o-CNN: Destination Marketing Just Tanked in Canmore, Alberta

The Mountains Are All We Need

Or is it?

Canmore Business and Tourism (CBT) packed it in, closed, retired, ceased operations and left the building. The voice of, and for Canmore business is silent. Call it what you will, but things are not going to be what they've been before.

I am not going to make this a long post. Watch the video for our thoughts on the matter. 

Alberta's businesses are hurting, and as a result its people are hurting. For a short while, here in the mountains we thought we may be immune to the contagion that is murdering the enterprising spirit of Entrepreneurs and Producers in the rest of the province. Business is good in Canmore we tell ourselves. Tourism is up. We are lucky. People can work. While it is famine everywhere else, the mountain towns are thriving. 

It is then unfortunate that here too finally we have to face the reality that maybe our own community is not really as immune as we thought. No, we are not referring to the fall in oil revenues as the driver for our misfortune and the supposed cause for the Alberta recession. Rather, we are pointing to a lack of realization and understanding of what makes a community and a Province's future possible and successful in the first place: It is its Producers, the entrepreneurs, their businesses that follow, the jobs that are created as a result, and the opportunities it presents for people to move here, live and thrive. We profile them and make videos of what they do. You can see who they are on this site.

Contrary to (more recent) popular belief: Without a healthy and thriving business base, there is no community. As they say in the country of my birth - Africa: "If you eat the chicken, you have no more eggs." Give businesses a reason to be here and Entrepreneurs the encouragement to establish themselves, and see how well the rest of the people do as a result. Why is this so hard for our politicians to get? Market this destination.

Every weekend, thousands of cars drive by our town. Thousands of opportunities are lost until we flag them down and tell them our story, and show them what we have on offer. Canmore Business and Tourism was tasked to do this job, and they've done well with what they had at their disposal.

While the model for Canmore Business and Tourism was less than ideal, its motive, commitment and results were exemplary. Surely, there was a way to make it work then, Mr Mayor?

Canmore is not a business friendly town. Ask any entrepreneur and established business owner that tries to start or operate here, and they will testify to the hazards of navigating high operating costs, stupid property lease fees, labour shortage, skewed zoning laws, high living cost, autocratic and overbearing permitting, and a less than business friendly Town Council. Then add the more recent Provincial Government's taxation and legislative agenda, and it is a wonder any business is left in Alberta.

It is sad to see the one party, who was seen to be standing for the success of businesses in this town decide to call it quits. I personally don't blame them.

CBT just had to finally do what most businesses do under similar circumstances: They close down and/or leave. As a community we are going to be worse off for it. I cannot fathom what our Town Council was thinking to let this happen. Someone will have to take this one for the team.

Hendrik van Wyk

Canmore Business Owner

P.S. If Canmore Town Council think they can step in and do the job of destination marketing, then it will be time for us to reconsider our commitment to this lovely town too. I hear Nordegg is looking for new businesses... and they have mountains!

Who we are: We are a social enterprise. We are funded through donations and sponsorship. 
All our earnings are applied back to covering our costs of marketing and promoting Producers and inspiring local communities. Please support us to bring you more (www.forwardthefavour.com)

Two Cowboys on a Journey: Galts-Goldsmith - Calgary, Alberta

Have Fun and Make Money

(Learn: * Inspire: **** Amaze: * Live: ****)
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I received a phone call early in 2015 from a fella that introduced himself as James Galts-Goldsmith. He wanted a box of my Honey Nougat for his customers to hand out as gifts. He discovered it in a store on his way to the mountains and wanted to order more. 

I was in the middle of wrestling my way through Ayn Rand's 1,000 + page book - Atlas Shrugged - shortly after I contributed to the third movie instalment: "Who is John Galt", on Kickstarter. It was eerily surprising to hear from a guy with a similar and uncommon name during this exact time. Here is someone that is the Goldsmith to John Galt? It was a funny confluence of events, if someone was not playing a very clever practical joke on me. The week after I delivered the Nougat, and that is how I met James Galts-Goldsmith. No joke.

Galts-Goldsmith is a Jewellery Design Studio and Art Gallery located in the heart of Calgary.  A heritage house built in 1912 provides the backdrop for a unique display of handcrafted jewellery along with traditional and contemporary works of art.

Established in early 1978, James has been serving Calgarians and clientele from around the world for over 3 decades with his custom jewellery, painting and sculpting. He crafts every piece completely by hand with a matchless attention to detail and unique and inspiring designs.

If you ever have to find a born maker, then James is your man. Not many people live by a mantra or statement that defines them. James does. Here it is: "Life itself gives me the inspiration to create my art and nature provides me with the raw materials.  Whether jewellery, paintings, or sculpture…..my passion is to capture the beauty around us in pieces that will last for generations. I am an Artist, a Goldsmith, a Hand Engraver and a Sculptor. "

Observations

It is difficult for artists to make a living financially. Many will tell you that they cannot do anything but be an artist, and suffer for it financially. The personal emotional reward is phenomenal. Unfortunately, they often have to supplement the joy of creating, with income from another less inspirational source. A "day" job.

It is therefore very encouraging to listen to a seasoned artist like James when he shares his lifetime story on how he discovered making, and how he tapped into the personal and financial rewards that came from sharing his production. After three decades, James has done a lot of things in the making department. You can see his rock carvings in downtown Calgary. His paintings and jewellery travels the world.

However, it is the things he doesn't sell that caught our attention. The music instruments he made and still loves to play. The customized tools. His workbench. There is so much of a maker in the room that it is encouraging to just be around James' workplace.

He draws his inspiration from nature. If he is not at his desk or in his workshop creating, you find him hiking in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta. 

James affirmed a common theme we discovered with every artist we've profiled thus far: When they make something from inspiration it has immediate value. "It sells" is what they will tell you. If you try to make something for someone else, it doesn't have the same success. Trying to anticipate what people want doesn't work so well. Somehow, the true part of the artist has gone missing. True art cannot be separated from its creator. It is what they are.

James' jewellery artwork is beautiful and we enjoyed the morning with him, in his workplace very much. Now, please enjoy the video with us.

Hendrik van Wyk

Producer

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Who we are: We are a social enterprise. We are funded through donations and sponsorship. 
All our earnings are applied back to covering our costs of marketing and promoting Producers and inspiring local communities. Please support us to bring you more (www.forwardthefavour.com)

Photos

Happy Place

Tools

A Maker

Still Making

Galts-Goldsmith