Edmontonians Feb10

Proof__0_________PROOFED BY:_______________________________________________CHANGES MADE:__________________________DATE:_________________

PM 40023292

T H E P E R S O N A L I T Y O F B U S I N E S S I N T H E C A P I T A L R E G I O N

2 EDMONTONIANS FEBRUARY 2010


wo of our top televisionanchors have a few things incommon. Both areexceptionally tall...musicians...

acreage owners on opposite sides of thecity. One is into horses... the otherhorsepower.

Naturally, I’m referring to CTV’s DarylMcIntyre and Global Edmonton’s GordSteinke. Every evening, these gents bringus the news with their blonde co-anchors.I thought readers would like to know moreabout them.

First, Mr. McIntyre.Daryl spent the earlypart of his childhoodin Edmonton beforemoving to Vegrevillefor a couple of years,then to a farm northof Vermilion, wherehe graduated fromhigh school in1981. Twenty-threeyears ago, hebegan as a

weekend anchor and reporter atCFRN. In May, he will have anchored the6 o’clock news for 21 years.

Best part of the job? “I love to write,to satisfy curiosity, to learn about mybackyard and the world, and to tell peopleall about it. Writing, reading andstorytelling are a pleasure. I also enjoy theadrenalin of being live on the air with littleor no safety net. “

Worst part of the job? “There is littleor nothing that I personally considernegative. Perhaps some of the externalforces that I have no control over can beirritating, but my job is much like anyoneelse’s. There will always be good and baddays… but I truly love what I do.”

How hard is it to stay immune fromthe bad news you have to report: “Yousimply recognize that you can’t stayimmune. Instead, I focus on theimportance of the story. There are somestories that bring a lump to my throat but

with Marty & Mark

ack in 2007, life was good forAlbertans. We went into thewinter of 2007-2008 with the hotbreezes of Boomtime still on our

backs, like frisky young stallions that hadyet to feel a saddle. Wasn’t all of Canadatalking about the possibility of a newnational order? Wasn’t Alberta the country’sNew Jerusalem?

What a difference two years make. Thesigns are as clear as elk tracks in new-fallensnow that 2010 will be a year of deepdiscontent. 2007’s randy young stallion hasmorphed into a spavined bronc who trustsno one, not even himself. Angry andfrustrated, Albertans feel powerless to act onthose feelings.

Anger festers and deepens overopportunities lost and dreams shattered. Theanger spans generations, with the oldwatching governance collapsing in a healthcare system they trusted to care for them intheir sundown years. Middle-aged Albertansfear that they lack time to recover from therecession’s blows. And young Albertansknow that they will be stuck with the billsfor yesterday’s giddy growth.

It’s not surprising that folks are angry andfrustrated. Alberta’s political party system isdysfunctional. Premier Ed Stelmach, whorose to power as a competent compromisecandidate, has not lived up to expectations.

Current public opinion polls show theextent of the damage. Some unhappybackbenchers have already jumped ship. Tostaunch the bleeding, the Premieroverhauled his Cabinet. Some deadwoodwas tossed over the side, and some goodnew folks took their places. Still, it was anexercise much like putting lipstick on abuffalo cow: It caused a ruckus in the corraland it didn’t do much for the buffalo.Meanwhile, not-so-Steady Eddie rides thesurly bronc of public opinion with twohands on the saddlehorn and one boot in thestirrups while praying for a miracle.

Nor are the Opposition parties reassuring.Alberta’s Liberals chose not to rebrand theirparty, a decision that has not resonated withmany Albertans. The New Democrats areearnest, willing and marching to music thatmost Albertans refuse to hear.

Then there is the Wildrose Alliance,rapidly flowering as it gobbles a big chunkof the political nutrients once reserved for

Alberta’s Conservatives. However, the veryname of the party reveals its fragility. It’s ahasty shotgun wedding of socialconservatives with strong leanings towardeconomic populism to economic right-wingers who are social liberals orlibertarians.

Yet, the failure of our political parties isnot the fountainhead of our deepmelancholy. Albertans’ widespread sadnessstems from the knowledge that this time—unlike the ’80s—we created this situationourselves. We chose dogma overpragmatism and shallowness over depth.Ralph Klein—he of the infamous“Ralphbucks”—reminds us of ourculpability whenever he emerges from thepolitical graveyard, like Banquo’s ghost, tosnipe at Mr. Stelmach.

So, are we truly helpless? Yes, thepolitical party system is currently failing us.Yes, we face some unappealing alternatives.So, are we really vulnerable greenhorns onfortune’s back, one buck away from thearena dirt?

Or are we only choosing to ride this roguebronc? Do we have an opportunity to makeradical moves to reshape our politicallandscape?

Wow! Talk about a scary choice of words.Using the adjective “radical” in the samebreath as “Alberta” hasn’t happened heresince the days of Wild Bill Aberhart.

Are we angry enough- and desperateenough- to boot the current party system in

the keester? Will we support centristindependent candidates who arecommunity-based, intelligent,pragmatic and principled? Could weuse the old tools of “boots on theground” and “community first” withthe new social networking tools to electIndependent MLAs? Wouldn’t that be aradical departure?

Could we truly reinvigorate Alberta’sdemocracy? Can we give our currentpolitical parties the wake-up call they sorichly deserve? Do Albertans care enoughto take back their government from theflacks, spin-doctors, and corporaterainmakers currently stage-managing ourpolitical charade?

Could it happen here? There is still hope.After all, this is the province built on hope. Ibelieve that many Albertans believe—no,they know—that Alberta can be a betterplace. This province and itspeople deserve principled,pragmatic leadership.

For me—and perhaps foryou—it’s time to cowboy upand start looking for adifferent kind of MLA. √

Les Brost is the head of Southern StarCommunications, a member of theUniversity of Alberta Senate, andEdmontonians Transformer, and a keenobserver of the world around [email protected]

BB

ot a n i n n o c e n tBYSTANDERN

By Les Brost

The winter The winterof our discontent

TT

Daryl McIntyreDaryl McIntyre

Newly sworn-in cabinet, January 2010Government of Alberta photo

EDMONTONIANS FEBRUARY 2010 3


it’s my job to report them. I would muchrather be aware of the bad news in theworld rather than bury my head in the sandand focus only on the good. There is noreal perspective without both.”

You’ve been known to jump intosinging country music at times. Is it asecret dream to be a musician? “Isuppose it is a bit of a dream but I also havesufficient ability to self-analyze... I know itwill remain simply a dream. I can play a bitof guitar and carry a tune (if a bucket ishandy), but the reality is there arethousands of people who can do exactlythe same thing I can. What makes amusician is desire, inspiration and hardwork and I appear to be sorely lacking inthose areas regarding music.

This past year, Daryl won a prestigiousEdward R. Murrow Award for his story onCTV trouble-shooter Valerie Ozckowski’shealth issues. It was one of the mostcompelling pieces of journalism I’ve everseen. How tough was it doing that story?“I actually struggled with deciding whetherto do the story or not, simply because ofthe fact Val is my friend and co-worker.However, I realized that I was the bestperson to tell the story because I knewValerie would trust me to do it right. I’mpretty sure that became a taller order forValerie than she realized, but that’s easy tounderstand. It’s difficult to hand such apersonal story over to someone else to tell.”

You carried the Olympic torch. Howcool was that? “What I’ll alwaysremember is not me and the torch—it waspeople and the torch. The crowds who’dgathered to watch were brimming withexcitement. Children especially werefascinated with it. I’ll always rememberthose reactions.”

Advice for young up-and-comers inmedia? “I try not to take myself tooseriously but I always take my jobseriously. There are a lot of people whowant to get into broadcasting or are justbeginning their careers who are there forthe wrong reasons: being on TV is not agood reason. My advice is to get past theperceived glamour…focus on being goodjournalists or broadcasters... focus on doingthe best job you can for the best reasons,not purely for personal gain. The fact issuccess will come because you’ve takenthe high road.”

Hobbies? “My wife Mary and I haveplayed Polo for 15 years. There are onlythree of us playing in Edmonton and wegenerally load up the horses over thesummer and visit other clubs to play. Oursis “grass roots” polo; down to earth peopledoing it because it’s just so much fun. Wehave an acreage we were fortunate to buyjust before real estate prices went throughthe roof so ours is a rural life. That includesshoveling manure, building fences anddoing chores. We have a dog namedDolly—she’s not actually named afterCarrie (Doll) by the way—plus a coupleof cats.”

Anything you’d like to addpersonally? “I’d simply say thanks to allthe people who’ve watched over the yearsand continue to. Time has flown but it’sbeen fun.”

Gord Steinke’s hometown is Saskatoon,and he’s worked at Global Edmonton for18 years after stints at CBC Regina andKSTP Minneapolis.

He and co-host Lynda Steele are thelongest running anchor team in Edmonton,

having joined forces in 1995. They have agreat on-air/off-air relationship. I askedGord to share a favourite memory: “Oneevening, we were in the middle of a livenewscast and something struck her asfunny about a light-hearted feature. Andshe completely lost it on-air... out of controllaughter... so the director switched camerasto me suddenly and I had to finish herstory. The only way I could keep it togetherwas by jabbing a pen into my leg under thedesk. Lynda had tears rolling down her facethrough the break and into the nextsegment.”

Gord is heavily involved in thecommunity, and works on several projects.“I lost my sister Jan to a drunk driver soanti-drinking and driving programs areclose to my heart. Also my wife and I haveboth lost family members to cancer… on apositive note, my mom is a breast cancersurvivor... so we’ve been involved withKids with Cancer charity work. I host amotorcycle fundraiser every June (Revvingup for Kids) which alsoincludes The Parade ofHeroes where we givecancer kids a ride throughHawrelak Park in May.”

Best part of the job?“The news changes dailyso every day is a newadventure. Plus, I’vereally enjoyed doingmy Your Townsegments over the pastfour years where Itravel to rural Albertaand explore thehidden treasures, peopleand history in these communities.”

Worst part of the job? “I think it’simpossible to stay immune from the badnews. It does have an impact on me. But,these stories are a fact of life unfortunately,and I deal with it the same as our viewersdo. You try to keep things in perspective.”

