Why Best of Calgary Matters

Written By: Gary Davies

When I ran Avenue magazine over nearly 15 years from the turn of the present millennium until about six years ago, without fail our most popular volumes were the “Best of…” issues that we had created over the years – Best Restaurants, Best Communities, you get the idea.

And while we always did a great job writing about and taking pictures of the people, places and businesses involved, it always proved difficult to tell the full story. Often, we would say to ourselves, you really need to experience these places to truly understand what makes them great.

Flash forward to my new life, as President of e=mc2 events, and all we do now is create great experiences for folks, through the production of events and conferences not only in Calgary but across the country.

Best of Calgary provides an opportunity to showcase the best this city has to offer through compelling content – at bestofcalgary.city – and through experiences that matter – during Best of Calgary Ideas Week from May 25th to June 1st. It’s that marriage of content and experience that makes Best of Calgary unique.

Our survey launches on Wednesday, Jan. 24th, and over the course of the next six weeks, we will be encouraging Calgarians from all corners of the city to tell us their favorites in 100 categories. We’re looking for businesses, individuals and organizations that highlight the “best of the best” in our city.

Locals that are not only doing great things in their city, but who are also helping to put our city on the national and international map through their efforts. And many are also doing their small part to give back to our community.

And while our collection of writers, photographers and videographers will do a great job telling the story of our winners when they are revealed on May 1st, it’s our series of labs throughout Ideas Week that will provide Calgarians with an opportunity to experience “hands on” why these truly are the best of Calgary.

Our interactive labs are “mash-ups” of some of our “Best of” winners creating once-in-a-lifetime experiences for small groups of Calgarians and visitors to our city to enjoy. It is through these opportunities that our winners get to showcase what makes them great.

Showcasing the best our city has to offer is something I first started doing in the pages of a magazine over 20 years ago, and I’m now thrilled to be a part of showcasing the best our city has to offer through interactive experiences.

That’s what gets me excited every year we produce the Best of Calgary. And that’s why this concept matters to me. And after suffering through a three-year recession, that’s why it’s more important than ever that this city celebrates the people, businesses and organizations that are doing great things to make our city better.

Gary Davies is a co-founder of Best of Calgary

Mandy Balak