Canada’s 143rd birthday is behind us. For most of us it’s a day off and a chance to celebrate with our family and friends all the things we love about Canada but in 2000 Canada Day took on a different meaning for me. 2010 marks the 10th anniversary of my Father’s passing.

Now I don’t share this for you to feel sorry for me or even to suggest that this years Canada Day was a day of sadness for me. On the contrary, I celebrate Canada Day and make room for a quiet moment to remember my Father and thank him for the many gifts he gave me.

I share this with you because the one regret I have about my Father’s passing is the lack of family photos I have that capture my family together. We were not a “snap” happy family and I always thought that I would never refer back to photos anyway. Well I was wrong. The one family photo I do have is from when I was 3 years old and it takes pride of place on my bedroom wall. It’s the first thing I see every morning when I wake up.

Why is this relevant? Well I recently discovered an amazing opportunity for families to capture those special moments and help those that are less fortunate than themselves at the same time. Kids of Vancouver is the brainchild of Jeff & Tanya Harrison of Veridamo Photography. The Kids of Vancouver 2010 is a photographic art book in it’s 2nd year and hopes to raise over $15,000 for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society & SHARE Family & Community Services. 100% of your $100 consultation fee is donated to one of the charities. If you have more than on child not to worry each additional child is only $25!

Jeff & Tanya came up with the idea when after the birth of their first child in 2008. They decided to refocus their photography business towards family portraits and less towards weddings & events. A fellow photographer & friend in Australia had created the Kids of Brisbane Photography Book to much success and inspired the Kids of Vancouver project. A photographic Art Book celebrating over 100 families from Vancouver.

When I asked Jeff what the feedback has been so far from the participating families he said the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Many families want to capture family memories but have not made it a priority. The benefit of the $100 consultation fee going directly to charity has prompted many parents to get off the fence and capture those special moments.

Here’s how it works: Click here to Nominate your child & family

Step 1: Nomination -The first step is to fill out the online Nomination Form and we will call you back to arrange a quick consultation. Or if you prefer call us directly at the studio at 604 910 7020.

Step 2: Consultation - The consultation is an opportunity to learn more about your family and what you expect from a photography session. We discuss location, clothing options, your child's likes and dislikes, props to bring, pricing and whether you are interested in albums or gift prints or custom art pieces to hang on your wall.

Step 3: Photo Session - Next of course is the photo session, to be done at an outdoor location in Metro Vancouver (a favourite park or beach or playground or even your own home). If you would like to have a family portrait sitting at the same time, this is a great opportunity as well.

Step 4: Viewing - Approximately 1-2 weeks after the photo session you visit the studio for a Viewing Session where we unveil the images that have forever captured your child. This is when you decide which images you must have and whether they hang on the wall, go into a small album or maybe are given as gifts for Christmas.You are under no obligation to purchase any prints.

At the end of the year Veridamo will publish the Kids of Vancouver 2010 coffee table book and included in the book will be one image from your child's session. (pre-order to reserve your copy)

If you have more questions about the Kids Of Vancouver project or Veridamo Photography please check out their website and the FAQ. Click here to Nominate your child & family today.

I recommend taking some time out this summer and capturing a moment in your families life. It will be something that is treasured forever.

By Marc Smith

With the influx of tourists and locals alike into the DT core many long established restaurants made the decision to increase their prices along with adding auto-tipping onto the bill. Reason's for these practices have included increased staff and food costs and a tourist crowd not used to North American style tipping. Many traditional journalists have covered this story and you can click here to read one of them.

This post is not about the validity of the restaurant claims or even if it was right or wrong. What this post is about in essence is the power of social media and it's near immediate impact on a business or organization. How a business responds to it's customers and their feedback  says a lot about them and the people using Social Media aren’t shy about making their views known.

One such chain is Earls. Locally grown here in BC, Earls has come under some major fire for it's pricing and auto-tipping policies. An example is a gentleman who had an unpleasant reaction to the price and tip increases immediately went onto Twitter to voice his thoughts. Within 10 minutes over 20 responses and conversational engagements occurred creating a slew of online heat for Earls. Click here to see some of the conversations if you use the search terms Earls and Tip. What some businesses don't understand is that each person engaged in a Twitter conversation potentially has at least 300 followers and upwards of 10,000 +. That is a very large reach.

Earls Restaurants gets it and has a person dedicated to following the conversation online and is responsible for taking the pulse of its customers good bad or indifferent. After much criticism here is the response from Earls about the price increases and tipping policies for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics.

Earls Yaletown will be hosting a special locals-only event on Sunday, February 28th. On Sunday morning, Earls Yaletown will be opening one hour early, at 9 am for a complimentary brunch for local patrons only.

