I was talking to a friend about something I was sure she’d either be interested or know about. “It’s this event about cross-cultural approaches to sustainability, ” I said. My tongue stumbled over the name, rendered crisp and clear in my textual mind’s eye. “I think it was called, ‘RAN-Gee CHAN-Gee?”

She smiled, “Yeah, we were wondering what to do with the name. It used to ‘Intercultural Alliance on Climate Change’…so boring, so we changed the name to Rangi Changi,” she elaborated. Ran-jee Chan-jee. Soft G. Sense-making. “It means vibrancy.”

We smiled. At the beginning of the Pecha Kucha night, the Cause and Affect awesomekinds had joked about the confusion caused by the name of their event too. Japanese slang for chit-chat, befitting the event’s genus in a Japanese architecture firm. Wikipedia IPA pronounciation guide writ high on the wall. Mayor Gregor Robertson changed it slightly every time he said it, either pulling our leg or really running with the statement that however you said it was the right way to say it.

And then it all made sense.

“It’s perfect,” I told her. “We should name everything we do weird things, to remind people what it’s like to be uncomfortable with how to refer to something, the way newcomers and immigrants are when they are here too.”

This is how we can be inclusive and tolerant: by being willing to relate to the all-too-common experience of being new, outside and powerless, however slight, to remind us we are blessed, and to extend those blessings when we can.

I bought my current bike at OCB. I love the bike. I learned a few things when I got it to start fixing it up, like putting in a fresh set of ball bearings on the wheels, new tubes, and some fidgety things with the gears. Just the basics, nothing overly fancy, though given I was learning from scratch and am not a nuts-and-bolts tinkering type, it probably took me a lot longer than it might take many other people. But I’d be lying if I said the experience was all cakewalk and roses.

I’m far from blaming OCB solely for the unpleasantness of my experiences. As a non-profit, I can say with some confidence that they are likely understaffed and overworked; but they are generally good humoured and encouraging about it, and as helpful as they can be. But it’s pretty much hellish everytime I go, and part of writing this post is to diagnose why that is.

I went today because my bike tube suffered a puncture and I wanted to get an opinion on what to do about it. Looking at the tube this morning, it was clear from the indentations that it’d been weakened through contact with the spokes. The rim tape on my wheel is quite thin (and I had put it on myself at OCB when I first bought the bike), so I figured I’d hop by and get an opinion on whether I should replace the tube, and what to do about the rim tape.

So I hopped over, signed in, and asked for that quick opinion, which was to put on what I think is called a rim protector. I was handed something that looked like a giant red rubber band, and verbally instructed on how to put it on the wheel. OK. A few minutes into trying to do this, I noticed that the protector seemed to be really way too small for my wheel. I brought this up with a second staff person, who quickly replied me that it was supposed to be tight-fitting. But this was ridiculous — I felt like I’d have to break the laws of physics to get this thing on. Meanwhile, I was getting my fingers painfully pinched between the wheel and the rim protector, getting frustrated, and feeling stupid because I was doing something I disagreed with. It was probably around this point that I tweeted:

I’m aware that I have a well-documented problem with asking for help, so doing this helped wake me up to the fact that I really did need help, and found someone who looked unbusy and asked for it. One staff member tried to get it (the rim protector) on with me; it wasn’t working. A second staff member (the one who’d told me it was supposed to be this way) finally committed to helping me get it on. Armed with two screwdrivers, we did it — but it was all twisted and folded as a result. She suggested I use some needlenose pliers to fix it. I spent another 10 minute trying to do that. Meanwhile, the staff are occasionally mentioning why they’d chose the rim protector — the shop didn’t have tape the width of my wheel. Then the first staff member, the one who’d suggested the rim protector, took a look at the wheel and took off the badly-aligned rim protector.  The rim protector was now ruined, and he took it off the wheel because it was clearly the wrong size.

…Oh. You mean like I first thought 30 minutes before that?

