Pop-up restaurants are all the rage in major cities like New York and London and they’ve started to become popular elsewhere too. The term “pop-up restaurant” is used to mean various things, but I think about three main categories of pop-ups: kitchen takeovers (a chef takes over an existing restaurant’s kitchen and space to create something new), temporary dining spaces (there may not be a kitchen on-site, but some sort of space has been transformed into a dining room), and full-on temporary restaurants (empty spaces completely transformed into restaurants outfitted with kitchens for a short period of time). We’ve had some kitchen takeovers here in Edmonton, but Blink is the first temporary dining space (we’ll have to wait for our first full-on temporary restaurant, an undertaking which requires considerable expense).

When we started discussing the idea for Blink, Sharon was immediately drawn to a pedway. We both love the idea of utilizing forgotten or neglected spaces, so a pedway seemed perfect. When was the last time you stopped in a pedway to look out the window? We walked through the pedways downtown, looking for power outlets, measuring dimensions, etc. We had a few candidate bridges, but decided that we needed a chef on board with the idea first. Knowing that Lux was conveniently located in Commerce Place, we approached Tony and thankfully he agreed to take part in our project right away! That made narrowing the pedway choice down to the one connecting Commerce Place and Scotia Place much easier.

Next we worked on getting the necessary approvals in place. Jim Taylor, executive director of the Downtown Business Association, was incredibly helpful in that regard. He introduced us to the building managers, and helped us track down the owner of the pedway (we discovered as part of this process that ownership is uncertain for many parts of the pedway system). Everyone really liked the idea, so we quickly started working out the logistics. Thank you to the DBA, GWL Reality Advisors (on behalf of Commerce Place), Morguard Investments (on behalf of Scotia Place), and DECL for helping us make this pop-up restaurant happen!

We’ve got some work to do still, but our goal is for Blink to look and feel as much like a real restaurant as possible. We have decided to go with a communal table for seating, to enhance the experience of eating in a unique space with other Edmontonians. The menu makes my mouth water every time I read it, with dishes like confit rabbit pot pie and Alberta pickerel – where possible it features local ingredients. Tickets are $65, which I think is a great deal for six courses, and a cash bar will be available as well. The restaurant will open at 5pm for cocktails, with dinner service beginning at 6pm.

We hope to see you on February 26 at Blink in the pedway!

Canada’s population increased at a faster rate than the population of any other member of the G8 group of industrialized nations between 2006 and 2011. This was also the case between 2001 and 2006.

Canada’s population now sits at 33,476,688. Looking at the provinces, Alberta leads the country in growth with an increase of 10.8%, taking our population up to 3,645,257, which is about 11% of the country.

Increasingly we are an urban country. A total of 69.1% of the population lives in one of Canada’s 33 census metropolitan areas (CMAs), and that number is going up:

The rate of growth between 2006 and 2011 was 7.4% in CMAs as a group, above the national average of 5.9%. The two fastest growing CMAs were both in Alberta: Calgary, where the population rose 12.6%, and Edmonton, where it increased 12.1%.

Here’s a look at the fastest growing CMAs in the country:

Looking at federal electoral districts in the Edmonton region, Edmonton-Leduc was the fastest growing with 28% growth since 2006 census, followed by Edmonton-Mill Woods-Beaumont at 22%.

Looking at Edmonton more generally, the population of the city now sits at 812,201 while the population of the CMA is now 1,159,869. Here’s the population for the City and the CMA over the last fifteen years:

And here’s the percentage increase over that same time period:

Edmonton is now the sixth largest CMA in the country, and we’re growing more quickly than anticipated.

We’ll have to wait until May 29 to learn more about the age and gender breakdown, September 19 to learn more about households, marital status, and structure types, and October 24 to learn more about language.

The City of Edmonton is conducting another municipal census in April this year, and is looking for 1400 people to act as census workers. You can apply in person at City Hall. You can learn more about the municipal census here.

You can learn more about the 2011 Federal Census here, and also check out The Daily for today.

In order of appearance, these were the presenters at PKN12:

1. Erin Monaghan, Blogger
2. Ben Henderson, City Councillor
3. Duncan Kinney, Polynerd
4. Leroy Schultz, Photographer
5. Stephen Visser & Dawn Lamothe, Yoga Lovers
6. Joseph Ahorro, U2 Fan
7. Michael Walters, Community Organizer
8. Chris Falconer & Owen Petersen, Foodies
9. Sue Huff, MLA Candidate
10. Steve Sandor, Journalist

It takes guts to get up in front of such a large crowd, especially when you have a limited period of time and high expectations! I thought all of the presenters did a great job. All of them seemed to have fun too! Sharon remarked that PKN12 was probably in the middle of the pack in terms of presentations, and I agree.