Gord also holds several media awardsincluding the best major market newscastaward in Canada from the Radio-Television News Directors Association.As well, Your Town nabbed twonominations from the Alberta MotionPicture Industries Association. His bookMobsters and Rumrunners of Canada is aCanadian best seller. Gord won best rockalbum of the year, single of the year andbest new artist from the AlbertaRecording Industries Association.

Advice for young up-and-comers inmedia? “In this business, a strong workethic is very important. Time managementis extremely important and you have to bea team player. It takes a lot of people to puttogether a newscast and each individualplays a crucial role in getting a newscast onthe air.”

The horsepower in Gord’s life is hisbeloved Harley Davidson motorcycle. Healso loves to spend time with outdooractivities like fishing and hiking. Qualitytime is spent with his daughters Shaunaand Jenn, wife Deb and loveable mutt,Daisy Duke.

There you go... the life and times of twoof Edmonton’s much admired andrespected prime time broadcasters. √

Marty Forbes is the recently retired VP andgeneral manager of The Bear, EZRock andThe TEAM 1260 Sports Radio. [email protected]

he community we live incontinues to amaze me. Godhelp those gone from andsuffering in Haiti. In typical

Edmonton fashion, our hearts swell withcompassion and fundraising efforts. Ihate that the earthquake in Haitihappened—but when something needsto get done, Edmontonians step up tothe plate and swing for the fences.Another reason to love our city.

On the other hand...Last month I moaned on and on aboutthe lack of snow plowing. Well, greatnews. Around the 18th of January, thecity announced it would take four tofive days to “blade” the side streetsand avenues. Yee Haw! Well, as Iwrite this, it’s now nine days after theannouncement... and nothing in myneighbourhood. Oh well, I sure like thatnew Expo Centre at Northlands—guessit’s better to have that than clean streets.By the way, blading is not plowing. It

just scrapes snow and slushdown to the ice. There... I’mdone bitching about the streetconditions. Cheers.

Speaking of cheers...No, not the bar nor the TVshow. Wow. I had a look at thenew digs for Rawlco Radio.They own Magic 99 and a newstation TBA soon. It is avery nice facility. Goodto see a local mediaorganization building andnot slashing. Good luckwith the new station. I sure

hope the format is AAA—AdultAlbum Alternative.

And, speaking of music...Made my way to theWinspear Centre to seeColin James and SuzieMcNeil in January. It wasso great to see Colin playagain. Solid show. Thiswas my first time seeingSuzie. She has a finesoulful voice.

I adore the Winspear Centre—a realjewel in Edmonton’s crown. Although,I have been disappointed with thesound of some louder bands—it wasnot good at all for the Derek TrucksBand show a while back. This hasnothing to do with the crew at thefacility; they are world class. The roomhas unbelievable acoustics. But, if aband gets in there and plays too loud, it

must be difficult for visiting sound techsto get the right mix. Good news: There’sa new sound system in the building. Thesound for Colin James was pretty muchthe best I have heard in that room for a

rockin’ band. Bravo.

Tickets...who has tickets?...My pick for must-see show in Februaryhas to be Wilco. The Chicago band playsthe Jubilee on the 15th. Not sure if it issold out yet, but you may want to getsome duckats. Be prepared for a wall ofsound.

Fellow VoxPopper Marty Forbesspends a lot of time at his Phoenixretreat... and amuses himself with smalltrips on his flashy motorcycle. On arecent sojourn, he says, “Three of us dida 750k-run through the southern Arizona

desert... and ran intothree full border stops.We had a little fun withthe guys who told us someamazing stories about thedrug trade coming acrossfrom Mexico. Greatsports... very smart guys.”√

Mark Scholz, owner of MESCommunications Inc. offers avariety of services includingproduction, creative andentertainment. For moreinformation or to suggest astory idea, [email protected]

TT

Frisking Forbes…

Suzie McNeil

Colin James

Wilco

Gord Steinke



FOUNDERDICK MacLEAN

FEBRUARY 2010Vol. XXI

SHARON MacLEANPublisher and Advertising Director

Telephone: 780.482.7000Fax: 780.488.9317

e-mail: [email protected]

INSIDENOT AN INNOCENT BYSTANDERPolitical unrest/Brost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

VOX POPMarty Forbes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Mark Scholz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3POLL STATIONHot 107/Banister . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

CIVIC BUZZMandel support/Norwood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

MEDIA MINUTENewcomers contribute/Hogle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

SIZZLING IN EDMONTONLabour or Love?/Rayner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

OPINIONOvercoming the fear factor/Chapman . . . . . . . . .7-8Linked: Energy/Deters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

VISIONARIESTwenty10 Needs.../Croucher . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10-11Marsden/Gazin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12Social Media 101/Schwabe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

LIVELY LIFESTYLESMenuMagic/Berry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Absolute Bodo/Bodo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

BARB DETERSEditor

[email protected]

COLUMNISTSLinda Banister

John BerryLinda BodoLes Brost

Marty ForbesBruce Hogle

David NorwoodErin RaynerMark Scholz

Walter SchwabeNizar J. Somji

FEATURE WRITERSKen Chapman

Cheryl CroucherBarb DetersGreg GazinRick Lauber

Marg. Pullishy

PHOTOGRAPHERSTerry Bourque

Cheryl CroucherRocco Macri

SPECIAL PROJECTSEdmontonians Transformers

Tom BradshawLes Brost

Steffany HanlenDr. Larry Ohlhauser

GRAPHIC PRODUCTIONRage Studios Inc.

THIS MONTH’S COVER

LinkedIn—the professional network ofchoice for Ken Chapman & Kim Kerr

No. 2

2121YEARS

DO YOU LISTEN TO THE RADIO?WHEN AND FOR HOW LONG?

The vast majority of survey respondents reported they hadlistened to a local radio station both in the past 30 days (95percent) and in the past seven days (94 percent), while 78 percentsaid they had listened in the past 24 hours.

The majority (81 percent) reported listening to local radio whiletraveling in a motor vehicle, half (50 percent) listened at home,and 16 percent at work. Radio listeners were then asked at whichtime(s) of day they generally tuned in. Eighty-five percentlistened in the morning (5:00 am to 9:59 am), and more than half(55 percent) in the late-afternoon (3:00 pm to 5:59 pm). Justunder half (46 percent) listened in the mid-day (10:00 am to 2:59pm), 33 percent in the evening (6:00 pm to midnight), and 13percent overnight (midnight to 4:59 pm).

More than half (53 percent) of all local radio listeners tune in atleast one hour per day, including 19 percent between one and twohours per day, eight percent between two and three hours per day,and 25 percent over three hours per day.

WHAT ARE YOUR LISTENING PREFERENCES?Next, radio listeners were asked to choose, from a list of threeoptions, the feature most important to them when selecting a radiostation. Nearly half (46 percent) picked news and information asmost important, one-third (33 percent) indicated steady musicplay without talk or interruption, 15 percent selected entertainingDJs, and six percent were unsure. When asked if there wasanything else they look for, 46 percent replied that music genrewas important; 15 percent chose news, current events or localinformation; 12 percent indicated DJ or radio personalities; eightpercent preferred programming with limited commercials; sixpercent looked for talk shows or logical debates.

HOW DO YOU FIND OUTABOUT NEW RADIO STATIONS?

When asked how they learn about new radio stations,respondents most frequently reported word of mouth (27 percent),by searching through stations (16 percent), and on TV news (13percent). Other frequent mentions included in newspapers ormagazines (eight percent), from billboards or signs throughoutthe city (seven percent), other radio stations or radio advertising(five percent), and advertisements in general (three percent).

DO YOU LISTEN TO HOT 107?Lastly, respondents were asked a series of questions aboutEdmonton’s newest hit music radio station, HOT 107. Amongradio listeners, 26 percent had heard of HOT 107. Elevenpercent reported that HOT 107 was either their favourite radiostation or the favourite of someone in their household. √

Monthly Poll Station Online QuestionVisit www.edmontonians.com to register your opinion

Want a question included in the Edmontonians Poll?Contact Linda at 780.451.4444 or e-mail

[email protected].

Linda Banister is a certified management consultant and the owner ofBanister Research and Consulting Inc., a full service provider ofmarket research and program evaluation services.Visit www.banister.ab.ca.

STATIONlthough the past decade has witnessed an increase in the popularity of personal mediadevices such as iPods, MP3 players and satellite radio, local radio continues to flourish. At the same time, new local stations continue to emerge, including Edmonton’s newest hitmusic station, HOT 107 (situated at 107.1 on the local FM dial). With local radio in mind,

this month’s Poll Station asked Edmontonians about their radio listening habits.

With Linda Banister

PollPoll

Perc

ent

Perc

ent

AA

C E L E B R AT I N G

81% 27%

16%13%

8% 7%3%

50%

16%

Responded that theylistened to local radio

while in a motorvehicle


while at home


while at workLearned about

new radiostations by

word of mouth

Learned aboutnew radiostations by

scanning the dial

Learned aboutnew radiostations

through TVadvertising

Learned about newradio stations

through magazineor newspaper

advertising

Learned aboutnew radio stationsthrough billboard

or radioadvertising

Learned aboutnew radiostationsthrough

advertising

Published by 399620 Alberta Ltd. on the first day of eachmonth at C-100 Park Side Tower, 8920-100th StreetEdmonton AB CA T6E 4Y8. ©All rights reserved. No partof this publication may be reprinted or reproduced in anyform without written permission from the publisher.

Manuscripts: must be accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Edmontonians is not responsible forunsolicited manuscripts.

All stories Copyright ©Edmontonians

Publications Mail Agreement No. 40023292Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to:Circulation DepartmentC-100 Park Side Tower, 8920-100th StreetEdmonton AB CA T6E 4Y8Email: [email protected]



y the time this columnappears, Mayor StephenMandel will likely haveannounced whether or not he

will seek a third term. An informal andunscientific poll undertaken by yourstruly (including input from members ofConnect2Edmonton—C2E) revealedthat almost everyone polled very muchwants Mandel to run for a third term, fora variety of reasons. By this column’sdeadline, the poll was running 58 to 1 infavour. Those who have met the Mayor—and there are thousands—can generallyagree that he is personable,articulate, witty and focused. Heknows what he wants, and this isbound to frustrate some. On theother hand, because he doesknow what he wants, the oddsare a good many of Mandel’svisions for the city will beachieved.

