2011

Don’t forget I post Edmonton-related items throughout the week at Edmonton Etcetera. Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

It was another big arena-filled news week here in Edmonton, with the latest City Council meeting on the project taking place on Wednesday (check out the archived liveblog from The Charrette). Mayor Mandel implored his colleagues to just make a decision, feeling that the project has gone on too long.
Here’s a really well-written article on the proposed downtown arena from Gary Lamphier. It’s getting difficult to find the good stuff, because the arena is so often in the news lately!
The City Market announced this week that it will be open at City Hall for ten consecutive Saturdays beginning March 12. That’ll bring it to the summer season and its return to 104 Street.
Taylor Hall is out for the season after injuring his ankle in his first NHL fight. By the way, have you seen the Oilers This Week page? Very nice.
We’ve had some snow again lately. The City apparently spent more than half of its $42 million annual snow removal budget in January alone.
Dr. Robert Wolkow and his research team at the National Institute for Nanotechnology at the University of Alberta have won a place in the Guinness World Records for creating a microscope tip that’s only as wide as an atom. Very cool stuff.
Scona Road will be closed entirely from May to November this year as the City works to rehabilitate sidewalks, gutters, and roadways.
In a speech on Wednesday, Premier Ed Stelmach announced that the final leg of the Anthony Henday has been given the green light. Anthony Henday Drive Northeast will be Alberta’s single biggest construction project to date.
Interesting article on public involvement here in Edmonton. Apparently there were about 380 consultations last year. There’s incredible room to improve. I hope the Centre for Public Involvement can finally get around to doing something now.
The University of Alberta, MacEwan University, NAIT, and NorQuest College have all signed an agreement to share resources in the event of an emergency or disaster.
Have you noticed an increase in the number of unexpected LRT disruptions lately? Councillor Iveson has made a formal inquiry into the issue.
They may not be getting winter tires, but Edmonton Police are going to be receiving new snow pants after signing a contract worth $250,000.
Here’s a great feature on Bretta Gerecke, a star of Edmonton’s theatre scene.
The City of Edmonton’s Office of the City Auditor received top marks in an external audit. But who will audit the auditors?
For more headlines from the past week, check out theedmontonian.com.
Capital City Clean Up is looking for Edmonton students to come up with a marketing campaign! The Dream Up a Clean Up contest is open until April 1.
Passenger statistics at the International airport remained steady at 6.1 million in 2010. You can see the year-end report in PDF here.
Be sure to check out my recap of Edmonton’s ninth Pecha Kucha Night.
Queen of Tarts on 104 Street is now open! Enjoy!
There are still five spots available in the new Arts Hub building on 118 Avenue.
The 2011 California Wine Fair takes place on Tuesday evening. Check out Sharon’s blog for a sneak peek.
Edmonton’s annual Coin Show and Sale is happening next weekend at Century Casino.
Hunchback launched at The Citadel on Saturday. It runs until the 27th.
For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

A window on Edmonton that you don’t often see. Wonderful! By amber_rsm.

Media Monday Edmonton: Week in Review #2

Here’s my second week in review:

