The City of Vancouver has announced that the Granville Bridge will be undergoing seismic upgrades throughout 2013. Beginning this month, expansion joint replacements will take place which will result in closures between 12:00am and 5:00am from March to November. There will also be daytime lane closures from June to October.
While the bridge itself isn’t much to look at, it does have quite a bit of history and its underbelly is frequently featured in photos of the city — making it today’s Vancouver Icon.
Other Vancouver Icons posts include: 217.5 Arc x 13′, Canoe Bridge, Vancouver Block, Bloedel Conservatory, Centennial Rocket, Canada Place, Old Courthouse/Vancouver Art Gallery, Dominion Building, Science World, Gastown Steam Clock, SFU Burnaby, Commodore Lanes, Siwash Rock, Kitsilano Pool, White Rock Pier, Main Post Office, Planetarium Building, Lord Stanley Statue, Vancouver Library Central Branch, Victory Square, Digital Orca, The Crab Sculpture, Girl in Wetsuit, The Sun Tower, The Hotel Vancouver, The Gassy Jack Statue, The Marine Building, and The Angel of Victory. Should you have a suggestion for the Vancouver Icons series please feel free to leave a note in the comments. It should be a thing, statue, or place that is very visible and recognizable to the public.
The Social Media Awards are a new campaign aimed to shine a spotlight on students and businesses that are making a difference in the online realm. They are a product of the Social Media Network which is comprised of university students, industry professionals, and recent graduates from various BC post secondary institutions with the goal of bridging the gap between education and business life.
The awards opened a nomination process in the fall of 2012 and in December the Top 7 nominees in each of the following categories were revealed: Best Blog (student & business), Best Social Video Channel (student & business), Social Media for a Student Organization (student), Best Social Media Campaign (business), and Must Follow 2013 (student & business).
A public vote will launch at 7:00pm on Thursday, January 10, 2013 and close on Thursday, February 21, 2013.
The top three nominees from each category will then be judged by a panel based on content, creativity, engagement, and overall experience. The business categories will also be judged on concept and integration.
Thanks to the Social Media Network, I have been added to the panel of judges that includes Dave Olson from HootSuite, Karm Sumal from VancityBuzz, Nikolas Badminton from TAXI, Steve Kim from BCAMA and Boilingpoint Group, Thomas Stringham from Hot Tomali, and Peter Chao from Pyrobooby. We’ll have a tough job to do in a few weeks but it will feel great to recognize the people and organizations that have been doing positive things with their online reach.
The awards will then take place during a reception and ceremony at the Roundhouse in Yaletown on Thursday, March 28, 2013. Three industry speakers will give their perspectives and insights on social media campaigns and practices and the winners will announced. Tickets go on sale later today. Follow TheSMSAwards on Twitter for the latest information.
Victoria is hosting its annual WordCamp event this Saturday, January 12, 2013 at UVic. This one-day conference covers all things WordPress, which has come a long way from simply being a blogging platform. WordPress actually powers many of the world’s most popular websites (including CNN, New York Times, GM, and more) and is still a leader in personal blogging with WordPress.com. Miss604 has also been powered by WordPress since 2006.
We have been in the custom WordPress website business for almost 5 years so organizing, sponsoring, or donating our time at WordCamps across North America is important to us. I’ll be participating in two events at this weekend’s WordCamp Victoria:
Picking Perfect Pics
I will provide a beginner’s guide to finding the right photos for your blog and displaying them correctly. Includes basic tips for photo sizing, WordPress plugins, and integrating applications like Flickr and Instagram.
Blogger Panel
I will join Katharine Holmes and Janis La Couvée on a panel to talk about all things blogging. Questions from past sessions included advertising, disclosure, statistics tracking, security, finding topics to write about, and more.
I will be bringing a few copies of my book Blogging to Drive Business: 2nd Edition and Canadian Cloud Hosting will be giving away some signed copies as well.
Other topics throughout the day will include (but are not limited to) Video for WordPress & the Web, Paying for Love: When to Buy Premium Themes and How to Make the Most of Them, Making Your Plugins Sparkle With AJAX, Focusing WordPress Search, Growing your Business by Community Blogging, and Use WordPress to Build a Membership Website. The keynote speaker is Morten Rand-Hendriksen. He’s a WordPress pro who delves deep into the code to find practical solutions for developers and we always walk away from his talks feeling completely enlightened.
Tickets are still available (for less than $25) if you’re able to join us at WordCamp this weekend. If you need accommodations, talk to Accent Inns who have been great partners of the blogging and social media scene in Victoria for several years. If you have already signed up, watch this space for announcements throughout the day and follow YYJWordCamp on Twitter.
What happens when you combine a record snowfall at the airport and holiday travel? A little bit a chaos. Add snowfall up and down the West Coast and a blizzard moving across the Midwest and you’ve got delays splashed across every notification board. John and I were heading to Iowa on December 19th, the day of the biggest snow storm this season, and we were pasted to Twitter looking at notifications from Vancouver International Airport (“YVR”) and our airline.
Now that the dust has settled, I asked Alisa Gloag, Senior Communications Specialist at YVR Airport how they planned for days like that and how they were able to manage all of the voices coming through, from operations notices to agitated travelers and frustrated 140-character messages on Twitter.
“We knew Vancouver’s first snow fall was going to be busy for our Communications team between mainstream media and social media, but I’m not sure anyone anticipated just how busy social would be!”
Alisa said that last month’s snow storm on the 19th was the single busiest day they’ve had since they joined Twitter in 2008. “We wanted to make sure everyone who got in touch with us we responded to – even if they were frustrated and upset with the weather delays.”
“We had a solid plan ahead of time with some important messages ready like reminding people to plan ahead, check their flight status and leave extra time.”
Having a social media plan in place (for every day communications, not just emergencies) was the best way for them to prepare for the avalanche of messages. “We do have a comprehensive social media strategy and plan for YVR that we review and adjust to meet with the evolving nature of social media. The main focus of the plan is pretty simple: we work to care for every customer, whether they are online using social platforms or are in our terminal buildings. We want to make sure travellers have a great airport experience at YVR and responding to our customers in whatever way they engage with us – Twitter, Facebook, email, in person – helps us achieve this.”
On the 19th alone, the @YVRAirport handle was mentioned 116 times and they gained 80 followers, the biggest jump in their numbers to date. “We monitor our mentions and a number of key words primarily using HootSuite in combination with other monitoring tools like Google Alerts and Media Miser.”
They don’t just track “YVRAirport” they also take it a step further and monitor social networks for “YVR” to make sure they capture all mentions that might apply to them. I recall looking through some of the incoming messages for the airport’s Twitter by doing a quick Twitter search. Colourful language, obvious frustration, and less-than-complimentary adjectives were interspersed with questions, comments, and general concerns that were looking for responses. Each and every one of these updates was viewed by the YVR communications team.
“In the case of last month’s snow storm, trying to get information to passengers in the terminal, as well as responding to each tweet, certainly made for a busy day! But we knew that the first winter weather would attract a lot of attention so we had a game plan ready with available resources ready if needed.” Alisa said that they sent out their first tweet at 6:30am and made the commitment to update their followers every 30 minutes. They brought in extra team members in the afternoon to make sure they didn’t miss a single reply. “I’m extremely fortunate to work with fantastic people here at the airport, which makes all the difference when you have a number of comments (and not always positive ones!) all coming in at once.”
It’s definitely a team effort. From media relations and communications to the operations department who ensures that Alisa and her colleagues are are getting the most accurate and timely information out to their customers. “We’re committed to open, honest and timely communications across all channels. On social media platforms, that means responding to every tweet we receive in a timely manner.”
Recognized internationally for its services, features, operations, artwork, amenities, and accessibility, perhaps now you can add social media management to YVR Airport’s list of qualities.
Follow them on Twitter, Facebook, and the YVR Connections Blog for more information.
Racing across my Twitter streams this afternoon was the news that the Waldorf Hotel in East Vancouver was closing its doors and soon a link to the official press release appeared:
East Vancouver’s cultural institution the Waldorf Hotel has been sold to real estate development company forcing imminent closure:
…In early January 2013, Anselmi and Gomez were informed that the complex had been sold to the Solterra Group of Companies, a condominium developer. “Solterra were unwilling to sit down and discuss negotiating long-term lease possibilities. We were offered a week-to-week lease until September 2013, when the property must be delivered vacant. We obviously can’t move forward under these conditions as our business requires commitments to artists, organizations and entertainers months in advance,” Anselmi explains. He then adds: “This has cost 60 people their jobs. This has destroyed our business.
…”The irony that the Waldorf was taken over by a condo developer in the very area we helped reinvigorate is obvious to anyone. The Waldorf filled a void. People responded because they needed it. We tried to stand for something authentic and real in a city with thousands of empty condominiums and a community starved for cultural spaces,” says Anselmi. [Read the full press release online]
Dubbed a “Cultural Oasis in the middle of nowhere” by the Globe and Mail, the Waldorf has hosted community events such as the Cheaper Show, the East Side Culture Crawl, the New Forms Festival, the Polaris Music Prize, the Presentation House Gallery, the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival, the Vancouver Art Gallery, and the Vancouver International Film Festival.
Back in 2010 I profiled the re-opening of the hotel due to its historical significance at one time being one of North America’s top tiki lounges in the 1950s.
“The Waldorf Hotel, designed in 1947 by architects Mercer & Mercer, was remarkable from the beginning for its modernist style. In 1955, capitalizing on an emerging interest in Polynesian culture, the complex was transformed into one of North America’s most renowned tiki themed bars and hotels. A post-war phenomenon, tiki culture was rooted partially in the nostalgic tropical memories of returned soldiers but also in the erotic fantasies of a middle class fascinated by the exotic and forbidden. The original architects reworked existing interiors, creating a space dedicated to artifice and escapism.” [Waldorf History]
According to Heritage Vancouver (who did a search at the time this post was written) the Waldorf and the Waldorf Tiki Bar are not protected or listed on the City’s heritage register.
Photo credit:
kk+ on Flickr
Losing a historic landmark and such a hub for the community will be quite a blow. Perhaps the story is still unfolding and there will be more developments but for now Vancouver is already mourning the Waldorf. The keys will be handed over on January 20th.
Update: Already something coming out of City Hall as Mayor Gregor issued a statement that includes: “The site at 1489 East Hastings is currently zoned for mixed-use commercial purposes, not residential development. Any change in zoning would require extensive neighbourhood consultation and approval by City Council.”
Update: You can sign an online petition to save the Waldorf.
Update: January 10, 2013: I received a press release by email with a statement from Gerry Nichele, CEO of Solterra Group: “It will be a while before we take possession of the property, and right now the Puharich family is still responsible for the ongoing operations of the hotel. We have an open mind about the future of this site and we are studying all the options. I can say that at this point we certainly have no intention of demolishing the Waldorf Hotel. We want to work with the City to explore possible ways to retain and improve the hotel.”
Update January 13, 2013: There is a Love-In at the Waldorf Hotel TODAY starting at 2:00pm. Food cart festival, press conference, family-friendly.