The consensus among thosewith whom I spoke is that hedemonstrates not onlyleadership but the ability to getthings done. Standing up forEdmonton’s interests, forexample, resulted in a betterregional planning body, the CapitalRegional Board. Now, the city, as thelargest municipality by far of the 25 inthe region, has much more say in whatgoes on than before.

One C2E member expressed thefollowing view, which generally reflectsthe opinion of others: “... thorny issueshave been dealt with, thanks to Mandel’sleadership. The Capital Region issuesand the City Centre Airport are twomajor issues that could not or would nothave been dealt with by previousadministrations. Another issue that hasbeen resolved is the six-ward, two-

councillor system. Many incumbents getre-elected by default, and I’m sure thatthere will be a few surprises in the 12-ward system next election. Mandel hasalso established committees to deal withthe city’s issues.”

Mandel’s open support of an integrateddowntown arena and entertainmentdistrict, and the fact that he and CityCouncil are actively working with otherinterested parties on the concept, isanother indication of his will to moveforward. Many of those polled wantMandel to run again to ensure that the

new LRT lines are started before he stepsdown, fearing that the project will falterif he isn’t in place to push it forward.Expo 2017 is another event he has beenchampioning, and my unscientific pollindicates that many want him to stay tobe sure that it actually happens.

This isn’t to say that Stephen Mandelhas been able to accomplish so muchentirely on his own. His council colleaguesobviously have played a major role, somemore than others. At the same time,however, there is a consensus that underanother mayor, many of these issues wouldremain on the table, awaiting resolution.

Overwhelmingly, people believe that hehas brought effective leadership to the cityand its elected council, while maintaininga balance between differing factions andpoints of view. That makes a difference.

Here is something more from C2E:“Yes, I think that Mandel should run thisterm. Edmonton has a great future, and it’son the way to maturing into a dynamicCanadian city. We should re-elect him toallow him to fulfill his vision. Othercouncillors could grow, with somecontending for mayor in 2013.”

My recent column aboutEdmonton’s air service (The Best AirService Ever) may well have been a jinx.Since then, a number of changes haveoccurred, some of them good, others notso good. The loss of Mexicana’s non-stop service to Mexico City is, in myview, a real blow to this city’s aspirationsto be more than just a spoke in Calgary’shub. A combination of factors led to thedecision to suspend the route, includingthe H1N1 virus,the economic downturnand the necessity for Mexicans to haveCanadian visas. At the same time,Mexicana increased its Calgary scheduleto five flights a week from four.Edmonton Airports stresses that theEdmonton-Mexico City service issuspended, not cancelled, noting thatboth Edmonton International Airport andMexicana “are committed toreintroducing the non-stop service at alater date.” Let us hope it is reinstatedsooner rather than later.

Edmonton, along with other Canadiancities, including Calgary, is losing itsnon-stop connection with Salt Lake City.This is the result of the recent merger ofNorthwest Airlines with Delta Airlines.The latter absorbed Northwest anddrastically reduced service out of its Salt

Lake City hub, concentrating more onMinneapolis-St. Paul. Delta added anadditional flight (to three daily) fromEdmonton to Minneapolis, though allflights are now using regional jets ratherthan Airbus A319s. Overall capacityhasn’t changed, and the extra flight offersmore flexibility.

Another step backward is the reductionof both Air Canada and WestJet’s non-stop services to Los Angeles from daily tofour times weekly each (AC immediately,WestJet in May). This is curious becauseflight statistics indicate that annualpassenger traffic from Edmonton to LAXexceeds that to Las Vegas (92,500 and83,000 respectively). On the other hand,WestJet is introducing seasonal, three-times weekly non-stop service to both SanFrancisco and Kamloops.

The re-introduced Edmonton-Houstonservice appears to be doing well; importantin this is Air Canada’s code-sharing withContinental Airlines on the route. Also ofinterest is that Lufthansa has begun code-sharing with Air Canada on the Edmonton-London Heathrow route (along withexisting code-sharers British Midland andJet Airlines).

At the best of times, the airline industryis in flux, flirting with financialuncertainties, and these are not the best oftimes. Edmonton Airports’ C2Erepresentative notes that, in August 2010,Edmonton InternationalAirport’s seat capacity willactually be up 1.4 percentover August 2009. That’s agood sign, and we can onlyhope that it gets better. √

David Norwood is a freelancewriter/editor. Contact [email protected]

BB

ivic Buzzwith David NorwoodC

s has been the casewhenever called upon, Canadaand Canadians are providingphenomenal assistance to the

people of Earthquake-struck Haiti—themost dysfunctional and impoverishednation within the Western Hemisphere.Let’s be brutally frank: It will be yearsbefore the Caribbean nation can berebuilt and have any sense of normalcyrestored.

Our Haitian-born Governor GeneralMichaelle Jean, understandably emotionaland tearful, commended Prime MinisterStephen Harper’s government for beingamongst the first to provide help andcommit to long term assistance. She urgedher people to be strong and have courageand, in the process, put a human face onthis tragedy... touching all Canadians.

Ottawa’s actions were quickly followedby the Red Cross and Salvation Army,among others, as well as provincial andmunicipal governments. Premier EdStelmach announced that “…Alberta willprovide $500,000 to the Red Cross to aidin the rebuilding of this shattered nation…and work closely with the Red Cross toprovide whatever personnel assistance wecan to relief efforts.” Then there’s ourhighly competent military and lawenforcement personnel who will assist ineventually bringing law and order to thatdevastated country and its citizens. Let’salso not forget banks, grocery chains,churches and schools… and the millions ofdollars donated by individual Canadians.

Kudos to incredible volunteers fromall walks of life... such as Edmonton’sSylvie Montier, co-founder of theCanadian Search and Disaster DogAssociation. She and two BC colleagues,accompanied by their dogs, rescued sixpeople buried under rubble before theUN search was called offbecause of littlechance of findingothers. And, 24year old SarahWallace of Devon,who moved to Haitithree years ago towork as a midwife,has established acharity called “OliveTree” projects.Others, likeEdmontonians RomaNewcombe and AilineSavoie, plus GerlindeSarkar of Saskatoon,are assisting Haiti’s “God’s LittlestAngels” charity. For the past 13 years, ithas been providing intensive nurserycare for premature and malnourishedHaitian children, and placing abandonedchildren with adoptive families.

Speaking of adoptive families, I’mreminded of the column I wrote aboutDavid and Erin James, who live on ahalf section between Devon and SpruceGrove. After raising seven children oftheir own (another died at birth and oneof a brain tumour), the James in 2001

adopted Elias and Jaydin, both underfour, from Haiti. They repeated thatprocess in 2007 when they returned toadopt brothers Mannie, 8 1/2, andRowan, 6. Remarkably, when NewOrleans was crushed by Hurricane

Katrina in 2005, this lovingcouple adopted Glenn, 7 1/2,and Ray, 5, from that city.

What this is all leading upto is two words: priority andinvolvement.

When I think of thosewords, I think of peoplelike Daniel Weinstock,Jeremy Webber andCharles Taylor who—onbehalf of 150 Canadian

academics—wrote in The Journal thatPrime Minister Harper used prorogationfor his own political convenience.Further, they added, there was the dangerof precedence. What they failed tomention was that in the history ofCanada, parliament has been prorogued

104 times, including three times byPierre Elliott Trudeau and four timesby Jean Chretien. So, in the scheme ofthings, who cares?

Personally, I’m more concerned aboutmeaningful issues, such as what the PMis doing in Haiti. When he stepped up,he and his government earned fullmarks—and the gratitude of ourGovernor General and those Canadiansoriginally from Haiti.

If these 150 academics are trulyconcerned about the wellbeing ofmankind, why don’t they make as theirimmediate priority, their involvement inHaiti? How about taking leaves ofabsence to spend 2010 in Haiti, helpingbuild new schools and educating futureleaders of this woebegone nation? Ifthat’s too short notice for their respectiveinstitutions, the next academic year willbe soon enough.

Thousands of committed Canadians—including our Prime Minister andGovernor General—putpriority and involvementinto perspective. They seethe big picture—alaudable aspiration forMessrs. Weinstock,Webber, Taylor and theiracademic friends. √

Bruce Hogle is the former news directorat CFRN TV and retired head of theAlberta Press Council. Contact [email protected]

AA

edia Minutewith Bruce HogleM

Mandel scores...

Involvement in Haiti our priority

AIRPORT TAKES A HIT

Michaelle Jean with Haitian

President René Pavel,

June ’09

Michaelle Jean with Haitian

President René Pavel,

June ’09 ...Jacmel, May ’09...Jacmel, May ’09

Mandel—ponderingthe future



hat happens when youlove your clients somuch it hurts yourbusiness?

In the name of Valentine’s Day, I aminspired to write about what I think is acommon affliction among new or youngbusiness owners: unrequited customer“love”. Some call it under-valuing yourservices or under-charging for yourproduct.

Have you ever noticed the Englishlanguage is lacking in words to describevarious forms of love? For example weuse the same “love” word to describe thefeelings felt between parent and child aswe do for romantic feelings in anintimate adult relationship. Here, I’musing the word “love” to describe astrong affinity for a client’s vision,mission, service or product.

A case in point is my Aunt Fern. Sheisn’t “Sizzling in the City” but she hasowned Fern’s Dog Grooming inBeaumont for the past six years. Granted,she has long passed the three-yearturning point and managed to keep herbusiness, providing an income for herfamily. Like many business owners,including me, she has had to ask herself

some tough questions in terms ofstrategic direction, pricing and profit. Asshe worked her magic on my ‘fur-child’Miles, we discussed the three-yearturning point in business, and she toldme about something her accountantfriend shared with her. He said “Fern,you love your clients. I can see it. Youlove your clients more than you loveyour business, and it will cost you in theend.”

Wow, could I relate. Last year, Irealized I was burning out by trying tosave some of my beloved clients—fromthemselves... from indecision or baddecisions... from the economy... fromeverything that could damage or put intoquestion their commitment—and mine—to their vision, success and cause. In theprocess, I was sacrificing my sanity andmy company.

Working with a number of veryworthwhile non-profit organizations andfor-profit businesses with strong andinspirational visions, I have fallen intothe trap of “loving” the client’s vision orcause so much that I’m blinded by thereality of the client’s situation, theirinadequate budget, or over-the-topexpectations.

For example, a hotelier I know has thisamazingly forward, environmentallysustainable philosophy that is beyondthe current standard or expectation. Heplans to demolish some of the buildingson his site in order to reclaim the landand return it to its natural state. It stillsounds crazy to me to cut the capacity ofyour business to grow a meadow, but itwill be this kind of “craziness” that turnsthe tide on the environmental doom andgloom we’re reportedly facing. Thishotelier also had an idea for a series ofprograms for the public on variousoutdoor topics from astronomy towildlife. My team and I were so engagedin creating a strategy to have hisbusiness succeed that I didn’t see, to mydetriment, that we were much moreinterested and committed to his successthan he was in actually committing thetime and money to make his idea andour supporting marketing strategysuccessful.

It was similar to dating someone andliking who they have the potential tobecome more than you like who they areright now. It takes a while to figure outwhat’s going on when someone who hasthe potential to be a great boyfriend or

girlfriend really isn’t at that point inreality. Likewise, it took me a while tofigure out that my team and I were moreinvested in this client’s vision than hewas.

I am blessed to know what my passionis in this life. I have been lucky to workwith some amazing organizations, but itwas an epiphany for me to realize that Ican’t save my clients regardless of howmuch I “love” their product or vision. Ican only offer my service and adviceand it is up to them to save themselves.What a liberating revelation.

As to my Aunt Fern, she has sinceraised her prices in response to herfriend’s comment. When I asked howshe felt about it, she said she wasnervous at first but not one client hassaid anything about the 10 percentincrease in price... probably becausethey know she loves her clients.Eventually, someone will balk at herraised prices and, when they do, she nowknows that although she loves her furryclients, she loves her business more. √

Erin Rayner is president of ED Marketingand Communications Inc. [email protected]

WW

With Erin Rayner

Labour OR Love

www.sizzlinginedmonton.comwww.sizzlinginedmonton.com



IT’S THE CULTURE,STUPID!In the traditionalcommunications cultureof government and

business, they created and owned themessage. For over a century, theycontrolled its timing, and decided whoreceived it.

In that command-and-control, top-down hierarchical world of conventionalgovernment and business, the“leader/boss” was all powerful. Notanymore.

Now anyone with a computer and anInternet connection is a media andmessage creator… and a publisher, too.They are also critics, thought leadersand trend setters, with real reach andattentive audiences. Message controland distribution is decentralized.

The power has shifted to theindividuals from the institutions. Nowit’s about shared power among people.It is no longer about having power overpeople by small groups of dominantelites. The informality of social mediamakes contact more “associational”than the “systematized” approach of theconventional corporate and governmentculture.

The ability to communicate by simplyclicking a mouse makes the power of amessage grow virally as well asvirtually. This organic, informaldistribution of communications is insharp contrast to the conventional,formal approach of traditional publicrelations and advertising one-waymessage broadcasting. All this adds upto red flags of fear and pangs of angstfor those who still hold to the hope thatthey can control the media, the mediumand the message.

WHAT NEEDSTO CHANGE?It’s all about overcomingthe constraints of theconventional

corporate/governance culture.Contact and communications with

customers or citizens is no longermediated by a small cadre ofmainstream media editors and reporters.It’s not the only game in town any more.Bloggers broke every major story in the2008 U.S. presidential election,according to John Ibbitson who coveredthe election for the Globe and Mail.

It seems that the leap from command-and-control, one-way messaging to thesocial networking chaos of the Internetis too daunting for those in policy

making positions in industry andgovernment today. If it is true and theworld has really changed, then how dothese conventional minded moguls easeinto this brave new world to help themovercome their fears?

Personally, I believe, the answer lieswith LinkedIn. First, I want to explainthe various platforms and theirmandates and merits so you’llunderstand my reasons.

IS SOCIALNETWORKING THE GAME-CHANGER?I won’t even try to list allthe options but will share

my observation of the characteristics ofsome on the major services. What isinteresting is the hesitation ofgovernment and major businesssegments, like the oil and gas andenergy sector, to embrace theopportunities these new trends andtechnologies offer.

The most omnipresent socialnetworking platforms are Facebook,Twitter and blogs—platforms that seemto baffle business and government. But,there are some that fit moreappropriately into the businessrelationship culture. Among the bestknown and highly respected isLinkedIn. It offers more comfort andhope for business and government earlyadopters to engage in a professionallybased interactive, participatory andbusiness oriented social networkingspace.

The Facebook experience is aboutfriends, family and creatingcommunities of interests. The sharing ofexperiences and events with people oflike-minds and related interests helps toform quasi kinship relationships. It isbecoming an events promotion and aplace for expressing personality andperceptions but at a “friend”-basedmodel. I find Facebook effective incommunicating more personally withpeople using the direct message feature.For example, I have used it extensivelyto share information and insights with anumber of politicians on public policyissues and concerns.

MySpace is similar but seems toattract a different demographic. I am notinvolved in MySpace, but get drawn intoit on occasion because of my love formusic. It is a competitor to Facebook,although not as popular. I see it is aneffective haunt for many struggling andestablished musicians who use it toindependently self-promote their talents.

Twitter is something else again—oneof the most interesting tools forinformation sharing. Twitter itself is notmuch. I consider the streaming scroll ofchronological disparate messages in theform of “tweets” to be an enormouslyfrustrating waste of time. However, usingtools like Hootsuite or Tweetdeck toorganize messages into subject areas orthemes all of a sudden makes Twitter acutting edge community-building andconnectivity tool.

The Twitter culture has adopted the useof “hashtags” (the number sign to theuninitiated) to organize the“Twitterverse” into themes. Embedding ahashtag into a message means users canfollow an amazing range of subjects.Another clever adaptation is the use ofairport call letters instead of city names.So if you want to know what ishappening on Twitter about Edmonton,you search #yeg and all the recent actionwill appear for you. I dare say there islikely a hashtag for every aspect of lifeon the planet. If you can’t find one, youmerely start one.

SOCIAL NETWORKING: TOO PERVASIVE TOIGNOREHere are a few scarystatistics to give you a sense

of how pervasive social networking isglobally. Looking at Facebook, we seeover 350 million usersworldwide and 50percent of them areactive every day.There are over 55million statusupdates posted daily,and over 2.5 billionphotos uploaded andposted every month.Add to that the morethan 3.5 billion piecesof content to web andblog links, photo-sharing and newsstories. There are over700 thousand localbusinesses with activeFan Pages. Facebookitself boasts over 53billion fans.

Twitter is a newer platform that hadabout 30 million users in July 2009 and 73percent of them joined in the first half of2009. Only 30 percent of all users accountfor over 97 percent of activity… so theconcentration of users is high. You eitherget Twitter or you don’t—those who doare big-time participants on the platform.

Bloggers are big Twitter users. While arecent study showed that only 14 percentof Americans used Twitter, it is well usedby bloggers: more than 80 percent of self-employed and corporate bloggers Tweetedto promote their blogs… over 60 percentto check out the “buzz” about theirbusinesses… and 73 percent of self-employed and 55 percent of corporatebloggers for marketing purposes.

LinkedIn is more of a professionallybased networking platform that still has allthe relationship finding, creating, buildingand nurturing elements of the otherplatforms but is more focused onnetworking for doing business.

One of the most successful evangelistsfor LinkedIn as a business and governmentbased social networking site is OlivierTaupin, the CEO of Linked:Group out ofSeattle, Washington. He has been coachingcorporate executives on the use of socialmedia for more than five years now.

Taupin has created a number of interest-based “groups” of business people usingLinkedIn. The largest is in the humanresources and recruiting area calledLinked: HR. Another is the largest groupof business people in the oil and gas sectorcalled Linked: Energy.

His message is straightforward andemerges out of the conventional models ofbusiness and government network, but heputs it on steroids through a professional

based social networkingculture. As a socialnetworking evangelist,Taupin tells both sectorsthey cannot ignore thisrelationship and businessbuilding revolution anylonger.

According to a NeilsonOnline study in March2009, social networkingwas the fourth mostpopular use of theInternet, e-mail wasfifth. ComSource said inMay 2009 that socialnetworks had 147million unique visitorsin the USA—74percent of the entire

American Internetaudience. Anything that big and powerfuland pervasive cannot be ignored.

The Internet culture hates broadcastingand spam but it loves authentic virtualrelationships and those generate word-of-mouth messaging from friends and“influentials”.

By Ken Chapman

Nothing scary about social mediafor business and government

OVERCOMING THE FEAR FACTOR:

Continued on page 8

Olivier TaupinOlivier Taupin



Word-of-mouth is the most effectivemeans we know of to get a message out.People trust other people more than theytrust advertising. To prove this point,Taupin quotes a July 2009 NeilsonCompany survey that found the degree oftrust from various forms of advertisingwas the highest when recommendationscame from people you know—a whopping90 percent trust level. Online consumeropinion polls and newspaper editorialcontent were trusted at the 70 percent and69 percent level respectively, while TVwas at 62 percent.

WHAT IS THEACCEPTABLE SOCIALMEDIA ANSWER FORGOVERNMENT AND BUSINESS?

There are a lot of government andcorporate communications peopleanguishing over that big question. Thecities of Edmonton and Calgary areleading the municipal charge. And, it’srumoured the Alberta Public AffairsBureau is putting the finishing touches ona social media policy that will provideguidelines to departments. Can electedrepresentatives be far behind?

Many big institutions that have used theircurrent communications and relationshipbuilding culture and ventured out to populistsocial networking have been burned—somebadly. The consequences have been for thecommanders of the control model ofcommunications to proceed cautiously ornot at all. Many businesses have adaptedand adopted the new world disorder as anew normal for relationship creation,building and nurturing. Many are seeing thebenefits of being authentic, genuine andauthoritative about their efforts andenterprises in the horizontal, trust-based,open, transparent, accountable power-sharedworld of social networks. Governments, notso much!

The powers-that-be in these conventionalsectors know they are losing the battles forpublic attention. They sense that they arelosing the benefit of the doubt about thelegitimacy of their social licenses to operate.

The old-school thinkers are sensing they arein some serious jeopardy in both themarketplace and at the ballot box.

IS THERE VALUE FORBUSINESS ANDGOVERNMENT?Businesses see themselvesusing social networking forthe same reasons, whether it is

a Fortune 500 enterprise or Fred’s ShoeShine: According to a recent study, 81percent use it for enhancing customer/clientrelations and brand building. Brand buildingis the perceived value, but the actual reasonsare networking and finding out andinfluencing what people are saying about abusiness—equally applicable togovernments but, obviously, with a

political and public consultation twist.There are other practical uses of social

networking. Recruiting is a big one, bothfinding and inquiring about qualities andqualifications of staffing opportunities. But,the big payoff for convention-boundtraditionalists is finding communities ofsimilar interests at the executive,management and professional levels. Theseare the folks who are the change agents inmost organizations—usually the same

people who are reluctant to make thenecessary changes to take positiveadvantage of Internet based socialnetworking.

Using tools like groups in LinkedIn, theseupper level leaders can ease into socialmedia in a way that is more of an extensionof the conventional business networkingmodels. Groups comprise like-minded,similarly engaged people at comparableoperational and management levels. Theyjoin to gather around and share informationand opportunities in an area of mutualinterest. Someone once called LinkedInGroups “Facebook for grown- ups.”

The ability for business and governmentmanagers to find new strategic partners andalliances and to validate suitability can bedone virtually via LinkedIn. The principlesof engagement are just as they are in thetraditional golf clubs, professional lunches,

and industry conferences and conventions.LinkedIn is faster, cheaper and easier… anextension and enhancement of thetraditional way to recruit staff, find strategicpartners, and keep up on what is happeningin any area of interest in the familiar “reallife” model.

This sense that LinkedIn Groups is morean extension and enhancement of existingbehaviours will likely be comforting enoughto warrant tentative steps toward Internetbased social networking. It’s thesemanageable, familiar and incremental stepsinto the networked world that will be moreacceptable than the wholesale rethinking offinding, creating and sustaining relationshipsat the heart of populist social networking.

THE BOTTOM LINE Business and governmentwill eventually adapt to therough and tumble world ofInternet based socialnetworking out of necessity.

In the meantime, they need to startsomewhere. They need to stop beingparalyzed by their fear from the cultureshock of this horizontal, community-based, power-sharing communicationsreality of the Internet.

If engaging in transformation is not partof your culture, then default toincrementalism as the go-forward strategy.

A smart starting place forincrementalism engagement might be inthe professionally based social networkingplatform of LinkedIn. And, although it’snot the finish line for effective engagementin the wider and wilder world of social

networking for either government orbusiness, it’s definitely a good place tostart.

Bottom line: Be brave. Embrace theelephant in the room that is social media.If you don’t learn to live with it, expect tobe crushed as it rolls over on you. √

Ken Chapman is a lawyer, a lobbyist and theultimate wonk. He revels in public policyand political issues. His recent passion iscitizenship re-engagement through RebootAlberta. Check out his blogs:www.ken-chapman.blogspot.comand www.rebootalberta.wordpress.comVisit his company site at:www.cambridgestrategies.com

Continued from page 8

All this adds up to red flags of fearand pangs of angst for those who still hold

to the hope that they can control themedia, the medium and the message.

~ Ken Chapman

‘‘ ‘‘Ken Chapman



lberta is the Energy Capital of Canada—one ofthe top oil and gas producers with the largestreserves in the world.

How can it be that the province’s oil and gassector is so sorely under-represented on Linked:Energy, thelargest energy group participating on LinkedIn?

How can it be that an industry that is facing growingscrutiny from environmentalists and politicians isn’t forgingalliances with this growing energy network?

How can it be that, of more than35,000 Linked:Energy membersworldwide, only 379 are fromAlberta?

Instead of burying its head in theoilsands, surely the oil and gas sectorshould be taking every advantage ofthe global reach of a social medianetwork specifically designed forbusiness and professionals.

Linked:Energy is the brainchild ofOlivier Taupin, who is the founder andCEO of Linked:Group, a high-techsocial media company. He and hispartner Jean-Marie Slove own some ofthe world’s largest LinkedIn groupsincluding Linked:HR with more than 200,000members. According to Taupin, they advisemany corporations on how to use socialnetworking for “brand image development, leadgeneration, and talent acquisition”. Theyrecently secured funding to launch a newconsulting firm focusing on business socialnetworking tailored to the needs of largecorporations.

An integral aspect of Taupin’s on-linecommunities is the support provided tomanage, moderate and promote group members.For Linked:Energy, that responsibility falls with MichaelTingle, the chief evangelist and group manager. Based inOntario, he has over 19 years of business developmentexperience in the renewable energy and energy managementsectors, and is currently the director of corporate businessdevelopment at ORTECH Consulting.

Tingle points out that Linked:Energy “includes all of theindustries involved in the production and sale of energy suchas fuel extraction, manufacturing, refining and distribution,as well as the green or renewable energy sectors. The biggestdiscussions, between our members, always revolve aroundclimate change. Besides discussions; jobs, events andnetworking make up the rest of the areas of value to ourmembers.”

According to his webpage, “LinkedIn limits the numberof groups you can join, but you can join 50 subgroups”which means “postings are far more specialized andtargeted... and increase your networking capabilities.”Linked:Energy subgroups include executives, venture,oil and gas, energy efficiency, carbon capture andstorage, bio-energy and wind power to name a few.

When asked why the Alberta energy sector shouldjoin Linked: Energy, Tingle was quick to respond:“Recently, I noticed a discussion about request for asubgroup for Houston. They were calling themselvesthe ‘energy capital of the world’. Being Canadian, Ithought Alberta should vie for that title. Albertansshould join our group because of the vast

opportunities to learn, socialize andpromote themselves, and the greatProvince of Alberta. It is amazing howAlberta and Canada are viewed by ourmembers.”

Tingle confirmed the dismal level ofinvolvement by Alberta companies. “It isright—210 from Calgary, 41 fromEdmotnon, 28 from other areas—a sadnumber... but I am going to change that withsome effort. I am starting a campaign todayto become larger than the 3,000 Texans thatare in our group.”

Those efforts will be supplemented by SalesVisionaries Inc., an Edmonton-based companystarted by Kim Kerr. It is the sole Alberta

distributor for Taupin’s ULP Networks, Inc., under whichLinked:Group currently operates.

Kerr heads up a team of Internet sales and marketingstrategists. She created Linked Alberta, a social network forprofessionals, and the Linked Alberta Marketplace subgroup

where companies can introduce their products and services.For Kerr, the relationship with Taupin’s networks is a

natural progression. “Recently, when looking to connectwith people in the energy industry, we were able to talk withmembers of Linked:Energy. Connecting with others whohave similar interests is a ‘warm’connection, and preferredby most over cold-calling.

“We are working with a local company that developshigh-tech services for the energy industry, and they’relooking to us for market research and to assist with scopingout their most likely customers. We’re making solidconnections on LinkedIn via the Linked:Energy and othergroups.”

The gauntlet has been thrown in the ring. It’s time forAlberta’s energy sector to get on board and grow its virtualidentity and reputation. √

Support services for Linked:Energy™,Linked:HR™ and other Groups

available through Sales Visionaries

ChiefEvangelist™…a “community” leader service thatturns members of your on-line business group into enthusiasticadvocates for your brand, represents clients’ objectives andmaintains social networking best practices.

GroupBuilder™…service uses proven processes, coupledwith trained staff, to quickly build large LinkedIn Groups of highlytargeted professionals. Results are guaranteed and measureddaily.

GroupModerator™…is a professional moderation servicefor your on-line business community, based on the Group Rulesand Moderation Process.

SocialTraffic™…is a software application that harnessesthe power of RSS—Really Simple Syndication—technology todrive large amounts of traffic from your LinkedIn Group to yourcorporate website.

For further information, contact:Sales Visionaries Inc.780.756.4638 • [email protected]

By Barb Deters

Linked: Energy membership:Worldwide-35,000, Texas-3,000, Alberta-379

AA

Michael Tingle

Kim Kerr

Do you have Neuro Muscular imbalance?Some of the most common indicators include:

• Frequent or long lasting migrainesand headaches

• Tingling in the finger tips• Ringing in the ears• Blurred vision

• Jaw clicking and pain• Neck, shoulder and back pain• Limited movement in the neck• Vertigo (loss of balance)• Short, broken or worn teeth

What is Neuro Muscular Dentistry ?When a person grinds their teeth, is missing teeth or gets a jaw injury the body’s naturalequilibrium is thrown off. This can result in neck and jaw pain and broken teeth owing tomuscle imbalance and excessive pressure being put on the teeth. The whole body isaffected. Neuro Muscular dentistry focuses on non surgically reestablishing the balanceusing physiotherapy and Neuro Muscular Dental Orthotics.

How does Neuro Muscular dentistry work?First we find neuromuscular balance using a TENS unit to relax the jaw muscles.

Then using specially designed Dental Orthotics we allow the jaw muscles toremain in that comfortable position. Because the jaw muscles have become

accustomed to accommodating the neuromuscular imbalance it may take afew months for the muscles to become accustomed to the new morecomfortable position.

After you are symptom free for about three months we can discuss howto maintain your symptom free smile using crowns or neuromuscularorthodontics.

How quickly can I expect to see some reliefof my symptoms?For some people the changes are felt very quickly – within the firstmonth. For others it can take longer depending on the severity of theimbalance and how long you wear the Neuro Muscular DentalOrthotic everyday. Three months of symptom free living is ourindication that we have successfully achieved Neuro Muscular balance.

Dr. Sholina Kherani received her DDS degree from the Universityof Alberta in 1985. Her practice focus is on Aesthetic, Restorativeand Neuromuscular Dentistry. She is a published columnist, amentor to other dentists and participates in study groups on

Pain Management and neuromuscular dentistry. She hascommitted in her practice to providing the Art and

Science of Beautiful Smiles in a relaxed, personalizedatmosphere. Dr. Kherani’s passion is changing

people’s lives by improving their health andsmiles using the principles of

neuromuscular dentistry.



By Cheryl Croucher

Challenging the normFor Dr. Margaret-Ann Armour, the launch of theWinSETT Centre is a dream come true.

It’s been six years in the gestation. And, true to herroots as a chemist, she birthed the new entity with aflurry of beakers and bubbling gases in front of anappreciative crowd at the Telus Centre on theuniversity campus.

Dr. Armour has long been known for her tireless effortsto engage and promote women in the sciences andtechnologies. Back in the early 1980s, she was a foundingmember of WISEST—Women in Scholarship,Engineering, Science and Technology. The movementspread across the country.

Now, through her efforts and vision, Edmonton is hometo the WinSETT Centre. An acronym for Women inScience, Engineering, Trades and Technology, this is thehub for an ambitious national effort to significantly boostthe numbers of women in the workforce and change theculture of such fields as engineering and trades.

Dr. Armour points to the statistics. “Only 12 percentof engineers are women. The kind of percentages ofwomen in construction is dismal. It’s four percent. Inthe sciences, it’s probably 35 percent, which is over thecritical mass which makes it sustainable.”

Research shows that one major problem is that, evenwhen women do enter these fields, they tend to leaveafter about 10 years. The blame lies directly with aninflexible male dominated culture in the workplace.

“An awful lot of it has to do with having a family andbeing able to work, and trying to balance the two,” saysDr. Armour. “Because, if it’s a work place which is still

fairly well male dominated, it has a male culture. Andthe male culture is, ‘you shall work 18 hours a day andalways be there.’

“And women are saying, ‘I don’t want that. I don’twant that kind of lifestyle. I want a balance.’ We’rehearing that young men are saying, ‘We want a balance,too.’ So we’re hoping that things will change. But that’sbeen very slow.”

That theme of changing the workplace culture toretain women and improve Canadian productivity waspicked by the Honourable Anne McLellan in herstunning speech at the WinSETT launch.

Among the first programs the WinSETT Centre willundertake is leadership training. According Dr. Armour,“Leaders need to appoint leaders. And, although weknow it’s very important to have more women enteringfields like engineering, if we don’t have women asleaders in engineering, the culture of engineering isnot going to change. So when young women comeinto the workforce, they’re not going to stay.” √

Expanding the cyber networkThe new president and CEO of Cybera is Robin Winsor.He will split his time between Edmonton and Calgaryas he runs this not-for profit, university basedorganization set up to extend Alberta’s cyberinfrastructure. His mandate is to moveCybera to the next level—into the businesscommunity.

That’s certainly a world Winsorunderstands. While working in theresearch department at Gulf, he used hisknowledge of geophysics and artificial

intelligence to develop the world’s first direct digital x-raysystem. That was 20 years ago. He quit his day job and grewthe company into a business worth hundreds of millions ofdollars.

Now, as the head of Cybera, Winsor hopes to extend theservices of the cyber network to Alberta’s entrepreneursand business community. Cybera operates cyber ports atthe University of Alberta. “There are similar facilities inCalgary, Lethbridge and, by extension, throughnetworking all over the world,” he says. “We have lots ofbig screen TVs. We have cameras that track us and we cansit here and have a virtual meeting. You can see so muchmore when you are in what we would basically call a

video conference. Others are giving it fanciernames like tele-presence, virtual rooms, and

so on, but it does add that extra measure.And this is just a small part of theservices that Cybera offers.”

Winsor is particularly keen on makingAlberta’s energy sector aware of Cyberaand the use it can make of the cyber

facilities.While current access to this cyber

network is somewhat limited, he saysCybera’s future goal is to

make access as pervasiveand ubiquitous as that ofthe telephone. Simplyplug in and you’reconnected.

You can learn moreabout Cybera’s servicesat www.cybera.ca √

More women, money& cyber ports...

LESS DISEASE PLEASEDr. Margaret-Ann Armourwith Anne McLellan.Dr. Margaret-Ann Armourwith Anne McLellan.

Robin Winsor



Jim EdwardsDr. Norm Neumann Dr. Stefan Bachu

Capitalizing on datasetsWith news that its funding has been renewed, the AlbertaIngenuity Centre for Machine Learning is launching into itssecond phase. Its scientific director, Dr. Osmar Zian, says phasetwo brings some new directions.

One is commercialization. The other is a major focus onbiomedical applications for the machine learning and data miningtechnology the Centre is developing.

Says Dr. Zian, “We have applications related to cancer... It can bedetecting cancer. It can be providing decision support forpractitioners on the treatment or the dosage we give to patients.Predicting, for example, relapse for people. But there are otherexamples where we will also build data warehouses to collect datafrom different sources and provide decision support systems thatare using machine learning and data mining techniques fordecision-makers, There are techniques also that we are working onfor visualization of medical images. The list goes on and on. “

For Dr Zian, turning this research into tools that can help savelives is what the new commercialization component is all about.And the man who is charged with making that a reality is RobertMurakami, the Centre’s new executive director. He’s also thepresident and CEO of its new commercialization arm, a companycalled Myriad Machine Learning. It’s his job to bring researchersand investors together to help translate the science into industrialapplications.

As Murakami explains, “Machine learning is really a platformtechnology. It is the fundamental engine for analyzing andpredicting large datasets, much like predicting new investmentstrategies, or new trading tools for investment management...much like predicting patient movement and predictabilitywithin a hospital environment... much like predictingwhether or not the existing oil wells in this province areactually being managed efficiently. And so, because it’ssuch a platform technology and because we know thatinformation technology is growing at an enormous rate—and we now have a gazillion, gazillion bits of informationfloating around—how does all that get analyzed and how canwe actually utilize it to create something better for people?”

Through Myriad and the Alberta Ingenuity Centre forMachine Learning, Murakami is also setting the stage for thenext generation of technology entrepreneurs, including aprogram that offers business bootcamps to universitystudents. √

Cheryl Croucher hosts Innovation Anthologywhich is broadcast on CKUA Radio at 7:58 amand 4:58 pm Tuesdays and Thursday. Ordownload the podcasts atwww.innovationanthology.com

Recognizing excellenceJust before the Alberta Research Council was merged intothe new agency, Alberta Innovates-Technology Solutions,its president and CEO John McDougall honoured one ofhis own. He bestowed the title of Distinguished Scientistupon Dr. Stefan Bachu—the fifth ARC scientist to receivethis recognition of excellence.

Dr. Bachu is world renowned for his pioneering researchon carbon capture and storage technology. In 2007, heshared a Nobel Prize as lead author to the IntergovernmentalPanel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on CO2Capture and Storage. That’s the same Nobel Prize Al Gorereceived.

Today, Dr. Bachu continues his involvement at theinternational level. “To start with, I represent Canada on thetechnical group of the Carbon Sequestration LeadershipForum, which is an organization of 24 countries majorenergy producers and CO2 emitters. It includes countrieslike United States, China, Brazil, Russia, United Kingdom,Norway, Australia, and so on. Secondly, I have been askedseveral times to give advice to various state or localgovernments in various countries. So yes, I am involved.”

As a distinguished scientist, he intends to continue hisresearch into the refinement of carbon storage technology. √

Kick-starting industry researchWhen it comes to funding university research, one of themain granting agencies is NSERC, the Natural Sciencesand Engineering Research Council of Canada.

And now the Council is making more money availableto encourage research partnerships between academia andindustry.

Former Member of Parliament and long timeEdmontonian, the Honourable Jim Edwards, is now chairof NSERC. He explains the particular focus on small andmedium-size business.

“It’s a fact that 60 percent of the 100 largest companiesin Canada use NSERC collaborations, but only sevenpercent of the smaller companies do... we’re seeking to fillthat gap. Ultimately the goal is to improve Canada’scompetitiveness. We invest more in academic-basedresearch per capita than any other country in the G7. Onthe other hand, we trail very badly in terms of industry-based research. And so, we’re hoping, in a modest way, tobe able to kick start that and we’re hoping to double thenumber of partnerships that exist within the next fiveyears.”

To learn more about the NSERC industry program, visitwww.NSERCPartnerships.ca √

Zoning in with ozoneWhen it comes to prion research, decontamination is ahuge issue. The misfolded prions that cause mad cow andchronic wasting disease are almost indestructible bytraditional means.

But, according to Dr. Norm Neumann of the School ofPublic Health at the University of Alberta, experimentswith advanced oxidation and ozone treatment may holdsome promise. “The pathological disease, as we know it,is; Caused by a misfolded protein causing another normalprotein to misfold. And so there’s this chain reaction thatgoes on. Some of the work that we’re doing demonstratesthat ozone can actually destroy that protein enough toinactivate the templating properties or the pathologicalprocess that we see.

“We’ve seen that in a test tube—and the big question forus now is can we begin to understand this and model it inan engineering context and understand completedestruction of this? Then we must cross validate thatinformation in animal infectivity models.”

Dr. Neumann suggests that, if the advanced ozonetreatment works, we may one day be able to dispose ofprion infected material through something as simple ascomposting. √

Dr. Osmar Zian

Robert Murakami



he assistive technology provided isamazing in its ability to erase theboundaries of disability.”

That was what (the late) ChristopherReeve said about the OnScreen keyboard in MicrosoftWindows. He and Muhammad Ali are among millions whohave benefited from products developed by Randy Marsdenof Edmonton.

For more than two decades, Marsden has concentrated oncreating specialized computer technologies for people withphysical disabilities: quadriplegia, cerebral palsy, multiplesclerosis, ALS and muscular dystrophy. His career tookdirection with a third-year electrical engineering universityproject when he and another student developed acommunications device for his friend, Si Peterson, aquadriplegic since a gymnastics accidentin high school. Upon graduation,with funding from the NationalResearch Council’s IRAP programand the Alberta Heritage Foundationfor Medical Research, they startedMadentec Limited.

Over the years, numerouscommunications products (Trackerand Discover lines) emerged that havemade an enormous difference todisabled people around the world—allowing them to operate computerswith blinks, tooth picks, puffs ortouching of lips. Spin-off technologyincludes various applications for cellphones and computers. In fact, Marsdenis the co-founder of Swype, the cuttingedge text input software used in Samsung smart phones.

But, when a dentist from France purchased hisTrackerPro, it led to major changes in focus. TrackerPro is awireless device—a small dot of reflective tape worn on theforehead, hat brim or glasses—that replaces a mouse forusers with limited or no hand movement. Curious about whysomeone who obviously is able to use his hands would needa product designed for head movement, Marsden called thedentist.

It turned out it was actually the time-savings thatmotivated the dentist, who explained that he needed to viewdigital x-rays on computers, right in treatment rooms.Marden learned that, “Treatment rooms have stronginfection control requirements and, if devices were notsterilized, the dentist would have to take his gloves off to usea mouse, and de-glove and re-glove each time.”

