The Pear Tree

Archive for the ‘Events’ Category

Wouldn’t it be exquisite to go back to the days of old school Hollywood glam? Where hair was always perfectly coiffed and paired with kitten heels and a flirty little black dress? Where men sported tailored suits and slick hairstyles and knew how to make tweed look sexy.

The Kelowna Art Gallery plans to relive this time, if only for an evening, at their upcoming Go Party, Elegance and Eloquence, Friday, 13 May at the KAG.

Celebrating the opening of a new photographic art show, the KAG is encouraging guests to dress up old Hollywood style for the fancy dress party. Think Liz Taylor, Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn and Warren Beatty.

The new show is titled Gabor Szilasi: The Eloquence of the Everyday (click the link to check it out), and runs from 14 May through 14 August. Organized by Musée d’art de Joliette and the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, the touring exhibition features photographs of cityscapes, architectural views, and portraiture from the past five decades, taken in Hungary, rural Quebec, and Montreal.

In addition to taking a peek at the exhibit and showing off their incredible style sense, those in attendance will be able participate in a silent auction, take in live music by local jazz chanteuse Anna Jacyszyn and vamp it up in a mini photo studio. There will also be a cash bar, complimentary refreshments and door prizes.

Tickets are $15 for KAG members and $20 for non-members, available at the KAG, Mosaic Books and online, or by calling 250-762-2226.

Giveaway!

Or, you can leave a comment below, telling us who your favourite style icon from the 1960s is, and why. One randomly selected name will win two tickets to the event! Once again, blogging, Facebooking and tweeting the giveaway will get you extra entries, but (and this is important) you must let us know you’ve done this in separate comments to qualify.

We’ll make the draw Monday at noon.

Oh, and yes, that poster girl for the event is me. No, my arms are not really that beautiful and sculpted. I probably shouldn’t admit it, but if we ever run into each other in the flesh you’ll notice immediately and I don’t want you to be too taken aback. Mr. Pear Tree and Photoshop are to thank for that glamorous shot

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Giveaway Winner Announced!

The winner of our Kelowna Art Gallery GO Party giveaway is Laurene Blake! Congratulations! We’ll be in touch shortly to arrange getting your two tickets to you. For everyone else, keep watching for more giveaways down the road.

- Words by Lori-Anne Poirier

- Graphic by Kyle L. Poirier

Months of brainstorming, organizing and rejigging what was organized came to a head this afternoon when the first Bloggin’ Okanagan mini conference unfolded at the Kelowna Art Gallery.

Some 65 bloggers and aspiring bloggers gathered together, surrounded by colourful works of art, to explore the phenomenon of blogging, its value and how to make it mean something to them and to their readers.

Our all-girl panel (we’ll see if we can mix it up a bit next year) was made up of Kerry Taylor, Susan Knight, Lisa Redl, Lori Welbourne and Cherie Hanson, whose experience varies from blogging instructor to social media guru to multimedia bloggers to landing a book deal the first year running (click on their names to visit their respective blogs and find out who’s who).

Topics of discussion ran the gamut from why blogging is becoming so popular – we especially loved Kerry’s answer that it makes her feel like she’s not living in the middle of no where surrounded by organically reared cows – to what kind of businesses can benefit (any can, as long as they’re consistent with posting) and tips for gathering a following of readers.

But perhaps the best part of the two-hour session was the networking portion that followed the hour-and-a-quarter panel discussion. Those who stayed exchanged names and cards, asked some excellent questions and sipped on coffee from giObean Esspresso.

Jeffrey Bunn serves coffee

It was fun to put faces to some of the names I’ve been encountering in The Pear Tree comments section and on Twitter. Kazia, Ralph Hass and Jason Neumann are some examples.

I also enjoyed crossing paths again with a few people I haven’t seen in some time, including Nick Kellet and Kim McMechan.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I left the event feeling inspired and motivated, and excited that there are at least 64 other bloggers out there interested in stepping away from the computer for a little bit to mingle in real time.

And so, plans for Bloggin’ Okanagan 2011 are already under way. Watch this space (and/or @BlogginOkanagan on Twitter) for more information. And if you have ideas you’d like to see for our second year, don’t be shy about emailing, or leaving a comment below.

In the mean time, we collected a small list of blogger addresses to put into a data bank. Check them out below. If we missed you, feel free to add yours in the comment section. Down the road, we’ll make a page for them.

triskele.shawwebspace.ca
kitchentablemarketing.ca
catchingcourage.com
rtstrategy.ca
richtaylor.ca
markuswillard.com
thepearworkshop.com
davidwharper.wordpress.com
loriandlisa.com
hustream.com/blog
gifttrap.com/goneboarding
kbarnstable.wordpress.com
kelownarealestatenews.com
web.me.com/melissafed
crossfitokanagan.com
worldregistryofwills.com

- Words by Lori-Anne Poirier, photos by Kyle Poirier

Calling all bloggers! Pear Tree House Productions, the parent company of The Pear Tree, is working in partnership with the Kelowna Art Gallery to host the Okanagan’s first blog conference, Sunday, Sept. 26 from 1:30-3:30 p.m. at the gallery.

For some it’s the new journal – for others a new form of journalism. Blogging is becoming popular across a broad range of demographics and is, for many, a preferred method of expression. It’s also connecting strangers around the world – including right here in the Okanagan Valley.

Bloggin’ Okanagan, as it has been dubbed, will be a mini blog conference featuring a mix of experienced bloggers and social media professionals from around the Valley. In addition to sharing tips for bloggers – both those just starting out and those ready to take their blog to the next level – the panel will talk about the popularity of blogging, the importance of it for businesses with a web presence, and what the future could hold for the blogging world.

Those in attendance will then have a chance to mingle and network with other bloggers and hopefully begin to create the foundation of a local blogging community.

Bloggin’ Okanagan is being held as part of Culture Days, September 24-26, a Canada-wide initiative to promote free cultural events.

Keep checking back here for details about our panellists, our sponsors and our plans for the first of what will hopefully become an annual event.

And if you’ve ever been to a blog conference, we’d love for you to leave a comment on your experience and what you got out of it.

Addendum:

Bloggin’ Okanagan now has an event page on Facebook! Check it out – let us know you’re coming!

As for registration, for now, since this is a free event, it’s first come first served. If the response is overwhellming and it looks like we might surpass our 120 limit capacity leading up to the day, we will put the call out for interested bloggers to sign up to reserve their free spot. But for now, just come!

- Words by Lori-Anne Poirier