Tag: awards

Avenue Edmonton’s Top 40 Under 40 for 2016

Tonight, Avenue Edmonton unveiled their latest cohort of Top 40 Under 40 honorees at the Royal Alberta Museum. This is the eighth year that the magazine has recognized amazing young Edmontonians doing great things in our city.

“Really, the fact that each annual list features so many people with new perspectives, ideas and causes is a tribute to how Edmonton incubates those who like to strike out on their own. We are a city of entrepreneurs and people unencumbered by worrying about what others think of us.”

“This year’s class is another exciting and eclectic mix of business leaders, philanthropists, doctors, scientists, fashionistas, artists and visionaries. They’ve all accomplished great things before they’ve hit their 40th birthdays. We can’t wait to see what they will do next.”

After including everyone on the cover last year, the magazine returns in 2016 to featuring a single honoree, Sylvia Soo:

Sylvia Soo

Here’s the Top 40 for 2016 and where you can find them online (in alphabetical order):

Congratulations to everyone who was recognized this year! I look forward to learning more about this new group of Top 40 alumni. You can read the November 2016 issue online here.

top 40 under 40

There were five judges who worked to determine this year’s cohort:

  • Trudy Callaghan, Avenue Edmonton Associate Publisher
  • Carolyn Campbell, Deputy City Manager, Communications & Engagement, City of Edmonton
  • Ken Crocker, Assistant Dean, Advancement at University of Alberta School of Business
  • David Jones, Sergeant, Edmonton Police
  • Dave Mowat, CEO, ATB Financial

Nominations for 2017 are open here and the deadline to nominate someone is April 30, 2017. Keep an eye on this page for updates. You can also follow Avenue Edmonton on Twitter.

Want to see who made the list in past years? Check out my posts from 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015.

Celebrating mediocrity: the new Centennial Plaza wins an Urban Design Award

Edmonton’s 2015 Urban Design Awards recognized “the memorable urban places that make up a great city” on Friday. Among the winners was the new Centennial Plaza1, the large open square that was built alongside the redeveloped Federal Building. The plaza was recognized for Excellence in the Civic Design Projects category.

Federal Building Centennial Plaza

You’ve probably spent some time visiting the plaza this year, perhaps to admire the colorfully lit fountains in person. I like the fountains as much as anyone, but there’s no way this project should be winning awards. Here’s why.

Over-promised, under-delivered

I’m sure you’re aware that the Province “saved” $10 million on the Federal Building renovations, a project which ballooned to $375 million anyway. They did that by quietly scrapping a number of planned features, including what was meant to be the primary attraction for the plaza – an outdoor skating rink. They also cancelled the planned Zamboni purchase, but decided to keep the garage as a storage facility. Also removed was planned landscaping, some of the fountains, and other features. This was all decided back in April 2013 without any public consultation or even communication.

As Dave wrote back in January:

“It is a shame the PC Government chose to, more than a year ago and in secret, axe the elements of the renovated Federal Building and the Legislature Grounds that could have become a destination for the general public and an important part of the revitalization that is happening in downtown Edmonton. Hopefully they will see the error of this short-sighted decision and re-introduce the public elements in future renovations. Our Legislature Grounds are beautiful and we should be striving to create new ways to make it a more vibrant gathering spot for Albertans.”

As it stands, the plaza is little more than an open space to walk through.

Not event friendly

Though I think Edmonton has more than enough large open squares as it is, with one more under construction at Rogers Place and another under consideration with the Galleria project, the Federal Building plaza could have been a great venue for events. We thought it could have been a great location for What the Truck?! but had to settle for the streets adjacent to the square instead. There are two reasons for that.

First, the Province has historically been extremely reluctant to open the Legislature grounds to outside events. You can show up to protest, but not to enjoy the grounds as part of another event. Unless of course the Province organizes it themselves, as with the Canada Day celebrations. There are signs this is changing and we did have some productive conversations this summer that make me optimistic that the rules will change, but I’ll believe it when I see it.