He ended up putting another layer of rim tape on top of the rim tape I’d put on last year. I bought a new tube since the old one was clearly weakening in a number of spots due to the spokes. And then I finished and paid up, an hour after I’d signed in and a lot longer than I’d intended to be there.

Check the wording of that tweet up there again. Who’s the actor in that question? ME. I should emphasize: I do not feel that Our Community Bikes is necessarily at fault for me feeling victimized. That doesn’t mean there aren’t things that they can improve on, but I endeavour to take responsibility for making sure that the things I think and act keep me from feeling this way. My reading of this particular situation is that I lacked the confidence in my own assessment of the rim protector situation to respond to the second staff member to go, “No really, it’s not just tight, it’s wrong.” And so ensued another 20 minutes of trying to get it on.

So that’s why I feel victimized when I go to OCB — because yes, I am a beginner, and yes, there are a lot of things I don’t know how to do, but no, I’m not stupid, and I usually make things worse when I allow myself to act or think that I am, which somehow gets really easy to do when I’m there. I genuinely lack confidence in my ability to do many of the tasks — for instance, I needed a reminder on how to put the tire and tube back on the wheel. Because I do this once a year, so my hands and my brain are going to forget. But where’s the middle ground between the correct amount of support and autonomy? My learned helplessness in this area is strong, as this also affects how I interact with my brother in this too. I could probably get more Foucaldian about this, but there’s got to be a way of doing this so that the fact that I lack the knowledge or the skill to correctly apply it doesn’t cause me to shrivel up and sap my value as a human being.

I would just like to be able to go to OCB just once and not leave every time without fail feeling lucky I hadn’t burst into tears. I don’t have an issue with spending hours on end trying to install ledger using MacPorts on my Powerbook, so I don’t think it’s an issue of me across the board not being able to tinker with things in order to figure them out — yet being in that place regularly makes me feel stupid. I cook and I sometimes draw and make things with my hands, so I don’t think it’s just a matter of not being comfortable with getting my hands on it, even if I do have to say “righty-tight lefty-loosey” once in a while. Perhaps I’m just not being patient with the fact that things take a really long time, coupled with anxiety about breaking it, and the diluted attention of how few people are there. It generally feels way more dignified to learn with the book my brother gave me at home. I don’t think that has to be like that.

I think there’s a base level of skills with how things work that you need to have in order to feel comfortable participating in the learning. And I don’t have it (yet). And some people don’t have that base level of comfort with cooking, or computers. These are all tasks that people routinely excuse themselves from and can make other people almost cry. So fixing my bike in that particular place is mine.

It’s interesting that once we become aware of and acknowledge this aspect of our experience, we see the effects and impacts of mental health everywhere. It’s every bit as elemental as what you are eating, the quality of the air you breathe, the parts of your blood — especially for anyone working in a field where one’s state of mind counts for anything, and I would pretty much include any job involving a computer or other people in that category.

I sometimes joke with my friends that I went back into a master’s program for the free counselling. While it’s not entirely true — I surely hope my interest in planning, my long-term goals, the supportive encouragement from important people in my life, and past positive experiences all have something to do with it too! — I can say without a doubt that knowing counselling services are available to help me out during the huge undertaking of graduate education (or any post-secondary education, period) is more than a little bit comforting. For the fellow students in my life, I’ve regularly encouraged them to make use of those counselling services should the need surface, even if that system can be a bit daunting. Mood disorders count — I’m agnostic as to the nature versus nurture bit. Whether we learned it or it’s a pattern more deeply embedded, if we need help, we need it.

A friend of mine has recently borne witness to the enormous consequences of what can happen if for one reason or another someone doesn’t get the help they need for their mental health difficulties. The strength required to say, “I need help,” is enormous. The obstacles to living and believing that “I can make a different and better life for myself,” are huge, especially when other people (friends, families, employers/employees, etc.) are involved. It is so easy to let any of the other billion motives and details get in the way. I have a lot to learn in helping nurture my own attentiveness to these matters in my daily behaviour, but I’m also happy to say awareness is probably the most difficult first step, and that almost no one in my life has actively refused to learn or listen about why this is important.

