What I learned today about Microsoft is fascinating and most certainly refreshing.  The general public, including myself (until today) has little to no idea what Microsoft is “really” up to with respect to Open and the rest of their business.  I now at least have had a glimpse.  Others only have what I would consider to be a stale perception of the brand to some degree, and I was one of those masses.  In that context, today was a definite eye-opener on many levels and John admits there’s still much work to do to combat the brand perception issue.  I can’t speak for all of the approximately 90,000 Microsoft employees around the world, but if they’re anything like John Weigelt, this company and their many initiatives around the world are in really good hands.  Also, I feel no remorse here in saying that you’ll have to wait for my book to get the full story that came out over lunch at Original Joe’s Varsity today.  However, I’d like to share one strong Microsoft brand related sentiment here and now.

I left today’s interesting discussion with John thinking, “this is not the same company Bill Gates ran day-to-day when a company I was a part of was a development partner way back when.”  That’s neither good nor bad, just different.  Evidence of this was present as I opened up my Macbook, put my iPhone down beside it and pulled out my iPad for good measure just for a reaction.  John said jokingly with a smile, “don’t worry my wife has the larger one (Macbook) and I’m not allowed to touch it.”  John certainly didn’t jump up and down in his chair when I pulled out all that Apple hardware, and that’s all I’ll say about that.  From what I heard today, this is also not a company that would be caught up in another anti-trust lawsuit because it’s bent on forcing decisions on the marketplace.  Especially in the context of the corporate culture.  John allowed me to peer into this culture through his passionate examples, and it’s fascinating stuff.  Maybe it’s the flavour of the Kool-Aid?  I’m not sure, but something has certainly changed at Microsoft, and in my estimation, for the better.  John bestowed on me, several examples of how through his work and that of his 29 other NTO colleagues around the world, are working to enable digital economies, strengthen online and offline communities by helping people, businesses, governments and their agencies export their strengths in ways that may not otherwise transpire.  That’s not to say that an “Open Microsoft” is void of internal or external competitiveness brought on by as John describes it, an enterprise-wide “entrepreneurial culture,” because that drive and determination certainly still exists.  There resides the big difference between Open government, “a model evolving from what is (in the case of Canada) well over a 140 years of “structure and process” which we both agree has yet to be truly defined and a more transparent and collaborative way of doing business.

So how do you describe this Open Microsoft?  John explains today’s Microsoft not as a “tanker” as I first suggested, but rather as a “flotilla” of various sized ships and speed boats representing various products and services which look to collaborate not only internally as a team but externally with communities, organizations and businesses of all types and sizes.  There is flexibility within the larger organization that we don’t always see and there in-lies part of the branding challenge.

Challenges like the one I asked John to describe related to the Microsoft brand.  That related “perception” baggage that tags along with them as they enter conference rooms.  Rooms or in one case, airport security, like the time John laid his Windows 7 bag down to be checked by security only to hear the sneering comment, “Windows 7 huh?  You’ve got to be kidding me, what do you work for Microsoft or something?”  Little did that airport security agent know that they were talking to someone who works to bridge global and digital communities, businesses and opportunities EVEN IF there isn’t Microsoft products and services as part of the package.

“Open” really is permeating throughout Microsoft on several levels according to John, and that my friends is very good for all of us, yes, even Mac users.  A lesson I think Steve Jobs, Apple and Adobe need to pay attention to and learn from as well.

Do you have a Microsoft story you’d like to share?  Feel free, John says that it’s important that Microsoft reach out to hold conversations about the brand and this is clear evidence of that.  Oh and something else John pointed out to me today, you know they’re serious about conversations because according to a recent survey, Microsoft employees are the most social media savvy in the world.  Hmm, imagine that.

Open Government Framework

As Chris Moore, CIO for the City of Edmonton states, it’s time to “enlarge the circle.”  With that in mind, I’m calling for an Open Alberta.  The Government of Alberta (GOA) needs to begin to put in place an Open Government Framework.  I think that there are many within government who understand that the GOA doesn’t have a monopoly on creating “public value.”  Citizens also have an opportunity, and in my opinion, a responsibility for creating value that positively impacts the quality of life for Albertans and Canadians.

