“We received a grant and realized we had no clue how to do a mural,” said Susan Martinsen. I met Susan over photographs, drawings, charts and lots of paint in Ashland Wisconsin.  She was repairing the aviation mural, part of a Mural Walk. Susan and her pa...

How do you recruit, hire and train talented community building staff was the topic of conversation for 100 managers in Ohio last week. I spoke on an interview process where team members are able to touch and feel the values around our work from first contact. ...

The streetcar in the city of Cincinnati last carried passengers 65 years ago. Now the city once again has new streetcar tracks and shiny sleek new streetcars quietly crossing a 3.6 mile loop through its downtown. I was at the historic Findley Market as I saw t...

On a long flight home, we encountered severe storms that resulted in my flight being diverted to another airport. There, severe lightning emerged and we were stuck for 3 hours. Eventually we were able to arrive at our destination. Unfortunately I had missed my...

  I have seen this guy biking around town riding an unbelievably decked out bicycle. It appeared to have flashing lights, music playing and all types of decorations. The cyclist often appeared in a hurry and as if he did not have time for conversation. Th...

I found that the Miracle Mile occurred not far from me in Vancouver . Here  in 1954, Roger Bannister and John Landy redefined what was possible in track as they both broke the 4 minute mile. This had never occurred before.Now an incredible transformation has...

There has been research  recently on the impact of loneliness . People who are not connected to others are more likely to experience  significant health risks is the summary of much of this. Many suggest that loneliness can be associated with poor mental hea...

Simon Laplante is a Vancouver based artist and community builder. For years he has been creating mannequins decorated with legos and also illuminates chicken head masks with legos. At a recent opening of his work  (that included 81 masks!), he also manufactur...

I’m still learning my new neighbourhood and commented to a neighbour that I had shopped at the local market for the first time. She asked if I had tried the strawberries. I mentioned that I was actually looking for them but had not seen them. When I retu...

Radical Hospitality Spent the week in Brantford Ontario with groups looking at how our local business and institutions can help build connections and community for all and what do we do that impedes that from happening. I was struck by the radical hospitality ...