Vue Weekly is no longer “Edmonton’s 100% Independent News and Entertainment Source.” If you check the fine print on the Vue Weekly masthead, you’ll find the following: “Vue Weekly is a division of Postvue Publishing LP (Robert W. Doull, President) and is published every Thursday.” Representatives of Doull’s BC-based company Thompson River Publications confirmed to me via email that the group has indeed purchased Vue Weekly. Thompson River has snapped up a number of small community newspapers in Alberta and BC over recent months. Vue Weekly no longer carries the “100% independent” banner on the print edition, though it is still prominent on the website. The Alberta corporation “Postvue Publishing Inc.” was registered on November 30, 2010.
Global Edmonton wrote about the provincial budget embargo. Among other things, it stated that “no coverage of any aspect of Budget 2011, 3rd quarter fiscal update or ministry business plans can appear in the media, including the Internet and social media (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, etc.), at any time during the period of the embargo.” You might recall that tweets about the budget caused quite a stir last year.
The Association of Electronic Journalists has honoured Edmonton’s Tim Spelliscy with a 2011 RTNDA Lifetime Achievement Award. The award will be presented on April 9 in Saskatoon.
Shaw is hosting customer discussion sessions on usage based billing throughout the country. The Edmonton sessions take place on March 8 and March 21, plus there’s a session taking place in St. Albert on March 7. There was a UBB rally this weekend.
The Charrette has been publishing some excellent analysis of the City Centre Redevelopment proposals. Here’s an interview they did with Phil Sande, the project’s Executive Director. And here are the three entries they have done so far: BNIM, Foster + Partners, KCAP Architects.
The latest Edmonton This Week podcast looks at last week’s arena update, This Old Edmonton House, and Youth Career Day.
TELUS is expanding Optik TV’s South Asian lineup with 11 new channels, bringing the total to 19.
The Edmonton Journal will be livestreaming Pecha Kucha Night 9 on Friday evening – don’t miss it! I’ll be speaking about the importance of digital preservation, something the local media often struggle with.
In case you missed it last week: How fast are local media websites?
MacEwan’s Open House is coming up on Saturday. It’ll be a great opportunity to learn about the new Bachelor of Communication Studies degree.

I was fortunate enough to take part in an informal conversation on local media on Thursday evening. It was a great discussion, and I came away with lots to think about. I was reminded of this post from April 2009: Newspapers, cities, and the local web.

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!

Media Monday Edmonton: How fast are local media websites?

On the web, page speed matters. If your site takes too long to load, people will go elsewhere. Google proved this by purposefully slowing down its search engine. They found that even just half a second caused fewer searches. Bottom line: users love fast sites!

With that in mind, I decided to look at local media sites – how fast or slow are they? Rather than looking at page load times, I decided to use YSlow to determine the performance of each site. Lots of factors can impact the amount of time a page takes to load (your ISP, the speed of your computer, where you are geographically,etc), but everyone has to download the same amount of data for a web page, so I figured YSlow is a little more fair than a stopwatch.

Here are the fourteen sites I looked at (you can download all the data here):

As you can see, none of the sites received an “A” grade. The only one to receive a B was Only Here for the Food. The grade can be somewhat misleading, however. Here’s what the front page performance for each site looks like:

It turns out that Sharon’s blog is the heaviest of them all with an empty cache (the first time you visit the site). This is due to the large number of images she has on her site. In fact, almost all of the weight of the page is due to the images. If you look at the primed cache (subsequent visits to the site) then the Edmonton Journal is the heaviest. The Edmonton Journal has the worst performance improvement going from an empty to a primed cache:

To be fair, I decided I should compare an “article page” on each site as well. With social media in particular, an article page is more likely to be a visitor’s entry point to the site. For this test, I simply clicked on the top article on each site:

One caveat: I used the second story for iNews 880, because their top story was over 25 MB in size! Evidently they think it is fine to embed full size, uncompressed images.

As you can see, Valerie’s blog is the heaviest, again due to the number of pictures she has. Once again, the Edmonton Journal has the worst performance improvement going from an empty to a primed cache:

Final Thoughts

I thought there would be more of a difference between the new and traditional media sites, but there isn’t really. In general the heaviest part of the blogs is images and the heaviest part of the traditional media sites is Javascript, but there are exceptions. On average, the first time you visit the front page of one of these sites you’re going to have to download just over 2 MB. On a 56.6 Kbps dial-up connection, that would take you nearly 5 minutes. On a typical high-speed connection, it’s more like less than 10 seconds.

I think perceived performance is often more important than actual performance, but that’s obviously harder to measure. In my experience, most of these sites load fairly quickly. When I do notice a speed issue, it’s usually because the page I am trying to load has a lot of stuff on it.

Another thing I learned from this exercise is that all of the sites have room for improvement!

What has your experience been like? Which sites do you find slow?