Forming a focus group of four veteran dentists to get theirperspectives, he discovered that anything within twometres/six feet of a patient’s mouth needed to be wipeddown between patients. “That includes almost the entireroom.”

But while TrackerPro might be a solution to the mouseproblem, the ultimate challenge was really the keyboard.

“You can’t (properly) wipe down a keyboard. And, thosethat did use a keyboard had them wrapped in Saran Wrap.” Ithad to be changed frequently, and looked unprofessional.

“Keyboards are the number one cause of bacterialinfections and are more germ-infested than public toiletseats.”

Marsden points to studies that indicate hospital keyboardsare known to spread infection more than any other surface—and more than 100,00 people died last year from hospitalacquired infections (in North America). Patients entered witha broken leg but caught pneumonia and died because theycaught a bug.

So Marsden marshaled his team. “We’re ‘input guys’…We can do this.”

They created a proof-of-concept USB keyboard: slightly

smaller than a typical keyboard (15” versus 18-20”) to savecubicle space, with a completely smooth glass top with thelettering on the underside of the glass. With no nooks orcrannies, it was quick and easy to wipe down and disinfect.Adjustable touch capacitive circuitry allowed it to besensitive to the touch even when wearing gloves, and it madea clicking sound when a key was hit. Despite its smaller

footprint, it housed both a numeric keypad andan integrated oval touch pad, so no mouse wasneeded. The bottom was constructed frommachined Corian (counter-top material). Itweighed a hefty 3.2 lbs./1.48kg.

In the pilot study, 12 keys on threekeyboards—silicone, glass and standardplastic—were infected. After wiping with a

Cavi-Wipe (disposable disinfecting towelette), theydiscovered no significant difference with the amount ofremaining bacteria on the plastic and silicone keyboards.However, the glass keyboard was “100 times less infected”than the other two.

“We wanted market feedback… Although we had no(actual) product to sell, we booked a booth at the AmericanDental Association Trade Show in Las Vegas—at the lastminute in January 2008.”

Unbeknownst to Marsden, his “Cleankeys” keyboardjoined 27 other innovations in the new product showcase,which featured major players like Proctor & Gamble, Oral-Band Colgate. “We shared our showcase with Crest. We wonBest of Show for best new product. Even better, we won bya wide margin.”

Marsden would win other awards: The 2008 ASTechAward for Societal Impact (his second win); the 2009University of Alberta Alumni Honour Award, and theInnovation Awards from the Canadian Manufacturing andExporters Association in 2009 and the National ResearchCouncil in January.

Cleankeys was a hit, but it was not meant to be a massproduced device. Nevertheless, orders rolled in—selling4,500 units in 18 months. That number may not soundsignificant when you consider how many dentists there arearound the world. Or, not a lot compared to the over onebillion on-screen keyboards shipped with every copy ofWindows since 1998 that bears Madentec’s copyrightcredits. But, it was significant enough to see the demand.

Marsden realized that the need for a cleanable keyboardwent way beyond the dentist’s office. “Most keyboardsaren’t used by just one person. Think clinics, schools andairport check-ins and food services—any place people sharecomputers.” For example, automated plants like Lucerne IceCream were using his product.

“You can share this keyboard without sharing yourgerms.” It also hits closer to the Marsden home. “We have afamily computer in the house and have five kids—thekeyboard is disgusting.”

The need became even more apparent with infectioncontrol and H1N1 very much in the public eye, and handsanitizers being found almost everywhere.

So, with a broader demand, updating more suitable for awider audience became necessary. It also prompted thechange of the company name to Cleankeys Inc., withMarsden as the CEO, to reflect the primary focus onkeyboard design and production.

The forthcoming second-generation glass keyboard willbe a wireless USB model that’s lighter and improvesperformance. In addition, another wireless model, madefrom high-grade acrylic with molded keywells with slightindentations, will be introduced.

“Some prefer glass, because it’s inert and smoother andperceived quality, but (as an alternative), acrylic is ideal—it’sharder and less susceptible to breaking. If it’s flat, they can’tfeel the keys—it’s not good for touch-typists.” They need aplace to rest their fingers, a challenge with his touch sensitivekeyboard. So Marsden’s acrylic model incorporates anaccelerometer, an electromechanical device that measuresacceleration forces like the one found in Apple’s iPhone.“It’s also like the vibration sensors in a Wii remote.”

Both keyboards sell in the $400 range—high compared totypical models—but Marsden says they’re more costly toproduce, and the price is niche-market justifiable. (Althoughwe may see a consumer model down the road.)

“Look at the time it saves dentists—no wrap, no gloves onand off pays off in a month or two. In hospitals, if it cutsdown days not have to be spent in hospitals—that costs $5billion a year in the U.S., not to mention the suffering andfatalities caused.” Liability is also being transferred tohospitals. “As of October 2008, U.S. insurance companiesstopped reimbursing hospitals for treatment for their insuredpatients, if the infection was acquired in the hospital.”

While Cleankeys is primarily sold in Europe, it will belaunched worldwide this month. “It’s a world market we’retaking this product to from Edmonton and we’re making ithere in Edmonton.”

Logican, a boutique electronics service manufacturingcompany specializing in medical, military and industrialproducts in Edmonton Research Park, is building them.President Harvey Sheydwasser travels the world and sees theextent of the problem He believes Marsden’s technology willbe widely adopted. “We’ve worked with Randy before andare happy to be part of the solution.”

Marsden, 46, hopes to help fight infection and savelives… one keyboard at a time. √

Greg Gazin, “The Gadget Guy,” is a serial entrepreneur,freelance technology columnist, small business speaker, anavid Podcaster and producer of Toastcaster.com. Greg canbe reached at 780.424.1881, gadgetgreg.com [email protected]

How cleanare your keys?

Think infection.By Greg Gazin

“T“T

Randy Marsden

Ali started to communicate usingMarsden’s technology in the 1990s

CompanyCleankeys Inc.(formerly Madentec Limited)OwnerRandy Marsden, CEOLocation4664 – 99 Street, Edmonton AB T6E 5H5ProductsCleankeys Glass & Acrylic KeyboardsTracker & Discovery hands-freetechnology for physically disabled peopleContact780-450-8926 www.cleankeysinc.com



had an interesting conversation withDoug Elniski, MLA, EdmontonCalder. We spoke about hisexperiences using social media and

reactions he’s witnessed from some of hiscolleagues within government on thesubject. Elniski, in his own straightforwardway, suggests that the there’s definitely stillresistance within the Government ofAlberta. Resistance he describes as mostlycoming from what he calls the “bubble inthe middle”—those people in governmentcurrently not utilizing social media—“essentially waiting to see what happens.The bureaucracy watches and measures thereaction, because people don’t want tosubject themselves to criticism or some formof abuse.”

As a place to start and looking to findways to shift this reality, we expanded onhow folks within the “bubble” might notwant to be put in a position of testing theirvalues daily and publicly within socialmedia. Elniski added that in government(values) “is probably the thing you getattacked on.” He’s quite at peace with wherehe stands on the issues and none of thisbothers him. I was interviewing him for myupcoming book, due out this spring, onGovernment 2.0 (Gov 2.0)—a termdesigned to describe the “open governmentmovement” happening around the world.Our discussion covered opinions regardingthe cultural impact of Gov 2.0 inside theGovernment of Alberta. What has beenevident to me for some time is that it willnot happen without evangelists on theinside. Even then, our premier will have tosee value in doing something in this regard.

What does Gov 2.0 look like and howdoes it change things? In a personal e-mailexchange for my book, Tim O’Reilly—whocoined the term “Web 2.0”—stated that it’s“government as an open and transparentplatform, a mechanism for collaborativeaction.” Not exactly the way many citizenswould currently describe their government

(at any level) I suspect, and therein lies theopportunity.

Locally, we’re witnessing a movetoward “open government” at the City ofEdmonton. I spoke with Chris Moore,CIO for the City and head of the I.T.branch. Moore and his team have gonethrough a positive transformation and areleading the charge with respect toanother core aspect of Gov 2.0: OpenData. On January 13th, the City releaseda “data catalogue” which providesvarious types of data in machine-readable format (rather than PDF), sothat developers can build interestingsolutions for citizens. Also, as part of thisinitiative, its geographic informationsystems data (GIS) will soon be releasedfor free to those who need it or wouldlike to develop software applicationswith it.

I’m aware of new websites andapplications already in production withlocal developers that will impact ourquality of life for the better. For example,(shameless plug) fusedlogic’s Route 411transit application for the iPhone waslaunched on January 8th. This applicationallows for public transit users to identifyroutes, bus stops and times much moreeasily than traditional methods. It workswith data released from Edmonton,Toronto and, just in time for theOlympics, Vancouver.

Now, here’s why taxpayers will care: TheCity of Edmonton didn’t spend a dime oftaxpayer money to improve the ETSexperience by developing Route 411—fusedlogic made the investment. Tax savingsis a key benefit to the Open Data conceptand why, in part, Councillor Don Iveson hasbeen a strong advocate for Gov 2.0.

Iveson submitted initial questionsregarding Open Data to Council lastOctober. I asked him why he put thesequestions forward to Council. He said,“Fundamentally, it’s about transparency,empowerment and collaboration, andthose are superb democratic values. Muchof this data we have, but we don’t do agood job of sharing it or providing access.There is an imbalance of power betweengovernment and citizens, the ‘we-know-better-because-we-have-all-the-facts’attitude. It can be difficult for citizens toget the facts (data). Also, I think there’sbeen fear in government about the loss ofpower when data gets in the hands ofpeople and they won’t know what to dowith it.” Iveson concluded, “Let peoplehave the info and make an argument…and, if the argument is wrong, let theprocess take over...”

There is simply no doubt thatGovernment 2.0 and, by extension OpenData, is the right way to go for all levels ofgovernment in terms of direct and indirectbenefits to citizens. This being the case, Ibelieve Albertans need to call uponPremier Ed Stelmach and theGovernment of Alberta to hire a CIO forthe province. We need to movegovernment from a “need-to-know”mentality to one of a “need-to-share.” ThatCIO would coordinate with municipallevel officials like Moore, as well as thefeds, to bring the Gov 2.0 aspect intopolicy discussions enterprise-wide.

