Here is my latest update on local media stuff:

• I attended the Spacing Edmonton launch party last week, along with a few hundred other Edmontonians packed into The Common. It was great to see Spacing’s publisher and editor Matthew Blackett back in Edmonton for the event.

• Local co-editor Paul Giang spoke at the event, and published an editor’s note to kick off the website:

Indeed, Edmonton is a city undergoing transition. With rapid economic growth, emerging global/regional issues and many ambitious projects underway, we have reached a critical point where we must have a constructive public discussion about Edmonton: to explore its past and present, to understand who we are and what do we want, and to appropriately address the future. This discussion has already started with many passionate citizens and we have many great stories waiting to be told and celebrated locally and globally. Spacing Edmonton aims to accelerate just that.

• There’s a bunch of content up on the Spacing Edmonton site now, so check it out. And don’t miss Tom Young’s superb photographic introduction.
• I saw lots of Twitter love for the Globe and Mail’s Josh Wingrove this week. He announced he is transferring to Ottawa to join the Parliament Hill team! Their gain, our loss. Best of luck Josh!
• Tomorrow marks the Canadian Space Agency’s first tweetup in Western Canada, and it’s taking place right here in Edmonton. Astronaut Chris Hadfield will be speaking with students gathered at the TELUS World of Science as part of the event!
• Global Edmonton has been recognized by RTDNA as the best newscast in the Prairie Region for its coverage of the Hub Mall shooting. CTV Edmonton, CBC Edmonton, and 630 CHED also won awards in the 2013 RTDNA Canada Awards. Congrats to all!
• Edmonton Journal photographer Larry Wong has been nominated for a Canadian Association of Journalists award in photojournalism. It’s the fourth time since 2005 that he has been a finalist. The winners will be announced in Ottawa on May 4.
• Global Edmonton’s Julie Matthews and CTV Edmonton’s Laura Lowe both received recognition in the 2012 Alberta Consumer Champion Awards.
• The St. Albert Gazette has been named best newspaper in its class in the Canadian Community Newspaper Awards. It’s the fourth time in the last five years that the Gazette has taken the top spot.
• Metro Edmonton was established in 2007 which means they recently celebrated their 6th anniversary, and they celebrated with cake! As of last spring, Metro Edmonton boasted daily readership of 79,500 and weekly readership of 205,400.
• While the funny smelling water was a popular topic online last week, the latest Relinked column focuses on the attention we devoted to the passing of former Premier Ralph Klein.
• Not only did the Edmonton Journal write an entire story about Kikki Planet’s running fashion commentary of those in the Alberta Legislature, but they put it on the front page and above the fold! Slow news day, or compelling local social media personality? You decide!
• Congratulations to Sarah Chan on five years of blogging at Girls & Bicycles!
• It seems Greg Donnelly, formerly of Global Edmonton, will be on 630 CHED periodically.
• The Examiner did a profile of Sonic 102.9’s program director Al Ford.
• The Edmonton Journal is looking for a Digital Media Developer to join the web team. I love the technical qualifications mentioned in the posting: HTML5, CSS, jQuery, Bootstrap, WordPress, MySQL, git, etc. Journalism just isn’t what it used to be.
• Here’s a nice piece about CKUA and its army of volunteers. CKUA will be participating in the Edmonton Volunteer Fair on April 20.
• For those of you interested in radio rankings, you can check out the PPM ratings for November 26 to February 24 here. Sounds like 102.3 NOW! is really killing it.

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.

Hope you didn’t get duped too badly today! Here is my latest update on local media stuff:

• Gig City took a look back at some April Fool’s day pranks of the past. Did any of you fall for 630 CHED’s plastic bag prank back in the 70s?
• The Edmonton Sun “reported” that the City is working with artist “Phil M. Hole” to create “art potholes”. Love it! They recapped some other April Fool’s Day pranks here.
• I liked David Climenhaga’s prank post too: reunite the right!
• Former Edmonton Journal columnist Scott McKeen is the City of Edmonton’s first ever blogger-in-residence. Though he is allowed to tackle political issues if he wishes, McKeen will focus on the way the City Administration works, or in his words, “shed light on things rarely seen.” You can check out his first entry here. Here’s an interview that Scott McKeen did with Global Edmonton’s Morning News about his new role.
• CBC did an interview with Edmonton Journal cartoonist Malcolm Mayes about his many years of covering Ralph Klein.
• I was happy to see the Journal’s Relinked column comment on the Longform mention. I check Longform every weekend, adding articles I want to read to Readability. It was cool to see a story from the Journal pop up!
• Congratulations to Paula on seven years as editor of the Boyle McCauley News! The April issue is now online.
• Randomly, I received a copy of Edmonton Firefighters Newsmagazine last week. I didn’t know it existed, and a quick search highlighted that the publication has been in hot water before for misleading the public.
• This sounds like a pretty awesome tweetup at the Telus World of Science celebrating Yuri Gagarin and Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield.
• I’m sorry to have missed Marie a la Mode’s Marie Zydek on Breakfast Television talking about spring “print” trends. Fortunately there’s a clip online!
• Hey local filmmakers, don’t miss the YEG Filmmakers Live event coming up on Saturday!
• You’ve got to check out this rap all about CTV’s Daryl McIntyre:

• Have you checked out the CTV Edmonton page on Pinterest? Looks like a fun collection of stuff. Here’s their article about the new page.
• The CTV Morning crew had some fun today!

• Prepare yourselves for a media blitz tomorrow as Mayor Mandel announces whether or not he’ll run in October’s election! Keep an eye on the #yegvote hashtag for updates.

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.

Here is my latest update on local media stuff:

• Looks like Edmonton did well at the 2013 Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Awards. Congratulations to The Bear’s Lochlin Cross, named Music Director of the Year (Major Market), Sonic’s Al Ford, named Program Director of the Year (Major Market), and to Sonic 102.9 itself, named Station of the Year (Rock).
• Congratulations to all the winners of the Alberta Magazine Awards!
• Spacing Magazine will soon be launching an Edmonton edition, well digitally anyway. The launch party takes place on April 4 at The Common. See you there!
• CTV is launching a new daytime talk show called The Social this fall. Think of it like The View or The Talk, but with a bit of a social media twist. “During the live program, the panel checks in on various social media platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. The topical feel of the show allows the co-hosts to engage with viewers through social media, e-mail, and text messaging on a real-time basis.”
• Looks like Global is first to the responsive web with a brand new GlobalNews.ca. It looks pretty nice on my Windows Phone!
• Rumor has it Dave Rutherford could be departing Calgary’s CHQR this year. His syndicated show is the #1 rated show in the province.
• Oh the caption fun one could have with this photo!
• Here’s a podcast with CTV’s Jason Konoza called ‘Newsworthy Narbo’. He talks about his extensive experience in broadcast editing, so check it out.
• CTV Two’s Alberta Primetime is looking for a reporter/producer to join the team.
• The latest Relinked column is all about last week’s big storm. You won’t be surprised to learn that people couldn’t get enough coverage!
• Here are some thoughts on Make Something Edmonton from Karen Unland.
• Sean Burke, who was let go by Corus in November, has found a new home with Leduc’s new radio station The ONE. Speaking of which – 93.1 The ONE will launch officially on April 16 at 9:31am.
• MODCITY has launched a new website, and it’s definitely got a different look!
• In case you missed it, Vue Weekly did a feature on some of our city’s food bloggers.
• Some local media celebrities walked the runway at Western Canada Fashion Week this weekend – check it out here!
• Love this, from the IABC Edmonton panel on media:

https://twitter.com/CapitalIdeasYEG/status/314806813696589827

And now that you’re thinking of food…

Here’s Top Chef Master Chris Cosentino doing his thing at NAIT where he’s the latest Chef in Residence! Check out the Twitter Chat NAIT did here.

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.

Here is my latest update on local media stuff:

