Listed on Heritage Vancouver’s Top 10 List of Endangered Sites in 2012, the Main Post Office has definitely come into the spotlight over the last year. The massive building in downtown Vancouver, between Georgia and Dunsmuir, Homer and Hamilton was recently sold, moving Canada Post operations to a main processing plant in Richmond by 2014. The building has over 600,000 square feet of space, ramps, a helipad, elevators, and a 2,400-foot long underground conveyor belt that used to link the system to the trains coming into Waterfront station. Once Canada Post clears out, there’s talk of it even being a viable location for the Vancouver Art Gallery.
If you would like to join a larger discussion about this space you can join a free talk hosted by Heritage Vancouver on Wednesday, March 27, 2013.
Heritage Talks: Vancouver’s Main Post Office
The Role of the Community in Determining its Future When: Wednesday, March 27, 2013 from 7:00pm to 9:00pm Where: Arts & Culture Alliance #100-938 Howe (street level entrance)
We invite to you to provide input into future uses for Vancouver’s Main Post Office. The Canada Post building is one of the city’s last completely intact mid-century modern buildings and is made even more prominent by the fact that it occupies a full city block. The Post Office building that was owned by the people of Canada and Vancouver was sold to British Columbia Investment on January 25, 2013 to British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCIMC), one of Canada’s largest institutional investment managers.
To date there has been no opportunity for people to have a say in what uses they would like to see in the building once it is no longer used by Canada Post. Right now the future of the Post Office block is uncertain and is in the hands of the successful owner/developer and the City of Vancouver.
Heritage Vancouver is providing the community with the opportunity to express their ideas about the kind of uses they would like to see in the building. All comments will be passed along to the City of Vancouver and will be made available through community media. People who are unable to attend the conversation will have the opportunity to provide their ideas after the event.
Special guests for the Heritage Talk include Philip Boname of Urbanics Consultants, Patricia Bourque of Bourque Brueggerto Architects, and Bruno Freschi, a distinguished architect best known for his role as chief architect for Expo 86.
Admission is free but registration is required and space is limited so book your tickets today.
Rock the Vote BC is a non-partisan voter registration campaign to increase voter turnout among BC’s university and college students and they want to make sure that May 14, 2013 is on everyone’s calendar.
In 2009, only 51% of eligible voters in BC went to the polls in the general election and more than 500,000 eligible voters under 34 didn’t vote. Rock the Vote is hoping to boost those numbers through social media campaigns, activations, and encouraging students to take on their own campaigns locally to spread the word.
Here’s how students can help right away, and then pass on the message: Add yourself to the BC voters list, follow Rock the Vote on Twitter and Facebook, and check out what’s happening at your school or others for ideas. If there’s no local team in your area, you can email Rock the Vote to setup your own.
Follow Elections BC on Twitter and Facebook as well for more general election information leading up to May 14th.
We have returned from South by Southwest (“SXSW”), an interactive festival combining technology, software and hardware, and all things that have made social networking a smash in recent years. It was where Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare were first promoted to the general public and this year, as John Biehler points out, software gave way to advances in hardware — making DIY culture the focus of trending technology.
Aside from a massive conference schedule, trade show, and a dance card full of company-sponsored parties, there are also houses and pavilions (think back to Vancouver 2010) that host celebrities, entertainers, and guests. All of this takes place over two weeks in Austin, Texas with Interactive leading into a Music festival and Film running somewhere in between.
A highlight for us this year was discovering the SONOS Studio SXSW that was located in a house just a few steps away from the Austin Convention Centre. It was there that we had some of our most memorable experiences of the entire festival.
SONOS Studio SXSW
SONOS (makers of wireless home music systems) rented out a house and through back-alley access, conference-goers (who RSVP’d in advance via the SONOS blog) could enjoy free tacos from a truck parked in the alley, free beer and beverages (from the ice-filled fountain in the backyard), entertainment on an outdoor stage, and several sound installations that were around the property. Flula Borg hosted a Fluncheon in the afternoons, providing hysterically entertaining commentary and creating songs on the fly.
Photo credit: John Biehler
The backyard shed was transformed into a demo for the SONOS Playbar that was controlled by your movements. John Biehler posted a video of the setup that included four projectors that were also in sync.