Erin kicked off the evening with her discussion of street fashion, drawing mainly on her experiences writing The Vestiary. I thought her approach, treating Edmonton as her “little sister”, added a nice touch of humor, even if the overall flow was at times difficult to follow. I love that Erin and others like her are doing something about the perception of Edmonton’s fashion scene! Duncan’s presentation was packed with information, and I thought he did a nice job of discussing what a credit union is and why you should consider one. Duncan recently organized the Local Money Summit and is running to be a director of Servus Credit Union. One of the more moving presentations of the evening was Leroy’s overview of Miguelito’s Little Green Car. It’s an amazing story really, he has taken this little green car all over the world and photographed it people from all walks of life. He wants to show that everyone is connected. Here is the photo he took of the audience with the little green car:

First up after the intermission was Joseph, who talked about his experiences travelling to U2 concerts all around the world. We’re not talking one or two concerns, we’re talking dozens, on four different continents! The human connection is what made the story interesting, that and Joseph’s occasional singing! Michael Walters spent his twenty slides talking about local food, and in particular, the northeast part of our city which is home to some of the best farmland in the country. He talked about The Great Potato Giveaway, and about the importance of building a local food hub. The next presentation featured foodies Chris and Owen who wore matching plaid shirts and aprons. Their high energy talk was focused on bread – the history of it, why bread is great, and even some science behind it. They finished with the quickest bread making I have ever seen! Sue was up next with an interesting talk on creative politics. It was a solid talk with some good ideas, but it just couldn’t match the energy of some of the other talks. The final presentation was all about why Edmonton needs an SCTV monument. Steven made the case and had some really interesting visuals (I like the one of Melonville). I can definitely get behind the notion that we should celebrate more than just our sports heroes, but I think we can do better than SCTV. I think the association between ‘Edmonton’ and ‘SCTV’ is incredibly low for the vast majority of people, and a monument isn’t going to change that. On the other hand, maybe I am just too young.

I think a lot of people in the audience really enjoyed Stephen and Dawn’s “presentation” but it didn’t work for me. Instead of a typical presentation, they did yoga on stage for the six minutes and forty seconds, with a different position for each slide. Obviously they worked very hard at the presentation, and as Michael Brechtel commented to me, it was executed perfectly, and for that I commend them. For me though, it wasn’t a Pecha Kucha talk. The voiceover was pre-recorded There was a third, unannounced presenter off to the side who provided the voiceover for each slide, and I found I wasn’t even listening to it because I was distracted/enthralled by the acrobatics on stage.

My favorite presentation of the evening (and Sharon’s favorite too) was Ben Henderson’s discussion on winter. He showed images from his trip to Oslo, Helsinki, and other winter cities in northern Europe. Ben was full of energy, full of passion for his subject, and I think he did a nice job of being serious and fun at the same time. I hope he made as much of an impression on everyone else as he did on me, and if you’re interested in learning more about the City’s WinterCity strategy, visit the website and also check out the IdeaScale site.

Twitter always plays a large role in Pecha Kucha. The #pkn12 hashtag was buzzing last night! Here are a few tweets from the evening that I thought were worth capturing:

"Punch that dough in the face like it's John Travolta" #PKN12

— NextGen (@EdmNextGen) February 3, 2012

making politics accessible -tough to compete against making bread #PKN12#yeg

— Steven Boyko (@stevenboyko) February 3, 2012

I love bread. Like "I could eat a loaf of fresh bread in one sitting" kind of love. #sourdough #pkn12

— Ken Bautista (@kenbautista) February 3, 2012

I've got to say, #pkn12, last night was the most polished I've seen to date. Well done @edmnextgen!

— Jarrett Campbell (@jarrettcam) February 3, 2012

If we can spend $75K on 3-yr-old Marshall McLuhan's house, maybe we can free up a few shekels for #sctv #pkn12.

— Chris Neuman (@neumanic) February 3, 2012

What a touching story about U2, the Polish solidarity movement, and the power of music. @joe_ahorro #pkn12

— Nadine Riopel (@philanthusiast) February 3, 2012

#PKN12 so enjoyable I almost forgot I wake up in 6.5 hours for @CBCEdmonton AM; Kudos to presenters + organizers of #YEG @PechaKucha

— Rick Harp (@RickHarpCBC) February 3, 2012

It's events like Pecha Kucha that make me glad I moved to Edmonton! #yeg #pkn12

— MERN (Aaron) (@Interslicemusic) February 3, 2012

Sweet Baby Jesus! That was an intense 6 mins and 40 seconds. Mind totally blown #PKN12

— Jennifer Banks (@JenBanksYEG) February 3, 2012

Proceeds from the bar went to the food bank, and there were a bunch of great prize giveaways too. I seem to have pretty good luck with prizes at Pecha Kucha, because I was one of the winners! Once again the event was livestreamed by the Edmonton Journal. I didn’t see as much chatter about quality or connection issues, so hopefully it worked well for everyone. In case you missed it, you can watch the recorded video here.

Keep an eye on @EdmNextGen for details on the next Pecha Kucha Night, tentatively scheduled for June.

You can read about past Pecha Kucha Nights in Edmonton here.

For a long time, I think you could say the same about Edmonton’s airport. Things got a little better with the last expansion, but I still find that the first impression leaves much to be desired. You’ve probably heard the saying that “first impressions are lasting impressions” and I think that’s particularly true when you visit a new city. Even if a visitor makes it to the Art Gallery of Alberta, the river valley, or any of the other memorable attractions that Edmonton has to offer, it can be incredibly difficult to get over a negative first impression at the airport, especially considering you have to go through the facility again to leave.

