Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada will be live from Prince Edward Island on the CBC February 11, 2012. Starting at 11:00am, the Edmonton Oilers will face the Ottawa Senators, the Jets will play the Penguins, the Habs will fight the Leafs, and the Vancouver Canucks will face-off with the Calgary Flames at 7:00pm.

Photo credit: John Biehler on Flickr

Last year I sent John Biehler up to cover Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada in Whitehorse and between the banquet, concerts, alumni, and outdoor activities, I think he had a pretty great time. Aside from the Canadian match-ups, there will be satellite events across the country to celebrate hockey. These include festivities in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan; Windsor, Nova Scotia; Montreal, Quebec; Thunder Bay, Ontario; Winnipeg, Manitoba; and Richmond, BC. Each event is hosted by a CBC personality and will focus on community hockey, organizations, and initiatives.

Photo credit: John Biehler on Flickr

Around here, the Richmond Olympic Oval will be the place to be. They’ll have free admission, an NHL Hall of Fame exhibit, NHL trophies, games, live entertainment, and a chance to meet the Canucks’ mascot Fin along with Trevor Linden. There will also be giants screens to watch the CBC games, a day-long hockey jamboree on twin Olympic-sized ice sheets, a public road hockey tournament, hockey skills zone, and prize giveaways including a trip to Japan.

Mark this down in your calendar as a fun, free day in Richmond with the hockey lovers in your family. Catch all the Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada action at the oval from 10:30am to 10:00pm on February 11th.

Update February 7, 2012: I have been offered 3 prize packs to give away to readers in honour of Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada. The prize packs include a Scotiabank Hockey Club bag, jersey, water bottle, puck, toque, scarf and mitts. Here’s how you can enter to win:

• Leave a comment naming your favourite Canadian hockey player of all time (1 entry)
• Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)

I will draw 3 winners tomorrow, Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 12:00pm so we can try to get the prize packs out before the weekend.

Update The winners are Val, Brandon, and @ksceviour!

CBC’s latest original series, Arctic Air, will premiere January 10, 2012 and to celebrate, they’re hosting a red carpet screening event at the Vogue Theatre in Vancouver.

Arctic Air is a one-hour adventure series set in the booming Arctic, about a maverick airline and the unconventional family who runs it. On the ground, Bobby (Adam Beach), the headstrong business partner, struggles to save the airline from crashing financially while Mel (Kevin McNulty), the cantankerous co-owner, keeps his crew of pilots in the air. Caught in the crossfire is Mel’s hotshot pilot daughter Krista (Pascale Hutton).

The cast and crew of Arctic Air will be joined on the red carpet by other celebrities and VIPs for this viewing, which will be followed by a Q&A session for the crowd. The CBC has offered up 5 pairs of tickets to this event that I can give away to my readers. There are 2 ways for you to enter to win:

• Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)

• Answer the trivia question in the contest box below (1 entry)

Each winner will be able to attend the screening event with a guest on January 10, 2012 at 7:00pm at the Vogue Theatre (918 Granville). I will draw all 5 winners on Monday, January 9, 2012 at 10:00am 3:00pm.

Follow Arctic Air on Facebook and Twitter throughout the season.

Update The winners are: @taigimaeda, Jared, Lyn, Gladys, and Rebecca.

CBC Vancouver will host an open house and the CBC’s 25 annual Food Bank Day this Friday, December 2, 2011. Stop by the broadcast centre at 700 Hamilton for tours, live broadcasts, meet n’ greets with CBC personalities and more.

Tony Parsons, Gloria Macarenko, Rick Cluff and Stephen Quinn will be on hand as well as George Stroumboulopoulos and Hockey Night in Canada’s Scott Russell.

Public tours will begin at 8:00am and run until the 6:00pm news. A wave of local talent will be coming through including Richard Brodeur, Wally Buono, Hannah Georgas, Randy Bachman and 54/40.

Food Bank volunteers will be on site accepting donations for British Columbia’s food banks throughout the day. You can also donate online or at a local Vancity branch.

Follow @CBCVancouver and the tag #CBCOpenHouse on Twitter for news and updates. Check-in on Foursquare on Food Bank Day and get a free button in the CBC shop. Listen at 88.1FM or 690AM in Vancouver.

This morning the BC Hydro Power Smart team will begin their “17 Hours of Kesler” campaign. The Vancouver Canucks’ own Ryan Kesler has been a member of Team Power Smart for the last few years and for the next 17 hours, Kesler-filled facts will be sent out from the @PowerSmartBC Twitter account.

Power Smart BC sets up their their Playoff Power Off at the CBC’s fan zone on Hamilton near Georgia for Canucks games and it begins at 2:30pm on game days. You can learn some valuable Power Smart tips, find out how power consumption drops on game days, or try your hand at powering a TV with a bicycle.

