The City of Surrey sure isn’t going to live down its 2008 title of Cultural Capital of Canada anytime soon. With so many events and festivals planned here’s another big one for everyone to enjoy.
“This celebration has grown to become the largest Canada Day event in Western Canada with attendance in 2007 reaching 90,000 garnering near legendary status as one of the largest outdoor shows ever staged in BC.”
When: Tuesday July 1st from 10:00am until the fireworks at 11:00pm
Where: Cloverdale Millennium Amphitheatre, 176 Street and 64th Avenue (Google Map)
If you miss the downtown Canada Day fireworks that disappeared a few years ago you won’t be disappointed with this display which will have music simulcast on Rock 101.
Now I have to make a note about the nostalgic lineup of bands, which made me giggle with excitement when they were announced:
Not only will there be concerts and fireworks, the midway will be in full swing with rides like the Gravitron. Also, you can be assured there will be bouncy castle action for the kiddies along with other family-oriented activities throughout the day (like performances by Bobs and Lolo, and an outdoor skating rink… in July!).
Stay tuned to the site for updates and as with all of these festivals I’m reporting on for Surrey, there is no admission fee.
Update July 1, 2008: I’ll be checking in throughout the day with updates and photos from the celebration in Cloverdale.
A while back my friend Keira suggested we have a mother-daughter ladies night when he mother came to visit her in town this month. After weeks of anticipation we finally made it out to dinner at Boneta, did some blitz shopping, and hung out back at the house where we filled it with giggles and girl talk.
I’ve been to Boneta before but I’ve never tried the desserts. I highly recommend you sample some of their sweets, they were probably the highlight of my meal.
Keira’s got a recap post up as well, and I’m glad she an her mom had their cameras handy since my mom and I both forgot ours (although I had iPhone power, but that isn’t good at all in low light). I pretty much blew off every other event I was supposed to attend yesterday. I went to work then I hung out with great friends and family – sometimes these things have to come first… even when they should come first all the time.
You know when you hear a song and don’t know the words so you make up some lyrics in your head to sing along to? Well it turns out the lyrics of Weezer’s new song Pork and Beans are just that, “I eat my candy with my pork and beans.” So yeah, I’m not crazy.
With that I’ll back up a little and first introduce the concept of memes and then explain why the heck Weezer is going to get total geek cred for their single’s music video.
A meme consists of any unit of cultural information, such as a practice or idea, that gets transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another. Examples include thoughts, ideas, theories, practices, habits, songs, dances and moods and terms such as race, culture, and ethnicity. Memes propagate themselves and can move through a “culture” in a manner similar to the behavior of a virus. As a unit of cultural evolution, a meme in some ways resembles a gene [wiki] Note: A meme does not have to be a video.
I have a feeling the Weezer meme is going to make quite a splash. Even with an iTunes-only release in the USA last year our pal Matthew Good’s album Hospital Music was on Top 10 charts as well. The lesson here? Embrace the power of the internets.
I know that’s a big statement, but I’ll simply leave it at that and allow you to watch the video and get the Pork and Beans tune stuck in your head as it has been in mine for about six days now.
I’m going to call this a day blog as I won’t be live blogging per se, moreso collecting thoughts, sharing links, and posting information throughout the day.
Right now on the Convergence 2008 main stage Grant McCracken is talking about Digital Cultures:
McCracken looks at the places where culture and commerce, anthropology and economics meet most often: marketing in general, branding in particular, popular culture, Hollywood, advertising, television, magazines, and new media. Through his highly-customized ethnographic and anthropological research, he provides clients with a comprehensive but incisive review of contemporary culture, its foundations, current state and future trends and strategies for managing it. [Convergence]
VIDFEST’s International Partnering Forum (IPF) is taking place down the road at the Granville Island Hotel from 9:30am until 5:00pm, running in tandem with Convergence here at the Arts Club Theatre. Also under the VIDFEST umbrella is VIGS, the Vancouver International Games Summit taking place downtown at the Hyatt.
Tonight will wrap up with the “Schmooze Lounge” at the GI Hotel, and this will all resume tomorrow with the Creative Exchange Conference, another Schmooze Lounge, then the POP VOX Awards gala.
With all of the formal stuff out of the way, I’m going to follow Phillip’s Twitters to see what I’m missing on the main stage right now.
Update: The conversation during Grant McCracken’s keynote involved a lot of Twitter talk.
For her question about Twitterers in VancouverHeather (who is currently my side-by-side MacBook blogging buddy at the Arts Club) got a copy of Grant’s book.
Update: I’m sitting in on the “Giving Your Brand Away: Brand Communities” panel on the main stage at the Arts Club Theatre. “How do you harness the evangelical impulse of these customers and manage the politics of others?” The panelists are from McDonald’s (speaking to engaging employees with online surveys, blogs and discussions instead of paper newsletters), Future Shop, Vancity (talking about ChangeEverything.ca) and Tourism BC (presenting the HelloBC website using Flickr, YouTube etc).
Update: Raul live blogged my panel with Kate and Darren. Due to the great conversation flow and discussion there were some questions that were missed but I wanted to address the one about negative comments. We all said to embrace them from a corporate perspective and use them as feedback, having an open discussion for the better of your brand and its credibility with your consumers. However the second part of that question was about negative comments on a personal blog, to which I just have to say it’s your blog – you have veto power – sure being open, honest and transparent has its advantages but at the end of the day I have the ability to click “delete” on anything that is posted, commented or submitted here.
Another note is that my fellow panelists receive more pitches than I do. I probably get about 5 a week so I know what to look for, what is out there, but as far as the “firehose” of PR campaigns knocking down my door, it’s pretty minuscule in the grand scheme of things.
With that, I really enjoyed being on the panel although I was really nervous as usual. I hope folks got something out of our Blogger Relations insights.
I’m currently debating whether to head to the Happy Hour or to hop a False Creek ferry over to John’s office, pick him up, hit up the grocery store, then head home for some Bollwitt time. I just polled Twitter and so far it’s split down the middle, with 50% of people saying I should go chill and the other half encouraging me to come out to the Schmooze event… just waiting for that tie breaker right now.
Sometimes I think I lead a busy life in social media because I have three to four events a week. Well I must be reaching some kind of new face-melting plateau because tonight I have somehow booked myself into three events… just tonight. Here’s the scoop:
Ever wonder where you can find job listings in Techcouver that don’t involve painful browsing of Craigslist and feature the words “adult” and “industry”? Techvibes has been the place to go for years and they’re reaching out this afternoon, hosting a career fair at Republic (958 Granville St).
Various Vancouver startups have signed on to give quick 5 minute pitches to potential candidates who will then be able to network and find out more about these eligible and exciting companies:
You can find more information on the Facebook event and things kick off at 3:00pm.
Photo credit: Phillip’s Launch Party3 Set on Flickr
Following the Techvibes Career Fair is Launch Party Vancouver 4, which is a chance for startup companies to mix and mingle with potential investors, while spreading their news and buzz amongst the social media gurus of Vancouver. [LPV1, LPV2, LPV3]
These companies will be giving demos, displaying their wares, and hopefully handing out swag – swag rules!:
More info is available on the Facebook event and this will take place at 5:30pm following the career fair.
My final destination this evening will be the Vancouver Art Gallery for the official kickoff of VIDFEST. Since I’m speaking tomorrow at Convergence (a part of VIDFEST) I get a pass for all these cool parties, although I have one confession – I’ve never been to the VAG. Not once. Never. I’ve never been a tourist in my hometown and have never taken part in the cheapie Tuesdays where they let you in by donation. I’m looking forward to participating this evening, picking up my conference pass and checking out the latest exhibit, Krazy! (the delirious world of anime, comics, video games, art).
The VIDFEST conferences start tomorrow on Granville Island, check the site for a full rundown and be sure to stop by our panel during Convergence 2008.
Related posts, hat tips, and cool folks I get to see in the next few days:
Update: If you would like to follow along with all the Twitters about VIDFEST tomorrow, you can follow this feed which is pulling in Tweets tagged as #VIDFEST.
