Tag: make something edmonton

The beautiful symmetry of downtown Edmonton’s newest signs

It’s probably just a coincidence that the signage on Rogers Place went up the same week as Melcor and Make Something Edmonton’s Wall of Encouragement did, but I think there’s a beautiful symmetry in that. With Rogers Place we have a shiny beacon of the megaproject-based transformation of downtown Edmonton, and with the “take a risk” words we see a physical reflection of the many smaller but no less important changes that are taking place. We need both.

Wall of Encouragement

Melcor and Make Something Edmonton collaborated with local designer Clay Lowe to install the new mural on the north facing wall of the 100 St. Place building. It reads, “Take a risk. It’s the most Edmonton thing you can do.” This is straight out of the Make Something Edmonton brand book, and while some see the mural as mere propaganada and a missed opportunity for “real art”, I like it.

“Risk taking is a fibre embedded in Edmontonians. It’s an entrepreneurial tick that each of us has, but only some of us listen to.”

The new mural was installed almost exactly five years after Todd Babiak spoke at Pecha Kucha Night 10 about “the wall” and interventions. He was referring to a different Melcor wall back then (the one behind the Edmonton Journal building) but his intent was always to impact more than the view out his window. Five years later, Make Something Edmonton carries the torch forward with partners like Melcor.

Wall of Encouragement

You can get a great view of the new mural from Churchill Square and the Tix on the Square building.

“Our aim is not only to encourage our citizens to take action on a project of their own, but also to challenge our fellow building owners to join us in treating empty walls as canvases for colour and inspiration.”

I hope this does indeed inspire some building owners to look at their exterior walls differently.

Rogers Place

A few blocks away on 104 Avenue and 104 Street, construction on Rogers Place continues at a rapid pace. This week the “Rogers Place” signage started to go up on the west side of the building. It’s one of many milestones as the September 10 public open house approaches:

“With the letters going up, you can really start to see the building look like it does in the renderings,” said Mike Widdifield, Senior Project Manager for PCL.

I see the new arena every single day and I always feel like it is so much smaller than Rexall Place. But maybe that’s just because I’m used to it. From a distance, Rogers Place does indeed dominate the skyline.

Downtown Edmonton

The Rogers Place groundbreaking took place on March 3, 2014 and although it appears that the arena will open on time this fall, the construction won’t end there. The new Stantec Tower, JW Marriott hotel, Legends private residences, and many other projects will keep the area under construction through 2020.

Downtown Sunset

Fewer blank walls and fewer surface parking lots (hiccups notwithstanding), that is downtown Edmonton’s future.

Branding Edmonton: Signs & Slogans

For more than 20 years, Edmontonians have been discussing whether or not our entrance signs should feature a slogan and if so, which one. Whenever City Council or other local leaders have felt the need to shore up our city’s image, the entrance signs have been the go-to starting point. And whenever someone has suggested the entrance signs are dated and need to be replaced, the conversation has inevitably morphed into one about the slogan and brand for our city.

Questions were raised about “City of Champions” as soon as the signs went up in 1989. That prompted Economic Development Edmonton to do some research and a few years later they found there were at least 27 slogans being used to describe the city, like “Gateway to the North”, “Canada’s Oil Capital”, and “Official Host City for the Turn of the Century”. But only one was highly visible, and that was “City of Champions” thanks to the entrance signs.

IMG_6621.jpg

You only see the entrance signs if you drive into Edmonton, but that hasn’t diminished their importance in the eyes of community leaders and commentators. The entrance signs and debate about them have often been considered the manifestation of our identity as a city. Gene Dub’s controversial entrance pyramid design that won a national design competition in 2008 was a good example of this. It would have done away with slogans and logos in favor of striking public art. The jury called it “a symbol of a city that is poised, confident and energetic.” But not everyone saw it that way. Former Edmonton Journal columnist Lorne Gunter compared the idea to Bedford, Nova Scotia’s giant “Clearwater” lobster statue and said Dub’s proposal would have been “an artificial symbol erected by civic leaders to try to force a recognition of their community that isn’t happening on their city’s or town’s own merits.”

It’s no surprise then that the entrance signs as they exist today are a perfect representation of this conflation of issues. The signs have been cobbled together, piece by piece, just like our city’s brand. In the absence of a strong place brand for Edmonton, we used the City of Edmonton’s corporate logo and the “City of Champions” moniker as stand-ins. When we felt that perhaps we weren’t a welcoming enough place, the words “Welcome to” were added. When we didn’t feel important enough in the province, we added “Alberta’s Capital”. Whenever our sports teams have endured slumps, we’ve suggested removing “City of Champions” from the signs (but someone has always pointed to another local success as a reason to keep them).

And now, because we’re feeling emboldened by population and economic growth, not to mention lots of capital spending, we’re again looking to the signs. They don’t feel representative of Edmonton today nor of the Edmonton we hope to become. They’re old and they look it.

Will the discussion be different this time? I think it could be. Yes, the sign and city identity issues have become so intertwined that maybe it’s not even possible to separate them now. But we should try.

Michael Oshry - Ward 5
Photo by Dave Cournoyer

On Tuesday, Councillor Michael Oshry is expected to make a motion requesting that the City remove “City of Champions” from Edmonton’s seven remaining entrance signs. The City says the signs are structurally sound, but that’s not why Councillor Oshry is making this proposal. Removing the slogan could finally allow us to discuss the brand issue separately from the signs, and I think that’s really his endgame.

I asked Councillor Oshry why he brought the sign debate up again at Council, and he admitted it seemed like a good starting point for a broader discussion about Edmonton’s brand. “They look dated, they’re old,” he said of the entrance signs. He isn’t fond of the “City of Champions” slogan either. “When we’re trying to attract people, the slogan means nothing,” he said. “And the slogan isn’t actually used anywhere else!”

At least, it’s not used anywhere else in Edmonton. We don’t use it for any of our internal or external marketing. But other cities use it or have used it, like Boston, San Francisco, East St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Inglewood, Tuscaloosa, Syracuse, Tampa, and Brockton, to name just a few. There’s nothing unique or particularly Edmonton about the “City of Champions” slogan.

Welcome to the City of East St. Louis, IL - City of Champions
Photo by Paul Sableman

Removing “City of Champions” is low-hanging fruit that could enable us to get started with a fresh slate, Councillor Oshry said. He doesn’t know where this will lead, but if we do end up discussing new signs, he favors simple ones. “They shouldn’t even have the corporation logo on them, it should just be ‘Welcome to Edmonton’ the place.” He also doesn’t want to spend tons of money on new signs. “They don’t have to be the greatest things the City does, but they need to be better than average,” he told me.

