july/august 2012 10121 Jasper Avenue Edmonton, AB T5J 4X6 contents 2 Message from the Chair 3 More Hip than Square in the City Message 4 Patios in the City Welcome the Core Crew! from the Chair 5 Casual Friday 6 New Business Market in the City Downtown is such an exciting place to be in the summer! Take in a festival, the City Market on Saturdays, or have a meal on an outdoor patio with friends -- there are so 8 Festivals in the City many reasons to visit Downtown. The DBA proudly sponsors many of the festivals that make the heart of the city an exciting place to be. From the Pride Festival to Street Performers to Taste of Edmonton, these popular events draw thousands of people here, to enjoy the beautiful outdoor spaces and a variety of dining, entertainment and nightlife. Check out some of the Photo credit: City Hall Canada Day, Anthony P. Jones, festivals featured in this month’s newsletter. City of Edmonton, Fairmont Hotel Macdonald I’m so pleased to welcome back the DBA’s Core Crew for another great summer! We invite you to join them -- Andrew, Tori, Myles and Francis -- on their free, guided walking tours where you’ll discover Downtown’s history, landmarks, public art and architecture. The tours run weekdays until August 24. You’ll also see the Crew picking up litter throughout Downtown and helping out at festivals and special events. When you pass them on the street with their red uniforms and smiling faces, be sure to say hello! Downtown streets are bursting with colour thanks to the arrival of large planters The Downtown Advantage overflowing with bright Wave petunias. The DBA partners with Hole’s Greenhouses Newsletter is published bi-monthly and the City of Edmonton on the Ride the Wave Program, which makes these flowers by the Downtown Business Association of Edmonton. available to businesses. I’m proud to say that this year, we sold a record 233 planters! Congratulations to the Downtown businesses, organizations and individuals who support Editor Katherine Hoy this program. Thank you for helping beautify the streets and showing your civic pride! Editorial Assistance & Design: Amber-Leigh Polowich Enjoy the summer. It’s always too short! Layout To stay in touch with the DBA visit our website, edmontondowntown.com. Andrew Bly, Capital Colour Contributors “Like Us” on Facebook or follow us on Twitter. Janis Galloway Jared Tabler Amber-Leigh Polowich Sincerely, Katherine Hoy Downtown Business Association 10121 Jasper Avenue Linda C. Cook, Chair Edmonton, AB, Canada T5J 4X6 Downtown Business Association Phone: 780.424.4085 Fax: 780.425.7805 [email protected] edmontondowntown.com MORE HIP THAN SQUARE IN THE CITY Bob Rasko is a busy guy! When he’s not acting in plays or Square, so we’ve programmed bands to play the lunch hour. performing with Edmonton’s foremost ukulele band The We’ve been spending time ensuring that the tables and chairs Be Arthurs, he’s working at his day job: The “Happenings” are set up nicely, creating specific zones for our activities, as Programmer in Churchill Square. His job is to program The well as for eating and socializing. Square between festivals, and to help make it a vibrant and exciting place to be. He weaves his magic with a $100,000 You also have to program when it’s minus 20. Is it realistic budget, funded by the City and managed by the Edmonton to expect Edmontonians to come to The Square on a cold, Arts Council. As he hits his 1st year anniversary on the job, we snowy winter’s day? caught up with him to see how things are going! Absolutely. The trick with The Square is that the snow is removed which limits a lot of winter activity. So we are hoping What do you have lined up for us this summer? to concentrate on City Hall Plaza, focus on interactive events Zumba, Boot Camp, chess, and table tennis will be down there on the rink like Swing and Skate, and really look at animating all summer. In August we’ll be focusing on some great family the outside during City Market times on Saturdays. The Square events. The B-Boys (break dancing) will be a staple, and I’ll be is still a very popular walkway in the wintertime and although experimenting with other events like The Short Order Poet, people might not want to hang out for 2 or 3 hours like they and occasional live musical entertainment. do in the summer, we can make it a beautiful place to enjoy a hot chocolate and a walk. How do you balance the programming so that you get a diverse line up, and everybody’s happy? There’s much talk about Downtown vibrancy, yet most of The first thing I had to realize is that making everybody happy the programming