Brain Album

An offer I couldn’t refuse

One year ago, I left the Edmonton Journal. The overlap between what I was spending my time on and what I wanted to be spending my time on was not big enough, and it was making me crazy. So I quit.

I spent a few weeks thinking, talking, imagining what I could do now that I was free. And then I did it. I started a business. I taught. I spoke. I wrote. I consulted. I spent a lot more time with my husband and children.

I did that thing I always do, which is to make a job for myself that is a little bit too hard, but on the whole, I have been very happy and very busy, with a much bigger overlap of the “want” and “do” circles of the big Venn diagram of my life.

Part of the reason I could do all of that was, well, The Journal.

Barb Wilkinson and Sandra Marocco gave me the opportunity last summer to make something, which turned into the media lab, which turned into a pilot project with City Hall School, which has now turned into a full-fledged Edmonton Journal School. I’m excited to continue to help make that project go with the inimitable Sandy VanRiper.

Now I have another chance to try something new and make a difference. Starting May 7, I’ll be leading a project whose working title is the Edmonton Experiment. We’re setting up a sandbox on the first floor of the Journal building downtown to come up with new ways for The Journal to be useful to its community. Our mission, as stated by our sponsors at Postmedia, is to “transform our city by inspiring everyone to share their expertise.” What that actually looks like in real life is up to me and my team (and a team in Toronto that is trying the same thing there). 

Clay Shirky says a newspaper is a solution for a problem that doesn’t exist anymore. Our task is to see what problems this news organization can solve, and how. We’ll be trying our best to operate like a startup — problem-solving, testing, learning, and most of all, doing. I’ll be blogging about our efforts as we go. 

So I’m back, sort of. Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in. But seriously, how could I turn down an opportunity like this?  

P.S. I have been horribly delinquent with my new-media roundups. This will be rectified soon.

Edmonton New Media Roundup 21

The story of the week was the downtown arena project. I wish I had been free on Friday to Storify the reaction to city council’s decision to buy the land amid news of the negotiations between the city and the Katz Group with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman in New York.
 
The volume of tweets on #yegarena and #yegcc was overwhelming, as Mack Male shows in this post summarizing the day and the Twitter reaction. Word clouds have had a bit of a bad rap lately, but to me, the clouds in this post and the post setting up Friday’s events do a pretty good job of letting us see what was said.
 
As Mack notes, Mike Otto of The Charrette also did a nifty little bit of data journalism on opinions expressed about the arena proposal in calls to 311, the city’s information line. (Speaking of The Charrette, Otto’s partner-in-awesome Scott Lilwall recently launched a semi-regular feature called Ask the Charrette, an invitation to ask them anything about urban planning. In this city, at this time, there are a lot of questions that need answering, so have at it.)

For a more elegiac take on the debate, see Zoe Todd’s post on how the arena narrative clashes with her own feelings about the story of this city. The post itself was already a worthy read. Then Journal sports columnist John MacKinnon made a rather rude comment, to which Zoe responded thoughtfully and with class. The ensuing back-and-forth is revealing and also worth your time.

This is a neverending story. If I’m missing something good on the arena issue, let me know in the comments. Now, what else?

— Besides being another great get-together and a chance to show off my dino-loving daughter, this month’s Girl Geek Dinner introduced us to an inspiring young University of Alberta paleontologist named Victoria Arbour. If you like dinosaurs, I encourage you to read Victoria’s blog. You can also follow the U of A’s Dino Lab on Facebook. The next Girl Geek Dinner will be held Nov. 17 at D’Lish Urban Kitchen and Wine Bar.

— YegNews has officially shut down after four months of operation. I was skeptical about its editorial and business model from the get-go, and its challenges were all the more difficult to surmount when Scott McKeen departed in July. But I also applaud anyone who tries anything new and hard. Alain Saffel deserves credit for that. Failure is a gift, as long as we learn from it.