From 9 am to 11 am, Earls Yaletown will only be open to locals with a BC Drivers License or other form of BC Identification. All locals will receive a free brunch, they will get a chance to ‘take their seat back’ and amidst all of the madness, they will be able to secure a table for the Olympic gold medal hockey game at 12:15 pm.

We would also like to share with you that as 9 am this Sunday, February 28th, all menu prices will have officially returned to normal, and automatic gratuities will be removed from ALL BILLS.

Earls Yaletown will not be taking reservations for the locals-only event on Sunday morning. The event will be on a first-come-first-serve basis, so get there early, get your free brunch and enjoy the last day of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games at Earls.

So you decide. Is this effort by Earls enough to win the locals back? Only time will tell. I’ve talked here about Earls but trust me they are not alone in creating a backlash of anger and disappointment from their local customers.

I would really love to hear your thoughts and trust me I will be sure to pass them on the the management team at Earls.

Marc Smith is Vancouver based event planner and will be reporting daily on various events happening around Vancouver. http://twitter.com/amuseconsulting

By Marc Smith

On My way to a client meeting today I decided to skip the crowds on Granville and and instead walked along Howe St. Now I walk this street all the time so I'm pretty familiar with all the businesses and what their windows usually display.  When I came by the Urban Barn I noticed the store looked remarkably bare compared to normal and yet a lot of people were inside lounging and talking. I had to check it out.

Home On Howe Window Display

When I walked in I discovered the store had been converted to a "Right at Home on Howe"  a 3,600 sq ft retail space transformed into a 17 day temporary home for Urban Barn employee Robbie Romu. Robbie was handpicked by Urban Barn President Rick Bohonis to live in the store 24/7 for the during of the 2010 Olympic Games. Knowing that the store would not be a destination during the Games they decided instead to create a respite from the chaos for both locals and visitors alike to enjoy.

Urban Barn invites the public to stop by anytime during the extended Olympic hours to hang with Robbie. You can watch TV with friends, sit and relax, play Wii, check email, you name it! In keeping with the spirit of the Games Urban Barn has used this opportunity to raise funds in support of the Canadian Paralympic Foundation (CPF), a registered Canadian charity dedicated to raising funds to support the development of sport for the benefit of Canadians with physical disabilities. The Goal is to raise $20,010.00 by March 21st. Please click here to donate or to learn more.

Here's my exclusive chat with Robbie Romu himself. Hear in his words what the experience has been like.

Here are just some of the fun events planned to keep Robbie and his guests occupied for the rest of the Games.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010 Store Hours: 9:30 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
9:30 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. Wii Winter Games Daily Challenge
3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. “Are You Smarter than Robbie?” Game Show

Thursday, February 25, 2010 Store Hours: 9:30 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
9:30 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. Wii Winter Games Daily Challenge
7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Rock Band Challenge Night

Friday, February 26, 2010 Store Hours: 9:30 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
9:30 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. Wii Winter Games Daily Challenge
8:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. Comedy Night: Christopher Molineux hosts a night of laughs with
some of Vancouver’s top comedy acts. (Limited space; visit
www.homeonhowe.com to RSVP.)

Saturday, February 27, 2010 Store Hours: 9:30 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
9:30 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. Wii Winter Games Daily Challenge
8:00 p.m. – 7:00 a.m. Closed Event (Urban Barn Staff Slumber Party)

Sunday, February 28, 2010 Store Hours: 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Wii 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Winter Games Daily Challenge
Right at Home on Howe Wrap/Closing Party

Marc Smith is Vancouver based event planner and will be reporting daily on various events happening around Vancouver. http://twitter.com/amuseconsulting

By Guacira Naves

On Thursday, an anxious crowd gathered at Caprice Nightclub, here in downtown Vancouver. Most of the people in attendance had two things in common: their devotion to the Canadian hockey team in the Olympics, and their enthusiasm about Twitter as a social network, for both business and social purposes. Shane Gibson has written a great post about that evening.

You see, here in Canada, winning in hockey is a question of national pride. I remember attending a World Cup of Hockey final in Montreal (my old hometown), and one sign summed it all-so-well: "we breed them, they buy them". No need to explain whom that sign was referring to! We Canadians may have a reputation of being polite and understated, but get us talking about hockey, and you're hitting the national ego. Tread lightly!

After the game itself, Twitter celebrity Guy Kawasaki arrived at the venue to meet some Vancouver tweeps in person. If you are active on Twitter, your number of followers expresses the number of other individuals who find your microblogging updates interesting enough to, well, follow what you have to say. At the time of this writing, Guy Kawasaki had an astounding 215,990 followers. Trust me when I say that this is a lot.