If we take a moment to think about this, Open Government initiatives are a tremendous opportunity to share openly.  To communicate that the government is willing to listen and collaborate with citizens rather than simply appear to placate, which is so often the criticism many in the provincial government hear from Albertans.

Is Open Government risky?

I believe Open Government is only risky to those individuals working (at all levels) within government who would rather see citizens not enter the discussion and thereby affect the way their job is performed.  Unfortunately, these people exist, I know because from time to time I’ve had conversations with them.  You may know an elected official or bureaucrat that believes in this philosophy, claiming this is the way an efficient government works, “we know best and citizens need to butt out,” they’ll say.  This can be the result, when people don’t vote and/or get involved in public debate.

What about privacy?

Open Government doesn’t mean that the Government of Canada should start sharing everyone’s Social Insurance Numbers or personal information on a wiki.  What it does mean, is that data which is already generally available should be properly organized into machine readable formats and offered for use by the private sector or citizens.

Election Issue!

I suggest that during this municipal election year people make the concept of Open Government an election issue.  True, many elected officials have been sitting on the sidelines regarding the use of social media and Web 2.0 technologies.  This is no longer tolerable. Further, if the candidate for your ward, or those going to the top job of mayor know nothing about Open Government, don’t vote for them.  Simple. The same goes for the next provincial election, if your MLA, party of choice has not exhibited the fact that they understand, or the government hasn’t initiated an Open Government Framework by that time, don’t vote for them either.  Open Government isn’t the future, it’s the present.  If you don’t know about it you’re living in the past.  This isn’t about being harsh but direct.

Is it really that important?  Not only is Open Government important, it’s critical.  Critical that our leaders get this concept and move quickly in this direction.  Many have yet to realize that this is the most transformative time in government in our lifetime.  Hold meetings and chat all you want about how your government isn’t performing.  More than talk, Open Government is where the rubber meets the road, it’s transparency, participation and collaboration in action.  Open Government represents citizens and government elbow to elbow working together for a better future.

Live!

Here’s a special twist.  fusedlogic is proud to announce that we’ve been hired by the City of Edmonton to provide a live bilingual webcast of the event.  We’ve twisted the City’s arm (it didn’t take much) and asked if we could provide the live stream to others who may want to share it.  They said yes.

Hello embed code! If you’d like to generate traffic and attention to your Government 2.0 focused blog, website or community this is a terrific opportunity to provide content to your online community.  If you’re in the media and would like to have the stream on your site, let a thousand flowers bloom.

The City of Edmonton is listening to your Open Data ideas and they’re acting on it.

The spirit of this event is to share ideas and thoughts, learn and collaborate on the way forward.  It’s events like this that help to shape a city, everyone’s job is to come out and contribute directly or online.

Trust

One of the fundamental elements of an Open Government is trust.  The City of Edmonton said it would open its’ data, it has.  The City of Edmonton said it would expand this Open Data movement to the entire region so as to benefit all citizens, it is.  Citizens are often skeptical of government for many reasons not the least of which is they don’t feel their voice will be heard.  The City of Edmonton’s IT Branch is listening and led by Councillor Don Iveson, CIO Chris Moore, and the team in the IT Branch they’re acting on it.  Look out folks, this is only the beginning.

Special Guests: 3 impressive Open Government minds are flying in to Edmonton to participate on a Open Government panel.  David Eaves, Mark Kuznicki and Nicholas Charney I expect this to be great fun, and a tremendous learning experience.

See you on Saturday and follow along on Twitter using the Twitter hashtag – “yegdata”

Embed code will be provided for you on our site here:  http://fusedlogic.tv/events/yegdata/

More information on the event itself is on the City of Edmonton’s website

Register here to attend the FREE Open City Workshop

Thanks to all the organizations who participated:

Service Canada
Alberta Agriculture & Rural Dev.
Alberta Environment
Alberta Energy/information Tech.
Town of High River, AB
Metrolinx Ulistic Inc.
Royal Alberta Museum
Alberta Education
Red Deer County, Alberta
City of Red Deer, Alberta
Alberta Geological Society
National Energy Board
Edmonton International Airport
APEGGA
Govt. of the Northwest Territories
Town of High River, AB
AB School Empl. Benefit Plan
Strathcona County, AB
Alberta Utilities Commission
Alberta Education
Government of Alberta Office of the Auditor General
City of Fort Saskatchewan
WMS Communications
City of Kelowna, BC

PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS: Monday, January 25, 2010

9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

MORNING PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP

Social Media 101: How To Connect With Your Citizens And Colleagues Using The Latest Technologies
The world is all a buzz with social media, however there are significant hurdles that many leaders today still face with getting online and creating a buzz. How can you connect with your citizens and colleagues using social media? The Internet is all about connecting both technically and socially. How are you overcoming this challenge of connecting with your citizens and colleagues? Many of us look at the Internet and see a confusing mess of computers, laptops, and mobile phones while some of us look at the Internet and see a mesh of connected people, resources, companies and individuals. How are you seeing your place in social media?
Social media and networking has primarily been used as a tool to keep in touch with those external to our organizations, however many leading corporations also incorporate these techniques internally across departments and throughout the enterprise. In this workshop, you will hear how you can start using these tools internally with your teams, across your organization and also as a mechanism to share important information in an expedient manner.
After attending this workshop, you will walk away with new knowledge in 5 main areas to help you better understand how to use social media internally and externally. Specifically, we will take a hands-on approach on how to:

• Integrate social media into your organization
• Leverage social media to keep in touch with employees, team members and clients
• Design a blog – with tips and tricks to share your thoughts with those around you
• Write your message clearly and concisely
• Apply delivery mechanisms and alerts to notify you when new items are posted
• Use social networking to connect with your organization and audience

You will also leave with a solid foundation of understanding what the basic social media tools are and how to use them.

WORKSHOP LEADERS: Stuart R. Crawford is Vice President Business Development at Bulletproof InfoTech. Stuart has shared this information across the globe with IT Professionals, Small Business Owners and Entrepreneurs who crave to understand how they can leverage these tools to increase the awareness of their work, educate those around them and share information with their communities.
David West is the founding partner of Ulistic Inc., a progressive internet consultancy. His teams have developed hundreds of websites over the past dozen years. David began working with Internet technologies initially as a freelance website programmer. He later formed a full service website design and development company in Calgary, Alberta.

12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Afternoon break/lunch on your own.

1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
AFTERNOON PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP B

A Step-By-Step Process For Successfully Building And Implementing A Social Media Strategy

In this workshop, we will discover why it is so critical for your organization to have a strong social media strategy. Key insights that will accelerate your learning curve and help you avoid the mistakes others have made will be addressed. This live-fire exercise is best experienced when you come prepared with your mobile phones and laptops, ready to go online.
The workshop is broken into three segments. This interactive session will help you lay the foundation for your own social media strategy, and give you a step-by-step process for:

• Gathering social media intelligence
• Leveraging and building a social media strategy
• Implementing a social media strategy effectively

This fast-paced and entertaining session will give you some of the practical tools and ideas necessary to bring your organization up to speed in the world of social media.

WORKSHOP LEADER: Walter Schwabe is a seasoned presenter and speaker. He is proudly Métis and has been helping entrepreneurs generate and implement rare ideas for over 9 years now as the Chief Evolution Officer of his social media strategy firm, fusedlogic inc. In addition to working with numerous small and medium sized organizations, Walter has worked with such organizations as Apple, Dell, AMD, Capital Health, Government of Alberta, MacEwan School of Business, Nortel, North American Construction Group and the Business Development Bank of Canada.

AGENDA ~ Day One, Tuesday, January 26, 2010

8:00   Registration & Continental Breakfast

8:30      Chairperson’s Welcome, Opening Remarks And Presentation:

Capitalizing On Social Media: How An Organization Of Any Size Can Use Social Media To Generate Engagement And Be Successful

Walter Schwabe, fusedlogic inc.

9:35   Break-Out Blitz!  Share Your Challenges And Begin To Brainstorm Solutions

10:05 Morning Refreshment, Networking Break & Exhibit Time

10:35     Moving Towards Government 2.0: Using Gradual And Deliberate Steps To Gain

Management Acceptance And Citizen Engagement

Jas Darrah, City of Edmonton, Alberta

11:25     Making Sense Of Social Media: 12 Things To Learn About How To Communicate With Your Audience – Your Friends, Fans And Followers

Jacob George, City of Calgary, Alberta

12:15 Lunch On Your Own – But Not Alone!

Join a small group of your colleagues for lunch with an informal discussion facilitated

by one of our expert speakers.  Please sign up at the registration table.