• Congratulations to Corus Radio’s Ed Mason on receiving the 2013 RTDNA Lifetime Achievement Award!
• Have you got your tickets for iMedia? The event takes place on Sunday at the Fantasyland Hotel. I’m taking part, along with a bunch of other awesome folks!
• Paula Simons on Miriam Green Ellis: “From 1919 to 1927, Ellis was a larger-than-life reporter for The Edmonton Bulletin.” There’s a new exhibit celebrating Ellis’ life and work at the Bruce Peel Special Collections Library at the University of Alberta through March 31.
• Congratulations to David Staples, Ed Kaiser, and David Evans, all nominated for National Newspaper Awards. The winners will be announced in Ottawa on May 3.
• This sounds like it could be fun: FC Edmonton’s Media Training Invitational.
• I love statistics like this in the Journal’s Relinked column: Journal readers spent a collective 33,740 minutes reading the budget speech the afternoon it was released. This week’s column has even more stats.
• CTV Edmonton has a recap of BlogWest 2013.
• The wait for Leduc’s ONE FM is almost over – the countdown currently reads just less than two and a half days.
• Jeff and Sally are back! They’re going to focus their energy on being filmmakers.
• Canadian Music Week kicks off tomorrow in Toronto, and this year SONiC 102.9 is one of the Rogers radio stations that will be providing live coverage.
• If you’re looking for a blast from the past, check out the 10th anniversary special of ITV.
• The NAIT Nugget recently launched a new website.
• The Beaumont News is looking for a multimedia reporter/photographer.
• GIG CITY wrote about the Vintage Edmonton Facebook page.
• Don’t forget IABC Edmonton’s “How to Pitch to Media 101” event takes place on Thursday!
• Five Alberta towns will soon have their CBC Radio ONE AM transmitters replaced with FM transmitters.
• Great news for downtown Calgary that I wanted to mention: Shaw Communications is expanding its corporate headquarters there and the redeveloped building will feature a new state-of-the-art TV studio for Global Calgary.
• This is a great piece on longreads. “More and more, it seems, people are seeking permanence from art both as a reaction and remedy to the anxiety imbedded in our culture of impermanence.”
• Traditional media companies have been forced to make deep cuts in recent years due to a declining audience (among other factors). And that has contributed to a decline in quality. And that in turn has led to still more people dumping the newspapers, TV stations, and other news outlets they used to patronize.
• George Stroumboulopoulos was in town on the weekend speaking at MacEwan and NAIT!

Thank you #Yeg, @samacewan and #SAMUSpeakerSeries. A little sleep, then @nait #NAITRTA in the AM. G’night Edmonton twitter.com/strombo/status…

— G. Stroumboulopoulos (@strombo) March 16, 2013

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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.

Here’s my latest update on local media stuff:

• BlogWest is back! The conference takes place from March 7-9 at The Westin downtown. Nearly 150 bloggers participated in last year’s event. Check out the speakers list for 2013 here.
• Congratulations to Global Edmonton’s Kevin Karius who received a Diamond Jubilee Medal for his work with the Easter Seals.
• Very disappointing to hear that Laurie Callsen has fallen victim to layoffs at Metro (apparently they cut about a dozen jobs across the country). She’s talented, and I’m sure someone will scoop her up quickly!
• After a year writing the Edmonton Journal’s Social Seen column, fashion blogger Caroline Gault is moving on. Vickie Laliotis, who writes Adventures in Fashion, will be taking over.
• Darren Hardy is the publisher of SUCCESS magazine, and he’s in town tomorrow night to give a talk on the Productivity Strategies of Super Achievers.
• The Edmonton Journal has an immediate opening for a Digital News Editor. The closing date is March 15.
• Want to join the St. Albert Gazette? They’re looking for a reporter to join the team.
• Also hiring is Avenue Edmonton. They’re looking for an editorial intern to join for a paid six-month term.
• Here’s a peek at The One 93.1 FM’s new Master Control Room.
• How did I miss this story from a couple weeks ago? Edmonton news anchor’s daughter has a fish called Cocoa. No seriously, that’s the headline!
• The next Capital Ideas Edmonton event will take place on March 20. The panel will discuss how to hire and retain good employees!

Capital Ideas Edmonton’s fourteenth event: How do I find funding for my business?

• Ever wonder how to pitch the media? IABC has an event coming up addressing that very problem, and they’ve got a number of local media folks on the panel to offer advice including Ted Bauer, Mark Suits, and Stacey Brotzel.
• This looks like a pretty interesting event for content creators: Alberta Storytellers on Screen takes place on March 23 & 24.
• The Yeggies have released a short trailer and details about the main event coming up on May 4 at the Shaw Conference Centre. Get your tickets now!

Magazine Giveaway from Zinio

I don’t normally do giveaways, but I thought this one seemed relevant. Zinio bills itself as the world’s largest newsstand, with more than 5000 magazine titles available in digital editions as of 2012. They’ve got apps for most major platforms and promise publishers the ability to “increase circulation and advertising revenue” without increasing distribution costs. Zinio was named one of the 20 best iOS and Android apps of 2012.

Zinio is running two promotions at the moment. The first gives you $7.50 off your next purchase when you spend $15 (ends March 15). The second is a 50% discount on select titles (ends March 19). To help spread the word, Zinio has given me 10 free magazine subscriptions to giveaway. All you need to do to enter this contest is leave a comment below with your first and last name by March 18, after which I’ll randomly choose 10 winners. Good luck!

