Tag: events

artsScene Edmonton Summer Party – August 20th

Back in May I attended the launch party for artsScene Edmonton – a fantastic event at Planet Ze Design Centre in Old Strathcona. I had a great time, and suggested that artsScene events could become “must attend” events for local creatives. The first test of that is coming up next week:

On August 20, we’re ready to bring you our second party – a “Jekyll & Hyde” themed summer party that promises to be bigger and better, with two venues, more featured artists, DJs, and live music acts!

They have since announced the performers, and they include: Kerri-Lenn Zwicker, Jay Sparrow, Field + Stream, The Outdoor Miners, and guest DJs The Cake Eaters and Roland Pemberton III.

The “Jekyll” part of the event starts at 6pm at Latitude 53 (10248 106th Street), while the “Hyde” part gets underway at 9pm at Prohibition (11026 Jasper Avenue). Tickets are just $15 online or $20 at the door and include access to both venues. You can pickup your tickets here.

Don’t forget artsScene Edmonton is on Twitter, Facebook, and they have a mailing list. They also recently joined LinkedIn, so get connected!

Hope to see you on the 20th!

Twestival Local 2009 in Edmonton

Back in February, the Edmonton Twitter community participated in the first ever Twestival – a tweetup for charity. We raised over $1000 for charity:water, and we had a great time doing so! As a great a cause as that was, I would have preferred to support something local. That’s why I am excited about Twestival Local:

Twestival was born out of the idea that if cities are able to collaborate on an international scale, but work from a local level, it would result in a spectacular impact. While Twestival Global put the spotlight around one cause, Twestival Local is encouraging cities around the world to host events in support of a local cause.

The goal is to give people a chance to feel they are contributing to a larger social initiative, but bring the cause a little closer to home.

So basically Twestival is back, and we’re supporting a local cause this time! Which one? We don’t know – we need your help to decide! You can vote online here.

We’re going to hold our Twestival on September 10, 2009. We haven’t yet decided on a venue, so please add your suggestions for that and anything else to the wiki. Watch @edmontontweetup and the Twestival Edmonton blog for updates.

Edmonton Notes for 8/8/2009

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Social Media Marketing Bootcamp comes to Edmonton

Vancouver-based Capulet Communications has been running a number of popular social media marketing ‘bootcamps’ in Victoria and Vancouver, and now they’re taking their show on the road. In addition to stops in Kamloops, Kelowna, and Calgary, Capulet will be in Edmonton on September 9th. Here’s what you can expect:

Adding social media into the marketing mix is increasingly important for marketers who want to establish an online presence for their businesses. Building on the sold-out course we taught for UBC Continuing Education this winter, we discuss the dos and don’ts of social media marketing; look at successful marketing campaigns; introduce the social media tools every marketer should know about; and cover online communications etiquette.

And a little on the instructors, who I know and definitely recommend:

We’re Julie Szabo and Darren Barefoot, the founders of Capulet Communications. With a background in technology and public relations, we’ve been running social media marketing campaigns since before it was called "social media". We’ve worked with the nation’s smallest startup and its biggest brands like Mountain Equipment Co-op and Best Buy.

Here are the details for the Edmonton event:

WHO: You!
WHAT: Social Media Marketing Bootcamp
WHERE: Metterra Hotel, 10454 82 Avenue (map)
WHEN: Wednesday, September 9th, 9:30am to 4:30pm
WHY: To learn all about social media marketing.
COST: $299 (or save $50 if you blog about it), register here

Darren also says they are looking for local marketing and communication groups to spread the word in exchange for a discount for members. If you’re one of those people, get in touch with him.

I’ve noticed a definite increase recently in the number of local individuals and organizations looking for help with social marketing. I think the City Centre Airport issue and the recent big storms have had a huge impact on increasing awareness of social media. People are naturally wondering how they can take advantage of it. I think Capulet’s bootcamp is a great way to get started, so don’t miss it.

Edmonton Notes for 8/1/2009

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

River Valley

Attendance Numbers for Edmonton’s Capital EX

Edmonton’s Capital EX wrapped up yesterday. Sharon and I visited on Thursday evening and had a good time. Today Northlands released the attendance numbers, and though slightly lower than previous years, the ten-day festival still recorded an impressive 717,966 visits. I had been looking forward to the final numbers, so that I could compare it with previous years.

Here are the attendance numbers for the last ten years (you can download the raw data below):

Though much of the data is missing, I was able to track down some numbers going all the way back to 1879:

After getting this information, I decided to compare it to the population of Edmonton for the same time periods. Here is the comparison for the last ten years:

And the same comparison starting in 1879:

 

A couple things to note about the data in this post:

  • The event changed from Klondike Days (adopted in 1962) to Capital EX in 2006. This explains the large drop that year.
  • The event was a six-day fair from 1912 to 1967, and a ten-day fair thereafter (I think, certainly for the last 20 years or so it has been). I haven’t adjusted the figures for this.
  • The population data, which comes from the City of Edmonton, doesn’t account for surrounding communities.

Download the Capital EX Attendance & Edmonton Population data in CSV

Sources: iNews880, CBC, Edmonton Journal, Amusement Business (1, 2, 3, 4), City of Edmonton, Capital EX Fair History

Edmonton Notes for 7/25/2009

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Edmonton Notes for 7/18/2009

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

UXCamp Edmonton – July 18th

Edmonton’s first UXCamp is being held on Saturday! Organized by Cam Linke of BarCamp fame, Jess McMullin from nForm, and Marc Brisbourne, an instructor with MacEwan’s Design Studies program, UXCamp is a free, one-day event taking place at MacEwan downtown. Here’s what it’s all about:

UXCamp is for people who want to learn and share about user experience, design, usability, information architecture, user interfaces, service design, and anything and everything else about creating better products and better experiences.

Edmonton joins a growing list of cities that have hosted UXCamp, DesignCamp, or InteractionCamp events. Like BarCamp, the schedule is open – anyone can sign up to present in a 20 minute time slot. You can read more about what they’re expecting for presentations and how the day will progress here.

Here are the details for UXCamp Edmonton:

Date: Saturday, July 18, 2009
Time: 9am – 5pm
Location: 9-202, Robbins Health Learning Centre (104th Ave, 109th Street – map)
Cost: Free

The event is limited to 100 people by the venue, so make sure you register now. If you’re interested in sponsoring, click here. Should be a great event!

Edmonton Notes for 7/11/2009

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Edmonton Street Performers Festival

The 2009 Edmonton Street Performers Festival wraps up tomorrow afternoon at Churchill Square. There will be a closing group show at 3pm!