Canada has been a big part of my life for the past three years and it’s with great sadness that I share the news today, that I’m flying back to live in the UK. When I moved to Halifax last Summer, Canada became my home. I spent most of my first year in Musquodoboit Harbour and as you locals know, it’s a little rural. I have met some wonderful people here and many of them I am proud to say are my friends. I hope the Atlantic won’t put you off keeping in touch.

Obviously this wasn’t planned. These things happen. Making the decision to go back to the UK is the hardest decision I have ever made. I have made arrangements to safeguard the work I have done here. As many of you know on July 1st the Haliwards 2011 launched and I will be managing the project from overseas. I have made sure that the fine individuals who were appointed on to the advisory board have sufficient training to continue inland tasks.

The past 3 years that I have spent on and off in Canada has been amazing. It’s certainly had its ups and downs but I leave with fond memories of this hockey lovin’ country. I’ve met some amazing people here while working on many events across HRM. Some of those highlights for me would be the Tall Ships, Blue Nose Marathon and of course the Haliwards.

While we are talking about the Haliwards I just want to say a few things in regards to how important this project is to me. The Haliwards is my first international production. There were times when I didn’t think that project would make it, but it did and it came out shining! I really want to express my thanks to everyone who was involved with the inaugural year. It was one hell of a roller-coaster. I have met the most incredible people while working on this project. I have learnt a lot from the inaugural year and I will be taking home that experience to put it towards my future UK productions.

I want to say thank you to all my blog readers. I receive more hits from Canada now than I do from the UK. That will surely change soon but thank you for taking interest in my work! Thanks to all the individuals and groups who allowed me to feature their work on my blog too.  I also want to say thanks to the local folk on Twitter. I know sounds a little random but when I first came here I was a newbie. I knew nothing about HRM. Well you educated me well!

So what now? Well, first things first. I’ll be heading to the airport next week for a flight to Heathrow. Then I’ll be heading to Somerset in the south west on England to spend some quality time with my family. I have so much catching up to do.

You have all provided me with years of stories to share for a lifetime. I may have not mastered the Canadian accent but I’ll be sure to continue to use choice Canadian phrases for the foreseeable future!

I hope many of you will stay in touch. Thanks to the genius of technology I’ll always be a key stroke away. I welcome you to connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Skype.

—Anyway. Without a doubt I’ll be back sometime in the near future for Haliwards related work.

Thank you and best wishes for the future.

96.5 KOOL FM

http://haliwards.com/res/interview_kool.mp3

Q104 Halifax
http://haliwards.com/res/interview_q104.mp3

Resolution 460: HANSARD 10-16 MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2010

I was very pleased to receive a document from Diana Whalen, MLA this week (Even if i did have to go to the post office because the bloody postman didn’t buzz me from downstairs). I am very honored to have received this from the House of Assembly.

For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, this is a document officially thanking me from the Nova Scotia government for the work I did on the Haliwards 2010. Working on the project was enough of an honour. This was the icing on the cake!

You can read the resolution here and watch it here.

Haliwards Commercial

My name is Cara Muise. I grew up in Sydney, NS but moved to Halifax for school. I’m pursuing a undergraduate degree in linguistic analysis. It’s an inter-university program, so you can find me bouncing back and forth between Dal, SMU and MSVU. When I’m not busy pouring coffee, I’m either running with my dog or curled up on my sofa with a book. I became interested in the Haliwards while chatting with the project’s director, Alex Maine, via Twitter. After reading about previous award winners and how they contributed to their communities, I was 100% sold. I try to volunteer as much as I possibly can (with groups like the Canadian Cancer Society, tutoring children/my peers, teaching religious education classes, helping palliative care patients and their families) so I understand how much time and effort the nominees are putting into their communities. More importantly, I understand the need to thank them, to tell them that their work hasn’t gone unnoticed, and remind them that they’re contributing to a better and brighter Halifax. As we at the Haliwards like to say, it’s time to say thank you! Here’s looking forward to an incredible 2011!

Hi everyone, I’m Maeghan Murphy. I’ve got a passion for two things: my studies and my city. Working with the Haliwards, I get the opportunity to pair both of these and I couldn’t be happier. Two years ago, I moved to Halifax to study Public Relations at Mount Saint Vincent University. I’ve been in awe of the perfect balance Halifax has – a big, beautiful city with a small town feel. Growing up in the booming metropolis of Sydney, Cape Breton, I definitely appreciate the small town feel. I became involved with the Haliwards after receiving the newsletter and reading that Alex was looking for board members. I crossed my fingers and hoped no one had already claimed the PR role. Luck was on my side – bring on the press releases! What really drew me into the project was the lack of rules that go along with nominations. As long as it’s extraordinary – it’s Haliwards approved. Behind every strong community is its people – here in Halifax, our people are of elite quality.