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.

Here’s my latest update on local media stuff:

• Congratulations to Bridget Ryan on ten years with BT Edmonton! No one has had a better view of her time at the station than Ryan Jespersen: “From humble beginnings as a fill-in weather host to being honoured as Edmonton’s Woman of the Year in 2010, it’s been one heckuva ride for the friend I sit next to in studio every weekday morning.”
• Congratulations are also in order to Tamara Vineberg on a very successful Meet the Media event last week! Here’s her recap, here’s a Storify, and here’s a great photoset from Trevor Boller.
• The list of recipients for the 2013 Alberta Magazine Awards is slowly being published. Congrats to Alberta Venture’s Mike Ganley, named Editor of the Year! The awards will be presented on March 14 in Calgary.
• I’m very excited for Elise Stolte – she has been shortlisted for the Canadian Hillman Prize, which honors excellence in journalism to serve the common good. The winner will be announced on March 19.
• CKUA is looking to stop broadcasting an AM signal because it can’t afford the $1 million in upgrades needed. I know there’s a bit of history here, but $1 million to support just 500 listeners in northeastern Alberta? I’m surprised they have kept it going this long.
• The most recent Edmonton Journal redesign has been recognized by the Society for News Design as one of the best redesigns in the world. Approximately 725 winners were chosen from more than 9200 submissions.
• Best of luck to Kim Smith who is leaving 630 CHED/iNews880 after two years to anchor the 6pm news on TV in Lloydminster. We’ll miss you here in Edmonton!
• CBC Edmonton is looking for a producer for the weekday TV supper hour.
• The contestants for Big Brother Canada have been announced, and there are two Edmontonians among them. The show will be hosted by Edmonton’s Arisa Cox (who recently came to our city from Toronto).
• If you have been missing Bryan Hall in the afternoons fear not, it sound like he is simply focusing on sales at the moment.
• I was on panel discussing media last week with Brittney and a few others such as Terry Evans. It was a fairly uneventful panel until the very end when Terry basically called our generation selfish, uncreative, and unimaginative, prompting a heated response from myself and Brittney. Judging by his follow-up tweet, either he wasn’t listening or chose to ignore the point we were trying to make:

• You’ve got until March 1 to get early bird tickets for the 2013 edition of iMedia. I’m going to be on a panel discussing strategic blogging.
• Chef and TV personality Chris Cosentino will be in Edmonton next month to serve as this year’s Chef in Residence at NAIT.

Vassey Kapelos and Julie Matthews from Global Edmonton with Bill Fortier from CTV Edmonton at Meet the Media! Photo by Trevor Boller.

Cheeky billboard from up! 99.3 FM

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.

Happy Family Day! Here is my latest update on local media stuff:

• Big news for The Yeggies! The shortlist of nominees has been announced, as has the date and location for the event. Mark your calendars for May 4th at the Shaw Conference Centre! I am honored to have been nominated in the “Best in Edmonton” and “Best in Political or Current Affairs” categories.
• Can’t wait for Meet the Media happening on Friday at The Underground Tap & Grill. Looks like it’ll be a full house with 160 people registered!
• I have to admit, I was not familiar with #fashionfridays until Sharon pointed out this article to me: “The hashtag has since morphed into a way for Edmontonians to highlight local trends, inspire new wardrobe ideas and for the city’s designers contributing to the #fashionfridays to gain worldwide exposure.”
• Chris Cameron is the new “midday guy” on 105.9 ShineFM.
• The next Writer’s Corner is coming up on Sunday at the Riverbend Branch of EPL and the topic is blogging! Sharon Yeo and Dave Cournoyer are the featured guests.
• SONiC has a new evening weekend show featuring Jason Parsons called SUBSONiC. The show will feature original songs and remixes from bands like Metric, Deadmau5, and M83.
• Love this: RIP Jimmy the News Fish.
• Apparently it was World Radio Day on February 13, though I’m not sure how seriously to take that after seeing the website.
• Lucas calls out CBC for claiming they have exclusives when they really don’t. That led to a few snarky replies from Charles Rusnell. You can check out the entire back-and-forth here. I know the local media generally don’t talk about one another publicly, but I would welcome more of this.
• I really appreciate this look at web stats in Relinked, and I enjoy the commentary too: “I have a working theory that if you printed out each and every online reader comment that stemmed from the Journal’s coverage of the bicycle lane story, the resulting paper trail would be longer than the 23 kilometres of lanes the city plans to paint this year.”
• The Art of Conversation LXXVIII takes place on February 27 at Kelly’s Pub. “Bring a friend or two! No need to RSVP. All we ask is you stick out your hand and strike up a conversation with someone you’ve not met before. Leave your career at the door! This is not about networking, or marketing, or any such nonsense. It’s about good conversation.”
• EPCOR was the talk of Twitter this week as word spread that they had cut off power for a senior. In response, EPCOR tried to clarify the facts, but that doesn’t appear to have had much effect on the discussion on Twitter. Linda wrote more about the story in her latest column.

