November 2016 What I've been up to

• I finished the RCMP Citizen Academy in Surrey. It was professional, informative and thoughtful. If you have been tempted to participate in such ventures, I recommend it!
• I completed my UBC Creative Placemaking class – phew.
• I attended the Surrey Social Policy Advisory Committee meeting.

• Did you know there is a Tea Festival and growing Tea community in Vancouver? It was a great event.
• I went to the BCASW Fall Conference on Creativity in Social Work: Embracing Innovation

• I volunteered with the BCNPHA Housing Connect Conference this year. It was a well-attended, well-organized, and well …a success that I was happy to be a small part of. I missed the City of Surrey’s Social Innovation Summit the same week though. Lots of choices in November!

• I did a gig at a Federal Consultation on new Accessibility legislation. This event had English and French headsets and simultaneous captioning, with sign language interpreters and grass patches and water bowls for service dogs. Material was available in Audio, Video, large print and Braille. I had never seen such an event before – just wow.

• I enjoyed many of the World Town Planning presentations this year (you can too!)
• I also participated in Conflict Resolution week by attending MediateBC and JIBC's Conflict Revolution - Seize the Opportunity event

• I have been diving into local homelessness and housing issues. The regional Metro Vancouver Homeless Count is March 8, 2017 (with two additional days in Newton March 9-10th). Lots of volunteer opportunities! 

I attended:

• BC Small Business' webcasts on Business Viability 1: Break Even Analysis and  Business Viability 2: Cash Flow Forecast
• Tamarack Institute's webinar on Impact-Ability Part 2: Creating a Container for your Content with Al Etmanski and Vickie Cammack
• 4Good Community webinar on What's a Mission Statement Worth with Sam Frank
• First Nation Health Authority's Cultural Safety and Cultural Humility Webinar: Reconciliation, Health & Wellness with Shelley Joseph
• YWCA's webinar on Networking: The missing link to employment with Chantal Rackley
• Discover Surrey's webinar Everything you need to know about Destination Marketing
• Tamarack Institute's webinar IMPACT: The Importance of Becoming a Wise Traveller with Al Etmanski and Honourable Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities
• SFU City Program's The Vancouver Region: Moving Towards World Class But Not There Yet with Warren Gill
• Canadian Mental Health Association's webinar on Accommodating Addiction: Best Practices with Julie Menten, Roper Greyell and Tonie Beharrell
• Vibrant Communities Canada's webinar on Neighbourhood-Based Strategies that Reduce Poverty: The 1,000 Families Initiative
• Discover Surrey's webinar on Branding and Storytelling with Andrea Dodd
• Financial Social Work's webinar on Stopping Overshopping Dr. April Lane Benson
• Plan Institute and Tamarack Institute's webinar on Impact-Ability Part 3: Setting the Table for Allies, Adversaries, and Strangers with Ben Weinlick
• BC Economic Development Division's webinar on Attract Investment and Promote your Community with BritichColumbia.ca
• CMHC webinar on Social Enterprise: What is it and how does it work with Karina LeBlanc, David Eddy and Denis Losier
• Tamarack Institute and Prosper Canada's webinar on An Introduction to Financial Empowerment with Donna McBride, Marlene Chiarotto, and Glenna Harris
• Charity Village's webinar on Evaluating your Nonprofit's Content Marketing with Marlene Oliveira
• CMHC's webinar on Aging in Place with Claude Gautreau and Denis Losier
• SFU City Conversations' webcast on Do British Columbia's schools deserve more funding with Patti Bacchus and Andrea Sinclair
• Community IT Innovators' webinar on Is Dropbox your Next file server with Steve Longenecker
• geoenviropro's webinar on Site Remediation: Cut-off Walls for Seepage Control and Containment with Pete Craig
• NEARI Press' webinar on Very Different Voices: Celebrating the diversity of perspectives in sexual violence prevention with David Prescott and Robin Wilson
• CMHC's webinar on Can Housing affect my health with James R. Dunn
• BC Economic Development Division's webinar on Youth Entrepreneurship: Raising Business in your Community with Anne Tower, Joanne Norris, April Link, and Maya Gay
• CMHC's webinar on Alternative housing options for Canadians with Ronaye Matthew and Jim Galloway
• Federation of Canadian Municipalities' webinar on Green Municipal Fund: Sustainable Neighborhood Development with Peter Whitelaw, Adriana Gomez, Amy Burke, and Jennifer Wong
• BC Economic Development Division's webinar on Save Money by Connecting Asset Management to Land-Use with Narissa Chadwick, Brian Bedford, Andre Boel, and Tiina Schaeffer
• CASW's webinar on Responding to disclosures of sexual violence with Dr. Erin Whitmore
• Tamarack Institute and Proper Canada's webinar on Impact-Ability Part 4: Mobilize Your Economic Power with Liz Mulholland
• UBC Continuing Studies webcast on Digital Content Strategy - Why having a content strategy makes all the difference with Graham Williams, Amanda Lee Smith, Jeanette LeBlanc, and Fiona McAuley

