On the other hand, someone told me on Saturday that the Business Examiner (one of those weekly free papers) claimed that tourism was in first place. However, one wonders who said it and if it’s hype …or if the reverse is! At any rate, much (all?) depends on how the numbers are crunched to determine revenue, I suppose – although tech is generally still doing well here (whereas tourism has been hurting for a while).

Yule Heibel´s last blog post..Will Victoria grow its start-up muscle?

On the other hand, someone told me on Saturday that the Business Examiner (one of those weekly free papers) claimed that tourism was in first place. However, one wonders who said it and if it’s hype …or if the reverse is! At any rate, much (all?) depends on how the numbers are crunched to determine revenue, I suppose – although tech is generally still doing well here (whereas tourism has been hurting for a while).

Yule Heibel´s last blog post..Will Victoria grow its start-up muscle?

The “oh you can just take a ferry over” doesn’t fly very well when 3 hrs of a journey is absorbed by ferry time.

All the amazing talent in Victoria just doesn’t get what it needs to succeed. Mike Tan and his crew are over here because it’s just easier to do business here. I have to same as well.

Much easier to make connections and take advantage of opportunities in Vancouver vs. Victoria

Tris Hussey´s last blog post..Is Victoria too humble to rocket to the top of tech?

The “oh you can just take a ferry over” doesn’t fly very well when 3 hrs of a journey is absorbed by ferry time.

All the amazing talent in Victoria just doesn’t get what it needs to succeed. Mike Tan and his crew are over here because it’s just easier to do business here. I have to same as well.

Much easier to make connections and take advantage of opportunities in Vancouver vs. Victoria

Tris Hussey´s last blog post..Is Victoria too humble to rocket to the top of tech?

It’s not just the tech sector that works with this constraint – it’s the arts, too. We have *so many* really excellent arts groups and individuals toiling away here, producing great work, but it’s very difficult for many of them to generate the appropriate audiences and ensure a lively back-and-forth with their colleagues in other cities. (I know this from sitting on the CRD’s Arts Advisory Council – you should see the excellent Project Grant and Operating Grant applications we adjudicate every year.)

UVic hasn’t been nearly as helpful as it should, perhaps because it’s off in the suburbs, on an island (campus) of its own, an island on an island. UVic doesn’t advertise the events that happen on campus, and stuff that happens off-campus doesn’t interact synergistically with UVic. If the university (one of the universities – we have Royal Roads, too, and Camosun College) could get a real downtown campus, that would help. If we could get a decent downtown civic centre or new central library downtown (with space for events), that would help. If the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria could get a downtown venue, that would help.

It all hangs together – or rather it doesn’t. We need bridges, alright, and I don’t even mean the fixed link one to the mainland, which we’ll never get anyway. We need bridges between ourselves – it’s to easy to internalize “island” here.

Well, I’m working on it. But it’s hard, that’s for sure. Cynicism runs deep in Victoria, and as someone said when a big project went bottoms-up, “The cheering section for failure is huge in this town.” That just has to change, as far as I’m concerned.

Yule Heibel´s last blog post..Will Victoria grow its start-up muscle?

It’s not just the tech sector that works with this constraint – it’s the arts, too. We have *so many* really excellent arts groups and individuals toiling away here, producing great work, but it’s very difficult for many of them to generate the appropriate audiences and ensure a lively back-and-forth with their colleagues in other cities. (I know this from sitting on the CRD’s Arts Advisory Council – you should see the excellent Project Grant and Operating Grant applications we adjudicate every year.)

UVic hasn’t been nearly as helpful as it should, perhaps because it’s off in the suburbs, on an island (campus) of its own, an island on an island. UVic doesn’t advertise the events that happen on campus, and stuff that happens off-campus doesn’t interact synergistically with UVic. If the university (one of the universities – we have Royal Roads, too, and Camosun College) could get a real downtown campus, that would help. If we could get a decent downtown civic centre or new central library downtown (with space for events), that would help. If the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria could get a downtown venue, that would help.

It all hangs together – or rather it doesn’t. We need bridges, alright, and I don’t even mean the fixed link one to the mainland, which we’ll never get anyway. We need bridges between ourselves – it’s to easy to internalize “island” here.

Well, I’m working on it. But it’s hard, that’s for sure. Cynicism runs deep in Victoria, and as someone said when a big project went bottoms-up, “The cheering section for failure is huge in this town.” That just has to change, as far as I’m concerned.

Yule Heibel´s last blog post..Will Victoria grow its start-up muscle?