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Friday, July 29, 2016

o-CNN: Authentic Rodizio and Caipirinha at Gaucho Brazilian Restaurant in Canmore and Calgary, Alberta, Canada

The Real One

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This is not the "Mexican all inclusive" beach variety. It is the real Caipirinha that requires a designated driver. Marry it with Alberta's finest beef and great Brazilian friends, and you've found a new home away from home. It is an amazing dining experience, guaranteed. I didn't know how much I love Brazil until I met Ede and his team.


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If you would ask my boys where they want to go for a family celebration, there is only one place they come back to time and again: Ede and Rosina's Gaucho Brazilian Barbecue in Canmore (with a location in Calgary as well). Henry and Jan invents occasions that take us to Gaucho! This is where Ede introduced us to the "Rodízio" and my other lovely girlfriend Caipirinha (please don't tell Margarita).

Rodízio


Rodízio is an all-you-can-eat style of restaurant service in Brazilian restaurants. In most areas of the world outside of Brazil, a rodízio restaurant refers to a Brazilian style steakhouse restaurant. Customers pay a fixed price (preço fixo) and the waiters bring samples of food to each customer at several times throughout the meal, until the customers signal that they have had enough. Pace yourself. Come early. It is a huge meal. 

In churrascarias or the traditional Brazilian-style steakhouse restaurants, servers come to the table with knives and a skewer, on which are speared various kinds of quality cuts of meat, most commonly local cuts of beef, pork, chicken and sometimes exotic meats. At Gaucho, rodízio courses are served right off the cooking spit, and are sliced or plated right at the table. Sometimes they are accompanied with fried potatoes, fried bananas, collard greens, black beans, and rice (served buffet style). Salad is not what you come for at Gaucho, but my wife assures me they are awesome companions to the other vegetables that are also served, like the chicken. 

At Gaucho, as is traditional in many restaurants, the diner is provided with a coloured card, red on one side and green on the other. The servers will only bring more meat if the card is flipped to the green side. Our card usually gets lost somewhere during the meal courtesy of my eldest. He is a big fan.

Caipirinha


Caipirinha is Brazil's national cocktail, made with cachaça, sugar and lime. Cachaça, also known as Pinga or Caninha, is Brazil's most common distilled alcoholic beverage. Although both rum and cachaça are made from sugarcane-derived products, in cachaça the alcohol results from the fermentation of fresh sugarcane juice (that wasn't burned, and in most cases is hand cut) that is then distilled, while rum is usually made from refinery by-products such as molasses. The drink is prepared by muddling the fruit and the sugar together, and adding the liquor. 

Although the real origins of caipirinha, as it is known today, are unknown, according to one account it began around 1918 in the state of São Paulo with a popular recipe made with lime, garlic and honey, indicated for patients with the Spanish flu. Today it is still being used as a remedy for the common cold. As it was quite common to add some distilled spirits to home remedies, in order to expedite the therapeutic effect, rum was commonly used. "Until one day someone decided to remove the garlic and honey (good decision, maybe?). Then added a few tablespoons sugar to reduce the acidity of lime. The ice came next, to ward off the heat," explains Carlos Lima, executive director of IBRAC (Brazilian Institute of Cachaça).

If you are keen on an authentic Caipirinha experience, you don't have many choices in Alberta. Cachaça is nearly impossible to get here, which is hard to believe considering it is the second most consumed spirit in the world next to Bourbon (...according to experts). Ede's restaurants is where you can get your fix, else you have to get a smuggler from Brazil to bring it in for you. There is also one Liqueur store in Calgary that stocks it. It has a Brazilian owner, and that is as much as I am going to say, because it is nearly almost sold out when I get there.

Enjoy our video about Ede and Rosina's Gaucho Brazilian Barbeque. It is a favourite place for us, and we hope it will become yours too.

Hendrik van Wyk
... and the lovely Caipirinha.

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Photos


Master Carver
Temple

Love

Master

In Love


Ouch!