Let’s get celebrating!

My name is Alanna Langille and I was not only born, but also raised in Halifax. In my spare time, when I have “me time”, you can find me with my camera in hand. I love photography and it has become one of my favourite hobbies. I have recently graduated from Halifax West High School, class of 2010, and will be attending Dalhousie for Nursing in the fall. While in high school, I was an active member of Student Government and volunteered with various events as well as organized my own events which got the school and community actively involved. I was nominated and awarded a Haliward in 2010. The experience was amazing because not only did it make me realize what I had done had made a difference, but also that it did not go unnoticed by the community. The feeling that was behind being nominated for such a prestigious award was incredible. Being on the board this year for Haliwards is an honour and I look forward to giving back to my community.

Hi, my name is Angela Espejo, and I am a new nursing graduate of the University of Alberta. I grew up in Fort McMurray, AB, and currently work for Capital Health Halifax in acute care Psychiatric-Mental Health. At twenty-three years, I convocated with my Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and decided to move to a new region of Canada to kick off my healthcare career! I moved to nurse in Halifax largely because my employer offers a transition program for new nurses; indeed, I’ve always found Atlantic Canada intriguing, and this area in particular. Now I’m here to discover Halifax firsthand! What better way to make Halifax home than to volunteer with an organization that is committed to the community, and gives citizens the opportunity to say thank you?! I believe that embracing and participating in the community truly enriches the lived experience of its members, and when I heard about the Haliwards, I just knew I had to get involved.  I love to shop local, cook for friends, practice yoga, and sing. I feel so blessed to join a community that celebrates its members. As such, I’d like to extend a thank you for the warm welcome to Halifax, and an invitation for you to give back by recognizing those who make a difference in your community.

Hello everyone, I’m Megan Thain. I was born and raised here in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia and have lived here for all 19 years of my life. I am currently enrolled in the Tourism Management program at the Nova Scotia Community College and I will be going into my second year of the program this upcoming fall. I am currently working two jobs. I work at the Empire Theatres in Dartmouth Crossing and have been working there since the building opening in June 2007! I am also currently working at the Delta Barrington Hotel in the House Keeping Dept. I have to do this job for my co op which is part of my course requirement for school but I am enjoying it. I really enjoy just being around people; It doesn’t take much to make me have fun. I’m often the type of person that people come to with their problems because people put a lot of trust in me and know that I’m always here to listen. Part of the reason I was interested in volunteering for the Haliwards project was because I’m one of those people that is always doing whatever I can to help out, and putting others before myself and I know how good it feels to have your hard work recognized and I want the people of Halifax to know that they are making a difference and that we all really appreciate their efforts.

• • My name is Heather Shay and I am currently attending NSCC(Nova Scotia Community College) taking Tourism and Hospitality Management. This course has opened up many opportunities; one of them being the Haliwards. Haliwards recongizes the people that make a difference in their communities. Haliwards acknowledges everyday people that dedicate time and effort to making their community a better place. It also provides everyone a chance to say thank you. I volunteered last year not knowing what I was getting my self into! Alex and his team were steadily working to make Haliwards a reality. Fourtunely,I was able to be a part of the ceremony presenting 2 awards. I am excited to be on the board this year continuing to give thanks to everyone who deserves it.

    My name is Jess Wishart. I was born in Halifax, and despite having done a fair bit of travelling, somehow I always end up coming back. It must be something about the atmosphere and the people, that indefinable appeal that makes this city and the people that live here so unique. I became involved with Haliwards as it seemed to me like a fantastic way to start characterizing that something special, starting with appreciating Haligonians for all the great things they do for others in work and play. I graduated from the University of King’s College and I currently work for the Sun Life Financial Chair in Adolescent Mental Health as the Youth Engagement Coordinator. I can’t wait to start reading your nominations and learning more about all of the people that help make this city great!