That’s one of the reasons that I am particularly excited about Expansion 2012. It will change visitors’ first impressions upon arriving in Edmonton for the better.

When you fly through an airport like Heathrow in London, you rarely have to wait for your bags after arriving. That’s because it takes so long to walk from the gate to the baggage carousel – the airport is just so big! In Edmonton, you almost always arrive at the baggage carousel before your bags do. That frustrates travellers and contributes to the poor first impression. With Expansion 2012, the walk in from the gate will take longer, and that should mean less waiting around for your bags.

But don’t worry, chances are you won’t even notice that the walk takes longer. That’s due in part to the moving walkways that have been installed, but more importantly it is because of Flightpath, a digital light and sound system created by Electroland (of Los Angeles, wouldn’t you know it). The interactive installation features motion sensors that pick up movement and activate the sound and LED lights. It’s kind of hard to describe, so here it is in action:

At the end of the Interstitial Corridor is the new entrance, with Canada Customs on the main level (opening this summer) and the new International/Domestic Lounge on the second level (opening this fall). It’s big, open, bright, and inviting – everything our current entrance is not. Prominently featured is The Living Wall, a two-storey green wall that will serve double duty as an art piece and an air filtration system. Coming this summer is The Raven: Bringer of Light, a ceiling-hung stainless steel and embossed acrylic sculpture created by Michael Hayden that is 30 feet by 18 feet and weighs 3500 pounds. It sounds impressive, and I can’t wait to see it.

Airports need to be functional first and foremost, but they can’t stop there. A city’s airport plays a significant role in shaping a visitor’s opinions, and as such needs to deliver an experience that is both relaxing and memorable. Expansion 2012 no doubt makes the Edmonton International Airport more functional, but it also delivers a much improved first impression for visitors. That’s ultimately good for both EIA and for Edmonton.

You can check out a few more photos in my Expansion 2012 photoset.

• MediaCamp Edmonton is taking place on Saturday the World Trade Centre downtown. Check out our schedule, speakers, and sponsors, and get your tickets now!
• Old news, but I haven’t written about it here yet: Alex Abboud was selected to be the Edmonton Journal’s first blogger-in-residence.
• A couple of losses for CTV Edmonton to report: Simon Ostler is moving to Toronto to join CP24, and Richard Ozero is also departing, though I haven’t yet seen when or to where.
• I’m not sure how long ago this happened, but I see that GIG CITY is now a news source in Google News!
• Rogers is seeking submissions for the Alberta Local Programming Initiative. They cite “Oil Change” and “The Quon Dynasty” as examples of the kinds of shows they are looking for – “local stories that have relevance to a national audience, with an emphasis on exploring exciting ideas and worlds that have not been exposed on television.” The deadline to get your proposal in is February 15, 2012.
• Here is an updated list of all Edmonton Journal accounts on Twitter. It has really grown over time!
• To help promote Expansion 2012, the Edmonton International Airport joined forces with The Bridge to have bloggers cover the test day that happened on Saturday. Maybe I’m missing something, but I only see two reports, and really only one that looks related to the weekend. I guess we’ll have to wait to see how successful this experiment is.
• “Lesley Primeau comes off like a hard-boiled, old-school journalist you don’t want to mess with if you know what’s good for you.” Haha, yes, yes she does. Mike Ross profiles the Edmonton radio vet at GIG CITY.
• Premier Alison Redford invited the media to join her on the LRT last week as she traveled to the Jubilee Auditorium.
• Steven Sandor, Editor of Avenue Edmonton, and local bloggers Chris Falconer and Duncan Kinney are among the presenters scheduled to wow us at Pecha Kucha Night 12 on Thursday evening. Looking forward to it!
• Global Edmonton’s Su-Ling Goh has joined Twitter. Here’s her first tweet.
• Brent Wittmeier reflects on two years at the Edmonton Journal in a recent blog post. He estimates that the Journal printed “roughly 100,000 copies of a 960-page book of Wittmeierian observations, split-infinitives, and awkward transitions.” In a follow-up post, he shared his “favourite” story of 2011.
• I love that the Edmonton Sun uses existing off-the-shelf tools instead of trying to roll their own. Disqus for comments, and Wufoo for scoops are two examples!
• Derek Zona over at The Copper & Blue calls out the local media for pumping up the Oilers rebuild without much critical analysis.
• If you don’t already subscribe to Michael Geist’s blog, you should. Lately he has been covering SOPA, ACTA, and Bill C-11.
• The February 2012 issue of Boyle McCauley News is now online!
• Targa Communications launched the Alberta Media Network last week, a news release production and distribution service. “Twitter will also play a major role in the operations of the company. News releases will be posted on the social media site so that the public can view them and get involved in the discussion as well.”

You can follow Edmonton media news on Twitter using the hashtag #yegmedia. For a great overview of the global media landscape, check out Mediagazer.

So, what have I missed? What’s new and interesting in the world of Edmonton media? Let me know!

You can see past Media Monday Edmonton entries here.

