Take a tour of the Fraser Valley farms and meet the passionate growers in this community who grow sweet strawberries for us to consume.

This project was a whole lot of fun to produce and shoot. My colleague Kevin and I got to sample loads of local delicious strawberries, get insights from leading agriculture experts as well as get to know the local growers.

Please pass these videos along to people who would be interested in visiting a local farm as well as passionate foodies.

Strawberry Connection focuses on visit a local strawberry field and learning where your food comes from.

Strawberry Fun Farm focuses on visiting your local Fraser Valley strawberry farm for some fun with the family.

Strawberry Sustainability focuses on reduce your carbon footprint by buying local strawberries.

Supporting Local Strawberry Growers focuses on visit Frasey Valley strawberry farms and supporting your local economy in BC.

The seminar and lab provide a framework for Transmedia business and creative development as well as explores ways to identify and develop the operative idea of multi-platform production. I am really excited to benefit from Anita’s invaluable business advice and creative development tips at this inspiring event.

The two day hands on lab covers full cycle of development, writing, production & distribution from “Conception to Consumption”.

The Seminar is open to professionals from all media sectors and is suitable for practitioners who are curious about transmedia and want to learn more or know about it and are seeking a framework to continue the development of their transmedia programs.

Check out this promotional video we did to create buzz for the event.

North Shore Welcoming Action Committee’s groundbreaking Picture Diversity Photo Contest, which challenged residents to photographically represent an inclusive society, sparked an interest in diversity on the North Shore. The committee hopes to build on the widespread awareness generated by Picture Diversity as it unveils the second phase of the project.

Small Acts Big Impacts will illustrate how community members can assist newcomers in building connections and attachments. The videos feature newcomers to the North Shore, and explore the question, “what small things can we do every day that make newcomers feel more connected to our communities and workplaces?”

“Video can be a compelling and digestible means for learning and finding inspiration.” says Jody Johnson, NSWAC coordinator, “these videos will provide viewers something to consider and, hopefully, to adopt into their daily lives. The development of communities that are welcoming and truly inclusive involves everyone.”

The Picture Diversity initiative is managed by the North Shore Multicultural Society on behalf of the North Shore Welcoming Action Committee and made possible through funding from the Government of Canada and the Province of BC.

Shaw Multicultural Channel will air the videos from April 4 – May 2, 2011, with two airings each day.

“Community” focuses on developing a sense of belonging within the North Shore community.

“Workplace Inclusion” focuses on workplace attachment and inclusion.

The videos will illustrate how every community member can assist new immigrants to make connections, build attachments, develop a sense of belonging and feel welcome and included.  The intent of the videos is to engage and inspire community members to participate in some way in developing communities that are welcoming and inclusive.

The project will be completed by March 30, 2011. The distribution plan is to embed the videos on the North Shore Welcoming Committee and the North Shore Multicultural Society’s websites, as well as the websites of partner agencies such as North Shore libraries, municipal governments, school districts, and public service agencies that form the North Shore Welcoming Action Committee. There will also be a special sponsorship announcement which is really exciting, stay tuned!

Interest in the videos will be generated by sending them out to partners and stakeholders within the community, and distributing them more widely using social media tools such as blogs and twitter – the tools which were so effective in engaging the community in the photo contest.  We will also notify North Shore newspapers. The videos will also be distributed to more than 100 new contacts generated during the Picture Diversity Photo contest.

The videos will become the intellectual property of Welcome BC, who may choose to distribute them more widely.

We started our first filming last night and I must stay I was deeply moved by our participants stories of moving to Canada. Looking forward to taking this journey with them so they can share it to the rest of the world.

Monir sharing her story coming from Iran then settling in North Vancouver.

Yury sharing his journey from Russia then settling in North Vancouver.

Community Bridging is all about building connections – links to community, friendship, and career paths. This program brings together new immigrants and refugees with North Shore residents who share similar interests.

Recently, we have built them a new blog to connect with their community, share upcoming events, community resources, and weekly tips. Be sure to check it regularly at www.communitybridging.ca.

I also have showed them how to build a newsletter full of rich content for their members by creating a brand which also included a logo as well as helped them with a content strategy. This newsletter is going to help them greatly with communications.

The other week I sat down with them to show them all the great benefits of LinkedIn so that they can recruit more members as well as new volunteers. We are also going to start building a Facebook Page so that they can share the content from their blog, newsletter as well as things they are working on.

If you know someone who is new to Canada, especially the North Shore and seeking advice on the job market, Community Bridging is a perfect place to connect them to. If you are a professional and would like to mentor newcomers then Community Bridging as also a perfect place for you!

I am also going to help promote our very own community Christmas Market in Squamish which I am really excited to attend as well. My goal is to get people like YOU in the Lower Mainland and beyond in your car and head up to this very special community event.

So why make the trip up to Squamish? Unlike other local craft fairs, the Squamish Christmas Market will be paired with the traditional Santa Parade & Grotto. Market goers will also have the chance to go caroling around a beautifully decorated outdoor Christmas tree as well as enjoy seasonal food and gifts for all ages. The downtown core of Squamish will be pedestrianized for just one day, so be sure to come and get your shopping done, once and for all!

Event Details
Dates and time; Friday, December 10th from 2pm until 10pm in the heart of downtown Squamish.