Inside the house you could play with a Theramin, a Moog synthesizer, catch live radio broadcasts on KCRW, and use arts and crafts materials to build your own speakers. On our first day there we caught Kat Von D and Deadmau5 (Joel Zimmerman) as they were given a tour of the whole setup. I even hung out beside them as they built their own speakers out of paper plates.
It was one thing to appreciate the chill outdoor atmosphere of the venue (free drinks and food were a bonus) but it was another to completely geek out with audio enthusiasts like my husband (the radio engineer).
SONOS PLAY:5 Giveaway
When a timely press release from SONOS found its way to my inbox, I knew I had to connect it with our fantastic experience at the SONOS Studio SXSW. SONOS is offering up a PLAY:5 and a Bridge to one lucky reader.
With a PLAY:5 and bridge from SONOS:
Stream all the music on earth wirelessly. Play your entire music collection stored on your computer or network hard drive. Or listen to one of the 100,000+ radio stations from across the world with TuneIn. Or stream millions of songs, podcasts, and stations from Songza, Rdio, SiriusXM, Deezer, Slacker, Wolfgang’s Vault, Aupeo!, Stitcher, and Dar.FM. You can even wirelessly stream music directly from your iPhone or iPad. PLAY:5 also has a line-in so you can connect even more music sources.
It has a simple wireless setup. Plug it in anywhere you want music.
Start with one, expand anywhere. After connecting a SONOS Bridge or your first Sonos player to a router, you can keep adding players to the rest of your rooms wirelessly.
Big HiFi sound in a compact size, thanks to 5 integrated speakers/5 dedicated digital amps.
Wireless control from your Android smartphone or tablet, iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, PC or Mac with free apps. Search for songs, choose the music, and control the volume in any room from anywhere.
The PLAY:5 is available for $449.99 in Canada and the Bridge sells for $59.99. In the Vancouver area, they can be purchased at HiFi Centre or at Future Shop and Best Buy stores (or online).
It’s called “the original, bigger room, bigger sound, all-in-one wireless music system” and you can experience it for yourself by entering the contest:
Leave a comment on this post naming the first song or album from your library that you would play with the SONOS PLAY:5 once you got it home (1 entry)
Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)
RT to enter to win a #PLAY5 & Bridge from @SONOS & @Miss604 http://bit.ly/SONOS604
I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Friday, March 29, 2013. Follow SONOS on Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, and Twitter for more information about their wireless systems and technology.
If you’re looking for something fun to do this upcoming Spring Break, consider checking out Science World’s Machines and Me weekend events programming where 3D printing will be showcased.
I’ll be bringing a bunch of 3D printers (along with their owners from 3D604) down to the Dyson Innovation Lab to demonstrate the technology on March 16th to March 17th and March 23rd to March 24th from 11:00am until 5:00pm each day.
Photo credit: John Biehler
We’ll also have 3D scanning demonstrations as well and will be printing all weekend at Science World. So if you’ve ever wanted to see a 3D printer up close and in action, this is your chance.
Photo credit: John Biehler
If you are unfamiliar with the world of 3D printing, check out my previous post “What is 3D Printing?” and follow our local 3D604 group.
Join Y.E.S. members and newcomers at Incendio Pizzeria in Gastown (103 Columbia St) on Tuesday, March 19, 2013 from 6:30pm to 8:30pm. Admission is $25 for Y.E.S! members and $35 for non-members.
Tickets include three Craft Beer tastings from Copper & Theory Artisan Beer Supply Co., unlimited Incendio wood fired brick oven pizza (paired with Craft Beer tastings and features), and a presentation by Adam Henderson, certified Cicerone and Founder of Copper & Theory. Adam’s company imports beers from around the world, such as Cantillon, Gigantic Brewing, Upright Brewing, and Ninkasi.
Y.E.S! Vancouver is a group of professional women who enjoy fun and stylish networking events that make a difference. All funds raised by Y.E.S! directly support Dress for Success Vancouver, an international charity that helps low and no income women to transition into the workforce by providing professional attire and career support.
Follow Y.E.S! Vancouver on Facebook and Twitter for information about the organization and their events. Follow the tag #YESBeer2013 on Twitter for more updates about this event.