Second, whether it’s true or not, I keep hearing repeatedly that the porous granite in the plaza is a problem that prevents vehicles, food trucks, and some other types of activities from taking place in the square. Churchill Square is going to be closed for the summer of 2017 (at least) due to LRT construction, so events like Taste of Edmonton are going to need to find a new home. The new Centennial Plaza seemed like a great location to fill the gap, and to keep those events downtown, but that may not be possible.

It’s like they intentionally designed the plaza so that it couldn’t be used for events. Issues like a surface that is too porous or difficult to clean should have been considered – the City has been dealing with similar issues in Churchill Square ever since it was redesigned into its current form. There’s a lot of experience and knowledge about squares locally that could have been tapped into for the design of the new Centennial Plaza.

On top of all that, the plaza is not even done! The public washrooms remain locked, taunting everyone who walks by.

Edmonton is a Winter City

But the biggest issue I have with the new Centennial Plaza winning an Urban Design Award in Edmonton is that it clearly was not designed with winter in mind. At least not since the skating rink was scrapped. That’s just inexcusable in a Winter City.

Federal Building Centennial Plaza

The fountains have long since been capped with metal covers, blocking not only the water but also the lights. The large open space offers little shelter from the wind or snow (and if they’re worried about vehicles damaging the surface, are they even going to keep it cleared?). And these are just the basics. Forget “experimentation with innovative, climate-oriented urban design” as Edmonton’s WinterCity Strategy calls for. Here’s what the strategy outlines as a possible way to design a winter-friendly space:

wintercity design

Doesn’t that picture look suspiciously similar to the plaza in terms of layout? Yet it’s so different in every other way. There’s such potential in the plaza for some of those winter design elements! Instead, we get pylons.

“It’s as much about attitude as it is about latitude. Winter cities have found ways of embracing and falling in love with winter. They use winter as an inspiration for designing public spaces and buildings, as a motivation for recreation and celebrations; they’re cities that share the wonders of winter with the world.” – Carol Neuman

It’s a shame. Where’s the winter equivalent of the illuminated fountains that caused such a stir over the summer?

Urban Design Awards

The Urban Design Awards take place every two years. As mentioned, the new Centennial Plaza won in the Civic Design Projects category:

“This category of award will recognize a civic improvement project such as a park, a public space, civil engineering or environmental infrastructure, street furniture and lighting elements, etc., which have been implemented as the result of an urban design plan or initiative.”

The “primary criteria for assessing the merit of the plan” included:

  • Compatibility with the urban plan
  • Positive contribution to the public realm
  • Design excellence
  • Demonstration of the value of urban design by showing how the urban design plan/initiative directed and influenced the space or the objects

That’s it. Nothing about how it might be used or importantly, when it might be used. Should there be criteria for winter? In Edmonton, probably yes. Let’s hope this can be considered for 2017.

Better, but still room for improvement

It’s true that Edmonton’s urban design has made great strides in recent years. I’m thrilled that the Borden Park Pavilion and Vaulted Willow both won awards on Friday, for instance. But we still have a long way to go, especially when it comes to winter. We shouldn’t be celebrating mediocrity along the way.

  1. Will the real Centennial Plaza please stand up? I guess it’s a small thing, but I’ve always been annoyed that they called the new square Centennial Plaza. We already have a Centennial Plaza – the small square between the Stanley Milner library and the Westin Edmonton. It’s far from perfect and suffers from some poor historical design decisions, but it could soon see a renovation of its own when the Stanley Milner library gets an overhaul. ↩

Avenue Edmonton’s Top 40 Under 40 for 2015

Tonight, Avenue Edmonton unveiled their latest cohort of Top 40 Under 40 honorees at the Edmonton EXPO Centre. This is the seventh year that the magazine has recognized amazing young Edmontonians doing great things in our city.

“They are our educators, innovators and entrepreneurs. They rule the C-suite and both the corporate and volunteer boardrooms. Whether in the arts, non-profits, oil and gas, law, finance or medicine, they are doing more and doing it better and faster. That’s what makes them the 2015 class of Top 40 Under 40.”