Guy Kawasaki, Mitch Baldwin and yours truly. Photo credit: Kemp Edmonds

If you missed the opportunity to meet some of Vancouver's finest social media participants on Thursday, fret not. Another gathering, smaller and more intimate, is taking place on February 25th. View the details and RSVP here.

Come and join us while you're in the 604 area code. Guy Kawasaki won't be there, but we promise to make you feel at home.

Guacira Naves is the founder of The Online Strategy House. She's an online marketing pioneer with 19 years of professional history with the Internet and 13 years of experience as an online marketing strategist.  She serves on the board of the Social Media Club Vancouver. Follow her on Twitter (@OnlineStrategy) or find her at OnlineStrategy.ca

By Marc Smith

Taking a walk with a friend enjoying the beautiful Vancouver sunshine we stopped at the local UPS Store on Nelson & Cambie to mail off a package. We walked in to a sea of video cameras from two local TV stations and a large group of regular folk with cameras. What did we walk into? A scandal maybe at the UPS Store?

Even better, we walked into what turned out to be an impromptu media scrum for star Indian Olympic Athlete Shiva Keshavan. Upon asking and following up with further research when I got home it turns out that  Mr. Keshavan was the worlds youngest Luge entrant ever to participate in a Winter Olympics (Nagano 1998).

The Manager of the UPS Store # 209 Mr. Paramjit Teja, who is known to the Keshavan family as “Uncle”, was instrumental in arranging all the hospitality needs for the friends and family that travelled with India’s Winter Olympic Star. Part of the entourage was 6 “super fans” from Italy that have followed and supported Shiva in his Olympic Dream since his performance in Torino’s Games in 2006. the energy in the store was quite a buzz.

I was lucky enough to capture almost 6.5 minutes of the interview between Shiva and the reporter from Shaw TV. I apologize for the sound quality but this was too good an opportunity to pass up. So please watch and enjoy. I was 5 feet away from an Olympic athlete days after his competition. What a great experience!

After the interview Shiva was asked what his plans for the rest of his stay in Vancouver consisted of. He said " I have two other colleagues/friends from India that are here to compete and I will be at their side and in the stands cheering for them and giving them all the support and wisdom I can share from my 4 Olympic experiences". An answer was truly worthy of an Olympian.

Marc Smith is Vancouver based event planner and will be reporting daily on various events happening around Vancouver. http://twitter.com/amuseconsulting

Marilyn Anderson, Duet Media

You have to see this from my perspective, a Prairie kid who grew up watching Hockey Night in Canada at my Dad's knee.  It was a regular occurrance - part national sport, part social occaision with friends, and part necessity too, I suppose - what else do you do when it's 40-degrees-below-zero and you are miles from town?

And here I am today, in Vancouver during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, in the Caprice Lounge on Granville Street to watch another kind of  "Hockey Night in Canada" game.  This is a much bigger party....with a couple of hundred other people, many creatively dressed in 'fan attire' and lots of Canadian flags and clothing in red.....watching the Canada-Swiss game on a very big screen!  What a difference a generation makes, eh?

It was a great evening, even for the non-hockey fans in the crowd (you're a good sport, Bonnie!) who were there waiting for Guy Kawasaki's appearance later on - check out Twitter, it will all make sense then.  From "scoreless tie" to "Canada leads!"...to OVERTIME NERVES......the tension built, the crowd enthusiasm grew, the flag-waving exploded....until overtime ended and the score was still tied 2-2!

What do we do?  Well, I didn't know the answer to that until it happened: after one scoreless 5-minute overtime period, the ruled dictate a Shoot-Out! Not quite the O.K. Corral, but exciting none-the-less, the Canadian and Swiss stars took their turns.....1 -2 -3.....the goalies win, the score stays tied........so the goalies are changed and Canada's Sidney Crosby gets a second chance.  As the famous commercial says "He shoots - he scores!" and the room went wild! Cheering, smiling faces, much hugging and slapping of backs, toasts were raised and flags were waved!

Marc Smith, of Amuse Consulting, took the mic and we all stood and sang a rousing chorus of 'Oh, Canada', and it all seemed 'right', and a bit surreal.  Outside, the party on the street was wild; every possible patio location on the strip was full of people celebrating something - and even those not hockey fans were caught up in it all. 

Wasn't that a party?! and the night was still young......

Marilyn Anderson is a Communications Specialist and Co-Founder of Duet Media.

