Right Up Your Alley: Kamloops

Kamloops Election Results

Looking for results of the May 12, 2009 provincial election, such as Kamloops-North Thompson, Kamloops-South Thompson, and the Referendum on Electoral Reform? Click here for that information

The Conservative gamble paid off in Kamloops--Thompson--Cariboo this evening, as Cathy McLeod took the riding with a significant margin of victory.

UPDATE: With all polls reporting, Ms. McLeod captured 46% of the votes cast, out-polling not only two-time NDP candidate Michael Crawford (35.9%), but also retired Conservative MP Betty Hinton's results from the two of the last three elections (2006 - 39.3%, 2004 - 40.4%, 2000 - 50.3%). The chart above right (image and data courtesy of Pundit's Guide to Canadian Federal Elections) shows the popular vote received by the different parties in this riding over the past four elections, where light blue represents Conservative votes, yellow represents Green votes, orange represents NDP votes, and red represents Liberal votes.

As you can see, the big story is the collapse of the Liberal vote, which has bled off to the Conservatives, NDP, and Greens. In fact, Green candidate Donovan Cavers picked up 8.1% of the vote, less than two points back of the votes garnered by Liberal Ken Sommerfeld (10%).

It's got to be a heartbreaking loss for Mr. Crawford, who has campaigned almost non-stop since the last election. With another minority Conservative government it would make sense for the local NDP to keep their best foot forward, but one has to wonder whether their candidate will be up for another tilt.

Nationally, Prime Minister Harper managed to increase his mandate with respect to the number of seats and popular vote. However he ran into a wall in both Newfoundland & Labrador (where he was locked out) and Quebec (where he retained roughly the same number of seats). It was Quebec however where he had hoped to break through into majority territory.

During national coverage on CTV, Lloyd Robertson and Craig Oliver speculated about the impact of Quebec denying the Conservatives a majority. Mr. Oliver suggested that there will be lingering resentment among some Alberta Conservatives. Given Mr. Harper's gracious acceptance speech however, I doubt he will abide by that kind of sentiment, especially given it was the Conservatives, not the Bloc, which announced funding cuts for artists prior to the election.

While the move may have played well in some rural ridings, it was head-shakingly stupid for any party trying to make inroads in Quebec to suggest that arts (read: culture) should lose federal dollars.

The move got Quebec voters' back up in two ways; 1). governments in Quebec are expected to play an active role supporting and growing Québécois culture, and; 2). when the feds dictate how tax dollars will be spent, it stirs nationalist sentiment. One has to wonder whether any of the incumbent Conservatives in Quebec raised their hand to say,"Non" when the issue came up. Given the very small number of tax dollars at stake, and the entirely foreseeable manner in which the Bloc Québécois would run with the issue, one has to wonder about the party's french-speaking brain trust.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO vote swapping on Facebook? The story was that disaffected, Anyone But Conservative voters would use the social networking site to swap their votes with voters in other ridings in an effort to defeat Conservatives in vulnerable ridings, like Parry Sound-Muskoka, where Minister of Health Tony Clement won his seat by a mere 28 votes in 2006. So what happened? Mr. Clement won the riding with an absolute majority: 50.2% of the vote. See what happens when you prostitute your vote?

SPECULATION ALERT: During his acceptance speech, Mr. Harper extended a hand to the other parties for the benefit of Canadians. Given his creative cabinet appointments after the last election, watch for the Prime Minister to make a similar appointment this time round. Can you say, "Elizabeth May, Minister of Splitting the Liberal Vote?" :~/

To share your thoughts about Stephen Harper, Stephen Dion, the federal election, Stephen Dion, Elizabeth May, Gilles Duceppe, the Bloc Québécois, the Liberals, the Conservatives, the NDP, the Green Party, vote swapping, Facebook, Cathy McLeod, Michael Crawford, Ken Sommerfeld, Donovan Cavers, Lloyd Robertson, Craig Oliver, Kamloops--Thompson--Cariboo, the future of this minority government, or anything else about this post with Right Up Your Alley: Kamloops readers, just click on "Comments" (below).

Where Do I Vote in Kamloops--Thompson-Cariboo?

Looking for Kamloops voting locations, Kamloops polling stations, and Kamloops advance voting for the May 12, 2009 provincial election? Click here for that information

Election day is here, if you need some help finding your polling station or discovering what the process looks like, check out the information below.

I have included some cursory information lifted directly from the Elections Canada web site to assist in the event that the Elections Canada web site is down (it was responding slowly to my clicks this morning, and others have also experienced slow responses at it appears the web site has been struggling under the strain of much traffic this morning).

Do not assume that this information is correct! For definitive information, call Elections Canada at 1-866-545-0469 or 1-800-463-6868 for information on how where to vote.

Kamloops--Thompson--Cariboo electoral district:

What kind of Identification do I need?

• In order to vote, you will need, a valid piece of ID containing your photo, name, and address (a driver's licence). Or you can use two valid pieces of ID containing your name. One must also contain your address (ie. SIN card and residential telephone bill).
• If you do not have a piece of ID with the needed address on it, you can also swear an oath, and be vouched for by another elector who is registered within your designated polling division and has the  required identification.

Where do I vote?

The media contact for Elections Canada told me this morning that they do not publish a list of polling stations, as every voter has already been assigned a specific polling station. This means that you can't just walk in to any polling station and vote; if you do arrive at the wrong polling station, you will be directed to your appropriate polling station (the policy for provincial elections in BC is different).

Make sure you go to the right polling station! Call Elections Canada at either of:

• 1-866-545-0469
• 1-800-463-6868
  

Or, go online at the Elections Canada polling station database for information on your specific polling station.

Am I on the voting list?

You must contact the office of your returning officer for an answer to this question. Please contact the following returning office at this link or below:

• Main office of the returning officer:

• Location: Sahali Shopping Centre   
• Address: 945 Columbia Street West, Suite 12, Kamloops, British Columbia, V2C 1L5
• Hours of operation: Monday to Friday:  9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. 
• Name of returning officer: Carolyn Secret  
• Toll-free phone number: 1 866 545-0469 
• Toll-free fax number: 1 888 329-0264
• Additional office of the returning officer
  
  • Location: Provincial Court Building
  • Address: 160C Cedar Avenue North, 100 Mile House, British Columbia, V0K 2E0
  • Name of additional assistant returning officer: William A. Foster  
  • Toll-free phone number: 1 866 754-5432
  • Toll-free fax number: The fax number is not available. Please contact the main office of the returning officer. 

Who are the candidates?  

This list of confirmed candidates for Kamloops--Thompson--Cariboo was issued on Thursday, September 25, 2008.  

• Donovan Grube Cavers (Green Party of Canada) Status:  Confirmed
  • Name of party: Green Party of Canad
• Office phone number: (250) 374-0601
• Name of official agent: Matthew Greenwood
• Name of auditor:  Jayson Bruno
• Michael Crawford (New Democratic Party) Status:  Confirmed
• • Name of party:  New Democratic Party
  • Office phone number:  (250) 573-3677
  • Name of official agent:Mitchell Stefanek
  • Name of auditor:  Robert L. Enns
• Cathy McLeod (Conservative Party of Canada) Status:  Confirmed
• • Name of party:  Conservative Party of Canada
  • Office phone number:  (250) 434-6484
  • Name of official agent:Dennis Riccardo Piva
  • Name of auditor:  Jerry Spice 
• Ken Sommerfeld (Liberal Party of Canada) Status:  Confirmed
• • Name of party:  Liberal Party of Canada
  • Office phone number:  
  • Name of official agent:Christopher John Wilkinson
  • Name of auditor:  Jerry Spice  

To share your thoughts about Elections Canada or anything else about this post with Right Up Your Alley: Kamloops readers, just click on "Comments" (below).