  Hi, my name is Cassy Ellis-Browne, and I live here in Halifax. I was born in England, and moved here when I was six to be closer to our family here in Canada. I am a Tourism Management student at NSCC, my main focus being Food & Beverage. I heard about the Haliwards when an instructor of mine sent out an email asking for volunteers to help with Haliwards. I was really intrigued by the project and really wanted to be involved. I met up with Alex a few days later. It started out that I would just be helping with the planning, but I ended up presenting awards at the ceremony! It was really nervewracking, but seeing all the people accepting their awards and hearing all of the amazing things these people in our own community had done really inspired me. It was one of the best experiences I’ve had here in Halifax and I am glad to have met all the people working on this project. I believe the awards are so unique because as you may have heard “they have no boundaries”. It really is just for the people and it’s my honour to be a part of it.

Hello all! My name is Katie Radchuck and I was born and raised in Halifax. I traveled alot during my highschool years at the Halifax Grammar School since I was playing for the Junior Canadian National Soccer team. I moved to the USA to go to university at the University of Connecticut where I continued to play soccer as well as get my science degree in Physioneurobiology. I loved my time there but was excited to come back to Halifax where I have my family and many lifelong friends. I currently work as a mental health researcher for the SunLife Financial mental health team for the IWK. I also spend alot of my spare time volunteering for organizations and events I feel worthwhile to our community and the people who are a part of it. I was happy to be included as a track and field coach for the Special Olympics as well as spend my time as a committee member for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation helping create events to spread awareness and raise money. I am a proud Canadian and a very proud Haligonian. This is a phenomenal city to live in and I love the idea of the Haliwards as a way to celebrate anyone or anything! : ) in our community that make this such a wonderful place. Take a few seconds and recognize the people that have made a difference to you!

The aim of this post is to backup what I have previously stated and to allow this specific family the chance to speak publicly about their experiences. I welcome everyone and anyone to share their thoughts below using the un-moderated comment system. (Abusive messages will be removed)

So let’s recap. I have expressed negative feelings towards MI (Maritime Idol). From my experience I have found it to be an unprofessional unit that makes promises that it can’t seem to keep. For my detailed thoughts on the project you should read my original post before continuing.

On July 8th I received an email from a father of a contestant. I’d like to make it clear that I whole heartedly believe that this is not just some guy who is pissed off that daddy’s little girl didn’t win the competition. The lengthy email I received was very constructive and to the point. Today I will be sharing parts of that with you along with my thoughts to backup previous statements I made.

I will not be naming the family as I feel it is not appropriate. I have asked them if I may use some of the email they sent me for this purpose and they have agreed.

The emailed opened with a very strong statement:

First of all let me start by saying; that we are not attacking this competition because our daughter didn’t win, because you know the first thing said would be, “They’re just poor losers”, on the contrary,  As our daughter  said , if she had of won it probably would be career suicide being connected to such an amateur, cheap and unprofessional as well as unethical contest. I have to give it to them though, they are pretty good at sucking you in and have you believe they know what they are doing.

This is quite a strong statement to make and I would not have posted this unless I thought they had the reasons to back it up and I believe they do.

One of my major worries and concerns about this project was the promises that it made. I felt from day one that the competition was not able to pull off half the things they promised to do. Maybe they are all talk?

Ron at one point told us that he was in Fredericton and they were going to hold a competition up there and they had enough entries, they just needed a venue.  Well of course this ticked us off thinking that we could have saved our money and stayed home to compete if this was the case, but for some reason the so called Fredericton competition never materialized.

Oh by the way, when you were a weekly winner, which our daughter was, you were told you won a website.  Well that cost us money as well $20.00 for that.

Seriously? You have to pay for the poor shabby flash websites? Ouch! I have worked with singers for years and we have produced some great sites and they never got charged for things that were deemed “free”.

Unfair: There are so many examples that show this competition doesn’t have enforced rules or guidelines and the proof  is in the pudding.

As she was preparing for Regionals, we found out from another Fredericton teen, who we know and competed in the previous season that she was going to Regionals we were baffled because she hadn’t even competed at any competitions during this season.  We then thought, OK what is going on, rules are starting to change, red flags started going up for us.  She told our daughter that Kathy, Ron’s wife asked her to compete at regionals.  Low and behold when voting began for regionals and videos went up online, there they were several people were allowed to send videos in and were deemed “talented enough to go through to the Regional level” without weekly competitions. We debated then to drop out because clearly the rules were being made up as the competition went on.  But believing in our daughters talent, we continued to waste more money.  As of this now we probably had $400.00 invested, due to travelling expenses and the  cost of  admission to watch our daughter.

So to recap —Some people got through to the regionals without competing. Well this sparks my first questions to MI. How is this fair? Where are your rules and guidelines?