1:45   Enriching Your Public Engagement Initiatives Through A Variety Of Social Media Tools

Nathan Freed, Alberta Education and Manon Abud, Ascentum, Inc.

2:35   Afternoon Refreshment, Networking Break & Exhibit Time

2:50   Cracking The Internal Culture:  How To Use Social Media As a Catalyst For Internal Change

Troy M. Wason, WMS Communications

(former Sr. Communications Officer–Social Media, Alberta Government Caucus)

3:40      How To Integrate Social Media With Traditional Media Relations To Maximize Communication Results

Diane Bégin, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT)

4:30   Close of Day One

4:45   Networking Reception – Please Join Us!

6:30      Dine Around – Sign up at the registration table for dinner with a group of your colleagues.

AGENDA ~ Day Two, Wednesday, January 27, 2010

8:00   Continental Breakfast, Networking & Exhibit Time

8:30   Chairperson’s Opening Of Day Two

Walter Schwabe, fusedlogic inc.

8:40   Using Social Media To Initiate Change In Government: It Starts With You

Kelly Rusk, MediaMiser

9:30   Morning Refreshment, Networking Break & Exhibit Time

10:00     How To Drive Higher Participation In Online Community Forums For More Effective Community Management

Dr. Crispin Butteriss, Bang the Table Pty. Ltd.

10:50     Monitoring Social Media: Knowing When And How To Take Action While Getting The Most Out Of Your Budget

Aaron Wrixon, Workplace Safety and Insurance Board of Ontario

11:40 Lunch On Your Own – But Not Alone!

Join a small group of your colleagues for lunch with an informal discussion facilitated by one of our expert speakers.  Please sign up at the registration table.

1:10   Group Exercise – Let’s Communicate and Collaborate!

1:50      The Social Media Toolbox: How To Choose The Right Tool For Your Communications Strategy And For Your Dollar

Mike Spear, Genome Alberta

2:40   Afternoon Refreshment, Networking Break & Exhibit Time

2:55   Using Social Media To Transform A Regional Economy

Glenn Taylor, Grande Alberta Economic Region & Town of Hinton, Alberta and K.J. (Ken) Chapman, Cambridge Strategies Inc.

3:45      Eight Ways To Engage Your Audience By Integrating Social Media Into Your Organization’s Website

Gisela Hippolt-Squair, Alberta Geological Survey, Energy Resources Conservation Board

4:35   Chairperson’s Recap:  Key Takeaways And What To Do When You Get Back To The Office

4:45       Close Of General Sessions

Thursday, January 28 (if applicable) in Mayfair:

– Continental Breakfast will be provided at 8:00 a.m. for the morning workshop attendees.

– Morning Post-Conference Workshop C, Managing Through The Power Shift Of This New Information Age And Convincing Your Senior Leaders Why Now Is The Time To Get Involved, begins at 8:30 a.m. & ends at 11:30 a.m.

– Afternoon Break/Lunch On Your Own from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

– Afternoon Post-Conference Workshop D, Practicing Social Media In The Real World: A Campaign In Action, begins at 12:30 p.m. & ends at 3:30 p.m.

Post Conference Workshops:

January 28, 2010 INTERACTIVE WORKSHOPS

8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
MORNING POST-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP C

Managing Through The Power Shift Of This New Information Age And Convincing Your Senior Leaders Why Now Is The Time To Get Involved
Information is power and the power over information has shifted from those who control traditional media and professional message makers and manipulators to individuals who use social media.
Social media will continue to change the roles, relationships and even the responsibilities of bureaucracies, public policy advisors and how they advise policy makers in the political process of law making in our representative democratic models. How will this power shift affect your organization? What if your senior leaders don’t want to engage in using social media?
In this session, we will greater explore tools you can use to achieve social media buy-in within your organization:

• Social media literacy skills and tools that bureaucracies will have to learn and learn quickly
• How bureaucracies can keep up with social media to do their jobs effectively
• How you can manage through the information shift in your organization
• Strategies on how to approach and convince your senior leaders that now is the time to begin using social media

WORKSHOP LEADER: K.J. (Ken) Chapman Lawyer, Principal and Founder of Cambridge Strategies Inc. (www.cambridgestrategies.com) an Alberta based public policy design development and deployment consultancy. He has been an active Blogger (www.ken-chapman.blogspot.com) for three years and a political and public policy commentator and critic on mainstream media for decades and engaged in social media for many months.