The event was emceed by Global Edmonton’s Emily Mertz and was even livestreamed using Periscope.

top 40 under 40 for 2015

Here’s the Top 40 for 2015 and where you can find them online (in alphabetical order):

Congratulations to everyone who was recognized this year! I look forward to learning more about this new group of Top 40 alumni.

top 40 under 40 for 2015

The annual Top 40 issue is always one of Avenue Edmonton’s biggest, and this year they’ve gone in a different direction with the cover. Unlike past editions which featured just one member of the Top 40, this year the cover will feature all 40 honorees.

There were five judges who worked to determine this year’s cohort:

  • Don Iveson, Mayor
  • Linda Huffman, Arts Habitat Edmonton Executive Director
  • Trudy Callaghan, Avenue Edmonton Associate Publisher
  • Tina Thomas, EPL Director Marketing & Fund Development
  • Brad Ferguson, EEDC CEO

Nominations for 2016 aren’t open just yet, but keep an eye on this page for updates. You can also follow Avenue Edmonton on Twitter.

Want to see who made the list in past years? Check out my posts from 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014.

Recap: 2014 Yeggies

On Saturday night at La Cité francophone the 2014 Edmonton New Media Awards, better known as the Yeggies, were handed out. This was our third annual event and with over 300 nominations across 16 categories, there was a lot of really excellent work to highlight! About 200 Edmontonians filled the room to help celebrate some of our city’s best online content creators.

If you’re reading this blog I’d say it’s a safe bet that you know what the Yeggies are about, but just in case:

“The Edmonton New Media Awards, or the Yeggies, is an annual awards show created to recognize and celebrate outstanding social media content creators in the capital region. It’s an awards show to highlight some of the amazing talent we have here in Edmonton — from people who code websites themselves, to those who write, speak, draw, all on their own time. Yeggies recipients inspire, evoke, inform, educate and entertain us, and they do it because they have a passion for it.”

As you may have heard, Edmonton has a vibrant and strong social media community. The Yeggies are an opportunity to highlight the work being done and to say thanks for providing interesting content for us to enjoy. Not to mention it’s a fun evening of networking, catching up with friends, and putting faces to the Twitter names!

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Adam and Trent were our emcees for the evening and I thought they did a great job. You might say they crossed the line once or twice, but I thought they were hilarious and kept the show running at a great pace! We went with a Back to the Future theme this year, given that 2015 is a very special year in the trilogy. Sadly no one dressed up in Doc Brown’s white radiation suit or Marty McFly’s orange vest, but as has become custom at the Yeggies, most people embraced the “cocktail comfy” dress code. It was a good looking crowd!

We had a very funny standup performance by local comedian Liam Creswick to start the second half of the show. DJ Polyesterday provided the perfect ambiance to the evening. There was food from Cafe Bicyclette, and the bar featured a special “#iheartyeg” cocktail.

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From the full list of nominees, 90 were shortlisted. Our panel of judges then had the difficult task of choosing the winners, based on the quality of their work, their impact on Edmonton, and their ability to build community, among other factors.

Here are the winners for 2014, in order of awarding:

It was great to see so many of the winners in attendance this year. Congratulations to all of the nominees and winners!

I thought Phil Wilson, aka Baconhound, had two great speeches. He acknowledged the loss of BT Edmonton, noting that many people in the room had probably been given a leg up thanks to that show and the great people behind it. And in accepting his award for Best Twitter Persona, Phil recognized the huge impact that Marty Chan has had on Twitter over the last few months, especially during the hashtag election.

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We’ve often joked about having a special lifetime achievement award, but this year it actually made sense to hand one out. Dave Cournoyer has been blogging for more than ten years now at Daveberta.ca, an incredible milestone, and without question he has had a huge impact on Edmonton and Alberta. He’s the go-to source for political news and analysis and for good reason. Dave talked about how he almost gave up on blogging until the Ed Stelmach domain name debacle launched him into the spotlight. I’m glad he kept it up!

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I want to thank the volunteers who helped us out during the show, including Carol, Julie, Lindsey, and Sharon. We couldn’t have done it without you! Thank you also to our sponsors for helping to make the evening a success: TELUS, EEDC, Kiwi Productions, Northlands, EIA, Copy City, All About Flowers, Oodle Noodle, Focus Communications, and ACME Meat Market.

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You can see the full set of photos from the evening here. Thank you Nanc Price for the incredible photos!