• Saturday was a big day for the Edmonton International Airport. More than 800 people took part in a trial run, where they did everything a passenger would (minus actually getting on a plane). Expansion 2012 looks awesome!
• Earlier this week, the EIA announced that Canadian North will be using the facility as its southern charter home base.
• The International Housing Affordability Survey found that Edmonton has the most housing of Canada’s six major metropolitan reasons.
• This is why I love blogs. Here’s The Copper & Blue’s take on recent mainstream media coverage of the Oilers rebuild: “Luckily the discerning fan is no longer forced to rely on writers who are forced to list "access" as their single best credential in writing about, understanding and analyzing hockey.”
• It was a busy week in Leduc. Both the Downtown Master Plan and and the Intermunicipal Development Plan were approved.
• Though he campaigned for mayor on the issue, PC MLA candidate David Dorward says that if elected he would not bring the City Centre Airport up.
• I love stories like this. Edmonton-based Liquor Stores N.A. has annual sales of $600 million, employs 2000 people across 240 stores, and has a $355 million market cap. Like too many things in Edmonton, it’s a quiet success story.
• According to the Journal, the Shih Tzu is the most popular licensed breed of dog in the city. Buddy is the most popular name.
• The Edmonton Bicycle Commuters are opening a second location inside a former carpentry workshop at 9305 111 Avenue.
• Don’t miss Alex’s take on winter in Edmonton.
• People nominated as Snow Angels throughout the city will receive tickets to an Oil Kings game as a result of a new partnership between the City of Edmonton and the Edmonton Oil Kings.
• I’ve written quite a bit about Edmonton Stories in the past, so I was quite interested to see that estimates put the cost of the site at $131 per story.
• We’re coming up to the 100th anniversary of Strathcona’s merger with Edmonton.

Dawson Bridge by Stoncel

And here are some upcoming events:

• The community hearings for the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline wrap up on Tuesday here in Edmonton.
• Head down to the Stanley Milner library on Tuesday for the Local Money Summit.
• The Oilers are in action at home three times this week, hosting the Avalanche on Tuesday, the Blackhawks on Thursday, and the Red Wings on Saturday.
• The next Bossy Night Out takes place on Thursday evening!
• Edmonton’s 12th Pecha Kucha Night is happening on Thursday at the Garneau Theatre.
• The Oil Kings play the Red Deer Rebels at Rexall Place on Friday night.
• Hope to see you at MediaCamp Edmonton on Saturday! Buy your tickets now!

That’s interesting, but what I really care about is local news, stuff that is produced here in Edmonton. Here are the numbers for local news for the 18+ demographic:

Here are the numbers for local news for the 18-49 demographic:

Here are the numbers for local news for the 25-54 demographic:

All of that data comes from: BBM Canada PPM, Edmonton EMA, Sep 12-Dec18/11; min 3 airings. AMA means average minute audience, the average number of viewers per minute during the broadcast.

What I find particularly interesting is that in the 18+ demographic, the six o’clock news for both Global and CTV do quite well at #3 and #10 respectively, but if you look at the 18-49 demographic they drop considerably, to #26 and #44. That suggests to me that seniors make up a big chunk of the audience for the local six o’clock news. Not an encouraging sign if that’s your business.

Still, as far as as news is concerned it was a strong result for Global Edmonton, and their news release says as much:

Edmontonians have made it perfectly clear: their number one choice for news is Global Edmonton. According to BBM PPM (Portable People Meter) Fall 2011 survey, all of Global Edmonton’s newscasts continue to win their timeslots – morning, noon and night in total audience and in all key demographics including A18-49 and A25-54. Edmonton was recently added to the BBM’s electronic PPM system, providing a much better estimate of viewing habits.

Given that Global did so well in the first survey, I wanted to hear what Tim Spelliscy, Global’s Regional Director for News in Alberta, thought of the results. He agreed to answer my questions via email.

1. Why is the BBM PPM survey important to Global Edmonton?

This is the first extensive survey using new (PPM) technology, so we know it’s a more accurate reflection of actual viewing rather than someone trying to recall what they watched and filling out a survey by hand. It reflects viewing patterns that we felt were happening, so it confirmed what our own research had been telling us about audience support.

2. What’s the impact of being #1 in news?

Edmonton is a strong news market with excellent production provided by several local stations, so to come out as the top news station by such a wide margin is very flattering. We are grateful for this kind of support, and it’s fantastic for all of our sponsors and community partners to know that they are associated with a very strong local news brand. I think the confirmation that we are number one will bring new viewers to our news programs. They want to see what they’ve been missing.

3. The News Hour is the 3rd most watched program in the 18+ demographic, but it falls to 26th when you narrow the demographics to 18-49. Does that concern you?

We’re still the top news program in 18-49, and the numbers are close with a lot of other shows, but it does give us an area we can work on. We can always do a better job attracting younger viewers.

4. What’s on the horizon for Global Edmonton? How are you going to remain #1?

We’ve got to keep doing the small things right to remain number one. We have to focus on story selection and story treatment and we need to be on top of breaking news and ensure we are covering the stories that viewers really care about. That seems simple to do, but it’s not. I think there are lots of areas where we can improve the news programs we produce, but there won’t be any major overhauls – just some tweaking. We also need to continue to be the local news leader in our use of technology. We’ve done well with an early conversion to HD and we have the only television news helicopter in our city. We have some good ideas about what changes and improvements we can make next – stay tuned!

