Events
Posts about various events.
MSDN is touring the country again, this time to talk about strategies for today's web application development. They'll be in Edmonton at SilverCity in WestEd (actually I guess it's Scotiabank Theatre now) on October 25th:
If you are a Canadian Web developer, this free event is for you. We will look at common challenges such as security, accessibility & usability, AJAX, Javascript debugging, using patterns to improve your development process and working with external services. In a nutshell, this is a two-part tips, tricks and tools presentation.
It will be focused primarily on Microsoft technologies (like ASP.NET), however if you develop on other platforms, you can get a lot of value from the event in terms of techniques and free tools for debugging your client side code to load testing your websites. This event is sponsored by MSDN Canada.
I like that they mention right on the details page that tools like Fiddler and the Developer Toolbar will be demonstrated. The page also mentions HTML and Javascript by name! It's not your typical MS-marketing-speak event, that's for sure.
I was on the community conference call where Microsoft solicited feedback on their web-related developer events, and the key point was to go beyond Visual Studio and ASP.NET proper. It definitely looks like they listened!
Tomorrow evening is the 2nd Annual RestorAction Charity Gala, presented by the Youth Restorative Action Project (YRAP) and the Elizabeth Fry Society of Edmonton (EFRY). In addition to comedy, live music, and dancing, the event features a silent auction. One of the big ticket items in the auction is an Edmonton Oilers jersey.
This isn't just any Oilers jersey though - it is signed by the entire team! If that doesn't make you drool hockey fans, nothing will.
Here's the best part: you can make a bid even if you aren't attending the gala tomorrow! To do so:
- Come up with your maximum bid amount.
- Email it to me at mastermaq@gmail.com no later than 3:45 PM tomorrow, October 13th, 2007.
Everyone attending the gala will have the final opportunity to bid, between 6:30 PM and 9:30 PM tomorrow. There are still a few tickets available ($70) if you'd like to attend.
Happy bidding!
UPDATE: The jersey ended up going for $675! Thanks everyone!
Tonight I went to the wonderful Winspear Centre along with Dickson and Sharon to enjoy the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra performing some of the more famous works by John Williams. It was the first night of the ESO Robbins Pops, and it was a great show. Conductor Bruce Hangen from the Boston Conservatory was on hand for the evening, and he shared some short video clips before most pieces of him talking with John about the music. It's really quite amazing how much John Williams has accomplished in his career. From Wikipedia:
In a career that spans six decades, Williams has composed many of the most famous film scores in history, including those for Jaws, Star Wars, Superman, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, and Harry Potter. In addition, he has composed theme music for four Olympic Games, numerous television series and concert pieces.
Sadly, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Jurassic Park were not performed, but the rest of those themes were, along with Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Amistad, Catch Me If You Can, and Saving Private Ryan. With four of the fourteen pieces they performed coming from Star Wars, you might say that was the theme for the evening, and it was complete with storm troopers, Princess Leia, and Darth Vader. Yes, they actually had people in Star Wars costumes! (UPDATE: Here are some photos.)
Another neat thing about the evening was that Bruce got the audience to sing happy birthday to John on camera! As a thank you for allowing ESO to perform his music (some which hasn't been published, like Jaws) and for allowing the interview clips to be shown, John will get a copy of our birthday song.
During the interview clip for Schindler's List, John said he looked at the film and was deeply moved. When he went to talk to Steven Spielberg about the music, the conversation went something like this:
John: This film is incredibly moving, you truly need a better composer than me.
Steven: I know, but they are all dead!
I really enjoyed the show, and hearing the music definitely makes me want to watch the movies again. I had forgotten how perfectly frightening the music for Jaws is! And when they started to play E.T. I couldn't help but smile - it was like I was transported back in time! E.T. was one of my favorite movies when I was a kid, and it still is. The music just gets me every time I hear it.
Happy Birthday to you John Williams! I hope you continue doing your thing for years to come.
Around this time last night I was at Rexall Place to see Justin Timberlake. I was so excited for the concert! Jane, Megan and I got tickets the moment they went on sale months ago, which was good because it sold out almost immediately. We ended up selling two, and Jane's friend Sarah came so there was four of us in all. That's right, three gals and one guy. Fairly representative of the audience I'd say - there were far more women than men. Age was much more distributed though.
The place was absolutely packed! And keep in mind this was a concert-in-the-round, which means all 16,000+ seats were filled. Ours were really good, and Jane's camera worked pretty well in the dark, so here's a decent shot that she snapped:
This is probably the biggest concert I've ever been to, and it was nothing if not a spectacle. Velvet Revolver was quite the show as well, but even it was nothing compared to JT. The lights, stage, screens, smoke, dancers, instruments, everything, it was just awesome. I was really impressed. The one thing that surprised me was how adult-oriented the show was. I remember seeing a few younger kids with their parents, and I'm sure the parents weren't thrilled with the mostly naked dancers or the heavy gyrating and sexually suggestive dancing.
I think one of the reasons the concert was so good was the venue. As hockey fans will know, Rexall Place is fairly unique. Justin remarked that Edmonton was the loudest crowd of the tour, and even if he was just saying that at first, the resulting noise would have made it true. It was LOUD! Seeing thousands of cameras flash at once was pretty neat, as was seeing thousands of cell phones swaying for the ballad. I really can't imagine a new hockey arena being any better than Rexall Place...anyway, back to the concert.
I would have been happy if Justin had only sung "What Goes Around..." and called it a night, but fortunately he sang quite a few songs. I particularly liked his rendition of "LoveStoned". And for the "intermission" there was a special guest - Timbaland! I had heard he wasn't going to be there, so it was definitely a surprise to see him join JT on stage. He did a number of popular songs like Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" and a few Nelly Furtado songs, and he did the obligatory Aaliyah tribute. He also performed his popular single, "The Way I Are".
One of the songs Timbaland used in his mix was Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" and it really stuck out for me. I think it's because Justin incorporates a lot of what made MJ successful into his show. Lots of dancing? Check. Fancy footwork? Check. Distinct fashion? Check. Fedora hat? Check. Falsetto? Check. Crotch grab? Check. One needs to be careful when making comparisons to Michael Jackson, and I'm not saying that JT is the new MJ, but I do think he's smart for adopting some of the trademark aspects of Jackson's performances.
Justin came back to perform "(Another Song) All Over Again" for the encore, and as he was finishing, a young woman appeared out of nowhere on stage. The security guard looked like he was going to tackle her (how did she sneak by in the first place?) but Justin stuck up his hand, and proceeded to handle the situation extremely well. He got her to help finish the song, but also took the opportunity to call her crazy and tell her "you scared the shit out of me, you know that right?" Heh.
All the dancers, musicians, and backup singers joined JT on stage at the very end for a big group bow which I thought was kinda cool. Then left alone on stage, Justin ran from side to side and waved to the crowd. Much better than some shows I've been to, where the performer just disappears.
I had a great time, and I'd wouldn't hesitate if I got the chance to see JT in concert again!
UPDATE: For those of you with Facebook, this video that Jane uploaded of JT dancing during "My Love" is pretty wicked.
Sharon dragged me to the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival, aka the Fringe, a few years ago, and I actually enjoyed it. I've since come to enjoy Edmonton's live theatre scene, so I was definitely looking forward to this year's festival, called "Live and Let Fringe" in honor of the year. The festival runs until August 26th.
The first show Sharon, Dickson and I went to see last night was called "The Power of Ignorance" and since Sharon took care of getting tickets and such ahead of time, I didn't know much more about it than that. Turns out it was a one-man show, performed by British comedian Chris Gibbs, in the form of a seminar that promised to help you tap into your power of ignorance to lead a better, happier life. I really enjoyed it - it was extremely funny! I laughed pretty hard. The ending was kind of weird, but otherwise, great show. The Journal gave it 4.5 stars (out of 5) today. To that I say: well deserved.
Afterward we wandered around the grounds, taking in the sights. No trip to the Fringe is complete without mini donuts, so I got some of those and headed for the beer gardens. On the way we stopped to see Hoja, a popular Canadian a capella group. We saw them perform "YMCA" and "500 Miles", complete with dancing and everything.
We ended the evening by going to see Die-Nasty. I have to say I didn't enjoy it as much as their season 16 finale. For one thing, there was no Jeff Haslam. His comic timing would definitely have helped the show out. Davina Stewart was there however, and she was really funny! On the whole though, it was just average. Perhaps it was because they were making fun of the Fringe itself, and I just didn't get all of the jokes?