— Jay Runham of the Jay n’ J movies podcast was kind enough to take me out to see Page One: Inside the New York Times, which I had been dying to see. We recorded a “slider” episode of Jay n’ J (sans J, aka Jordan Blackburn, who was out of town). The movie’s brief appearance in Edmonton is over now, but have a listen to see if you’d like to rent it or see it on Netflix. It was such a delight to meet Jay in real life. Next up, I believe, is a full episode on Footloose, featuring woman-about-town Brittney Le Blanc.

— The Conservative leadership vote and Premier Alison Redford’s cabinet-making have provided plenty of fodder for Dave Cournoyer on daveberta.ca. With Redford in charge, a provincial election won’t happen until spring, but nominations are well underway. Here’s Dave’s running list of who’s running.

— Efforts to organize MediaCamp Edmonton 2 are in full flight now. We’ve changed the date to Feb. 4 (instead of Jan. 28) so as not to conflict with the next Startup Weekend and Global Game Jam. MediaCamp aims to bring storytellers and developers together to see how we can help each other do what we do. Watch the website for details in the coming weeks. We’re using the hashtag #yegmediacamp on Twitter to seek input and share links. If you’re interested in coming, please fill out this survey so we can try to make it all you want it to be. If you’re interested in sponsoring or volunteering, email me at karen@unlandmedia.com.

There’s always so much more to say, and yet, that feels like enough. Feel free to add more in the comments, on Twitter or on Google+. More media news can be found on Mack’s Media Monday.

(Speaking on Mack, that’s his photo up top, taken in May 2010 at an open house on the Edmonton Arena District.)

Edmonton New Media Roundup 20

This week, I’ve been thinking about the future of publishing and the power of going deep.

The idea that the future of media depends on serving niches rather than being all things to all people is not new, but it becomes more meaningful when you meet people who are living that concept in real life.

I met some such people at Digital Storytelling in Alberta, a “speed-dating” event at Guru Digital Arts College on Oct. 6. The purpose was to get digital folk, publishers and filmmakers together to talk about the future of publishing. It was put together by Lyn Cadence, a Calgary publicist and the publisher of the newly formed Frontenac House Media, and was hosted by Owen Brierley, who runs Guru and sits on the board of Digital Alberta (and is at the centre of the photo you see above).

Here’s what I learned.

There’s no shortage of books in the world. There is a shortage of time to spend reading them. So publishers have to go after those people who love their books so much that they will drop other things to spend their precious time with them. They need to provide those books in every format those fans like. And they need to provide other opportunities to engage with those creations (and make money from them), whether it’s through film, graphic novels, games, conferences, speeches, newsletters, forums, podcasts, social media or whatever else comes next.

Big guys like Seth Godin already do this. But there’s nothing stopping little guys from doing it, too — in fact, it’s probably even more important for little guys, who have few resources and a smaller market to start with.

All of what I just said applies to journalism, too. Broadsheet newspapers were built on having something for everyone, and their websites tend to be the same. But that’s not the way of the future. Inch-deep, mile-wide coverage won’t cut it, especially as the culture of recommendation takes over from Google-gaming as the way to get your stories in front of the people who want them. Specializing in doing a few things very well, deeply and vertically, has more hope. It’s also way more fun.

I had lots of great conversations — thank you, Ron Manke, Karen Gartner, Faye Boer, Gary Whyte, Tamara Stecyk and Kieran Flynn — but the most inspiring chat was with Merle and Jerome Martin of Spotted Cow Press.

Spotted Cow is very small, and judging from its titles, it doesn’t put out a lot of bestsellers. But three things impressed me about the Martins:

1. They love what they do.
2. They don’t waste time seeking grants; they bootstrap everything.
3. They aren’t afraid of trying something new. They sell e-books. They offer free downloads. Jerome has a blog and is on Twitter. They are doing on a small scale what everyone needs to be doing, and they’re hungry to learn more.

So I’m adding the Martins to my heroes list. Thanks to Lyn and Owen for a delightful time. If you were there and want to share what you learned, please comment on this post.

