Yellowknife Online

We have not had a Tweetup in Yellowknife in a couple of months. After getting a couple of requests I finally decided to put the wheels in motion. Tweetups in Yellowknife are nothing like those in bigger cities, but we still have a good group of people who come out to say hi.

What is a Tweetup: A Tweetup is a gathering of Twitter users for a time of talk in real life. We may talk to each other every day online, but may have never met. This is the opportunity to meet and put handles to faces. We are definitely not just a bunch of Geeks, we are parents, teachers, bloggers, communicators, and every other type of occupation out there. Twitter is no longer for the select few, it is quickly become a mainstream way of communication.

Everyone is invited, like I say above, Twitter is for everyone. Even if you are not on Twitter but want to learn more, come out and ask. We will – collectively – tell you that Twitter is useful for one reason or another, most of the time for entirely different reasons.

Come over to Javaroma at 1pm on Sunday, August 29, 2010. I enjoy meeting new people so don’t be shy. If you have any questions, don’t be afraid to give me a call before hand.

After Mira went through the how the roasting process starts and some interesting information about where the beans come from, we now get to see the final stages of the process. This is the stage where she needs to carefully watch and listen to the beans so that they are roasted just right. As she continuously checks the beans you can see their progression through the stages because of how dark they become and in some cases how much oil is on them.

Mira also explains to us about how the beans are cooled when roasting and how Yellowknife’s famous power outages can be a hazard to the roasting process. At a certain temperature, Coffee Beans, will actually heat themselves. Meaning if the cooling fan is shut off, the beans will keep getting hotter and hotter. When this happens they can get to a point where the beans will actually burst in to flames, and she tells us about when this has happened to her.

Finally we get to see the beans done the roasting process. Watch the video for full details.

Have any thoughts on coffee beans, roasting or coffee in general? We’d love to hear them, leave us a comment below.

In the first part of this series Mira Hall shows us how roasting raw beans works and begins the process. In this part of our Roasting Coffee Beans Locally series she explains to us about where coffee beans come from, who consumes the most, the different types of beans, how pricing is done and more.

I knew there was a lot more behind coffee beans than them just being shipped to a factory, roasted and then made into coffee but I didn’t know what to expect. Coming out of it you actually have a better appreciation of how coffee comes to be.

Mira will go through a consumption chart as well as an industry chart and a chart they explains bean flavour aspects. Ironically, the country which produce more coffee beans actually consume less. Here is part 2:

Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to find out what it takes to Roast Coffee Beans. Being able to Roasting Coffee Beans in the north is a rare trade. Mira Hall is one of only a hand full in the Northwest Territories and Yukon that have the trade. At this point it doesn’t look like anyone in Nunavut is doing it.

Most of us enjoy a good cup of coffee in the morning, whether it is from home, Tim Horton’s or one the downtown coffee shop; but we don’t often think about where the coffee comes from or how it ends up as the hot liquid in our cups. Importing coffee beans from around the world is only one step in the process and we’ll cover it in another part of this series. In this video post (Part 1) Mira explains the process of roasting the coffee beans in the roaster and how she does it. She talks about how the beans are kept fresh after being roasted and how soothing roasting beans can be.

Part 2 & 3 will be the actual roasting of the beans and a look at where the beans come from. Leave your feedback below.

In this weeks episode, we listen to a couple songs by Yellowknife’s own Giant Con and Hello Paisley. The reason for this is because both bands will be playing at the torch ceremony happening on Nov. 5. There will also be some more performances happening at Javaroma on the same night. So once you get your fill down at city hall, head inside for a warm drink.

We also talk about the concert happening at NACC this coming Thursday. All the proceeds from this concert will go to help find a beat breast cancer.

The Fog in Yellowknife and the Javaroma WiFi were among other things on topic. All that and more.

See you all next week.

This morning I sent out a message saying that Javaroma WiFi was back. At the time I had no idea how truthful that was so I wanted to check for myself.

Upon arriving at Javaroma just after lunch I was greeted by the manager, who I knew. I asked him if the rumors were true, was WiFi really back. Sure enough he said with a smile, it was. My next question was the one I cared about more, price. Months ago when WiFi was first taken out I suggested that they charge for it to discourage people from abusing the service, later I changed my outlook. The proper way to do it would be to continue offering the service for free but with limitations. Such as no downloading.

Well that is exactly what Javaroma has now done. Now, I unfortunately didn’t stay long enough to test it out, but was told that there would be no downloading only browsing online. Which is fine by me, what ever keeps the costs down while making customers happy.

So Yellowknifers who enjoy getting out of the office or house to do some relaxing internet browsing you are once again able to.

Are you going to take advantage of the free WiFi? Well if you do, I’ll see you there!

I am sure you are probably wondering what a Tweetup is. I will explain, because it is actually rather simple. A tweetup is just a meet up of people and businesses who are on or want to be on Twitter. Now before you judge Twitter here me out. Twitter is not just another social networking site for your kids. It can be a networking tool for your business, among other things. That is why I encourage anyone who is the least bit interested in Twitter to come out to the YZFTweetup.

