Where would the edmontonian be without our many contributors, collaborators, and commenters?

Sally and I never set out to make the edmontonian our blog. Sure, we had our names all over it editing submissions and authoring a majority of items, but the edmontonian was always supposed to be a community blog. Jeff and Sally could always go get their own damn vlog.

Whether it was a conversation about A Taste of Edmonton and deep-fried foods that spawned its own video, photos that made up many of our quirky looks at the city, writers that posted items here when they certainly had plenty of other good stuff going on, or collaborating with Edmonton’s online content generatOne year of thanksors, it was joining forces and cross-posting that took the edmontonian from a blog belonging to two people to a true community news source.

Some contributors wrote one post, others became synonymous with the site. Some of our same website contributors made appearances on our ShawTV show, but new friends helped on that too. And we always had a steady crew of commenters (and we consider them part of the overall Edmonton conversation).

Together, that group of people is what made the edmontonian such a good time.

(Photos are deep frying and democracy. Two things we take very seriously.)

(As we wind down our days at the edmontonian, we’ll be looking back at some of our favorite posts, stories, items, etc from the last 2+ years. Feel free to submit your own.)

One of my earliest posts is still one of my favourites. Talking about Whyte Avenue’s empty, and abandoned, gas station lots shows what hyper-local news is all about.

About the same time we started up the edmontonian, the gas station on Whyte, at 100 Street, closed up. The owners opened a new repair shop in the Ottewell neighbourhood, but more than two years later that lot in Old Strathcona sits empty.

Abandoned gas stations aren’t something unique to my neighbourhood, nor is it a story that’s too small for the daily news to jump into, but I think I was the first to talk about this particular lot. And that only happened because I live nearby. Hyper-local news is all about stories that are not yet on the radar, or won’t get on the radar, for the bigger mainstream and traditional media outlets.

That is, to me, one of the reasons blogs, podcasts, and social media is thriving. The Internet isn’t hurting traditional news because it’s more fun or mobile, the storytelling is just that much more personal. It’s on street level, and you can hear from those living right beside the story. Talking about a gas station that’s left a hole in the community, a new bar that’s going to open, or something that’s annoying you, can create a rallying point, bring a story to light, and just connect people.

This website has taught me that you cannot have a great Edmonton conversation without connection. And connection and conversation are two things news and information should be about.

Bad news, gang. Jeff is out of commission today! We spent an evening in the ER (don’t worry, he’ll be keeping all his digits. And even I lobbied hard for him to be given a few extras, to increase his BLOGGING POWER)!

He’s a-ok, but needs a day off from filling up your INTERNETS with BLOGS. You’ll find him back at the same bat time, on the same bat channel, on Wednesday morning.  And in the meantime, feel free to head to the comments and guess what ailment landed him in the ER.  (My hope is that we can spawn an urban legend of a man who gained superhuman strength after being bitten by a radioactive otter).

This past weekend, we were invited to be on a panel of Speed Mentors (FYI, also the name of my new deep house project) at Edmonton Next Gen’s super cool DIYalogue.

As part of our “mentoring,” we figured we’d better make a list of the upwards of four things we’ve learned from working on the edmontonian. That evolved into a handout, which we brought to share with anyone interested – and just in case you happen to be a blogger, content generator, or other interested party, we figured we’d post it here too.

Click below to download.

Click to download our "Tips for Content Generators" handout

(Editor’s note: We love Wunderbar. Just thought you should know that.)

A lot of things are different at Wunderbar lately; a snazzy new website, slick new bench seating, a tasty new limited-run whiskey lager from our friends at Ambers Brewing. But the big change at the Whyte Ave. drinking hole, the one at the root of Wunderbar’s current popularity, are owners Levi Christensen, Chris Janke, and Craig Martell.

The three guys worked at another popular Edmonton bar for years before deciding to venture out on their own.

“We were like ‘We have an idea,’” explains Craig.  “And everybody wants to open a bar, but not everyone has an idea.”

The idea in question? To create a bar that was community-based and thoroughly accessible to all.

“When people come here,” says Craig “[We’re] making them feel comfortable – making someone who doesn’t drink feel comfortable. You can come here and not have a beer and we’re okay with that. There’s not many bars in town where someone who doesn’t drink feels comfortable.”

STARTING OUT

The boys at Wunderbar have about 80 beers for you.

“When we started there was a very small margin of error. If we’d had a bad first month, we would’ve been done,” says Craig. “We didn’t have any backing…since then it’s shown itself to be sustainable.”

Wunderbar did survive their first month, and continues to draw a crowd. It’s one of a spate of new businesses popping up on rejuvenating East Whyte.

“It’s hard to get people to this side of the tracks,” laughs Levi. “People don’t even know where you are. If you tell them ‘101 and Whyte Ave,’ they’re like, ‘Those intersect?”

“I don’t like going to Whyte Ave on a Friday night, necessarily,” explains Craig, talking about the more recognized nightlife west of Gateway Boulevard. “It’s just too much. It’s overwhelming and it’s frustrating…and our location sort of us helps us shy away. We’re a destination spot. “

“And it’s easier to explain the beer,” chuckles Levi. ”Because if we were right on Whyte Ave, people would be like ‘You don’t have Canadian?! You don’t have Kokanee?! I…don’t …get… it..?’ “

Yes, you heard right – Wunderbar eschews the traditional commercial breweries in favour of local companies, microbrews and imports. In fact, it’s the one part of the business plan they were most confident in.

“We had no money,” says Craig. “We had like probably a couple grand between us, We’re like ‘Let’s open a bar! Let’s do a business plan where we just work on the beer list over and over! ‘”

“We spent whatever money we had on samples to work on the beer. But it paid off. We have a ton of beer now – a really good selection.”

LIVE MUSIC

Unexpectedly, the new owners were initially reticent to bring in live artists.

“You’re taking a huge chance doing live music,” says craig. “You’re automatically sacrificing a regular clientele, because someone’s not going to come after work everyday and hear folk music one day, punk music the next day, a metal show, an experimental noise show, and be okay with that.”

And yet, Wunderbar is finding a niche as a music venue; currently, they’re home to a wide variety of musical acts, as many as seven nights a week.

“The nature of this room is there’s not a whole lot you can do to it,” says Craig. “You can pretty it up a bit, but you can’t…nightclub this room. But it’s sort of become, I think, something great. And we really love it.”

One thing that allowed the new owners to take full advantage of the space was an employee who had worked under the old owners.

Wunderbar’s booking agent and main sound technician, Cameron Noyes has helped turn the little-room-that-could into a thriving music venue.

Cameron, who had been booking local artists under the bar’s previous ownership, brought lots of contacts and a near-magic touch to the bar’s sound system  – quickly helping make Wunderbar a popular venue for musicians.

HERE TO STAY

“We could work anywhere and be better off personally and financially than we are,” laughs Craig. “But, that’s okay because we really like it. And I think … if we opened some idea that was a business and stayed a business, I don’t know if you’d have the passion to say, ‘Well I haven’t made any money in a year, I can barely afford to live, let’s keep going with it.’ But with this place …we have to keep going with it.”

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