By Marc Smith

Yesterday, Feb 11th, saw yet another first in Olympic history occur in Vancouver. The first ever Pride House was opened in the heart of Downtown Vancouver at Qmunity, BC's Queer Resource Centre. While to those of you who are not a member of the LGBT community this may seem small and insignificant it is in fact a major accomplishment and milestone. One I felt proud to be apart of and thrilled to be able to show the world that Canada is truly a country where diversity is celebrated.

Professional and Olympic caliber sports are one of the last remaining hold outs where people in the LGBT community feel they need to hide their authentic selves for fear of rejection from their peers and of course the almighty $$$ support from business and associations.

Politics aside Pride House Vancouver means that LGBT friends and family in Vancouver + all those visitors from around the world have a safe space to come hang out and celebrate the Olympic Spirit with others from their community.

I attended the official opening ceremonies and here is a video of the brief opening remarks from Qmunity Executive Director Jennifer Breakspear.

Right after the official ceremonies were over I was lucky enough to get an on camera chat with inspirational Marian Lay a 2 time Olympian (1964 & 1968), bronze medalist in 1968 and an openly gay woman. Hear what she had to say about Pride House and what it means to her.

I'd love to hear your thoughts about Pride House Vancouver. Please feel free to comment here, or send me a tweet.

Marc Smith is Vancouver based event planner and will be reporting daily on various events happening around Vancouver. http://twitter.com/amuseconsulting

I want to share some Olympic related news. I was asked to join the Metro Blenz News Squad. A group of citizen journalists documenting the Olympic experience. So watch for me in a Blenz near you. Come up say hi and share your experiences with me. You never know we may see one of my blogs in the Metro newspaper. Check out the video below to see some of what I’m planning on doing.

So yesterday’s blog article on the Olympics generated quite a bit of private comments to me about the #1 concern which is how to effectively get around the city during the Games.

These are the 8 Tips and Tricks I recommend.

1. Check out the http://travelsmart2010.ca/ website for all the up to date Transit information, maps, trip planners, travel alerts, & business preparedness tips + road closures.

2. Did you know that if you have an Olympic event ticket this is also good as your transit pass for the day! That’s free unlimited transit for the entire day of the event you are going to! Includes everything but the West Coast Express.

3. For non Olympic related activities/errands/work consider travelling into the downtown core before noon. Most Olympic events taking place in Vancouver and Richmond are scheduled to start after 12 noon.

4. Translink is also offering 6 week Limited Edition transit passes. These are available now and are valid from Feb 8, 2010 to March 21, 2010.

5. If you have a smart phone and are on Twitter follow them. Translink will be real time monitoring these sites and information gathered will be fed to the dispatch center. Jhenifer Pabillano, Online Communications Advisor for Translink is also a great resource and is responsible for the http://buzzer.translink.ca/ Blog.

6. If you have an IPHONE download the free Translink APP. It is a bit clumsy but all the schedules are updated and it utilizes the GPS in the phone to help you find stops near you. You can find the APP by entering TRANSLINK in the APP Store search. Best of all it’s FREE!

7. Depending on your departure to final destination points give yourself some extra time. This way you are not adding any additional stress on yourself and it will ensure less “transit” rage.

8. Smile and be helpful to locals and tourists alike. A smile is infectious and will help in lowering transit tension.

What are your thoughts and ideas about getting around Vancouver during the Olympics? Please let me know what you think. Look forward to your comments.

Having missed Expo 86 I am very excited to be able to partake in all the fun and events that will be happening in and around Vancouver during the 2010 Olympics. I’m even planning to do a day trip up to Whistler just to be a part of the energy and excitement that will be up there.

Thanks to a couple of great websites (www.miss604.com 04 and www.citycaucus.ca) I’ve been able to scout some of the best and FREE events that will be happening around the city.

Here are my top three pics

1. LiveCity Yaletown – I think this is going to be the hot spot downtown for live events. Running from 11am to 11pm Feb 13th to Feb 28th. To find out the full listing of scheduled performances click here

2. Casa Italia – We all know how much I love good food….. Well I am sure that Casa Italia will not disappoint. Located at the Roundhouse Community Centre in Yaletown it will be open daily to the public between Feb 6 – 28th from noon until 6pm daily.

3. Heineken House (Holland) – the must Go See pavilion of the 2010 Games. Located near the Richmond O-Zone it is expected this “party” palace will serve in excess of 90,000 people. Open from 9 a.m. to 2 a.m daily they will serve up equal portions of Heineken and performances by Dutch Artists. A must see!

Holland Heineken House Virtual Tour - click here to view

So now you know some of the places I’ll be. Where will you be?