Ronna Bremer, Director of Image, Brand, and Marketing (or just “reputation” for short) in Corporate Communications at the City of Edmonton, agrees that the signs should be replaced with something simple but attractive. “What do those dated signs say about our city?” she asked rhetorically. “They should just say ‘Welcome to Edmonton’.”

EEDC and its predecessors have frequently been included in the discussion about entrance signs and slogans (no doubt thanks to the conflation of issues). “The decision about the welcome signs belongs firmly in the hands of the City and City Council,” EEDC CEO Brad Ferguson told me. He added that for what its worth, he thinks “the signs are dated and we need new ones” but stressed “that’s different from needing a new logo and slogan.”

It has been suggested that new signs would only come after the City makes a final decision on a new brand and logo. That would be the wrong approach to take. There are three different things wrapped up in that suggestion – the signs themselves, Edmonton’s brand and identity, and the City of Edmonton’s brand. The signs do not need to include the City of Edmonton’s corporate brand; they exist to welcome visitors to Edmonton, not to the new City of Edmonton office tower or to a recreation facility. It was probably a mistake to put the corporate logo on them in the first place.

The signs should be representative of Edmonton the place. They should reflect Edmonton’s place brand. This is the work that Make Something Edmonton has been doing. They haven’t been trying to figure out what the City’s new logo should be. They’ve been working to identify the essence of Edmonton. From their brand book:

“A place cannot be reduced to a logo and a slogan. It’s more than marketing. The Edmonton brand is about being true to who we are at our best.”

They have come up with “statements of encouragement” which are kind of like slogans, but there are many of them, and you’re supposed to take inspiration from them to create your own. “Be playful about it,” the brand book says. The statements of encouragement are conversation-starters and are “simple, memorable ways to express Edmonton-ness.” But they’re not a collection of possible slogans. It would be wrong to pick one and put it on the entrance signs.

Statements of Encouragement

The brand promise is the heart of the place brand:

“If you have the courage to take an idea to reality, to build, to make something, Edmonton is your city.”

That’s what any new entrance signs need to reflect.

So how do we do that? “We could tell people a story as they enter the city,” Todd Babiak told me. He has been working on Make Something Edmonton since the beginning, and he has thought a lot about this. What if instead of a single static slogan, we changed the message on our entrance signs every now and then? What if instead of one entrance sign, we had many, each featuring a different statement of encouragement or example of local makers? We talked about the “City of Champignons” sign that some pranksters plastered over the existing “City of Champions” sign a couple years ago. “You could argue that’s the most Edmonton thing anyone has ever done!” Todd said.

He’s not sure what the answer is, but he knows how we should go about finding it. “There’s a way to build things in Edmonton,” he said. “If you want it to work, invite the community in.”

It sounds difficult, but I think it can work. Right now we don’t see Edmonton’s place brand reflected in very many places. But over the next year or two, if Make Something Edmonton and EEDC are successful at getting others on board, that will change. And then our entrance signs simply need to be consistent with the branding we use elsewhere, like at the airport or at our post secondary institutions. Let’s see what people come up with before trying to design new signs. And please, let’s remember they’re just signs!

In the meantime, we should remove “City of Champions” from Edmonton’s entrance signs to bring clarity to this discussion. The signs don’t need logos or slogans and neither does Edmonton.

You can learn more about the history of Edmonton’s entrance signs here.

Edmonton in a New Light

Tonight local business leaders gathered in the EPCOR Tower to celebrate a changing city. Construction is happening all over downtown Edmonton, our population is rapidly increasing, and our economic growth is the envy of most other jurisdictions around North America. It’s time to shed our humble past and proudly talk about the new Edmonton, we were told. It’s time to “think positive, talk proud, and speak loud.” It’s time to see Edmonton in a new light.

Edmonton in a New Light

Mayor Don Iveson, EPCOR CEO David Stevens, EEDC CEO Brad Ferguson, and Westin General Manager Joumana Ghandour all took turns at the podium to share their story and their thoughts on why this is such an exciting time for Edmonton. “There’s a transformation happening here,” Mayor Don Iveson told us in a speech that sounded a lot like the ones he gave on the campaign trail during last year’s election. “Edmonton is humble, sometimes to a fault,” he said, “but that’s changing.”

Edmonton in a New Light

The invitation for the event called it the “EPCOR Edmonton Business Leaders Reception”. I expected it to be similar to the 120th anniversary event that EPCOR hosted back in 2011, with brief remarks and a tour of the 28th floor balcony. But this event was much more bold and confident. Guests were invited to “celebrate Edmonton with EPCOR”:

“The opportunity for Edmonton to shine has never been better. Join our city’s business leaders as we begin the task of putting Edmonton in a new, dynamic light for the world to see. EPCOR President & CEO David Stevens and Brad Ferguson of EEDC invite you to a reception and viewing of the major construction projects in our downtown core from the 28th floor balcony of EPCOR Tower.”

In addition to the speeches, guests were treated to a sneak peek at some of the digital assets that EEDC and Make Something Edmonton have been working to create. “Edmonton is a billion dollar brand,” Brad Ferguson told us. “We just haven’t put much effort into it until now.” EEDC is working on the whitelabel video project and other assets so that Edmonton businesses can incorporate consistent messaging into their own brands and communications. The new storytelling tools are expected to be available early next year, some for a modest fee.

Edmonton in a New Light

EEDC is also planning to run targeted ad campaigns in select cities with a goal of attracting students, young couples, and offices to Edmonton’s growing downtown. “We’ve got to fill up all these new buildings,” Brad joked.

After the speeches were done, guests were invited to head up to the 28th floor balcony for a tour of the many construction projects happening around the EPCOR Tower. Here are some photos from above:

Edmonton in a New Light
The Edmonton Arena District

New Royal Alberta Museum Construction
New Royal Alberta Museum

Edmonton in a New Light
Fox & Ultima residential towers

New City Office Tower Construction
EAD Office Tower, which will be home to the City of Edmonton offices

Edmonton in a New Light
The new arena takes shape

Blatchford
Blatchford in the distance

Tonight’s event was undoubtedly a cheerleading session. So might consider it a call-to-arms for the local business community, an opportunity to say ‘get on the train now before its too late’. But unfortunately this sales pitch lacked the all important ask. There was no mention of next steps, beyond the “speak proudly about Edmonton” message and the promise of digital assets to help tell our city’s story. It felt a little incomplete.