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.

Here is my latest update on local media stuff:

• Venture Publishing will be launching an online business radio station in September. President & CEO Ruth Kelly told the Journal: “Web-delivered radio is, I think, a really effective and efficient way to provide more niche-oriented content like business radio.” Stay tuned here.
• In case you missed it, I’ve launched a new podcast with Graham Hicks called Mack & Cheese. Thanks to everyone for the initial feedback. We’re excited to see where this goes!
• Des Spence and Cam Kjellbotn, who have eight decades of local TV experience between them, are retiring from Global Edmonton. Amazing!
• Here’s a feature on Peter Brown by Trent Wilkie, and here’s a feature on Bob Stauffer by Cam Tait.
• Looks like Rick Mercer was in town, making a stop at Tres Carnales over the weekend!
• Congratulations to Global Edmonton’s Tim Spelliscy who recently received the Diamond Jubilee Medal.
• The Alberta Media Network has a new Facebook page.
• Global Edmonton’s Trish Kozicka is experimenting with Vine, Twitter’s new video service.
• Funny how timing works out on things like this. I had a coffee meeting a few nights ago and learned about Eric Neville’s Popcorn Playhouse, and wouldn’t you know it, Vintage Edmonton has a video of the show.
• Avenue Edmonton is looking for an art intern – you’ve got until Friday to apply. Odvod Media is looking for a writer/editor.
• This is old news probably, but I didn’t realize that Aquila Productions was doing a third season of Oil Change until recently. Anyone watch?
• Here’s Linda Hoang and Daryl McIntyre tweeting each other during a recent news meeting. Is it just me or does that table look gigantic?
• CJCD Mix 100 in Yellowknife became the first radio station in the NWT to broadcast an NHL game when it carried the Oilers vs. Blue Jackets on Sunday. “The new addition to the Oilers Radio Network cements the relationship between the Oilers and their fans in the north, which was taken to a new level back in 2007, when the team staged another historic event by becoming the first NHL team to stage a Rookie Camp in Yellowknife, a community located just 500 kilometres from the Arctic Circle.”
• It’s that time of year again – here is the 2013 edition of Valentines for Journalists.

• I’m very jealous to hear that Jay Rosen was in town speaking to the Edmonton Journal newsroom last week! Here’s a related link.

• Here is a “major update” on Leduc’s new radio station 93.1 The One. Sounds like transmitter construction is underway! They’ve also added Jenn Dalen to the team.

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.

Here is my latest update on local media stuff:

• Citing a lack of resources, CKUA has shut down its local news service and laid off two journalists as a result. Ian Gray and Matt Nodge both lost their jobs. The decision is expected to save CKUA up to $200,000.
• NewCap is looking to sell off its western assets to scoop up potentially more lucrative stations that may be sold as a condition of the proposed Bell/Astral deal. NewCap owns 32 radio stations throughout Alberta, including K-97 and Capital FM here in Edmonton.
• Here’s an open letter to the Students Union from April Hudson, News Editor at The Gateway. “As an autonomous body, we are not a PR publication, and we exist to bring important issues to the forefront of student awareness — no matter whose feelings it hurts.”
• I love this story! “Legendary Edmonton TV weatherman Bill Matheson always dreamed of being a published author. Seven years after his death, his daughter has made his dream come true.” I just bought his ebook, you can get it from Amazon here for $1.96.
• Here is Gig City’s take on the 925 Fresh FM re-launch. “In short, they’re obviously going after Now! 102.3 FM – the highest rated station in Edmonton with the biggest dog’s breakfast playlist of hits from today and the day before yesterday.” Could The Bounce be next to switch formats?
• Annalise and Cailynn are twins working in the local media scene, and they’ve finally run into each other at the same assignment. They have worked together however – the twins covered the Tang triplets for Avenue Edmonton back in December.
• There are a few job opportunities to mention this week! Alberta Venture is still looking for an Associate Editor, the Edmonton Sun is looking for a Layout Editor/Reporter, and the St. Albert Gazette is looking for an Editor. I’m not sure what happened to Peter Maser, who only took over that position in July (his LinkedIn bio hasn’t been updated nor has the Gazette’s website).
• Ryan Peterson has joined Leduc’s The One FM as News Director. “I can’t help but smile and pinch myself as to this brand new, exciting opportunity to help launch 93.1 The One that will cover Leduc and Leduc County to what will no doubt be some of the greatest listeners around.”
• Here’s the video, photos, and tweets from last week’s Capital Ideas event! The next one is coming up on February 20, so save-the-date.
• What do you think, are the Oilers dominating social media? I do agree with Linda on this point: “You get what you put in and they’re putting in a lot when it comes to social media.”
• If you’re up early tomorrow morning, tune into CBC Radio as Rick Harp talks with Brittney Le Blanc about her 5k365 project!
• In case you missed it, Linda interviewed me about my State of the Twittersphere posts.
• Congratulations to everyone that received nominations in the Canadian Screen Awards. Great to see Mosaic Entertainment and other local orgs on the list!
• Stephanie Barsby has moved from TV to Radio over at CBC Edmonton.
• Paula has the story behind an International Week presentation on social media taking place on Wednesday at the Telus Centre.
• There are a couple of Relinked columns to point you to this week: Oilers, Oprah, Oscars produce online gold, and Journal website provides arena for debate. I sometimes feel like Relinked is one of the few remaining parts of the Journal that is allowed or willing to be playful with headlines.
• I got on the waiting list for Meet the Media and luckily scored a ticket recently! With over 150 people RSVPd, it should be a great event!
• For the PR folks reading this, I wanted to mention that the Edmonton Chapter of CPRS is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year with a two-day conference in March.
• According to the latest Edmonton Journal advertising newsletter, their website “is the number 1 online local media source in the city.” Interesting that they specifically mention Huffington Post Alberta now. “As of November 2012, page views reached 10.7 million at edmontonjournal.com, while unique visitors for the month sat at 683,000, a 21 per cent increase year-over-year.”
• Hosted by Rob Christie, Audie Lynds, and Graham Hicks, The Art of Conversation LXXVIII takes place tomorrow from 4pm to 7pm at Earls Tin Palace. “No need to RSVP, bring a friend, as long as you turn off the smartphone, stick out your hand, and strike up a conversation with whoever you are standing or sitting beside.”
• This cracked me up:

On Oprah and the truck nuts…

Last week I wrote about Oprah in Edmonton, and I complimented Global Edmonton’s Carole Anne Devaney. I thought she did a pretty good job warming the crowd up before Oprah came out. One of the “gifts” she gave to Oprah was a purse that looked like “truck nuts”. Both women joked about it, but that didn’t stop the online fallout that followed. Todd makes a great point in his post:

We’re leaving someone with over 16 million Twitter followers with an image, a memory, of our city — of us. Randomness is wrong. An empty joke is wrong.

I agree that you can be funny and smart at the same time, and I agree that we probably could have made better use of the opportunity. In particular I would have loved to have seen a local book as one of the gifts. That said, there were some really great gifts, like the basket from Duchess.

I don’t think Carole Anne is the bad guy (as some have made her out to be). Two thoughts on that:

• The event’s sponsors included EEDC and the Chamber of Commerce. I don’t know what their involvement was in the event, but it seems reasonable to assume that the two primary organizations responsible for tourism and business in our city might have had some input. Clearly we need to make sure they’re on board with Make Something Edmonton and that they catch and capitalize on opportunities like this.
• Carole Anne said in her remarks that she asked some Edmontonians for input on the gifts. I don’t recall what she said specifically about the “truck nuts” purse, but I wouldn’t be surprised if dozens of Edmontonians had suggested it (or something like it). I think this underscores the mountain of work that Make Something Edmonton has ahead of it. It’s an uphill battle.

Very, very few Edmontonians said “what are truck nuts” in response to hearing about the “gift”. We may not have created them here in Edmonton, but judging by the number you see around town and the general awareness of what they are, we seem to have adopted them, for better or worse. Maybe we should start a Make Something Edmonton campaign to go around town cutting them off? Kidding, of course.

It’s easy to complain about what happened and it’s easy to point to things that better reflect Edmonton after the fact. The challenge is learning from this to do better next time. Let’s focus our energy on that.

Cameras among the crowd at Oprah last week!

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.