MOVING MAYOR
That mayor of yours sure gets around these days.
As I write this, Gregor Robertson' office just Tweeted out an Instagram of the man himself at the inaugural B.C. mayors caucus in Penticton. Note about that last sentence: I can't believe I'm using this bewildering language-qu'estce que c'est un Instagram?-and I apologize to those social media haters; really, I feel your pain about the nerd takeover.
Moving right along-
Hard to tell from the grainy pic whether His Worship is bleary eyed from his time on the road because his Clark Kent glasses further disguise any evidence of traveller's eyes. Yes, I know Penticton is only a short rip up the Coca-Cola Highway but only days earlier he was having dinner in Paris with local novelist/artist Douglas Coupland.
And a few days before breaking bread with Coupland, Robertson was in Stuttgart, Germany for the FMX festival, a conference on animation, effects, games and something called transmedia.
According to the mayor's itiner-ary, he gave a six-minute speech and presented a three-and-a-half minute video presentation. Not sure what he said or what he showed the crowd. He joined a crew from Vancouver at the conference, including Lee Malleau, the CEO of the Vancouver Economic Commission and Marianne O'Reilly, the head of visual effects and animation for Vancouver Film School.
Aside from having dinner with Coupland, the mayor's itinerary says Robertson was in Paris to attend the New Cities Summit. Apparently, Robertson spoke about "innovation and collaboration in #Vancouver," according to one of his Tweets. He also promoted Coupland's so-called V-pole idea, a slim, modular utility pole to provide neighbourhoods with mobile wireless, LED street lighting, electric vehicle charging and parking transactions.
The mayor is quoted and his visage is featured prominently on a Coupland web page set up to promote the idea. That dark-haired woman seen walking in one of the photos is one of the mayor's assistants. Hmmm- have to check, but not sure what the Vancouver Charter says about a mayor shilling for a potential customer of the city.
When he wasn't talking V-pole, Robertson spent his time in Paris meeting with host New Cities Foundation, participated in "breakout sessions," offered himself up to media, attended a reception spon-sored by CNN and then flew home the next day. Then he was off to Penticton.
So, how much did this all cost? You read my mind. One of the mayor's people is checking on that for me.
MOVING ON
Some news from the Vancouver Police Board: Shona McGlashan, the board's executive director, has taken a position as chief governance officer at Mountain Equipment Coop. Her last day is May 23.
"While I'll be sad to leave the police board and the world of police governance, this is a tremendously exciting opportunity for me," McGlashan said in an email.
Rachelle Radiuk will take over as acting executive director.
In other moving on news, Maureen Enser, the executive director of the Urban Development Institute, is retiring. Her many years of service to the industry were recognized last week by real estate marketer Bob Rennie, who gave Enser flowers as he talked over a Barry White song in a ballroom at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver. "She's been our mother and I think she has protected us from what we want and she's given us what we need," Rennie told a crowd of more than 800 people before delivering a speech on the current state of the city's real estate market.
Twitter: @Howellings