Some friends in Toronto will be putting on Toronto’s first Mental Health Camp at the end of the month. Raul and Isabella will also be putting on a second Vancouver Mental Health Camp in July. Both events examine mental health and social media. I think it’s a fascinating topic — as social media follows our lives, thoughts and movements, we also live our major life events — deaths, illnesses, losses and other hardships — in social media as well, as well as celebrating our joys, major and minor victories, and periods of growth. How do the architecture of those tools privilege or favour some forms of expression over others? And how does the evolution and future of privacy online figure into things, even as we attempt to re-shape societal stigmas around mental health?

Here’s to everybody doing what we have to. I’ll also take a moment to draw attention to the work a friend of mine in Toronto. For the past year or so, he has been doing his bit to help others “stay sane in this crazy world,” as he puts it, through his Life Habits podcast. It’s great listening and I often keep an episode or two lying around in my iPod for those times when it feels like I need to spend an extra moment think about a particular aspect of my experience.

This is an interesting time to be talking about professional processes, because there are current taskforces undertaking a revision  the certification process to require a standardized written exam. This is a step to standardize across Canada what the word “planner” really means, allow for geographic interchangeability and some standard for minimum amounts of training. Many a prof speaking to us on this has said that, “Anyone can hang a shingle now and call themselves a planner,” so there is a sense of making planning a profession like medical doctors, dentistry, law, and (relevantly for project work) engineers and architects — essentially, a push to become a legislated profession. Ontario and Quebec also have other systems involving titles like, “Registered Professional Planners.”

A member has described a past failure to convince the public of what the value of planning is and how the profession is full of people who didn’t graduate from certified planning schools. One member of my class has described it a catch 22 — we want the diversity inherent to planning, and yet we want the prestige that comes with being a “professional,” the way lawyers and architects do. “Planning’s come to a place where what gives those groups status does not give us status.” Assessing the competency of individuals in this profession can be a very complex exercise, given the wide scope of tasks that planners participate in. Mediators are having the same debate, in some ways, because their work is nebulous, and would also like some degree of protection.

From my perspective, the nature of planning is extremely nebulous. The results of plans may take decades to manifest; planners often work collaboratively in groups which may be productive or dysfunctional, so the accountability associated with being certified is challenging; and the effects of planning processes are subject to a wide spectrum of opinion.

Our guest, a participant of the task forces on the ethics review at the CIP, was blunt. “Some people naively believe that if we’re legislated, we will get more respect. If planners want to get respect, they have to be bolder in their jobs, and clearer in their visions. Some planners become essentially administrative planners, don’t upset the city council. As a result, they will lose the respect of public and even their councils.”

In this piece on “How Long is Your City’s Tail?” John Geraci writes,

Most cities right now are models of closed, rigid systems, systems that rely on a few, top-performing agents to get civic tasks done and keep quality of life high for residents. Most of these agents are departments of the city itself, though some are outsourced. Either way, cities rely on one agent per issue, no more. To use Amazon.com as an analogy, cities today are like an Amazon that only allows the #1 best-selling book from each category into its system.

Students cite the benefits as recognition by co-workers as being a professional. David Hume also mused recently on the evolving space of public policy:

[...] the value of public policy isn’t the policy. It’s the ability to build relationships, trust and manage interests in such a way that leads networks of individuals, communities, businesses and NGOs towards a shared goal.

[...] In the future, [policy] wonkish expertise is going to be of lower value than the ability to leverage networks, cut deals, and align ideas, people and action behind the goals Ministers want to achieve. Policy analysts won’t be doing much analysis. Instead, they’ll be using collaborative tools like the web in tandem with well honed powers of communication, facilitation and imagination to do the work the public needs.

Planners are (increasingly or have always been?) in a similar space.