11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Afternoon break/lunch on your own.

12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
AFTERNOON POST-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP D

Practicing Social Media In The Real World: A Campaign In Action
Now that you have learned about all the social media tools and services that are at your disposal, it is finally time to put them into practice.
This workshop will guide you on how to:

• Set up a social media campaign from start to finish
• Pick the right social media tool for your campaign
• Track the conversation once you’ve gotten started
• Measure the ROI for your campaign
• Mitigate potential problems that can arise
• Prepare for a follow-up campaign

Additionally, we will also explore some real social media campaigns. What was done well? What could have been done better? You will leave with a better understanding of how to go from theory in the classroom to engaging citizens on the Internet.

WORKSHOP LEADER: Mack D. Male, President, CEO of Paramagnus Developments Inc., is a software developer, entrepreneur, and social media guy. Always up-to-date on the latest trends and technologies, Mack loves sharing what he learns with others. He’s particularly passionate about his hometown, Edmonton, and does his best to expose everything it has to offer, through his blog, Twitter account, and many other online tools and services. Mack was named one of Edmonton’s Top 40 Under 40 in 2009 for his work in helping to build Edmonton’s online communities.

Frankly, this is not a new concept.  Communicating ideas online has been happening for years in all sorts of ways.  What we’re suggesting is that this process can be chaotic and unorganized.  Our solution is to provide a very simple series of websites that empowers the everyday citizen.  There are so many citizens who may currently make limited use of the Internet in their lives.  We hope this very focused concept that’s easy to use will inspire them to contribute their great idea for their local city or town in just a click or two.

These sites will be providing the ability for local citizens to participate at their local level and potentially affect change on a macro-level.

Every time there is a new idea posted, the Twitter accounts for each site are updated. If you’d like to follow from Twitter, the usernames are @futureedmonton, @futurecalgary and @futurereddeer.

Here’s the twist:

We’re loosely tying these sites together to provide a macro perspective on the ideas of what Albertans are contemplating. Everything will be crowd-sourced, right down to “functionality requests” of the sites themselves and how they evolve. We believe the elegance of this concept is in it’s simplicity and we encourage you to participate by voting, commenting or submitting your own idea for your city.

We’re also launching a special offer for towns and cities in Alberta today so tune into Global Edmonton at 5pm.

I believe that your perception of a given situation is reality for you. In other words, if you perceive that the government isn’t transparent, then that’s your reality.

Here’s my perception based on what I’ve witnessed after having worked with government and advised government affiliated organizations on social media. Two internal cultural segments exist within government surrounding the discussion about the social web.

I designate those two segments as “the brave and the fearful.” The “brave” are those who read Groundswell and then attend conferences similar to the Advanced Learning Institute’s Social Media for Government event that’s wrapping up in Ottawa.

By the way, should you like to observe the conversation on twitter the hashtag is #ALI. Or, try the conversation by links like this PDF by @mikesgene which shows chatter about the usual suspects such as, YouTube, Facebook, Flickr, Second Life, wikis…etc. The undertone of these tweets is that many are focused on implementing the technology as soon as possible, which is where many begin their social media learning journey.

Heading home to join the conversation

Excited delegates are now heading back to their respective bureaucratic worlds filled with visions of changing their particular corner of the world by inspiring colleagues to “join the conversation.” Many will suggest starting a blog, creating a wiki, shooting pictures, video and as many that attended #ALI did, they’ll encourage others to quickly join the twitter community as well. A sort of “citizen journalism meets public sector mashup” if you will.

People like @pameladawn state on twitter that she is “taking what I learned at #ALI and heading back to Saskatchewan.” Who am I to argue with that? I think that’s great AND I think Pamela and her colleagues are probably in for a surprise.

Why? Because over the next few days all across Canada, as everyone shows up to their respective government offices, so too will the second segment of government in this discussion: the “fearful.” And thus the uphill battle begins with the non-believer. If there’s one thing that makes people in government and especially decision-makers nervous, it’s citizens with an opinion who know how to voice it by way of the social web.