I'm going to go see at least one more show, but I am not sure which one yet. Perhaps I should have a look at all of the pieces of paper we received while waiting in line. Sharon remarked that the Fringe would be a good place for entrepreneurs to learn, and I have to agree. The elevator pitches that the performers give as they work the lineups at other shows are really quite good. Entrepreneurs could definitely learn a thing or two.
Check out the official Fringe site here, and also the Edmonton Journal's complete coverage.
The winners of Imagine Cup 2007 were announced yesterday in South Korea. The winning team in the Software Design invitational was from Thailand. The team members are: Prachaya Phaisanwiphatpong, Vasan Chienmaneetaweesin, Jatupon Sukkasem, Pathompol Saeng-Uraiporn.
Yeah, I don't know how to say their names either! Imagine Cup is truly an international event. Dickson and I participated a few times, winning in Canada the first year back in 2003. The competition is for students, so I can't compete anymore, but I still like to read about it.
Next year's event will take place in Paris, France, and the theme is hardly surprising. Yep, you guessed it, Imagine Cup is going to tackle the environment in 2008: "imagine a world where technology enables a sustainable environment."
Actually, that's probably a fairly difficult theme for software development. It's easy to come up with ideas for healthcare or education related software, but much more difficult to build something that helps the environment. Here's a decent article on the topic.
Congrats to all the 2007 winners!
Twenty five years ago today, Diet Coke was introduced to the world at Radio City Music Hall in New York. Just four years later, it became the #1 low-calorie sparkling beverage in the world, a title it continues to hold to this day.
I am definitely a fan of Diet Coke. I have been drinking mostly Coke Zero lately, but I enjoy a Diet Coke every now and then. It has a very distinct taste that I think is fairly divisive: either you like it or you don't.
Diet Coke is about more than beverages however:
“Since its launch, Diet Coke has been synonymous with stylish sophistication,” said Katie Bayne, chief marketing officer, Coca-Cola North America. “Through the years, Diet Coke marketing and advertising has reflected and embraced pop culture, and the brand has become a global icon that embodies great cola taste with an undeniable sense of style.”
Ah yes, pop culture. Numerous celebrities have endorsed Diet Coke, and the drink itself has become something of a celebrity recently - along with its good friend Mentos, that is. Oh by the way, if you like the image I included in this post (and who doesn't) then check out the video.
If you have some time to waste, check out the Wikipedia entry for Diet Coke. I had no idea there were so many sub-brands, for instance. Lots of interesting information.
I still haven't seen Diet Coke Plus anywhere, but I'd like to give it a try. Hopefully it shows up in Edmonton soon. Oh and Cherry Coke Zero too.
Happy Birthday Diet Coke!
November of 2005 was an important month for Microsoft developers as Visual Studio 2005 and SQL Server 2005 were launched. Technically BizTalk Server 2006 was part of the launch too, but it kind of took a backseat to the other two products. I doubt that will happen with the next big launch, coming in February 2008:
Microsoft announced at its partner conference on July 10 that it will launch Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008 and SQL Server 2008 together in a single launch on February 27, 2008, in Los Angeles.
Those are three incredibly important products for Microsoft itself, and for Microsoft developers around the world. Combined with Windows Vista SP1, expected to be released alongside Windows Server 2008, it's going to be a very exciting time. I can almost see the free copies of Visual Studio 2008 now...
The above quote comes from Mary Jo Foley's post, titled "Microsoft plans a triple-play". I have to admit, for a moment I half expected to read about Microsoft jumping into competition with AT&T;, Verizon, and others! In telecommunications, a triple play means a bundle of high-speed Internet, television, and telephone services.
Mark your calendars!
Last night Sharon and I went to see the season sixteen finale of Die-Nasty at the Varscona. I had never been to one of their improv shows before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew that Edmonton's own Georges Laraque was guest starring though, so I was definitely excited. Before I get to the show, here's a bit of background on Die-Nasty itself:
Die-Nasty is a live improvised soap opera, running weekly in the city of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada since 1991. Die-Nasty's improv comedy format features a continuing storyline and recurring characters, live music, and a director who sets up scenes for the audience (and performers) in voiceover.
For last night's finale, the focus was on the Stanleycubric Cup final between the Edmonton Die-Hards and the Montreal Canadiens. Dwayne "the Good One" Minsky (played by Matt Alden) led the Die-Hards to the finals but had switched sides to the Canadiens. Thus, the Die-Hards were in need of a new hero - which is where #69 Wellen Dowed came in, played by Georges Laraque. As you can imagine, there was lots of material for the actors to work with!
Georges did an excellent job last night (maybe he has a future in Hollywood). I think he was in every second scene! Much of the humor came from the actors admiring the size of Georges and his hands and, um, other parts. He held his own though! He almost broke the stage in one scene, when he started cheering after having scored a goal. I expected nothing less from Georges, who you'll recall, was quite fond of slamming the glass at Rexall Place after a goal.
Here are some memorable quotes from last night:
"I haven't played a single game all year. This is bullshit!"
- Georges Laraque's opening line
"I have a million dollar tool, that's why I built the shed."
- Donovan Workun as Hogey Oogachakka, responding to a comment about his weight
"And the hockey has started. The ice is icy! The sticks are sticky! And the puck is black."
- Ron Pederson as the new announcer for the Die-Hards
"Where the fuck were all of you the rest of the season!"
- Jeff Haslam as Derrick Capilano at the start of the show (no doubt a dig at the audience...it was a packed house, probably because of Georges)
In one scene Georges made a dig at MacT, but I don't recall exactly what he said. It was pretty funny though!
I really like actors Jeff Haslam and Mark Meer, so I was happy they were there. Sharon remarked that Jeff's shirt seems to get tighter every time we see him, and that Mark is superb at accents. Both are absolutely true! The only negative thing about last night's show was that actress Davina Stewart wasn't present.
If you want to see Die-Nasty, they'll be at the Fringe this summer. There's a "soap-a-thon" coming up soon too, but I'm not sure when that is. And keep an eye out for Georges - maybe he'll become an actor!
Earlier today, Dickson and I attended the luncheon and awards ceremony for the 2007 VenturePrize business plan competition. As you probably know, we competed last year and narrowly missed out to ProExams (now ProTraining). The ProTraining guys invited us to join them at their table this year, and we happily accepted!
First of all, congratulations to the grand prize winner, Picomole Instruments, and to their competition - Business Infusions Inc. and Nirix Technology (I was pulling for Nirix as I had met and talked with CEO Steven Hsu in the past and was following their progress though the semi-finals). All of the elevator pitches and videos were very well done. In fact, I'd say the videos this year were far better than any of the videos created last year. Much flashier! The other big observation was that this year's event seemed much smaller and a little more low-key than last year. I suspect this is because last year was extra special with the grand opening of Hall D.
The guest speaker today was Leonard Brody, who talked about Canada and entrepreneurship. Leonard is currently a director of NowPublic, a partner at Growthworks Capital, and has advised many of our country's politicians. When he started his presentation, I wasn't sure if it was going to be that good. That's just the initial impression I got, perhaps because he was so distracted by the lapel microphone.
When he finally got things rolling though, I was impressed. He's a great speaker and he's obviously done his homework. Instead of sharing experiences however, Leonard chose to focus on statistics from recent research. Of course, statistics can be manipulated, so I took everything he said with a grain of salt. That said, he was pretty much preaching to the converted (at least with me). Some of the ideas he talked about:
- In recent years, Canada is an economic wonder.
- We need to do a better job of telling our story as Canadians.
- Mobile phones are going to be huge.
- My generation spends more time on media than work. And we have to multitask.
- "Smart" is irrelevant.
- Continuous partial attention (related to the multitasking).
Basically, the Gen-Yers and Millenials are taking over and they don't do things the same way as previous generations. The workplace isn't ready for them. And you should join Facebook (okay he didn't say that exactly).
I'd say his presentation was the highlight of the afternoon for me. Like Dickson remarked, they needed "victory music" or something in the background when they announced the winner of the competition! The loud applause followed by silence was somewhat off-putting.
One final remark on the afternoon - lunch was delicious! And I actually ate it this year (too anxious last year to eat). The main course was Achiote Marinated Chicken Breast, Black Bean Orange Salsa, Basmati Rice, and Seasonal Vegetables. Dessert was good too: Mini Citrus Cheesecake on Rosemary Crust, topped with Brambleberry Compote and Orange Sour Cream Drizzle.
Congrats to Picomole, and thanks again to ProTraining for the invite.