That said, this is absolutely an exciting time for Edmonton, and it’s great that our city’s leaders are willing to stand up and say so. Not with the empty, meaningless, and outlandish claims of the past – “Edmonton is the best city, in the best province, in the best country in the world!” – but with a much more Edmontonian approach. “Something big is happening here, we can feel it, and we’re going to start talking a bit more about it.” We’re becoming a little less humble, and that’s a good thing.

Edmonton in a New Light

“The opportunity before us is to let the rest of the world in on the secret of why we’re all here,” Mayor Iveson said. It’s a message that those in the room should already know, but a little reinforcement doesn’t hurt. Hopefully tonight was the first in a series of nudges to get them to do something about it.

You can see more photos here.

What’s next for Make Something Edmonton?

A few weeks ago I attended a discussion hosted by Make Something Edmonton (MSE) at Startup Edmonton. For a few hours on a particularly cold Saturday morning, a handful of former MSE volunteers shared their thoughts on the past year, offering insight into what worked and what didn’t. It was an opportunity to reflect on how MSE has evolved over the last year, and to consider where it should go next. There hadn’t been much communication with volunteers since the final report was produced in September, so many of us were unsure of MSE’s status. It turns out that many things were happening behind the scenes!

Make Something Edmonton Launch Party

Funding Make Something Edmonton

The final report of the City Image & Reputation Task Force was presented to Executive Committee on September 9, 2013. The recommendation that was passed was for EEDC and the task force to work together to:

“operationalize the Make Something Edmonton Initiative, and bring back recommendations to continue implementation of the Make Something Edmonton Initiative, including setting up an agency or other entity, and with a service package developed and funding to be requested for allocation in the 2014 budget.”

In December, a plan for funding MSE was presented to City Council. That plan suggested the following approach:

  • An Executive Director and Operating Budget would be provided through EEDC.
  • A Make Something Edmonton Activation Board would be established to provide strategic direction and implementation support.
  • The Activation Board would be co-chaired by two community leaders, jointly approved by the City Manager and the CEO of EEDC, who would serve a two-year term.
  • A Leadership Group comprised of the City’s Chief Communications Officer, the CEO of EEDC, and the Co-Chairs, would be established.

It also outlined the allotment of a $2 million budget:

  • $500,000 for the City of Edmonton to adopt the MSE brand platform in its marketing & communications
  • $975,000 for MSE through EEDC to fund operations & implementation
  • $525,000 for EEDC to execute targeted external marketing campaigns

That might seem like a large amount, but it pales in comparison to what has been spent on branding in the past.

An Initiative of EEDC

As a result of that plan, MSE now calls EEDC home:

“As of January 1, 2014, Edmonton Economic Development is proud to steward the Make Something Edmonton Initiative, continuing this grassroots organization’s mandate to make Edmonton a hub for building, creating, changing, for making something. An advisory board will soon be established to ensure connectivity with the vibrant creative and entrepreneurial communities and to keep the spirit of the program alive.”

The idea is for MSE to be part of EEDC’s “coordinated incubator strategy”. That’s basically a fancy way of saying that EEDC provides the necessary supports for organizations like TEC Edmonton, Startup Edmonton, and now MSE so that they can focus on their core objectives.

I asked EEDC’s VP of Marketing & Communications Kevin Weidlich about where he sees MSE fitting in. “I think EEDC is responsible for developing the Edmonton brand,” he said, “but we’re not the only ones.” Kevin was excited about the opportunity for MSE to continue on as a community-led initiative, supported by EEDC, and he sees volunteers as critical advocates for the adoption of the MSE brand in other organizations.

New Co-Chairs

MSE’s new co-chairs are John Mahon, former Executive Director of the Edmonton Arts Council, and Tegan Martin-Drysdale, former Co-Chair of Edmonton Next Gen. They take over from outgoing co-chairs Chris LaBossiere and Amy Shostak. Though her title still reads “interim”, Mary Sturgeon has moved to EEDC to remain as MSE’s Executive Director.

Both John and Tegan spoke eloquently at the event a few weeks ago, sharing some thoughts on how MSE fits into the bigger picture. Both stressed the importance of gathering feedback, and listened intently as everyone in attendance shared their viewpoints on what MSE should be focusing on next. They heard opinions on such things as whether to narrow the focus or whether to go after a broad range of Edmontonians, on whether a physical office was important or not, on how they should be engaging volunteers, and on how other local organizations could be encouraged to adopt the brand.

The big task ahead for John & Tegan is to establish the advisory or activation board, and to determine what structure the organization should take. It’s critical that they establish a plan for the next two years, in conjunction with Mary, so that they can bring the right people on board. I know they’re up to the task.

Anecdotes & Projects

While the MSE website remains operational, it hasn’t been updated as frequently as originally intended. One new feature called Anecdotes was added recently, however. With titles like “make something active” for the Edmonton Ski Club and “make something solid” for Waiward Steel, the stories are meant to both educate and inspire:

“Icons of Edmonton are big, small, strong, strange, strangely profitable, and increasingly global. There are thousands of examples of ideas that started here and grew into extraordinary events, social organizations, businesses, festivals, and community projects. Browse through these profiles and read about Edmontonians, their ideas, and what they’ve created. We’re building an inventory. If you have an example of Edmonton-ness in mind, get in touch and we’ll include it.”

There are nearly 20 anecdotes up on the website so far, and I expect we’ll see many more added in the weeks ahead. You may have seen some billboards around town highlighting some of these stories.

Projects continue to be added, and MSE actively promotes them via its Twitter and Facebook pages. At the moment there isn’t much incentive for a project creator to go back on to the website to update its progress, so that’s one area that the website’s functionality could be improved. I understand there was a laundry list of other improvements identified that have yet to come to fruition too.

Make Something Edmonton Launch 2013

Onward!

I was concerned last summer about where MSE would land, so I’m really happy that Make Something Edmonton will continue on as an initiative of EEDC. I think the direction that EEDC is headed is exciting, and I’m sure that MSE will benefit from the new energy and talent they have there. I’m also very happy to see John & Tegan step forward as MSE’s new co-chairs. Both have already given so much to Edmonton, and I know they will be great leaders for the initiative.

Clearly there’s a lot of work still to be done. MSE could reach more people, the essence of the brand could be adopted by more organizations, and project initiators and volunteers could be better and further engaged. I’m optimistic that with its future now certain, MSE can achieve all of that.

Make Something Edmonton moves forward with 8 recommendations

Today the Mayor’s Task Force on Image and Reputation submitted its final report to Executive Committee. The task force is better known by its adopted name, Make Something Edmonton. In summarizing the work that has been done thus far and recommending next steps, the report draws the task force to a close and marks the start of Make Something Edmonton as a more official thing. Exactly what that thing is however, must still be determined.