October 2016 What I've been up to

• I am almost finished the Surrey RCMP Citizen Police Academy - it has been a thoughtful and informative program
• I attended the BC Small Business Panel on Social Impact for Small Business 
• I went to the SFU Centre for Dialogue evening asking Can Public Engagement change Systems?
• I have had my eye on the SFU City Program class on Giving Council a piece of your mind: Writing reports that work and finally went
• I am learning a lot in the UBC Creative Placemaking class - it is deceptively intensive
• To celebrate the season I took in a City of Surrey Cemetery Tour. The heritage and history of death was interesting - but the introduction to the planning trends and bylaws around graveyards was fascinating
• I contributed to the Monty Python Retirement Plan by going to the John Cleese & Eric Idle show. Good memories and laughs.

I attended:

• VolunteerMatch's webinar on Developing a Strategic Plan for your Volunteer Engagement Program with Jennifer Bennett
• BC Small Business' online classes on:
  • Business Mapping: Developing a Smart Business Model
  • Marketing in a Digital World for Small Business
  • Starting a Consulting Business
  • Doing Business with the Government of Canada
  • Operations for Small Business
  • Reach More Customers with Strategic SEO and SEM
  • Start Smart 1 & 2
  • Mobile Marketing: Reaching Customers on the Go
  • Early Stage Financing and Resources for Entrepreneurs
  • Market Research 1: Find data that works for you
  • Negotiating Contracts: Get the Right Deal
  • Marketing Essentials for Small Business
  • Boost Your Productivity with Focus Management
  • How to Motivate your employees for success
  • Mastering Social Media to Grow your small Business
  • Onboarding New Employees
  • Market Research 2: Surveys and Focus Groups for Knowing Your Customer
• 4Good Community's webinar on How to Engage and Mobilize Groups: 4 Proven Facilitation Techniques with Michael Wilkinson and Elle Cathey
• Tamarack Institute's webinar on The Fight for Decent Work: Tackling Low Wages, Precarious Work, and Poverty in our Communities with Deena Ladd and Laura Cattari
• VolunteerMatch's webinar on Build staff Buy-in for Volunteer Engagement with Jennifer Bennett
• VolunteerMatch's webinar on Managing Difficult Volunteer Transitions with Jennifer Bennett
• Urban Land Institute's webinar on Developing Office Space in an Evolving Tenant Market: Two Case Studies
• VolunteerMatch's webinar on The New Volunteer Manager's Toolkit with Jennifer Bennett
• Center for Financial Social Work's webinar on Financial Elder Abuse - Detection, Intervention, and Prevention by Art Mason and Reeta Wolfsohn
• Tamarack Institute's webinar on A Game Changer Approach to Poverty Reduction Strategy and Evaluation with Mark Holmgren and Mark Cabaj
• VolunteerMatch's webinar on Creating a Culture of Volunteer Engagement with Jennifer Bennett
• Urban Land Institute's webinar on Real Estate Forecast
• Canadian Mental Health Association's webinar on A Case Study on a Workplace Peer Support Program: Nav Canada Light the Way by Lyne Wilson
• Charity Village's webinar on Maximizing the Strategic Impact of your Volunteer Program with Stacy Ashton
• GeoEnviroPro's webinar on Cast in Stone: Soil and Groundwater Remediation by in situ soil mixing with Pete Craig
• Bang the Table's webinar on Online Citizen Engagement 101 with Matthew Crozier
• GeoEnviroPro's webinar on Interpretation of pumping tests in real Aquifers with Christopher J. Neville
• Bang the Table's webinar on Managing the Risk in Online Engagement with Matt Crozier
• Tamarack Institute's webinar on Change for the Audacious: In Conversation with Steve Waddell
• Ready to Raise webinar on 3 Quick & Creative Ways to Use Data to Increase Collaboration with Tracey and Tammy
• Tamarack Institute's webinar on Parkdale Community Economic Development: Toward Decent Work, Shared Wealth and Equitable Development in Parkdale with Victor and Nancy
• Bang the Table's webinar on Analytics, Measurement & Performance Management with Matt Crozier
• Bang the Table's webinar on Increasing Participation in Online Engagement with Matt Crozier

September 2016 What I've been up to

• Went to the City of Surrey Social Policy Advisory Council meeting 
• I enjoyed SFU City Program's lecture on Community Land Trusts: The Solution to Our Affordable Housing Crisis? with Brenda Torpy and the subsequent day full of Affordable Housing discussion
• While I could not attend the Placemaking or Pro Walk/Pro Bike/Pro Place Conferences I was able to enjoy the concurrent Vancouver’s Downtown Waterfront: Imagining a place for people walk and discussion events. 