Yum Yum



Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Two Cowboys on a Journey: Nicole Tremblay at Fireweed Glass Studio - Canmore, Alberta

Make What's In Your Heart

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Nicole Tremblay has been blowing glass for over twenty years. After graduating from The Alberta College of Art and Design she spent several years living and working in Toronto and Milton, Ontario before returning to Alberta to work with Susan Gottselig at what would become Fireweed Glass Studio in Canmore, Alberta. http://fireweedglassstudio.ca




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She is a glassblower known for her generous use of brilliant colours, fluid shapes and her whimsical figurines and landscapes. Her work is exhibited and sold across Canada.

Glassblowing is a glass forming technique that involves inflating molten glass into a bubble (or parison), with the aid of a blowpipe (or blow tube).

The technique was created in the middle of the last century BC, glassblowing exploited a working property of glass which was previously unknown to the glassworkers: inflation. Inflation refers to the expansion of a molten blob of glass by introducing a small amount of air to it. This property is based on the liquid structure of glass where the atoms are held together by strong chemical bonds in a disordered and random network. Therefore molten glass is viscous enough to be blown and gradually hardens as it loses heat.

To increase the stiffness of the molten glass, which in turn facilitates the process of blowing, there is a subtle change in the composition of the glass. During blowing, thinner layers of glass cool faster than thicker ones and become more viscous than the thicker layers. This effect allows production of blown glass with uniform thickness, instead of causing blow-through of the thinned layers.

Impressions


If there is one observation from a glassblower's work environment, it is, that it is hot! There is a lot of energy going into melting glass. During the long Canadian winters, it may not be much of a problem. Summer makes glass blowing a vocation of love for anyone that is temperature sensitive.

During our visit, Nicole highlighted a very important principle of art. We think it is a universal principle for all the work of producers and makers: "Make something that's in your heart." If you worry what people are going to buy, then you are likely going to sacrifice creativity to conform to perceived expectations. The end result will lack value for yourself, and most likely then also for your customer that should share in this value.

The most important drive for your work should be for the utmost value it holds for yourself. This can only happen when your whole heart is into it. If the maximum value makes it into what you do, only then do others really get to share in your value. They share in it when they appreciate, buy and use what you produced. This is how an artist and Producer produces their best work.

When I asked Nicole how long she works on perfecting a piece, she mentioned that it can take her up to two years to perfect the technique for the production of a single type of item, and everyone is still unique. This is an enormous commitment and speaks to the dedication and devotion that goes into practising this very challenging art form. For one, I am looking at a hand crafted glass article from her or any glass artist in a whole different light. Think of all the broken glass that must go into perfecting one beautifully formed, and very useful article, like the beautiful beer mugs Nicole made for the Cowboys.

The second important takeaway from Nicole's interview was that the art of glass blowing also goes hand-in-hand with utility. Glass is something we use every day anyway, without thinking much about it. Because it is so much part of our lives, we may as well use something that is hand crafted, beautiful and useful from a maker like Nicole and her colleagues at Fireweed Glass Studio. Now, you can get it from your local glass blower.

Thank you, Nicole, for our Beer Mugs. They are treasured possessions and welcome companions at the end of a hard days of work.

Hendrik van Wyk
Producer

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Photos


Colours 

Small World

It's a Business

Focus 

Beer Time!


Wednesday, July 20, 2016

o-CNN: Destination Marketing Just Tanked in Canmore, Alberta

The Mountains Are All We Need


Or is it?

Canmore Business and Tourism (CBT) packed it in, closed, retired, ceased operations and left the building. The voice of, and for Canmore business is silent. Call it what you will, but things are not going to be what they've been before.


I am not going to make this a long post. Watch the video for our thoughts on the matter. 

Alberta's businesses are hurting, and as a result its people are hurting. For a short while, here in the mountains we thought we may be immune to the contagion that is murdering the enterprising spirit of Entrepreneurs and Producers in the rest of the province. Business is good in Canmore we tell ourselves. Tourism is up. We are lucky. People can work. While it is famine everywhere else, the mountain towns are thriving. 