Earth Day is coming up this weekend, and that means it's about time for companies to capitalize on the environment being so prevalent in our social conscience. Sharon told me about this last week (not sure how she knew), but I just found the press release from Starbucks:
On Sunday, April 22, customers who bring in their own reusable tumbler will receive a complimentary cup of Café Estima Fair Trade coffee.
And as always, if you bring a reusable mug in to get your coffee, you'll save ten cents. The press release highlights other "green" efforts from Starbucks, including their Post-Consumer Fibre Cup, Ethos Water, Grounds for Your Garden program, and more.
I think they should have launched new sleeves with Earth trivia on them! You know, like the "Akeelah and the Bee" sleeves they came out with last April. Speaking of trivia, my Dad is posting Earth trivia on Tuesdays, so feel free to go show him how smart you are.
Here's a random thought for the day: maybe we should rename "Earth Day" to "Gore Day"! After all, when you think Al Gore doesn't the word environment come to mind? Maybe it's just me.
I went to the Edmonton Transit System Community Conference this morning, and I have to admit it was rather interesting. I'm not a transit geek or anything like that, but I happened to come across the conference online last week, and a couple of sessions caught my eye. One was on new technology, and the other was on web technology. Other sessions included a tour of the LRT garage, an input session regarding the 100th anniversary of ETS (happens in 2008), and an information session about Edmonton's Transportation Master Plan.
I recorded the welcome and keynote, which you can listen to here. Here are some notes from the two breakout sessions I attended. From new technology:
- ETS has ordered six hybrid buses, two of which are already in service. Each one costs around $700,000.
- They also recently finalized their largest single order of buses ever (over 200). The new fleet will replace all the old GM buses, and will allow some room for growth. The 2007 Clean Diesel buses cost about $400,000 each.
- ETS is experimenting with GPS and other wireless technologies. Lots of buses now have a GPS transmitter on top. The only thing preventing them from doing cool things like an "arrivals & departures" board at transit centres is money.
- Most buses will be outfitted with a camera system consisting of 5 cameras. The cameras record to a DVR on the bus that has around 1 TB of storage, and uses MPEG-4 compression.
- They have new automatic people counters! Haha, kinda funny they mentioned this one, but it actually does make a big difference I guess. In the future it could be linked to some of the wireless technologies too so that ETS would know if a bus is full or not in real-time.
And from web technology:
- The webmaster for ETS is the same lady who records the BusLink information, and the old station announcements on the LRT.
- I came ready to complain about all the new windows that are spawned on the website. Apparently I'm not the only one with that concern! No word on when it will get fixed.
- The ETS website is the busiest of all City of Edmonton websites, with over 900,000 visits in 2006.
- They launched an online store four months ago, where you can buy tickets and passes. It has already done over $100,000 in sales.
- An average of 89,000 plans per month were created in 2006 with the Trip Planner tool.
- There is a lot of things they'd like to add to the website, but it sounds like they have to jump through hoops to be able to make any changes.
- It was mentioned in passing, but it sounds like the City of Edmonton is gearing up to overhaul their entire web presence.
The new technology session was particularly interesting for me...I have long wondered if they were testing GPS and similar technologies. Turns out they are!
It was announced in the keynote that the recent U-Pass referendum at the University of Alberta passed with 84 percent voting yes. You can read more about the vote at The Gateway. The ETS staff seemed pretty excited about it.
I'm not sure I'd go to this conference every year, but it was definitely worth checking out. And hey, you can't beat the price - free!
We just finished recording the keynote session with Anil Dash at Northern Voice 2007, and I am now in the "Blogging 101" session. The recording is going fairly well, and the audio recorders have picked up the presenters better than I expected given all the background noise you get when everyone has a laptop in front of them! We recorded the keynote in video, and it looks very good. Dickson is uploading it now I believe, so it should be up soon.
Yesterday was a little chaotic for us, as expected. Moosecamp is a very ad hoc kind of event, so we weren't sure about what to record. For that reason we ended up recording more than we planned, though some of it sounds kind of random. Fortunately the schedule today is well defined and static, so Sharon took the initiative and helped us decide who is recording what. Audio episodes will be up very shortly after the session, video will take slightly longer.
Hopefully I'll get to blog more today than in the last couple days, but at the very least I wanted to get this quick update posted. Also, if you want to check out the quick interview I did yesterday after Moosecamp with Darren Barefoot, you can watch it here.
Let the podcasting begin! We just uploaded a very quick (under 3 minutes) welcome message to the Northern Voice podcast to introduce ourselves and our plan for recording the conference. Here are the most important links:
I should also point out that you can find specific episodes by browsing our categories and our tags. And you can find feeds for all the formats we convert to here.
Enjoy!
I am leaving bright and early tomorrow morning for Vancouver - Megan, Dickson, Sharon and I are heading to Northern Voice 2007. It's a conference I look forward to every year. I'm especially excited about this year because we have volunteered to record all of the sessions! Here's what I sent to Darren:
We're hosting at http://northernvoice.podcastspot.com, which is all decked out in the new Northern Voice theme. Currently we're planning to record all of Saturday's sessions in audio, and as much as of Moosecamp as we can. We've also got a couple video cameras to record some sessions and "roaming" footage. There's four of us, so we should be able to get it all.
We're probably not the only ones who will be recording stuff however - the people who attend Northern Voice are a creative bunch, so there will likely be lots of microphones and video cameras floating around. Bottom line: whether you can attend or not, you'll be able to listen in.
We're also offering a special Northern Voice promotion at Podcast Spot. If you enter the discount code NV2007 when you sign up, we'll give you an extra 100 MB of upload quota for free! It's just another way we're celebrating our favorite Canadian tech conference.
If you have any feedback on our Northern Voice podcast, I'd love to hear from you. As Megan knows, I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist, so I'll be doing my best to make sure everything sounds and looks good. We should have our first "introduction" episode up sometime tomorrow.
Last night I gave a presentation on podcasting & marketing to students taking MARK 450 (Electronic Marketing) at the University of Alberta. I covered "what is podcasting", Podcast Spot, some podcasting statistics, podcasting and its effects on marketing, and finished with some final thoughts. The presentation went very well and the initial feedback was very positive, so I hope the students got something out of it. I enjoyed talking to them!
We recently purchased some digital voice recorders and they arrived just yesterday afternoon. They are Olympus WS-100's, and last night we tested them for the first time by recording my presentation. In general I'm pretty happy with them. We had one at the back of the room and one on the table in front of me. The far away recording isn't so great, but the close range recording is quite good.
So if you're interested, you can listen to my presentation here. The only editing I did was to remove the questions (as I didn't have permission to post them). Otherwise it's a straightforward recording. You can look in the show notes to see the time codes for the major topics I covered. I don't know why, but it sounds like I was sniffling quite a bit - apologies for that!
If you have questions or feedback, I'd love to hear from you. I'm not going to post the slides here, but if you're interested in them, feel free to email me.
Darren Barefoot is presenting a session called "Why We Blog" at Northern Voice next month, and as part of his preparations he has launched a short online survey. There's only sixteen questions and it's pretty quick to fill out, so if you're a blogger, why not help him out? I just completed the survey so I can affirm that it is quick and painless. Oh, and there's prizes too:
One randomly-selected person who completes the survey will win an iPod Shuffle.
Another randomly-selected survey completer will win two Lonely Planet books–Micronations and Experimental Travel.
I obviously want to promote the survey, so I’m also giving away one CAN $50 gift certificate to a randomly-selected person who blogs about it. Just link to http://www.whydoyoublog.com and you’re qualified to win.
So if you are a blogger or have been a blogger in the past, fill out the survey here.
I finally registered for Northern Voice 2007 today. The annual conference has become a tradition for me, and this year the timing is perfect as it falls on the tail end of reading week. The organizers posted the schedule yesterday, and even though it is still a work in progress, it looks good. I don't see a keynote however - perhaps it will fill the time gap from 9:30 to 10:15?
If you'd like to attend Northern Voice, you can register here.
Last night I went with Sharon to check out the Bright Nights festival in Hawrelak Park. The event is always described as an "Edmonton tradition" and since I had never been before, I figured I should check it out. I came away less than impressed.
In general I'm short on patience, and it definitely wore thin waiting in the line of cars to drive through. It seemed to take much longer than it should have to get to the toll booth. So that was my first problem with event. My second problem was the advertising! Everywhere you looked - advertising. They tell you turn the radio to 98.3 so you can hear about the displays, but they lied. All you hear is advertising..."thanks to our sponsors" and crap. With all that advertising one would think they could lower the entry price, but no! Fortunately Sharon had a coupon, so it only cost us $10 as opposed to $15. That doesn't take into account the wasted gas, however.
