Alberta Business Marketing

As 2009 comes to a close I wanted to take a look back. It was a good year for me personally and I think this blog shows some of the highlights that come to my mind when I reminisce about the last year of the decade. I could simply select my favourite posts, but I decided why not not just let the readers “select” by highlighting the most popular posts on this blog for 2009.

So without further ado, the most popular djkelly.ca Blog posts of 2009:

14. What kind of bridge will $25 million get us?
May 22, 2009

This was my first blog post about the soon to be built Calatrava bridge. I decdided I would take a look at the design limitations given to Calatrava and try to predict what the bridge might look like. While, I was right about it not being white with soaring cables, I wasn’t even close to the guessing the Chinese finger trap design, which is much more ornate than I was expecting.

13. Conversing with Alberta politicians on Twitter
June 4, 2009

A useful post that should probably be updated given how many more Alberta politicians have joined since June!

12. New Ward Boundaries Demystified
February 21, 2009

A simple post created by laying the old ward boundary map with the new map that was being proposed by the chief electoral officer. (Showing off my Photoshop skills.)  It turned out to be a post that proved it was sorely needed.

11. Loving or hating Calgary’s new bridge is not as easy as it sounds
July 29, 2009

This is probably one of my favourite posts of the year, as I went through what I observed to be each of the areas of complaint about the proposed Calatrava bridge and outlined which were fair game and which were not. It was my attempt at adding clarity to an issue extremely misunderstood by Calgarians. While it landed at number 11 on the most popular posts, I don’t think I was overly successful because people still complain about the price with little understanding of “why”. If you’re one of those folks, it might be worth a re-read.

10. Calgary City Council saves face by embarrassing themselves: ward boundaries solved!
July 14, 2009

The last blog post on the old blog template! It holds a special place for me for that reason, but most people probably just appreciated it for what it talked about – as outlined in the post title. This is the most proud I was of our council this year. They painted themselves into a terrible corner, but admitted their mistake and righted their wrong. I wish they would have done this more times during 2009.

9. Vanessa Porteous, ATP Artistic Director Designate
January 14, 2009

I am shocked an arts related post ranked so high on this list! (And it’s not even the highest one!) Is it because of the lack of local entertainment reporting resources? I think it might be, because non-Hollywood entertainment news tends to take a couple days to make it into the papers. Maybe I should take up Metro Calgary on their offer to blog about Calgary arts for them… It could prove to be a very successful blog that maybe long overdue.

8. Doug Elniski: how to do it right
June 24, 2009

This post – along with number 5, which I wrote a day earlier – simply outlined where things went wrong in MLA Doug Elniski’s mini-Twitter scandal. This particular post provided follow-up and greater context to comments I made in several media interviews on the subject. (You can say SO much more on a blog than in a media interview!)

7. University of Calgary cutting 200 jobs
July 14, 2009

Out of all the posts in this list I think this is the closet to “regretting” one as I come. Unlike all the other posts (save the honourable mention) this post was “breaking” news instead of my usual commentary on the news. I didn’t mean for it to be however! Here’s what happened: the UofC sent an email to all staff saying they were cutting 200 jobs. I heard about this and asked the individual if it was okay I mentioned it on Twitter. They said yes, because it was sent to all staff and thus obviously public info now. The problem was, UofC never sent a press release. So when I posted it on Twitter I was inundated with media requests for more information. The result was I had another source send me the text of the email and I posted it on this blog. That night the television and radio news lead with the story and it was front page news in the papers the next morning. I’m not sure if the lesson here is about the power of Twitter, or to always keep your communications department in the loop when making major announcements. Maybe both.

6. Progress and respect
November 30, 2009

In the aftermath of the first Reboot Alberta conference I summarize my thoughts on the participants themselves.

5. Doug Elniski: now just another walled off politician?
June 23, 2009

(See number 8 first.) This is the blog post that started it all. I’m not sure why no one else was talking about Doug Elniski’s comments in context of his use of social media. It still baffles me that people think social media is some sort of special entity instead of what it actually is: just another way to talk to people. It’s nothing special, but is highly effective. This post was also was popular enough to result in me being invited to talk about his comments on CBC Calgary’s The Calgary Eyeopener, CBC Edmonton’s Edmonton AM and for a feature article in the National Post.

4. The #AskEd Accountablity Window ends tomorrow
December 3, 2009

Just like number 5 this was me talking about Alberta politicians and their failures with social media tools – although this time Mastermaq got the press coverage a week later

3. How to fix Ed’s communications problems
December 14, 2009

After number 4 I felt like I had to address the Premier’s communications problems appropriately. It’s bizarre how he’s lost the media and the public so thoroughly by a simple failure to communicate. He’s our premier and I want to see him, and thus us, succeed. This is my attempt to throw the premier a bone. We’ll see if he and his team take my advice or if they continue to fumble their way through 2010.