It is then unfortunate that here too finally we have to face the reality that maybe our own community is not really as immune as we thought. No, we are not referring to the fall in oil revenues as the driver for our misfortune and the supposed cause for the Alberta recession. Rather, we are pointing to a lack of realization and understanding of what makes a community and a Province's future possible and successful in the first place: It is its Producers, the entrepreneurs, their businesses that follow, the jobs that are created as a result, and the opportunities it presents for people to move here, live and thrive. We profile them and make videos of what they do. You can see who they are on this site.

Contrary to (more recent) popular belief: Without a healthy and thriving business base, there is no community. As they say in the country of my birth - Africa: "If you eat the chicken, you have no more eggs." Give businesses a reason to be here and Entrepreneurs the encouragement to establish themselves, and see how well the rest of the people do as a result. Why is this so hard for our politicians to get? Market this destination.

Every weekend, thousands of cars drive by our town. Thousands of opportunities are lost until we flag them down and tell them our story, and show them what we have on offer. Canmore Business and Tourism was tasked to do this job, and they've done well with what they had at their disposal.

While the model for Canmore Business and Tourism was less than ideal, its motive, commitment and results were exemplary. Surely, there was a way to make it work then, Mr Mayor?

Canmore is not a business friendly town. Ask any entrepreneur and established business owner that tries to start or operate here, and they will testify to the hazards of navigating high operating costs, stupid property lease fees, labour shortage, skewed zoning laws, high living cost, autocratic and overbearing permitting, and a less than business friendly Town Council. Then add the more recent Provincial Government's taxation and legislative agenda, and it is a wonder any business is left in Alberta.

It is sad to see the one party, who was seen to be standing for the success of businesses in this town decide to call it quits. I personally don't blame them.

CBT just had to finally do what most businesses do under similar circumstances: They close down and/or leave. As a community we are going to be worse off for it. I cannot fathom what our Town Council was thinking to let this happen. Someone will have to take this one for the team.


Hendrik van Wyk
Canmore Business Owner

P.S. If Canmore Town Council think they can step in and do the job of destination marketing, then it will be time for us to reconsider our commitment to this lovely town too. I hear Nordegg is looking for new businesses... and they have mountains!

Who we are: We are a social enterprise. We are funded through donations and sponsorship
All our earnings are applied back to covering our costs of marketing and promoting Producers and inspiring local communities. Please support us to bring you more (www.forwardthefavour.com)




Tuesday, July 19, 2016

o-CNN: Small Businesses in Canmore: Cupping Some Coffees with Rave Coffee in Canmore, Alberta

Mini Business Profile

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Canmore Business and Tourism encouraged the Two Cowboys to feature Canmore's up and coming businesses. We've produced a few mini-profiles to introduce you to the energy that is making Canmore such a great place to live, work, play, and ultimately launch successful businesses. We are proud to showcase the best of what is on offer in the Bow Valley.

Rave Coffee Canmore



Rave Coffee is no newcomer Producer to the Two Cowboys. We were introduced to Dean and his team earlier this year when we browsed the coffee roasting choices we have in Canmore, Alberta. You can read it here, and see the video here.

This time, Dean showed us a well-known coffee tasting technique called "cupping". Coffee cupping, or coffee tasting, is the practice of observing the tastes and aromas of brewed coffee. It is a professional practice but can be done informally by anyone or by professionals known as "Q Graders". A standard coffee cupping procedure involves deeply sniffing the coffee, then loudly slurping the coffee, so it spreads to the back of the tongue.

The coffee taster attempts to measure aspects of the coffee's taste, specifically the body (the texture or mouthfeel, such as oiliness), sweetness, acidity (a sharp and tangy feeling, like when biting into an orange), flavour (the characters in the cup), and aftertaste.

Since coffee beans embody telltale flavours from the region where they were grown, "cuppers" may attempt to identify the coffee's origin. A cupper can be considered the sommelier of coffee.