Armchair Electorism

This weekend's edition of Kamloops This Week promimently featured a story about vote-swapping, entitled Vote-swapping across cyberspace. Vote-swapping, a practice in which voters from different ridings agree to strategically vote against their conscience in an attempt to influence election outcomes, has become a novelty pastime with armchair activists across Canada this election season.

The most frequent argument for vote-swapping in this campaign is that it will help coalesce the votes who are currently split between multiple parties on the centre-left, so as to overcome the party on the right (the Conservatives).

Frequently mixed in with (to the point that it is often indistinguishable from) this message is activism against Canada's First-Past-The-Post voting system. The suggestion is that if another voting system was in place, vote swapping wouldn't be necessary. David Thompson of the thetyee.ca recently posted that, "strategic voting is only necessary because Canada still suffers under the first-past-the-post system". And as the people behind Facebook's Anti-Harper Vote Swap Canada explain, the primary goals of this group consist of:

A) Allow third parties to flourish and maintain Canada's multi-party system.
B) Help stop a Harper Majority! If the Tories win big, we all lose equally.
C) Raise awareness about the need for electoral reform - people should not have to go to such lengths to ensure that their vote is not 'wasted.' No party should be elected to a majority with less than 50% of the popular vote.

It strikes me that this justification for vote-swapping has really turned the practice into a substitute for, rather than an demonstration of, electoral activism.

As posted in this space a year ago (Elector, Heal Thyself!, 07-Sep-08), building a tent big enough to  win an election and implement progressive policy is hard work...

Our electoral system is not broken, and neither is the party system. What sometimes gets broken however, is the parties themselves.

Case in point the Progressive Conservatives, which in 1993 lost all but two of their 151 seats in the House of Commons. The Bloc Québécois formed the official opposition with just 13.52% of the popular vote, while the Progressive Conservatives and Reform parties polled with 18.69% and 13.52% of the popular vote, respectively. The right took a well-deserved beating in that election, but developed such a taste for its own blood in the process that it didn't manage to put a winning formula together for another 13 years.

The solution to the right's demise was its willingness to embrace renewal while accepting a spectra of opinions within the coalition.

Now let's look at the left; the NDP has been flanked by the growth of the Green Party in both federal and provincial elections, much like the Green Party and Ralph Nader have disrupted Democratic election results in the United States. Buzz Hargrove of the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) saw the writing on the wall in the run-up to the 2006 federal election, and bucked years of tradition by backing then-Prime Minister Paul Martin and the Liberal party rather than his brothers and sisters in the NDP. It didn't work, but he had the right idea.

In 1990, Robert J. Jackson and Doreen Jackson published the 2nd edition of Politics in Canada (Prentice-Hall Canada Ltd.), in which they wrote:

Electoral systems do not determine the nature of party systems, nor the type of government, majority or minority, single-party or coalition, in any country. Governmental outcomes are largely a function of the balance of party forces: the party system, in turn, is largely shaped by a country's political culture and social structure and by the electoral behaviour of its citizens.

Canada doesn't need a new electoral system, and neither does British Columbia. Why legislate, when the power to build winning coalitions already lays within the hands of the members and leaders of our political parties? The problem is that the parties on the left apparently still haven't experienced enough pain to resolve the problem on their own, hence the cry for an electoral system that will allow them to avoid the hard work of building bridges instead of silos.

For those activists who are too work averse or hard-headed to build a big tent, there's always the other option: popular support.

BC's carbon tax is a good example of how issues are often most effectively championed by the very parties that appear to be part of the problem. Gordon Campbell saw an opportunity to garner more votes by implementing a carbon tax. While the policy shift has seen a lot of criticism (from the provincial NDP, no less!), the Liberals have now effectively commandeered an issue that had been owned by the environmentally-friendly oppositon. If an issue enjoys enough support to influence widespread voting behaviour, fundamental change is not only possible, but probable, reqardless of the voting system in place.

Sadly for slacker activists, building popular support for an issue among voters sounds like a lot of work too.

It's likely that some misguided voters in this riding will swap their votes on Tuesday. But before they cast someone else's vote, I encourage them to read these thoughts presented by other Canadians (of various partisan and non-partisan stripes):

• Pundit's Guide to Canadian Federal Elections (non-partisan): Think Twice About Voting Strategically
• Dipper Chick (NDP): VOTE SWAP is a sham
• DevinJohnston.ca (NDP): Strategic Voting, Vote Swapping, and Democratic Reform
• John Laforet's Blog (Liberal): Vote Swapping Stupid, but Legal
• The Invisible Hand (Conservative): Strategic Stupidity

To share your thoughts about vote swapping, vote pairing, strategic voting, the federal election, first past the post, mixed member plurality, proportional representation, armchair activism, or anything else about this post with Right Up Your Alley: Kamloops readers, just click on "Comments" (below).

No Grey Lady

On July 9, 1998, after an uninterrupted run of monochrome glory spanning more than a century and half, the Old Grey Lady of Canadian newspapers - The Globe and Mail - responded to competitive pressures by belatedly embracing full-colour editorial content.

Ten years later, stylistic decisions that handcuffed Canada's largest daily in the nineties seem pretty straightforward in retrospect. While the large-scale shift of advertising dollars from print to online media is crippling American newspapers, north of the 49th parallel newspaper revenues are pretty stable overall due in part to "robust growth in online ad sales".

Last week, on the anniversary of the Old Grey Lady's makeover, Kamloops This Week and its parent Black Press provided a local example of how some Canadian newspapers are meeting the Internet challenge, by unveiling a variety of stylistic and content changes to the newspaper's web site instead of its paper manifestation. In this case, rather than signaling a concession to the marketplace, these incremental and ongoing changes instead demonstrate a wholesale commitment to becoming a different kind of news delivery vehicle.

The previous format of the KamloopsThisWeek.com / BCLocalNews.com web site (pictured below), was first introduced about a year ago. That presentation was very similar to the newspaper, but unfortunately that strength was also a weakness, as it boxed the highly visual, highly interactive potential of the Internet within the confines of a more traditional and static display.

In addition to a new layout and colour scheme, a variety of menu options have been introduced or expanded upon within the new design (below), including ticker tape news headlines, a community calendar (currently empty, but with a crowd-pleasing RSS feed), weather (complete with a global warming blog), horoscopes, lotteries, comics, and a renewed focus on Blogs written by Black Press staff.

Visitors are now treated to a much more visually-oriented experience, including the very nice touch of pictures within local obituaries. The "Videos from Around BC" tile on the home page is quite tactile, practically inviting the viewer to click and view (in this case, a short unannounced recording of fire fighting efforts in Dallas over the weekend, shot by Editor Christopher Foulds). Getting visitors to click is the trick; news and media web sites have some of the highest bounce rates among industries, so retaining visitors for a couple more page views (and ad impressions) is a solid good outcome.

