As we’ve mentioned before, we love giving back to Edmonton whenever we can. So when our friends at The Nina Haggerty Centre for the Arts, needed help to raise $250,000 in a short time, we gladly pitched in. By October, with the help of public and private donations, The Nina raised $290,000, $40,000 over its original goal. Congratulations, The Nina. ...

Communities are instrumental to the success of companies. In our case, the house of Odvod proudly resides in the humble, beautiful and brilliant Edmonton. We love giving back to our city. Over the past few months, the Odvod team has helped with the Citie Home Tour in support of Citie Ballet, Edmonton’s resident, professional ballet company. We developed promotional material, a website, collateral and volunteered our brains (and sometimes our brawn) — all for Edmonton. ...

Many organizations spend thousands upon thousands of dollars attempting to figure out how to use social media to their advantage. Meetings are held, gurus are brought in and tweet upon tweet is sent into the Internet ether. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. That tweet you’ve spent so much time and energy on and waited for the perfect moment to send out may not get picked up. ...

This Sunday is Mother’s Day, and it’s likely you are planning a surprise 40-float parade, featuring everyone she has ever known and her three favourite bands, leaving no doubt that she is the most awesome mom ever and you’re the most amazing offspring ever. Or maybe you’re getting her flowers. She’ll like that. It’s important to remember, however, moms aren’t the only ones who appreciate a thank you. ...

There’s some glorious new art adorning the walls of the House of Odvod. Former Odvodian Randy Hayashi created an amazing (and large) painting of 124 Street, our ‘hood. As you can see, he knows what he’s doing when it comes to creating beautiful works of art. We’re more than thrilled to have it on our wall. To check out more of Randy’s art and maybe grab a piece for your own bad self, check out his site. ...