Edmonton Notes for 2/20/2011

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

The five design concepts for the City Centre Airport redevelopment were released this week. You can check out the concepts in person or online. There’s a video playlist on YouTube here. I was absolutely shocked to hear that Councillor Tony Caterina is not impressed with the submissions!
Ridership topped 76 million in 2010 for ETS, an increase of 7.8 million over 2009. The number of weekday boardings on the LRT increased to 93,600 from 74,400.
The City of Edmonton has won an award from the Consulting Engineers of Alberta for the West and Southeast LRT corridor selection studies.
Does Edmonton need a “snow boss” to make sure snow removal happens efficiently? How about a ban on overnight residential parking? Those are some of the things being considered as a part of a new policy for handling severe winter storms.
Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) is exploring the possibility of a new office tower downtown, located mid-block on 102 Street north of Jasper Avenue.
Grant MacEwan University has selected Dr. David Atkinson as its new president.
City Council removed the ban on liquor ads on public transit this week. It is expected that the City will bring in an additional $1.37 million annually due to the ads.
Of course the arena is still in the news. This time it is NHL commissioner Gary Bettman who says Edmonton needs a new arena.
Nice article on Credo Coffee in VUE Weekly.
Oiler rookie Taylor Hall scored his first NHL hat trick against the Atlanta Thrashers on Saturday evening.
Sutton Place Hotel general manager Richard Wong is joining Travel Alberta, and will open the corporation’s new office here in Edmonton.
The open house was last week, but you can still have your say on the future of the Kinsmen Sports Centre. Fill out the online survey here.
Former Capital Health CEO Sheila Weatherill was one of five new members appointed to Alberta’s health superboard this week.
Check out The Charrette’s latest planning roundup.
For more headlines from the past week, check out theedmontonian.com.
Right on Cue, a networking opportunity for family businesses, is taking place on Tuesday evening.
There’s a public meeting being held on Thursday evening to discuss a proposed neighbourhood in the Heritage Valley area.
Amy Goodman is in town on Saturday at the TELUS Centre for the latest installment of EPL’s Freedom to Read event series.
The Oil Kings are in action at home twice this week, on Wednesday against Calgary, and Saturday against Lethbridge.
The Oilers also play at home twice this week, on Friday against St. Louis, and Sunday against Boston.

Art Burn at the Silver Skate Festival

Blue Bay Station by Kurt

Twilight Rush Hour by POD

Media Monday Edmonton: Meet the new West Edmonton Local

Last week a new media organization launched here in Edmonton, one that is quite unlike any of the others. West Edmonton Local is a project of Grant MacEwan University’s journalism program focusing on news in the west end of our city. It’s a website, an experiment in hyperlocal news, and a fantastic learning tool for MacEwan students. I talked to the new site’s editor-in-chief Archie McLean and two of its journalists about the project.

“As much as possible, we want to be an authoritative voice for the west end,” Archie told me. I think that statement says a lot about the new project – it might be easy to dismiss it as just thing for students, but to do so would be a mistake. West Edmonton Local is the real deal. “There’s a market for local news,” he declared. Chelsey Smith, one of the site’s contributors, agreed saying “there’s definitely a need for something like West Edmonton Local.”

Archie became the chair of the program back in August, and even then he was thinking about the idea of a local news site. “What’s the best way to channel the output and collective interest of 20 journalism students?” Traditionally, students would have had to write a couple of big articles during the term, giving them limited opportunity to work with editors. For Archie, that would mean 20 big articles all coming in at the same time. “It doesn’t reflect the media reality,” he told me. West Edmonton Local changes the approach – instead of learning to do journalism, students are doing journalism and learning from that experience.

Students are tasked with writing articles every week, and they also need to include a multimedia component. They’ll also do a few feature pieces throughout the term. They’re using Flickr for photos, and might also include Google Maps, video, slideshows, and other rich content. Chelsey told me “it’s a major time commitment, but everyone is so excited about it.” I also talked with Pamela Di Pinto, who highlighted the big head start the project is giving students career-wise. “It’s not often that my work gets published anywhere, so to actually have my name online is pretty cool.” Archie echoed that, saying that the skills students are gaining with West Edmonton Local will be valuable when they move to other organizations.