My favorite feature? I can start a video, then continue to click n' browse on the home page while the video news item plays uninterrupted. Very nice!

The Black Press Internet platform appears to be managed corporately, rather than by any Kamloops-based developers. I personally like the results; the KTW news team is acquiring new skills (video reporting, near-time news delivery, etc.) which remain focused on the existing core competency, news. Meanwhile, the mother ship manages critical, but non-core functions like the technology platform.

These changes will undoubtedly help Kamloops This Week and Black Press retain and grow online revenues. But in some markets critics have expressed the concern that centralized corporate control could displace local editorial independence.

What do you think?

To share your thoughts about Kamloops This Week, Black Press, traditional media, media convergence, or anything else about this post with Right Up Your Alley: Kamloops readers, just click on "Comments" (below).

Where once witty blogger was, now feeling dumber is

 I should have known better.

Just a few hours ago I was patting myself on the back for penning my first post in more than a month.

The Kamloops News ran a story Saturday about councilor/blogger Arjun Singh's decision to out an anonymous commenter on his blog. I criticized the story for looking to a professional - albeit blogging - journalist (Sean Holman of the Public Eye Online) for his thoughts about Mr. Singh's decision, because I felt that it wasn't fair to assess the local blogger based upon journalistic principles that really aren't relevant to to him. Despite a lifetime of experience that has taught me the dangers of doing so, after wittily including a YouTube video of the Cookie Monster to really drive my point home, I indulged the urge to enjoy a moment of satisfaction with myself .

Then this evening, after returning from night out at the movies with my Dad and a buddy, I checked my voice mail.

There, along with several other messages, was a Friday morning request (I'm on my own this weekend, no spouse or kids around the house to blame for the missed messages) from Michele Young of the Kamloops News asking for my thoughts about the evolving story. She said she was looking for some perspective from a local blogger before going to press.

So Ms. Young, although I didn't name you as the author, please accept my sincere apologies for criticizing your story when in fact you did attempt to balance it with input from a local blogger. Where once witty blogger was, now feeling dumber is.

To share your thoughts about instant karma, balanced reporting, or anything else about this post with Right Up Your Alley: Kamloops readers, just click on "Comments" (below).

Arjunymous Blog

Things have been very busy over the past couple of months, with much travel for business, and a little for pleasure, keeping me occupied and apparently too worn down to even form an opinion. However I seldom find anything as motivating as a kick in the ass, which I received last Saturday morning courtesy of Michelle Young of the Kamloops Daily News.

Now, Ms. Young didn't deliver the kick in the ass so much as represent(!) it. While waiting for our respective children at a sports event we talked a little about her work, and I asked how many stories she writes in a day. Suffice to say that when council meets, it's a lot. It brought to mind a similar conversation with Dale Bass some time ago. Reflecting upon how these two veteran lady journalists turn out such a volume of stories with daily - or, every-other-daily - regularity as it were, rendered me a little sheepish for having avoided my own posts for so long.

Anyways, combine that with the stories these two ladies just wrote in their respective newspapers regarding Arjun Singh's semi-outing of an anonymous commenter, and suddenly I feel the compulsion to share.

Mr. Singh published a post on his "Your Kamloops" blog on Friday in which he drew a somewhat straight line between anonymous comments on his blog and the Kamloops law firm of Morelli Chertkow. While I have been generally impressed by Mr. Singh's ability to take criticism on the chin, this knee-jerk reaction strikes me as a little sensitive and more than a little targeted at veteran Councilor (and Morelli Chertkow lawyer) John O'Fee.

In a subsequent series of comments on the post, Mr. O'Fee challenged the propriety of the post given the blog's prior record on anonymous comments, to which Mr. Singh responded,

"...you should know that someone in your law firm is posting inflammatory comments during business hours. I personally think that is inappropriate, and is the main reason that I wrote about it. This outweighs, in my view, any right to anonymity.

For the record, I welcome critical comments on this blog. All the comments are still posted untouched. I reserve the right though to research where those comment come from and publicly talk about them.

Is it not a problem, for your perspective, that of the comments from Jake, JR, Big Betty, etc are being posted during office hours, from your law firm's computers.?

That doesn't wash, according to Mr. O'Fee's comments to Kamloops This Week, "I mean, come on, Arjun. You seem to be obsessed with tracking down your critic.”

I'm not sure I would call tracking IP addresses obsessive. It's actually rather common behaviour among technologists, whether or not they blog. I too have researched the people who have commented on Right Up Your Alley: Kamloops posts, typically in an attempt to better understand their perspectives, but also in an attempt to inform myself about the issues over which my commentators seem to have a stronger command. And that doesn't leave many stones unturned!

Now, on this blog identities have remained anonymous because I don't really see the point in outing them, although in some cases the people behind these anonymous comments have flaunted their identity to me in private while bearing their fangs at me (and others) anonymously in public. Poor manners? Check. S.N.A.F.U. on the Internet? Check.

It does seem rather disingenuous of Mr. Singh to excuse himself with concerns about his visitors' workplace activities; as an experienced technology commentator surely he is familiar with the enormous amount of personal Internet activity pursued during working hours. But if he is that concerned about workplace productivity, why hasn't he reported similar investigations on the regulars who frequently leave positive comments on his blog?

In the end however, just because I blog doesn't mean I am qualified to judge another blogger's practices; very few of us follow established codes of ethics. So why do some of the local media insist on holding Mr. Singh to their professional journalistic standards?

In its Saturday coverage of the story (persistence, please!), the Kamloops News quotes the publisher and editor Sean Holman of the Public Eye Online as saying (emphasis my own),

"As a journalist, I consider when people publish comments on my site, I consider those to be comments from off the record sources, almost. So I wouldn’t violate their privacy"

Interviewing another journalist about this story makes about as much sense as asking a real estate agent whether you should inoculate your child. The fact that Sean Holman runs one of the most popular blogs in BC may on the surface appear relevant, but the similarity is skin deep. Mr. Holman is a veteran and award-winning print journalist (now or previously with the Globe and Mail, the Wall Street Journal's Dow Jones News Service, the Victoria Times Colonist, the Vancouver Sun, and 24 Hours), radio personality, journalism instructor, and publisher. Mr. Singh is a technophile and a local politician. One of these things is not like the other.

I support Mr. Singh's independence as a blogger, but suspect that his broadside in Mr. O'Fee's direction has more to do with solidifying his own position as a political outsider in the run-up to the municipal election than anything else. Mr. Singh doesn't need to beat Mr. O'Fee (who is arguably our most effective local politician) in the polls, he just needs to finish in the top eight. And galvanizing his base by feeding their suspicions that the establishment is "out to get him", certainly won't hurt his chances at the polls.

To share your thoughts on ethics for bloggers, the differences and similarities between bloggers and journalists, anonymity, politicos, anything else about this post with Right Up Your Alley: Kamloops readers, just click on "Comments" (below).

Black Press Delivers Video to BC Newspapers

Black Press unveiled the latest stage of its Internet strategy this month when it introduced streaming video news stories, which are now accessible to visitors of all Black Press newspaper web sites in BC via the company's consolidated web platform, www.BCLocalNews.com.