Here is a complete article in www.roastmagazine.com by Paul Allen to build your hidden cupping skills. (He refers to it as The Coffee Triangle)

Rave Coffee is providing an introduction to this fascinating art of getting to know your brew. Enjoy our short video, and if you are interested in trying it yourself, then register below to get offers to invitations from Rave Coffee, exclusive to the Two Cowboys.

Hendrik van Wyk
Cupper

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Wednesday, July 13, 2016

o-CNN: Small Businesses in Canmore: Centre for Business Excellence in Canmore, Alberta

Mini Business Profile


Canmore Business and Tourism encouraged the Two Cowboys to feature Canmore's up and coming businesses. We've produced a few mini-profiles to introduce you to the energy that is making Canmore such a great place to live, work, play, and ultimately launch successful businesses. We are proud to showcase the best of what is on offer in the Bow Valley.

E=MC2: Centre for Business Excellence




The Centre for Business Excellence CoWork space was founded in 2015 by Elaine McPherson. It’s always been her vision to create a space where small independent businesses could work & co-exist together, sharing resources and minimizing costs.

Early in 2014, as her team strategized for its future growth, they decided to re-evaluate and subsequently implement the shared office space concept, which is often referred to today as ‘CoWork’, ‘business incubator’, or ‘‘accelerator’ space.

These spaces are becoming more and more popular for people that choose lifestyle with their entrepreneurial endeavours. It usually includes a beautiful central space for entrepreneurs, freelancers, non-profits and remote employees to work, meet and network. It’s a modern & shared office experience with private and open concept facilities that include all amenities for work-life balance in a town or city.

The Bow Valley has a deep rooted history of adventurists and environmental leaders. These are people that consistently aim high and continually push limits to achieve greatness. It also has a high concentration of senior business leaders and professionals that make the valley home, but operate in Calgary or elsewhere in a main business centre. This centre is their office, away from the office.
The Centre for Business Excellence provides space for flexibility, creativity, privacy or collaborative session, lunch and learn seminars, development programs and general networking events. It is not just a space, but a meeting place where you go for networking and advice on how to launch your business, or make your next idea the big one.

There are flexible use options such as a drop-in, or more affordable monthly and annual memberships to the centre.

We look forward to a lot of entrepreneurial energy at the Centre for Business Excellence.

Hendrik van Wyk
Co-Worker

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All our earnings are applied back to covering our costs of marketing and promoting Producers and inspiring local communities. Please support us to bring you more (www.forwardthefavour.com)

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

o-CNN: Small Businesses in Canmore: Elevation Gallery and The Hive inCanmore, Alberta

Mini Business Profile


Canmore Business and Tourism encouraged the Two Cowboys to feature Canmore's up and coming businesses. We've produced a few mini-profiles to introduce you to the energy that is making Canmore such a great place to live, work, play, and ultimately launch successful businesses. We are proud to showcase the best of what is on offer in the Bow Valley.

Elevation Gallery / The Hive



Elevation Gallery is the inspiration of designer/goldsmith Cheryl Baxter. It boasts a brilliant collection of fine art by emerging and mid-career artists. It also has an eclectic grouping of fine jewellery by award-winning goldsmiths.

Elevation Gallery is about art. But, it is the space upstairs called The Hive, that caught our attention.

Not many people know about it. Above the gallery is a function venue filled with some of the most beautiful art, and with rooms ready for weddings, meetings, and small festive gatherings. It offers breathtaking views of the mountains, and sunny patios overlooking the hustle and bustle of Main Street, Canmore.

Cheryl met us as before, with a welcoming glass of wine, and bubbling enthusiasm to show us her place. The art is inspiring for sure. We expected nothing less. More so, is the experience of the spaces in the Hive. One is transferred away from the typical mountain venue setting, and taken on a world-class artistic creative journey. The art provides an atmosphere of inspiration from room to room. The glass walls gave flow and a feeling of space.