More art by Douglas Coupland

• I participated as a table facilitator at the City of Vancouver's Temporary Arbutus Greenway workshops (thank you, Susanna Haas Lyons). It was great to see so many people open to change and opportunity the land brings.
• Nothing like a breakfast lecture to hear about social innovation leadership hosted by the City of Surrey: What I did on my Summer Vacation: Reflections on Social Innovation with David Young
• Learned about the big picture real estate economics of Vancouver hosted by the SFU City Program: Mapping the Hedge City - Vancouver and Global Capital
• I joined the Fraser Valley BCASW branch event on Self-Care as Ethical Practice with Joani Mortenson. It was inspired and a novel framework for self-care.

I started:

• the Surrey RCMP Citizen Police Academy. It has been very informative so far and nice to meet so many public servants who love their work and give of their time to engage the community
• continuing studies Creative Placemaking class in the UBC Cultural Planning program 
• a Financial Social Work Certification program just to continue broadening my eccletic interests

I attended:

• Tamarack's webinar Dynamics of Social Change with Frances Westley and Sylvia Cheuy
• t3 think. Teach. Transform. Center for Social Innovation webinar Tenancy Supports as a Foundation for Psychiatric Rehabilitation with Lorna Moser
• Tamarack's webinar Collective Impact: The First 12 months with Liz Weaver and Paul Born
• CMHC webinar Affordable Housing: Let's talk Capital Replacement Planning
• Tamarack's webinar Collective Impact 3.0 with Liz Weaver and Mark Cabaj
• Bridging Peoples webinar Working with Communities with Deborah Cummins
• Women in Communications and Technology webinar The Evolving Digital Strategist: Knowing enough to be dangerous with Rachel Segal
• Ministry of Forest, Lands and Natural Resource Operations webinar on the BC Rural Dividend
• 4Good Community's webinar 5 steps to telling better non-profit stories with Vanessa Chase Lockshin
• Firespring's webinar Crowdfunding and Giving Tuesday 101 - the PB&J of Fundraising with Dana Ostomel and Lori Kadavy
• Financial Social Work webinar on Creating, Engaging and Using Money mini-posters with Clients with Reeta Wolfsohn
• NEARI Press webinar on the Stages of Accomplishment Workbook Series with Dr. Phil Rich
• VolunteerMatch's webinar Successful Volunteer Interview Strategies with Jennifer Bennett
• Tamarack's webinar Tips of the Trade: Sucessful grant writing for your non-profit with Anne Morais
• VolunteerMatch's webinar Re-Energize your volunteer program by designing mission driven opportunities with Jennifer Bennett

August 2016 What I've been up to

• I went to the official revealing of Douglas Coupland's Golden Tree at the new Marine Gateway development (Marine & Cambie). It was a study in placemaking, public spaces, developer funded public art in the context of Cambie Corridor redevelopment.
• I explored development/redevelopment, unique housing types, transportation and quickly evolving environmental situations from the river. This is a perspective I do not see everyday!

I attended:

• VolunteerMatch's webinar Where do I go from here? Engage Volunteers in new ways with Jennifer Bennett
• Tamarack Institute's webinar Continuous Communication for Collective Impact with Mark Holmgren
• 4Good Community's webinar Volunteer Management: Creating and keeping a newtork of supporters with Adrienne Rubin
• Tamarack Institute's webinar on Collective Change Institute's Breaking the Silos with Severn Cullis-Suzuki and Mark Holmgren

• VolunteerMatch's webinar on Measuring Success: How to evaluate you volunteer program with Jennifer Bennett
• 4Good Community's webinar Seeing Systems to Better Address Complex Organizational Problems with Bob Greene
• Bang the Table's webinar Online Citizen Engagement for Planners: How online engagement tools help build community with  Mathew Crozier
• t3 think. Teach. Transform. Center for Social Innovation webinar on Mindset and Heart-set of Best Practices in working with vulnerable people with Ken Kraybill

• 4Good Community's webinar Financial Management for Nonprofit Organizations with Joseph Scarano
• Charity Village's webinar From Matchmaker to Supervisor: Managing a great volunteer program with Lori Gotlieb
• Tamarack Institute's webinar Collective Impact - The Backbone with Liz Weaver
• VolunteerMatch's webinar Social Media and Volunteer Engagement with Jennifer Bennett and Basil Sadiq
• VolunteerMatch's webinar Telling the Story of Volunteer Impact with Jennifer Bennett
• VolunteerMatch's webinar Successfully Implementing Volunteer Program Changes with Jennifer Bennett

• t3 think. Teach. Transform. Center for Social Innovation webinar Racism and Social Justice with Marc Drones and Jeff Olivet
• Charity Village's webinar Get Ready for Ontario's new harassment and sexual violence legislation
• Tamarack's webinar Innovation starts with people with Carolyn Curtis, Dr. Ingrid Burkett and Liz Weaver
• UBC Program Management webinar Strategy, Benefits and Results through Programs and Projects with Dave Davis
• UBC International Inst. Of Business Analysis webinar on Business Analysis with Michael Pontinen, Soraya Savji, Paula Lippert, Cin Jeromin and Diana McKenzie

