The next Likemind Vancouver event will be held at 8am on Friday, July 16th and hosted by Starbucks Coffee at 977 Mainland Street (at Nelson) in Yaletown, Vancouver (Click here for directions).

Free coffee and snacks will be generously provided to those who come early, so come join a group of like-minded creative professionals and start your day with some good conversation over a cup of good coffee.

Remember to confirm your RSVP on the Facebook group page, invite a friend, and bring your travel mug. See you there!

PS – If you bring your camera along, please upload your shots and share them with the 70 other Likemind groups in cities around the world!

Happy New Year! The first Likemind event of 2010 is scheduled for 8am, January 15th and will be hosted by W2 Community Arts at the W2 Culture + Media House at 112 West Hastings Street (the Perel building across the street from the fancy new Woodwards building).

Coffee and treats are being provided by Salt Spring Coffee this month, so come join a group of like-minded creative professionals and start your day with some good conversation and a cup of quality, fair trade and organically grown coffee.

Remember to confirm your RSVP on the Facebook group page, invite a friend, and bring your travel mug. See you there!

PS – Can some of you remember to bring a camera and take some updated shots we can share with the nearly 70 other Likemind groups around the world?

Likemind has come a long way since its inception and profile in the New York Times. With about 250 members in Vancouver, our “chapter” has become one of the most active, with a lively Facebook Group, Flickr page and Twitter feed. There are no fees, no rules, no agendas, no speakers, no barrier to participation—just good people meeting for good conversations over good coffee.

The only thing missing is YOU.

Likemind Vancouver happens at 8am on the 3rd Friday of each month, with the next gathering on August 21st at Workspace Café at 21 Water Street in Gastown. So bring your travel mug and be prepared to enjoy a FREE cup coffee while enjoying casual conversation with creative professionals just like you from a myriad of backgrounds and industries.

Please spread the word and come join us for a coffee!

Thanks to Dane and the team at Workspace for the continued support.

It’s certainly no secret that we’re huge fans of GDC, the national design association in Canada, and the various events they produce. So, I’d like to encourage any and all creative professionals that work within the communication design industry in and around Vancouver (yes, that includes you graphic designers too) to attend the upcoming 2009 Salazar Awards featuring a special keynote presentationby the briliant Michael Osborne of MODSF at Emily Carr on May 8th. Last year’s event was a total sell out, so reserve your Salazar tickets before it’s too late.

For tickets to the Salazar Awards, click here.

That same weekend is GDC’s annual POGO Conference—which stands for Perspectives, Opportunities, Guidance, and Open-learning—including rare studio tour opportunities, creative workshops, and portfolio critiques by some of Vancouver’s leading design experts. This weekend of learning represents a unique and powerful opportunity for recent design grads, young designers looking for advice, or aging design wonks just looking for some fresh perspectives and networking opportunities. Last year a few attendees landing terrific jobs as a result of attending the portfolio reviews alone!

For tickets to POGO, click here.

Likemind Vancouver is gaining momentum with over a dozen cool folks showing up for coffee. Here are photos from the event.

The next event will be held on January 16th at Workspace in Gastown, Vancouver, so if you’re interested in starting your day with coffee and casual conversation with likeminded creative professionals about whatever issues are on your mind, then join us on Facebook to keep informed of Likemind Vancouver events.

As mentioned previously, Richard and I are co-hosting Likemind Vancouver, which has recently gotten the attention of the New York Times.

So, if you’re interested in 45 minutes of coffee and casual conversation with likeminded creative professionals about whatever issues are on your mind, then join us on Friday, December 5th at JJ Bean Coffee House (2206 Commercial Drive) at 8:00am sharp.

UPDATE: We had a great event with over a dozen cool folks showing up for coffee. Here are photos from the event.

After months of work and anticipation, today is the day. The day we launch our new identity with a new website, blog and an unimaginable list of collateral and promotional item including a new logo, new tagline, new stationery, new promo items, new website, new EVERYTHING.