In addition to Archie wearing the editor-in-chief hat, the site has two student editors that alternate every two weeks. The Managing Editor helps with the articles and content, and the Community Engagement Editor (apparently the title has changed a few times now) focuses on Twitter, Facebook, and other aspects of the project. Chelsey is the Community Engagement Editor until Wednesday, and said she has focused on tweeting links and posting stories to Facebook, so that more than just the feature articles are read. “We want people commenting on our stories on the website, so it’s important to spread the news.”

The site officially went live on February 7. Archie and the team decided to focus on the west end partly because that’s where the MacEwan program exists, but also because the community seemed like it might be receptive to the idea. “It has a distinctive feel, it was Jasper Place until really not that long ago,” Archie told me. The project’s “boundaries” are west of 124 Street, and south of 111 Avenue to the river. There’s lots of potential news stories in the area, such as the Stony Plain revitalization, the LRT extension, etc. The boundaries are just guidelines, however. If there’s news that is relevant to the west end communities, West Edmonton Local will cover it.

While hyperlocal sites are nothing new, there aren’t many of them here in Canada, and certainly not from journalism schools. One of the sites Archie looked at was Mission Local, a hyperlocal site focused on the Mission district in San Francisco. The “trouble” section was borrowed from that site. Crime is one aspect, but there are other things covered in the trouble section, such as noise bylaw complaints, graffiti, etc. Stuff that is relevant to people in the community, but which might not meet the threshold to be covered in something like the Edmonton Journal.

Archie told me that the biggest challenges the project has faced so far are quality control and workflow. “It’s an ongoing challenge to keep a consistent voice.” The journalists are students of course, so they’re learning as they go, and they all have different abilities and experience. Workflow has also been a challenge, partially because the site is running on WordPress. Students pitch their own story ideas, and post the article in draft form. An editor comes in and checks things over, making any necessary adjustments (Chelsey commented that one of things she has learned so far is the importance of editing). Final approval is given from either Archie or Lucas Timmons, the production editor, and then the article goes live. Multimedia follows a slightly different workflow.

One of the most obvious questions about West Edmonton Local is what happens after school is over. “Worst case scenario is that it lives for a few months and then goes away, but ideally we want to keep it going over the summer,” Archie told me. He has applied for some grant money that would allow a student to work over the summer, carrying it through until the next term. Eventually advertising revenue could cover the operational costs, which at this point are quite small. Partnerships is another aspect of the site that Archie and the team are exploring. They’ve focused primarily on getting everything up and running so far, but are eager to speak with organizations in the community about how to work together.

The team sounded happy with the launch and the attention the site has received thus far. Pamela said the experience has been great, and that she’s excited to see the site grow. She also praised the work Archie and Lucas have put into the site. “They really are helping us out, getting our names out there.” Archie, perhaps unsurprisingly, said it is the students that should get the credit. “They’re putting the content up, and content is king.”

For now the site seems to be running fairly smoothly, but discussions about how to improve it are ongoing. “It’s so young, it could go anywhere,” Chesley remarked. Archie stressed that the team is looking for feedback at this stage. “We genuinely want suggestions from people on what we can do better.” If you have a comment or suggestion, tweet @westedlocal, leave a comment on Facebook, or get in touch with Archie.

For Archie, seeing West Edmonton Local come to life has been a great experience. “It was an opportunity to try building a news site from the ground up,” Archie told me. “It’s potentially an infinite amount of work.” His passion for the project definitely showed during our conversation however, so he seems up to challenge. He also knows this is a unique opportunity. “We don’t have any baggage, so we have the freedom to take chances.”

Congratulations to everyone involved in West Edmonton Local on what you have accomplished so far. I look forward to seeing the project grow and evolve!

Media Monday Edmonton: Week in Review #1

Like many others, I’m interested in the continual evolution of journalism and media. And given my passion for Edmonton, I’m particularly interested in that evolution at a local level. Where have we been, and where are we going? What’s next?

I’m not particularly interested in the distinction between “traditional media” and “new media”, though I recognize there are instances in which treating the two separately can help our understanding of the changes that are going on. Taking the long view, however, I see the entities the terms represent merging.