And finally, the displays weren't that spectacular. Maybe I just had unrealistic expectations or something, but I didn't ooh and ahhh at any of them. I did like the penguins on a snowmobile though, because penguins rock! Overall, I'd have to say that Candy Cane Lane has better displays!
I could think of better ways to spend $10 and over an hour of my time. I can now say I've been to Bright Nights, but I don't think I'll be going back anytime soon.
February is one of my favorite months of the year. It's short, classes stop for an entire week, and in Vancouver there's a great little event called Northern Voice. The 2007 edition of the conference was announced a while ago, and today I see that registration is officially open:
Frankly, all of us Northern Voice organizers have gotten behind the eight-ball a bit on this years conference. We all keep getting busier-we're approaching some kind of busyness event horizon where we'll just cease to exist. Regardless, our ducks are back in a row.
Such an honest group! In addition to opening registration, they have extended the speaker submission to Friday, December 1st. If you'd like to register for Northern Voice, you can do so here.
As you probably guessed, we're now back in Edmonton. Yesterday went pretty good in terms of our presentation and the networking aspect. We met lots of really interesting people. It'll take some time to see how well it went in terms of funding though. The presentation was really short (only 10 minutes) so the questions that were asked were fairly general. In retrospect, I think it may have been better to present in the morning rather than the afternoon, as the investors would have been more awake and there would have been more time to chat afterward.
We stayed at the Hyatt Regency downtown which is in the midst of major renovations. The lobby and common areas look excellent, as do the recently upgraded guest rooms. Especially sweet was the flat screen TV! And I love the lighting design too. It's hard to get the same effect from pictures, but you can try! Here's the photos I took. The dated hallways clearly do not match the rooms, but a little sign by the elevator says that they will be renovated too.
Here are some interesting facts (or maybe not) about the trip:
# of liquids confiscated at security: 1 for me, many for Dickson
Minutes until we missed our departure: less than 10 (we were the second last people to get on...we had to run after the final boarding call)
Total time in Vancouver: ~25 hours, 40 minutes
Number of blocks walked: ~24
Number of "random" security checks: 1 (Dickson was pulled aside again ...it's because he's Chinese...the airport screeners have a very loose definition of "random")
Number of Starbucks coffees I consumed: 2
Number of investors I didn't like: 1 (the only reason I didn't like him is that he sat in my presentation laughing to himself...very disrespectful and rude...you don't have to agree with me, but show some respect!)
Hours of studying accomplished: 0 (but I studied today, I think the midterm went fairly well)
As I mentioned yesterday, Dickson and I are in Vancouver all day tomorrow for the Angel Forum. Our flight leaves tonight at around 7 PM and we're back tomorrow evening close to midnight. Very quick trip indeed.
Now that Northern Voice 2007 has been announced, it looks like this trip will be the first of many to Vancouver over the next few months! Not to be outdone on the other side of Canada, Mesh 2007 has been announced for May in Toronto. Lots of excellent Canadian conferences to attend!
Over the last couple days I have had conversations with at least two friends about Halloween and how the girls dress up in revealing costumes. As you might have guessed, I am generally in favor of the trend! Then today while browsing the NYTimes, I came across this article on the phenomenon:
In her thigh-highs and ruby miniskirt, Little Red Riding Hood does not appear to be en route to her grandmother’s house. And Goldilocks, in a snug bodice and platform heels, gives the impression she has been sleeping in everyone’s bed. There is a witch wearing little more than a Laker Girl uniform, a fairy who appears to shop at Victoria’s Secret and a cowgirl with a skirt the size of a tea towel.
Anyone who has watched the evolution of women’s Halloween costumes in the last several years will not be surprised that these images — culled from the Web sites of some of the largest Halloween costume retailers — are more strip club than storybook.
Is that really so surprising? Sex sells, as they say. Halloween is basically an excuse for women to dress in something they wouldn't normally dare admit they own, much less wear. The feminists of course don't like the idea very much, and they are quick to point out that there aren't many sexy costumes for guys. But you have to ask yourself why there aren't as many for men: is it because there's a double standard, or is it because there are more sexy females than sexy males? Or maybe it simply tells us that more people like to see sexy females, including other females, rather than sexy men.
I'll never forget last year. I was with a bunch of friends at Denny's at around 3 AM, so after the bars have closed and people have started to trickle into reliable old Denny's. A group of girls walked in, with a couple of them dressed in sexy bunny costumes. They walked by our table, and one deliberately dropped something and bent down to pick it up, allowing us to have a good look if we so chose. Maybe she was drunk, or maybe she was just what I like to call an "attention whore". Either way, it was memorable to say the least.
What are some of the sexiest costumes you've seen? Have you worn one, or would you consider wearing one?
This afternoon was TEC Edmonton's annual TEC Connector networking event, and for the second year in a row, Dickson and I decided to go. We were actually invited to setup a booth for Paramagnus, but we opted to just mingle instead. The TEC Connector is kind of an important event for me, because I consider it the start of our adventure with VenturePrize.
There seemed to be more people this year, and also unlike last year, we actually knew a few of them this time! It was nice to reconnect with some of the very smart and very interesting people we have met over the last year. These kinds of networking events are funny in a way, because you can meet some great people, but they also show just how small Edmonton can be. There are more familiar faces than unfamiliar ones.
There was some talk today about VenturePrize and the new student category that has been launched. I think it's great that the program is expanding! Dickson and I will be one of the featured presenters in this year's VenturePrize seminar series, an opportunity I am really looking forward to. We'll be sharing our story with this year's participants on November 1st.
I guess the 2010 Winter Games is a pretty good excuse to give students two weeks off, eh? Well, post secondary students at least, because they might be able to work or volunteer at the games. Nothing is certain yet, but a nice break for students definitely seems likely:
Spokeswoman Renee Smith-Valade said Vancouver's Olympic organizing committee wants "to ensure that every child and youth has some opportunity to touch and feel the experience of the 2010 Winter Games."
As you might have guessed, there is definite opposition to extending the break to students in elementary and secondary schools. B.C. Teachers' Federation president Jinny Sims had this to say:
"I cannot imagine this government, led by this premier who has brought in legislation after legislation to show that education is an essential service, condoning school closures for two weeks."
I don't know how I'd feel if I were a parent about such a break. I'm guessing I probably wouldn't approve. I'd certainly want my child to experience the Games, but there's no reason to miss two whole weeks.
Now that I am back in Edmonton and feeling a little better, time for a bit of a recap. Dickson has posted his closing thoughts on the expo as well. It's hard to compare last year's event with this year's. In some ways, there seemed to be more people this year, such as on Friday, but Saturday told a different story. One thing is for sure - there were far less "I've never heard of podcasting" people in attendance this year.
- I have to agree with Dickson, the weather in Ontario was really hot. It mattered less on Saturday when I had a bad case of the chills, but still.
- I am amazed that I met people who were happy to "do it on their own" when it came to podcast hosting. Perhaps this is because podcasting is so new? Heck, I don't even host my own photo gallery anymore. Why not? Because Flickr does it better than I ever could. I offload all the work to them. That's what we are trying to do with Podcast Spot too. You as the podcaster can focus on creating great content, because we take care of the rest.
- Speaking of pictures, you can see the ones I took here.
- I think we're going to have to do something more interesting with the booth next year. Our "low-key, low-information-on-the-wall" style worked to an extent, but I think we can do better.
- We need to do a better job explaining how we charge. We charge based on upload, which is the amount of stuff you send to our servers in any given month. This is in contrast to charging by storage, which is the amount of stuff you have put on the servers since you became a customer. If we charged by storage, you'd eventually hit a limit, after which you wouldn't be able to add anything new without first removing something old. Fortunately for you, we charge by upload so you never run out of space!
- I just re-read that, and perhaps it still isn't clear. I'll record something soon that should explain it a little better. Visuals always help!
- Generally speaking, I have the feeling that the Expo is missing something that would take it to the next level. What that something is, I don't know. I do have a small wish-list though: wireless Internet throughout the convention center, expanded awards (say a "best podcast hosting service"), and more free food/drinks!
Thanks to Tim and the rest of the team at TNC New Media for another great Expo! I'm looking forward to next year already :)
Dickson and I are just killing time here in the nicely air conditioned hotel until 5:30 when there is an event for exhibitors and the press. I mention the air conditioning because it's a scorching 94 degrees here today, or for everyone back home in Canada, 34 degrees celsius. Edmonton had just started to get some nice weather again before we left, but it was still only about 15 degrees!