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram to find out when nominations for the 2015 Yeggies open and for details about the 2016 event!

Recap: 2015 Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts

The 28th annual Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts took place last night at the Winspear Centre. This was the second event under Mayor Don Iveson and he seemed to be having just as much fun this year as last! He got in on the break-dancing to start the evening and also joined The Wet Secrets on stage to close out the show. This was also a big year for the Professional Arts Coalition of Edmonton, which produces the show. PACE has both a new visual identity and for the first time, an Executive Director (Sheiny Satanove).

2015 Mayor's Celebration of the Arts
Hey Ladies in front of the Production World screen featuring art by Jason Carter

The evening was hosted by Leona Brausen, Cathleen Rootsaert, and Davina Stewart, the trio behind the comedy show Hey Ladies which “celebrates Edmonton artists, local businesses, and other home-grown phenomenon.” They’ve called the Roxy Theatre on 124 Street home for the past eight years, so it was fitting to have them as emcees given that this year’s event supported Theatre Network. You can find Hey Ladies at the ATB Financial Arts Barns this season. I thought they did a great job as hosts, bringing just the right amount of energy and humor to keep things humming along!

The Awards

The full list of nominees is available at the PACE website. Here are the winners:

Mayor’s Award for Innovative Support by a Business of the Arts
Happy Harbor Comics, nominated by Jeff Martin

Mayor’s Award for Sustained Support of the Arts
Audrey’s Books, nominated by LitFest and the Alberta Book Fair Society

John Poole Award for Promotion of the Arts
Alexis Marie Chute, nominated by Wes Lafortune

ATB Financial Ambassador of the Arts Award
Rapid Fire Theatre, nominated by the Rapid Fire Theatre Board of Directors

ATCO Gas Award for Outstanding Lifetime Achievement
The Honourable Tommy Banks

CN Award for Youth Artist
Kieran MacDonald, nominated by Victoria School of the Arts

DIALOG Award for Excellence in Artistic Direction
Amy Shostak, nominated by Christopher Samuel

Mile Zero Dance Progressive Artist Award
Paul Freeman, nominated by the Nina Haggerty Centre for the Arts

Northlands Award for an Emerging Artist
Ahmed Knowmadic, nominated by Muna Saleh

The 2015 Robert Kroetch City of Edmonton Book Prize
Rudy Wiebe for Come Back published by Penguin Random House Canada

Syncrude Award for Excellence in Arts Management
Karen Brown-Fournell, nominated by Christine DeWitt

TELUS Courage to Innovate Award
Amber Borotsik, nominated by Ben Sures

Congratulations to all the nominees and winners!

Tommy Banks is of course no stranger to Edmontonians and last night he was recognized for his “outstanding contribution to the arts in Edmonton.” He’s won several awards over his career (including a Juno and a Gemini), is a member of the Edmonton Cultural Hall of Fame, is a recipient of the Alberta Order of Excellence, and is an Officer of the Order of Canada. In addition to a short video about his accomplishments, we were treated to a couple of songs by the man himself.

2015 Mayor's Celebration of the Arts

One of the first things Mayor Iveson said on stage was how honored he was to be in the same building as Tommy Banks. It was fitting then that when Banks took the stage later in the evening to perform, he called out Mayor Iveson as hip and “probably the only mayor in the whole country” who would try to break-dance on stage!

The Entertainment

The evening’s entertainment lineup, sponsored by Qualico Communities, included:

And in the lobby, guests enjoyed art by Jennie Vegt and Jeff Collins, curated by The Works.

2015 Mayor's Celebration of the Arts

All of the performances were great but just like last year, I was particularly impressed by Mary Pinkoski. I thought the addition of Eva Foote and dancers Jeannie and Jodie Vandekerkhove nicely elevated her slam poetry. DJ CreeAsian brought a fun vibe to the evening and, combined with the incredible moves of Rhythm Speaks, opened the show with a lot of energy. I really enjoyed The Wet Secrets and Capital City Burlesque at the end of the night, even though it was probably a bit loud for some in the audience. Le Fuzz are no strangers to the Mayor’s Celebration and this year they provided the entertainment in the lobby after the show.

