Photo of Mayor Robertson campaign. Photo By: Joshua Berson

I attended a private dinner last week, where Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson thanked the tight-knit group of staff who worked on the successful Vision Vancouver campaign in 2011. My partner worked on the Vision Vancouver campaign, leading the South Asian community outreach program. Mayor Robertson’s analogy of service to a community using the Sikh concept of seva and langar, or a volunteer-run communal food service at Sikh temples, stood out amongst the evening of memories shared and local food. Why reference langar when there was no photo op, no South Asian or Punjabi community “leaders” in attendance, and only a couple of South Asians in the audience? It’s a disruption of what we’ve traditionally understood as the practice of multiculturalism – and it’s a good thing.

Leaders in all capacities (education, politics, business) need to understand that diversity and multiculturalism are not about affirmative action or token committees reporting to councils. It isn’t about government advertisements including “coloured” people, and politicians singing, “Gung Hai Fat Choi” or “Vaisakhi Mubarak!” at “ethnic” celebrations. Multiculturalism can be an honest attempt at understanding and embracing the idea that amongst our diverse differences are the beautiful similarities that bring us together as a community. So that it isn’t just a group of progressive-thinking 50 bureaucrats understands, welcomes and appreciates the value of an idea like langar.

A ChangeCamp event is a creative face-to-face gathering that is citizen-led, non-partisan and social web enabled. ChangeCamps bring together citizen change agents to answer questions like: How can we work together to create our desired future?

ChangeCamp addresses the demand for a renewed relationship among citizens and between citizens and our civic institutions. We seek to create connections between people and their civic passions by using new tools of communication. – ChangeCamp.com

I had the opportunity to pitch a session at Vancouver ChangeCamp this past weekend, and after the municipal elections and race for the ethnic vote, diversity and civic engagement was on my mind. I facilitated a discussion on how we can bring about meaningful engagement with diverse communities in an inclusive manner that steps beyond pandering to communities for votes – and the response was interesting. Cheers from the crowd when I pitched the idea, and challenging issues during the session itself. Diversity, it turns out, doesn’t just mean ethnic, but includes abilities, culture and ideas. And the strategies for civic engagement is three times as challenging.

That was one of the good things about the ChangeCamp idea: keep an open mind, consider collaborations, and find new strategies to tackle an interesting or problematic issue. I didn’t find every session helpful, and the “un-conference” mandate meant some sessions, while wonderful and optimistic, didn’t leave with any meaningful outcomes. But other sessions were inspiring, lead to deep connections and fostered dialogue that still has me thinking today.

For the session on diversity, a clear division between engaging ethnic or cultural diverse communities and engaging people with developmental, social or other ability challenges, arose. While some tactics may work to engage all of these populations, the issues facing these different groups were not always the same. One finding was the need for non-profit and arts organizations (or any organization for that matter) to engage with people of diverse abilities in a way that each individual could feel valued and not segregated or abnormal. And a  key takeaway: build bridges rather than keep people in containers – something to consider when we engage with any diverse communities.

I was interested in leaving with real strategies and tactics to move forward with my desire to have more engagement with diverse ethnic communities that face social, economic, linguistic, spatial and other limitations. Some ideas: collaborative storytelling projects that use art or food to transcend language and tell a story; online story sharing projects with potential for translation; expansion of city farmer markets into more ethnic diverse communities in East and South Vancouver; sharing farming or home garden techniques between different people from diverse communities; more cultural or food-based festivals that engage more communities in the areas that they live in. These are some of the top level ideas that came up, and I hope that this conversation will lead to other ideas, projects and collaborations. Arts and activist organizations AND local government need to consider diverse populations as real citizens who are part of Vancouver, rather than as outlying, ghettoized groups who can be counted upon to vote en mass come election day.

At the end of each session, the amazing Vancouver Change Camp volunteers drew up colourful charts to summarize key themes from each meeting. Meaningful engagement, collaboration and community were key themes I took away from the unconventional un-conference.

In bad taste? Definitely, considering the climate in Cairo and Tahrir, and the number of people, including foreign journalists, who have been attacked, this isn’t the most tasteful or intelligent statement to tweet to followers. And the followers were not happy – his message even spurred a spoof account (similar to the faux BPGlobalPR account).

After several irate responses from Kenneth Cole followers, the designer posted this message:

Do you, KC? While trying to remedy his PR gaffe (are his PR people guiding his tweets?), his message comes across as insincere and hollow. The fact is, Kenneth Cole did make light of a serious situation, and it doesn’t seem like he does understand the sensitivity of this historic moment (despite American journalists like Anderson Cooper, Christiane Amanpour and several other CNN and ABC correspondents being attacked overnight and today).

How should Kenneth Cole have managed the situation? Don’t use a politically sensitive issue to promote your brand. There are few situations where that can be done right. But more importantly, when a PR gaffe is made, the accompanying apology needs to be sincere. Something along the lines of “I made a mistake,” and, “I’m sorry.” Followers need to know that the designer and the brand understand that they made a mistake. The current “apology” doesn’t cut it – and the continuing backlash on Twitter and online is evidence of that. UPDATE: Kenneth Cole deleted the original message (after 5 hours) and posted this message on the brand’s Facebook page:

What do you think of his apology? I think his original response on Twitter should have been closer to this Facebook message. It could have saved close to 5 hours of negative conversation about the Kenneth Cole brand.