Here are the recommendations outlined in the report (which you can download here):

  1. Adopt Edmonton’s Brand
  2. Open the Make Something Edmonton Office
  3. Preserve and Maintain the Citizen-Driven Focus
  4. Recognize and Reward Excellence: The Builders Prize
  5. Promote a “Make Something” Culture
  6. Appoint a Make Something Edmonton “Champion”
  7. Implement an Image and Reputation Strategy
  8. Create and Activate Ambassador & Mentor Networks

Some of these recommendations are obvious while others are a little more interesting.

The first recommendation would see “Make Something Edmonton” become Edmonton’s “brand platform”, the foundation for an image and reputation strategy. This doesn’t necessarily mean that “Make Something Edmonton” replaces “City of Champions” as some have suggested, but it does assert that the story behind MSE is our brand.

The second recommendation calls for the creation of an organization similar in structure to the Edmonton Arts Council, perhaps operating under the umbrella of EEDC. The purpose of the office would be “to develop the words, the tools, and the expertise” to help existing organizations and Edmontonians in general to launch new businesses, promote events and initiatives, and attract others to our city. It would guide the brand. The third recommendation is obvious and somewhat related, calling for an advisory council with representatives from a broad range of sectors.

The fourth recommendation is to create The Builders Prize, an annual cash prize to recognize MSE projects. “$30,000 will be awarded to one outstanding and completed Make Something Edmonton project. The recipient of the $30,000 prize will then award four $5,000 Catalyst Prizes to other Make Something Edmonton projects in progress.” I love the twist there – the grand prize winner must award the smaller prizes.

The fifth recommendation is again fairly obvious, and also probably the most difficult to action. Some suggestions include offering a MSE award as part of the Awards of Excellence, and embedding “What are you making? How can we help?” on City of Edmonton business cards.

I’m perhaps most excited to see the sixth recommendation, which calls for a “champion” to operate out of the City Manager’s office. This person’s job would be something like an ombudsperson for MSE. They would help navigate City of Edmonton bylaws and rules, and would work to streamline things for future makers. City Manager Simon Farbrother has endorsed this idea.

The seventh recommendation is really for the organization created out of recommendation #2 and its to implement a strategy and communications plan. As a result of this you should see the brand story and image appear throughout communications from all of Edmonton’s prominent organizations, businesses and institutions.

The final recommendation is really something the task force has already been doing. The idea is to create “an informal training program” to go out and tell the MSE story to anyone who will listen. An addition would be the mentor network, made up of people who have already made and built things in Edmonton, to help new makers get their own ideas off the ground.

The report concludes with:

This is only the beginning of Make Something Edmonton. The first phase of our work was to discover the Edmonton Story and to activate it with early adopters. Now we begin to actively find – to use marketing parlance – the “early majority.”

It also promised a new website and advertising campaign to launch this fall.

I feel like the report and recommendations address many of the concerns I raised in my post from July. Executive Committee this morning decided to request that a funding package be put forward as part of the budget in order to move these recommendations forward. I think this is an initiative that deserves ongoing support from the City of Edmonton, even if it ultimately lives with EEDC or elsewhere, and I am optimistic that Council feels the same way.

Kudos to everyone involved with Make Something Edmonton on progressing to this point!

Mover is making cloud storage solutions in Edmonton

moverCan you build a successful, scalable technology company in Edmonton? Local startup Mover thinks so, and yesterday they received validation of that goal in the form of $1 million in seed financing from an impressive list of American and Canadian investors.

“Absolutely” was Mover CEO Eric Warnke‘s response when I asked if he thought he could find the necessary talent and other resources to grow the company here in Edmonton. The tech landscape is a lot different today than it was five or six years ago when Eric was at Nexopia, the hot local startup at the time. “Realistically we’d have to double salaries if we relocated to the valley,” he told me. Not that Mover isn’t paying a fair wage, it’s just that the cost of living there is much higher and the competition for talent is much fiercer. “A lot of people ask us if we’re going to move, but there are good incentives to stay here.” The footer of Mover’s website carries the message “proudly made in Edmonton.”

Mover is barely a year old, but it certainly doesn’t lack history. Walk around the office on the second floor of the revitalized Mercer Warehouse building and little reminders of the past consistently pop-up. A Free Wi-Fi magnet on a metal divider, a Firenest coffee tumbler on top of the fridge, a Mesh Canada brochure hanging on one of the beautiful wooden beams. Even the Launch Party sign front-and-centre as you walk across the creaky floors offers insight into how the growing local tech scene made it possible for Mover to go from idea to reality.

Mover Office

In 2004, Eric was employee number four at Nexopia and wore a number of hats there over the years, everything from customer service to ad management. A few years later, while working full-time at the social networking site and also going to school, Eric found time to start and run an Internet café on Whyte Avenue. It was the Internet café that sparked an interest in wireless networks and led to the creation of the Free Wi-Fi Project. Through that initiative Eric met Mark Fossen, a former partner at ThinkTel Communications. The two decided to join forces and launched Mesh Canada in 2009. They sold it to a Calgary company last year.

In January 2012, Eric & Mark decided to participate in Startup Edmonton’s Startup Hackathon. They built a utility called Backup Box that helped users move files from one place to another (such as an FTP server to Dropbox), and eventually showed it off at DemoCamp in March. A few months later, they were part of GrowLab‘s spring 2012 cohort in Vancouver. Renamed as Mover, they refined the product and when they got back to Edmonton, realized they needed to grow. That’s when Ben Zittlau joined as a partner and the VP of Technology. He had previously worked on Firenest, a web-based tool for non-profits, and for a short time worked at Yardstick Software too.

In the space of a year the team has grown from four to ten. They’ve mostly hired people they know, and that was a deliberate decision. “Slowly but surely we’re putting Nexopia back together,” Eric half-joked. He stressed how important it is to hire strong people. “They had a lot of great people working at Nexopia.” Mover plans to stay in the Mercer Warehouse as long as possible, and already have their eye on some additional space on the second floor. “It’s walkable for almost everyone on the team,” Eric said. “There are great amenities here, and being downtown and close to Startup Edmonton is really great.”

Mover Office

I asked Eric to describe the culture at Mover. “Pretty awesome” was his response. The fridge is stocked with groceries in addition to beer, so that everyone on the team can have a healthy lunch at the office if they choose to (today the team had a craving for Oodle Noodle). The company is flexible on working hours and vacation, and employees get ownership options. Eric cited Box, Dropbox, and Singly as companies he admires with Jobber and Granify as local examples. “One day we’ll be the example others mention,” he added.

