Author Archive

I am so very proud to announce that we’ve signed on with our friends at Fire and Light Media Group to be a media partner on an incredible series of short films they’re producing.

Meet your Urban Farmer will introduce you to urban farmers in the Metro Vancouver area. If you’ve never had the opportunity to meet any of the array of passionate individuals behind the urban farming movement, and the wonderful food they grow for the community, this will be an opportunity you won’t want to miss.

Episodes of Meet Your Urban Farmer will begin appearing here once or twice a month in March of 2012, for a total of about 18. For now check out this trailer and please help us share it far and wide!

Support your local urban farmers and know where your food comes from. …READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

I recently read a theory that going for 50 coffees with people you’ve never met is the entrepreneurs equivalent to the theory that doing anything for 10,000 hours will make you an expert on it. While I get the idea, 50 coffees is far easier than practicing something for ten years, and while I’m far from lazy I’ve decided to set out on a fairly simple mission: over the next 50 weeks I’m going to invite 50 interesting Vancouverites, most of whom I have never met before, to go for coffee. I’m going to use this as an exercise in networking for myself and for V.I.A. while also using it as a platform to introduce you to some people who are doing really cool stuff in the city you live in. COFFEE #24 Name: Josh Dunford Occupation: Founder/Janitor Beverage: Water

Meet Josh Dunford. Head of Burnkit, proud dog dad and the owner of no less than two medium-sized shipping containers that he keeps in his office space. On his business card it says that he’s a “Founder/Janitor” and what I get out of that is that he takes care of stuff, top to bottom.

We met at Burnkit’s large warehouse studio space on Alexander Street in Railtown and before I got there I had a feeling that we were like-minded simply because we both have a history in design. But when I arrived and realized we have very similar haircuts, almost the exact same facial hair and common tastes in plaid, I knew it to be true. And as the conversation strayed from the work that they do for clients such as Bing Thom Architects, BC Ferries, The Canadian Cancer Society and others into talk of camping and island adventures, I knew that we’d likely be meeting for another coffee in the future. Hell, maybe even 50 more coffees.

You can learn more about Burnkit and the work they’re doing HERE. Also be sure to dig into the online CATALOG for the recent exhibition they produced entitled Prototypes, featuring original design prototypes from 5 notable Vancouver-based designers. Here’s a video that introduces it…

Wow! Kyprios, Chin Injeti, and a ton of other local recording artists are about to do something super awesome:

In support of the late Randy Ponzio’s children, they’re throwing a benefit concert at the Commodore on February 17th. With more than 20 artists and 40 sponsors on board so far this will be an unprecedented showing of support for the 3 kids left behind after Randy’s untimely death this past November.

Photo courtesy Kelsey Klassen

HERE is a link with all of the info. We really hope to see you there.

Stay tuned for more Random Acts!

Welcome to the latest series of Super, Neighbours blog posts where we highlight incredible travel destinations in British Columbia! Recently Tourism Harrison Hot Springs brought us out for a fun-filled winter weekend and in PART 1 I took you on the drive there. It’s a scenic 90-minute trip from Vancouver and you don’t need winter tires to get there (no offense, Whistler!). Originally I thought that the town was simply named “Harrison”, but upon doing a tiny bit of research for this piece I realized that the proper name is actually “Harrison Hot Springs”. When your entire town is named after a natural feature that it boasts it is sure to trickle down into almost every aspect of the community and it’s businesses. And when the mainstay resort property in your town (Harrison Hot Springs Resort & Spa) has been operating longer than the City of Vancouver has existed – 120 years – you know that there must be something magical happening to keep people coming back.

We were thrilled to be afforded a couple of nights in the West Tower of the resort. It’s the third building from the left in this photo, shot from the water on a BC Sportfishing Group boat after the most incredible fishing adventure I’ve ever been on. We’ll get to that later. For now, check out the resort iself!

And the view from our room of Harrison Lake. Its beaches are full of sandcastle builders in the summer, in the winter they’re mostly frequented by wildlife and people in warm coats.

Speaking of wildlife, here’s what was on the inside of our sliding glass door that leads to the patio. It’s a semi-gentle reminder that if you leave that door open you are also leaving open the opportunity that a bald eagle will be joining you. Eagles are nice and they are plentiful in the area but you do not want to share your accommodations with them.