Well, when we watched the videos from the 3 francophone youths, clearly they had performed many times before, they were very trained.  Remember these 3 had not done a weekly competition to get to regionals and there videos were also in French I might add.  Red Flags were going off everywhere again.  French judge, french competitors, and finals were going to be held in a french community, see where the red flags are coming from.

These 3 francophone competitors just came into the MI competition, less then a month before finals were scheduled.  Again, couldn’t understand where the fairness was coming from considering that the majority of contestants played by the rules, oh wait what rules… Some competitors had been in this competition since Dec, and now it is June.

Well one night we were doing some searches and our daughter came across a site acadie idol and low and behold who were the contestants the 3 francophone contestants that are now in the finals in maritime idol.  There was a rule posted which is no longer posted on the MI site, that you were not allowed to compete in MI if you were in another competition.  Strange, the rules have been taken off the site.  More red flags.  It just so happened that these 3 had the most views of any contestant from acadie idol and had the same managers as MI, Ron and Kathy.

It’s quite obvious why alarm bells were ringing for this family. This totally backs up my thoughts on the structure and fairness of the competition —but what about the actual events and final prizes?

During the Regional competitions Ron and Kathy told the contestants they could entertain while the judges deliberated, so my daughter and her friend, decided to do a song, her friend played piano.  They even charged our daughters music accompanist to pay admission, even though she was playing the piano for our daughter. Again we thought this a bit much, and more and more in our opinion they were just in it for the money.

We were charged $50.00 each for the finals for the two days, even our 13 year old had to pay the same price,  They stated on the MI site that due to limited seating there we be no reduced pricing for students.  Limited seating all right, we had to round up our own table and chairs so we could sit because all the spots were taken.  This competition was so poorly run, they didn’t even have a dressing room provided for the contestants to put their change of clothes for their performances, they had to go to the public washroom to get ready.

The winner was given a small, inexpensive trophy like thing and a cheap grocery store bouquet of flowers, I’m pretty sure the prizes were donated, ex. hotel stay in Moncton, passes to the zoo and magic mountain, oh we can’t forget the professional CD contract.  Well, by now, we had invested another $400.00 into the whole scam and this is what we got in return, the finalists were given a medal of participation, a Tim Horton’s coffee mug and canister to put coffee in, again from Tim Horton’s.

That’s odd. Ron was just telling me the other day they get digital equipment like TV’s
// Seriously what is going on here? —and before anyone says this is an attack against them or that i have some kind of vendetta against the competition, think twice because if you look above 90% of this is not my thoughts.. I’m sharing some quotes to backup what i had already said.

This is just a handful of things that were said to me in this email and i could write for days what i think about all of this but i see little point. The damage has already been done.

I have asked Ron from MI the following:

// Why is the project called Maritime Idol if it doesn’t cover the Maritimes? You made several promises that the competition would take place in certain places and that never happened. Example: Fredericton Why?

// Weekly winners apparently “win” a website. Why do you charge them $20 for it?

// Why did certain people get to compete in the regionals without taking part in the weekly competitions?

// What are your rules and guidlines? You seem to change them without warning. (Cant compete in other competitions rule was removed)

// How do you justify charging accompanying performers entry?

// How do you justify a 13 y/o having to pay 50$ to watch your two night finals?

// Tell me your thoughts on the francophone contestants and Acadie Idol. Some people feel MI was fixed?

// On average a family will pay between 500-1000$ in expenses for this whole competition. This includes travel, ticket costs etc. Do you think your winning prizes reflect fairly on their expenses?

// Don’t you think it’s time you hired a professional? —or at least start listening to one?

// As it’s public money. maybe you should start posting your accounts publicly?

If he responds i will post his answers publicly.

Alternatively you can just right-click and download.

http://alexmaine.net/IMG_0036.mov

Update 1: Currently used 60GB of bandwidth today. Wow. Expect it to be a little slow loading.
Update 2: Thanks to Smoking Apples and i-enthusiast for sharing this.
Update 3: Now been posted on forums. 74Gb of bandwidth today.. wow!!
Update 4: The grand total of yesterdays bandwidth is 85.37GB

One thing I pride myself on is being opinionated. It’s not the best way to make friends, but I don’t write a blog to make friends. I write it to share my thoughts and that’s exactly what I am about to do.

Last year a local individual introduced me to Maritime Idol. They didn’t need to explain what it was to me because the name comes with a description tattooed into it. Being a guy who has worked in the events industry since I was 16 and heavily involved with talent searches I was curious about it.