And now, rounding up:

— Meshwest Edmonton on Oct. 4 was another opportunity for future-of-media ideas to burble. I really enjoyed hearing Ali Asaria, founder of well.ca. He is unabashedly focused on Canada, not because it’s the patriotic thing to do but because it’s the right niche for his business. Customer service is at the core. He also had interesting things to say about cultivating a creative workplace. So much of what he said has applications to the media business. For more recapping, see Justin Jackson’s excellent post. The next Meshwest is in Vancouver on Dec. 5.

— Meshwest also brought social media superstar and GigaOm writer Mathew Ingram here. He shared some nice Edmonton pictures on Instagram. Every little bit helps, when it comes to promoting our fine city.

— Tickets are on sale now for the FIERCE awards, Mom Magazine’s night to honour “women who make a difference in the lives of others, whether it’s within their own household or on a global level.” By the looks of the nomination list, it will be quite the night, orchestrated by Tamara Plant, one of the fiercest women I know.

— There’s a whole blog post (or 20) to be done on the good works going on in Edmonton’s social media circles. Here are a few that have crossed the transom: User Created Content is raising money for the Stollery Children’s Hospital by playing video games for 24 hours; The Going Blue 4 U campaign aims to raise money and awareness to fight mental illness; John Winslow and others are raising diapers for the Terra Centre; and the list goes on. Check out KikkiPlanet’s #yegenda for more.

— It has been both heartwarming and heartbreaking to watch the Twitter community’s embrace of Jason Konoza after the death of his beloved wife, Wendy. Jason’s response has been remarkable. You can donate to the Wendy Konoza Memorial Award in Education at the University of Alberta. Rene and Kari Mayer set up a site to gather help for Jason and his kids.

— The next Girl Geek Dinner is on Oct. 13. I’m bringing my daughter with me to hear Victoria Arbour talk about dinosaurs. This is an all-ages affair, with an amazing speaker and yummy food at Chianti’s. And it’s about DINOSAURS. Plus it’s on Dana DiTomaso’s birthday. How can you not go?

— Finally, the one and only Sally Poulsen has made me a website! I cannot begin to tell you what a pleasant and educational experience it was to work with Sally — I highly recommend her. Shout out as well to Janice Belyea of Crayon Creative, whose business-card design became my logo. Thank you, ladies!

You can always find more media talk on Mack Male’s Media Monday. Feel free to respond to my ramblings here, on Twitter or on Google+.

Edmonton New Media Roundup 18

West Edmonton Local is about to be reincarnated again, so this seems like a good time to explain and explore this gift to MacEwan journalism students, created last school year by Archie McLean and Lucas Timmons. 
I call it a gift because journalism is learned by doing. To have a real-life news website to work on, with a real community to serve, is a tremendous opportunity, as Archie explained well to Mack Male when the site launched in February.
 
West Edmonton Local has changed since then, and will keep changing, which is a good reflection of the state of journalism itself. When the semester ended last spring, West Edmonton Local was kept going by Mathew White and Trevor Robb. Trevor then got a job at the Edmonton Examiner, leaving Mathew to hold down the fort, which he did ably through the summer. Meanwhile, Archie has returned to the Edmonton Journal full-time, where he is now the assignment editor.
 
Now Mathew is about to move on to a job in Osoyoos. So, starting Sept. 26, West Edmonton Local will be in the hands of students in their second year of the journalism diploma program at MacEwan. I teach senior reporting to these students, and Lucas and I teach them news production, so between those two classes, we are creating a newsroom.

It’s a slow-motion newsroom, as we want to make sure we learn along the way. It’s hard to resist making sacrifices to the news production gods (listen to Jay Rosen’s conversation with Mitch Joel on that subject if you want to know what I’m on about). Our story cycle, from story pitch to publication, takes about 12 days. In a normal newsroom, it takes about 12 hours.

So it’s not a breaking news site. It has had breaking news and event coverage through the summer, under Mathew’s direction. But now, West Edmonton Local’s content will be more like what you might find in a weekly, but taking advantage as much as possible of the other opportunities afforded by online news: links, interactivity, multimedia.