We finished setting up our booth in about ten minutes. Like last year, we opted not to do anything fancy, though unlike last year we have a banner this time. You can see what I mean in the pictures. We also decided to sponsor the conference notepads this year, and I am really happy with the way they turned out.
More later!
I think this is going to be a great trip! For the first time in recent memory, Dickson and I were not scrambling to finish anything the night before leaving town. That was kind of nice for a change, we'll have to do it more often! Today didn't start out so great though. We got to the airport with plenty of time to spare, cleared customs without any problems (minus Dickson getting manhandled in the security check by an over-eager young man) and then sat down to wait for the flight. Thing is, our flight was over 20 minutes late. And with a 45 minute window to catch our connecting flight in Salt Lake City, that was somewhat distressing.
Turns out we made it just in time to make the flight, but the lady at the counter informed us they had overbooked as they didn't think we'd make it. So we volunteered to wait for the later flight (only 2 hours later) and in return we got meal vouchers and a $200 credit with the airline (Delta). It was a pretty sweet deal! And such a difference from last year, when we missed our flight and had to pay a lot more to get to Ontario. Another nice side benefit was that our bags arrived ahead of us, so we didn't have to wait for them to get off the plane - they were waiting for us.
We're now in the hotel in Ontario - the DoubleTree, which is very nice by the way. They gave us a fresh chocolate chip cookie each upon checking in, and we passed a Starbucks on our way to the room. See what I mean about being a good start?
We just noticed that Podcasting News has an item on Podcast Spot too. I'm really excited for the Expo to start now!
Last night Sharon and I went to Capital EX (formerly Klondike Days, or simply K Days). The ten day festival ends tomorrow, and with rain in the forecast, I would expect attendance numbers for the last two days to be quite low. The rain stayed away yesterday though!
There's a bunch of new rides this year, and many of my favorites are now gone (like the Drop of Fear and the Zipper). We only went on the ferris wheel, which we tried to time just right, so we'd see the fireworks at the same time. Apparently it was "too windy" though, so the fireworks were cancelled! I wasn't impressed. We did get the ferris wheel ride for free pretty much though - as we were in line to buy tickets, this guy came up and offered us his card which had 11 credits left on it (we needed twelve, hence the pretty much free) as he had just received a wrist band from someone.
New to the EX this year is Ed Fest, a big concert series with some popular musical acts like Nelly Furtado, and Sam Roberts (who closed the show last night). You can hear the music from almost anywhere, so there's no need to buy tickets really! The stage is pretty poorly placed though, because it is so loud, it drowns out the nearby Epcor stage which has magicians and other acts. It was really annoying, though the magician we watched made the best of it.
Another thing the organizers did this year was separate the little kid rides into a completely separate section. Very smart move, as it made it much easier to walk through the midway and to the normal rides. Inside the Sportex there was a display from the Art Gallery, which looked kind of neat in the pictures promoting it, but turned out to be really unimpressive in person (it was a river made of jars). There was also the usual stuff like the military displays, and the thousands of people hawking all sorts of crap.
And what trip would be complete without mini-donuts! I absolutely love those things, and they sure were tasty yesterday. I wish there was a mini-donut street vendor near the office - I'd probably be his or her best customer!
I am so glad I got to go to the race today - it was awesome! I only wish my Dad had been able to come (we always watch the F1 races early Sunday morning together, though virtually, as he lives in the north). Despite the heat, there was a packed crowd for the race today, and it was extremely entertaining. Bourdais led the first half of the race, but Wilson proved much quicker and eventually took the checkered flag, becoming the only driver besides Bourdais and Allmendinger to win a race this season (here's the full story).
I have to say that watching a race in person is a much different experience than watching on television. Edmonton is probably unique too, in that you can see pretty much the entire track from your seat in the grandstands. In any case, I like that you see every car go by every lap, whereas on TV you are at the mercy of the producer and camera people. It makes it much easier to see visually who is gaining on whom, who is falling behind, and who is trying too hard. Sure the television has the times and stuff, but actually seeing it is pretty cool.
The race began with the parade of drivers, each in a Ford pickup. Some of the Edmonton Eskimos also took part, with their very yellow truck bringing up the rear. There were parachuters, CF-18s, Mayor Mandel, Premier Klein, and various other dignitaries to get things underway. Oilers head coach Craig MacTavish was the grand marshall, saying the famous words with a twist - "Katherine and gentlemen, start your engines!" (as Katherine Legge is the only woman driver in the series). It was neat to see MacT and Kelly Buchburger walking down the concourse with a couple other guys - everyone would walk past, and then stop and look at the foursome, wondering if they had really just seen MacT! He's an Edmonton celebrity to be sure.
I've added a few more pictures to my photoset from today. I also have about ten minutes of video, just various clips that I recorded throughout the day, so I'll post that at some point as well. You know, so you can hear the scream of the engines for yourself!
Anyway, great race, and I hope I can go again next year!
I really wanted to go to the inaugural Grand Prix of Edmonton last year, but never got around to getting tickets. This year though, I was lucky enough to get Silver tickets for today and tomorrow. Turns out that one of my very fashionable friends got tickets from work, yet found she didn't like watching cars go in circles, so she was nice enough to give her pass to me. Needless to say, I was pretty happy.
I arrived at the track this morning around 10, just in time to catch the morning Champ Car practice. I stayed until after the afternoon qualifying, which ended at 3. I'm amazed I lasted that long - the weather in Edmonton today was an incredible 35 degrees celsius, which as I'm sure you're aware, is much hotter when you're on asphalt.
It was totally worth it though! I've always been a big racing fan, with my favorite being Formula 1 (and there was a lot of Schumacher and Alonso gear to be seen today which was neat). I used to watch Champ Car all the time too, back when it was called CART. I still remember Jacques Villeneuve racing for the Players team in CART before switching to F1 and winning a world championship. And I remember Paul Tracy, who was one of the youngest drivers in the field. He's now the oldest, and clearly the fan favorite here in Edmonton. He starts the race second tomorrow, despite a little accident this afternoon. Sebastien Bourdais has the pole.
Watching in person is much different than watching on television. The sounds are obviously much louder, and you can hear certain things much more clearly, such as gear shifts or brakes locking up. And while it's easier to keep track of what's going on when watching TV, there are some things you just can't see properly unless you're in person. Things like the way the cars bounce around (well if you ignore on car cameras at least), or the way the downforce keeps them on track as they go through a corner at 100 mph. Everytime the cars go through turns 13 and 14, it looks like they are going to lose control, and except for one time today, none of them did. It's incredible.
I've created a new photoset with a bunch of pictures I took today, and I'll add to it tomorrow. A couple interesting ones are this forklift carrying packages of ice to keep drinks cool no doubt, and this jet engine mounted to the back of a pickup that blows debris from the track. Maybe I'll bring my video camera tomorrow!
Yep, it's that time of year again. Time to head out to Lisa's place at Bonnie Lake to celebrate her birthday! I've been looking forward to it, as the last couple of years were lots of fun, and I don't see Lisa all that often.
I should be back sometime tomorrow.
Yesterday afternoon my friends Violet and Vincent were married in a lovely ceremony, which was followed by a banquet last night. Violet looked absolutely gorgeous in her dress, and Vince didn't look too bad himself! The weather was great yesterday, and I think everyone had a good time.
I'm only 22 years old, but events like this sort of make you feel older, you know? For instance, in between the ceremony and the banquet, a bunch of us went to Moxie's downtown. When I went up to the bar with our waitress to pay, she asked if we were celebrating a grad or something. I replied, "nope, a wedding." Now maybe she meant a post-secondary graduation, but I got the feeling she was talking about high school, which is especially odd since it was the afternoon, and it was July. Regardless, I realized that big events for my friends are now weddings and children, not graduations or simple gatherings.
I took lots of pictures yesterday, which you can see here. Unfortunately the ones from the actual ceremony are not great, because the official film/photo crew were hogging all the best places, and at one point, even asked the guests to refrain from taking pictures, which most of us promptly ignored.
If you're reading this V&V;, I hope the move to Calgary goes smoothly, and have a wonderful time on your honeymoon! And Jane et al, thanks for the superb organization, I know the newlyweds appreciated it, as did guests like myself.
