Twestival
Better late then never… Thursday, March 24 was Edmonton Twestival 2011, at Red Star Pub. Great job, Edmonton. (Not so great job on me getting around to writing about it.) (more…)
A Twitter Festival. A Twestival, If You Will (And You Will)
Hey gang, I know how much you like helping local charities. And I know how much you like winning/bidding on prizes from local businesses. Which is why I thought Twestival would be right up your alley.
That’s right, Twestival’s back! Twitter’s been asking tweeters in cities around the world to hold the (now) annual events for years. Last time out, Twestival was for a Twitter-chosen charity (charity: water) and was held in conjunction with Guru Digital Arts College’s Gala Guru. The time before that it was a local Twestival and we raised money for the Youth Emergency Shelter Society (YESS).
Edmonton’s Twitter King, Mack D. Male, was at the helm for those events. Now I’m in charge.
Actually, I’m one of a handful of people in charge, which means you’re actually going to like this and it’s not just going to be some last-minute pizza party in my basement.
Edmonton Twestival is a tweet-up AND fundraiser. (more…)
If it’s good enough for Spock, it’s good enough for Guru Digital Arts College
This weekend, nerds from across Alberta, Canada and the world will be descending on our neighbours to the south for the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo. (I know, I know. What is this, the Calgarytonian? But bear with me, there’s a local element to this, I swear.)
One of the nerds making the trek south is Owen Brierley, Executive Director of Edmonton’s Guru Digital Arts College (GDAC).
Owen Brierley
Now, you may be familiar with Guru for a couple of reasons; Owen and many of the instructors are very active on Twitter, Owen and our friend Mack Male teamed up to co-host last month’s Gala Guru/Twestival party, and Guru has recently signed on as a sponsor for both the upcoming MediaCamp, and our buddies (and fellow League of Extraordinary Media members) at the Unknown Studio.
“The thing that we’ve always wanted to see is Guru as a hub for activity of some kind,” Owen explains. “For things that are related to the digital world.”
Anyway, since GDAC is clearly an evil empire looking to further its reach on these here INTERNETS, Owen is taking the Guru show on the road with a booth at this weekend’s Comic Expo in Calgary. It’s a bit of a brassy move, since there aren’t a ton of schools (art or otherwise) on the exhibitor list. This is Guru’s first year at the Expo and Owen says it came about unexpectedly.
“It was through recommendations actually,” he says. “Friends of mine were like ‘You should be here. This is amazing!’”
“Based on that, we looked into it, and we saw that Leonard Nimoy was going to be there and you know… if Spock’s going to be there, then we’ve got to be there.”
Guru Digital Arts College teaches a six month diploma program in Digital Media Production; they’re also about to launch their first ever Interaction Design and Game Level Development Diploma.
“We’ve consciously put effort into making this small-classroom, short, intense program as valuable as we can make it,” says Owen.
“It’s connecting with this alternative audience that isn’t your standard post-secondary learner.”
If you want to follow Owen’s Comic Expo antics this weekend, check out Guru’s twitter feed. And if you’re on foursquare, stop by the school here in Edmonton and check out Owen’s challenge – you might get a free coffee out of the deal.
(Full disclosure alert: Yep, Guru is part sponsor of MediaCamp, an event that Jeff is involved in organizing. Yep, Guru is sponsoring our friends’ podcast. And yep, I am currently a student at Guru Digital Arts College. So I clearly have a pro-Guru bias – but I was not induced to write about the school. Except in the sense that I’m locked in Owen’s basement. And he won’t let me out until this is posted. Send help immediately.)
Oh what a night!
This is the #YegSwap debrief and recap. So, if you were there (thanks for coming) let me know if I forget to mention something, please tell us your own thoughts about the night, and let me know if there are blog posts/photos/video out there I haven’t linked to. Also, tell us if you still love your new stuff or if you’ve already got swapper’s remorse.
Also, before I forget, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you to our volunteers (We love you!), our musicians, The ARTery (which we need to talk about more at a future date), and thanks from me to the other organizers.
I want it all! (Photo: Mack D. Male)
I’m going to say, even though it was said a bunch of times (including when Scott and Adam introduced our final act of the night, The Joe), that the 1st annual #YegSwap was a success.
