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As I Wind Down, I’ve Never Been Busier

By On March 29, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Christine Comeau
By: Christine Comeau

Tonight, Louis Zacharilla, the co-founder of the Intelligent Community Forum sets foot in Saint John for the very first time.

He’s here to evaluate our Saint John Community’s application to be named the world’s top intelligent community of the year. This, after having been named one of the world’s Top7.

For the last number of months and weeks, I have been coordinating an action-packed 2-day itinerary for Lou. Nearly 20 different get-to-know-us activities involving well over 200 people. The main objective is to validate the authenticity of our Top7 application and impress upon the ICF why Saint John is worthy of a being named #1 at the ICF Summit in New York in June.

Saint John has a decent chance to be named the world’s top intelligent community of the year!

This year, three Canadian cities were named into the Top7. Saint John has a legitimate chance at the overall title. We’re a city in transition, from blue collar to “white collar with blue stitching”; we are an emerging market as far as the ICF is concerned; our foundation of broadband investment is impressive, even today; and we have dozens of solid examples of innovation, which just happen to support the main theme of the ICF for 2012.

Check out the activities and experiences planned for Louis Zacharilla on March 29 & 30, 2012:

  1. Welcome Breakfast “Community Overview and PlanSJ through the ICF lens”
  2. Telegraph-Journal Editorial Board “Telling the Intelligent Community Story”
  3. Visit to Prince Charles School to see the impact of BCAPI, PALS and the Boys & Girls Club “Partnerships breaking the cycle of poverty”
  4. Visit to the Saint John Community Loan Fund and joining an Enterprising Women class  “A city in transition”
  5. Lunch at the City Market – “A Typical Uptown Saint John Lunch Experience – Saint John’s start-up culture” hosted by Gerry Pond
  6. Acadia Broadcasting Radio Station Interview: 97.3 The Wave “All about  the ICF”
  7. Intelligence Led Policing Orientation “Making our Community safer through innovative crime reduction measures”
  8. Centerbeam Place“Transformation of a historic city block into a centre for innovation & creativity – Bricks & beams & FibreOp: A playground for innovators”
  9. Handworks Art Gallery“Saint John’s thriving arts & culture scene”
  10. Community Reception at Happinez “Saint John’s next generation of creative movers & shakers”
  11. Thought Leader Dinner at Opera “Big ideas: working together to move our Community forward”
  12. History, Tourism & Recreation Breakfast “Attracting people to Saint John for centuries to live, work & play”
  13. Island View School“iPods & technology:  empowering our children for tomorrow”
  14. Private Residence “Using technology in the home to create a playground for innovators”
  15. University of New Brunswick Saint John Campus, Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick and the Canadian Rivers Institute “Tucker Park: a collaborative centre for research and innovation”
  16. Top7 Intelligent Community Luncheon “Bringing together public, private and not-for-profit to build an Intelligent Community, province, nation”
  17. Intelligent Community Summit Briefing “How to prepare & what to expect from the ICF Summit in New York”
  18. Saint John Transit “Energy efficiency for a cleaner, greener, smarter Community”
  19. Irving Oil Ltd. Refinery Control Centre “Technology & innovation in Canada’s largest refinery”

I have been fortunate through my role as Communications Officer at Enterprise Saint John to have been given the responsibility of planning these two days. But I didn’t do it alone – I had huge help and support from Nancy Moar and Lori Jensen with the City of Saint John. Lisa Hrabluk, our gifted writer who prepared out Top7 application has also contributed significantly as a highly valuable resource in planning Lou’s itinerary. There are lots of other people I need to thank who have donated their time and effort to this cause. This I will do separately.

I have learned many things about the wonderful and incredible things people in Saint John are doing – such as School District 8′s teaching of Kindergarten students to learn French by their peers through Skype; how micro loans and reading buddies transform families from survival to celebration; and how technologies developed here, enabled by our “highway of glass” are being applied across the globe to advance such industries as health & life sciences and tele-communications technologies.

Coinciding with the end of Lou’s visit is the end of my role as Communications Officer with Enterprise Saint John. I’m spreading my wings as a Marketing and Communication Consultant under the name of Comeau Marketing.

This is somewhat fitting. Enterprise Saint John is all about supporting entrepreneurship and inspiring people to do what you love, and love what you do.

The ICF is about enabling people to do things smarter, better. In my transition, Enterprise Saint John is being incredibly supportive of my new venture, and I will continue to work in the coming months to support Saint John’s bid as the world’s most intelligent community.

Wish us both luck.

Cheers,

Christine