As reported here in January, the BC Black Press BC web property already compares quite favourably to other media web sites in the Interior. Now, with the introduction of video news stories, Canada's largest independent newspaper chain is flexing its muscle while much of the competition - especially here in Kamloops - appears rather flat-footed in comparison.

The first video news story, a Chilliwack Progress story published February 8, covered the deaths of two pedestrians in traffic on the Trans Canada Highway under the Lickman Road overpass. The story primarily consists of drivers recounting their experience and responding to questions asked by an off-camera reporter, while the camera captures flashing police lights and cars crawling by on the #1.  For those of us who are accustomed to broadcast reporters who often interpret events as much as cover them, it looks pretty sparse. But if you want your news update now, in both written and video format, and like the option of being able to go back and view 3 weeks later, there's a lot here to like.

Since that first story, The Saanich News, The Langley Times, The Abbotsford News, The Richmond Review, have all published stories with integrated media, including both newspaper-style written coverage and audio-video reports. Even BC Local News itself published a brief 28-second clip, shot inside he Surrey Leader newsroom, of staff donning pink "Bullying Stops Here" t-shirts.

Aside from the fact that Black Press has taken the video plunge, what I love about its approach is that it is threading the needle by incorporating video one newspaper at a time and one story at a time, rather than attempting to launch the initiative simultaneously across the entire newspaper group. This how projects get done, rather than undone.

Congratulations Black Press. When can we expect video stories from Kamloops This Week?

To share your thoughts about Black Press, local media properties, or media convergence in Kamloops or elsewhere with Right Up Your Alley: Kamloops readers, click on "Comments" (below).

 

Angus Reid Adverpoll Reports Improbable Results

Well, the needle has finally moved on Angus Reid's advertisement, or poll, or whatever the heck it is that asks Kamloops residents to rate the performance of Kamloops mayor Terry Lake.

Those of you who who visited this space back in December may recall a thread of discussion about these... OK, let's call them adverpolls for lack of a better word. They're everywhere; Angus Reid Forum uses them to generate interest and new participants in its market research initiatives. When I posted about the adverpoll - which at the time was reporting a 60/40 split against Mayor Lake - the mayor responded that in fact the adverpoll had reported the same result for at least 6 months, despite the best efforts of his supporters.

So, the results of this Angus Reid adverpoll have finally changed, although certainly not in the mayor's fortune, but instead rather decidedly and improbably against Mr. Lake.

As you can see from before two images below, the first image shows the adverpoll's question, while the second image shows the current result.

Despite the flack the mayor has received regarding back yard barbeques and whatnot, is it really possible that 100% of "a selection of website visitors who voluntarily answered the question" voted against the mayor? Granted, the disclaimer indicates it is an "unscientific poll", but still, if at one point it showed 40% in favour, how can it now indicate just 0% in favour? What happened to those "Yes" votes that had been counted to December?

Insofar as Angus Reid Forum adverpolls are interactive, they are excellent advertising; the local poll certainly hooked me right away. Given the extent to which Angus Reid Forum has reproduced them in other communities across Canada, I suspect they have been a very effective draw that have helped the company grow its market research efforts.

However, as Kamloops This Week Editor Christopher Foulds commented in December, "... the 'Terry Lake' question is not a poll". That may be, but to this unassuming participant it looks like a poll despite the "unscientific poll" disclaimer, which in essence seems more like industry shorthand for doing pretty well whatever one wants, and still calling the thing a poll.

Public Agenda publishes a guideline for journalists to help them determine which polls should be covered; the very first question a journalist should ask is, "Who did the poll?... because reputation is important to a quality firm, a professionally conducted poll will avoid many errors." Now, the average online Canadian may not read guidance intended for journalists, but it's not rocket science that a good reputation lends credibility. I question whether lending one's credibility to a campaign that creates more confusion, misinformation, or disinformation in the arena of political polling is an undertaking in which Angus Reid should be engaged.

Since we last visited this issue in December, the polling firm has changed the adverpoll disclaimer, having dropped the last sentence, "For scientific polls conducted by Angus Reid Strategies, visit www.angusreidstrategies.com". So, given that Angus Reid has already demonstrated some flexibility might I suggest that the disclaimer again be further amended to include language that unambiguously indicates the "unscientific poll" is actually an advertisement?

Disclaimers are commonly used when an advertisement could be mistaken for something else. Consider infomercials, upon which we often see a disclaimer to the effect of, "the following program is a paid advertisement". The infomercial analogy isn't perfect, as the broadcaster may require disclaimer language, while the Internet is really more like the lawless wild west. But still, shouldn't we expect the straight goods from Angus Reid?

Try the poll yourself, here. What do you think? To share your thoughts about advertising, adverpolls, gullible bloggers, the Terry Lake poll specifically, or polling generally with Right Up Your Alley: Kamloops readers, click on "Comments" (below).

Media Spotlight on Kamloops Blogs? It Ain't Nothin' But a Zen Thing

If bloggers crave attention, Daily News editor Mel Rothenburger dished up a round on the house this past Saturday with his Armchair Mayor column, in which he provided readers with an introduction to, and brief assessment of, the Kamloops blogging scene. The column, Beware mainstream media: the bloggers are here provides a timely counterpoint to my own recent examinations of Kamloops' major media web properties.

<<< OK, if you made it through that last sentence without snickering, go back and read it again to the tune of Carly Simon's You're So Vain. >>>

The former Kamloops mayor gave top marks to media professionals who blog, a number of whom are employed by his newspaper. Amateur bloggers (including yours truly) received a little more scrutiny, which oddly enough is exactly the thing that many amateur bloggers both desire and fear.

For the most part Mr. Rothenburger is right on the money about blogger sensitivity; discussions about real and perceived slights can often take on a life of their own. Case in point is the story about the Tournament Capital Centre's basketball hoops over at www.KamloopsInsideOut.ca, and the subsequent coverage of the same story in the Daily News. When one considers the parallel discussions of the issue at ProBlogger.net and WritingForward.com, the combined thread now includes more than 80 posts and comments!

While Mr. Rothenburger stops at referring to the lot of us bloggers as, "sensitive" and "self-absorbed", others aren't nearly so restrained in their criticism. Author, broadcaster, and silicon value entrepreneur Andrew Keen, for example, wrote the book on us. In Cult of the Amateur: How today's Internet is killing our culture, Mr. Keen argues that, “what the Web 2.0 revolution is really delivering is superficial observations of the world around us rather than deep analysis, shrill opinion rather than considered judgment.” Damn... if it hadn't been for Mr. Keen and his big mouth, we would have pinned the death of culture on that guy who makes antler lamps years ago!

Anyways, all this online dialogue is something that newspapers can and should be putting to good use. Some Canadian and US newspapers are responding to the blogging phenomenon by selecting amateur political commentary posted on their own newspaper web sites, and incorporating it into ongoing election coverage. Why? Well, because a lot of people are opinionated and self-absorbed!

By selecting and printing just a single column-inch of amateur commentary per day, these newspapers attract repeated online visits by more people who hope to see their own names and opinions in print. And by growing the reader/writer relationship from two dimensions on paper into something that includes an intimate and interactive online experience, newspapers have an opportunity to convert dwindling print subscribers into committed online participants. And of course, more eyeball$ for advertisers.