This is all a learning experience for me, too. My only online journalism experience was at The Journal, where we dealt with a custom-built content management system and a much different editorial setup. West Edmonton Local is run on WordPress and requires some knowledge of HTML and CSS, which I’m learning alongside the students. Talk about being thrown in the deep end. But that’s sometimes the best way to learn.

Monday is our first day taking over West Edmonton Local, so have a look and tell us what we could do better. You can comment directly on the stories or email me at unlandk(at)macewan.ca. You can also interact with our community engagement editors on Twitter and on Facebook. If you’ve got any good west-end story ideas, send them our way!

That’s enough log-rolling. Rounding up a few more things I noticed this week:

— Kikki Planet, an online magazine dedicated to celebrating young, community-focused movers and shakers in Edmonton, launches on Sept. 30. Get your tickets here for the launch party at the Daffodil Gallery. And follow Kikki on Twitter for updates.

— Dave Cournoyer’s daveberta.ca has been on fire of late, what with the Liberal leadership vote, the first round of the Conservative leadership vote and the coming Round 2, plus some entertaining intrigue around the Liberals’ interest in the Alberta Party’s Michael Walters. If you like geeking out on politics — and I do — there’s plenty of great stuff to chew on.

— The Edmonton International Film Festival’s 24/One Filmmaking Challenge is on now and will conclude Sept. 25 at 11 a.m. That means 40 soon-to-be sleep-deprived teams are working on making a movie in one day, which sounds crazy to me. Watch the fun on the #24One hashtag on Twitter. Also, go see a movie — the festival is on until Oct. 1.

— It’s Western Canada Fashion Week, too. You’ll find coverage at City and Dale and Adventures in Fashion, among other places, as well as on Twitter at #wcfw.

That’s all I’ve got time and space for today. Comment, tweet or Google+ at me if I’ve missed anything. There always more media news on Mack’s Media Monday.

(The picture above comes from West Edmonton Local’s Flickr stream.)

Edmonton New Media Roundup 17

I know I already talked about Pecha Kucha Night 11, but preparing for that night took up so much space in my brain that I scarcely had room for anything else, and there’s still more worth rounding up.
 
For an excellent recap of the evening, see Mack Male’s post. The Edmonton Journal, which livestreamed the event, has some of the speeches up on its video page, including mine. And there are tons more pictures like the one above on the Edmonton’s Next Gen Flickr channel.

(Addendum: Brittney Le Blanc has some PKN11 pix on Flickr, too, including the unicorn slide she made for me, which got much attention, all deserved.)

Another big event in new media circles this week was What the Truck?!, the second incarnation of a food-truck festival organized by Mack and Sharon Yeo. Twitter was alive with food chatter on Friday. To me, the event is a great example of a couple of things: First, social media can lead to meaningful, engaging events in real life, and second, actions speak louder than words. This is just the kind of action that gets beyond the talk about revitalizing downtown and all that.

There are many useful and interesting events coming up in the next little while:

• StartUp Edmonton’s next DemoCamp takes place on Sept. 29. I know of at least one extremely cool thing that will be demonstrated at this one (sorry, lips sealed), and I’m sure there will be many wow moments and networking opportunities.
• The speakers coming to Meshwest Edmonton on Oct. 4 are now posted. As was the case with Meshwest Calgary in the spring, it offers a mix of locals and come-from-aways to introduce new ideas to media, marketers, entrepreneurs and citizens. Among the locals are the City of Edmonton’s Ashley Casovan and Empire Avenue’s Duleepa Wijayawardhana. I don’t know many of the other speakers, but if the Calgary event is any indication, it’s kind of like the FolkFest — you’re going to see people you didn’t even know you wanted to see who turn out to be awesome. Early-bird ticket sales end Sept. 30.
• The “social media for business” workshop by Dana DiTomaso that I blogged about last week has been postponed to Oct. 26. Dana is on a panel with The Journal’s Barb Wilkinson on “The Rise of the Mobile World” on Sept. 22, put on by the Women’s Executive Network. She and Brittney Le Blanc also put on a Girl Geek Dinner on Sept. 15; the next one is Oct. 13, and I am definitely going.
• The next organizational meeting for MediaCamp Edmonton is on Monday, Sept. 19, at Guru Digital Arts College. If you’re interested in helping out and you’re not on the mailing list, email me at karen(at)unlandmedia.com. We’re aiming to hold MediaCamp on Jan. 28, so mark your calendars and stay tuned for details.
• Digital Alberta is having a launch party for its new website and 2011-12 program on Sept. 27 at D’Lish Urban Kitchen and Wine Bar.