Other Thoughts

Was it just me or was there a very noticeable Make Something Edmonton undercurrent to the evening? Perhaps undercurrent is the wrong word as the term “maker” was used more than once throughout the event. It was in the speeches and it was in the art too, with Mary Pinkoski and Eva Foote’s performance and the snippet of Birdie on the Wrong Bus being the most overt. I’m not complaining – I love the newfound confidence that seems to be permeating Edmonton lately. Last night was just another example.

This was the second year for Catch the Keys Productions and they continue to take the event in new and interesting directions. Congrats to Megan and Beth on another excellent evening! The program had a good consistent pace even though more time was given this year to talk about the nominees (which I really appreciated). Elm Cafe was again brought in to cater snacks in the lobby (the fennel brown butter and garam masala popcorn was amazing) along with macarons from Duchess Bake Shop. I’m not sure the attendance was as strong as past years, and that’s too bad because it really was a great show!

For more photos from the evening, check out Diversity Magazine. You can read last year’s recap here.

See you at the 2016 Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts!

Recap: Best Bar None 2014

Last week I attended the fifth annual awards ceremony for Best Bar None. This year, 53 local bars, clubs, pubs, and lounges received accreditation, which means they are committed to ensuring their locations are held to the highest levels of safety and quality. While receiving accreditation is an achievement itself, the best of the best in six different categories were also honored with an award.

Best Bar None 2014

The winners for 2014 were (pdf news release here):

You can find the full list of accredited venues here.

Most of the accredited businesses had representatives present at the ceremony, and they all seemed to be having a great time. There was definitely some friendly rivalries going on, especially for the Club category, which The Ranch has won three times in a row now. Another frequent winner in previous years was Hudson’s Canadian Tap House.

Best Bar None 2014
Accredited & awarded businesses in the Club category

I’ve always heard about Best Bar None, but didn’t know much about it until I attended the awards ceremony this year. Here’s the description from their website:

“There’s good, there’s great, and there’s best. Best Bar None is a voluntary program for nightlife venues, designed to keep staff and patrons safe while recognizing excellence in the industry. Working with other establishments, government bodies, and law enforcement, a Best Bar None accredited establishment has taken steps to make sure their business is held to the highest levels of safety and quality. Through rigorous assessment, accreditation and awards, Best Bar None helps make sure your favourite nightlife venues have you covered.”

Becoming accredited means submitting written policies and procedures that cover all mandatory policies, completing mandatory operational forms and checklists, passing an in-person assessment, and completing a questionnaire. Businesses must have a wide range of policies, such as a glass collection policy and a written procedure for premises evacuation in the event of an emergency. For those venues that go above an beyond, there are a series of bonus policies they can submit, such as having a policy to provide surveillance camera images and data to police immediately upon request. During the physical assessment, venues must meet 19 different criteria, with an additional 22 criteria available for bonus points. You can see the complete criteria checklist online here in PDF.

Best Bar None 2014

The program is a partnership between the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission (AGLC), the City of Edmonton, and the Edmonton Police Service (EPS). Originally created in the U.K., the Alberta Safer Bars Council brought the program to Edmonton for a pilot in 2010. Of the 63 establishments that applied for accreditation that year, 38 were successful. Since being piloted here in Edmonton, the Best Bar None program has since been adopted in Calgary, Grande Prairie, Toronto, and Ottawa, with many other municipalities looking to start their own programs.

At the City of Edmonton, the Best Bar None program is administered by Responsible Hospitality Edmonton. They are stewards of Edmonton’s late-night economy, affectionately known as “the other 9 to 5”. It’s bigger than you might think too, with more than 5,800 full-time equivalent jobs, 235 licensed establishments open after midnight, and an estimated total impact on economic output of $686 million. In addition to their work on Best Bar None, Responsible Hospitality also runs the Public Safety Compliance Team and Street as a Venue programs.

You might think the Best Bar None program is for those in the industry only and not of interest to patrons, but that’s not true. Surveys show that 90% of patrons believe bar managers can do things to make their venues safer and 80% rate safety as being important when considering which locations to attend. I have certainly noticed the sticker on windows more frequently when I walk past establishments now, and it’s helpful to know that those locations have met a minimum standard.