So, in counter-counterpoint Mr. Rothenburger, mainstream media needn't beware the blogger. Rather, if you don't mind shouldering some of the responsibility for the death of culture, instead consider becoming one with the blogger. Ommmmm...

P.S. - To Mr. Rothenburger's point about my run-on Blog Disclaimer and Comments Policy, in retrospect I did incorporate pretty well everything I could think of or copy that might C.M.A. (a not-so-insignificant task in Canada), other than of course the option of keeping my mouth closed. While it may not be the most elegant, sound, or effective blog policy around, at almost 500 words surely it must be one of the longest!

To share your thoughts about free speech, blogging, antler lamps, the media, or the death of culture with Right Up Your Alley: Kamloops readers, click on "Comments" (below).

 

Calgary Notes

A few miscellaneous notes from a business trip to Calgary this week:

1. Bolero Restaurant: I was lucky this trip to get away from the hotel Wednesday evening for a dinner meeting. My guest was local, and suggested we dine at Bolero, the Brazilian churrascaria (or barbecue) restaurant above the Smuggler's Inn on MacLeod Trail, which was in December named by Where Magazine as one of the Top 10 New restaurants in Canada for 2007. The food was excellent. The rodizio format meant we paid one flat fee while helping ourselves to a wide variety of rotisserie meats which the wait staff circulated throughout the restaurant, slicing off portions from large skewers for those with a green light on their table; once you get stuffed, you flip it over to the red light. The fair ranged from coconut rice and and superlative salad bar to rack of lamb, chicken, beef, seafood, and pork on skewers. Overall rating: good enough to bring home a souvenir menu.

2. David Suzuki caused quite a stir in Calgary when he suggested to a Montreal audience recently that politicians should be imprisoned for the "intergenerational crime" of ignoring climate change science. Mr. Suzuki challenged attendees of the McGill Business Conference on Sustainability to, "put a lot of effort into trying to see whether there's a legal way of throwing our so-called leaders into jail because what they're doing is a criminal act."

Mr. Suzuki's repeats his claims of "intergenerational crime" here on his web site. So, we the electorate elect leaders who reflect our collective will, and like us many of those leaders in practice demonstrate a preference for economy over the environment, wealth over conservation, and words over action. And somehow the politicians should be imprisoned for reflecting our own hypocrisy? Nice grandstanding Mr. Suzuki, but our prison system is a few million beds shy of the capacity necessary to house the rest of us who are complicit in these "crimes".

3. The provincial writ has just been dropped in Alberta, but the battle is already heating up on Facebook, where the NDP out in front with social networking campaign with which the party hopes to influence undecided voters. What I find fascinating about this is that many people include professional colleagues as "friends" on their social networking profiles; does this mean that politics is coming out of the closet as a topic of discussion in the workplace? So much for Canadian sensibilities about such taboo subject matter; before you know it, we'll be talking about religion in mixed company!

PS - Watch for organized Facebook campaigns in the BC municipal elections coming to your town this fall!

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Online Media Properties in Kamloops: Newspaper

In this continuing series of posts about online media properties in Kamloops, today's installment provides an assessment and comparison of local newspaper web sites.

As with the television assessment (posted here), the small number of major newspapers in Kamloops made a straight-up comparison difficult. As a result, I also evaluated the web site of the Prince George Citizen. The Internet is a pretty dynamic place, so I expect that some of the things described below may be obsolete in short order, however as of today this information is as accurate as I can make it.

As indicated back in December when I assessed the online presence of Kamloops radio stations, last spring Borrell Associates reported that newspapers are actually selling more local online video advertising than TV stations, accounting for 50% of total online video ad revenue whereas TV generated just 20%. It's difficult to sell advertising when you can't deliver eyeballs however, so this finding suggests that by and large, newspapers are embracing the Internet as a fundamental element of their revenue and content distribution strategies.

Not surprisingly, what I found is that two of the three newspaper web sites reviewed - Kamloops This Week and Prince George Citizen - did in fact present a much more compelling experience than the broadcaster web sites based in Kamloops. The web site for the Kamloops Daily News meanwhile, appears to be about even with local broadcaster web sites. The most fascinating aspect of the Kamloops News site is that it publishes web traffic statistics, which indicate that the site draws about 5,000 unique visitors per day and about 50,000 unique visitors per month. The busiest time of day is between 3:00 and 3:30 in the afternoon. Most of the traffic is coming from search engines, but while this means the site is drawing in many new visitors it also indicates that page views (and ad views, hence revenues) would likely be much higher if the paper implemented a strategy to draw visitors back to the site on a regular and direct basis rather than simply relying upon ad hoc search engine referrals.

Kamloops This Week

• KTW executed a wholesale change to its web site a several months back, which has now pulled its independent site (www.kamloopsthisweek.com) under Black Press' unified www.bclocalnews.com property. The new site is very clean, elegant, and easy to navigate. Using a common web domain also means that more eyeballs come to the single site (representing, for example, visitors from every community served by every Black Press newspaper publication in BC), and so it receives a *lot* of visitors and page views, which in turn are very attractive to advertisers (read: more revenue).
• I do miss the strong just-Kamloops local flavour of the old site. However, the new site now functions as a gateway - not just to national and international news, as is often the case with newspaper chain web sites - but rather as a gateway to the smaller stories that occur in the many medium-to-small communities Black Press services. I find this very attractive; there are few things more interesting to me than the tiny ultra-local stories that typically only get airtime within a specific community. Black Press' www.bclocalnews.com web site now airs all those stories out to the entire distribution network. Facinating.
• Both the old and new web sites delivered some manner of breaking stories (i.e. stories that have not yet appeared in the newspaper, may evolve before they are published, or may simply never actually appear in the newspaper itself). The first time I saw this was during summer 2007 when Kamloops This Week published minutes-old breaking news of the Kamloops Blazer General Meeting (at which the club was sold) online; I read it from Salmon Arm while on vacation there.
• The newspaper is integrating its on- and off-line news strategies, as has been made evident by stories in the newspaper, which occasionally include an "On The Web" ad that directs readers to "Go online to www.kamloopsthisweek.com for more information... ". Leveraging the web site this way makes a lot of sense, as there are no space limitations on the web (meaning one can publish a veritable never-ending story, kind of like this post) online whereas the print version is constrained by the physical dimensions of the pages, but also because readers who do go online might see completely different advertisements there, meaning the publisher can maximize the revenue potential of a single story.
• The web site includes an impressive array of online photo galleries (Dave Eagles), all available for purchase as framed or unframed hard copies.
• Integrated with other Black Press properties/networks for careers, automotive, etc.
  Is currently utilizing ads from both Yahoo Google ad networks; I suspect the intent here may be a side-by-side test to determine which service generates the most click-thrus, and hence, the most revenue for the site
• In a related feature, the www.bclocalnews.com web site also features blogs written by Black Press staff, including this post by Editor Bill Phillips of the Prince George Free Press in which he discusses how that paper now reports news as it happens, including video on the web site, rather than simply focusing on print distribution.
• Black Press is obviously growing capacity and skills within its New Media division, given recent advertisements for a variety of online and "New Media" positions including Regional Online Consultant, On-line Producer,  etc.
• I will credit Kamloops This Week for the initiative shown by two of its most visible personalities - Dale Bass and Christopher Foulds - each of whom run blogs at http://dalebass.blogspot.com and http://chrisfoulds.blogspot.com respectively. The blogs  contribute to their employer's overall web presence in a variety of ways, including:
  
  1. The blogging process helps both of writers personally acquire know-how about the online community from the perspectives of both of consumers and publishers. This is a good thing, as I believe that there is opportunity for traditional media outlets to leverage and exploit the activities of bloggers and other online citizens to drive more eyeballs (and hence more revenue) toward their own media organizations.
  2. Blogs are often perceived to be much more personal and interactive than commercial media web sites, so these blogs promote more buy-in from readers who might not otherwise develop similar emotional connections to the personalities and columns when they appear in the newspaper.