July 2016 What I've been up to

AFOT @ JIBC

• I attended the Surrey Social Planning Advisory Committee meeting that focused upon a local grass-roots place making initiative healing wounds and creating community in a location that had been scarred by violence
• I went to the SFU Next Generation Transportation lecture: Cycling at the Crossroads: Advocacy, policy and tools for change from London, UK. I also got a balcony view of the Global Relay Gastown Grand Prix!
• I attended JIBC's Inaugural gathering for Aboriginal Focusing Oriented Therapy (AFOT) and Complex Trauma (Conference). I met a lot of great people and had some experiences I have never had before
• I also went to the Urban Land Institute's YLG Cascadia Regional Conference with attendees mostly from Vancouver, Seattle and Portland. My highlight included a tour of the remand centre that was converted to social housing on the east side - what an inspired and successful project!

 I attended:

• MeteoDyn's webinar on the Assessment of pedestrian wind comfort in urban areas introducing me to urban structures and their differing wind patterns and mechanisms to measure and change the patterns
• Tamarack Institute's Collective Impact webinar series on Common Agenda
• Foundation Center webinar on Introduction to Proposal Writing
• International Association of Emergency Managers Diversity Ad Hoc Committee's webinar on Hate Crimes - Emergencies, Fear, and Prejudice: A Dangerous Trio with Robin S. Toma
• Charity Village's webinar on How skills based volunteering can advance your career
• Volunteer Match's webinar on Playing by the rules: Creating an effective volunteer handbook
• SFU Next Generation Transportation webinar on Another View on Urban Transportation: Scenes and Details, Policy and Action from cities of Africa, Asia and Australia
• Volunteer Match's webinar on Writing Accurate and Useful Volunteer Postion Descriptions
• SFU Next Generation Transportation webinar From Spaces for Cars to Spaces for People: How shared space in Auckland moves us towards people oriented spaces
• t3 think. Teach. Transform and Center for Social Innovation webinar In it for the long haul: Dealing with the Heartbreak and Realities of working with Vulnerable Populations with Ayala Livny 
• Foundation Center's webinar on Introduction to Proposal Budgeting
• Tech Soup's webinar Get Outside the Lines: Leverage social media to make the most of your campaign
• FireSpring and Non-Profit Hub's webinar on How to Captivate and Engage Constiutents for your website
• Volunteer Match's webinar on Engaging the Volunteer of the Future
• Tamarack Institute's Community Change Institute webinar series: The Art of Distruption
• 4good Community webinar Its a RAP! Creating a relationship Action plan for your major donors
• Foundation Center's webinar Introduction to Fundraising Planning

• Urban Land Institute BC's webinar on Perfecting your Pitch with Ron Shapiro
• Tamarack Institute's Collective Impact Webinar Series on Shared Measurement

• Charilty Village's webinar on Legacy Giving: How to attract the right prospects
• Community IT Innovator's webinar on Building an Effective Nonprofit IT Department
• FireSpring and VolunteerMatch's webinar on The power of Blogging and Thought Leadership for Nonprofits
• Tamarack Community Change Institute's webinar The Ontario Student Grant: A Case Study in Collaboration
• VolunteerMatch's webinar on Walking the Walk: Engage volunteers in your volunteer engagement program
• Tamarack Institute's webinar on a Collective Impact Conversation
• t3 think. Teach. Transform and Center for Social Innovation's webinar on Building Resiliency Skills Across the Lifespan with Katie Folk
• TechSoup's webinar on Culivating a Library Technoculture: We are Tech Workers
• Webinar Understanding Soft Risk in Volunteer Engagement
• VolunteerMatch's webinar on Developing a Strategic Plan for Volunteer Engagement
• Foundaition Center webinar on Leveraging Social Media to Promote Funraising Events and Engage Millennials

June 2016 What I've been up to

• I went to the SFU Skillful Engagement: Design thinking for facilitators with Sarah Hay & Jesi Carson of the Vancouver Design Nerds - check their page out

• I was looking forward to ULI's Expropriation 101: An introduction to Expropriation Law for Non-Lawyers but it was postponed
• I had long decided I would not attend the NASW 2016 National Conference in Washington, DC. I was however, able to virtually attend the conference. I was able to attend the Keynotes, Plenary Sessions & a selection of Break Out Sessions live streaming. The technology let me communicate with other virtual attendees around the world too. But even more interesting, the conference had a very comprehensive app that included a timeline that enabled interaction with those in DC at the conference with full Twitter and LinkedIN integration. Technology is going in a very positive and functional direction! 

