Tag: rebootab

Why I went to Reboot Alberta 2.0

I live in Edmonton, Alberta. I’m proud to call myself a Canadian.

I don’t consider myself a progressive. To be honest, I’m not even sure I know what that label means.

I enjoy the mountains.

I reject partisan politics. If you look through the archives here, you’ll see that I have voted for every major party in Canada at one time or another, for various reasons.

I yearn for a leader. Even if that leader belongs to a party.

I like learning. I know more about politics (and life) now than I did a year ago. Time marches forward.

I love meeting new people and reconnecting with existing friends and acquaintances. You never know what will come of a relationship.

I care about the future, and I try to approach it optimistically.

I believe I can help to create the kind of the world I want to live in. The kind of world I’d be happy to leave behind.

 

For a few hours at the end of February, I was in the mountains, meeting new friends and reconnecting with others, discussing the future of Alberta, and learning a great deal from some very smart people.

It’s true that my expectations going into Reboot Alberta 2.0 were pretty high, but in retrospect, I think they were misplaced anyway. I was expecting outcomes of some kind, deliverables even, but instead was presented with the opportunity to think. The chance to slow down for a day, to really consider things. To listen.

Maybe if I had gone to the first Reboot Alberta I’d feel differently. I completely understand why those who did might have felt like they were rehashing the same thing again.

I agree that action is important and necessary. But so are conversations. I don’t know where Reboot Alberta will go from here, but I’m grateful for the opportunity to take part.

You can see my photos from the event here.

Reboot Alberta 2.0Reboot Alberta 2.0

Recommended reading:

Reboot Alberta: Tweets & Blogs

A very interesting event took place in Red Deer this weekend called Reboot Alberta. Participants discussed the state of politics in Alberta, and explored ways to “reboot” things. I was invited, but decided to stay home. I’m not as well-versed in provincial politics as others and I was unsure what I would be able to contribute. Perhaps it would have been a good learning opportunity for me, but I got the impression that Reboot Alberta was (like ChangeCamp) looking for participants rather than observers. That said, I think I’ll start participating now!

There were a lot of tweets and blog posts written over the weekend, and during the week leading up to the event. I counted 1243 tweets with the #rebootab hashtag from November 21 until last night around midnight. After removing the hashtag, RT, and usernames, this is what you get if you combine them into a Wordle:

Likewise, there were a lot of blog posts written, with many more on the way I’m sure. Here’s a Wordle for them:

And here are the blog posts I included for that:

Watch for many more posts from participants and others, and be sure to check out Reboot Alberta.