Prince George Citizen

• Blogging service for readers - important because it may keep novices from starting their own (competitive) blog, but also encourages bloggers of all stripes to post their own comments, including links back to their own blogs
• Photo galleries back to November 2006, includes viewing stats and viewer votes, ability to purchases
• Not all newspaper stories are published online, although online content subscriptions are being considered for the future. Not all online stories are published in newspaper.
• Is now incorporating video reports into some stories, which is significantly blurring the line between this newspaper enterprise broadcast media. In fact, both the Prince George Citizen and the Prince       George Free Press (a Black Press publication, as above) have begun to deliver video news on their web sites, so PG is apparently leading the way within the BC Interior towards an increasingly popular and rewarding media convergence.

Kamloops Daily News

• The Prince George Citizen (which has been included in this comparison) is one of the Kamloops Daily News' sister web sites, and it appears that the Citizen's Internet department is also hosting at least a portion of the Daily News' web site. This is a positive for the Kamloops Daily News, as it
  suggest to me that the Kamloops Daily News may adopt a cookie-cutter copy of the Citizen's web site at some point. This would allow the Daily News to fast forward towards a more competitive online presence, as the Prince George Citizen has a lot of great content and great features. Unfortunately the visual presentation of the Citizen's web site somewhat overwhelming; a little design simplicity would go a long way to streamlining the user experience, encouraging longer visits, and consequently increasing the page views, ad views and revenues.
• It is interesting to see that The News has also incorporated a Fundata investment fund search and reporting feature. Fundata is 50% owned by Kamloops Daily News parent company, Glacier Ventures.
• Here again, I will credit the Kamloops Daily News for a blog written by one of that paper's senior staff members - Sports Editor Greg Drinnan - who publishes his Taking Note sports blog at http://gdrinnan.blogspot.com. Mr. Drinnan also publishes traffic statistics on his blog; the metrics used are a little different between the two sites, but if I am accurately drawing a parallel between between "page views" and "Visits incl. Reloads", these stats indicate he is drawing nearly 1/4 as much traffic as the main Kamloops Daily News web site.

Newspaper	Kamloops This Week	Kamloops Daily News	Prince George Citizen
Link	www.kamloopsthisweek.com	www.kamloopsnews.ca	www.princegeorgecitizen.com
News
News	Yes Includes breaking news stories Available regional and BC news stories.	Yes "Updated weekday afternoons and Friday evenings" Occasional "Saturday Update" Links out to Canada.com	Yes Includes breaking news stories 7 days a week Available BC and world national news stories (Canadian Press, Associated Press)
Sports &  Schedules	Sports news No schedules	Sports news No schedules	Sports news Sports events calendar No schedules
Roads	No	Link to Ministry of Transport	No
Weather	Interactive weather Link to Ministry web site	Link to Environment Canada	Integrated weather
Playlist	- n/a -	- n/a -	- n/a -
Listen Live	No	No	No
Display Current Song	- n/a -	- n/a -	- n/a -
Information
Music Charts	- n/a -	- n/a -	- n/a -
Program Schedule	- n/a -	- n/a -	- n/a -
Program Archive	News archives to last week's stories	Link to archives at Thompson-Nicola Regional District Library System	Searchable announcements to 2002. Content to at least 2007
Online Contests	No	No	No
Loyalty Program	No	No	Yes Must be member to comment
Privacy Policy	No	No	No
Advertising
Ads	Local graphical ads Google AdSense Yahoo AdWords Online and offline classifieds appear to be integrated	Google AdSense Online and offline classifieds appear to be integrated	Local graphical ads Online and offline classifieds appear to be integrated
Video Ads	Yes	No	No
Real Estate	Yes	Link to guide broken (404 Not Found error)	Complete Real Estate Guide in PDF format
Offline Advertiser Directory	Coordinated online/offline classifieds<	Small "Internet Directory"	No
Convergence & Consumer Engagement
Video	Some integrated video reporting on stories from other communities (not Kamloops)	No	Current and breaking news stories on video
Syndication (Feeds)	RSS content feed	No	RSS content feed Available comment feed subscription (currently broken)
Consumer Content	No	No	Blogging service for readers Readers can vote for/against comments
Comments	Yes	No	Yes
Save/Share	Share stories via email and Facebook	No	Share stories via email and various blog and social networking services
Interactive	Submit Letter to the Editor on specific stories Interactive horoscope Integrated searches for BC-wide automotive, career, classified networks	No	Blogging service for members
eCommerce	Purchase photo gallery images	No	Purchase photo gallery images
Other	Photo galleries Online job network Obituaries section Indicates "most read" stories Partially implemented comics	Obituaries and Classified ads hosted by Prince George Citizen Publishes web site traffic statistics Integrated FUNDATA mutual fund searches and reports	Photo galleries Hit counter on all stories Comprehensive Staff Directory FAQ Request for site feedback

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Angus Reid: Most Say Kamloops Mayor Lake Not Doing a Good Job

If you read, watch, or listen to the news in Canada, you are no doubt aware of Angus Reid. The market research company tracks, and some would say influences, public opinion on politics and a host of other issues. Angus Reid himself sold the Angus Reid Group, which had become the largest market research in Canadian history and claimed a perfect 25-year record of predicting Canadian elections, in 2000 to international giant Ipsos. Since then, Mr. Reid has founded a couple of related market research companies, including Angus Reid Strategies.

Angus Reid Strategies describes itself as, "... a full-service public opinion and market research company, with an emphasis on online research, providing consulting and services to clients in North America." One way the company collects online research is through its online panel, Angus Reid Forum.

When I happened across this online forum's web site today, I was surprised to discover a poll which appears to be specifically targeted at Kamloops residents. The poll's one and only question?

IS TERRY LAKE DOING A GOOD JOB AS MAYOR OF KAMLOOPS?

The disclaimer on the Angus Reid Forum web site indicates that the poll is unscientific (as pictured below). Nevertheless, when 60% of respondents to an Angus Reid poll disagree with the notion that the mayor is doing a good job, one can't help but wonder if the winds of change will blow in Kamloops next fall.

The next question one might logically ask: for whom is the poll being conducted? There has already been some speculation in the local media that some of our existing councilors might want the top job. Is one of them taking the public temperature? I have some thoughts about the poll, but they will have to wait for a future post. As it is, I think I hear the sound of tiny hooves on my roof, so I best make sure the milk and cookies are out where St. Nick can see them. Merry Christmas! 

What do you think? To share your thoughts about who sponsored the poll, Mayor Terry Lake, city council, or next year's municipal elections with Right Up Your Alley: Kamloops readers, click on "Comments" (below).

