Browsing “50 Coffees Series”

More than 60 weeks ago I read a theory that going for 50 coffees with people you’ve never met is the entrepreneur’s equivalent to the theory that doing anything for 10,000 hours will make you an expert on it. While I got the idea, 50 coffees was far easier than practicing something for ten years, so after completing that challenge I decided to make a major commitment and publish 500 over the next few years. In this series I introduce you to interesting Vancouverites, many of whom I had never met before. It’s an exercise in networking for myself and for V.I.A. while also being a platform through which I to introduce you to some people who are doing really cool stuff in the city you live in. COFFEE #60 Name: Amanda McCuaig Occupation: Marketing Officer Beverage: Green Tea

Meet Amanda McCuaig. Marketing Officer at the Museum of Vancouver, painter, writer, a friend of mine and a member of Vancouver Is Awesome board of advisors.

We sat down in Urban Fare’s restaurant/cafe in the Village on False Creek before work recently and chatted about… well… mostly random stuff. The rule for (most of) these Coffees is that I’ve been sitting down with strangers, poking around a bit and sometimes asking them weird questions. It’s been like a jumping off point for further conversations that we might have. Amanda and I have been chatting for years, since we met through her work in Science World’s communications department, and this particular morning we ended up talking a lot about her home town of Kellogg, Idaho. She told me all about how the place is anchored by a lead and zinc smelter that she could see from her home growing up. We talked about the mines surrounding the area and how they hold it together economically. We talked about the one car dealership that people would drive in to from towns in the surrounding area, and even other states, because they have the best prices. We talked about how we both grew up in small towns like Kellogg. It was nice to not talk about work for once; as we’re both keen, career-oriented folk I realized after this coffee that I didn’t know her as well as I thought I did, and that it’s maybe time for me to start talking more about subjects like Kellogg with people I know and a little less about strategic partnerships.

Though I will point out that the partnership we have with the Museum of Vancouver is second to none. As you can see by glancing at the top menu bar, they’re a Community Sponsor and we’ve been aligned for years now. We will be for years and decades to come if I have a say in it. And while I’m on about decades into the future, do you want to know what the future holds for the Museum of Vancouver now that the Vancouver Art Gallery secured that sweet piece of land at Larwill Park downtown? Does this motion approved unanimously at city hall yesterday mean that the MOV will be relocating from Vanier Park to a place that’s more central and accessible to all of Vancouver and its visitors? The press release they sent out today (below) has some answers as well as more questions.

Stay tuned for more 500 Coffees, and hopefully more information about the MOV’s move!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Will the Museum of Vancouver be moving?
…READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

59 weeks ago I read a theory that going for 50 coffees with people you’ve never met is the entrepreneur’s equivalent to the theory that doing anything for 10,000 hours will make you an expert on it. While I got the idea, 50 coffees was far easier than practicing something for ten years, so after completing that challenge I decided to make a major commitment and publish 500 over the next few years. In this series I introduce you to interesting Vancouverites, many of whom I had never met before. It’s an exercise in networking for myself and for V.I.A. while also being a platform through which I to introduce you to some people who are doing really cool stuff in the city you live in. COFFEE #59 Name: Marcella Munro Occupation: Principal Beverage: Latte

Meet Marcella Munro. Principal at Earnescliffe Strategy Group, Vice President of the Contemporary Art Gallery, Vice Chair of the Dr Peter Aids Foundation, former Co-Chair of Vision Vancouver and someone who very much looks forward to elections, budget days, and digging in to all-things-politics.

We sat down at Tableau on Melville, which I sometimes frequent for lunch as it’s by the V.I.A. office but previously didn’t know was open for breakfast coffees. I learned that Marcella was once a journalist for CBC, then worked for Cressey, and it seems like her current position at Earnescliffe is perhaps the best job that someone in politics could hope for. They essentially exist to get business and government talking, and while I’m still a bit hazy as to how that actually works I find it really cool that their office has people from all ends of the political spectrum working for their clients. “Multi-partisan” is what it’s called, meaning that it’s completely by design that Marcella’s co-workers don’t share her political opinions nor party ties. She’s an NDP supporter and in the coming weeks she’ll be taking time off from her position at Earnescliffe to go and volunteer in the war room of Adrian Dix whom I featured in COFFEE #57. I personally wish that the provincial election was tomorrow but, as I said in the intro, she’s very much looking forward to a drawn out battle, spending time strategizing on how to help the BC NDP win the upcoming election.

Follow Marcella on Twitter at twitter.com/marcellam

Oh! And as we were finishing up she told me a bit about the Dr Peter Aids Foundation and how the mother of Dr Peter (may he rest in peace), serves meals at their centre and is a character that I should meet. I hope you also get to meet her in one of these upcoming Coffees!

Stay tuned for 441 more!