Maritime Idol is a talent competition based in the Maritimes (obviously) which targets students. They offer the winner a CD recording contract and the winner receives 70% of all revenues after production costs. My understanding is that  they then take a % of all your future performance fees for the life of the 3-year contract, which is crazy. Here is how it works —or how I think it works. The website is a bloody maze! Steve Jobs would cry if he seen it.

Local singers are invited to take part in “heats” at various bars, clubs and schools across the area. Performers are charged to perform and spectators are charged entry. The audience vote for the 4 people they want to see go through to the next round. Apparently forcing them to pick 4 makes it fair.. Someone explain that to me? It’s still a popularity contest doesn’t matter how many you ask them to pick.

Votes are also taken online and only allow one nomination per day, per IP address. So once again, not completely based on talent. It’s based on how many friends you have on Facebook or how many people know how “ipconfig /release” works.

Each week one contestant (based on the votes) goes through to the regional finals. I’m sure by now you get how this works. So what’s my problem with this so far. I hate the whole spectator decides crap. It’s not fair and the online voting makes it extremely fixable. Send me $10 and I’ll guarantee I can make you win this year’s competition. *joke*.

Its $7+ to get in. Well I understand they have to make money. The Haliwards ceremony was $8 a head and that was in a completely different league. (but really they are two different types of event so I shouldn’t compare them). So —I’m trying to work out how they got from A to B.

Pictured above is the 2008 winners CD. So after countless heats and then regional finals, semi-finals and final this is the finished product. Well it’s nothing special. I can confirm it’s not because I have the same cases from Best Buy. The CD’s are your average home made production.

This is not for one second a dig at the performers. The winners of these competitions are very talented. They are very welcome to drop me a line and we can have a chat.  I just feel that they have been severely let down.

Since last year I have researched this group and have even met with the organiser and it really is one big puzzle to me.  I was even asked  if I would judge some of the HRM heats and obviously I declined.

It’s no secret that in the coming months that I will be perusing a talent search for performers for the Haliwards so some of you may think that this is just a lame attempt to distinguish any competition. Well I honestly don’t think we are in the same type of events.

In my opinion this is an unprofessional unit.

Update 1 – 24/6: Tickets for the final are actually $30 per person. This just backs up what i am saying. How do they get from A to B. That’s an expensive ticket.

Update 2 – 26/6: Ron (Owner of MI) sent me a nasty email this morning, followed by a link to a “hate site” saying that I fail. “The truth about Alex Maine coming soon”. I’ll let you make up your own minds on this.

Update 3 – 26/6: Ron has agreed to take the site down. He is welcome to post his thoughts freely below.

Click here for Fail: Maritime Idol – Revisited (Contains more information)

So today Apple released their latest creation, the iPhone 4. We all knew it was coming thanks to Gizmodo and there arguably illegal activities —and let’s face it, It’s pretty much what we wanted! It certainly is in my eyes. I must admit that I was getting a little worried to begin with when they started focusing on 3 new apps and one of them was Farmville, but thank god I wasn’t alone in thinking that it was a total pile of crap.

Anyway, back to the phone. Let’s start with the screen. I’m excited by this “Retina display”. Without holding one in my hand it’s hard to imagine how good it’s going to be but I’m just assuming because its Apple it will be of epic proportions. In layman’s terms the resolution is four times what the 3GS can produce.

We now have a front facing camera! Well that’s awesome. Though the back side camera is a little disappointing. I’m pleased to see that we now have a flash and special technology to improve low lighting but I still feel 5MP is really low. I think 8 should have been the number. Video wise, I love the thought that an iPhone can capture HD video. That is really something. I also like the look of iMovie even if it is a bit basic.

For the foreseeable future video calling “FaceTime” is only going to be available over WiFi and that is a real kick in the teeth. I can imagine a lot of people will jailbreak to use it over 3G. What do you think? I probably would.

The only reason I’m a little unhappy right now is because Canada is not on the list for the first countries getting the device. So I can only hope that it will hit the stores here in July. According to Rogers blog, thats is the case.

Design wise, I love it. I think it’s refreshing but not too far away from the design that we already love. Are you sensing an overall mood here? Yeah, I really like it!

One thing that really annoyed me today is the Apple haters saying that there’s nothing “brand new” in this device. I mean seriously?! They stick a coloured ribbon on an android phone and you all drool!

Anyway, nothing more needs to be said. I’ll be playing with the GM of iOS 4 as soon as its hits the Dev Center so check out my OS 4 post for screenshots etc. you may also wish to look at a collection of snaps from people at todays WDCC.