 

Kamloops Minor Hockey Ass.: Case of the Missing Bylaws

Kamloops Daily News Sports Editor Greg Drinnan made a comment recently that caught my attention, in  his follow-up story (reproduced on his blog here) regarding the ongoing saga of underage drinking at the home of Kamloops Minor Hockey Association President Stan Burton, and the related mistreatment of whistle-blowers Ladd and Monica Malosk (emphasis my own):

According to the KMHA’s website, from which its bylaws recently disappeared, its second vice-president is Kelly Brandt. Brandt is a friend of the Maloskis and was in their home the evening of the party. She has since removed herself from the appeal committee.

Hamilton was appointed the committee’s chairman at a Nov. 26 board meeting. He is the KMHA’s midget director. It was a midget team that held the party in the home of the KMHA president.

And around and around it goes.

In addition to Mr. Drinnan's implication that the apparent conflicts of interest at the KMHA might adversely affect the both Maloskis and the overall handling of the affair, the reference to the removal from the Kamloops Minor Hockey Association web site of the association's bylaws piqued my interest.

So, after a little investigation, here is a pdf image of the KMHA bylaws as they were posted on the KMHA web site back in 2004. I expect that like many other community organizations the KMHA has probably made changes to the bylaws since 2004; in fact, the page from which this document was originally available on the KMHA web site indicated a prospective amendment, but I can't seem to find information about that - or any subsequent - amendment.

To share your thoughts about the Kamloops Minor Hockey Association, problems in amateur sport, teenage drinking, conflicts of interest, whistle-blower mistreatment, or any other aspect of this issue with Right Up Your Alley: Kamloops readers, click on "Comments" (below). If you have a more recent version of the Kamloops Minor Hockey Association bylaws, email me here.

Online Media Properties in Kamloops: TV

In this continuing series about online media properties in Kamloops, today's post provides an assessment of what local TV stations are doing online.

Comparing Kamloops TV stations isn't as straightforward as comparing radio stations, given there is really only a single TV station with scheduled broadcasts (sorry, Shaw). As a result, I compared our local station - CFJC-TV - with the CanWest station in Kelowna, CHBC News. Both stations dropped their CBC affiliation in 2006, and continue to collaborate on sales and share programming schedules.

Now, when I personally am looking for an update on a local story, the first place I typically look online is either at the CFJC-TV web site or at the Radio NL web site. Neither location provides a lot of information, often just a couple of sentences, but sometimes it's enough to at least temporarily satisfy the news jones.

Nevertheless, it is obvious that a CHBC priority is to develop a comprehensive online strategy, and this is no doubt a result of CanWest's Internet focus, as per that company's 2006 Annual Information Form (emphasis my own):

Our online and new media strategy is to continue to build our strong internet presence in order to leverage our editorial content across multiple media, provide integrated solutions to our advertisers and to cross-promote our publications, broadcasting and internet operations. We intend to capitalize upon the promotional and editorial capabilities of our integrated newspaper and video production in order to create Canada’s leading network of local content websites. The internet is complementary to our existing businesses and a significant potential source of new revenue.

In fact, CanWest's 2007 Annual Report claims that the company has managed to increase the volume of unique visitors to its online web sites by 30% over the previous year. That kind of growth doesn't happen by accident.

The elements of the CHBC web site that most interest me include:

1. The widespread use of video news stories. Many of the video news stories appear to have been lifted straight off the station's news broadcasts (which seems like a no-brainer), but for some reason many local TV stations have difficulty pulling the trigger when it comes to streaming their own video content online.
2. Once you've found a video story of interest, you can actually send a link to the story to a friend. This is a great feature that delivers real value to the media consumer, but it also generates more traffic to www.chbcnews.ca site when friends follow links back to stories at the web site. Unfortunately the "Send Story" function is paired up with a "Print Story" feature, which is at odds with video streaming both conceptually and in practice.
3. CHBC provides a virtual tour of the station, including 360° images of every room. Essential? No. Cool? Absolutely!
4. The volume of information available. Visitors really have an opportunity to hang out and get lost. Thank goodness for the virtual tour map so we can find our way out again!

Now, while CHBC has developed an engaging online presence for media consumers, much like CFJC-TV it doesn't appear the station is doing much with respect standalone banner or video advertising online. I suspect that for the moment CHBC is content to draw a growing online to its web site, but at some point it will need to exploit all those eyeballs; it's one thing to build a great web site, but something else again to make that web site profitable.

So, here is the comparison. As you can see the display format differs somewhat from the Radio comparison, it will probably change again when I publish the newspaper comparison (coming soon). 

Station	CFJC TV-7 Kamloops	CHBC Kelowna
Link	www.cfjctv.com	www.chbcnews.ca
News
News	Yes	Yes
Sports &  Schedules	Yes	No
Roads	Integrated road reports	Basic road reports Link to William R. Bennett bridge construction update
Weather	Yes	Integrated weather forecasts                Weather forecasts for all the communities in the CHBC broadcast area
Playlist	- n/a -	- n/a -
Listen Live	No	No
Display Current Song	- n/a -	- n/a -
Information
Music Charts	- n/a -	- n/a -
Program Schedule	Yes	Yes
Program Archive	Recipe archive	News archives with search
Online Contests	No	No
Loyalty Program	No	No
Privacy Policy	No	Yes
Advertising
Standalone Ads	No	Yes
Video Ads	No	No
Real Estate	No	No
Offline Advertiser Directory	No	No
Convergence & Consumer Engagement
Video	Icetime (Blazers)	Current and breaking news stories on video Roberts on the Roads (local events and people) CHBC Bridge Cam
Syndication (Feeds)	No	No
Consumer Content	No	Send us your pics (scenic still pictures) NewsHawks - contribute news videos (tips, etc.)
Comments	No	No
Save/Share Items of Interest	No	Yes
Interactive	Question of the Week	News tips Submit events Virtual station tour
Other	Custom URL icon	Lots & lots of info Community elevations Contact info for regional golf courses, ski hills

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Online Media Properties in Kamloops: Radio

Like the media in many other cities across North America, some of the newspapers and broadcasters in Kamloops are evolving their online presence in an attempt to attract eyeballs (retain and grow their customer base) and hopefully exploit a combination of media channels to better achieve their organizational goals.

In many markets (and to a limited degree here in Kamloops), media convergence is transpiring online. Why? Because the Internet is an equalizer. It potentially empowers radio and newspapers with audio and video capabilities, provides TV stations the opportunity to produce in-depth background, enables every kind of media with the opportunity to publish breaking or developing news stories, engages media consumers with an opportunity to provide feedback and maybe develop brand loyalty, and is ultimately accessed through a powerful but unpredictable mix of endpoints including mobile, anchored (like desktops at the office or in the den), and virtual (as in feed aggregators). This combination of characteristics represents a great opportunity for traditional media to re-engage customers and advertisers, but at times also seems to handcuff some organizations.

Consider the fascinating observation from Borrell Associates, who told us earlier this year that newspapers are actually selling more local online video advertising than TV stations. Somehow, TV has managed to turn an obvious core competency (video advertising) into a glaring weakness.

