on taxation, as you’ll see in the comments below. I received clarification from the City. If the City of Edmonton leases space inside a building owned by a private entity, the space leased by the City is exempt from taxation. The remainder would be assessed and taxed as any other property would be.

My coffee consumption went up in 2013

In 2012 I started tracking how many lattes I was drinking (among other things). At the end of the year, I posted the results. As mentioned in that post, I drink at least a mug of black coffee every morning (usually more like two) so I don’t bother tracking that. I still don’t, but I have kept track of my latte consumption for 2013!

I drank 158 lattes in 2013, up from 120 in 2012. That’s an average of just over 3 lattes per week. I did my best to record diligently and while I’m sure I missed a few, that’s probably fairly accurate. For simplicity, I tracked iced lattes and frappuccino’s as lattes too.

Here are my top ten lattes by number consumed:

Credo Vanilla Latte (45)
Starbucks Caramel Macchiato (22)
Starbucks Cinnamon Dolce Latte (15)
Roast Vanilla Latte (11)
Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte (8)
Starbucks Caramel Frappuccino (7)
Second Cup Caramel Corretto (5)
Starbucks Eggnog Latte (5)
Credo Iced Vanilla Latte (4)
Transcend Vanilla Latte (3)

I spread things about a bit more in 2013 with 36 different drinks versus 29 in 2012. Here’s a look at my consumption over the year:

And here’s a look at which days of the week I was most likely to indulge on:

I also started tracking how much tea I drank in 2013 (though not by brand). If I drink tea, it’s almost always in the evening. In 2013, I did that about 126 times. Here’s the breakdown of type:

Last year I wrote that many of my lattes represented “an opportunity to sit down and chat with someone”. Based on my records, about half of those lattes were likely consumed in the company of someone else. Maybe one of my 2014 lattes will be with you?

Media Monday Edmonton: Update #96

Here’s my latest update on local media stuff:

Harvard Broadcasting announced a new format and brand for CKEA-FM, switching from Lite 95.7 to 95.7 CRUZ FM. Their gimmick is that they guarantee no repeat songs all day long, and they’ll pay $10,000 if you catch them breaking the rule. Here’s how the press release introduced the new format:

“95.7 CRUZ FM is playing Great Music, ALL the time! Whether it’s Classic Rock, Classic Hits, Mainstream Rock, Pop, Pop/ Rock or New Wave from the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and 2000’s……music that was popular when you were!”

CKEA-FM originally launched on September 6, 2010 as 95.7 The Sound, and switched to Lite 95.7 on March 25, 2011.
Here’s what Gig City had to say about the switch.
CJSR 88.5 FM is celebrating its 30th anniversary tomorrow by broadcasting all day from City Hall. Stop by and say hi to them!
Here are the top stories of 2013 from AlbertaVenture.com.
Venture Publishing is being criticized for failing to pay freelancers in both the body and comments of this post. So far it appears there has been no response from the company.
Edmontonian Marty Schwartz is tackling the daunting task of writing 1000 words a day for 1000 days. His final entry should be posted on September 26, 2014. Check out the project here and follow him on Twitter as @the1000words.
Here is Linda’s latest roundup of social media links.
Believe it or not, HOT 107 FM is going to try to break the Guinness World Record for “Most People Twerking Simultaneously”. The current record is 358 people. The attempt will take place on January 25 at Casino Yellowhead.
The Edmonton chapter of the Online News Association is organizing a conference in February that will offer “workshops on how to keep your online documents secure, becoming social media savvy, what you need to know about Internet law as well as investigative techniques.”
Global Edmonton’s Jennifer Crosby got married this fall, and her wedding was profiled in the Journal. Congrats Jennifer!
Cam Tait argues that “Sportsnet falls behind the ball” when it comes to between-period coverage. I’ve heard many say the same thing since the blockbuster NHL rights deal was announced.
This link is old, but I wanted to mention it: Edmonton was the setting for Apple’s new TV commercial. Not that you can tell.
Looking for something different? Alberta Canola Producers is looking for a Communications Coordinator.
Story Chaser, Kevin Kossowan’s food & ag-centric video production company is going to be doing a project in Shanghai. Congrats!

Here’s Kevin speaking at Pecha Kucha in 2011

Great question from Darren: Why don’t we care where image macros and GIFs come from? Especially as media companies like BuzzFeed are making a lot of money from them.
This is really funny and scary at the same time: The best and worst media errors and corrections in 2013.
I thought the New York Times editorial supporting Edward Snowden was fantastic. Here’s a good overview of some of the fallout.
Don’t miss this if you run a Twitter account: lessons from the New York Times social media desk.
Here’s an interesting theory for local news organizations: Mobile offers local media a digital do-over.
Since this is a blog you’re reading, I thought it would be appropriate to link to this thought-provoking piece by Jason Kottke: The blog is dead, long live the blog.

You can follow Edmonton media news on Twitter using the hashtag #yegmedia. For a great overview of the global media landscape, check out Mediagazer.

So, what have I missed? What’s new and interesting in the world of Edmonton media? Let me know!

You can see past Media Monday Edmonton entries here.

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A Theme Song for Edmonton

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