— Jeff Samsonow of the late, lamented the edmontonian is now blogging on his own site, and is already making a splash.

— The Charrette is back after a little break with a couple of excellent posts on the city’s new bike lanes and a whack of downtown development news.

— The latest Unknown Studio podcast features a truly delightful conversation with Journal columnist Paula Simons. If you love Edmonton, politics and/or Star Trek, you’ll find something to love in this one.

— Felicia Dewar is looking for your votes for her video to help Brintnell Park get a playground.

— Speaking of video, I watched some Jo Thrillz for the first time yesterday. It is… an experience. He recently consolidated his Twitter presence, so follow him here.

— And finally, here’s a gallant post by Rene Mayer about a hardworking woman who made him think about his life differently.

Let me know what I’m missing. Comment, tweet or Google+ at me.

(The picture of me with a slide of Clay Shirky in the background was taken by Dave DeGagné for Edmonton’s Next Gen. The Shirky image comes from Kris Krug via Flickr.)

Edmonton New Media Roundup 16

I’m going to blame the tardiness of this week’s roundup on my grief over the retirement of the edmontonian. It may not be an entirely accurate excuse — I was busy getting ready to teach and finishing off a super-cool project I’ll tell you about one of these days — but it is completely true that I am choked to lose one of my favourite blogs.

Many others share my sadness. Jeff Samsonow and Sally Poulsen have made a tremendous impression on this city, and the response to their decision to move on surprised even them, they told Mack Male in this interview. Mack’s was one of many fine tribute posts (Gregg Beever had another good one and so did Adam Rozenhart of the Unknown Studio).

So I thought I’d do something a little bit different. Here’s a Storify curating the best of the Twitter reaction, and Sally and Jeff’s reaction to the reaction, starting with their announcement on Aug. 29 and ending with their inspiring final post on Sept. 9.

Judging from the reaction, one of the most beloved services offered by the edmontonian was the daily headlines roundup. If you are clever, well-read, super-focused on local news and thinking “I’d love to blog, but what should I write about?”, do this. An audience is poised to gobble your words.

OK, what else has been going on?

— The Unknown Studio is about to get going again in earnest, and you are invited to join the audio fun. You have until Sept. 30 to pitch a segment for the podcast. This is a great opportunity for anyone eager to break in to podcasting, as this one already has a considerable audience.

— Speaking of podcasts, I am so happy that research for this post led me to subscribe to DVD Afternoon. It is such an enjoyable listen. Co-host Paul Matwychuk has launched a new Tumblr for movie nerds: The Cinematic Jokebook, a compendium of clips of movie characters telling jokes. If you know of such a joke, Paul wants to hear from you.

— Also on the movie podcast front, Jay n’ J have started doing “sliders” — mini-episodes the slide in between their big monthly podcasts. Here’s the latest.

— In awwww news, tech mommy and SEO ninja Jen Banks shared some awesome news on Mom Nation.

(Addendum: Modern Mama Musings asked Albertans to vote on their favourite mama blog, and Edmonton’s City and Baby won. Congrats!)

— Plans are underway for another MediaCamp Edmonton. We are aiming to have it on Jan. 28. If you would like to be in on the organizing but you aren’t on the MediaCamp Google Group, email me at karen(at)unlandmedia.com. We’ll be meeting again on Sept. 19 before splitting off into committees; stay tuned for details.