I’d like to start devoting an entry each Monday to this changing landscape (it’s all about experimentation, right?). Some weeks it’ll be a review of relevant news (like what you see below), other weeks it might be an opinion, or a critique, or an interview, or some statistics, or something I haven’t thought of yet. Hopefully I can keep it interesting for both me and you!

Here’s my first week in review:

Biggest news of the week – West Edmonton Local has launched. It’s a new hyperlocal news project produced by Grant MacEwan University journalism students, guided by Editor-in-Chief Archie McLean. You can read his welcome message here. Follow them on Twitter at @WestEdLocal. Looks like they’re off to a great start – I’m eager to see the site grow. I think there are too many plus/minus icons right now, but overall I like it. And I love the full-text RSS feed.
It was a little over three years ago that the Edmonton Journal brought in John McDonald as publisher. He was new to Edmonton, but his successor is not – John Connolly is the new publisher of the Edmonton Journal. The news comes one month after Lucinda Chodan was named Editor-in-Chief (check out David Climenhaga’s take here). You can watch a video with them both here.
At 1:04pm on Friday afternoon, EZ Rock 104.9 switched formats and became Virgin Radio Edmonton. Pepper & Dylan, formerly of The Bounce, are back in Edmonton to host the station’s morning show. You can check out the new website here.
Local traditional media were among the most retweeted of all local Twitter accounts in 2010, as you can see in my State of the Edmonton Twittersphere. @edmontonjournal was #1, @ctvedmonton was #2, @cbcedmonton was #6, @iNews880 was #8, @sonic1029 was #16, and @EdmontonSun was #20. Mainstream journalists @dantencer, @Paulatics, @britl, @joshclassen, @SimonOstler, and @JasonGregor all cracked the top 25 as well.
If you have a Facebook account, you can take the Edmonton Journal’s Writer Personality Quiz to find out which EJ journalist you are most like. I wonder how she feels about this – I took the quiz and apparently share similarities with Paula Simons! The quiz was developed by EgoAnt Productions.
Have to include a Happy Birthday to EdmontonJournal.com Editor Karen Unland!
Corus Radio is looking to hire an Interactive Content Coordinator here in Edmonton. Send your resume by February 23.
The February edition of the Social Web Meetup is happening tonight.
Also tonight: the media-focused sessions at NAIT for Info Week 2011.
Friday night is the Meet the Media Tweetup at Brewsters in Oliver (on ShareEdmonton). Looks like they are already at capacity, but I have seen a lot of interest online, so hopefully there will be another one in the future.
Feeling inspired by West Edmonton Local? Have an idea for an interesting media-related project? Consider bringing your idea and passion to Startup Weekend!

You can follow Edmonton media news on Twitter using the hashtag #yegmedia. For a great overview of the global media landscape, check out Mediagazer. The big news today is of course the Huffington Post acquisition by AOL.

So, what have I missed? What’s new and interesting in the world of Edmonton media? And what would you like to see me write about in future Media Monday entries? Let me know!

Edmonton Notes for 2/6/2011

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Residential grading completed late yesterday evening, but if you notice a section of road that still needs to be plowed, call 311. There are now giant windrows in most neighbourhoods, something the City says is “standard practice” across other major cities.
City Council voted in favor of giving itself a 4.64% pay raise on Wednesday, a decision many disagree with.
More turmoil in Alberta politics this week, as David Swann announced he’ll step down as leader of the Alberta Liberal party. Check out Dave’s Alberta Politics Notes for more.
The South LRT extension to Century Park was named Alberta Construction Magazine’s 2010 winner in the Civil category.
Expansion of the Shaw Conference Centre is a topic that never seems to go away. A new report says Edmonton needs double the conference space downtown.
There’s another winter festival being proposed. I’d much rather see an improved Winter Light than competing festivals.
This year is the 60th anniversary of the City of Edmonton’s Salute to Excellence. You have until Tuesday, February 22 to nominate an outstanding citizen.
Here’s a great article on Jeff McElheran, a graffiti artist who is being paid for his art.
John Connolly is the new publisher of the Edmonton Journal. It’ll be interesting to see if actually delivers on the “digital first” strategy.
Former Edmonton MP Doug Roche has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011.
Local radio station EZ Rock 104.9 FM has switched formats and is now Virgin Radio, a top 40 station competing with The Bounce and Hot 107.
I’m not exactly sure why, but flex time at the City of Edmonton was in the news on Friday. Mandel doesn’t like the program, which has been in existence since at least 1982.
For more headlines from the past week, check out theedmontonian.com.
There are lots of daily deals in Edmonton. Do you have a favorite?
Great article on former Edmonton radio DJ Fearless Fred.
Looking for something other than dinner on Valentine’s Day? Here are some alternatives.
On Friday, the University of Alberta recaptured the world record for the largest game of dodgeball.
The Oil Kings are in action at home on Tuesday against the Prince George Cougars.
The Oilers have a busy week at home, on Wednesday against Chicago, Saturday against Ottawa, and Sunday against Anaheim.
Meet the Media is taking place on Friday evening at Brewsters in Oliver.
The Edmonton Rush host the Washington Stealth on Friday evening.
I’m really looking forward to Startup Weekend taking place from Friday-Sunday.
Also next weekend – the World’s Longest Hockey Game begins!
For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