The whole goal of this event is to bring the community together but more importantly, to showcase Squamish artisans and businesses to the Lower Mainland.

I hope you can come up and enjoy the festivities. If you don’t feel like driving back, then stay at the Howe Sound Inn. They make amazing craft beer too!

Sounds good to me!

I am excited to be working with Adam Hart again. It has been over 2 years since I met Adam. Back then he needed advice on marketing his health coaching services as well as getting on top of all the new social media technology. It’s very inspirational to see all the hard work he has put into his business and now today launching a new book, e3 for Life. Which by the way, makes an awesome stocking stuffer!

Read more about his story and about the news here or below.

A decade ago Adam Hart was 40 pounds overweight, prediabetic and suffering from attention-deficit disorder, daily depression and anxiety attacks. After years of struggling and researching to become fit, Hart discovered what he believes are the “essential secrets to eating for maximum nutrition without making drastic changes to one’s diet or lifestyle.”

Today Hart shares his secrets as a passionate author, committed nutritional expert, and inspiring health coach. His book, e3 for Life, shares how to attain abundant health and happiness with ease and without any restrictions to diet or lifestyle and through his company, Power of Food, Hart offers individual coaching and programs for public and private companies.

“You do not have to struggle anymore to start living your life with abundant health and happiness. e3 for LIFE will make it easy for you to overcome your biggest life challenges, quickly and easily.” - Hart

Hart’s nutritional coaching is sought after by companies looking for ways to provide their employees with practical nutritional information the minute they walk through the door. His presentations specialize in providing only information that has a lasting impact on personal, professional and workplace culture.

Residing in Squamish, Hart is a nutritional expert, whole foods chef, coach and author with over ten years of experience. He is represented by Keynote Speakers Canada and is hard at work developing a line of food products for sale in health food stores. Hart’s book  e3 for LIFE is currently for sale at Amazon.com and online.

So how does the contest work?

It’s pretty simple actually. If you live, work or play on the North Shore and love a good challenge, then you can participate. Really, it’s that easy. The judges are looking for photos that capture inclusion in your community and what it represents to you. Go all out, any style will do. Think you can handle it?

How to enter?

Take lots of photos and then upload your best one to www.picturediversity.ca.  Come out to the North Shore Neighbourhood House on November 25^th, 2010 to see if you’ve won. The top ten winners will be announced and their work showcased just before Headlines Theatre’s Production of “Us and Them”. Prizes include an iPad, digital camera and even a waterproof flip cam. Not a winner? Don’t worry about it. Even the top 7 runners up with be getting a little something.

Could my friends enter?

Most definitely! In fact I highly encourage friendly competition. Invite your friends, that guy on the street, your local coffee barista, and anyone else you think might be interested on the North Shore. The more the merrier if you ask me.

North Shore Welcoming Action Committee and members of their immediate families may not enter.  North Shore Multicultural Society staff, Board Members and members of their immediate families may not enter either.

So charge up your camera, grab your jacket and start snapping!

“The idea came from the understanding that traditional youth-directed anti-racism programs did not capture the youth’s interest in an effective way.”- Jian Pablico, Youth Programs Coordinator

The program’s interactive educational workshops allow for a safe place for youth to share their experiences and its neon initiative clubs give youth the opportunity to create their own projects. Encouraging a critical discussion about the influence of media on thinking, Neonology has a strong presence in the social media world (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) as well as online at neonology.ca. The program will also be presented to an additional 1000 students in the 2010/2011 school year.

“North Shore students are excited to have a program that allows them to have authentic experiences and to share their experiences with others.” – Pablico

Funded by Welcome BC’s Welcoming and Inclusive Communities and Workplaces Program (WICWP), Neonology is a project of the North Shore Welcoming and Action Committee (NSWAC) with North Shore Multicultural Society (NSMS) as the lead agency for the project.

INTERESTING VANCOUVER SPONTANEOUSLY INSPIRES VANCOUVERITES

Third annual, multi-disciplinary conference geared towards curious people

VANCOUVER – No theme, no topics…no problem. Speakers from all walks of life will be speaking about their stories at a local un-conference called Interesting Vancouver on Friday October 8^th at the Vancouver Rowing club.

Essentially Interesting Vancouver is a multi-disciplinary conference. It seeks to impart new knowledge about things you’ve never known or thought about. Open up parallel thinking ports. Activate parts of your brain that for even the brainiest person may have been neglected or unexplored. There will be a degree of spontaneity, unexpected moments and learning.

“The vision for Interesting Vancouver is in the middle between a un-conference as the local definition stands and a well curated big fancy corporate conference like a TED or Idea City that appeals to professionals of all disciplines.” say organizers.

The Interesting Vancouver 2010 will bring carefully curated speakers to fill the schedule – from a post-op transgender whose experiences taught her to be who she really is, to a young leader of the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) people, preserving indigenous languages and others.

Currently, there are a number of speakers lined up and that the full roster won’t be unveiled until the event itself, “the mystery is a big part of what makes Interesting special,” say organizers.

Coupled with sustainable, responsible catering from FoodTree, ticket holders will be treated to a splendid collage of interesting ideas and passionate people.

For more information and ticket sales, please visit www.interestingvancouver.com