AGLC has produced some new commercials that make this point as well, with their slogan “we’ve got you covered”:

Thanks to AGLC for inviting me to the event, and congratulations to all of the accredited and awarded businesses! You can see the rest of my photos here.

You can follow Best Bar None on Twitter for updates.

Avenue Edmonton’s Top 40 Under 40 for 2014

top40Tonight, Avenue Edmonton unveiled their latest cohort of Top 40 Under 40 honorees at the TELUS World of Science. This is the sixth year that the magazine has recognized amazing young Edmontonians doing great things in our city.

“Every year, Avenue magazine recognizes Capital Region’s most exceptional young community leaders. The Top 40 Under 40 list honours individuals under the age of 40 who are excelling in their careers, giving back to the community and raising the profile of Edmonton.”

The event was emceed by Global Edmonton’s Gord Steinke who told attendees, “let’s swagger tonight!”

Here’s the Top 40 for 2014 and where you can find them online (in alphabetical order):

Congratulations to everyone who was recognized this year! I look forward to learning more about this new group of Top 40 alumni.

On the cover this year is Robin Mazumder, who is also a Make Something Edmonton board member. Inside the magazine, you’ll find a neat interior cover too. Apparently this issue is the biggest one Avenue Edmonton has ever released.

Nominations for 2015 aren’t open just yet, but keep an eye on this page for updates. You can learn more by reading the FAQ.

Want to see who made the list in past years? Check out my posts from 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013.

Recap: TEC VenturePrize 2014

Local entrepreneurs were celebrated tonight at the 12th annual TEC VenturePrize awards celebration in Hall D at the Shaw Conference Centre. More than $200,000 in prizes were handed out to the nine finalists across three competitions!

TEC VenturePrize 2014

Here’s what VenturePrize is all about:

“You have a business idea, but don’t necessarily have the business training to launch your company. The more you brainstorm about transforming your vision into a venture, the more questions you have. What are the legal issues with creating a company? Where is the financing going to come from? Am I targeting the right market? Find out by participating in the TEC VenturePrize business plan competition.”

It’s a great opportunity for participants to make connections with investors and other entrepreneurs, to learn more about what it takes to run a business, and to gain valuable insight from experienced mentors.

TEC VenturePrize 2014

Our host for the evening was Ryan Jespersen from BT Edmonton. Premier Dave Hancock opened the event bringing greetings on behalf of the Province, followed by TEC Edmonton CEO Chris Lumb who brought opening remarks and also presented the Recognition Award to Bob Teskey. His acceptance speech was about twelve seconds long, which helped to contribute to a timely program that finished slightly ahead of schedule.

“Bob envisioned and designed the TEC Edmonton structure: an unincorporated Joint Venture to create strong commitment among Joint Venture partners, enable the University and City ti work together in unique ways, and build linkages between university and community.

This award is presented in recognition of Bob’s role in growing a strong Edmonton, through his outstanding ability to forge institutional partnerships.”

Mayor Iveson was the next speaker. He talked about the changing energy in Edmonton, and said “it’s getting easier to make an idea reality in this city.” Mayor Iveson stayed on stage to help interview the three student competition finalists: AlieoGames, Livi Design, and Smart Count Health. All three were from the University of Alberta!

TEC VenturePrize 2014

This year TELUS came on board to sponsor the first ever ICT Competition at VenturePrize. We heard pitches from the three finalists: It’s Date Night, MyMenu, and Zayfti. You can learn more about each one at TEC Edmonton. Given the ridiculous state of online restaurant menus, I really hope that Edmonton-based MyMenu is successful in its quest to help diners with dietary restrictions. It’ll be tough to get restaurants to upload menus though when so many don’t even keep their own sites up-to-date!

TEC VenturePrize 2014

Since 2002, the Fast Growth competition has awarded more than $1.5 million to Alberta-based entrepreneurs to help them grow their companies, an impressive number of which are still operating! The finalists in this year’s competition were:

Belgravia Tech Inc.

“BTI has created a safe, reliable, and cost effective alternative to a nuclear reactor-generated medical isotope vital for timely diagnosis and management of patient treatment for many major health issues, including cancer and heart problems. BTI’s unique technology is well positioned to fill this critical need and provide healthcare organizations with the means to offer quality care for heart and cancer patients worldwide.”