I can't believe it's already July 1st! Time is flying by much too quickly. Anyway, Happy Canada Day to you! If you're in Edmonton, the fireworks start at 11 PM, and the best place to see them is from the Legislature grounds. And if you're in Calgary - sucks to be you, no fireworks, haha!
It has been quite a while since I've said anything about the .NET Wizards, but I think it's time. As some of you are undoubtedly aware, there is a new user group in town - the Edmonton .NET User Group (or EDMUG.NET). They've had a couple of meetings so far, and have two scheduled for the end of June, so they're off to a good start. Now, before I get into what I want to say, let's get a few things out of the way:
- This is a really long post, so be prepared.
- I love Edmonton, I love .NET, and I love meeting new people, both online and off.
- I have become extremely busy with Paramagnus over the last couple of years, as has Dickson. We're having a blast building our little software company though, so we don't regret being busy at all.
- There are a lot of great .NET developers in Edmonton, and they deserve a great developer community.
- We always tried our best with the .NET Wizards to treat people with respect, cater to their varying levels of knowledge, and make the Edmonton developer community a great one.
My intent with this post is to set the record straight on the .NET Wizards. To clarify some things that I feel are getting confused, and to have on public record my thoughts and opinions on what has happened, what is happening, and what is going to happen in the future. To do this, I'm going to tell you a story.
Some History
The Edmonton .NET Wizards User Group began life back in the fall of 2003. Dickson and I were really heavily into .NET at the time (and still are) and we wanted a way to connect with other .NET developers in Edmonton. Additionally, we had just come back a couple months earlier from TechEd 2003 in Barcelona, Spain where we represented Canada in Microsoft's first ever Imagine Cup programming competition, so we were especially excited about creating the user group. We registered the domain name in September and a non-profit organization in November, and got started planning events and stuff.
One of the first problems we encountered was a location for our events. As we were both students at the University of Alberta, we decided to host our meetings there as we could get a room for free. We still had to pay for use of the projector and computer though, and we did so out of our own pockets. Over the next year or so, we setup a user group booth at MSDN events to try and attract developers, and held many events on topics such as "J2EE and .NET Interoperability", "Building Mobile Applications with the .NET CF and SQL CE", "Web Services Security", and "Whidbey and SQL Server 2005."
Our events in 2004 and most of 2005 always seemed to have less than amazing attendance, though we did manage to have some great events with speakers like John Bristowe and Dan Sellers, and we gave away lots of books and other prizes to Edmonton developers. I think we probably gave away more stuff than other user groups did, because I also happened to be the Academic contact for Microsoft at the UofA, so I ended up receiving double the swag. We tried food a few times, but couldn't seem to get an amazing turnout.
As a result, we had a "planning meeting" in the summer of 2005, to try and get some input from people on where they thought the user group should go. We held less of our own events in the first six months of 2005 than we did in 2004, and basically organized things around the MSDN tour events. Which did people prefer? After a while, we finally got a good discussion going, and it turned out that most people wanted smaller events, with presenters from the group. In September 2005 we got started. We put up a wiki as our website so that everyone could edit it, and we had a series of smaller events on things like Windows Vista, Visual Studio 2005, Generics, and Game Engine Design. We also started a certification group, though it didn't last long.
EDMUG.NET is born
Which more or less brings us to March of this year. Our last event was March 14th, where John Bristowe returned to Edmonton to talk about WinFX. Shortly thereafter, the business plan competitions Dickson and I were in took over our lives, and we never planned an event for April. Then, on April 9th, we received an email from Donald Belcham, basically informing us that EDMUG.NET was starting. His email kind of surprised us, as we had been informed a few weeks earlier by MSDN that some people in Edmonton wanted something different. We decided to meet with Donald over coffee, and we felt pretty good after the meeting. Here is a summary of the outcome:
- EDMUG.NET held no ill will towards us, they just wanted to try something different.
- They decided to hold their events on Thursdays as ours were usually held on Tuesdays.
- We discussed the future of the .NET Wizards, including one option which would make us a sub-group of EDMUG.NET, focusing on "the cutting edge" stuff.
- We agreed that we didn't necessarily want to compete.
- We also chatted about our experience in creating and running a group, and the things Donald and his team had experienced to date.
- Dickson and I explained to Donald that we felt it was time for someone else to take over and offer a different perspective on things anyway.
- We wished each other luck.
Dickson and I decided to take a break, and let EDMUG.NET get underway, so nothing much happened until the first EDMUG.NET event on April 27th, which I was able to attend part of. It had great attendance, and was a pretty successful first event. I said hi to Donald and team, but didn't get a chance to really chat with them.
Their second event was held on May 25th. Unfortunately neither Dickson nor myself could attend, but it seems they encountered some negative feedback - something all user groups will receive at some point.
Here is where things get interesting.
Get to the point Mack
I'm glad to see Donald handled the negative feedback very well, dropping the "fuck's" like they are going out of style. Anyway, I don't know his relationship with Mike at Sideline.ca who had the complaints, so I won't comment any further besides my sarcastic remark just now. It is from their back and forth as well as some comments made offline, that I noticed some things that I need to comment on.
- Donald calls "the old user group's content inadequate". It has also been said that we tended to focus on things you couldn't take back to work and use right away.
- Mike thinks the .NET community needs rekindling, and said that the previous group did not take action on feedback.
- Both Mike and Donald agreed to "hold EdmUG to a much higher standard than what the DotNetWizards had," which apparently means a "stronger and more knowledgeable community."
- When EDMUG.NET first launched, Mike thought it was "sure to kick the hell out of the previous excuse we had for a .Net user group here in town." Donald says he was disappointed with our "inability to capture and drive the local .NET developer community."
- I get the general feeling that the work Dickson and I did has gone largely unappreciated.
I've been known to have a short fuse at times, but in general, I'd like to think I'm a fairly easy going guy. That said, there are some things that just piss me off, and the list above is one of them. Here are my thoughts on each point:
- I think the idea that our content was inadequate is totally wrong. Contrary to what seems to be popular belief, we had some great speakers with great topics here in Edmonton with the .NET Wizards, as I mentioned above. And while our topics at the end of 2005 and first part of this year were definitely "cutting edge", the same simply cannot be said of our previous events. Look again at the list of topics I mentioned earlier, many of them are things you could use right away. I also couldn't help but notice that one of the two upcoming EDMUG.NET events is about "Atlas", a beta product, otherwise known as "cutting edge" or something you probably can't use at work the next day.
- Mike is right, the .NET community here in Edmonton needs to be rekindled. He's dead wrong though, that we never took action based on feedback. The very reason we had small user group events in the last year was directly from feedback! The wiki we replaced our old site with was a direct result of feedback. If anything, we couldn't get enough feedback. In my experience, people are generally happy to say everything is fine and go start their own group than give any constructive feedback when it's needed.
- I never go into anything without setting my standards extremely high. For this reason, I sometimes come off as arrogant, when really it's just that I always try to be confident that I can reach for top and make it there. With a reply like Donald gave him, I don't know why Mike thinks that EDMUG.NET's standards are so much higher than ours. Dickson and I always wanted our user group to be the best. That said, I don't think a "more knowledgeable" community has anything to do with high standards. Setting your standards high for a user group is trying to please everyone, which as we all know, simply isn't possible.
- Depending on your metric, we may have failed to "drive the developer community" forward. On the other hand, we created a place that Donald and his team could get together to plan and create EDMUG.NET, did we not? We held events and had some great speakers, did we not? We managed to connect some developers from Edmonton, which is much better than what existed before we came along.
- Sure Donald said in our coffee meeting that he appreciated what we did, but never once has this been said publicly by the EDMUG.NET team. People like Mike are quick to bash us, but don't seem to appreciate that we attempted to create something good in Edmonton for .NET developers. I don't need a pat on the back, because I'm happy with what Dickson and I have accomplished with the .NET Wizards, but I really hate unfair and unbalanced commentary. A simple "they did some good things for a while" might have been appropriate.
So what now?
I think EDMUG.NET will probably be pretty successful. They've got some very well-connected developers on board, and they seem much happier to spread the word about EDMUG.NET to their colleagues than they did about us. Donald recently started a series of posts talking about his experience starting EDMUG.NET, so check them out if you're interested. I wish them nothing but the best of luck moving forward, as I think Edmonton deserves a great user group.
Dickson and I have discussed the future of the .NET Wizards a few times, and right now we're happy to focus on Paramagnus and attend the EDMUG.NET events when we can. At some point in the future we might revisit the issue and decide to hold some events on really bleeding-edge stuff, things we can do some interesting demos with, just as an alternative to EDMUG.NET's events. Or, we may revisit things and decide that we're happy with the .NET Wizards no longer existing. Don't expect anything until at least the fall though.