What happens at The Hive? Always something unique, we are told. We enjoyed a performance by Quartetto Gelato during the Canmore Uncorked festivities earlier in 2016. On this particular occasion, after the meal the patrons were encouraged to let their inner artist explore drawing on the tablecloths.

Cheryl collaborates with local chefs to cater to her guests, for weddings and other functions. There is a Kiddies Room for the younger guests. Although, I am not sure these guests are encouraged to let their inner artist out with crayons on the walls.

Cheryl, thank you for sharing your place with us. It is the space that inspired us. I almost want to reference the cliche: "What happens at The Hive, stays at The Hive." However, it is such a special place that everyone should know about it, and should come and enjoy.

Thank you for allowing us to show it to the world.

Hendrik van Wyk
Hive Patron

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Thursday, July 7, 2016

o-CNN: Small Businesses in Canmore: BooTy with Tara Newbigging

Mini Business Profile


Canmore Business and Tourism encouraged the Two Cowboys to feature Canmore's up and coming businesses. We've produced a few mini-profiles to introduce you to the energy that is making Canmore such a great place to live, work, play, but ultimately launch successful businesses. We are proud to showcase the best of what is on offer in this Valley.

Tara Newbigging - BooTy®




Tara's mission is to encourage and empower people to live their ultimate lives - whatever that can be. Every great business starts with a commitment to creating and adding value. In this case, Tara's commitment is to help others discover what is possible, and then to coach and encourage them to go for it. 

In 2013 Tara created her own fitness program which she decided to call BooTy®. It is trademarked and shared around Canada. She has 12 other woman teaching the program with her. Women are loving it, and it is obvious why. Tara has taken fitness, energy work, music, and inspiration to the next level by making it fun. She is offering women the unique opportunity to connect, transform and improve the quality of their lives through health and a positive frame of mind. 

BooTy® is Tara Newbigging’s signature class and is an inspiring women’s-only, barefoot fitness program designed to unleash potential in body, mind, and soul. The BooTy® program combines high intensity fitness moves with powerful music and movement creating a perfect balance between intensity and fun! Woman walk away feeling strong, sexy and empowered to live their most authentic lives, we are told.

Tara promises a Cowboy BooTy program is in the works for men. The Two Cowboys are first in line, for sure. Physically we can do with a lot more exercise and losing a few (lots of) pounds. Spiritually, we (and our friend Jack) are told that we need all the help we can get ;-) If Tara can fix us, think what she can do for the rest of you.

Get more of Tara and her inspirational energy at her website: http://www.taranewbigging.com.

Hendrik
BooTy Fan

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Who we are: We are a social enterprise. We are funded through donations and sponsorship
All our earnings are applied back to covering our costs of marketing and promoting Producers and inspiring local communities. Please support us to bring you more (www.forwardthefavour.com)

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

o-CNN: Canada Day 2016, Eh! - Canmore, Alberta

Its Your Birthday!


Canada Day is the national day of Canada. As a federal statutory holiday, it celebrates the anniversary of the July 1, 1867, enactment of the Constitution Act, 1867 (then called the British North America Act, 1867). Canada existed prior to 1867 within both the French and British empires.


Canada Day is frequently referred to as "Canada's birthday". This is a misnomer, as Canada Day is the anniversary of only one important national milestone on the way to the country's full independence, namely the joining on July 1, 1867, of the colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Province of Canada into a wider federation of four provinces (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario and Quebec). Originally called Dominion Day, the holiday was renamed in 1982, the year the Canada Act was passed.

Canada Day celebrations take place throughout the country, as well as in various locations around the world, attended by Canadians living abroad.

Alberta joined the Federation much later.

On May 2, 1670, King Charles II of England issued a charter granting trading rights in the Alberta region to Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). The area, Rupert's Land, was named after Charles I's nephew, Prince Rupert of the Rhine and the first Governor of HBC. Inn the Rupert's Land Act 1868, HBC ceded Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory to the Dominion of Canada, abolishing the monopoly held by HBC. In 1872, the Dominion Lands Act passed, encouraging settlement of the Prairie Provinces by granting land rights to farmers.