5. Which of the other top Global shows is your favorite?

It’s Glee for sure. We try to watch it every week or I set my SHAW PVR and watch Glee on the weekend. Good characters and good music. It’s light, funny and an “escape”!

Thanks to Tim for answering my questions!

I look forward to the next survey results.

• Mayor Mandel has decided to decline the salary increase that was available to him, while councillors Leibovici, Krushell, and Iveson all opted for lower than the total amount available. Last year, eight of the councillors declined some or all of the increase.
• It was a busy week for arena news. On Monday, the City announced that ICON Venue Group has been selected as project manager and that Rick Daviss has assumed the role of Executive Director of the Downtown Sports and Entertainment District. The ICON presentation with concept images was released later in the week in PDF (a key feature of which is loge seating). Paula Simons makes the case that the decision should have been put through the normal process as there was no public competition. Former mayor Cec Purves was even more critical, and wrote in a letter to the editor: “In the 45 years I have been involved in city politics and watching I have never seen a more irrational, irresponsible or reckless move by council.” On Friday, CBC reported that there are four construction firms in the running for the project.
• After an incredibly cold week that saw record power demand in Alberta, the forecast for the next week looks really good with highs of around zero degrees.
• Edmonton ranked second in CIBC’s latest measure of economic momentum. Our city attained one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country (5.7% in 2011Q3)and our population is now rising at 1.7% year-over-year.
• The Edmonton Rush had their season opener on Friday against the Colorado Mammoth. Unfortunately they lost 13-12. The Rush are now on the road for four games before returning to host Philadelphia on February 24.
• According a new report from commercial real estate firm CBRE, more retail space is under construction in Edmonton than anywhere else in the country.
• Meet five of Edmonton’s most promising young theatre starts.
• City Council has appointed Derek Hudson, Gary McCuaig, and Suzanne Polkosnik to the Edmonton Police Commission.
• The building on 104 Street that used to be home to The Roost will soon be occupied by the Canada Border Services Agency.
• In case you missed it, here’s the Startup Edmonton announcement about moving into the 3rd floor of the Mercer Warehouse!
• The City is starting to gather ideas for The Way We Prosper, its comprehensive economic development strategy.
• New government funding will help bring more affordable housing to Edmonton.
• The latest property assessments have been mailed out, so which neighbourhoods saw the biggest increases in value?
• Tickets for MediaCamp Edmonton are now on sale!

Cool shot from Christian.

Here are some upcoming events:

• The Oilers have one home game this week, on Monday against the San Jose Sharks.
• The Edmonton Oil Kings are in action at home on Wednesday against Tri-City, Friday against Brandon, and Saturday against Vancouver. 
• Looks like a busy week for pop music lovers. City and Colour is at the Jubliee on Wednesday and Thursday. Theory of a Deadman is there on Friday. And for a little blast from the past, Hanson is at Festival Place on Friday.
• The Joint Review Panel for the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project is in Edmonton for the next week for community hearings. They start on Tuesday morning.
• Dishcrawl has arrived in Edmonton, with the first event taking place on Wednesday evening in Old Strathcona.
• Winter Light’s Mill Creek Adventure Walk takes place on Friday and Saturday evenings.
• Startup Weekend and Global Game Jam start on January 27 and run all weekend!
• The Renovation Show runs Friday through Sunday at the Edmonton Expo Centre.
• On Saturday, you can be one of the first to test out EIA’s brand new terminal!
• Metropolis of course continues this weekend, and on Sunday in the tent you’ll find The Tip of the Iceberg, a festival of local music!
• For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

The Mercer Warehouse project is a natural extension of the 104th Street/Warehouse District revitalization efforts, solidifying the area as the start-up hub of the city. Built in 1911, the Mercer Warehouse enters its next phase of service, from its beginnings as entrepreneur John B. Mercer’s liquor and beer cold storage to housing the next generation of creative endeavors and innovations.

The news comes just a week after a series of exciting announcements related to the ongoing revitalization of the Warehouse District. For more on the history of the Mercer Warehouse, check out Lawrence Herzog’s article from March 2010.

It should be no surprise that I’m incredibly excited about this! The new space will play a significant role in anchoring the north end of 4th Street Promenade, and it provides Startup Edmonton with the space and physical presence we need to grow and achieve our goal of making Edmonton a hotbed for creativity and entrepreneurship. Here’s a concept sketch for the space:

And here’s a concept floor plan:

There’s a lot of renovation work yet to be done, but don’t be fooled by the sketch above. The brick, the beams, all of the historic elements that give the space character – that’s all staying. The space needs to be functional, but that doesn’t mean we have to lose the history! Last week I had the opportunity to check out the building, and took some “before” photos.

The team meets with Kelly & Devin Pope.

The space!

Ken with the floor plan sketch.

The other side of the space.

I don’t know why painting over the brick was so popular. I love the brick!

Cam and Ken ham it up!

I can’t wait until the doors officially open! To keep informed on this and other Startup Edmonton initiatives, sign up for the mailing list and follow @StartupEdmonton on Twitter.

UPDATE: You can learn more about the space here, and also check out Ken’s thoughts on what this means for Startup Edmonton and our city.

As part of a move to encourage citizens to embrace and engage in winter, the City of Edmonton is leading the development of a new WinterCity Strategy to highlight Edmonton as a leading winter city.