This was an event put on by The League of Extraordinary Media, which (right now) includes this blog, the podcasts The Unknown Studio and User Created Content, and TrueBritl.com, a blog by iNews880′s Twitter star, Brittney Le Blanc. To quickly sum up what The League is all about: our blogs and podcasts have joined forces to take our Edmonton-related musings into the real world. Mayhaps there will be cross-posting of content too. Hey, we’ve got to compete with the “real” media, you know.
the edmontonian‘s co-founder, Sally, and Brittney thought a swap meet would be a good time. That this idea came about after an afternoon of home shopping channel viewing is somehow relevant.
I was, of course, on board right away. Not only could it be fun, it could be a way to join together some of Edmonton’s online “newsrooms.” And pay homage to a local community cable show so enjoyed by myself in my Toronto days.
We were fortunate enough to land some amazing musical talent for the night. I do not know where a lineup like this will be heard for a mere $2. (more…)
#Yeg Swap is on the air
-
(Media box above should be streaming you all the #Yeg Swap fun. If not, try refreshing your browser.)
It’s too bad you haven’t made your way down to The ARTery for #Yeg Swap yet. We’re going until about 11 tonight.
We’ve got lots of swapping going on.
Not that kind of swapping.
And as you should be able to see above (it might just need a refresh of your browser) we’re showing you what you’re missing.
It’s also a chance for us to test live streaming. Because we never know when we might need it.
—–
#Yeg Swap
@ The ARTery (9535 Jasper Avenue)
7 – 11 pm
Bring your swappable items. Books, CDs, shoes, bomber jackets, Simon and Garfunkel albums, snowboards, whatever.
Music by Lyra Brown, The Mystery Ponies and The Joe.
Yeg Swap and other events
Here's how the swap meet portion of #Yeg Swap will go down. The music and fun will just happen naturally.
If you didn’t know what I was going to open this week’s events listing with, you just haven’t been paying attention.
March 20 means #YegSwap over at The ARTery. 7pm. Until the fun ends.
We’ve got you bringing some cool stuff, that for some reason you just don’t want anymore (don’t tell me who did what on top of it). You’ll be trading that with other people in our super-efficient swap dome* and all the while you will be entertained by amazing Edmonton musicians Lyra Brown, The Mystery Ponies and The Joe.
And all for $2.
We’re basically paying you to come and have a great Saturday night.
One other thing worth mentioning, those musical acts are from three different genres. You don’t see a lot of that, outside of your iPod, so that could be worth the price of admission right there.
Alright, self-promotion aside, I’ll head over to ShareEdmonton and see if there’s anything else going on. But it probably won’t be as good as #Yeg Swap.
A neat event happening Saturday night (See, I’m not so biased I won’t mention other Saturday events.) is also a fundraiser. Out of Sight: A Sensory Experience is a “dining in the dark” meal, where a mask or sunglasses will limit your vision during the meal.
The Bounce is having a birthday party, their 5th.
Tonight (Friday) there’s an “Eeeeeeee…” inducing event at Best Buy Edmonton South, it’s a Twilight New Moon Launch Party.
It’s Randy Couture night at the Edmonton Rush game.
Here’s an interesting one from the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues; Green Projects to Empower your Community. It comes with wine and cheese.
The Edmonton Boat & Sportsmen’s Show is a sign of spring, right?
There’s a rally for public services at the Alberta Legislature Saturday. After that, you should come to #YegSwap.
Naked on Jasper (it’s a cybercafe you pervs) is hosting the Busker’s Ball tonight. It’s got a great lineup of people you’ve probably seen at other venues and actually busking.
There’s some Postdata happening at Brixx Friday night.
The Pawn Shop has a great show Sunday, with Jay Malinowski of Bedouin Soundclash, Kinnie Starr and Michael Rault.
I mentioned the coming latin passion in my review of an Edmonton Symphony Orchestra show back here, but this weekend is “Musica Latina.” Which is sure to set your hips a-swaying.
Oh, and The Fashion Event is back, for your spring shopping needs, over at the Mayfield Inn & Suites.
And tickets are now on sale for St. Albert’s International Children’s Festival.
Whew!
p.s. #Yeg Swap is being put on by The League of Extraordinary Media, which is our new group of Edmonton super-hero bloggers and podcasters. In the battle between good and evil, choose local.
*There’s no swap dome. I only said that to increase your interest.