I attended:

• Tamarack Institute's Communities of Belonging series on the soul of place and creative placemaking Part 2 webinar on Regenerativity, Resilience and Renewal: Placemaking and Reconciliation with Erin Dixon, Catherine Twinn & Bill Phipps
• Tamatack Institute's Collective Impact webinar series on Pre-Conditions of Collective Impact with Rachel Gainer & Adam Vasey 
• Tamarack Institute's Resilience Talks series on urban dynamics that contribute to resilience Part 4 webinar Resilience and Money with Brian Dijkema
• NEARI Press' webinar on Adult Sex Offenders: What you need to know with David Prescott
• Tamarack Institutes Communities of Belonging series on the soul of place and creative placemaking Part 3 webinar on Belonging, Enlivenment and Wellbeing: Transforming our communities through stories of place with Daphne Mainprize, Kim Fedderson & Steve Clark 
• Tamarack Institute's Communities of Belonging series on the soul of place and creative placemaking Part 4 webinar Transformative Celebration, The Commons and Thrivability: Reimaginging place making through local living economies with Tolupe IIesanmi, Michelle Holliday& Ben Wolfe

• Community Food Centres of Canada webinar on Setting more places at the table: from social isolation to community connection with André Picard & Laura Anderson
• PHSA's webinar on A Guide to the Certificate of Incapability Process under the Adult Guardianship Act
• ULI webinar on Developing Distinctively Different Multifamily Rental Properties: Two Case Studies
• NIDUS webinar on Planning for Financial and Legal Matters before its too late with Joanne Taylor
• Tamarak Vibrant Communnities Canada webinar on Evaluations That Work: What the Non-Profit Sector Can Learn from the Ontario Nonprofit Network and Vibrant communities with Andrew Taylor, Ben Liadsky, Adam Vasey, Melanie Hientz and Elena DiBattista

• Tamatack Institute's Collective Impact webinar series on Five Phases of Collective Impact
• Charity Village's webinar on Quiet Changemakers: Introverts in the Non-Profit Sector with Trina Isakson
• West Coast LEAF's webinar on Women and Family Law – Parenting Time and Parental Responsibilities with Zara Suleman & Alana Prochuk
• SFU Next Generation Transportation webinar on #BIKETORIA: How the City of Victoria aims to be one of the best small cities in the world for cycling with Brian Patterson, Jeremy Loveday, Edward Pullman and Jayne Bradbury
• SAMHSA's webinar on Responding to Suicide Clusters

May 2016 What I've been up to

• I volunteered at and attended the Heritage BC & Arts BC conference on Granville Island called "PlaceMaking: Where Arts and Heritage Collide." It was a great event that was brilliantly conceived and well-placed! I was delighted to attend and play a small role.
• I went to the final Urbanarium Debate of the season Let experts Plan exploring the arguments of more public engagement versus more professional input - both were right. I subsequently got caught up on recordings of prior debates regarding equitable densification, legislating housing affordability, building fewer towers, and creating a City-wide plan in Vancouver. The debates are promised to travel throughout Metro Vancouver next season!
• I explored the Museum of Vancouver's (such a nice spot) exhibition and lecture on Your Future Home: Creating the New Vancouver.
• I was introduced to Gro-Carts (mobile gardens) at the Surrey Social Policy Advisory group among other innovative movements in Surrey.  There were interesting side conversations around the stigma and social rules we have attached to grocery carts. I enjoyed the imagery of growing food inside the cart we usually haul groceries.
• While I have not read the new book yet, I went to the launch of James Hoggan's provocatively titled "I'm right and You're an Idiot: The toxic state of public discourse and how to clean it up." The most pressing environmental problem we face today is not climate change. It is pollution in the public square, where a smog of adversarial rhetoric, propaganda, and polarization stifles discussion and debate, creating resistance to change and thwarting our ability to solve our collective problems.
• I attended another great BC Non-profit Housing Association event. The Lower Mainland RENT (regional education, networking & trade show) which highlighted a lot of local affordable housing issues. 

I attended:

• Tamarack's webinar on Promise Neighborhoods hosted by Michael McAfee, Vice President for Programs at PolicyLink and Co-Director of Promise Neighbourhoods Institute
• ULI's webinar on Using leadership and strategic thinking to create urban change with Kimber Lanning, founder and executive director of Local First Arizona
• Tamarack's webinar on Resilience and Space with Emily Munroe, Executive Director of 8-80 Cities and community space innovator
• Tamarack's webinar on Resilience and Measurement with Professor Josh Yates, urban analyst, cultural sociologist and Director of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia
• Tamarack's webinar on Gearing up for Social Impact with Brenton Caffin, Nesta’s Director of Innovation Skills and Tim Draimin, Executive Director of Social Innovation Generation (SIG) National
• Learned more about the PlaceSpeak engagement website through a webinar introducing the many functions and feature - with the special benefit of verifying its users
• Charity Village's webinar on Questions Non-Profit Directors should ask about Fundraising and Marketing with Lelia MacDonald, Management Advisory Services (MAS)
• SFU's Next Generation Transportation webinar From Hair-Raising to Family Friendly: How Calgary built its cycle-track network. with Ryan Martinson, Stantec’s Calgary office
• American Planning Association's  webinar on Bringing Planning to School with Jean Linsner,  Gabrielle Lyon, PhD, John Martoni. and Jacqueline A. Reid, AICP
• Tamarack's webinar on Is your community ready for Collective Impact with Liz Weaver and Joseph “Jay” Conner
• Tamarack's webinar on Homecoming, Gifts and Rootedness: Coming Home to the wonder of  a place based world with Sophia Horowitz, Researcher and author Placemaking Canada and Heidi Clelland Sauer, Landscape Architect Breathing
   