One of the adjunct professors stood up at the beginning of the first year orientation of our program, and said, “We’ve made some awful mistakes in downtown Vancouver.” Can you imagine an engineer saying the same thing in the first day of a first-year engineering class? This demonstrates how radically the shifts in planning have occurred, and yet how reflective we can be on our actions.

Is planning too entrenched in processes beyond our control to be properly certified? Things are made for fiscal or political reasons that may reflect on our ‘professionalism’. This is the challenge of the fact that we are not ‘doers’ — we do not physically build anything. We advise and plan around decisions, often made by city councils or developers who will use our advice how they please.

How about certifying certain processes around public engagement? Forcing people to the table can be damaging. Even if planners were to give their advice based on what they’ve determined with publics, councils disregard this stuff all the time, and even disregard what is said by lawyers and still do what they do. (This is trickier with engineers.)

Funny anecdote: our guest spoke of groups like management consultants who similarly deal with long-term consequences. He spoke derisively of IT consultants, who are comparatively less high-profile than planners — and it is really for this reason that certification and professionalism is in question.

Is this interest in becoming a legislated profession a form of buffeting or denial of the growing influence and sophistication of the tail on issues in cities and planning? I’ve continually thought of planners as being the stewards of a process of managing change.

Many members of the CIP are only there because their employers are paying for their membership. Our guest said that the lack of engagement from members is purely the CIP’s problem. My prof has experience working with the institute to establish a professional development requirement, and there was “tremendous resistance” to it. There have been people dismissed from the PIBC for failing to meet this requirement. Our guest remarked, “If we keep these people around, it discredits the profession. These were very distinguished members; in one case, a former president.”

It’s really down to the culture of the municipality, and the management style of the people working there, whether PD is prioritized. Until about 15 years ago, there were healthy budgets for this, but now they are much more starved, and PD is constantly on the backburner.

Since mid-August, I have been working as the Communications Coordinator for a unique project the University of British Columbia called UBCevents. It’s exactly what it sounds like — an events calendar for everything happening at UBC’s three campuses (Point Grey, Robson Square and Okanagan). I sometimes refer to it as “Upcoming.org for UBC.” The fun part is that the tool, being built on an open source product, makes ample use of open standards like RSS and iCal formats. But the best part? I get to apply my ideas and express my enthusiasm for social media in large organizations and get my feet wet on balancing transparency with meeting a mandate and providing a service — an experience I may never get tired of.

More than that, it’s been a great way to learn about the incredible work of fellow students and faculty at UBC — not a day goes by in this job that I don’t learn about a new group on campus with a three-or-more letter acronym doing something really cool that I’d always wanted to know or wondered about. And it almost gets unfortunate, because I tend to be way too busy with school to go to any of them! But knowing what I’m missing out on is certainly better than being in the dark on it all.

As I said, we’ve just launched our UBCevents blog. It’s primarily intended for our content providers and people who are integrating UBCevents into their website, but it’ll give you a snapshot into a project I am extremely proud to be a part of. I work with a fantastic ensemble of team members — who I’m either less technical than or more technical than at times, depending on what it is you’re wondering about — and does some cool stuff within the institutional constraints and aims of the university, which is officially the oldest entity I’ve ever worked for. I’ve interacted with people from groups as diverse as Student Development, Public Affairs and UBC IT, and it’s been a blast.

Now that the blog’s launched, what’s next? I’m hoping to eke out a workable strategy for UBCevents on Twitter (you can take a peek at what’s gone on so far). It’s been fun to participate in conversations about UBC where I can, but as I’ve sometimes bemoaned, I actually do like to pay attention in class and am also very happy with my non-smart aka. dumb phone, so an effective and consistent mechanism for re-tweeting and conversing still remains elusive.

Next time you find yourself at a UBC campus with some time to spare, look up the UBCevents calendar to see what’s up!

That’s the backstory I have with Sunny Oh, one of the quirkest, neatest people I’ve had the pleasure to hang out with, who happens to know a boatload of other people doing neat things that I like (like former TA’s, independent news magazine editors, etc.).