— Meshwest is coming to Edmonton on Oct. 4, and tickets are on sale now. It’s pricy, but I got a lot out of the Calgary event and I bet this one will be good, too. Plus it will bring Mathew Ingram here, which is always a good thing.

— The formidable Dana DiTomaso is offering a seminar on social media for business at Guru Digital Arts College on Sept. 20. I learn two or three new things every time I talk to Dana, as I did at Edmonton’s first Women in Wireless event, a nice little get-together put on by Lisa Hagen.

— Dana is one half of the dynamic duo behind Edmonton Girl Geek Dinners, the other half being my favourite unicornologist, Brittney Le Blanc. The next dinner, on Sept. 15, features Karin Weekes of BioWare. If I could go, I would, so if you can go, you should.

— And finally, speaking of things you should go to, Pecha Kucha Night 11 is on Sept. 14. It’s at Myer Horowitz Theatre at the University of Alberta, which is a big venue, so there are still tickets available. The speakers list is full of cool and crazy stuff. If you stay until the end, you will see me give a talk called What Journalism Needs Now. If you can’t come, it will be livestreamed on edmontonjournal.com. And it will be all over Twitter at #PKN11.

When I started doing this new media roundup, I aimed to have a new post every Monday. I’m going to keep with the regularity, but my new publication date will be Fridays. So I’ll see you then. If I’m missing something, comment, tweet or Google+ at me. You can always get more media news in Mack Male’s Media Monday.

(If you want a T-shirt like the one you see up top, it’s not too late to buy merchandise from the edmontonian, a bargain at twice the price.)

Edmonton New Media Roundup 15

It’s back-to-school season in our house. The kids return to class on Thursday, Trustee Spencer’s meetings have resumed, and I am preparing to teach (!) reporting and news production in the journalism diploma program at Grant MacEwan University. So I’m in an education frame of mind for this week’s roundup.
 
In many ways, the Internet has disrupted education as much as it has disrupted journalism. As with journalism, there are some in education who resist the change, pine for the good old days and are certain things are going to hell. And then there are people like George Couros, who embrace change and see all the good that can come of it.
 
I haven’t met George, but I’m a fan of his Twitter feed and find myself increasingly drawn to his blog as I work on turning myself into an educator. He is a principal in Stony Plain and now holds a newly created position as division principal in charge of innovative teaching and learning in the Parkland School Division, which covers several communities west of Edmonton.

George has exactly the attitude I want to see in anyone involved in teaching. He considers it part of his job to turn students into “strong Digital Citizens,” and he models that behaviour by being one himself. He also created Connected Principals, a group blog where school administrators from all over share what they’ve learned. From where I sit, Parkland is pretty lucky to have him.

What networked teachers inspire you? Let me know in the comments, on Twitter or on Google+.

Rounding up some other new media stuff from the past week:

— Speaking of networked education, registration is now open for EdCamp Edmonton, a one-day unconference on learning. It will be held Nov. 5 at Lillian Osborne High School. I’m planning to be there.

— Which reminds me, plans are underway for another MediaCamp Edmonton. The first one was held in May 2010, and it felt like a success, but then life got in the way of working on the next one. Efforts are now resurrected. An organizational meeting will be held at Guru Digital Arts College at 6:30 p.m. tonight (Aug. 29). Minutes will be posted here.

— My own education efforts this fall will be centred on guiding students through the production of West Edmonton Local. MacEwan grad Mathew White has done a bang-up job keeping the site going through the summer, and he’ll be helping me and Lucas Timmons turn it back into a learning experience for the next group of MacEwan journalism students. If you have any suggestions for improvement, let us know.

— In other news, Andy Grabia has launched a new photo project called My Edmonton, documenting the beautiful buildings in our city. As Andy points out, there is a lot of talk about how ugly our architecture is, and while much of that criticism is deserved, it obscures the fact that we have lovely and striking architecture here as well. He’s looking for suggestions, so be sure to chime in.