Lesson learned: When tweeting on behalf of a company, you need to consider, “how does this represent my brand?” ie. Does comparing turmoil in Cairo with the need for fashion really help or support the Kenneth Cole brand values? A good social media policy is a must for every organization, and this policy should be informed by your business plan and values. And when you make a mistake, understand that a sincere apology is most often more appreciated and valued by your customers/potential customers.

I’m doing publicity for this amazing exhibition at the Surrey Art Gallery, featuring a new wave of Indian artists who are inverting and transforming art from the conventional, to interpretive and experimental digital media, installation and sculpture art.

The Opening Reception + Artist Talk takes place Saturday, January 22, 2011 and everyone is invited. Ranbir Kaleka, an astounding internationally-acclaimed artist who has worked in almost everymedium, will be in town from New Delhi to talk about his work and the greater exhibit. He’ll be joined by the exhibit curator, while ambiance will be provided by R&B, Bhangra, Pop musician, DJ Reminisce.

Why you need to head to the suburbs to check this out: We all know that India is a bright, vibrant place of contradictories, but this group of artists move past the colourful and slum stereotypes to give us a glimpse into India in the 21st century. No naked goddess statues, Mughul miniature paintings and or brass vases – instead, expect an odd installation mixing nature visuals and man-made material, new media presentationsand sculptures that may not make any sense (but are undeniably awesome).

The exhibit runs from January 22 – March 27, 2011 at the Surrey Art Gallery.

Sean Stiller and Ajay Puri hatched up this novel idea: create a platform where citizens can question, exchange ideas, collaborate and re-think multiculturalism in Vancouver. They’re joined by ace UBC organizer, Zi-Ann Lum and several other intellectual, community and artistic types. One of the first projects they plan on delivering is a Pecha Kucha-style event about moving beyond ethno-centric media, followed by some kind of photography-creative-storytelling exhibit in the Fall of 2011.

Definitely worth keeping an eye on, and joining the discussion: www.coopculture.com.

Tea for 2 is the perfect cure for Hump Day blues, and The Secret Garden in Vancouver’s cute Kerrisdale community is just the place I head to when I need a pick-me-up in the middle of the week.

My first visit to the Secret Garden was years and years ago, when a couple of girlfriends and I sampled their decadent high tea. Perched on a three-tiered tray were mini croissant-wiches, filled with green apple, brie and an onion chutney. Nestled next to the croissants were egg salad pinwheels and a savoury sandwich made from mini scones. Very lady-like.

Level two featured some kind of mini loaf, maybe cranberry, and little apricot scones, accompanied by heavy clotted cream and strawberry jam. But the piece de resistance was the top tier of the tray, where an assortment of delectable sweets, including the Secret Garden signature mini lemon tart, tempted me into an afternoon of happy tummy bliss.

Since that first visit I’ve gone to Secret Garden to celebrate special occasions, to refill my tea tins (LOVE their Vanilla Almond loose leaf) and when I just need a relaxing break in a sort of British/a lot of colonial/cute vintage kind of setting. They also serve  a demi high, soups, salads and a number of fresh sandwiches, perfect for munching on during a lazy afternoon getaway.

Secret Garden Tea is located at 5559 West Boulevard, Vancouver.

What’s for Lunch Honey? is the perfect place to just look at food and drool. Meeta is an exceptional photographer and writer based in Weimar, Germany, but had an interesting childhood living in hotels and eating interesting cuisines. Her macarons look heavenly (I’ve yet to actually try to make them though), and her general fare is quite fancy looking, but fresh and yummy all the same.

Diner’s Journal from The NY Times is home to insight and recipes by several notable NY food writers, including Mark Bittman, whose Bitten blog I used to follow before he joined this larger community. Bitten’s recipes are simple and fresh, and I’ve been a hit at parties with his sweet potato, black bean, red pepper salad, with a chili lime dressing.

Oeufs Mayonnaise (formerly The Gourmet Cartographer) is by a Bombay-based, former NY resident who remains nameless to me. She writes about things that are delicious, and make me want to visit Bombay toute suite, just to try the street food, fresh veggies, stirfries and everything else she’s eaten.

The Traveler’s Lunchbox brings stories about food and cooking from around the world. Gorgeous pics from each city visited or lived in by this world traveler compliment her sometimes too long stories about family, place and the table.

Alexandra’s Kitchen is full of delicious pictures accompanied by delicious recipes and delicious stories. I just like to look at the pictures sometimes.

Quick Indian Cooking by Mallika Basu, is one of the better Indian cuisine blogs I’ve found. Not because the food is the best, but because it’s simple to prepare and moreover, fun to read. The very fashionable, UK-based Mallika recently published her first cookbook, Miss Masala: Real Indian Cooking for Busy Living. I’m looking forward to trying those Vodka Chili Cocktails…

Kiss My Spatula is easy on the eyes, and includes a great list of indulgent recipes for things like homemade goat cheese, fig jam, make your own soy milk, coconut banana bread and dungeness crab.

This past week they hosted an event featuring the writers of The 100-Mile Diet, James MacKinnon and Alisa Smith. They talked about ways to eat locally, while partygoers sipped wine, beer and nibbled on local sourced appies. The next talk in the series will be about the NEW food writing, which is something I love because I read food blogs everyday, dreaming of cooking all sorts of macarons and fancy proscuitto goat cheese fig pizzas, but never quite get around to doing it.

The New Food Writing takes place December 8, 2010 at 7:00pm at the Museum of Vancouver. Vancouver’s luckiest writers (they get to eat yummy food for a living!) will talk about how urban kitchens are linking their food to the planet, while we nibble nosh and drink wine.

www.museumofvancouver.ca