2. Look out Alberta, you’re about to get “rebooted”: First Impressions
November 28, 2009

I honestly think the Reboot Alberta movement – along with the Wildrose Alliance’s rise – is the single most important thing to happen in Alberta politics since the creation of the Progressive Conservative party. This post outlines my initial thoughts after the first day of the conference. The fact so many people read it gives me hope that Reboot Alberta is on the right track in their discussions. You can expect more thoughts from me on this movement in the very near future.

1. Jeffrey Spalding, CEO of the Glenbow and cultural rockstar, unexpectedly steps down
January 9, 2009

Yes, an arts story made it to number one on the list! And for such a short blog post?! The people spoke.

Honourable Mention: “Open Government” coming to Calgary?
July 21, 2009

Usually you expect to see an honourable mention at the bottom of the list, but I think this one deserves to be at the top of the list. July 21 had more people visit my website that any other day in it’s history. By a LONG SHOT – almost twice as many as any other day. There was only one post written around that period of time, and it was written on that very day. I think what happened was the main URL of this site was circulated and shared rather than the actual URL of this paticular post. Therefore I don’t have accurate numbers on exactly how many people visited this particular story, but the numbers are just so overwhelming I had to include it.

I wrote this post during the morning hours in a business centre of a hotel in Portland, Oregon. I had been given permission from Ald. Pincott and Ald. Ceci to announce the open data notice of motion the day before it became public when the council agenda was released. People from all over North American immediately sat up and took notice and did so by reading this post. Amazing. Look for a lot more on outcome of this notice of motion in early 2010.

Tags: arts, Brian Pincott, Calgary, calgary city council, CBC, communications, Doug Elniski, Ed Stelmach, Edmonton, Edmonton AM, Jeffrey Spalding, Joe Ceci, Mack Male, National Post, open data, open government, Politics, Reboot Alberta, Santiago Calatrava, technology, The Eyeopener, Twitter, University of Calgary, Vanessa Porteous, wards, Wildrose Alliance
Posted in Alberta Business, Marketing | | Comments Off

These days nearly as many people visit albertaventure.com in a month as subscribe to the magazine. And though there is some overlap between the two groups, most absorb our content through one medium or the other, not both.

That leaves us editorial staff in a kind of love-hate relationship with the website. On the one hand, it is a whole additional burden requiring a separate strategy and content development from people raised on print. On the other, it steps in and solves certain limitations to the print product.

A perfect example of the latter is our annual “Best and Worst” feature, commemorating the noteworthy business news of the past year in Alberta. At best the magazine can cover the first 10 months of the year; it typically takes three months to plan, assign, edit, design, print and distribute a paper magazine. The December issue, for example, was on press on Nov. 11. How then do you treat a really important business story like Bill 50, which eventually was passed in the legislature on Nov. 25? Doesn’t that qualify as best or worst, depending on your perspective?

Here’s where the website can really complement our commitment to magazine readers. This year for the first time we’ve committed to continue adding to the Best and Worst package right up to Dec. 31 online. And it’ll still be there in 2010 for those seeking to refer back to a story that took place over this tumultuous year for business.

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I’d like to take a moment to comment on a really important development in our neighbouring province to the west that may have escaped the notice of Alberta readers. In November the Nisga’a Lisims government in northwestern B.C., created in 1998 by the province’s first modern aboriginal treaty, passed a law permitting individual, fee-simple ownership of tribal lands.

Other commentators noted the significance of this in the context of the Indian Act (which holds all reserve lands in common) and the evolving social development of Canada’s first nations. They brought up the writings of former World Bank economist Hernando de Soto, who theorized in his book The Mystery of Capital that the most important cause of poverty in the developing world is the inability of individuals to secure title to their land and thus use it as collateral for loans the way most of us in the developed world do. You can see the obvious parallel on Canada’s native reserves where people live in expensive, substandard housing provided by constitutional obligation by a paternal federal government.

But there’s a still more important implication to the province of B.C., where more than 90% of the land base is owned by the Crown (which in most areas bothered neither to conquer nor sign a treaty with the existing inhabitants as a body of international law requires). That’s why, when you drive B.C.’s highways, you have to make sure your gas tank is full; you can go tens, even hundreds of kilometres between commercial developments of any kind. (Compare this to the state of Washington, where you can find motels and service stations and artisanal shops almost anywhere.) The Crown land is off-limits to all but forestry monoculture and preservation. It can only be bought under certain circumstances such as for agriculture, which is impossible in 95% of the mountainous province. Indeed, even the forest licences dictate how and where the tree harvest can be used and processed.

Back in 1991 I flew, then drove, with then-premier Bill Vander Zalm and a clutch of other journalists to the Nisga’a capital of New Aiyansh to see him break with 120 years of denial of native claims and initiate the treaty negotiation with the Nisga’a. Many right-wing commentators then (and remember Vander Zalm was on the far right of the political spectrum) viewed this as unprincipled appeasement of native activism (this was the summer of the Oka standoff) that would deny British Columbians their birthright and remove most of B.C. from the market economy.