(Addendum: Also on the theme of beautiful things about Edmonton, see Sharon Yeo’s post on Edmonton Transit’s historical tour.)

— Speaking of Andy, a fierce opponent of the proposal to build a new arena for the Oilers downtown, the discussion continues in Edmonton’s blogosphere in light of the city’s new proposal to fund the arena through an expanded community revitalization levy. Of note are Alex Abboud’s call for downtown development with or without the CRL, Ryan Batty’s skeptical look at CRLs, and Mack Male’s coverage of the proposal to expand the CRL boundary. For more commentary and links to what mainstream media and others are saying about the arena, keep an eye on the edmontonian.

(Addendum 2: Looks like the edmontonian is hanging up its cleats. Nooooo!)

For more on media new and old, check out Mack’s Media Monday.

(Image of George Couros courtesy Kevin Jarrett, taken Jan. 30, 2011)

Edmonton New Media Roundup 12

The new media buzz-generator of the week — aside from blissed-out tweets from the Folk Fest — was everybodyinthiscityisarmed.com, a website launched by Mack Male (with help from Sally Poulsen, Jeff Samsonow and Adam Rozenhart — all of whom are friends of mine, for full disclosure’s sake).

The site, prompted by the coverage of the surprising number of homicides in Edmonton so far this year, serves three purposes, by my reckoning:

1. It’s a reality check on several statements made by Bill Pitt, a criminologist at Grant MacEwan University.
2. It’s an exhortation to local media to provide real context instead of dial-a-quote glibness and sensationalism in homicide stories.
3. It uses some of the data at hand to raise some excellent questions that would be worth looking into.

I am most interested in that third objective, because, as I said in my comment on the site, I think there is real potential to get to the bottom of what’s going on and do something about it, if we can just get past the knee-jerk panic.
 
One more full disclosure moment: My father-in-law, Keith Spencer, used to be the go-to criminologist for Edmonton journalists. He is retired, but you can catch him now and then on Alberta Primetime. He is a sensible person. But I don’t think the problem would be solved if media were quoting him instead of Pitt. What we need here is data analysis, not talking heads.
 
You can read more about crime coverage in this city at Jeff and Sally’s site, theedmontonian.com.

For a midsummer week, it seems like an awful lot of noteworthy stuff has been published, so I’m heading straight into roundup mode:

— Wanye Gretz, the pseudonymous proprietor of OilersNation, departed from the usual hockey talk to write a stirring post about Sylvancroft, the mansion just off Stony Plain Road that has been bought by a developer and may be torn down, despite its historic significance as the home of H.M.E. Evans, who served as mayor of Edmonton in 1918.

Since I’ve already opened the full disclosure can of worms, I’m going to spill some more — my husband is a great-grandson of H.M.E. on his mother’s side. We know the house well; we also know the family turmoil that is partly responsible for bringing it to the brink (Paula Simons gives an overview here).

The whole situation is irredeemably sad. But it is heartening to see so many Edmontonians standing up to say they don’t want to lose this piece of history. For more, read Adam’s Unknown Studio post, and take a look at Raffaella Loro’s photos.

— Speaking of sad, I urge you to read Chris LaBossiere’s post about a tragedy in his family and the effect it had on him. I don’t want to give away anything more than that. Read it with a tissue in reach, especially if you have kids.

— OK, how about something happy? I don’t know if this qualifies, but I really enjoyed Brent Jans’s post on why he tends to prefer blogs by women. He also has extensive coverage of Animethon, last weekend’s convention on anime, manga and other Japanese pop culture.

— I also liked Jen Banks’s post on MomNation about hating her Tassimo. She raises some good questions about the ethical responsibilities of bloggers (and all writers, for that matter) who get free stuff.

— Another blog to watch is Rescuing the Frog, a look at energy, climate and the oilsands by economist Andrew Leach, who is an associate professor of business at the University of Alberta. His examination of what’s behind the EthicalOil.org campaign is fascinating, and I find he is a worthwhile source of sensible (there’s that word again) commentary on a complex issue. He’s also fun to follow on Twitter.