Localize Services Inc.

“Localize in an Edmonton-based company that helps tell the stories behind the foods we all love. Their unique grocery-shelf labeling service rapidly collects and conveys product information to consumers, making it easy for grocers anywhere to launch local, regional, and domestic food campaigns in their stores. These smartphone-enabled tags and unique “Localize scores” empower shoppers to quickly learn the who, what, where, and how behind thousands of products on grocery shelves across Canada.”

Tactalis

“Tactalis develops amazing tactile tablet computer systems that help people who are blind or visually impaired to explore, create and share images and digital media that they cannot see. Each of their award winning products has a unique touch sensitive interface and embedded tactile display that lets users touch and feel physical representations of features, symbols and graphics on an LCD screen.”

All very interesting companies with great elevator pitches! I think the work that Localize is doing is really important and they delivered a really clear message to the audience this evening. Tactalis has such an interesting product – think of it like braille for the digital era. I can see a huge market for what they’re doing!

TEC VenturePrize 2014

Up next was the keynote speaker, Dianne Buckner. She spoke about the art of the pitch, giving the judges an opportunity to leave the room to make their final deliberations. As the host of CBC’s Dragon’s Den and as a member of the Business Team at CBC News, Dianne knows a thing or two about pitching. Her advice tonight? Do tell a story, don’t let a “dragon” discourage you, do align your goals with those of the person you’re pitching, and don’t be afraid to talk about your weaknesses. She also said to keep in mind that the first thing you’re pitching is always yourself – if they aren’t interested in you or don’t think you’re competent, why would they be interested in your product or service?

TEC VenturePrize 2014

Finally, it was time to find out the winners!

Edmonton Journal People’s Choice Award
Localize Services Inc., with 59.5% of the vote

TEC VenturePrize Student Business Plan Award
AlieoGames

VenturePrize TELUS Information & Communication Technology Award
MyMenu

TEC VenturePrize Fast Growth Grand Prize Award
Localize Services Inc.

It was a big night for Startup Edmonton, as all of the winners and many of the finalists had a connection in some form or another to the organization. It’s great to see the continued positive momentum behind entrepreneurship in Edmonton!

TEC VenturePrize 2014

Congratulations to Localize and to all of the participants, finalists, and winners! Thanks to TEC Edmonton for providing me with a seat tonight to capture the action. You can see more photos from the evening here.

Recap: 2014 Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts

The 27th annual Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts took place last night at the Winspear Centre. It was the first for Don Iveson as mayor, and he seemed to enjoy the opportunity, telling the audience, “I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t one of the reasons I wanted to be mayor.” He made a point of shaking every winner and performer’s hand on stage, and happily snapped photos with and high-fived other nominees and guests in the lobby before and after the show. He even took out his phone while on stage and said, “it’s not an awards show without a selfie!”

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js This year’s event supported the Music Enrichment Program, which provides stringed music and orchestral lessons to children across the city. The non-profit organization first began in 1959, and today is administered by the Edmonton String Players Association. Here’s a sample of the work of some of their students:

Here’s an excerpt from Mayor Iveson’s message in the program:

“This yearly event brings together artists, businesses, media and many others to celebrate our city’s finest artistic talent. Supporting our arts scene is integral to making Edmonton a diverse, vibrant place to live, and I congratulate tonight’s nominees for contributing to our city’s dynamism and quality of life.”

The evening was hosted by Bridget Ryan and Mark Meer, a wonderful pair that kept things moving with humor and energy throughout. Behind them was an incredible stage built by Production World which featured original artwork by Jason Blower. The best part is that it was animated!