April 2016 What I've been up to

PIBC Planning West Spring 2016

• Some classmates and I from the Langara Applied Planning Program talked about the program and our experiences in this quarter's PIBC magazine
• Completed my Introduction to Tea class at VCC and did a short presentation staring the voice of an adult from the Charlie Brown show. 
• I went to the SFU City Program's lecture called 12 New Affordable Housing Ideas for Vancouver by Michael Geller and subsequently viewed his 02/02/2015 presentation of 12 Affordable Housing Ideas for Vancouver (he gives a good presentation!)
• I went to the BCCSW's Annual General Meeting which included Dr. Ellen Wiebe's presentation on assisted death from the point of view of the health care providers. Quite a complex and thought provoking area

I attended:

• ULI's webinar on Sustainable buildings developed with Health in Mind: How Green Buildings Improve Occupants' Cognitive Functions 
• Tamarack's webinar called Introduction to Collective Impact in anticipation of the Champions of Change event in Halifax with Sylvia Cheuy
• BC Department of Economic Development's webinar on Working with Aboriginal Businesses: Building Partnerships in Tourism
• NEARI Press' webinar on Treating Adult Sex Offenders by Jill Stinson, Ph.D. 
• Charity Village's webinar on Managing Conflict in the Workplace with Eileen Chadnick
• ULI's webinar on Active Transportation and Real Estate: The next frontier as a part of their Building Healthy Places Initiative with Stuart Ackerberg, Wade W. Lange, Rachel MacCleery, Matthew Norris, & Jeremy Stephenson
• Muriel McQueen's Fergusson Centre for Family Violence webinar on Family Violence from an Intercultural Perspective
• Tamarack's Milton Friesen hosted Part 1 of four-part learning series on resilient communities and cities on Resilience and Relationships by Liz Rykert
• Tamarack's webinar on Citizen-led Innovation for a New Economy with Brianne Peters, Alison Mathie, and Jean Panet-Paymond
• BC Economic Divison's webinar on The Power of Buying Local with Katja Macura, Katja Macura and Val Gafka
• BC Housing webinar on Provincial Investment in Affordable Rental Housing (PIAH) focusing on EOIs for self-sustaining business models

March 2016 What I've been up to

• Surrey Social Policy Advisory Committee meeting
• Completed class at SFU  called "Shared Spaces: Foundations for Dialogue and
  Engagement between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Peoples." It was a great class and I recommend it strongly!
• BCASW RDB Branch - Social Work Week Celebration
• Started an Introduction to Tea class at VCC and taking a peek into the local tea community!

I attended:

• Four day Ready to Raise 2016 Virtual Summit on Community Strategic Planning hosted by Tracy Smyth and Tammy Dewar
  • Day One: Vince Gowmon & Line Marie Perron on Leadership, Trust & Creativity
  • Day Two: Paul Born and Maggie Hodge-Kwan on Data & Engagement
  • Day Three: Erica Crawford and Tanya Gadsby on Change and Graphic Facilitation
  • Day Four: Joanne Schroeder and Alison Bledsoe on Systems Thinking, Values & Evaluation
• Urban Land Institute's webinar on Innovative Developments: Three Philadelphia Case Studies
• Urban Land Institute's webinar on "What's your Roadmap for Cultivating Leadership?"
• Charity Village's webinar on "Four Keys to Financial Success in small to mid-sized Non-Profits and Charities"
• National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health's webinar on Re-thinking Family Violence: Centering Indigenous Knowledges
• Charity Village's webinar on "5 Tips to Write the Ultimate Fundraising Cover Letter"
• CASW's webinar on Ending Client Relationships
• NEARI Press' webinar on Family Reunification after child sexual abuse with Joan Tabachnick and Peter Pollard
• National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation's webinar on Participatory Budgeting

February 2016 What I've been up to

Planning Valentine

• Surrey Social Policy Advisory Committee Meeting
• Urban Land Institute's Winter Social at the HiVE
• Started a contract a Beringia Community Planning, Inc.
• Completed a class at Langara on Urban Design and Placemaking
• Started a class at SFU "Shared Spaces: Foundations for Dialogue and
  Engagement between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Peoples"
• BCASW's Branch Meeting with a Presentation by Kim Ortis, MSW on Transforming Trauma
• UBC's School of Community and Regional Planning 8th Annual Symposium: generation(s)
• SFU's lecture with Michael Geller on Russia: Images and lessons in Planning