This strategy is about changing how many of us feel about winter – from enduring to embracing it.

When John took his turn at the podium this evening, he did so wearing an Oilers jersey and joked that he hoped it would keep him safe if we didn’t like what he had to say. He started by recounting his experience of arriving in Canada from Ireland. He came to Edmonton and after being told to “help make Canada a better place” by the customs official became a nation builder, even if he didn’t realize it at the time. “I felt like they’d send me back if I didn’t do my part!”

For most of his speech, John took us through the ups and downs of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. Building the team, preparing for the event, pulling it off, etc. He shared many stories, everything from being interviewed for the job to watching Crosby score the game winning goal in overtime. One of my favorites was about the snow, or lack of snow, when the games began. Based on the last 100 years of history, there had to be snow in January. But there wasn’t any. “It was as if God was looking down on us saying ‘anyone can pull off the Winter Olympics with snow, you have to do it without snow!’” John told us. They eventually trucked snow in from Manning Park, which put up a banner that read “Official Snow Supplier” for the games. Feeling that the task was impossible, John was at the park every day, encouraging the team to keep going. He called in the Premier, the Prime Minister, and others to help encourage the team. One day, the guy in charge of the site finally spoke up and said “John, stop coming here every day. We’re not going to fail.” The lesson was one John cited many times throughout his remarks this evening – you need to trust people.

Another story I quite enjoyed was about transportation during the games. Enabling people to get around the city safely and efficiently was a tall order, and John and his team realized that to do it, there would have to be less cars on the road. So they asked Vancouverites to find alternative modes of transport, to leave their cars at home. Unsurprisingly, people laughed at the idea. They mocked it. The team was looking for a reduction in traffic of 25% and nobody thought it was possible. To prepare, they held single day trials a few weeks in advance of the games. The results were discouraging – traffic volumes dropped just 1 or 2 percent. But on the day the games opened, the reduction was 37%, well above targets. “We asked people nicely,” John said, “and I think they realized this was their way to play a role in making the games a success.”

Here are a few of the things he said that really stood out for me:

• “To be a champion, you have to have belief.”
• “Visions can’t be about stuff, they must be about people. About humanity.”
• “The legacy you want to leave behind is the human one.”

As motivational as John’s remarks were tonight, I’ll admit that applying the lessons of Vancouver 2010 to the City of Edmonton’s WinterCity Strategy seems incredibly daunting. Someone in the audience was brave enough to ask John that very question – “how do we do that here?” He said we need two things: strong belief in the vision, and strong leadership.

Councillor Henderson has taken the lead on the WinterCity Strategy, and tomorrow morning will be sharing the results of his trip to Finland and Norway to identify best practices of winter cities. He’ll be joined by a committee of community leaders at the first symposium to explore the question, “what would make you fall in love with winter in Edmonton?” In his remarks tonight, Councillor Henderson said that “at some point, Edmonton sort of fell out of love with winter.” It’s time to get that back.

I’ll be in and out of the symposium tomorrow, and I look forward to participating in future public involvement events related to the WinterCity Strategy as well. The goal is to draft the strategy this spring, with Council reviewing and hopefully approving in the fall. The timeline is relatively short, so don’t wait to get involved. The easiest way is to participate in the WinterCity IdeaScale site. There you can submit ideas and vote and comment on ideas from others.

Here’s my first bit of feedback to the team leading the WinterCity Strategy: get rid of all mentions of turning Edmonton into “a leading winter city” or making Edmonton “one of the best winter cities in the world.” Recognition is a by-product of doing something well, not the target we should be aiming for. Instead, let’s focus on making Edmonton a great winter city for Edmontonians. On embracing winter rather than enduring it. As John said tonight, “you almost always get the reward you deserve.” If we can succeed at making Edmonton a more winter-friendly city for the people who live here, global recognition will come.

Let’s embrace winter in Edmonton! You can learn more about the WinterCity Strategy here.

The 4th Street Promenade is seeking an Event and Volunteer Coordinator for the annual Al Fresco Block Party, which is taking place on June 9, 2012. This is a paid contract position to start immediately and end following the event. This position will appeal to a person who truly enjoys working with people and achieving success through running successful events and functions. The successful applicant will be an outgoing, people-oriented and deadline-driven organizer with a proven track record of coordinating high-quality events of scale. The successful applicant will also be an enthusiastic and community-minded booster of all things Edmonton. A flexible schedule is also a must.

There’s a strong planning committee already in place, so if you get the job you certainly won’t be on your own! Think you’ve got what it takes to make Al Fresco 2012 a success? You can download the full job posting and get details on how to apply in PDF here.

You can learn more about Al Fresco by reading Sharon’s recap of last year’s event and taking a look at my photoset:

If you have any questions, let me know. Please feel free to pass this along to anyone who you think may be interested in the position!

