Are you a DTES resident with an interest in the arts and community media? Do you have a customer service background, or an interest in developing one? W2 Media Cafe is hiring baristas, and they are committed to hiring from the inner city!

BOB is working with W2 Media Cafe to recruit and train potential candidates. If you are interested in this opportunity, come to our barista training information night on Wednesday April 27th from 4-6pm. The session will be held at the W2 Media Cafe, #250-111 West Hastings.

If you have any questions, please contact Lani Johnson at 778-328-7674 or lani.johnson@bobics.org.

The session will include a presentation about the community work W2 Media Cafe does, as well as information about the barista positions. Please bring your resume and be prepared for a short screening interview.

Successful candidates will be selected for a week-long training session put on by BOB that will include the opportunity to get certified in Foodsafe and Serving it Right.

BOB is excited to partner with W2 Media Cafe to provide the barista information and training sessions through our BusinessLinks program. By hiring inner-city residents to staff their inner-city business, W2 Media Cafe is contributing to inclusive revitalization through building community capacity. Well done!

Access to the internet is something that many people take for granted. As I write a blog post or check my e-mail, I do not usually stop to marvel at the wealth of information that is readily available to me. A search engine is so ubiquitous in most people’s lives that the proper name Google has now become a verb. However, the more importance our society places on the ability to use a computer, the further behind it leaves those with little to no access.

With that in mind, W2 Community Media Arts at Woodward’s is putting on an ‘unconference’ called DTES Camp on Sunday, November 7^th from 11-3pm to evoke discussions on themes related to the digital divides right here in Vancouver. As part of the Media Democracy Day events, the DTES Camp will feature film screenings, various speakers, and a collaboration of ideas. The Camp is free and open to anyone who wants to share their thoughts. This promises to be an interesting debate, considering the different types of divides that would presumably affect an area as diverse as the Downtown Eastside.

One idea that will no doubt arise is turning the entire Downtown Eastside into a wi-fi hotspot. The Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood Council has been championing this for quite some time. There is no doubt that providing access is an important first step. An even larger challenge is ensuring that access is useful; in other words, once access is provided, will people know how to use the technology in an effective manner? Some agencies in the area, such as the UBC Learning Exchange and the Union Gospel Mission, provide computer use and training sessions. Should this be made more of a priority? How do we stop the gap between users and non-users from widening even further?

I could ask questions into the vast world wide web until I turn blue in the face. Better to stop by the DTES Camp and join the conversation.

For more information, visit W2’s website: http://www.creativetechnology.org/.

Besides protests? Well I’m glad you asked. Building Opportunities with Business, the local BIAs, and many businesses and organizations have been working together to promote tourism in Vancouver’s historic inner-city and combat some of the negative stereotypes and even the urban blight that threatened to engulf Vancouver’s urban heritage.

Last weekend was the Chinatown New Year’s Parade and the first Vancouver Artwalk, both were big successes. Chinatown led by S.U.C.C.E.S.S. are inviting tourists daily learn more about Chinese culture.

Located at the Choi Hall at S.U.C.C.E.S.S. Social Service Centre (28 West Pender Street) will be open to the public as an exhibition site of Vancouver Chinatown’s services and upcoming events. We envision that through this partnership, we will create a positive image of Chinatown in the minds of the Vancouver 2010 visitors. Between February 15 (Monday) to February 20, 2010 (Saturday), six days in total, table space has been courteously reserved, free of charge, for your organization to promote your programs and services. S.U.C.C.E.S.S. will be staffing the site, 9am-5pm, during this period of time. Among the tables and booths, a variety of demonstrations are planned: performances by S.U.C.C.E.S.S. membership groups, Wii Olympic games and
fun facts of Chinatown, and more…

Vancouver’s DTES is home to more artists and galleries than anywhere else in Canada. From Jeffery Boone to W2′s Perel Gallery there is always exhibits of up-and-coming local artists and even the odd world renown figure such as Herzog.

Walking tours are very popular in the historic inner-city. A Wok Around Chinatown, Sins of the City, there is a variety to suit various interests. The Police Museum is running the Sins of the City walking tour twice daily during the Olympics at 11AM and 2PM. The museum itself is open everyday and located at 240 East Cordova.

Another option would be to take a guided tour by Pedicab, Dragon Rickshaw Adventures is operating daily during the Olympics.

Vancouver is home to some of the world’s best Chinese food, staff favourites in Chinatown include Bao Bei, Foo’s Ho Ho’s, and the Jade Dynasty. The rest of the inner-city contains some great eateries as well as night time destinations. The Irish Heather was recently featured on NBC and right next door the Blarney Stone is having live music every night and giving away official Team Canada hockey jerseys every time the Canadian Men’s team plays.

If Irish or Chinese food is not what your looking for their is Mexican, French, Japanese… just stroll up or down Water Street or check Gastown.org for more information.

The Koolest bloggers in Gastown work here

Koolhaus Designs on Water Street will be the home for Vancouver’s Gastown Blog, and if you take the time to head down and see for yourself you get a free pin! And possibly a gorgeous table or sofa if you feel like spoiling yourself. The popularity of co-working spaces, inviting and socially diverse places where bloggers and various multimedia creators can converge and work while feeding off each other’s creativity, have really gained momentum in Vancouver. Along with W2 Culture and Media House, who officially opened their space today, BOB also has co-working space in the DTES. The Gastown Blog location at Koolhaus is particularly kool because anyone wandering down Water Street, on their way from any number of Vancouver’s koolest pubs, restaurants and stores will see bloggers busy at work through the massive streetside windows.

Head on down and grab your pin, tell them BOB sent you!