Mover has a strong technical team. Greg Bell, Graham Batty, and Sean Healy are all former Nexopia employees. Derek Dowling was a programmer for The Gateway. Jacob Straszynski worked at Mediashaker. Eric thinks they’ll add a few more technology folks, but where the new funding will really help Mover is with marketing and business development. Aside from Eric and Mark, there’s just marketing intern Aidan McColl at the moment.

Mover Office

Mover has quickly become a leader in the growing world of cloud storage migration and backup. With support for about a dozen popular services like Dropbox, Google Drive, and SkyDrive, Mover is carving out a unique middleware position for itself in a rapidly growing market. Steve Jobs famously said Dropbox was just a feature, not a product, but today the company has more than 100 million users who collectively save more than 1 billion files each and every day. And they’re just one of many options available to consumers and enterprises. Back in 2010 a series of Microsoft commercials featured the refrain “to the cloud!” Today more than ever, that’s exactly what’s happening, and Mover is hoping to play a key role in the space.

The plan was always to raise money. But like many technology startups, Mover was probably too ambitious last year in trying to build an impressive technical solution to a problem that not enough people have yet. The lesson was to focus on the areas in which they already had traction, Eric told me. “We’ve got this really interesting thing here, and we need some money to figure that out so that we can get to the next stage.” That approach, combined with a realization that it’s okay to say “I don’t know” to certain questions, led to the new investment.

Mover currently thinks about two primary categories of customers. There are individuals who are mostly self-service but have a wide range of needs. Then there’s enterprises, with lots of users and fairly well-defined problems. Both offer lots of opportunities and are expected grow significantly in the years ahead. Balancing the feature set between them is one of the challenges Mover will face. “We’ve got a fantastic backend,” Eric said, “but we need to make some improvements to the user experience.”

The team is well aware there is lots of work to be done. Every Friday afternoon they meet in the “conference room” for a retrospective led by Ben. Each person has the opportunity to share something positive from the past week as well as something that needs to be improved. The admin dashboard they’ve built is displayed on a large television and allows the team to monitor performance, identify potential bugs, and highlight areas of improvement.

Mover Office

Eric and Mark took part today and used the opportunity to talk about the new investment, thanking everyone for their hard work. “It was a team effort,” Eric said. “Each of you have played an important role in getting us to this point.” Mark added some thoughts about what the investment means for the company, and there were smiles all around. But that was the extent of the celebration. Minutes later they were back to discussing some workloads that had been flagged on the display. The message was clear: the investment helps a great deal, but it’s not the endgame. Mover has lofty goals and there’s a lot of work to be done to achieve them.

The Make Something Edmonton Rope

What’s a rope? "A rope is a linear collection of plies, yarns or strands which are twisted or braided together in order to combine them into a larger and stronger form," according to Wikipedia. I like to think of Make Something Edmonton (MSE) as a rope. As such, it’s made up of a number of different strands that had to come together. There are three strands that I want to highlight.

strand

The first started with a wall.

In the spring of 2011 while still working at the Edmonton Journal, Todd Babiak wrote a series of stories on what he called "interventions". It began with the blank, unattractive wall that he saw every day when looking out the window. Todd wanted to do something about it, so he wrote about it. And he encouraged readers to email him with their suggestions.

A few months later at the downtown-focused Pecha Kucha 10, Todd spoke about the interventions project. He stole the show that night with a hilarious, entertaining, and thought-provoking presentation. Todd called Edmonton "a magpie town" and shared with us a lesson he learned through the interventions process: "I should have asked people to do something, then email me."

Six months later, Todd had a new startup called Story Engine, and he found himself pitching the City of Edmonton. "I had worked on the City Vision for 2040, and I had noticed — in community halls all over the city — that citizens were obsessed with the Edmonton story," he later wrote. Todd wanted to help tell that story. He was persuaded to start a blog, appropriately called magpietown, and he used it to explore the ideas that would form the groundwork for Make Something Edmonton.

The second strand is a long one. If you follow it back far enough, you might find yourself at Edmonton’s beginning.

Like most cities, we aspire to be recognized and loved on the world stage. We want our city’s image to be positive and well-received. Branding is a part of forming that image, and over the years there have been numerous attempts at identifying or creating our brand. We’ve always had this inferiority complex, and many Edmontonians have tried to do something about it. Most recently, the City of Edmonton embarked on a project called Edmonton Stories. By most accounts it was a disappointment, masked only by the repositioning of the project as a tool for recruiting rather than as a tool for emboldening Edmonton’s image.

Last year, the issue once again came up at City Council. One of the outcomes of The Way We Propser was a desire by those involved to better define and communicate our city identity. So in July 2012, Council decided to strike a task force. It got off to a rocky start due to significant differences in approach, but by the fall everything was in place.

That’s when Brad Ferguson, the new CEO of EEDC, spoke up about the issue. "On a scale of one to 10, we’re a one and a half. I’m not going to sugar-coat it," he told Council. All of a sudden, the new task force on image and branding became even more important.

The third and final strand I want to highlight is probably pretty boring to most people, but it’s highly intriguing to a City-watcher like myself.

Since 2006, the "big C" City (the City of Edmonton) has been undergoing a significant transformation. A new City Manager, a new approach to visioning and planning, and a progressive Council working cohesively to move things forward all contributed to a very different mood around City Hall.

One of the side effects of that transformation, in my opinion, has been an expansion in the kinds of things the City is willing to take on. Whereas in the past certain things may have been ignored because they were not seen as central to the City’s mandate (such as establishing a Food Council), today there’s almost an expectation that the City tackle such endeavours. On the whole this has probably been a good thing for citizens.

I think the City has gone back-and-forth on who should own the image and branding piece. Should it be Communications? Should it be a new City-led office? Should it be a partner, most logically EEDC? If the expansion trend continues, I would not be surprised to see some within the City push for MSE to remain a City-led initiative.

These and other strands all came together to form Make Something Edmonton. How exactly the strands came together, I don’t know for sure. But I like to imagine that the committee was sitting around trying to figure out how to get from being 1.5 out of 10 to something better, and Todd said, "I have an idea!" He pitched Make Something Edmonton and everyone declared, "our work here is done!" That’s probably unfair to everyone who put some significant volunteer time into the project, and I don’t mean to belittle that effort. But I also think it’s probably not far from the truth.