In 1882, the Alberta region became the District of Alberta, established as part of the Northwest Territories. The land was named after Queen Elizabeth's daughter, Princess Louise Caroline Alberta. With the closing of the American frontier around 1890, and the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1883, Alberta's population grew by hundreds of thousands of new settlers.

Alberta formally came into being on September 1, 1905, at the same time as Saskatchewan. The Autonomy Acts, which gave the two provinces their places in Confederation, were matters of considerable controversy in Ottawa in the months preceding their passage. Haultain, premier of the Territories, had proposed the establishment of one large province, but Ottawa rejected this plan.

The rest, as they say is history. No matter which day is really Canada's Day, we are proud to be part of this great place in the North, everyday!

Enjoy our video of this year's celebration in Canmore, Alberta.

Hendrik van Wyk
Canadian Cowboy

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Who we are: We are a social enterprise. We are funded through donations and sponsorship
All our earnings are applied back to covering our costs of marketing and promoting Producers and inspiring local communities. Please support us to bring you more (www.forwardthefavour.com).

Photos


Candian


Real Canadian!

Making Something

Fan!

Big Fans

All the Bears

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Two Cowboys on a Journey: Rocky Mountain Soap Co - Canmore, Alberta

Naturally Back to Nature

(Learn: * Inspire: *** Amaze: *** Live: ****)
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I've never thought that I will ever be writing a blog entry about beauty products. Yes, for me soap is a beauty product. You will agree that these kinds of products are not really a hardened Western Alberta Cowboy's thing. At least not something on which I personally spend a lot of time (thinking). I do use cleaning products. Obviously. Just not thinking about it, much.



To keep life simple, I've been using the same soap and shaving cream for the last 25 years (no hair for shampoo, so I cannot comment on those). It is one less thing to think about in the morning. It also makes Fathers Day, Christmas and Birthdays really easy for those around me.

However, Karina and Cam at Rocky Mountain Soap Co. gave me something to think about when we filmed their profile. They mentioned the unnatural amount of chemical complexity that makes it into products like the ones I am using. These chemicals have never been proven for positive long-term effect on human physiology. Yet, they are considered "good" chemicals by many companies. This coming from a cut-throat snake oil peddling industry, where a lot of global brands are fighting for the next big thing in beauty and anti-aging. They do this with the next model on display for eternal youth and happiness. Yeah right!

Why have these ingredients in the first place? Is it really necessary?

If there was ever a human guinea pig for the long-term effects of the chemicals in a beauty or hygiene product, then I am it. It's been years with the same trusty brands. Maybe, I could have aged better if I stuck to more natural products. Maybe, I would have looked twenty-eight at forty-eight if I only knew of Rocky Mountain Soap Co.'s naturally simple and deliciously smelling soaps. They smell so good that you can eat them. (Don't do it. They are natural. Just not that natural.)

Rocky Mountain Soap is the darling of Alberta small business and an icon in the Bow Valley. Just see how many people write about them, and the prizes they've won.  Here is a husband and wife team from Canmore, that started with something simple, made it good, kept it good, and continued to make more of it because people simply liked it. How easy is that for a successful business recipe? If only it were this easy.

Impressions


When you visit the facilities of the company, it is quickly evident that this is not a "small business". There are some real business smarts that are going into the way this company is managed. Credit to Cam and Karina where credit is due.

It is a well-run business with amazingly simple and natural products. Yes, I know they have good soap, and if it were only about soap, then Rocky Mountain Soap Co. would probably have been just another soap business in a touristy town. It is so fashionable to have these nowadays that you can find them right next to the curio and the corner coffee shop. The other two fashionable touristy businesses.

If you've been in businesses and worked with as many companies as I have, in as many countries as I've been, you can recognise a success the moment you walk in the door. Everything is labelled, planned, structured, measured, evaluated, improved, reviewed, right down to the environmentally friendly cornstarch popcorn they use for packaging shipments for their online clientele. You can eat the packaging. Trust me on it. It doesn't taste like much, but it is edible (Only the popcorn. Not the stamps).