 Al Fresco Event & Volunteer Coordinator Job Description

Tonight’s demos, in order of appearance:

• Zeel – Built by Rocketfuel Games, Zeel is “the topical Twitter app that connects you with your interests.” You can think of it as a layer on top of Twitter that makes it easy to follow conversations on specific topics. You can do that with saved searches of course, but that’s a little more difficult and the experience certainly isn’t as nice!
• Cross Platform Tablet App using Flash – Randy demoed an application that he built using Flash that was then deployed to the iPad and an Android tablet without requiring any changes. I didn’t catch the name of the app, but it was pretty cool to see the same app running on different platforms.
• Accessing US-Only Blocked Content in Canada – Ben showed us a trick he shared with the YEGRB group recently. It’s a bit technical, but with just a few steps, you can get access to Pandora, the US Netflix catalog, and other services that block access from Canada. He’s got a screencast that shows you how to do it here.
• Web Suite Pro – Collin was really nervous, but did a pretty good job of showing off his online invoicing and CRM app. Web Suite Pro seems very feature rich, with lots of built-in functionality and support for a variety of platforms. FreshBooks is the obvious competitor in the space.
• Linelo – Terry demoed his solution for recording and organizing large amounts of text. You capture lines of text, and then you can group lines together, format them, collapse them, and more. He’s got support for Android and additional platforms are on the way.
• Slapshot Heroes – From Visimonde, the folks behind Rinksters, comes this iPad app that is kind of like Angry Birds but with pucks and coins. It started out as a mini-game within Rinksters actually, and was popular enough to stand on its own. Ted was entertaining, just as he was back at DemoCamp Edmonton 15 when he showed off Rinksters itself.

I think Ben’s demo was perhaps the favorite of the night, even though it was a little geekier than the rest. It’s always fun to have demos like that – stuff that isn’t necessarily going to turn into a product or company but which is cool nonetheless. Slapshot Heroes was certainly entertaining, and I’m sure more than a few folks will have already spent the 99 cents to download it. Perhaps not surprisingly, I’m most excited to try Zeel, even though I don’t have an iPhone. I’m always interested in finding new ways to extract value from Twitter!

There were a number of event announcements this evening:

• Startup Hackathon + Global Game Jam is happening January 27 – 29 at the University of Alberta. This is your chance to make an app or a game, to meet some new people, and to learn something new! Monday is the last day to get in at the early-bird price!
• The next Edmonton Girl Geek Dinner is happening tomorrow. Follow them on Twitter so you don’t miss upcoming events!
• MediaCamp Edmonton is taking place on February 4. Aimed at getting storytellers together with coders, it’s going to be a great day of learning how to help one another work together. Get your tickets at YEG Live!

Stay tuned to Startup Edmonton for additional events and announcements!

See you in March for DemoCamp Edmonton 18!

• Tickets for MediaCamp are on sale now! Get yours here! Jeff blogged some details today too, don’t miss that.
• In case you missed it: the federal government plans to drop the so-called “Twitter ban” on posting early election results.
• Here’s a bit of criticism of the proposed downtown arena that I wouldn’t have thought of, courtesy of Terry Jones: “Do you have any idea of how many arenas in North America forgot to build press boxes over the years? It’s in double figures!”
• Jana Pruden of the Edmonton Journal is starting a local press club. Contact her for details, or follow @yegpressclub on Twitter!
• Here is Karen’s latest Edmonton New Media Roundup. Tons of good clicks to be had, as always.
• Over at the Community Newsroom blog, Karen recapped the first few months of the media lab. It’s great to hear that so many students – 175! – visited as part of the City Hall School program!
• Here’s a profile of CTV Edmonton’s meteorologist Josh Classen at the St. Albert Gazette.
• Edmonton’s NextGen has started a guest blogging series. The first entry, by Jessica Zapata, focuses on health and fitness.
• Here’s a fascinating post by Lucas Timmons for the Online News Association. He talks about how he mapped a dozen years of homicides in Edmonton – the tools he used and the lessons he learned along the way. Good stuff! (If you’re looking for more on homicides, check out my statistics & trends post).
• Intriguing headline at GIG CITY: Who broke the radio star? It’s a pretty good read. An excerpt: “Edmonton radio plays its part in the great cycle of life. Sonic 102.9 is the best in town for breaking new music. This is the consensus of all the Edmonton-based major label promotion reps, who wish to remain anonymous, all four of them.”
• At the Edmonton Journal’s Community Advisory Board meeting last week, we got to sit in on the 4pm news meeting. Managing Editor Stephanie Coombs was both entertaining and informative! I was happy to hear she dislikes the “crowd pleasing” photos, like puppies dressed as cats.
• Dave continues to illustrate the value of a simple list with his Alberta Election Candidate Update series.
• The 2012 Alberta Magazine Awards will be handed out on March 22 in Calgary. You have until January 31 to submit an entry for the Showcase Awards.
• I still don’t like Avenue Edmonton’s idea for an SCTV monument in Edmonton.
• Registration is now open for BlogWest. The early bird price is $199. After January 29, it jumps to $249.

You can follow Edmonton media news on Twitter using the hashtag #yegmedia. For a great overview of the global media landscape, check out Mediagazer.

So, what have I missed? What’s new and interesting in the world of Edmonton media? Let me know!

You can see past Media Monday Edmonton entries here.

UPDATE: Stay warm out there, it’s gonna be very cold for a few days! Don’t believe me? Check out the Long John Index. I love their newsroom page: “Not only is the Long John Index a semi valuable and quasy hilarious weather service, its also GREAT filler for Media organizations!”