Did I mention that we brought …READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

This coming Wednesday I’m hosting the first ever Think/Share event being put on by the BCIT Marketing Association at Guilt & Co in Gastown. Think/Share is Vancouver’s newest speaker series and it’s dedicated to the city’s advertising and marketing industry, with the aim of bringing together professionals and students alike to listen to some folks talk on a subject and then have engage in dialogue. The subject of this inaugural evening is “Brand Management through Social Media” and I’ll be moderating an expert panel made up of Darren Yada of Rethink, Chris Walts of TribalDDB and Dave Olson of Hootsuite.

If you work in marketing and advertising I can promise an interesting night of conversation followed by a musical set by the Junebugs. HERE is all of the info and below is Dave from Hootsuite’s recent TEDxCAPU talk to give you an idea of what you’re in for, just in case you’ve never met him or seen/heard him speak…

Wow! The City of Vancouver, the Vancouver Economic Commission, Growlab, Ayoudo, and Techvibes have teamed up and done something super awesome:

They’ve launched Made In Vancouver, a soon-to-be-populated digital directory of Vancouver-based start-ups. It aims to become a community resource providing a comprehensive list of the City’s leading innovators, shining a light on local tech companies and letting you know which of them are hiring. Job board = major bonus!

HERE is a link with all of the info and HERE is what Mayor Gregor had to say about it.

Stay tuned for more Random Acts!

Welcome to the latest series of Super, Neighbours blog posts where we highlight incredible travel destinations in British Columbia! Recently the folks at Tourism Harrison Hot Springs had us out for a weekend to experience some of what this fantastic destination has to offer in the winter. Until this trip the only time I had spent in Harrison Village was in the car passing through on our way to Sasquatch Provincial Park to do some camping, so I didn’t really have much of a grasp on what was in store for us aside from the obvious: the hot springs, which were originally revered as “the healing place” by the Coast Salish peoples. We’re going to park at the foot of Harrison Lake and bring you inside the Harrison Hot Springs Resort & Spa, we’ll take you to a bunch of great places to eat as well as some unexpectedly incredible experiences outside. It’s not that we didn’t have high expectations for the place but this trip far exceeded what we had anticipated. We’re new (big) fans of Harrison, to be certain.

So first things first: Did you know that Harrison Hot Springs is only a 90 minute drive from Vancouver? Just outside of Chilliwack you exit off Highway 1 and make your way down a very rural two lane route peppered with romantic old farms and plenty of greenery. There’s a few folks who make their living growing hazelnuts in the region and you just might want to stop along the way and buy them direct.

I’m probably not alone in having a “thing” for old barns and silos like this one pictured below. The property that it’s on is currently for sale, priced at $899,999, and it’s got a couple of old buildings on it as well as this gem. I fear it will likely be dismantled once the parcel finds a new owner so, for now, behold this beautiful ghost of rural route past!

And just like that, we’re …READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

I recently read a theory that going for 50 coffees with people you’ve never met is the entrepreneurs equivalent to the theory that doing anything for 10,000 hours will make you an expert on it. While I get the idea, 50 coffees is far easier than practicing something for ten years, and while I’m far from lazy I’ve decided to set out on a fairly simple mission: over the next 50 weeks I’m going to invite 50 interesting Vancouverites, most of whom I have never met before, to go for coffee. I’m going to use this as an exercise in networking for myself and for V.I.A. while also using it as a platform to introduce you to some people who are doing really cool stuff in the city you live in. COFFEE #23 Name: Michael Tippett Occupation: Entrepreneur Beverage: Dark roast + Orangina

Meet Michael Tippett. Two-time Emmy nominee, co-founder of NowPublic, outgoing executive director of Growlab and the founder of Vancouver’s newest startup, Ayoudo, which just launched today! I must apologize for, again, bringing you to coffee with somebody who was not a stranger to me before we met up to chat over java but I can’t think of a better way to introduce you to Michael and I’m really excited about this thing that just launched today.

We met at the Everything Cafe where he gave me the scoop on what Ayoudo does, how it’s pronounced (a-YOO-doh) and where it’s headed. Essentially it’s a web site and a free iPhone app that you can use to put the word out about anything you need done, and people answer the call. Or the other way around: you’re good at something/available and you find ways to help other people by applying for the jobs they’ve posted. Very cool, very simple and self-explanatory and, again, I’m very excited to see where this Vancouver-born company is heading. I’m also about to use this app to try and find somebody to make some curtains for my travel trailer, so if you’ll excuse me…

Learn more about Ayoudo HERE or just search “Ayoudo” in the Itunes App Store and find somebody to do that whatever-it-is for you today!