She’s been offered an amazing opportunity to pursue her dream of writing for television, with a writing residency at the Canadian Film Centre in Toronto. She would be the first Asian-Canadian female from the West Coast, and, well, as a young, Asian-Canadian female myself, this strikes me as kind of awesome for getting stories on the small screen that are meaningful, interesting and reflect the experience of me and others I know… Hurray Sunny for getting accepted to participate in this excellent experience!

But, as the way of these things goes, her dream’s got a slight snag: monies. It’s one thing to read about arts cuts in a newspaper, it’s another to hear someone who’s being actively, really, affected by it. As Sunny writes,

However I have come up short financially, even with a scholarship from the Film Centre. In past years government agencies gave CFC attendees $3, 000 – $15, 000 in support. This year, because of budget cuts, nothing.

Sunny is staging a fundraiser to get her to Toronto – it’s got a bit of a twist. She’s writing a screenplay called The Midnight Gardener and is releasing and writing a scene for every fifty ($50) dollars raised. My friends over at newly-redesigned Schema Magazine are hosting the screenplay and collecting donations on her behalf, and she’s already been able to get a first scene up!

The tagline for the Midnight Gardener:

In a world where people have forsaken sleep in order to do more things, one girl, Nara, still sleeps. All her classmates make fun of her. But since she’s the only one who still sleeps, she’s the only one who still dreams.

Sunny is also blogging her writing-for-funds process as well. Which is deliciously evil for me, feeding my little film dream even as I have five gazillion unrelated things to do.

For those who have already donated, she’s also tracking her efforts on Twitter so you can get your fix from the new screenplay as soon as she posts it. Families and friends are also posting their support to her Facebook group.

I’m supporting Sunny because diverse Canadian stories are important to me, and I like to think of myself as an ardent enthusiast of Canadian film and television. In looking over the CFC wikipedia entry, I’m pleasantly surprised to see just how many projects and directors whose work I’ve loved and respected, have come about partly as a result of the CFC. Few opportunities to support Canadian projects as direct or close to me come along as this one.

So please, go buy a scene for the night owl/insomniac in your life, and help Sunny tell awesome stories!

1. Whisper House by Duncan Sheik. This is a three-part podcast describing the making of Duncan Sheik’s latest album that flows between snippets of the songs, to descriptions of the play, and the process of creating both the album and the production. Don’t be scared off by the fact that the albu is attached to Whisper House the play — the songs contribute to it without relying entirely on the listener to know what’s happening for the songs to be enjoyable, something I really liked in contrast to his previous work for Spring Awakening. This podcast is a great introduction to the music as well as the story if you’re not able to hear Duncan fill in the gaps for you in person, as I did. (I had to special order Whisper House with my local record store to get it as a CD, so the podcast also helped me get my fix as I waited the week and a half for it to arrive at the store.)
2. Spacing Radio. Continuing in the tradition of Spacing the print magazine and the Spacing blogs in Toronto and Montréal, Spacing Radio covers urban issues in a roughly 20-minute podcast format. So far, I like their catchy use of local Toronto music (which, let’s face it, I would never otherwise hear because I have absolutely no dedication to curating my musical diet), as well as their interesting and insightful interviews with players major and minor alike, such as Mayor David Miller and City of Toronto staff. They manage to keep the tone constructive and focused, while skillfully asking good questions about the policy direction and political will. Not critical enough for some who are closest to the issues, perhaps, but I think I prefer that over something that would make me grumpy or too disheartened. They’ve also done a great job merging the local interest with the international context, interviewing the London mayor responsible for their congestion tax in their first episode and, more recently, featuring a presentation of Janette Sadik-Khan talking about the awesome work New York’s Department of Transportation has been doing to promote cycling and walking in New York.
3. Of Public Interest. Friend Sameer Vasta and his co-host Darren Chartier take a laid-back but thoughtful approach to the question of how the public service can and is adapting its thinking and culture as a result of “the age of participation” as enabled by the Internet, its various tools, and the broader social context shift. The format is super-casual, consisting mostly of back-and-forths between the two in a very conversational way. Occasionally they’ve brought on guest speakers; and thanks to them (by way of Marc Drapeau), I sometimes use the word ‘goverati’. The podcast is self-effacingly low-tech with the occasional flourish. (My only (small) gripe is that Darren and Sameer have very different mic setups and in some episodes, the volume difference in their voices can grate a little.) As someone super-interested in government, I appreciate the perspective they bring by sharing their conversations. Makes for good listening leading up to Vancouver ChangeCamp!