UPDATE2: The list of presenters for Pecha Kucha Night 12 has been posted!

• Winter is back! Oh well, the warm weather was nice while it lasted. The forecast for this week doesn’t look so good, bundle up!
• The community hearings on the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project start in Edmonton on the 24th. The arithmetic on the pipeline adds up to big numbers.
• This was the right call: Jimmy Quinlan is the new captain of the Edmonton Rush!
• One of the city’s “most historically significant” lampposts has been restored to its former glory at the south end of the High Level Bridge.
• According to Pollster’s annual report, Rexall Place was the 27th busiest venue on the planet in 2011, up from number 31 in 2010!
• It’s pretty hard to argue with Paula’s take on Metropolis.
• The McElheran’s Fine Furniture clearance centre on 124 Street will soon become a chocolate shop, pastry café, and gelato bar, under the Bernard Callebaut banner.
• This is kind of a neat story: a former sniper is now protecting the streets as a night beat cop.
• Here are the Curb the Danger results for 2011. There was a total of 749 impaired charges.
• Cubic Security Systems are providing the “advanced fare media-based real-time threat detection technology” that will be piloted at Churchill Station in late March.
• More than 3 million text messages were sent last year for bus route and schedule information!
• The Oilers are having another tough season, but Taylor Hall is “making a bold statement about his willingness and ability to lead at a time when the Edmonton Oilers need him most.” Gagner is also playing fairly well lately. Speaking of the tough season, is it time for Katz to speak out?
• According to the newest Royal LePage House Price Survey and Market Survey Forecast, the average house price in Edmonton is expected to increase by 2.6% in 2012. Unit sales are also expected to rise by 5%.
• CMHC figures show a 6% drop in total starts for the Edmonton area in 2011, from 9959 units to 9332.
• Edmonton’s economy is expected to grow 3.4% this year, thanks in large part to a strong energy sector.
• First & Jasper signed its first tenant this week – Williams Engineering will move into the renovated building when it opens in 2013.
• In case you missed it, here’s my recap of a very busy week for 104 Street!

This has to be one of the most awesome LRT station photos ever, taken by Alison Poole!

Here are some upcoming events to look forward to this week:

• Ice on Whyte continues all week at End of Steel Park!
• The 49th annual Minor Hockey Week also continues this week, with the finals taking place on Sunday!
• The Canoe Theatre Festival kicks off tomorrow.
• It’s a busy week for the tech community. YEGRB’s monthly meetup takes place on Tuesday, DemoCamp Edmonton 17 takes place on Wednesday, and the next Edmonton Girl Geek Dinner takes place on Thursday.
• The 3rd annual Edmonton Whiskey Festival takes place on Wednesday evening!
• The Oil Kings are in action at home on Wednesday against Prince George, while the Oilers host the Flames on Saturday.
• The Edmonton Rush play their first home game of the season on Friday against the Colorado Mammoth.
• The City of Edmonton is hosting a WinterCity Strategy Symposium at City Hall on Friday morning. Everyone is invited to the Kick-Off Party the night before, also at City Hall.
• Rapid Fire Theatre’s DATE NIGHT sounds like fun!
• Leadership Edmonton is hosting a networking and information event on Saturday evening.
• This year’s Pet Expo takes place all day Saturday and Sunday at the Edmonton Expo Centre.
• Bridal Fantasy takes place on Sunday at the Shaw Conference Centre.
• The next Big City Sandwich kitchen takeover is Sunday at The Billiard Club!
• For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

We should have visited Ice on Whyte yesterday – it was so cold today! More photos here.

It started on Tuesday with some coverage of the renovations taking place at the historic Mercer Warehouse, located on the corner of 104 Avenue and 104 Street. Owned by the Pope family, the building will soon be home to a flower shop, a restaurant and bar called Mercer Tavern, a high-end furniture rental company, and Roast Coffeehouse, among other tenants. I got to tour the building this week, and while there’s a lot of work still ahead, it is fantastic to see the building coming back to life.

On Wednesday we learned that The Confederation Building, which has been undergoing a much-needed facelift since late last year, will soon be home to a 7-11 as well as a whisky bar. I love the idea of a whisky bar as opposed to just another pub, and though you might scoff at first, the 7-11 is a big deal. Alex makes the point: “I see a new 7-11 as a sign that there’s a permanent population that justifies its creation (many new residences have been created on or around 104th).”

Yesterday the news came out that Langham Developments Ltd., the developer behind the Icon towers, has purchased the land at the northwest corner of 104 Street and 102 Avenue. Currently home to a parking lot, we’ve heard for many years that condos would be going up on that site, but it sounds like it might actually happen now. Langham is planning something similar to the Icon, with two towers. I think they did a great job of keeping the Icon towers in line with the Heritage Zone, so I am looking forward to the new development.

There have of course been lots of other things happening on 104 Street as well:

Oodle Noodle’s latest restaurant, located just around the corner on Jasper Avenue, opened recently and has been busy.

The film I Think I Do is filming in and around Edmonton, and was located on 104 Street in the Armstrong Block most of last week.

The façade improvements to the Birks Building are ongoing and so far look great!

There are more announcements on the way in the next couple of weeks, including the launch of our new website, so stay tuned!