58 weeks ago I read a theory that going for 50 coffees with people you’ve never met is the entrepreneur’s equivalent to the theory that doing anything for 10,000 hours will make you an expert on it. While I got the idea, 50 coffees was far easier than practicing something for ten years, so after completing that challenge I decided to make a major commitment and publish 500 over the next few years. In this series I introduce you to interesting Vancouverites, many of whom I had never met before. It’s an exercise in networking for myself and for V.I.A. while also being a platform through which I to introduce you to some people who are doing really cool stuff in the city you live in. COFFEE #58 Name: Ron Burnett Occupation: President and Vice-Chancellor Beverage: Water

Meet Ron Burnett. Published author, photographer, videomaker, filmmaker, President and Vice-Chancellor of Emily Carr University of Art and Design and “one of the biggest nerds in the city” if you ask him. Ron was dialing in to BBSs in the 80′s, started a personal BLOG which he has kept since the early 90′s, and was editor-in-chief and founder of Ciné-Tracts Magazine. One other thing about Ron is that he received a knighthood from the French Government a couple years back, and it was amazing to be able to sit down with this “big nerd” and first chat about the evolution of the internet, and our personal experiences on and with it.

We met at Caffe Artigiano near the V.I.A. office downtown and beyond publishing we chatted about the exciting news of Emily Carr moving to a bold new facility in False Creek Flats, on Great Northern Way. It was interesting to hear that the move (breaking ground in May 2014) has been in process for the past ten years. Sometimes you get a press release from the government (that’s how I found out about the move) and you assume somebody’s ponying for the election and decided to throw some money in a good direction to boost their polling. That’s not what happened here. Ron and his team worked on an incredible amount of planning over the last decade, proving the business case to the government that building this new facility will bring economic returns to the province, and will be one of 3 or 4 cultural anchors in the city.

The conversation then went into art school and employment. Being a self taught creative/entrepreneur myself I was actually shocked to learn that 30-40% of Emily Carr grads start their own businesses or are self employed after they graduate. 92% of their grads get employment in their respected fields. That’s a crazy amount of revenue for the government.

Below is the quick video about their upcoming Great Northern Way campus which we shared a few weeks back. Have a look in case you missed it…

Follow Ron on TWITTER, check out his BLOG, and be sure to keep your eye on the progress of the new Emily Carr University’s Great Northern Way Campus as it transforms the flats, our city and our province as a whole.

Stay tuned for 442 more Coffees!

57 weeks ago I read a theory that going for 50 coffees with people you’ve never met is the entrepreneur’s equivalent to the theory that doing anything for 10,000 hours will make you an expert on it. While I got the idea, 50 coffees was far easier than practicing something for ten years, so after completing that challenge I decided to make a major commitment and publish 500 over the next few years. In this series I introduce you to interesting Vancouverites, many of whom I had never met before. It’s an exercise in networking for myself and for V.I.A. while also being a platform through which I to introduce you to some people who are doing really cool stuff in the city you live in. COFFEE #57 Name: Adrian Dix Occupation: Leader of the BC NDP Beverage: Coffee

Meet Adrian Dix. Leader of the BC NDP party, the MLA for Vancouver-Kingsway since 2005 and possibly British Columbia’s next premier. Right off the bat I’d like to let you know that I’m going to be voting for the NDP in the provincial election on May 14, 2013 (remember THIS coffee where I admitted that I have a luxury that journalists don’t?) and I’d also like to let you know we won’t be doing too much editorial around the election. We’ll likely poll the 80-or-so folks on our editorial and advisory boards and let you know where their biases lie but we won’t be hammering out messaging on who we think you should vote for. In a nutshell, the reason why I’m voting for Adrian is because I’m excited about the positive change his leadership will bring to our province. In case you couldn’t tell by this web site that I founded 5 years ago TO THE DAY, I’m all about positivity and positive change.

Adrian and I met at Bamboo Cafe right off of Joyce Station in the Renfrew-Collingwood neighbourhood and I quickly found out (after asking why he didn’t take sugar in his coffee) that he has Type 1 Diabetes and that he has to inject insulin 4 times a day. I was made aware of his disease and was also exposed to the fact that it makes him look at the city and the world differently; as a public figure he often needs to find private places to inject the stuff that keeps him alive, and I don’t imagine that’s easy. I asked him if he found himself in his car more because of it (because I know I would be), but most days, even when taking a float plane to Victoria, he’s on transit. He lives close to the Skytrain, his MLA office and the NDP office downtown are also both near Skytrain stations. The day we met for coffee he had flown in to YVR from some meetings in Ottawa, took the Canada Line to his constituency office, then came out on the Skytrain to his neighbourhood to meet me.

We talked about things that he feels make Vancouver awesome and one thing he mentioned is that he’s lived here almost his entire life, and it’s awesome because it’s home. Another thing is its diversity and its people, and the way that diversity has actually helped the economy. I’ve been to one of Adrian’s speeches (45 minutes, with no notes) and can say without a doubt that he’s on another level when it comes to economics and understanding how and why things work (as in, he’s leagues smarter than I am). He broke down the diversity of the province back to the second World War and how after we opened up our immigration it had an immensely positive impact on the economy. I changed the subject to books.