Mental Health and Cultural Sensitivity – Services and Stigma in Vancouver’s Ethnic Communities

A discussion about the stigma of mental health in ethnic communities, language-specific mental health resources in the Lower Mainland, and mental health services provided to non-English speakers and/or immigrants.

A UBC study looked at how likely doctors from the Chinese Canadian community were to diagnose mental illness, as well as breakdowns of usage of mental health services like counselling.

The discussion will also include the experience of counselling service providers with a focus on services in languages other than English, and whether online visibility through blogging and people sharing their experiences has helped more people to be aware of and/or access their services.

Putting my presentation together for this will definitely be a trip and a half, to say the least, but I will do my best to do the topic justice, and to provide something thoughtful for those attending to chew on.

As always, I’m curious to hear what others think and would love to get some leads on things to look into that are relevant to this topic.

• Have you yourself or someone you’ve known had an experience receiving counselling in a language other than English?
• Have you or someone you know been discouraged from or unwilling to see professional help, support or advice because of a stigma around mental health issues?

I’d love to get in touch to hear your story, and share my own reflections on it as well with you. Feel free to contact me at karen [at] counti8 [dot] ca, or leave a comment.

Northern Voice shirts, pre-pillow-ifying

Ever since I got back from Toronto, where I dropped a rather uncharacteristic amount of money on gorgeous clothes at Preloved‘s warehouse sale (who re-use clothes from thrift stores in funky and awesome, hand-cut ways), I’ve had my eyes peeled for what I can do with the fabric in my life. When Richard started culling out his tech conference t-shirts, an idea quickly dawned on me. I seem to have unofficially made 2009 the year I follow through on my crazy ideas, so here goes with another one!

Tomorrow, I’ll be heading over to my brother’s house to borrow his sewing machine to turn these Bloggable t-shirts from previous Northern Voice conferences, into a gorgeous set of cushions! I haven’t sewn in quite a while (and was pretty crappy at it in high school), but I’m looking forward to having a good time with it and making something cute.

Plus, thanks to James (for letting us know about it!) and Monique (for the ride!),  our hallway also has a box of more Northern Voice t-shirts for us to turn into pillows or other fun items.

Richard and I would like to run a silent auction for these pillows during lunch at Northern Voice, with the proceeds going to charity. We’re a little stuck on which charity to go for so far. We were thinking perhaps an overseas bloggers rights organization, or media literacy… do you have any suggestions for a good cause in the spirit of our intrepid blogging conference? Please leave a note in the comments if you can think of one!

Also, that corner of pink fabric in the above picture is pink material I bought for a back of a pillow – even though Richard doesn’t have a shirt! If you have a pink Bloggable shirt that you’re not doing much with, toss it my way and I’ll queue it for the next round of sewing.

…and as an aside, I love throwing myself into random skill tests. At least before I’m actually doing them…

Yes. Busker Idol. (!!!)

Busker Idol is my working title / codename for an idea I’ve had for at least two years, that I’ve started to flesh out and test a little more earnestly in the past little while.

Where did this come from?

The basic idea is the intersection of me asking the following 4 questions (while commuting on transit, of course):

• Do musicians or performance artists have ventures or creative artifacts that would be aided by Internet-based distribution or marketing?
• Would people be more willing to see musicians or performance artists as “legitimate” if they had Internet presences, Paypal tipjars, or online media available displaying their talent?
• Is the existing busker audition program run by TransLink serving well the needs of a) transit riders, b) the transit authority, or c) the musicians who perform, and according to what criteria is this being improved or gauged?
• Are people with mobile phones more likely to engage with their physical surroundings if methods of participation through mobile Internet or text messaging are properly communicated to passersby?