I attended:

• Tamarack Institute's webinar on Patterns in Community and Social IMPACT: Who is as important as how
• NEARI Press' webinar on Promoting Sex-Wise Parenting: Supporting Parents to Promote Sexual Health and Safety at Home and in the Community
• National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation's webinar on Participatory Budgeting and the Balancing Act - the IAP2 February Webinar 
• Tamarack Institute's webinar on Disrupt Cities on building cities that are resilient, engaging and proactively achieving dramatically better results for low income residents
• Charity Village's webinar on How to Track Achievements for Career Success
• NHA's webinar on Cultural safety for Indigenous Peoples: A determinant of health
• Charity Village's webinar on Ten ways to create awesome meetings
• Urban Land Institute's webinar on Returns on Resilience: The business case
• Justice Canada's webinar on Changing Course: Skills development programs for youth

January 2016 What I've been up to

• I dipped my toe into Project Management and completed a Project Initiation course. This indeed looks rich and interesting, but certificate completion will wait for another time.
• Course in Social Housing Management, follow-up from November's coursework, was cancelled due to low enrollment. Too bad.
• Both of these courses were at Langara - my new favorite place to go - its where all the cool kids go!
• I went to the BC Crime Prevention Association's full-day training on Abuse of older adults awareness and response training in North Delta 

I Attended:

• Heritage BC's webinar on Heritage & Cultural Tourism
• Tamarack/Vibrant Communities' webinar on Creating a Container for your Content regarding communication strategies in social innovation
• National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health's webinar on Metis history, identity and the Metis Nation today
• Tamarack Institute's webinar on Rural Community Transportation Solutions
• BC Association of Social Worker's webinar on Episodic Disability: Relational Communication and Reasonable Accommodation
• Charity Village's webinar on the Top 20 Compliance Issues for Canadian Registered Charities
• CASW's webinar on Family Violence through a Trauma Informed Approach

December 2015 What I've been up to

• I went to a great conference: TOGETHER! BC Collaborates to Stop Sexual & Domestic Violence Conference. Not only did it have broad BC attendance, I even met someone who came from Newfoundland. It was a great conference.
• I met a lot of great people this month and had happy holidays!

I attended:

Frost . . . No snow

• Training at Vancouver's Brainstation to include Visual Design using Adobe Creative Suite, Social Media, Vancouver learns to Code, and a UX Workshop
• The Table Community Food Centre's webinar Field notes for social change: A conversation with Raj Patel
• Charity Village's webinar on How to prepare a successful major gift request

November 2015 What I've been up to

• Finished the SFU/City of Surrey Continuing Studies Transportation Lecture Program. It was a great overview of land use planning, community development, land development and transportation planning shaping the City of Surrey.
• Completed a small project for the SFU/City of Surrey Continuing Studies Transportation Lecture Program regarding  a pedestrian experience of incremental infrastructure: Experiential photographic presentation illustrating different paths and trails and lack of cohesive pedestrian infrastructure. Concluded that there are a lot of incomplete paths to no where and undocumented paths. Up-to date descriptions of planned pedestrian infrastructure and current wayfinding would be beneficial to best use available pedestrian infrastructure. 
• Completed BCCPA's Crime Prevention Volunteer Training Day
• Participated in We the City Community Summit's Housing in the City: THRIVE! Surrey in 2030
• Volunteered at the 16th Annual Hyde Creek Salmon Festival as an engagement facilitator and created a short survey as part of the engagement strategy. This is an awesome free family event - check it out next fall! 
• Completed the  Social and Affordable Housing in BC course at Langara College which gave an overview of housing policy, program and practices.

I attended:

• We the City Community Summit's Housing in the City: Beyond the Headlines event hosted by SFU Public Square
• World Town Planning Day: Housing Regeneration Strengthening Communities international online conference hosted by American Planning Association
• BC Crime Prevention Association's 37th Annual Training Symposium: Shaping the Conversation for Safer Communities
• Heritage BC's Heritage Basics webinar
• Vibrant Communities' webinar on Evaluating Cities Reducing Poverty: An introduction to our shared evaluation method
• Tamarack's webinar on Developmental Evaluation: Principles in Practice
• Heritage BC's Writing Statements of Significance webinar
• Neari Press' webinar on Supporting Families of Children and Adolescents with Problematic Sexual Behavior
• Surrey Coalition Against Domestic Abuse Conference titled Through the Media Lens: Impacts on Domestic Abuse #SCADA2015
• BC Non-Profit Housing Association's three-day Conference and tour to include coursework during the weekend and evenings #BCNPHA
• BC Ministry of Agriculture's webinar on Strengthening Farming 101
• Heritage BC's Heritage Conservation, Sustainability, and Climate Change webinar
• Canadian Centre on Disability Studies (CCDS) webinar on VisitAbility in Social and Affordable Housing
• Canadian Mental Health Association webinar on Mental Health in the Nonprofit Workplace

October 2015 What I've been up to

• Continued with the SFU/City of Surrey Continuing Studies Transportation Lecture Program
• Volunteered as a facilitator at North Shore Community Resources Society's Democracy Café #nsdemocracycafe
• Volunteered with Heritage Chilliwack Society's Fall Tour and Tapas Event
• I voted! First time I was permitted to vote since 1993!