Rocky Mountain Soap Company is a success because it does a few simple things really well. It has great simple products. It is a well-managed business. And, it is in one of the most beautiful places in the world. Right here in Canmore. Cam mentioned that the business can probably do better in a cheaper and more business friendly location that Canmore, but it is the community and the lifestyle that keeps them here.

Canmore is better off because they are here.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time with Rocky Mountain Soap Co. I am proud to say that I am a convert. I am now shaving with Rocky Mountain Soap Co goodness. And, I smell really, really nice.

Hendrik van Wyk
The Clean Cowboy

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Who we are: We are a social enterprise. We are funded through donations and sponsorship
All our earnings are applied back to covering our costs of marketing and promoting Producers and inspiring local communities. Please support us to bring you more (www.forwardthefavour.com)

Photos

Canmore Karina Cam
Where it All Happens

Bath Bombs!

Fresh

Travel Toner

Not Food


Monday, July 4, 2016

Two Cowboys on a Journey: Business Innovation Rodeo at Calgary Stampede 2016, Alberta Canada


Innovators Take Note


Entrepreneurs. Innovators. Producers and Makers. Grab your Cowboy hats. Put on your boots, and saddle your horses for Calgary's first Innovation Rodeo.


Now, you have the best excuse ever to make the trip to the greatest outdoor show on earth: Calgary's Stampede.

How about combining it with an annual business pilgrimage to the Calgary Innovation Rodeo to meet with Alberta's best Innovators, Entrepreneurs and business minds? These are people that can give you a hand in making your idea the next big one. They can help move your businesses to the next level. Maybe, they can connect you to a better business future. The opportunity is here. Your next move is to grab it with both hands.

What is the Innovation Rodeo?

A group of switched-on business people decided that the best time to innovate is when you have to reinvent yourself. This is exactly where Alberta's businesses are during the recent economic downturn. As Entrepreneurs in Alberta it is time that we look at new ways of doing things, or find new things to do.

The next best opportunity is when you have motivated innovators and business people from all over North America and the world visiting your town for fun and celebrations. That is when you make the connections and build your network. That is when you make your move.

Stampede week is when it is happening for Calgary. The whole city's summer energy is focussed on this epic celebration. Craig Elias and his team grabbed the opportunity of people visiting the city, to launch the Innovation Rodeo at the same time, and bring business people together.

The Innovation Rodeo is five days of education, collaboration, competition and celebration of Innovation and Entrepreneurship. You can attend individual sessions (if you need a day or two off) or buy tickets to the entire week. The Innovation Rodeo uses lunch and learns, innovation challenges, and panel discussions to help Innovators and Entrepreneurs connect with each other, to share and develop the relationships, and skills needed to commercialize their ideas faster.

Calgary's Innovation Rodeo connects out of town Innovators and Entrepreneurs with some of Calgary’s most promising Innovators and most successful Entrepreneurs, so everyone can develop new skills, solve innovation challenges, exchange ideas, and help each other commercialize their innovations.

On the last day the best solutions to the innovation challenges are pitched to celebrity judges who pick the winner of the grand prize.

We cannot tell you how excited we are about the launch of this initiative. For months we've toiled away at showcasing Alberta's Producers, and inspire people to become Entrepreneurs. Now we get to sit in on a pinnacle event with all of Alberta's entrepreneurial energy combined that promises to be the catalyst for more and better business in Alberta.

Please help us and support Craig and his team. Please be there. We will see you there. Get your tickets here: http://www.innovationrodeo.ca.

Hendrik van Wyk
Producer and Entrepreneur.
The Two Cowboys

Get rewarded for supporting our local Producers. Receive special offers and invitations from the Two Cowboys.

Who we are: We are a social enterprise. We are funded through donations and sponsorship
All our earnings are applied back to covering our costs of marketing and promoting Producers and inspiring local communities. Please support us to bring you more (www.forwardthefavour.com)


Taking Flight