City of Edmonton Missing 2017 Budget Adjustments re Public Art and Nuit Blanche

[Top_Dawg]

The most pleasing part of Enterprise Square are the exits.

Top_Dawg hears ya.

But he doesn't harbour a fond memoy of the exit.

Last class so it's final exam night.

Fire alarms start blaring.

Security bulls order everyone out of the place.

But it's a bitterly cold December night.

So they allow people to stand between the two sets of doors.

There's Top_Dawg smothered by a crowd of aspiring business analysts, community engagement zealots, and wannabe supply chain mismanagers, all reeking of coffee breath and sour azz.

After a while Top_Dawg couldn't take it.

Told one of his classmates to call him when they give the all clear.

And he went to Hawkeye's to poke back a brew.

[Moodib]

^^
Yeah, exactly Replacement.

And Top_Dawg wants to point out that it isn't as if the CofE didn't provide funding.

They did.

Only not with as much as those championing this sushi art festival sought.

Which is good.

Like King Ralph used to say.

You could give these special interests as much as they ask for. And it would never be enough.

Strangely enough the cost to have Nuit Blanche INCREASED by about 85K and pay the extra amount and you'll get the good, best, primo prime cut Nuit...


I'm sure some of the councillors could smell the hard sales stench a mile away. Buy today, you're only getting this deal today, price is going up. I slam doors on these sales techniques every time.

But Ken's letter said it was free?!?

And people that are worried about shelter and food are the target audience for the exhibits!

I love reading a good (read: hyperbolic and embellished) sales pitch.

[JayBee]

I wish some of these so-called "fiscal conservatives" would consider buying one less interchange that costs literally 1,000X the cost of 3 years of the gallery, but no, they aren't really "fiscal conservatives."

[moahunter]

As someone that lives downtown with many friends that also live downtown - we found Nuit Blanche to be quite confusing as to where to go and what to do. As a few others have pointed out, it just kind of seemed to be thrown together without a ton of 'event' planning behind it. While I'm not against the event itself as much as Replacement and Top_Dawg here, I would definitely like to see it planned a lot better. I don't know if they need to hire a new event planner, but it is definitely something to consider if the city is going to throw money at it and make it a long term investment. You can't grow an event that is poorly executed and planned. I think a lot of people showed up last year due to curiosity and the name/brand that Nuit Blanche has in other places in the world, myself included. I'm definitely not the only one that noticed the sub-standard planning and organization of the event.

I wasn't that impressed with the one in Toronto when I saw it (just happened to be in town), so even when it is well organized, and in a "big city", its not that special. But I guess some people get value from it per the visitor numbers (although Toronto always gets a lot of visitors, its surrounded by other cities), not sure, we all like different things. The sad reality is there won't be corporate sponsorship coming anytime soon, so without that, it makes sense to put the idea on hold for a future where there is. Prioritize the most established / successful events until then.