I've been tracking local media outlets for several months now, and during that time some of them have made some major changes to their online presence. Over the next few days I will publish the remainder of this information, but for now please consider the table below, which compares local radio broadcasters.

None of the radio broadcasters in Kamloops have really made a serious effort to get out in front of the pack with respect to advertising or breaking down the traditional boundaries that constrain this medium. CIFM scores on this un-scientific comparison according to the data points I was tracking, but to be honest my personal favorite online radio web sites in Kamloops are Radio NL and CFBX. I frequently  turn to Radio NL to read the station's brief updates about local news stories when I can't wait to read the morning paper. CFBX on the other hand was a complete surprise; as a college radio station I wasn't actually expecting much, but in fact I discovered that Brant Zwicker and company have constructed a web presence that compares quite favorably to its corporate cousins.

My least favorite discovery was that while both The River and Country 103 provide online visitors with the ability to listen live to streaming real-time broadcasts, both stations first require interested online listeners to sign up  for their loyalty programs. So, rather than encourage an infrequent listener like me to stick around, bookmark the site, come back again later, and maybe develop some loyalty to these stations, instead I just felt like closing the window. As it was I did sign up, but certainly would not have done this had I not been conducting this personal research project.

Anyways, here's the data with more to come over the next few days:

	Radio NL AM 610	The River 97.5 FM	Country 103 FM CJKC-FM 103.1	98.3 FM CIFM	B 100 FM CKBX 100.1	The X 92.5 FM - CFBX
Core Competencies
News	●Breaking news highlights	●Music news, movie reviews	○	○	●Link to CFJC news highlights	○
Sports Schedule & Scores	●	○	○	●Link to Kamloops Storm	○	○
Roads	●Link to DriveBC	○	○	●Link to DriveBC	●Link to DriveBC	○
Weather	●Link to Weather Office	●Link to Weather Office	●Link to Weather Office	●Link to Weather Office	●Link to Weather Office	○
Playlist	○	●1 week archive ●Listen to excerpt	●48 hour archive	●1 week archive ●Listen to excerpt	●1 week archive ●Listen to excerpt	●Multiple week archives including program name
Listen live	●	requires membership	requires membership	○	○	●
Display current song	○	●	●	○	○	○
Information
Music charts	○	●	●	●	○	●2002 to present
Program Schedule	●	●	●	○	○	●Includes links to many of the syndicated  program web sites
Program archive	○	○	○	●Leo Baggio phone call archive	●Cheryl & Steve archives (audio & video)	○
Online Contests	○	○	○	○	○	○
Loyalty program	○	Loyal Listener Club	Country Club	CIFM Workforce	VIP Club	volunteers
Revenue
Sponsorships	○	●	●	●	●	-n/a-
Standalone Advertising	○	●	○	●	○	-n/a-
Real Estate	○	○	○	○	○	-n/a-
Directory of broadcast advertisers	○	○	○	○	○	-n/a-
Classifieds	○	○	○	○	○	-n/a-
Privacy Policy	●	○	○	○	○	-n/a-
Convergence & Consumer Engagement
Video	○	○	○	○	○	○
XML Feeds	○	○	○	○	○	○
Consumer Content	○	○	○	○	○	○
Comments	○	○	○	○	○	○
Save or Share Items of Interest	○	○	○	○	○	○
Interactive	●Question of the Week	●Pick the Hit ●Polls	○	●Online requests ●Stan & Hank on MySpace	●Online requests, ●Test a Product	●Forum ●Rich MySpace presence w/ over 1000 friends
Other	○	●Good explanation of syndicated programs	●Good explanation of syndicated programs		●Rich link directories	●Blog ●Rich links directory

To share your thoughts about local media properties, or media convergence in Kamloops or elsewhere with Right Up Your Alley: Kamloops readers, click on "Comments" (below).

Wireless Networks and Real Estate Pricing in Saskatoon

I'm on the road for business this week, and so here are some short notes from Saskatoon with some relevance to Kamloops:

Real estate: Saskatoon is experiencing an amazing run in real estate demand and prices. The average price of a two-story house in Saskatoon climbed by 55 percent over the previous year in the 2nd quarter of 2007, from $292,000 to $305,000.  After having reviewed a local real estate insert, the Star Phoenix’s Saskatoon Realtor Showcase, I'm surprised to find that prices appear to have climbed past Kamloops in terms of what you can get in some areas. The booming economy here has really pinched the labour market, but also attracted many former residents back from Alberta. I was speaking to a business associate the other day from North Battleford, who related the story of an executive home that had been in development for more than 20 months do to scarcity of trades!

Of course we have seen our own growth in the real estate market in Kamloops. While some indications point to a less heated trend, once the airport expands we should expect to see increased real estate demand. Airport developments in Kelowna and the Comox Valley created better access to those communities among non-residents, which contributed to escalating real estate markets in both those communities.

Wireless: Saskatchewan has just unveiled the largest free wireless Internet network in Canada. The Saskatchewan! Connected network links downtown and other key areas in Saskatoon, Regina, Prince Albert, and Moose Jaw. The network was put in place after young people attending the Youth Summit in Saskatoon recommended the move to the provincial government earlier this year.
The network offers quite lite-weight bandwidth, which makes it appropriate for emails and instant messaging but not music downloads. It also incorporates a filters that eliminate gambling, pornography, and the promotion of hatred and racism.

The network certainly gives these communities a more progressive feel, whether one is a youngster or business person.

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Microsoft comes home to Vancouver

Microsoft today announced that it will be returning to Vancouver in a big way when when it opens a new software development center in the area this fall. The company has had a sales and business development presence in the city for years, however it hasn't operated major development operations there since the mid-90's.

In 1991 Microsoft purchased Vancouver-based Consumer Software, which developed a desktop-based email product that would become Microsoft Mail, and eventually Microsoft Exchange. In 1994 Microsoft consolidated email/messaging development in Redmond, and closed up major software development operations in Vancouver. I later worked at HealthVISION Corporation (now Eclipsys Corporation) with several of those who chose not to follow their jobs south.

It is speculated the move results from immigration restrictions that have hindered Microsoft and other technology companies from importing the intellectual manpower required to support their operations. A major operation in Vancouver effectively bypasses the immigration barrier, while capitalizing upon the proximity, time zone, and cultural similarities between Vancouver and Seattle.

Microsoft's return to Vancouver will have a big impact not only in the lower mainland, but right here in Kamloops as well. Microsoft is big, and depending upon the scale of the new operation it could very well suck a lot of oxygen (read manpower) out of the room, oxygen that small software vendors in BC depend upon. While we should expect to see a big brain gain over time, in the short term increased competition for local software engineers will likely make it more difficult for BC companies to hire and retain the technologists they depend upon. Thompson Rivers University will at some point expand programs like CSOM and BT/ACS to help satisfy demand.

In the long term, this move will energize BC's software industry. Having worked closely with Microsoft in the past - as both a software partner and as a member of its Partner Advisory Council for ISV's (Independent Software Vendors) - I've seen firsthand what a rich ecosystem of entrepreneurial activity Microsoft begets all around it. Niche product markets that are too small for Microsoft to notice are often big enough to support thriving communities of software companies that develop complementary products.

The fact Microsoft is coming to town is good news for BC generally, and for the technology sector specifically. However, as with any change, there will no doubt be some pain along the way.

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