Resistance to social media

To a certain extent I understand the root of the resistance. Afterall, often political careers and/or elections are built and destroyed based on a few well-timed words in the media that the social web picks up and runs with, here’s a real gem- case in point.

Pamela may experience frustration while some of her colleagues defend their resistance as being prudent, careful or even risk averse. That said, many of these intelligent, hard working folks won’t come right out and call their feelings what they really are, which is “ignorance driving fear.”

Regardless of how you perceive the resistance factor, experience has shown that these “anti-change agents” are a large barrier to progress into the social web. Sure there are pockets across this great country of activity where the planets have aligned and progressive thinking and open creative minds prevail, yes, even in government there are creative minds. I just simply wouldn’t bet my entire business on waiting for, as one twitter user @jdarrah called it “moving the glacier,” to actually happen at the speed of social media business.

Essentially, this is the “newly initiated and willing evangelist” trying to convince the “resistant and fearful” that having a transparent and open dialogue with the average citizen in a highly effective communications environment with little control over the end message is a good thing. That within government, there are better ways to listen, learn, collaborate, communicate and share ideas with constituents.

Social web victory

Is there a way forward for the newly initiated brave? Absolutely! Here’s one example of a brave leader who has looked to tackle a very tough world issue and by being incredibly brave has generated this awesome social web victory via youtube. However, Her Majesty Queen Raina of Jordan, despite having initially built up a tremendous amount of “social capital” with the human web, she too has lost momentum and along with it possibly opportunity to continue to build her quest to the next level. Having said that, I suspect we haven’t heard that last from the Queen on this issue of equality.

What many of the delegates at the #ALI conference will likely communicate on the conference wiki in a few weeks is that beyond the technology. The real work is done on issues like cultural differences and understanding, commitment and sustainability. These are the factors the must be successfully navigated in order to build lasting results.

As brand new twitter user @doctornaud said in their second ever tweet which was directed to me in response to my tweet about the fact that our governments are so far behind. “@fusedlogic I totally agree but we need to start somewhere.” Exactly right doc, exactly right.

When asking the average private citizen about whether they feel their government is transparent, chances are you’ll likely get sneers, chuckles accompanied by looks that communicate – “are you kidding me?” Well, ladies and gentlemen there are definitely elements within government that really do want increased transparency and more open communication. They’re excited to share the new knowledge they’ve just learned and would like to implement social media solutions to accomplish that goal. That to me is highly cool and it needs to be supported.

ChangeCamp Edmonton

Those of you who consider yourself a part of this group are not out in the cold. Consider joining us at ChangeCamp Edmonton. I guarantee this journey will collectively test our will, patience, creativity and bravery. Further, I believe it will be incredibly fun and rewarding as well.

Chances are that many are about to learn what I perceive to be the most important thing about social media, beyond the technology, social media takes serious dedication and a long-term commitment coupled with brave and meaningful human interaction in order to be really successful.

Walter Schwabe

In the spirit of sharing some business news during Small Business Week (and condensing posts because I’m so busy lately,) here’s some interesting new information for you.  Some of you may remember a video I shot earlier this year with Peter Urban of Smibs (featured below.)  At the time, SmibsNet (a collaboration and networking software for businesses) wasn’t ready for public beta.   That all changed last Tuesday with the launch of the public beta and Peter asked me while on Twitter the other day if I’d blog about it.  Peter provided me with a personal invite to sign-up for the beta and fusedlogic is now listed on the site.  This software is very cool and helps to solve the business development collaboration issue that many companies have.  I suggest that you consider signing up and trying it out.

Sidenote: Peter did agree to call me so I could asked him some specific questions as prep for a more in- depth blog post but if you know Peter, he’s hard working and a beta takes a lot of effort.  I’m sure he wasn’t going out of his way to ignore me.   Besides we bump into each other all the time at events and around the neighborhood.  Maybe he’ll bring his SmibsTV crew down the Web 2.0 meetup and present SmibsNet there on Nov 6th.   Below is the video interview with Peter some months ago on Whyte Ave in Edmonton.

Also, Peter if you’re reading this and I know you are, Smibs needs to be a Sherwood Park Chamber member right away…expect me to be relentless on this point.

WARNING:  There are a few instances of swearing and use of the “F” word in this video, so if that offends you DON’T WATCH.   Oh and thanks to @creativesage on Twitter for bringing this video to my attention.