So, you want to do what…?

The above was a long way of explaining the idea. The shorter way is this:

Busker Idol encourages crowds roaming on foot to participate, à la American Idol, to vote for the best buskers (musicians or performing artists) for recognition in a variety of categories (some examples could be best comedy act, best original song with a local theme, etc). Methods of voting would include web, text messaging, and phone (among others). Buskers would also be encouraged to submit videos to a website for online voting; this website would also promote their future performances, and possibly act as a point of sale for online music or video. Videos would also be available for viewing for voters to determine category winners.

The purpose of this event would be:

• to bolster awareness and encourage celebration of local cultural performers and artists;
• to encourage place-making and interaction, contributing to Vancouver’s vibrant and unique street life; and
• to expose buskers to the low-cost, self-publishing promotional methods available on the Internet (especially if they collaborate with their fans).

Will this work? I’m not really sure, but I’m very much willing to try, and so far, those that I have run this idea by have been very supportive.

But of course, there’s tech

One of the exciting parts of this idea to me, by far, is that the technology to power a contest like this is being built by people (people I know, even!) who are based in this city:

• Strutta is a platform for deploying online contests.
• LiveVote from Handimobility allows easy voting in polls through text messages.

So to me, this has the potential to be a really homegrown and awesome affair celebrating the work of a whole lot of people in the city; and, like many of my favorite things happening, it aims to bring together people from different backgrounds with common interests (like celebrating Vancouver) into somewhat novel situations.

What’s happening now?

I’ve been invited to present this idea to the Vancouver Public Space Network‘s Transportation Committee; that presentation is happening tonight – Thursday, January 15th at the Vancouver Public Library at 7pm (room TBD). I hope to round up some people who will be able to help me bring this thing to life at that meeting.

And then what?

The next steps are:

• Talking to buskers: how can we make this useful to them, in the long- and short-terms? What do they need or want – from the public, from the city? What challenges do they face, and how can this event support them?
• Talking to the City of Vancouver (and/or surrounding muncipalities in Metro Vancouver) and TransLink: I’ve run the idea by people at TransLink, so I know a few of their concerns, though it’s been a few months and their situation may have changed in the interim. I’m particularly happy to hear that Vancouver city councillor Andrea Reimer is calling for more car-free days; I could imagine this going over pretty well in the summer if those happen!
• Talking to tech companies: what would they need in order to get involved?
• Cooking up a business plan: That’s how other people believe that we’re serious about making this happen.

…and those are just a start. (!)

This is where you come in

I can’t do this alone. Nor, frankly, do I really want to! If this idea sounds cool to you, please…

• Tell me what you think of this. Have I missed something? My comment box awaits you!
• Tell me if you’d enjoy this, or if you’d hate it. There’s no such thing as too early or too much user research. What would make you more willing to participate, online or in person?
• If you’ve ever busked or known anyone who’s busked, please, please get in touch with me and tell me what you think would be useful, or make or break this.
• Do you have a superpower, like writing business plans or talking to buskers? I would be ecstatic if you could lend me your magic.
• If you’re free Thursday evening, catch me at the VPL Central branch tomorrow tonight. Let’s have a drink and tell me what you like about the idea. The meeting is scheduled to go until 10pm because there’s a lot on the agenda, but if nothing else, come say hi and I’ll be in touch! Update: I’ll also be at Likemind Vancouver at WorkSpace on Friday, January 16th, 8am, and I’d be happy to talk about this then too.

And of course, this would be a community-powered, community-centred endeavour, so I want to involve as many people in this as possible.

I think this could be such a cool thing for our artists and for people in Vancouver generally. So much of the thing we are told, or we think of ourselves, as being staid or cold towards each other – let’s give ourselves an excuse to throw that out the window.