I attended:

• Metro Vancouver's Community Breakfast: Building connectivity in our communities
• Tamarack Institute & Vibrant Communities webinar on End Poverty in a Generation: The Edmonton Story with Mayor Don Iveson
• COP21 & International Local Government Climate Movement webinar on a Briefing for Canadian Local Governments
• Canadian Observatory on Homelessness webinar on A Way Home: Coalition to Prevention, Reduce and End Youth Homelessness
• Tamarack Institute webinar on Social Infrastructure with Milton Friesen
• UNBC webinar on Anti-Aboriginal Racism in Canada: A social determinant of health
• Surrey RCMP Neighbourhood Safety Presentation
• We the City Community Summit: Researching the City opening event #SFUPublicSquare #WeTheCity

September 2015 What I've been up to

• Started the SFU/City of Surrey Continuing Studies Transportation Lecture Program
• Volunteered as a facilitator at North Shore Community Resources Society's Democracy Café #nsdemocracycafe
• Re-certified in First Aid and CPR with St. John's Ambulance #SJA

I attended:

• Heritage BC Webinar: Heritage Legislation in British Columbia
• ULI Re-imagine Downtown Vancouver
• Heritage BC Webinar: How to use Standards & Guidelines
• t3 webinar: Building motivation for change
• t3 webinar: Forgotten History Integrating LGBTQ youth
• Heritage BC Webinar: Heritage Conservation Areas in British Columbia
• t3 webinar: Using the TICOMETER to measure organizational levels of trauma-informed care
• Charity Village Webinar: Getting the best from your volunteers through the SAVE approach
• CFCC Webinar: Basic Income - Giving Canadians a Solid Floor to Stand On
• City of Surrey Counsel Meeting
• BCNPHA Town Hall on Affordable housing

August 2015 What I've been up to

• I finished the Applied Planning Program at Langara completing a Post Graduate Diploma in Applied Planning!
• And I volunteered as a facilitator with Heritage BC Open House identifying intangible heritage values for Vancouver's Chinatown

I attended:

• Webinar: Using Qualitative Methods to Understand Housing Density by Wendy Sarkissian and Sue Bullen introducing NVivo software
• Webinar: t3 presentation on Racism, Homelessness, and Social Justice
• Metro Vancouver Coquitlam Watershed Tour

June & July 2015 What I've been up to

• Continued last semester in Applied Planning with final course work in Advanced Research Methods, 3D Computer Applications in Planning, an individual Major Project on Integrated Crime Prevention, and a large group project creating an area plan for an new neighborhood
• Individual presentation on 100 Police Officers Is Not Enough: The importance of integrated crime prevention
• Group presentation on the Langara Village Area Plan

I attended:

• Urban Farming Walking Tour of Southeast False Creek
• ULI BC Building Healthy Places Event: How building healthy places is good for business  +  Why everyone should be doing it
• City of Surrey Collective Impact meeting

May 2015 What I've been up to

• Started my last semester in the Applied Planning Post-Graduate Diploma Program at Langara.
• Started course work in Advanced Research Methods, 3D Computer Applications in Planning, an individual Major Project on New Models of Crime Prevention at the local level, and a large group project creating an area plan for an new neighborhood.
• Completed Justice Institute of BC Advanced Facilitation and Consultation Certificate Program requirements.

I attended:

• ULI BC: Student Speaker Series
• NEARI Press: Consultinar  - Case consultation via webinar
• SFU Centre for Dialogue: Troubleshooting Public Engagement event featuring David Kahane
• City of Vancouver: Cambie Corridor Phase 3 Launch event
• Futures for Public Housing: A Dialogue with International and Local Housing Stakeholders
• NAIOP Raising the Bar: Market Trends and Innovation in Sustainable Building and Community Design

April 2015 What I've been up to

In April 2015 I completed course work in:

• Social Planning & Community Development
• Designing Public Consultation
• Facilitating Group Conflict
• First Nation Municipal Planning
• Urban & Rural Planning
• Land Development / Auto CAD
• Environmental Planning

I have attended:

• BCCSW's Annual General Meeting
• BC Poverty Reduction Coalition's "Mayor Who Ended Homelessness" event
• City of Surrey's Wills Brook & Mountain View Park Open House 
• CCASA's webinar on Working with Jails: Sexual Assault Programming and PREA
• 3 day 2015 ITE QUAD Conference - Investing in our Transportation Evolution learning about transportation's role in community planning and shaping the health and resilience of our communities