— Adam Wilson has a deal for you: A PDF of his latest chapbook, Romantic Avenues and Other Poems. It’s free, and I’m happy to disclose that I like both the book and Adam’s generous approach to his writing career.

Let me know what else I should be paying attention to, in the comments or on Twitter. I’m also on Google+, but I haven’t spend enough time figuring it out yet.

(Sally Poulsen designed the logo I swiped for the art on this post.)

Edmonton New Media Roundup 11

Edmonton is rich ground for comics culture, and it feels like there’s a lot going on these days:
 
— Take Andrew Foley, for example. He co-wrote Cowboys & Aliens, which has been made into a big, big movie. I first came across him on Twitter and started following him because I thought he was clever. He is. So’s his blog. His next book, Done to Death, is coming out in September. Here’s a video of him, done back in April by Jasmine Franklin of the Edmonton Sun.
 
— Then there’s Nat Jones, creator of ‘68, a zombie story set in the Vietnam War. Nat, photographed above by Brittney Le Blanc at the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo in June, is a recent immigrant to Edmonton from the United States. His presence is bound to enrich the city’s already strong comics scene through his teaching in the new Digital Illustration and Sequential Art diploma program at Guru Digital Arts College. Guru, which is run by my friend Owen Brierley, has become an incubator for all kinds of cool people and projects in this city, and I’m looking forward to seeing the art that emerges from this program.
 
— Mike Winters’ Cartoon Machine is a must-read. Tragically, Mike lives in Toronto now. But he used to live here, and he makes fun of Edmonton a lot (affectionately, I think), so he counts in my books. McScoop is, of course, my favourite.

— Inglorious Hipsters, a new web comic by Jeremy Die and Gregg Beever, launched July 4 and has four episodes under its belt. The blog also features their previous comic, Dead-Beef, which was new to me and also worth a look. There’s a video about them on the edmontonian, and Gig City did a funny story about them, too.

— For comic-book news and reviews, read Suzette Chan, one of the editors responsible for Sequential Tart. I didn’t know about that webzine until Andy Grabia drew it to my attention. Andy is curating a show for the U of A Libraries based on the collection of Gilbert Bouchard, possibly the greatest lover of comic books and graphic novels that Edmonton has ever known. Watch for it in November.

— Speaking of Suzette and Gilbert, shout out to The Gateway, where we all served as editor-in-chief back in our respective days. The University of Alberta’s student newspaper has nurtured many an artist over the years, including Fish Griwkowsky, Stephen Notley and the aforementioned Mike Winters. Also, Space Moose. Perhaps you’ll find the next big thing in today’s Gateway comics.

(Addendum: Andy adds Nathan Fairbairn, a Gateway alum who works for Marvel and DC, and is married to my former Gateway colleague Rachel Sanders, who recently profiled indie music in Edmonton for CBC Radio 3. Andy also notes David Berry, another expat, whose graphic novel, We Hate This Place Here; It’s Our Home, is all about Edmonton.)

I’m sure there’s plenty more going on that I don’t know about, so let me know what I’m missing in the comments below or on Twitter. I’m not so much an aficionado myself, but I’m definitely an aficionado of comic-book aficionados.

A few more short snappers:
— Alex Abboud has a thoughtful and detailed post on what $100 million could do for downtown if it were spent on stuff other than the arena.

— Mack Male has a couple of well-illustrated pieces on the Capital Boulevard remake and the problem with downtown parking lots.

— Duncan Kinney has an incisive response to all the complaining about mosquitoes.

— And you can now watch four episodes of The People That Touch Your Food, a pretty funny Edmonton-based web series set in a restaurant. It has a Twitter feed now, too.

For more media goings-on, check out Mack’s Media Monday.

(Gracias to Brittney for the Nat Jones photo. You should see all of her shots from the Calgary comic con. Also, read her blog and support Edmonton Girl Geek Dinners.)