Photo credit: jmv on Flickr

To promote the “17 Hours of Kesler” and the Playoff Power Off at the CBC fan zone, Power Smart BC is giving one of my readers a Vancouver Canucks jersey signed by Ryan Kesler.

There are three ways that you can enter to win. Feel free to do one, or all three to better your chances:

1) Watch @PowerSmartBC on Twitter during the “17 Hours of Kesler” today and paste the facts in the comments section on this blog post.

2) If you’re on Twitter, you can also re-tweet one of @PowerSmartBC’s 17 tips and include @Miss604 to be entered in the draw. Re-tweet one or all of them, for up to 17 entries.

Sample Twitter Entry

3) Make your way to the CBC fan zone site this afternoon and take a photo, posting it to Twitter and including @PowerSmartBC & @Miss604.

I will draw one winner tomorrow morning at 10:00am. Good luck and Go Canucks Go!

Update The winner is Anne-Marie Tvete!

Canada’s favourite late-night host, George Stroumboulopoulos, is bringing his hit CBC show out to Vancouver for a few days next month.

The last time Strombo landed out West there was an overwhelming response for tickets to his shows where he interviewed Betty Fox, Heritage Minister James Moore, the Sedin twins, Raine Maida and more.

While his guests for April 11th and 12th have yet to be announced, tickets to the show are a hot commodity and only available online through an application form.

Luckily, there are two spots saved for a lucky Miss604.com contest winner and their guest who will get to attend the April 11th taping. Here’s how you can enter to win a spot in George’s audience:

I will draw one winner at random from all entries Friday, April 1st at 2:00pm. By entering the contest you confirm that you have read and understood the audience regulations for George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight as outlined here.

In case you missed the announcement a few weeks ago, George was also recently appointed Canada’s first ambassador to the United Nations World Food Programme. You can catch him in Vancouver again this May when he speaks at the EPIC Sustainable Living Expo.

Update The winner is Christine!

CBC Radio 3 is currently hosting a search for the Best Music Website in Canada. Over the last few weeks, through an online public poll, they have narrowed down the field with Vancouver having a strong showing in the top 30 listings (including Vancouver is Awesome’s music section and Backstage Rider). This week we’re down to the Top 10 and one West Coast website, Thorny Bleeder Records, remains in the running. I had the chance to chat with site owner and operator Brian Thomson this morning about making the cut and the current state of the music industry online.

The website came about “out of necessity, passion, interest and being a total web nerd,” Brian told me over the phone. He not only runs what is now one of the top 10 music websites in Canada, Thorny Bleeder Records is a label and artist management firm that also offers artist services and social media consulting aimed at people in the creative arts. “Developing and ‘up and coming’ artists are just trying to figure out what they’re going to do. The first thing is record an album but then it’s like ‘okay, what do we do now?’.” Brian then helps them work out a 6-month plan, focusing on how to get their music out to the masses. “It all starts with social media,” he added.

It was at this point that I realized that Thorny Bleeder is much more than a music blog, YouTube, and Twitter account.

The website itself hosts a blog, video podcasts, a daily newsletter, free music downloads, and insights into the business of the music industry. “We’re very different from other music websites that just do music reviews,” Brian said. “I like to refer to us as a music lovers’ community,” which follows advice he often gives his artists.

“I try to practice what I preach so if I’m urging and artist to do something [with social media] I try to do it even better. There’s no reason an artist can’t do the same.” With over 6,000 followers on Twitter, Brian’s genuine approach to promotions and community engagement is what has brought him this far in the online realm. “It’s all about creating that community instead of just saying ‘listen to me’ — it’s not about advertising. You need to involve people in something.”

Whether it’s creating a community for his artists or for the label, Brian’s enthusiasm and drive to support the music industry is clear. He even offers up free albums on his website including the ‘Get Thorny’ compilation, consisting of over 20 hand-picked tunes by Canadian artists, just so that people can discover new home-grown talent.

There is still time to vote for your favourite Canadian music website until Thursday, March 10th (you can vote once every 24-hour period). The winner will be flown out to the NXNE festival this summer to accept their award.

Follow CBCRadio3 and @ThornyBleeder on Twitter for the latest music news and updates.

Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada is being celebrated in Whitehorse this weekend with a WHL game, community activities, NHL alumni, the Stanley Cup, and more.

Photo credit: John Biehler on Flickr

The event popped onto my radar last November during the Big Save Contest and the winning team, the Petitcodiac-Salisbury Bantam “A” Flyers from New Brunswick, has been invited to take part in the festivities.

I was supposed to be rubbing elbows with NHL alumni today and watching the Vancouver Giants and Kamloops Blazers practice at a local rink. However due to a family emergency, I have left the coverage to our good friend John Biehler who was traveling north this weekend anyway.