However I felt at the time, and last month’s news from New Aiyansh confirms it, that the settlement of land claims would instead liberate B.C. from chronic underdevelopment due to government ownership of the land base. It amounts to the de facto privatization of B.C. Now Nisga’a land can be bought and sold between owners, both native and non-native. Most importantly it can be mortgaged, providing capital to the rural people who most need it. Although there are certain land-use covenants on the land still, I foresee a day when, thanks to the treaty process, anyone can acquire land all over B.C. (which is about twice the size of Alberta, remember) and use it for the highest possible use, whether it be for a woodlot, recreational property, gas station, eco-lodge, what have you. And that will be a very good thing for all of Western Canada.

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A number of people have asked me for my thoughts on the Wildrose Alliance. I have to reply that I’m not a political commentator. However in a recent column for Investment Executive shortly after Danielle Smith’s ascension to the party leadership, I did look at some of the economic implications, or rather limitations.

Tags: Best and Worst, BizBeat - Editor's Blog, Danielle Smith, Wildrose Alliance
Posted in Alberta Business | | Comments Off

On August 13 Naheed Nenshi wrote a column for the Calgary Herald titled “Labels confuse our political understanding” in response to a comment Wildrose Alliance leadership candidate Danielle Smith made. Smith herself responded in print on August 16. (Shane over at Calgary Rants has his take on the exchange.) While this conversation is a good – and interesting – one that I normally would be happy to enter into I wanted to instead comment on something that grew out of the ensuing conversation that occurred on Twitter.

Jeremy at PolitiCalgary beat me to the punch a little bit by publishing the text of the Twitter conversation (although he is missing a few of the comments in the exchange). I agree with him that it was a bizarre conversation between Naheed Nenshi defending his position and someone only identifying themselves as “Alberta Conservative” arguing the need for political labels. I entered the fray at this point. I shouldn’t have but I did, because I feel political labels (not to be confused with party labels) add a layer of annoyance to the political process that hinders a lot of citizens’ ability to discuss the issues on their individual merit. Especially at the municipal level where there are no parties. I immediately tried to exit the conversation as it went in a bizarre direction I wasn’t interested in following. But I digress.

At one point in the conversation, long after the original debate had been abandoned in favour of speculation about conservative and liberal slates for the upcoming 2010 Calgary municipal election, Alberta Conservative mentioned, “@Nenshi If Calgary adopts civic parties like @RicMcIver may do your chances would be very slim in 2010.” Naheed then replied with “@ABConservative PGIB [Progressive Group for Independent Business] ran a slate for years and elected no one, BCC [Better Calgary Campaign, of which Nenshi is part of] had all but 2 endorsed candidates win last time (inc. Mciver – I’m a fan)”.

Now, and this is what this blog post is ACTUALLY all about, Craig Chandler, who is a part of the PGIB entered the conversation with this tweet:

@nenshi PGIB ran a slate once and in that slate Ric McIver was elected. We have endorsed since and all have won every time! Do your Homework

I couldn’t bite my tongue at this comment. Having just finished some reading on the 2007 election a few days earlier I saw this interjection for what it was: a lie. This kind of political hyperbole is something I just can’t stand. If you are going to make a comment as direct and challenging as that, the least it should be is accurate. In my opinion it is comments like this that make people outside politics have such distaste for people inside politics. It is what Stephen Colbert would call “truthiness”. If you say something that sounds true, with enough emphasis and determination, it doesn’t matter if it is true or not because people will begin to believe it. I’m not about to let that happen. So I interjected with:

How does “every time” equate to 2 for 7 in ‘07? RT @ChandlerRadio: @nenshi We have endorsed since and all have won every time! Do your Homework

.@ChandlerRadio And here’s MY “homework”. In the future, please know your own record before throwing it in someone’s face http://bit.ly/qekg

I know I shouldn’t be surprised that it is Craig Chandler who undertook such a tactic (he doesn’t have a great track record with staying on people’s good sides). But this is the kind of thing we need LESS of not MORE of.

A surprising number of people have been trying to encourage me to run in the 2010 election. I’ve been saying the whole way along I’m not convinced I want to run. But if the rumours are true and Chandler is eyeing up an aldermanic seat, I’m half-ways convinced to run against him. Wherever he may run. If anything just to make sure this kind of rhetoric stays as far away from our council chamber as possible. No, make that three quarters convinced to run. (As you can tell, I really don’t like this kind of commentary.)

Our council has been bitterly divided on too many issues these past three years. False comments like this from from an alderman would be the exact opposite of the kind of camaraderie and cooperation we need to help Calgary fix the issues we are facing. Let’s pray that doesn’t happen because the results could be disastrous.

By the way, in case you are wondering, Chandler hasn’t replied to my “homework” yet. It was sent four days ago. I’ll provide an update if he does.

Tags: Alberta Conservative, Better Calgary Campaign, Calgary, Calgary Herald, Calgary Rants, Craig Chandler, Danielle Smith, Jeremy Zhao, Naheed Nenshi, PGIB, Politics, Twitter, Wildrose Alliance
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