So long, you delightful scamps!

On Sunday morning last week, I received an email from Jeff Samsonow and Sally Poulsen, the creators of theEdmontonian.com, one of the city’s most beloved blogs. They said that two weeks hence, they’d be closing up shop. I paused. I yelled. I swore. I called my girlfriend over to the computer screen and we both read the message in disbelief.

“Other projects,” they said paraphrasically in their email, “are jumping around in our heads, and we can’t pursue them without moving on from the Edmontonian.”

“OUTRAGE!” I responded, frightening my girlfriend, and our cat, who both read on in dismay.

I jest, somewhat, of course. The loss of the Edmontonian is a loss indeed, but I’m excited to see what Jeff and Sally will do next.

I count the pair as good friends. They’ve helped this very podcast grow — leading by example, and pushing us to be more than just two idiots opining about Star Trek. They helped our show earn revenue by connecting us with some great people and businesses, who we now also count as our friends.

I’m sad to see the Edmontonian leave the city’s blogscape. For one, Jeff and Sally were pioneers in a lot of ways. Oh sure, the Dave Cournoyers and Mack Males of the world — or rather, just those two guys — were working on blogs long before June 2009… but Jeff and Sally brought together a community of people who not only came to read, but to contribute. They helped to build and expand the online conversation about our city.

Heck, Jeff and Sally’s move to involve more Edmontonians in creating content inspired our promotion to get our listeners more involved in the show.

Mack Male did a great interview with them over at his blog, which you should read. And you should also make absolutely sure that you watch and see what Jeff and Sally are going to do next. I have no doubt it will be equal parts funny and informative — and it will reflect the passion they have for their work and this great community we live in.

And so the Edmontonian leaves us this week on a high note, like the George Costanza of Edmonton’s online community.

So long, TheEdmontonian.com. We hardly knew ye.

The very excellent hosts of CJSR 88.5 FM’s Tuesday morning show “Makin’ Whoopee” are having Scott and I on their show tomorrow!

At 8:06am — and I’m serious, we’ll be on right after the BBC news — Scott and I will join Chad and Colin for their special brand of early-morning mishegoss. I’ve been promised danishes as well, so those boys had better pull through. I can be a real grouch in the morning.

Remember: tune your FM dial to 88.5 tomorrow morning — at 7am, if you want to hear the boys’ eccletic show from the start. We’ll join you all at 8:06am!

Our colleagues from the League of Extraordinary Media — videogame podcast UserCreatedContent — are celebrating their birthday this Saturday, May 29, starting at 6pm at Hi-Tech Gaming.

It’s easy to start a blog or a podcast, kick out a few posts or episodes, and call it a week. But the UCC guys have been at it for a grand total of 56 episodes (at least, at the time of this writing). Not only that, but these guys kick out some excellent content, among the most unique in Edmonton.

So here’s what their birthday party entails:

• Nerdish videogame tournaments ‚ including Rock Band for the more socially adjusted among you.
• Door prizes
• Pizza and wings
• A cash bar
• Birthday cake
• And even prizes for the video game tournament(s)

… All for the low price of $10. TEN!

On top of that, the action moves to Union Hall at 10pm for the after-party.

It’s endless nerdy fun, and it’s all happening on Saturday. I’ll be there, waving the flag of the slightly-less-nerdy. Or, I’ll be drunkenly and belligerently yelling at Ramin and Cory about some kind of random conspiracy theory involving Sony and Microsoft.

And really, who would want to miss that?

And I have to say, the organizing committee unconferenced Saturday’s first MediaCamp Edmonton to great success. I’m already looking forward to the next one.

The day started out with a normal conference panel discussion which included Sue Heuman (from Focus Communications), Mack Male (local blogger and developer), Dave Cournoyer (local blogger and occasional political pundit), and Paula Simons (columnist from the Edmonton Journal) — the panel was moderated by Karen Unland, also from the Edmonton Journal. Many of the questions that arose were related to the differences between bloggers and journalists — there were tons of great questions from the audience (who apparently numbers almost 200).

After the panel, conference attendees pitches session topics for the rest of the day, and proceeded to engage in group discussions on a variety of topics (the ones I attended included “What makes a journalist?” and “Getting advertising and sponsorship for your website/blog”); there was also a series of Lightning Talks just after lunch. There was a diverse range of opinions present — journalists from all types of media including radio, newspaper and television. There were also a lot of different social media types represented, including our colleagues from the League of Extraordinary Media — including Jeff and Sally from theEdmontonian.com and Brittney Le Blanc from TrueBritl.com. You can see some of the tweets from MediaCamp Edmonton here.

I don’t know what the ultimate outcome was from MediaCamp; I suspect people got different things out of it. I got some great ideas for trying to earn the Unknown Studio some money so we can do awesome new things with out content. I also learned that the journalists, at least in Edmonton, who provide us with news and opinion every day have a great respect for the local social media community — bloggers and Twitterers alike.

Thanks to the organizing committee and the MediaCamp Edmonton sponsors for making the day not only possible, but extremely worthwhile. Sorry for doubting you.

If you were at MediaCamp, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the day. Leave a comment.

The e-mail: Such Tweet Sorrow – a Shakespearean play performed over social media.

Over the next five weeks, six actors will be tweeting a modern adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, largely improvised from a structured plot.

Oh, and did I mention it’s being put on by the Royal Shakespeare Company? Yeah… that kind of makes it a big deal.

Like good artists, director Roxana Silbert and the RSC actors involved have decided to embrace a new medium to find a new way to create art. To witness it on the ground floor is… frankly, exciting.

Now only time will tell if this creative use of social media will be successful, and will pave the way for future performances, but I, for one, will definitely be following it, and will give my two-cents on the whole shebang when it wraps up.

You can watch the whole thing unfold by following @such_tweet on twitter.

Mack Male quoted another prominent social media citizen, Chris LaBossiere today regarding this whole issue: “Organizations don’t have conversations. People do.”

I followed Lynda Steele almost the moment she arrived on Twitter. I was thrilled that I could directly interact with a personality — nay, a person — whom I’d watched on TV my whole life. And guess what? It turns out she’s just a normal woman who loves her job, loves Edmonton and was looking for a new way to interact with and gather news in the market she serves.

On a personal note, I got to know Lynda a bit better and even worked with her on a few charitable campaigns through OilersNation.com. She’s always been great fun to work with, and had a raft of neat idea on how to get the message out there. Twitter was one of those ways.

When this story broke, a few hours ago by the time this gets posted, we were told that Global would be consolidating Twitter accounts under the Global banner. We’ve now been told, via a tweet from Global Edmonton, the following: “GM Tim Spelliscy corrects bad scoop. GE is NOT consolidating accounts, not now or ever. Our personalities will continue to Twitter.”

So all other Global personalities stay, but Lynda can’t or won’t? From where I was sitting, she was using the medium rather effectively. And, at least nationally, Twitter seems to be a technology that Global really wants to use.

I won’t go so far as to say this move will alienate a batch of potential viewers. I’ll still tune in when I can to see Gord and Lynda give us the news. But I certainly don’t perceive Global in a favourable light nor will I follow the Global Edmonton account, whatever their reasons were for this move. It’s backwards. It’s limiting. It’s old media.

I contacted Lynda to ask her what was going on, and like a consummate professional, she said “No comment.” I then asked her if this was an elaborate April Fools Day joke. She reassured me that if it is, no one’s let her know.

Guess we just have to send our news tips to Global the old fashioned way: via carrier pigeon.

For those of you who miss Lynda Steele on Twitter, you can follow her fake alter ego, @fakeLyndaSteele. And no, I’m not managing that account.

On a personal note, I’ve been working my current job for a year (EXACTLY one year to the day), and I finally feel like I’ve got a handle on my role, like I’m adding value to the company, and like I’m keeping my head above water… most days. It’s exposed me to a slew of great new contacts, interesting potential guests for the Unknown Studio, and five terrific and talented individuals with whom I get to work and argue day in and day out.

Twenty-ten marks the year I turn 30. I still don’t own a house, I bought my current vehicle off my parents for the princely sum of $5, and I spend more money on beer than most other things. But you know what? I’m happy. Happy and generally quite drunk.

Keeping it real

On a not-personal note, the beginning of twenty-ten marks an event Edmonton hasn’t seen since 2005: once more, the Gateway (the U of A’s official student newspaper) is hosting the Canadian University Press National Conference aka CUP 72 aka Natural Selection. I had the dubious honour of helping to organize the National Conference for CUP 67 — and I need to state clearly that I had a lot of help in co-coordinator Don Iveson (who’s gone on to bigger things. I won’t say better. Just bigger) and a slew of dedicated volunteers who wanted free room and board for the week. It was one of the best and most stressful tasks I’d ever undertaken.

And it was one of CUP’s most successful national conferences, at least in recent memory at the time.

This year, CUP’s big do is in Edmonton again, and it’s once again being organized by the Gateway, as I mentioned. Consequently, Scott and I will have Mike Kendrick (Gateway Editor-in-Chief) and Rob Fishbook (CUP President) on the show next week for you (important note: since Mike can barely look after himself much less plan a conference, he’s working with co-organizer and Gateway Business Manager Asia Szkudlarek to get the job done). We’ll be discussing what changing technology and media trends mean for the student press — are student newspapers at the forefront of media innovation, or do they just follow trends? Will there even BE student newspapers in five years, or will they be fully online? It should be an interesting show…

But wait, there’s… uh, additional information

Selfishly, Scott and I managed to weasel our way into the conference as session-givers. The Givers of Sessions. I should actually have T-shirts made.

Apparently, Scott and I have made enough of an impact that Mike is allowing us to give a session on podcasting. And by impact, I think what I mean to say is that we’re one of a very small group of podcasts in Edmonton that doesn’t rhyme with “Hedmonton Hoilers” or “Glerble Noose.”

In any event, here are the details on our session:

Local podcasters Adam Rozenhart and Scott C Bourgeois wax eloquent (or so they think) about the total fluke that resulted in their becoming the proprietors of a popular, hyperlocal podcast. In this session, they’ll discuss some of the highs and lows of the recording and publishing process, some of the technical steps (and missteps) common to new podcasts, and some strategies to turning your own podcast into something that people love — and will even pay you to advertise on!

See what I did there? So misleading, making people think we make money off this…

Scott and I got to provide nifty bios as well. Here’s Scott’s:

Professionally, Scott is a radio broadcast journalist with Corus Radio Edmonton. In his spare time, Scott is a writer, lover, comedian, pop-culture junkie, actor and the co-host of a popular Edmonton podcast along with Adam Rozenhart. In what little time remains after all that, Scott squeezes in games – like the delicious nougat centre of a hectic time-cake.

Mmmmm Time-Cake. It sounds like Time Cop, but with less Van Damme and way more icing. Here’s my bio, too:

Adam is a former journalist and current social media apologist. However, he won’t be apologizing for much longer since it turns out this stuff is actually pretty useful. Now he’s a paid social media strategist, a writer, a manager of online communities, and — perhaps most importantly — a popular Edmonton podcaster along with his co-host Scott C Bourgeois. The only thing he apologizes for now is occasionally, accidentally burping. Everything else he does is absolutely deliberate and calculated. *burp*

We’re both really looking forward to being a part of CUP’s annual event. I’m also looking forward to seeing a bunch of old friends who will be in town variously attending the conference and giving sessions of their own.

Registration for the conference in now closed, but if you’re looking for more information about the event, check their website here. Or contact Mike from the Gateway.

THIS YEAR IS AWESOME ALREADY!!!

Both Adam and I are former contributors to the University of Alberta’s very own student newspaper; I was an avid contributor and delivered papers around campus for a year, Adam had the slightly less respected position of Editor-in-Chief. Now, many of you are probably aware of our past with this institution, but you may not be aware that many of our guests are also former Gatewayers.

It’s the Unknown Studio’s Gateway rundown!

Don Iveson (Episode 2)
Ramin Ostad (Episode 3)
Scott Lilwall (Episode 4)
Cary Williams (Episode 12 – check that photo credit!)
Karen Unland (Epsiode 13)

Dave Cournoyer (Episode 9) didn’t write for the paper, but being involved in student politics makes you a frequent Gateway topic.

As an added bonus, Edmonton uber-blogger Mack Male has also left his mark on the paper.

Now I’m not saying we’re playing favourites by booking former members of our exclusive newspaper club. We are however more inclined the book them. Because we like them.

Next Time: Communication

The Unknown Studio shared a table with Mack Male. I stole some of his candy when he wasn’t looking.

Below are some of the photos from the event — there were some pretty spectacular houses. But the key take-away from the event wasn’t gingerbread and delicious icing…

The Christmas Bureau has ambitious goals this year. They’re trying to reach their target fundraising number of $1.6 million to help families in Edmonton who can’t afford to have a Christmas dinner. And that really hit home for me. Can you imagine not being able to bring Christmas dinner — which the Bureau says is around $95 for a a family of 4 — home to your family? With all the stresses of this time of year, it’s easy to take for granted the “little” things that, it turns out, aren’t so little.

You can donate to the Christmas Bureau by visiting their website, or dropping by any Edmonton Fire Hall, ATB Financial Branch, and Servus Credit Union Branch.

Starting December 3, donations can also be made at Southgate Centre, West Edmonton Mall, Bonnie Doon Shopping Centre, Commerce Place, and Kingsway Mall.

On December 10, Mill Woods Town Centre joins the campaign as well.

The House the Oilers Wives' Built

Sonic 102.9's G-bread house

Transformers fight an epic battle atop the Unknown Studio's gingerbread house

Mack wouldn't stop moving. That's why he's so blurry

Scott's determination helped keep our house together.

You can read more about the Christmas Bureau Launch Event at Mack Male’s blog.

I’ve been sort of passively paying attention to the constantly moving deadlines that CanWest Global keeps being granted to shore up its debt. However, I really lack the technical savvy to understand why CanWest keeps getting a stay of execution. So I asked my business partner — who most people know only as @WanyeGretz — what the deal was. What follows is the conversation we had about it over email:

Can you explain to me why CanWest keeps getting a stay of execution?

It’s a big entity. The powers that be don’t want the national newspaper chain to go down for obvious societal reasons. Plus it’s a large debt. You know the old saying -– owe the bank a million dollars, it’s your problem. Owe the bank a hundred million, it’s the bank’s problem.

So, when a company gets as large as CanWest, is there essentially no way it could crumble, simply because it’s so much a part of society/the banking system’s fabric?

I would say that it is going to be given every opportunity to reorganize itself. There may be viable parts of the business that can continue to operate and if they sold off crappy papers at reduced prices, these smaller debt obligations would allow them to continue to operate with new owners. Basically the company will be allowed to fall to 30% of its value because that beats 0%.

In the meantime they will be strongly encouraged to shed expenses. This will be what kills them in the long run as they will dramatically alter their business model for short term savings. Then the internet eats them for lunch and they had better hope that they get a strong online presence and can then continue to run the papers as a loss leader with the bulk of their revenues in 15 years coming from online sources.

It’s a market transitioning that will be given ample time to do so. Same with automobiles and banking. The fact this is occurring during this recession buys them more time as the big lenders are being more patient than usual with so many loans on shaky ground.

All of this wisdom from the same man who bought both Soulja Boy Tellem albums yesterday. What a renaissance man!