I think the only way to measure the success of a user group is to look at the community it creates, online, offline, it doesn't really matter where. Attendance is not the right metric, because there are hundreds of reasons why people attend or don't attend events. Content is not king, because you can get content pretty much anywhere these days with books, websites, blogs, and more. You might think speakers are a good measure of success, but they are tied very closely to content, and at the end of the day, it might be easier to get in touch with a local developer than an extremely busy speaker across the continent. It's the community that matters.
It's also extremely hard to measure the success of a user group based on community, which is why the attendance metric is always used. There are other things that matter though besides the size of the community. Are people being connected? Did you learn something about a fellow user group member that you didn't know before? How "vibrant" is the community? Are people attracted to the community? Do people want to get involved? Do people want to improve the community? There are lots of things to look at.
Were we successful with the .NET Wizards? I think we were. I certainly have no regrets about anything, and I believe we created a great community here in Edmonton. EDMUG.NET have now taken it upon themselves to take it to the next level, and as a member of the .NET developer community here in Edmonton, I hope they find success.
Everywhere in the world right now, football has taken centre stage. Everywhere in the world, that is, except for Canada (where hockey reigns supreme) and the United States (where it's probably baseball or basketball). Why? Simple - the 2006 World Cup (hosted by Germany) has started, which in case you didn't know, is the most watched sporting event in the world, yes even more so than the Olympics. In the last World Cup in 2002, the cumulative audience is estimated to be 28.8 billion, with 1.1 billion people watching the final match. Expectations are for this year's to be even greater. Crazy!
Canada once again failed to qualify for the tournament, which means I'm pulling for England. The good news for England so far is that they won their first game this morning against Paraguay. The bad news is that the win was very unconvincing:
England got the opening win they were looking for, but the performance in the second half was less than convincing. Paraguay can take heart from their battling display, though they had no reward for their efforts.
The lone goal came off a Beckham free kick that was accidentially headed into the net by the Paraguay captain himself. I heard earlier that the goal is the quickest own-goal in World Cup history, and it marked the first time a game has been decided by an own-goal.
The website for the World Cup has got to be one of the best around. Lots of news and features, excellent video highlights of games, and much more. Definitely check it out. They've got some great photos too ;)
One thing I've really noticed so far is that the 2006 World Cup appears extremely branded. There's the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, the adidas Golden Shoe and Golden Ball awards, the Gillette Best Young Player award, and much more. I bet it costs a pretty penny to be an official partner of the World Cup.
I admit that I am a bit of a bandwagon jumper when it comes to the World Cup. That is, unlike my brother and my Dad who follow soccer closely all the time, I really only get excited when the World Cup rolls around every four years. I keep tabs on Manchester United and pay attention to the discussions between Tom and my Dad, but that's about it. I guess that makes me a bit of a hypocrite in that I complain about the Stanley Cup/Edmonton Oilers bandwagon jumpers, but I contend that the World Cup is something special, over and above hockey. A few million people care about the Stanley Cup, whereas a couple billion care about the World Cup. People all over the world, from all walks of life, it truly brings out the "globalness" of the little community we have here on Earth.
Games will be played over the next few weeks with Stage 1 ending on June 23rd, and the final being played on July 9th. England's next game is on June 15th against Trinidad and Tobago, who managed to hold Sweden to a draw today.
Looks like the 2006 FIFA World Cup demo is finished downloading on my Xbox 360 (I love the new background downloads), so I'm off to check it out!
If you're a student at the University of Alberta and you've been itching to share something with the woman in charge, you may be in luck! University of Alberta President Indira Samarasekera is inviting all students to a special breakfast event:
I'm writing you today with an invitation. I am planning a Breakfast Roundtable meeting just for students on Tuesday, April 18th from 7:30-8:30 a.m. in the Saskatchewan Room of the Faculty Club. Please come, if you are able. Over a continental breakfast, we can discuss some of the issues and challenges you face, and I can hear your bright and creative ideas for enriching the student experience.
Please RSVP by e-mail to jackie.wright@ualberta.ca or by phone at 492-1525.
I wonder how many students will actually end up attending this event. I am tempted to go simply to suggest that she not ever have a roundtable like this so early in the morning ever again! I mean, 7:30 AM? I might as well not go to sleep the night before if I am going to attend! On second thought, that's probably why it is so early, so that there are fewer students willing to get up and go.
There are so many podcasting events taking place now, which is a good sign of the buzz level surrounding the technology. The latest one I have run across is called Podcasters Across Borders, taking place on June 23rd and 24th in Kingston, Ontario. There isn't too much information on the event yet, so stay tuned to their blog if you're interested in going. They also have a details page with a little more information.
I think we'll start to see more and more targeted podcasting events appear. I have a feeling that there can only be so many "general purpose" podcasting events, and with the Portable Media Expo, Podcastercon, and other conferences like Gnomedex or Northern Voice, I'm willing to bet that we're getting close to reaching the limit. So if you're a conference organizer looking for a great topic related to podcasting, let me suggest one! I'd love to go to a conference about business podcasting. How are businesses using podcasting? How could they use it? That sort of thing.
Last night Megan and I went to "An Evening with Bill Clinton" at Rexall Place here in Edmonton. The former president was in town to talk about his life, his work, and to offer some advice and guidance on the future. Patrick LaForge of the Edmonton Oilers, Alberta Premier Ralph Klein, and a representative from CIBC Wood Gundy (didn't catch his name, sorry) were also on hand to make some opening remarks and do their part to introduce the man of the evening. Ralph screwed up though, or someone did at least, as he introduced Mr. Clinton to the stage when really he should have introduced the guy from CIBC! It was kind of funny.
The president talked a lot about security and terrorism actually, more than I thought he would. It was part of his "framework" for looking at the world. His main argument is that the world is interdependent, and we need to recognize that and move towards integrated communities. So whenever he reads a news article or sees a report on TV, he asks himself the same question - does this help us move closer to an integrated community or not? Based on that, he takes the proper course of action. Obviously he layed it out in much more detail.
He also spoke about the worldwide problem of obesity, other security threats like biological and chemical weapons, the spread of disease, and climate change. Seems he has done work in each of these areas since leaving office. The evening finished with a short Q&A;, where we learned that the last movie he watched was Crash, and he doesn't know whether or not his wife Hillary will run for office in 2008. He did say, however, that if she did run, she'd do a magnificent job. He said many great things about her. We also learned that the thing he misses most about being the president is the work.
The takeway, he told us, is that we can effect change without being rich or doing huge things. He talked about the opportunities provided by the Internet, and shared some really interesting stories of people he has met over the years who have made a big difference through small action. He also mentioned the rise of non-governmental organizations, and when he did so, he almost sounded proud. I got the feeling that he has special respect for NGOs.
Bill Clinton is actually a rather engaging speaker, much more so than I expected (his hair is also a lot whiter now than I thought it was). As is often the case with these kinds of events, it was his stories and experiences that were the most interesting to hear about, and he certainly has had lots of those. It was a really great event, I'm glad I was able to go.
You can learn more about the Clinton Foundation and the work Bill Clinton does at their website. The Wikipedia entry on him is quite extensive with lots of great information too.
Today is Family Day in Alberta - hope you are spending some time with your family! I went for lunch with my extended family of friends today at Red Robin's downtown. Here are a few pictures.
According to my Dad, we may be giving up Family Day if the Conservatives are successful in declaring a national "flag day" holiday. I personally don't see the point in having a flag day. We don't have separate holidays for our anthem, or national sport, etc. Seems to me "flag day" is really just part of Canada Day!
Last night can only be described as sweet! The Edmonton Rush organized a bus to take fans from Edmonton down to Calgary to watch the Rush take on the Roughnecks, so Tom and I bought tickets to go. In all there was about thirty people on the bus, give or take, but there were far more fans in the Rush section (which was section 210 if you know the Saddledome). And man am I ever glad we decided to go - seeing the Rush record their first ever franchise win, and in Calgary no less, was awesome! Sure it would have been nice to win at home, but if you have to win elsewhere, might as well keep the Battle of Alberta alive while you're at it.