The result for Albertans would be taxsavings, efficiencies for government andcitizens alike. Frankly, this isn’t a questionof “if” Gov 2.0 is coming. It’s alreadyhere. √

Walter Schwabe is the Chief EvolutionOfficer of fusedlogic inc., a social mediastrategy firm and Alberta company since2000.You can learn more atwww.fusedlogic.com

II

101with Walter SchwabemediamediaSocial

Gov 2.0—a virtual reality

February 4 to 7Digital AlbertaDigital Tableau: The Art and Craft of Digital MediaThe Banff CentreRegistration www.digitalalberta.com

February 10 Business Link: Small Business Seminar Edmonton & CalgaryPromotional Strategies: Create Buzz for Your Business Presenter: Greg Gazin, Parallel 2000/ The Gadget Guy 1:00PM- 4:00PM 100, 10237- 104 Street, Edmonton1:00PM- 4:00PM 250-639 5 Avenue SW, Calgary Registration: 1.800.272.9675 (toll-free) www.canadabusiness.ca/alberta/events

February 12Canadian Centre for Community RenewalWorkshop: Peak Energy and Climate ChangePresenter Richard HeinbergPost Carbon InstituteLister Conference Centre8:30 to 4:30 PMRegister at 780-716-4475

February 25TEC VenturePrize Business Plan CompetitionDeadline for Fast Growth CompetitionCompete for over $150,000 in prizeswww.tecedmonton.comFebruary 25Café CICThe Art, History and Chemistry of ScotchThe Kings CollegeReservations www.cicedmonton.org

February 25The Business LinkBrown Bag SessionFinding Commercial Valuethrough InnovationPresenter Beverly Sheridan, Technology NowSuite 100, 10237-104 Street12 to 1 PMhttp://www.canadabusiness.ab.ca/

February 26Alberta Emerald FoundationDeadline for Award Nominationswww.emeraldfoundation.ca

On theHORIZONFEBRUARY



eftovers. It’s a dirty word to some. Others say theymake sure they never have any, because theydon’t know what to do with them. Recycling foodfor many is an ugly chore. Yet you can be missing

out on an even tastier meal the next night, since the saucesand spices on the meat have had even more time to infusetheir wonderful flavours into the dish.

Good examples of this are chilli, a red sauce made forpasta, a broccoli casserole and moussaka. They alwaysseem to taste better the second day.

Remember, never leave cooked foods out on the counterfor longer than two hours. When properly stored, sealed andrefrigerated, your food should hold easily for two to threedays, so you can get a lot of mileage out of it. After that,toss it out.

Now, if you don’t want to keep the leftovers hangingaround in your fridge, simply freeze them in freezer bags orcontainers to prevent freezer burn. I don’t keep my leftoverslonger than one month in the freezer.

The biggest challenge for some people is to be creativewith leftover meat or fish. I love trying to come up with newways to utilize these leftovers. When you think about it, thepossibilities are limitless. Putting a different spin onyesterday’s roast and veggies also helps folks who are on atight budget get as much out of their groceries as they can.In fact, a lot of people take advantage of larger cuts atreasonable prices so they can extend one purchase over twoor three different meal presentations.

Let’s take the old tried and true turkey. There arehundreds of recipes on the Internet and in cookbooks forleftover turkey or chicken. Soups, stews, meat pies, lasagne,salads, kabobs, bunwiches, stir fries, and so on. My personalfavourite is making these leftover birds, plus the vegetablesand gravy, into pot pies or shepherd’s pies. Yum.

One evening, I was having company, and felt like paringdown my cooking time so I could spend more time withthem. I had a leftover, large piece of prime rib in my freezer.It was cooked perfectly to medium-rare and throwing it intothe oven to warm could result in over-cooking the meat. SoI simply steamed the meat in my steamer until warm and itturned out not only perfect in terms of doneness, but it wasincredibly tender and just as juicy as the day I had cooked it.

The leftover gravy was warmed in a sauce pan, with just alittle dribble of water (or wine). I made some fresh mashedpotatoes and carrots to round out the meal. Everythingwent… so there was no waste. Leftovers should be yourfriend—not your enemy—when it comes to meal planning.

What was old in the pot can suddenly become new again.Here’s a couple of ways to repurpose yesterday’s dinner andserve comfort food to take the chill our of February. Cheers.

JOHN’S LEFTOVER TURKEY/CHICKEN MEAT PIE 1-2 Cups diced turkey or chicken leftovers1 Cup leftover vegetables Left over mashed potatoes2-3 Cups leftover gravy ThymeGarlic granules, not salt. Salt and Pepper to taste.

1. Combine the turkey or chicken in leftover gravy in amixing bowl.

2. Add the leftover vegetables.3. Pour mixture into a well greased pie plate or casserole

dish.4. Sprinkle with a pinch of thyme and garlic.5. Take the leftover mashed potatoes and form them into

flat pancake-like rounds with your hands, and placethem on top of your mixture. If there are a few spacesbetween them, that’s ok. Otherwise utilize them to forma pie crust.

6. Bake at 350˚F for 45 minutes to an hour. Yield: 5-6 servings.

Chef’s note: This is one of the most requested dishes I makefor friends. There’s nothing fancy about it... but it’s incred-ibly tasty and you can add or substitute anything you wish.

JOHN’S ITALIAN LEFTOVERBEEF STEW OVER NOODLES2 Cup leftover steak or roast, cut up onto strips 1/2” thick1 medium purple onion, diced1 large can of tomatoes diced 1/2 yellow bell pepper, cut into ribbons1/2 tsp. chilli flakes (or to taste)1 tin tomato paste 2-3 Tbs. dried oregano1 Tbs. dried basil 1/2 Tbs. fresh diced garlic6-8 mushrooms quartered 2 stalks of celery, dicedSalt and pepper to taste 2 Tbs. olive oilRed wine—some for the stew, some for the chef

1. Sauté onions, celery, garlic and peppers in a sauté panwith olive oil three to four minutes. Set aside.

2. In the same pan, add your tomatoes and tomato paste.Add one tomato paste tin of water and one of red wine.

3. Stir. Add spices and meat and bring to a boil.4. Simmer over medium low heat for 45 minutes to 1

hour. About 10 minutes before serving add all of thevegetables. Adjust the seasonings.

5. This can be served over leftover rice or noodles. Makesure you have a crusty Italian roll to go along with thisdish.

Yields: 4-6 servings

Chef’s note:You can get as creative as you wish with thisdish. It’s very cost effective and easy to make. √

Contact Chef John Berry at [email protected] Go to Edmontonians.com and visit the Lively Lifestyles Blog.

LLwith Chef John Berry

Magic

MEN

U

RepurposingRepurposing

LEFTOVERS



fter my first do-it-yourself book, Enjoy LifeOutside, hit the stands, I went on tour tospread the word: redefine leisure time’. Icampaigned that DIY wasn’t just about

saving money, it was about stress relief and creativeachievements, guaranteed to promote well-being andgood health. I crusaded that this hobby offered adiversionary outlet from the demands of life whilecreating posh accessories for the house and home. I wasall about using the hand to create—not to demonstrate.

Let’s face it. We all need to switch off from the dailygrind to avoid going mad or clogging more arteries.Some of us do it in different ways, that’sall. We read a book orsolve Sudokupuzzles... wewatch Idol orsurf the ’Net...we jog... wegarden... we doyoga—all in thename of stressmanagement. I’mjust saying thatDIY should beconsidered an outletas well, one thatbuilds muscle for thesoul.

Now, don’t get mewrong. Not everyonegreeted me with thehand; there were thosewho revelled at theprospect of DIY andenthusiastically shared their passion for the handmademovement. From these people, I listened and learned. Ifound that the DIY culture was genderless and ageless. Ilearned that there were those who took pleasure in workingwith their hands. I heard that many were concerned with

protecting our environment. And yes, I alsolearned from the hand-wavers. Free timeis precious and DIY virgins need to begently guided into the world of do-it-yourself with easy projects that don’ttake a lot of time.

With this new data, I compiled a listof DIY concepts designed to improvelifestyles with a simple mandate:• Short and sweet crafts, easy toaccomplish in a few hours or aweekend;

• Repurpose everyday objects into poshaccoutrements at a fraction of the price ofhigh end accessories; and

• Environmental savvy, self-fulfillment and stress relief arefundamental values.

My second book, The Art of Upcycle, is dedicated to exactlythat. It takes DIY to DIWise with 32 projects for every level

of do-it-yourselfer. So, before you toss a bottle, bubblewrap or bedsprings in the trash, consider giving them asecond life. Upcycling is about repurposing—a baby steptoward reducing your footprint on our Earth.

Look for The Art of Upcycle at a store near you thisspring or at www.absolutebodo.com. Join me and theBodoBoler at the Regina, Red Deer, Calgary andEdmonton Home and Garden Shows where I will besharing inspirational projects from both books—some ofwhich have appeared in this column. Hand-waverswelcome. √

Linda Bodo is author of Enjoy Life Outside and The Art ofUpcycle. Visit www.absolutebodo.com for upcomingappearances and project demonstrations; view other DIY

projects; or order her book. Contact:[email protected]

Go to edmontonians.com andvisit the Lively Lifestyles blog.

AA

with Linda Bodo

I spent a great deal of time talking to hands this past year. You know the kind Imean—arms extended, palms waving, usually accompanied with rolling eyes and ascornful‘tsk-tsk’...“Who has the time?” was the phrase I heard over and over again.

epurposeeclaim, andedefine leisure timeR3

pedicures. manicures. facials. aroma therapy message

Slimming Secret!

Why it works?The wrap detoxifies the body.

The body can get overloaded with toxins becauseit cannot keep up with the filtration process. Themore toxins in the body, the more lymphatic fluid

increases to protect cells.

You force out toxins. Once the toxins are gone, thelymphatic fluid decreases and you lose inches. Itis not water loss—rather, an exchange of minerals

for toxins.

780.459.3444

Lose 4 to 20 inches in an hour!A hot new detoxifying body wrap!

That’s a Wrap!Call Linda Perras

at Suddenly Slimmer Day Spa

www.suddenlyslimmerdayspa.com

Wire hanging basket + old utensils

= Kitchen light featureWire hanging basket + old utensils

= Kitchen light feature

Old ottoman = new home for pets

Olive oil can + bambooskewers = knive storage

Bubblewrap+ old jeans= totebag

Edmontonians Feb10

Documents

Transcript of Edmontonians Feb10