The initiative, or movement, or experiment – take your pick – officially launched in March of this year with a splashy party attended by the same people who always show up at these sorts of things. It was a good start, and the launch party was energizing and created a certain amount of momentum. There have been a number of really successful projects added to the website, and the Twitter hashtag remains as popular as ever. It’s a great way to showcase the many exciting things happening in Edmonton.

There is, however, a certain amount of spin surrounding Make Something Edmonton. It was evident at the launch party, and has become somewhat more evident in recent weeks.

Is MSE a grassroots movement, by the people for the people? The funding and committee structure behind it would suggest otherwise. There’s a big MSE committee, and a number of smaller sub-committees, all made up of the same 300 or so people who get involved in most things. Furthermore, that committee is expected to submit a report back to Council. It is, after all, just an expanded form of the task force that Council struck.

Is MSE a new approach to city branding, because traditional branding doesn’t work? The process would seem to suggest otherwise. The City hired a firm to design the MSE logo and identity, and another firm to build the website. There was Brand Camp a few weeks ago, but the only element of it that didn’t resemble a traditional branding exercise was that it was called Brand Camp. It was a bunch of people in room talking with no clear idea about what the outcome should be. Pretty typical consultation piece for a branding exercise if you ask me.

Does MSE tap into a fundamental truth about Edmonton? I feel it does, but many others dispute this point. "Can’t I make things in Winnipeg?" they ask. "Maker is too exclusive," others will say. If MSE isn’t resonating with the smaller group of the same 3000 people that are already hyper-engaged, how can we ever hope to get to 30,000? Or to 300,000?

Since March there have been a number of smaller MSE-related events (like Brand Camp), but the big success has undoubtedly been the creation of the website and its listing of hundreds of projects. I think "maker" is absolutely the right word, because otherwise we’ll end up with the lowest common denominator and that’ll get us exactly nowhere. It needs to be aspirational. Seeing all of the projects on the website and thinking about all of the people behind them gets me incredibly excited about our city.

But as great as that website and all of those projects are, thinking about them inevitably leads to the question that I’ve been hearing people ask more and more: what’s next?

The City of Edmonton has funded MSE so far (by way of the task force on image and reputation) which means they not only feel a sense of ownership, but need to be careful about how they spend the money. It also means that MSE is going up against everything else the City does for resources. And practically it means there will need to be a report that goes back to Council.

Another thing is that while our current Mayor and City Council support the initiative, they’re gone in October. There’s no guarantee that the next Council will be as supportive. So you can almost certainly expect the report to come out before then.

Beyond that, I’m not sure anyone knows what’s next. Maybe there’s not even a correct answer. Let’s phrase the question differently: what are we going to do with this rope?

Are we going to have a tug-of-war to see who hangs on the tightest? Are we going to give up and let it collapse into a pile on the ground? Or are we going to keep using it to climb ahead?

I hope we can use it to keep climbing ahead, but to do so we’ll need to know what outcome we’re moving toward.

Here are some suggestions on how we can establish that:

  • Let’s figure out where Make Something Edmonton will live. Right now I think it should be EEDC, because if it remains City-led there’s too great a risk that politics and/or bureaucracy will cause it to fail (or at least to hold it back). (And if we’re going to give it to EEDC, let’s ask them to drop something that doesn’t align as closely with their vision and strategic plan as a consequence.)
  • Let’s recognize that there’s a difference between the organization that funds & supports Make Something Edmonton, and the people who lead it. EEDC can provide meeting space, coffee, and administrative support, but it doesn’t need to be EEDC staff setting the direction.
  • Let’s identify the gaps between the successful projects and the ones that haven’t gotten off the ground. That’ll help us seed opportunities and remove barriers for makers, hopefully resulting in even more great projects for our city.
  • Let’s clearly define our desired outcomes. We want the language, tools, and confidence to be able to talk about Edmonton. From there, we want the City of Edmonton, EEDC, the University of Alberta, Northlands, and everyone else to make use of that toolkit.

Thoughts?

Machete Something Edmonton

Well, that escalated quickly1.


GIF created by Jay Runham

This morning at the ONEdmonton Leaders Forum at the Shaw Conference Centre, Mayor Mandel took to the stage to share his thoughts on the impact of post-secondary cuts on Edmonton’s economy. But he also used the opportunity to once again call into question the decision to dismantle Capital Health and form AHS, and to express his distaste with a recent National Post column. Here’s what Chris Selley wrote in the Full Pundit column on Monday:

The Calgary Herald’s editorialists could not be more proud of how those affected by terrible flooding over the weekend in Calgary and other communities conducted themselves. “It all adds up to one giant, collective effort, a well-oiled machine that slipped seamlessly into action with no hitches,” they write. “There was no major crime, there was no rioting. That sort of thing has happened elsewhere because disasters can bring out the worst in people. But that’s not southern Alberta’s way and never has been.” Edmonton, for example, would be a smoking hole in the ground at this point, infested with twitchy-eyed, machete-wielding savages.

As you can imagine, it was that last line that set Mandel off. Here’s a video from the Edmonton Sun with comments the Mayor made later in the day. You’ve got to admire his passion for Edmonton and his boldness in making those remarks! Many have pointed out that the column was satirical, and that the comment was directed at the Calgary Herald, not Edmonton. Mayor Mandel said he found nothing satirical about it, and instead found it “demeaning” and “disgusting”. One of the problems seems to be the difference between the online version and the print version. Brittney was first to share the news this morning, with a photo of the print edition:

The Sun mentioned to Mayor Mandel that the story was getting quite a bit of traction on Twitter. “It should gain a lot of traction,” he responded. “It shows a total disdain for our City, and I think citizens should respond to it.”

And respond they did.

Marty Chan got the party started in true Edmonton-form by making a clever hashtag:

#machetesomethingyeg has been trending all afternoon as dozens of tweets have been posted using it. Some are serious, but most are funny and trying to make light of the situation.

Of course, the humor is what has attracted most people to the hashtag, both online and offline:

It’s easy to dismiss this as merely some Friday-before-the-long-weekend-fun, or to look at the uproar over the National Post’s column as proof that Edmontonians are insecure and overly sensitive. But I think there are some important undercurrents here.

First, it should be noted there’s a sensitivity around media coverage of Edmonton and knives. Two years ago, our city was in the national news because of our alarming homicide rate. Knives factored into that narrative, though much of the coverage was outlandish and sensational. Still, that did long-term harm to our city’s reputation and brand.

Even if the comments in the National Post were meant as a joke, portraying Edmontonians as machete-wielding savages only perpetuates the myth that Edmonton is unsafe. It’s not funny, because it’s not true.

