New Media

Thank you to all my friends, social media evangelists and the millions of Currents fans around the world who supported me in this hard-fought campaign. But the voters have spoken. The Tyee wins this round.

I wanted to write some petty and spiteful things about the Tyee, but the fact is, I actually like it. I read it pretty regularly. So against my baser inclinations, congratulations are in order.

And since the vote counts apparently won’t be released, I can at least console myself that there’s a slim chance this blog beat the snot out of Bill Tieleman’s .

In the meantime, I won a bottle of Yardley English Lavender Bath Foam, Shea Butter and a $25 gift certificate to Howie’s bistro and bar at the 604 Awards raffle, so it’s not a total loss. Nice things for the wife, plus a date night in our future.

Also, congratulations are in order. To my friends in the blogosphere, like Dave Olson (Raincity Studios, Winner Best Company Blog, and Runner-up ), the team at Techvibes (Runner-up, Best Tech Blog — Hey, Wait, I’m Part of That Team! You rock, Rob Lewis!) and Corinna Carlson (Gus Greeper, Runner-up Best Personal Blog), John Chow (whom I met one day at a Vancouver blogger event many months ago– I watched him photograph his less-than satisfactory cheeseburger for the entertainment of his thousands of subscribers)… congratulations.

To all those other deserving blogs out there — there are too many to name, and you know who you are — all I can say is, keep at it. We’re reading what you have to say. Congratulations to you all.

I am honored and not a little flattered as Currents is nominated for a Best of 604 Blog Award in the category of Best Politics Site or Blog. Just to be in the same company as political commentators like the Tyee, Public Eye Online and Unambiguously Ambidextrous makes me feel like a winner.

That said, I do actually want to win this thing. Why should you vote for Currents at jnarvey.com? Here are a few reasons:

1. You actually like what I have to say about politics, or whatever else I’m blogging about. You’ve read something I wrote and thought, “Wow. I never thought of the issue like that before. Cool!”, or “I was thinking the exact same thing, but I didn’t know how to put it. Narvey nailed it!” You liked a post enough to offer an insightful comment.
2. You hate what I have to say about politics. It evokes a primordial, gut-wrenching response. You’ve left a libelous comment at some point, or decided not to comment in the hopes that ignoring a post would make it go away. I affected your life.
3. If you vote for Currents at jnarvey.com and I win, I will strip down to my underwear at the Best of 604 Blog Awards. Let’s face it, no one in the Vancouver blogosphere wants to see my tackle dangling. But perhaps you’ve been just a liiiiiiittle curious about what hairy patches and tattoos lie underneath the clothes that my wife picks out for me? Also, I’ll donate any coins people toss my way to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank.

Can I count on your support?

UPDATE: I am advised by my closest campaign aides that my promise to let it all hang out (well, almost all) in the event that I win could detract somewhat from the spirit of the 604 Blog Awards and also put the kibosh on a promising career. As well, some pointed out that the proposal might actually be a disincentive for some to vote for me, as some people find massive amounts of body hair on pale skin somewhat unpleasant.

Remember to vote!

Currents has entered the world of viral video with an in-depth interview in Vancouver with local writer Kevin Spenst.

As reported earlier on Currents, 1000 Stories is a short film about Kevin’s marathon 50 readings in a day from his book of short stories, Fast Fictions. The film won for best picture in the Paul and Ben 2008 Film Festival. Kevin talks about the process of writing a short story every day for three years, making the film and getting accolades for his storytelling prowess on the SkyTrain.

More videos to follow, hopefully with actual on-camera people — just as soon as I can find a brave soul willing to look into the terrifying depths of my Macbook’s built-in camera. In the meantime, viewers will just have to be content with video stills of yours truly in comic book rendering.

Vancouver bloggers, beware! Open warfare has broken out in the Vancouver blogosphere. Well, it was bound to happen. My (admittedly self-serving) Vancouver blogger SEO experiment did indeed put my blog up on the first page of Google searches for that search term.

But when the rest of the local geek squad (and I write that as a Level 4 Geek) found out about my dastardly shenanigans, it was open season on Currents and Jonathon Narvey’s search ranking. The Vancouver Blogger challenge was born, thanks to Vancouver communications guru and media maven Michael Klassen. 2008 Tech Woman to Watch Miss604 has also entered the running and she seems fairly intent on grinding Currents’ search ranking into plasma. As for Duane Blogwalker, may the Force be with you.

It is with a teary eye and a humble heart that I announce that I will not be taking part in the Vancouver Blogger Challenge.

It was never my intent to provoke such a terribly obscure bloodletting. I’ve had my moment of glory. I would certainly invite my readers to link to this blog, Currents, if and when a post on this blog seems to warrant a friendly nod or an honest rebuke… But in the words of modern philosopher Jerry Seinfeld, I CHOOSE NOT TO RUN!

To all those who wish to compete in the Vancouver Blogger challenge, I wish you the very best. In my books, you’re all winners.

Vancouver’s finest creative startup moguls, tech wunderkind, marketing geniuses high-profile bloggers and various cool creative types united in the historic Lamplighter Pub in Gastown for an incredible meet and greet: Launch Party Vancouver. Instead of the usual Powerpoint demonstrations and demos in between socializing, presenters showed up with a laptop and business cards and got up close with the people. Great concept for a unique networking event. A few highlights:

A photo shoot of the Techvibes Vancouver Tech Women to Watch in 2008 (blogged about by Raincity Studios’ Kris Krug). As usual, Miss604 is one of the top candidates. Go, Surrey! Also, TransitCamp Organizer Karen Fung gets a well-deserved spot in the distinguished group.Despite hanging on the periphery of Vancouver’s tech sphere for years, I never actually met the (in?)famous Kris Krug until this event. The Bryght president/fashion photographer/blogger/tech is a really down to earth guy. He’s an inspiration to us all. Check out this amusing little snippet from Mr. Krug on the evolution of online communities: “There’s been a huge shift in the people using the tools. You’ve got so-called “normal” people adopting technology tools and coming online in big numbers now, and not only that, but then they are turning around and talking about it with their friends. They’re starting to question the tools too, asking all the right questions about privacy, etc, so there’s been a huge increase in consciousness around this.”

Hop Studios webhead and super-cool workaholic Travis Smith provides the following sound advice for people attending such events: OK, let’s just skip the I’m busy with work, you’re really busy with work, that’s awesome, that’s great… Let’s talk about what else you’ve been doing besides work. So, what else have you been doing?” Also, the horizontal scrolling on Unvarnished is INTENTIONAL, people.

Writer and social media maven Monica Hamburg added her own usual intelligence and wit to the mix. She’s probably assimilated the equivalent of a Ph.D worth of info about social marketing by now. Some of her latest finds are explained with her usual eloquence in Monica’s latest blog post, Behold the Power of Facebook for Business.

Marketing Ruined My Life blog author/marketing master Jeremy Lim was also on the scene. Check out his cool new Facebook App, Mixx Maker, which lets you make mix tapes with your friends, quick and easy. 

Creative and award-winning fashion designer Kim Cathers lit up the scene with a sparkling presence. Her killer Discollection line of funky fashions is definitely worth checking out. Spread the love! Excellent event. Keep ‘em coming, Launch Party Vancouver!