2014 Mayor's Celebration of the Arts

The full list of nominees is available at the PACE website. Here are the winners:

Mayor’s Award for Innovative Support by a Business of the Arts
Capital Power Corporation, nominated by Art Gallery of Alberta

Mayor’s Award for Sustained Support of the Arts
Steven LePoole, nominated by Alberta Baroque Music Society

John Poole Award for Promotion of the Arts
CJSR FM 88.5, nominated by Ramparts Entertainment

ATB Financial Ambassador of the Arts Award
Prairie Dog Film + Television, nominated by Jesse Szymanski

ATCO Gas Award for Outstanding Lifetime Achievement
Douglas D. Barry, nominated by Dr. Adiranna Davies CM

CN Award for Youth Artist
Rebecca Lappa, nominated by Martha Livingstone

DIALOG Award for Excellence in Artistic Direction
Ron E. Scott, nominated by Jesse Szymanski

Northlands Award for an Emerging Artist
Doug Organ, nominated by Chris Szott

The 2014 Robert Kroetch City of Edmonton Book Prize
Selected Poems, by Tim Bowling

Syncrude Award for Excellence in Arts Management
Dave Cunningham, nominated by Film and Visual Arts Society

TELUS Courage to Innovate Award
Darcia Parada, nominated by Jodine Chase

Congratulations to all the nominees and winners!

2014 Mayor's Celebration of the Arts

The lobby also featured the work of three visual artists:

The evening’s performances included:

The program run quicker than in previous years, taking just over an hour and forty-five minutes. It flew by with the amazing performances the audience was treated to! Jeff Stuart got things started with a great three-song set, which featured wonderful strings. We got a taste of the show Mercy of a Storm by Brian Dooley and Gianna Vacirca. Ariane Mahryke Lemire’s performance a little while later was Sharon’s favorite of the evening. I thought our Poet Laureate, Mary Pinkoski, stole the show with her incredible slam poetry. We took a break for some humor next, with a bit from The Irrelevant Show that joked about the Edmonton Oilers and their continued rebuild into the year 2029. Closing out the formal program was Mitchmatic, who provided the music for Kelsey Wolver’s impressive hoop dancing and Sugar Swing’s high-energy number.

2014 Mayor's Celebration of the Arts

After the formal program guests were encouraged to enjoy drinks and food in the lobby. Elm Cafe made some delicious tasting boards that very quickly disappeared! With the quicker program, it seemed like more people were willing to stick around.

2014 Mayor's Celebration of the Arts

Kudos to the Professional Arts Coalition of Edmonton for another successful event, but I want to especially recognize Catch the Keys Productions. This was the first year that Megan and Beth Dart worked with the Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts, and I thought they absolutely hit it out of the park! They produced the evening and are directly responsible for all of the wonderful things I wrote about above. Great work, and I can’t wait to see how you’re going to top this!

You can read last year’s recap here. See you at the 2015 Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts!

I was thrilled to once again play a small role on the Steering Committee for the event. It’ll be interesting to see how the Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts evolves now that Mayor Iveson will be around at the start of planning for 2015!

Coming up in April: Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts & Eat Alberta

I’m helping to organize a couple of events coming up in April that I wanted to tell you about. Tickets are going quickly for both events!

Eat Alberta

This is our fourth year for Eat Alberta, a one-day, workshop-style conference with a mix of hands on learning, food tastings, and demonstrations or presentations that focus on Alberta foods. The event takes place on April 26 in the kitchens at NAIT.

Here’s a video we did during last year’s event:

Tickets went on sale today for $150.00 each. Each ticket includes two plenary sessions, four workshops, breakfast, lunch, and a wine tasting. To ensure an equitable distribution of sessions (and to introduce you to something you might not have picked) we sell ten different tracks. I’m pretty excited about our lineup of sessions and presenters for this year.

Eat Alberta 2012

For more on Eat Alberta and what you can expect, check out Sharon’s post.

Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts

The 27th annual Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts is taking place on April 28 at the Winspear Centre. This year is of course the first event for Mayor Don Iveson. The event celebrates some of the best artistic talents our city has to offer with awards, and is packed full of amazing performances.

Mayor's Celebration of the Arts 2011

You can see the list of nominees for 2014 here. A total of 11 awards will be given out during the evening.

Tickets are on sale now with prices ranging from $15 to $80 depending on where you decide to sit. Each year the event supports a charitable organization in Edmonton, and this year we’re supporting the Music Enrichment Program. Stay tuned for details on the performances.

You can read my recap of last year’s event here. I joined the committee three years ago and I’m thrilled to still be playing a part in the event!