I’m currently reading Rod Mickleburgh and Geoff Meggs’ book, The Art of the Impossible, which is all about the time that NDP leader Dave Barrett spent in office from 1972-1975, so I asked how his style of leadership would differ from Dave’s, should he be elected premier. He told me times have changed and their styles are obviously much different because of that, and also that he’ll be more focused in terms of the agenda and things to accomplish, as opposed to tackling 96 or so sweeping changes for the province in a short time (including the creation of the Agricultural Land Reserve). But like Dave Barrett, he’s passionate about reducing inequality. That’s really what’s at the centre of what he believes and what he’d like to achieve as premier.

The last thing I asked was what he plans to do about the Northern Gateway pipeline, which is something that we haven’t shone much light on for one very obvious reason: we haven’t found any awesomeness in it. He’s opposed to the pipeline because he doesn’t feel it’s in BC’s economic or environmental interest (HERE is a clip of him talking more about why), and if he’s elected premier he’s promising to pull out of the federal joint review panel and conduct an environmental assessment here in our province.

You can learn all about Adrian and the campaign that the BC NDP is running on their web site at BCNDP.ca. Follow the election via VOTE COMPASS who are partnering with CBC and look to V.I.A. for perhaps a couple more stories leading up. Oh and, of course, don’t forget to vote in May!

And stay tuned for 443 more Coffees!

55 weeks ago I read a theory that going for 50 coffees with people you’ve never met is the entrepreneur’s equivalent to the theory that doing anything for 10,000 hours will make you an expert on it. While I got the idea, 50 coffees was far easier than practicing something for ten years, so after completing that challenge I decided to make a major commitment and publish 500 over the next few years. In this series I introduce you to interesting Vancouverites, many of whom I had never met before. It’s an exercise in networking for myself and for V.I.A. while also being a platform through which I to introduce you to some people who are doing really cool stuff in the city you live in. COFFEE #56 Name: Shelley Koorbatoff Occupation: Management Consultant Beverage: Soy latte

Meet Shelley Koorbatoff. Management consultant for Sierra Systems by day and the visionary behind the Friday February 8th Say Hi Vancouver movement which we WROTE about recently, and which is happening all day tomorrow! We met at Caffe Artigiano at Pender and Thurlow, right between the V.I.A. office and Sierra Systems’ office.

If you’ve been paying attention to the local media over the past 3 weeks you’ll likely have heard about the Say Hi Vancouver project. It’s been been getting so much buzz that it’s been almost overwhelming for Shelley. Over coffee we talked about all of the excitement, and how this things she’s started has truly changed her life. She says it’s the best thing she’s ever done and that it has fundamentally changed the way she looks at the world, that she now really appreciates how one person can really make a change. I love it.

Tomorrow morning I’ll be wearing a Say Hi Vancouver nametag with my name on it (download and print your own HERE!) and talking to random strangers all day. At 12:15 at the Art Gallery there’ll even been an impromptu meetup where a bunch of folks will be… well… saying hi! Come by and say hi!

Follow Say Hi Vancouver on Twitter at @SayHiVancouver, on Facebook at FB.com/SayHiVancouver and stay tuned to see what’s up next for Shelley and company.

Stay tuned for 444 more Coffees!

55 weeks ago I read a theory that going for 50 coffees with people you’ve never met is the entrepreneur’s equivalent to the theory that doing anything for 10,000 hours will make you an expert on it. While I got the idea, 50 coffees was far easier than practicing something for ten years, so after completing that challenge I decided to make a major commitment and publish 500 over the next few years. In this series I introduce you to interesting Vancouverites, many of whom I had never met before. It’s an exercise in networking for myself and for V.I.A. while also being a platform through which I to introduce you to some people who are doing really cool stuff in the city you live in. COFFEE #55 Name: Daniel Boffo Occupation: Real Estate Developer Beverage: Cappuccino

Meet Daniel Boffo. Development professional, father, brother, and the most Italian person I (now) know. Along with his sister Flavia he runs a second-generation family business, Boffo Properties, which is a business like no other in Vancouver. Essentially they own and operate the Take Five Café chain (now 10 franchises deep in the Lower Mainland) and they are also real estate developers who take on residential, commercial and industrial projects.

Daniel has a BA in Economics and a Diploma in Architectural and Building Engineering Technology (ABET) with a Construction Management specialization, and for years he worked as a project coordinator for the construction company, Ledcor. I’m not going to pretend to know the ins and outs of their business but can connect the dots and know that having someone with that education combined with the practical experience of coordinating giant projects like the Shaw Tower (which he did from 2003-2005) has got to be a great thing. He came on board the family business – which turns 50 this year – back in 2007.

To be honest, we didn’t spend much time talking about any of that stuff over coffee. And, in fact, what I thought was going to be “coffee” at their newest Take Five Café location in Gastown ended up being a full-on meal. Starting with antipasto (pictured above) then moving on to mains, the topics of conversations were mostly family and food, and also where the two meet. We also talked about the Kettle Friendship Society that they support and I concluded that Daniel will now be my go-to guy whenever I have any questions regarding the culture of Italians which, like our conversation, centres around family and food.

Follow him on Twitter at @DanielBoffo and check out this quick video below that talks about how he and his sister took over the family business…

Stay tuned for 445 more Coffees!