The Tweetup will be happening on October 8th, 2009 at 7pm at Javaroma Coffee Shop on main street in the Northwestel Building. Feel free to drop by and say hi and find out more about Twitter. I am hoping one of the topics that we might talk about is how the City can use Twitter and Facebook.

If you are already on Twitter RSVP here http://twtvite.com/1nnfqa

*note: If you are on twitter the hashtag (#) for the Tweetup is #yzftweetup.

Show Notes

1. Javaroma has new owners. What does this mean.
2. Coldwell Banker Twitter Account – @CB_YK_COM
3. Buffalo Air Clothing Twitter Account – @BuffaloAirWear
4. City Election Nominees Amy Hacala, Her Facebook Group. Shelagh Montgomery.
5. Be David Hasselhoff Contest – Snowcoverhills – Are you The Hoff

I also talk about a City of Yellowknife Twitter account and Facebook page. Make sure to leave your comments about all these topics below.

Until next week folks. Remember 7pm Monday nights. Join in the conversation go to our “Live” page

Javaroma, the coffee shop that is located in the Northwestel Building, has finally sold. Adrian Bell the former owner had it for sale for some time and finally managed to sell it. As of September 1, 2009 Rami Kassem and Fadil Memedi, a former driver and owner of City Cabs, took over the store. They say they do not plan on changing much, only adding a few personal touches. Such as new food items as well as sprucing the place up a bit. Both men should have no problem running this hot spot as both have background in business operations and running restaurants.

From what I can tell this means only good things for the customers. New food menu, cleaner store and better atmosphere. What I am hoping for is that they bring back the WiFi whether it is free or not. Yellowknife is in desperate need of more WiFi Hot Spots and Javaroma is a prime location.

What are you thoughts, Yellowknife. What do you want to see change, or not change? What new things would you like to see at the store? Share for all to see.

You can read a full article on the sale in the Sept, 9th Yellowknifer.

Even though it is a day late, here is this weeks Blogger Profile. Our blogger this week is Nancy the Money Coach, who is one of the leading forces of our social media club here in Yellowknife. She is all for Web 2.0 and Gov 2.0 and will do great things for Yellowknife. Check out here profile below.

Who are you?

#42. No wait. Sorry that’s the meaning of life.
Who am I? pop by my blog, hang out a while, and you’ll find out.

Where do you blog?

I hope one day soon I shall be blogging again from Javaroma, but for now I’m blogging from home.

Why do you blog?

I started blogging because it was a much less expensive form of marketing than print — and I got more business! But even though I’m on sabbatical from my money-coaching business, I’m still blogging for several reasons:

• It gives me voice to speak about issues I care about
• The blogosphere satisfies part of my social (yes, online relationships are “real”!) and intellectual needs
• I enjoy living in this new, global, web 2.0 space and participating in its evolution

What is the best part of blogging? …Or worst?

I love the interaction with people from all over the world. My global awareness and access to new ideas has skyrocketed since blogging. The worst part is sometimes the best, too: the Tech (serious geek) side. I get frustrated not being able to make my blog look as nice as I want, but on the other hand, peer-to-peer collaborative events like #yzfbarcamp are a lot of fun, and I really enjoy learning those geeky bits.

Who do you write for? Yourself? Your Readers? Google? For a living?

Well, for the world. Seriously. My blogging is giving fuel, in my own little way, to this brave new world of social media. It’s almost like this parallel universe, and I want that universe to be as vibrant and colourful and engaging as possible. I hope I’m contributing to that.

You are known as the Money Coach, how did that come to be?

For the past several years I had my own business helping people manage their money – spend appropriately, get out of debt, create budgets, save, define for themselves what is important to spend money on, and what is a waste for them. I loved my work, but I needed a break. It will resurrect though! And in the meantime, I still like blogging, and tweeting about the topic.

Do you or would you ever censor yourself?

There’s always the tension of voicing opinions and having personality yet writing with diplomacy and respect for others’ sensitivities. This was more acute when I was blogging in part to attract and engage clients. I had to decide that I was going to show my political stripes (green) and that I’m religious (high Anglican) even if it cost me readers and business. In that way, blogging forces intention and integrity. So I don’t think I “censor” myself, per se, but I do care about my readers and I care about my opinions and integrity, and both shape what I choose to write.

PC or Mac?

Mac. ’nuff said.

Blogs you read or would recommend?

Well I’m sure enjoying all the blogs up here in the NWT.

I’m increasingly interested in Canada’s public policy about the web – it’s being created right now, and what you and I say and think about it matters – so I am spending more time reading blogs like Eaves, MichaelGeist, and CPSR. There are many more!

Are you originally from Yellowknife? Or what made you decide to move here?
Yep, born and grew up here.