takes place 9 to 5. Are we going to see is impossible. I still chat with people who want all the grass more after-hours events? and trees back on The Square. One of the focuses given to We have extended the everyday activities like chess, table tennis, me was interactive programming. That’s why the chess, table and basketball to 8pm. This has really helped The Square have tennis, and afternoon workout programs are there, and why a warmer feeling. Certainly more evening programming will be the Swing and Skate has dance workshops. Even the B-Boy coming in the future. event on Thursday nights is open to anyone who would like to join. Trying to make the events as interactive as possible has Short of doing a daily head count, how do you gauge success? helped in achieving that variety. Right now the success is people treating The Square like a park and spending time there. In the future, success will be Food trucks are taking off. People are flocking to The Square measured by the businesses around the square. I would love to patronize them. Do you program to take advantage of to see longer hours, and more vendors, which will come once that built-in audience? owners recognize the change. Yes, the food truck trend is very exciting. Thursdays at lunch became the day where a number of trucks would be on The july/august 2012 the downtown advantage 3 Celebrate summer at some of Downtown’s best PATIOS IN THE CITY Blue Plate Diner Courtyard by Marriott Downtown Edmonton Address: 10145 - 104 street Address: One Thornton Court, 99th & Jasper Ave Hours: 11am - 10pm M - F, 9am - 11pm weekends Hours: Open Daily, Weather Pending (May-October) Best Eats: Elk & Bison Burger Best Eats: Butter Chicken Favourite Libation: Yellowhead Lager (from Edmonton!) Favourite Libation: Bistro Lemonade The Fairmont Hotel Macdonald/ The Sherlock Holmes Pub Confederation Lounge Patio Rice Howard Way Address: 10065 – 100 Street Address: 10150-100 Street Hours: 11 am to Midnight Hours: 11:00 am to 1:00 am Best Eats: Herb-Marinated Tuna on Grilled Foccacia Best Eats: Fish & Chips - we filet fresh Halibut in our kitchen! with Tomato Fennel Relish Favorite Libation: Sherlock Ale Favourite Libation: The Perfect Manhattan WELCOME THE CORE CREW! The Downtown Business Association’s Core Crew are back for another great summer! Andrew, Francis, Myles, and Tori are hitting the streets in their bright red shirts and caps, acting as friendly Downtown Ambassadors: Welcoming visitors and locals to the core, helping keep the streets clean, and offering helpful information about transit, festivals and other special events. Join the Core Crew on their free, guided walking tours (weekdays until August 24th) where you’ll discover Downtown’s historic sites, architecture and public art. Want to book a CORE-porate tour for larger groups? Want to invite the Core Crew to your Downtown festival or special event? E-mail [email protected] 4 edmontondowntown.com CASUAL FRIDAY IN THE CITY with Janis Galloway DressMeDearly.com & Jared Tabler StyleGuyJared.com Looking stylish, polished and professional is a daily challenge for most of us. Now that most offices have adopted casual Fridays we still need to be aware that we’re portraying a corporate image. This month Janis Galloway and Jared Tabler, two of Edmonton’s most influential bloggers & fashionistas discuss how to avoid Friday Fashion Faux pas. What are the do’s and don’ts for Casual Friday? JT: Casual Friday to me is less formal than the whole week, but should still be pulled together for business. I think the misconception when you use the word casual is that all rules are off, all bets are off and that people can wear whatever they want. That is woefully incorrect. Things to avoid would be flip flops, torn up jeans, jean shorts, and short shorts. Anything where we can see too much leg there is a problem, for guys and for girls! JG: The biggest thing is fit. People will either wear something that is way too tight because they think they can get away with it, or wear way to lose and baggy clothes. Keep the same fit as the rest of the week. How would you portray a corporate but relaxed look? JG: A skinny jean or a really good pair of jeans with a nice blazer and blouse underneath. A blazer can solve everything. JT: When I think about dressing casual in the corporate world, that’s wearing a suit without a tie, opposed to abandoning the suit all together. I think we should return to the more formal throw back of looking good but being relaxed. JG: I think it is good when you are pushing the boundaries just a little bit, but there is this really fine line.