Second, I think this whole episode speaks to the connection Mayor Mandel has with Edmonton. He brings something up, and Edmontonians respond. We’ve seen it in recent weeks after his comments on the post-secondary cuts, and we’re seeing it again right now. It’s clear that Mandel loves this city, and the fact that he’s not shy about it is inspirational. Edmontonians are willing to back him up when he calls the National Post out.

Third and most important, I think this is further proof of the new energy that many Edmontonians have been talking about lately. We’ve always been proud of our city, but we haven’t always been willing to say that. Maybe because we lacked the right words, or maybe because we were simply afraid. But no more.

Things are different now. Gone are the days of us letting someone else tell our story. And gone too are the days of us staying quiet when something needs to be said. Welcome to the new Edmonton.

If you haven’t already done so, check out the hilarious #MacheteSomethingYEG hashtag on Twitter.

UPDATE: The National Post stands by the column: Surely, Edmontonians can take a joke

UPDATE2: You can now get your very own Machete Something Edmonton t-shirt! $1 of each sold will go to Alberta flood relief efforts.

Recap: Make Something Edmonton Launch Party

Tonight a few hundred Edmontonians gathered at the Avenue Theatre on 118 Avenue to celebrate the launch of Make Something Edmonton. With lots of buzz about the initiative but few details on the launch event itself, attendees arrived both excited and curious. Something was happening, but what? How would the evening unfold?

Make Something Edmonton Launch Party

Sharon and I caught the specially chartered ETS shuttle from City Hall which dropped us off right in front of the theatre. It turns out our driver, who was just 19 years old, had only moved to Edmonton a couple of months ago. He’d always wanted to be a bus driver, he told us, and he came here to make it happen! While enjoying the ride we chatted with The Local Good’s Tad Hargrave, catching up on one another’s projects and blueskying Make Something Edmonton. That sort of set the tone for the evening.

Make Something Edmonton Launch Party

We found the Avenue Theatre already buzzing with activity when we got there just after 5:30pm. Volunteers scanned tickets, checked coats, and welcomed us. We entered the theatre and found it completely transformed. The seating was gone, and the space had been converted into a two-level open room, with tables around the edges and the stage at the front. There were lights, cameras, food, and the pleasant sounds of connections being made and ideas being spread.

We split up and said hi to as many people as we could. It was a veritable who’s-who of the hyper-engaged in attendance, and I felt like every direction I looked there were familiar faces to greet. People continued to pour in and after a few brief delays to ensure the shuttles could all make it through the snow, the formal program got underway.

Make Something Edmonton Launch Party

Mayor Mandel took the stage first to welcome everyone and to say a few things about the project. I had managed to snag a few minutes with him just before the program began, and he seemed totally pumped about Make Something Edmonton. Who cares what people outside the city think, he told us. What matters is getting Edmontonians on board with the idea that Edmonton is a great place to make something. If we can do that, the rest will come. Mayor Mandel then brought Randy Boissonnault, a local entrepreneur, literacy advocate, and public speaker, to the stage. As our MC for the evening, Randy shared a few introductory thoughts and then welcomed Todd Babiak to the stage to provide some history.

Make Something Edmonton Launch Party

I really feel like tonight was Todd’s night. He would probably tell you that Edmontonians are the ones who came up with Make Something Edmonton, but he’s the one who listened to what we had to say and helped us put our thoughts into words. Todd spoke of Edmonton’s history of collaborating and building, and of our struggles with civic identity. He framed Make Something Edmonton as our city’s story, and noted that “a story is about choice.” Some in the room had made the choice to come to Edmonton, others had made the choice to stay.

Here’s the video he showed to help tell the Make Something Edmonton story:

Next we heard from four makers. Lewis Cardinal kicked things off by discussing the importance of our city’s history. He introduced words like Pehonan and Monto. Our pehonan (“gathering place”) is where Edmonton was born, the area we now call the Rossdale Flats. Monto, which is found in our city’s name – Edmonton – refers to our spirit. You can learn more in the Spirit of Edmonton presentation.

Make Something Edmonton Launch Party

The second speaker was Dave Mowat, who shared his idea for lighting up the High Level Bridge. It would take 45,360 LED bulbs to light the bridge, he told us, and the money for the project will come not from the government, but from Edmontonians themselves. His presentation was a lot like the one he delivered at Pecha Kucha 14, but with some new visuals to help illustrate the idea.

Make Something Edmonton Launch Party

Third was Christy Morin of Arts on the Ave. She welcomed everyone to Alberta Avenue and gave some background and context to the ongoing revitalization of the area. The initiative got underway over eight years ago because she was sick of the crime and knew the community could be different. “The beauty that hides behind the crime and grime,” is what she wanted to help expose.

Make Something Edmonton Launch Party

The final presentation was from Rob and Kirk who are looking to launch the Edmonton Keg Roll. They got the idea from the annual Cheese Rolling event that takes place near Gloucester in England. So why a keg roll? “Edmonton isn’t known for its cheese making,” they told us, “but we do make fine beer.” The winner will get, appropriately, a keg of beer. Their presentation was my favorite, both for its whimsy and for its seductive simplicity.

Make Something Edmonton Launch Party

Make Something Edmonton co-chair Chris LaBossiere brought the formal program to close by thanking all of the volunteers and attendees, and by introducing the rest of the makers who were in the room. In addition to the featured makers, attendees could check out the Edmonton Bicycle Commuters, Make Jen’s Day, The Found Art Project, Gillian’s Just Right, Little Warriors, Edmonton’s Next Gen, and The Startup City Project. Chris highlighted the fact that Make Something Edmonton needs to “change the culture of our whole city,” to make it easier for projects to move forward. “Welcome to Edmonton, what are you making, how can I help?” is how he described the new approach.

Make Something Edmonton Launch Party

The new Make Something Edmonton website went live this afternoon, and it features the ability for you to add your own project and to discover other projects that Edmontonians are working on:

Explore how your neighbours are making the city more fun, more beautiful, more caring, more profitable, sillier and sassier and stupider and smarter. Join them, help them, launch your own project.

There are already a couple of dozen projects up on the site, and I’m sure we’ll see many more added over the next few days.

I left the launch party feeling energized (it didn’t take long for Sharon and I to start plotting a future project). I think Make Something Edmonton has really tapped into the core of what makes Edmonton the city it is, and I’m glad that so many people are supporting the initiative already. We’re going to need all the help we can get – moving beyond the hyper-engaged and connecting with the average Edmontonian is going to be a much bigger challenge than we’ve faced thus far. As the launch day blog post states:

A city is not like a new soap or a box of cookies or a chain of restaurants. How can you sum up the spirit of a million people in a few words, a pretty logo, a big sign at the corporate limits?