The first half of the game was actually very tight, with no more than a goal separating the teams. Eventually we took a four goal lead (our first such lead ever) only to see it wash away almost as quickly. We were up by one goal with about 30 seconds left, and Calgary overturned the ball. Our goalie Campbell, who played an amazing game stopping 67 shots, got the ball and instead of killing time, decided to throw it up the middle! If you know how bad that is in hockey, trust me, it's worse in lacrosse, and sure enough they tied the game with about 10 seconds left. We thought we were going to OT, but Bergman somehow saved the day:
Bergman scooped up a loose ball at centre and, with time running out, ran down the floor and fired a shot at Calgary goaltender Curtis Palidwor. The ball bounced straight out off Palidwor's pad, hit Calgary's Andrew Biers on the leg and bounced into the net as the final buzzer sounded.
It was crazy! I really didn't think there was enough time left, but the goal was reviewed and it stood, and we'll take it. Everyone in the Rush section went crazy, and Calgary fans started to leave and throw things on the field.
Some other things of note:
- There was about 12,000 people at the game last night.
- When the Roughnecks come on the field, they run through a small, crappy version of the Oiler's famous oil derrick.
- Even though we had some penalties, the game looked like one of our most disciplined this season. We need to stay out of the penalty box!
- The dance team in Calgary is called the Drill Crew, and they are pretty good. Our Crush girls even did one dance at the game.
- The screen at the Saddledome is not nearly as nice as ours, but they have little TV's above all the urinals in the washrooms! And they have Tim Horton's and Subway inside the concourse too!
- Tom and I were sitting one row behind, and about 6 or 7 seats to the right of some of the Crush girls. With about three minutes left in the game they started looking back at us provocatively! As Tom said, "have the gods shone down upon me?" Turned out they just wanted someone to go buy them more beer - sorry girls, not when we're about to win the game!
- I was surprised that we were on an ordinary old bus. I kind of expected the Rush to have some fancy barbed wire bus plastered with Rush logos! I guess they have set expectations high with all of their other marketing stuff.
- The Edmonton guys do a much better job of keeping things interesting, keeping the tempo up in the stadium as the game goes on. Rush home games seem like much more of an event!
The bus ride home was much more high energy than the ride to the game. As we drove away from the stadium, everyone started chanting "one and six, one and six!"
The Rush take on Colorado on March 3rd, where hopefully we'll get our second win and move one step closer to the playoffs!
I finally got around to registering for Nothern Voice 2006, taking place in Vancouver on February 10th and 11th. The second day is a "regular" conference day with scheduled sessions and speakers while the first day is called Moose Camp, a self-organized conference (attendees plan the day). I am really looking forward to the conference for two main reasons - last year was great, and the list of attendees already looks amazing. Moose Camp should be pretty interesting too, and am I hoping to take part in some fashion.
Megan and I are returning attendees, and this year Dickson is joining us too. The three of us will be in Vancouver from the 9th until the 12th. We don't really have any solid plans for evenings or the 12th, so if you want to get together let us know! Worst case we'll do "the tourist thing" on Sunday like we did last year.
See you there!
Merry Christmas to all! Or Happy Holidays, if that's more your thing ;)
Has Santa come to your house yet?
Today was Edmonton's turn to host the Launch Event 2005, Microsoft's big push around the release of Visual Studio 2005, SQL Server 2005 and BizTalk Server 2006. The completely booked event took place all day today at SilverCity in West Edmonton Mall with TechNet leading the morning sessions and MSDN taking over in the afternoon. All in all I'd say that things went very well!
There are so many new technologies and features in the three products that cramming them all into a one day event is impossible. I think the speakers (both from MSDN and TechNet but particularly from MSDN) did an excellent job of sharing just enough. It wasn't fluff, but it wasn't over-your-head crazy either. Over the next few months there will be many more events around these technologies so that developers and IT professionals can dive in a little deeper. Fortunately, everyone received complimentary software today too, so there's no excuse not to get your feet wet if you attended!
Edmonton is only stop #3 on the ten city tour, so I wish the MSDN and TechNet teams luck as they continue their trek across Canada. I know the snow last night probably wasn't the warmest welcome we could have given them, but that's what you get for hosting an event in Edmonton in November!
I took a one picture today, which you can see in my Flickr stream - lots of developers! There are more pictures and info up on Sasha's blog too. For members of the Edmonton .NET Wizards, or for anyone who's interested in joining, please share your feedback on the wiki!
Last week was Small Business Week in Alberta, and indeed all across Canada. Here are some interesting statistics about small business in Alberta:
- Small businesses (businesses that employ less than 10 employees) account for 74% (104,000) of all businesses with employees in Alberta. (Source: Alberta Economic Development, 2004 Alberta Business Monitor)
- In 2004, women accounted for 34% of all self-employed individuals in Alberta; this was the same as the national average. (Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey 2004)
- From 1999 to 2004, the number of people that were self-employed in Edmonton has increased by 3%. (Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey 2004)
I am included in that last number! Paramagnus incorporated here in Edmonton back in 2000. Speaking of Edmonton, our small business week runs this week, from the 24th to the 28th of October (had to be different I suppose!):
From every small business success story, there is an idea, which through initiative, tenacity and the entrepreneurial spirit, becomes reality. From this entrepreneurial spirit, innovative concepts and dynamic businesses are nurtured. Edmonton Small Business Week 2005 – October 24 –28, is an opportunity to celebrate the achievements and accomplishments of small business and the entrepreneurial spirit. Share the spirit and enjoy the week of activities planned!
Blaine Yamkovy
Chair, 2005 Small Business Week
You can see the list of events on their website. Dickson and I are attending the VenturePrize Seminar tomorrow evening (you had to register previously), but other than that I hadn't really planned to attend anything. I think they need more events!
Happy Small Business Week to my fellow smallbiz owners in Edmonton!
Did you know that October 17th-23rd is Waste Reduction Week in Canada? I didn't until yesterday when I happened to be walking through the Students' Union Building on campus and came across a display. Municipalities can declare the week in their town or city, schools and businesses can register to participate, and of course we as individuals can do our part. Looks like Edmonton proclaimed the week last year.
There isn't much on their website about the event or it's history, so I don't really know that much about it. You can however check the website for events and activities. They've also got some activities you can do yourself, like the Home Waste Audit and the Ecological Footprint Survey.
With almost perfect timing, an article in today's Edmonton Journal gave an idea of where Canada ranks in the world on waste and energy use:
Canada's environmental performance ranks almost dead last among major industrialized countries, according to a sweeping new study. The report, prepared by Simon Fraser University and published Tuesday by the David Suzuki Foundation, puts Canada 28th among 30 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries.
Researchers looked at 29 environmental indicators to make their determinations, placing Canada 26th or lower in 12 categories. It ranked Canada dead last in the production of nuclear waste, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds. It was 29th in per-capita water consumption, sulphur oxide emissions and energy use.
Basically, we're not doing that well in terms of reducing waste! The United States finished last, and Turkey finished first, with Switzerland and Denmark in second and third. Some other interesting things to note from the article:
- Canada did not finish first in any environmental performance category and got failing grades in 24 of 29 indicators.
- Its best ranking was second in the volume of timber harvested per square kilometre and fifth in the ratio of timber harvest to forest growth.
- Canada has not improved its environmental performance relative to other OECD countries since 1992, when it was also 28th.
On that note, Happy Waste Reduction Week!
I attended TEC Edmonton's TEC Connector event this afternoon with Dickson. TEC Edmonton is a joint venture of the University of Alberta and the Edmonton Economic Development Corporation. Here's what the event was all about:
This TEC Connector event will showcase companies created from the results of University of Alberta inventions and technologies. In addition, the event is an active connector which will provide networking tools and tips, plus generate opportunities to connect with useful representatives in our community, including: university researchers, start-up company leaders, professional service firms, financial support organizations, government agency representatives, media representatives, inventors and entrepreneurs.
Obviously Paramagnus is not a spin-off company, nor we do use any University research or innovations, but we though the event might be a great opportunity to do some networking anyway. We met some interesting people and found out more about many of the local companies we had only just heard of in the past. I also learned some interesting statistics about University of Alberta spin-off companies:
- As of March 31st, 2005 there were 69 active UofA spin-off companies
- There have been 84 such companies formed since 1963, including those that have merged, been acquired, or discontinued
- These companies employ more than 1000 high-skilled workers
- More than 80% of the spin-offs are based in Alberta
- Seven are publicly traded
One of the speakers at the event also mentioned the pending offer to purchase to the Hudson's Bay building downtown, which if approved is where TEC Edmonton's new headquarters would be. University administration presents the proposal to the Board of Governors on Friday, so we should know either this week or next whether or not the deal will go through.
Networking events are always lots of fun! This one was especially good because there was free food and drinks :)