Tune into CBC all day Saturday, February 12, 2011 to view coverage from Ron MacLean and Don Cherry as the day’s events unfold and 6 Canadian NHL teams face off. You can also follow @ScotiaHockey on Twitter or Facebook for contests, photos, and updates.

CBC personalities will be at Metrotown on Saturday, January 29, 2011 for meet and greets, autographs, interviews, and to promote the Live Right Now campaign for healthy living. The day’s events will be hosted by CBC News Vancouver’s Claire Martin and Village on a Diet’s Garfield Wilson.

Schedule (subject to change)
12:00pm Meet the Stars of the CBC News and CBC Vancouver
Heather Hiscox from CBC News Network
Tom Harrington from Marketplace
CBC News Vancouver’s Tony Parsons, Gloria Macarenko and Shane Foxman
CBC Radio One stars Stephen Quinn, host of On The Coast &
Mark Forsythe from B.C. Almanac

1:00pm Steven and Chris LIVE!
A “Live Right Now” special with chef Jonathan Chovancek and trainer Garfield Wilson from CBC Television’s Village on a Diet and Brett Wilson from Dragons’ Den

2:00pm Face the Dragon
Watch three lucky winners pitch a business to Brett Wilson from Dragons’ Den
Contest entry details to be revealed Monday, January 24th on the CBC blog

2:30pm Interview George Stroumboulopoulos
It’s BC’s turn to put George in the interview chair
Contest entry details to be revealed at 5:30 pm, January 21 on the CBC blog

3:00pm Meet the Stars of CBC Television
George Stroumboulopoulos from George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight
Brett Wilson from Dragons’ Den
Graham Wardle and Jessica Amlee from Heartland
Allan Hawco and Lynda Boyd from Republic of Doyle
Stacey Farber and Michael Seater from 18 to Life
Natalie Lisinska and Richard Yearwood from InSecurity
Brandon Firla and Manoj Sood from Little Mosque on the Prairie

You can meet your favourite personalities and check out hours of activities happening at the Grand Court at Metropolis at Metrotown (4700 Kingsway, Burnaby) starting at 11:00am this Saturday.

The official Vancouver 125 anniversary year campaign kicked off last week and everyone from the Parks Board to Vancouver Archives is participating or organizing celebratory campaigns of their own. This includes CBC Vancouver who has launched an iPhone application called “Vancouver 125″ featuring archived video footage (synced with Google Map locations) of significant, televised moments in our city’s history.

“This free mobile app allows you to experience Vancouver’s history through the CBC Archives. From Vancouver’s first major protests and riots, to royal visits, to Olympic celebrations. The videos stretch back to Vancouver’s incorporation 125 years ago, and take you to the present day. Use the Map to show where the events took place, and explore your history.”

It would be great if the information they provided on the site that promotes the app would also be included in the application (things like podcast audio and images). Also, there are only a handful of listings but since this is version 1.0, I hope they will continue expand the listings throughout the year. Since I’m a sucker for the Miracle Mile footage I’m pretty pleased with it so far, I just hope they add a few more gems.

You can check it our for yourself by downloading the CBC Vancouver 125 for free from the app store.

After discovering I had a passion for writing about local history a few years ago I began to closely follow the works of the Vancouver Archives, Chuck Davis, John Atkin, and more recently James Johnstone. Although Vancouver is only 124 years old, our region has centuries of history which is why I was pretty excited to receive a copy of Voices of British Columbia, a new book published by Robert Budd.

Within my age bracket, Rob Budd has managed to document and share even more regional history than I could imagine. Voices of British Columbia: Stories from Our Frontier isn’t just Rob’s voice, it’s a compilation of stories drawn from the CBC’s Imbert Orchard audio collection. Imbert Orchard was a CBC journalist who traveled across BC between 1959 and 1966 with a recording engineer. He interviewed almost a thousand of the province’s early pioneers and First Nations members — he was essentially a podcaster decades before the term or technology existed.

Rob Budd has brought these recordings to life in the book through his preservation and restoration project. A handful of CD’s with original audio accompany the book, not only giving it that extra impact but really reaching out to the reader and listener on a personal level.

Voices of BC is a personal glimpse into the lives of those who lived in and shaped our province. You can pick it up online or leave a comment below to win one of three copies that I have to give away. In your comment entry I’d love to hear about which BC historic landmark is your favourite, or which you would like to visit. Bonus points for those who can name the man on the top right corner of the front cover.

The book would make an excellent stocking stuffer for history buffs, CBC enthusiasts, and even a student in your life. I will draw three winners at random from all comment entries on Friday, December 17th, 2010.

Update The winners are Stuart C, Dave, and Brianne. Congratulations and enjoy the book!