You can’t. But:

This city does have a story. It does have an identity. It does have a spirit. Make Something Edmonton is an evocation of that spirit.

I want to say a big congratulations to Toscha Turner, Thomas Scott, and the entire event subcommittee who worked really hard to make tonight happen. The “YEG Heads” were great, the livestreaming via the Edmonton Journal seemed to work well, and there were lots of volunteers on hand to ensure everything went smoothly. It feels great to have Make Something Edmonton out in the open, and tonight’s event was a great way to kick that off!

Make Something Edmonton Launch Party

Stay tuned to Make Something Edmonton on Twitter at @makeitYEG and on Facebook. You can check out more of my photos from the evening here, and you can re-watch the video here.

What are you making? How can I help?

Proudly waving the Make Something Edmonton banner

Why Edmonton? I’m often asked this question. As if I somehow need to justify why I spend so much of my time experiencing the city, thinking about it, writing about it. Or maybe people ask it because they can’t fathom why I would choose to live here, of all places. Why choose Edmonton over some other place?

Some people ask that question because they’ve already made up their minds about Edmonton, and they don’t like it. They ask the question because they want to compare their negative vision with someone who appears to have a much more positive one. Some people ask because they want to explain why they have chosen Edmonton, but they’re not sure how. Others ask the question from a neutral point of view. Some days they like Edmonton, other days they don’t. Maybe I can move them a little closer to the positive side with my response, but they won’t stay there for long. They like sitting on the fence.

I don’t like being asked this question, mostly because I don’t have a good answer for it. And yet it is a good question to ask. I want to respond with a well-rehearsed elevator pitch, but instead I usually spit out something about opportunity and how Edmonton is such a great place to live. Blech. I just can’t articulate what I feel, what I know to be true. I think a lot of Edmontonians struggle with that.

Why do I live here? I was born here. My siblings live here. Most of my extended family lives here. And now, my life is here. My friends, my work, my partner. But that’s the easy answer. I could find work elsewhere. I could keep in touch with friends and family from afar. So, why do I still live here?

It’s true that Edmonton is a great place to live, and I can rattle off all the statistics that help to illustrate why this is so. Per capita income is about $11,000 higher and unemployment is about 2% lower than the national average. There are more than 160 kilometers of trails in our river valley parks, the longest urban parkland system in North America. Three quarters of Edmontonians live within a 20-minute walk of a natural area. The Edmonton Public School system is regularly cited as the model for other jurisdictions in North America. About 60% of waste is diverted from landfill, and we’re on track to increase that number to 90% by 2015. Our water is some of the best in the world. Over the last three-year capital investment cycle, a record $3.3 billion was invested in capital infrastructure projects. We have more than 2200 hours of sunlight each year.

I could go on, but so what? Nearly every city has a similar list of positive features. How does any of that differentiate Edmonton? There are lots of cities that could be said to offer great quality of life. You don’t even have to go very far to find one.

There must be something more to Edmonton.

Maybe that something, in a word, is opportunity. Edmonton is a city in which it is possible to get things done. We’re big enough to be considered a large city and to have the affordances (and challenges) that go along with that, yet we’re small enough that the degree of separation between the average Edmontonian and the city’s power brokers is quite small. But it’s more than that. You don’t need permission here to take action, and people are always willing to lend a hand if you ask for it, even the so-called power brokers, in my experience.

Edmonton has always been a city of opportunity. In the early 19th century, Edmonton was an important fort in the North American fur trade. As the 20th century approached, thousands flocked to Edmonton on their way to the Last Great Gold Rush. Many stayed. Just after the second world war, oil was discovered near Leduc, and we quickly became known as the Oil Capital of Canada. A sense of opportunity seems to be ingrained in our civic culture.

But don’t other cities also have opportunity? Of course they do. The thing is that in Edmonton, you can have an impact. You can act on that opportunity and do something and make a difference.

Todd Babiak has been writing about this topic a lot lately. He too likes to ask the question, Why Edmonton? I’ve come to really like his answer. Here’s how he explains it:

People are growing things in every city in the world, but we’re doing it differently in Edmonton. Our economy and our culture, that spirit of openness and curiosity, of urban barn-building, is peculiar. People say it in different ways: this is the best place to build, to create, to get ‘er done. To make something. It always has been.

This is our past and our present. Edmontonians know this. They arrive at this truth, when you talk to them long enough. But we don’t say it to each other and we don’t say it to people in Toronto, in New York, in Beijing.

I think that’s the truth I was having trouble articulating. Todd calls this Make Something Edmonton, and in recent weeks many Edmontonians have embraced the idea by using the #MakeSomethingYeg hashtag on Twitter.

Make Something Edmonton is a call-to-action. It’s about building up rather than tearing down. It’s simple and powerful. It is broad enough to encompass the great diversity found in our city, yet it doesn’t fall into the trap of being vanilla. It encourages story rather than sound bites. But perhaps the most important thing about Make Something Edmonton is that it is participatory. Anyone and everyone can make something here, and that’s why it is meaningful.

Why Edmonton? Because if you have the courage to make something, Edmonton is your city.

Thanks to Todd, I now have some vocabulary to address why I love this city. Just like any of you, I can take the Make Something Edmonton banner and wave it proudly.

But saying that naturally leads to a question – what does the banner look like? What exactly is Make Something Edmonton? Does it fit into the various branding exercises we’ve undertaken over the years? Could it be the next one? Todd discussed the notion of a Make Something Edmonton campaign back in October:

If this is going to work, it has to be a call and an invitation to all Edmontonians — not just the creative class types. In Edmonton, you can make something beautiful. You can make something new, make something big, make something global, make something delicious, make something green, make something north, make something odd, make something unforgettable, make something true. We have anecdotes to prove all of these and more.

I like that Make Something Edmonton is inclusive and that all Edmontonians can participate. It doesn’t matter what you’re making, as long as you’re making something. Sure that makes it a little bit messy, and it certainly makes it more difficult to fit into a “traditional campaign”, but I think that’s one of the greatest things about Make Something Edmonton. It’s more than just a slogan or a logo, because Edmonton and Edmontonians should not be reduced to such things.

Clearly there’s tremendous upside to having three simple words like Make Something Edmonton to help articulate the complexity behind why Edmonton is different. The downside is that it’s all too easy to jump from those words straight to the notion of a brand or campaign. To ask what the banner looks like. I say, who cares? Just make something, and wave that banner proudly!