Design and producing an entirely new brand identity for you own company is both exhausting and rewarding—especially if you’re a design firm! We have to be the hardest client we’ve ever worked for! And this has to be the most expensive project we’ve ever tackled! We now have a whole new sense of empathy for corporate clients that hire us to do brand identity work for them.

Now that it’s over, we’re hosting a celebration party tonight and would love you to join us. Details and RSVP here.

As mentioned previously, Richard and I are co-hosting Likemind Vancouver, which has recently gotten the attention of the New York Times.

So, if you’re interested in 45 minutes of coffee and casual conversation with likeminded creative professionals about whatever issues are on your mind, then join us on Friday, December 5th at JJ Bean Coffee House (2206 Commercial Drive) at 8:00am sharp.

See you soon!

I consider myself lucky to one of the lucky few able to get a ticket to last night’s sold out inaugural Interesting Vancouver conference with some friends. Oops, I meant to say “unconference.” It was the third local event that I’d consider part of the unconference social movement which is growing in popularity, as both a co-host of Likemind Vancouver and an attendee at the latest edition of Pecha Kucha—all in the span of a week.

My friends and I, including CSS guru Dave Shea, his beautiful fiancé Lauren Isaacson, and my colleague Matt SamyciaWood, decided to try to avoid using the word “interesting” during the event, lest the offender be forced to buy the next round. Let’s just say it was  good thing we augmented the rules before we were completely sideways and Matt had hit the limit on his credit card. That would have made the night ahead definitely…uh…interesting.

Unconferences are becoming quite popular recently. Perhaps it’s a reaction to these uncertain political, economical and environmental times, but I don’t care—I like it. The idea of large, complicated and expensive conferences centred around an industry or topic has it’s place, but I relish the idea of smaller gatherings of like-minded folks to discuss a variety of topics that affect them. And the notable lack of pressure to hand out business cards and endlessly network, seeking clients or employment is refreshing.

The evening was nearly flawless in its execution. Organized and calmly presented. The schedule was adhered to strictly and the presentations were divers, fresh and succinct. Having been disappointed with all but a few of the speakers at the recent Pecha Kucha event—some of the better ones actually in the audience last night—I found the key strength of Interesting Vancouver was the quality of the presentations themselves. Clearly the organizer, Brett MacFarlane, put a great deal of time and thought into inviting just the right mix of topics and speakers, includeing James Chutter , Darren Barefoot, Dave Ng, Tom Williams and Irwin Oostindie among others.

Presentations alternated from quick three minute overviews to longer twenty minute diatribes on topics such as eating local food, the challenges of living abroad, the impact of art & design on culture, and how we can all find meaning in our lives by supporting various charities. Some speakers addressed precisely how interesting Vancouver is directly, with explorations of the efforts being made to build community and gathering spaces, how BC is a world leader in addressing climate change, and the variety of museums in the area. Every single speaker seemed hand selected and were clearly well prepared and well rehearsed for the evening. The final presentation of the night was by new Vancouverite and 2nd Globe artist David Young, who  ended with a sobering look at moments of genius and accomplishment throughout history that occured in cities much smaller and less developed than Vancouver, challenging the audience to consider “Why not us?”, suggesting that Vancouver may indeed by the “next great place.”

Another key factor for me last night was the combination of the high calibre of attendees combined with the casual, comfortable feeling in the room. Hosted at The Vancouver Rowing Club, with its spectacular views of the Vancouver skyline, the event had a casual, town hall feel. People from all walks—though admittedly skewed toward the geek “wonk” crowd—sipped beers and munched apples compliments of the organizers. Apples and beer? Try it for yourself, it’s a delicious combo.

The night ended as it had begun: enjoying good conversations over drinks with likeminded friends, only this time they were coffees with cake—to help shake off the multiple beers imbibed earlier. I’m looking forward to next year’s edition of Interesting Vancouver and recommend you attend, although I hope it doesn’t grow much larger due its success this year, and suggest you think up a more clever drinking game than we did. Ouch.