Look at those awesome snowballs! That was at Illuminations, which contained a preview of Yukigassen.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Edmonton Notes for 1/30/2011

Be sure to check out Edmonton Etcetera for updates throughout the week!

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach announced this week that he will not seek re-election. Dave has a good roundup of reaction.
You can see the latest residential snow plowing status and schedule here. The snow, combined with warmer temperatures recently, has caused all kinds of problems, such as the roof collapse at the Northgate Lions Senior Centre.
In case you missed them – here is my interview with City Manager Simon Farbrother, and here is my interview with CIO Chris Moore. Also, be sure to check out my profile of Joyce Tustian, who is retiring from the City this week.
Happy Anniversary to the new Art Gallery of Alberta!
It wasn’t as well attended as organizers had hoped, but Freezing Man still sounded like a great event.
The City’s History is in Good Hands – the Transforming Edmonton blog visits the City Archives.
At the Old Strathcona Farmers Market, I spotted a petition on the Walterdale Bridge replacement project. David Staples thinks the City should spend whatever it takes to build a signature bridge.
Excavation is underway for the new Community Centre in Boyle Renaissance. The previous Boyle Street Community Hall will be demolished.
Spend a few minutes with…Garner Andrews.
Transcend Coffee is set to open its third location in the former Axis Café space. It’ll feature an expanded hot food menu.
Here is the 2010 Fourth Quarter Report to the Community from EPS and the Edmonton Police Commission.
Bombardier is interested in Edmonton’s rail projects, both LRT expansion and a possible high-speed rail link to Calgary.
Edmonton designer Sid Neigum will be making his debut at LG Fashion Week this spring.
Here’s the latest newsletter from the Edmonton Public Library.
The City is looking for inspired designs for five LEED silver certified park pavilions.
For more headlines from the past week, check out theedmontonian.com.
Brittney has had some great features lately on City Councillors. Here’s Ben Henderson, Bryan Anderson, and Ed Gibbons.
International Week starts tomorrow! You can see the event on ShareEdmonton here.
Also tomorrow is the next Emerging Business Leaders meeting.
Los Angeles is in town on Wednesday evening to take on the Oilers.
On Thursday evening I am participating in Twitter Talks with a bunch of other local Twitter users. Should be fun!
The Edmonton Renovation Show takes place next weekend at the Edmonton Expo Centre. The gun show is also at the Expo Centre next weekend.
Saturday evening is the Showdown Showcase concert from The Bounce.
Winter Light continues next weekend with Common Ground, which takes place at Giovanni Caboto Park.
For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

Another shot of Winter Light’s Illuminations.

Fantastic winter shot of the Peter Hemingway Pool by Darren Kirby.

Edmonton Notes for 1/23/2011

If you walked outside and proclaimed it to be April, I don’t think anyone would fault you. This mini heat wave has been a welcome change from the icy cold temperatures and piles of snow we’ve had! Especially since the City’s response to all of that snow was “effective, but still fell short” – whatever that means.

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes: