4 Students get buzz from new media Daily Hive, Vancouver is Awesome appeal to millennials more than traditional news By CHELSEA POWRIE atthew Tam often likes to scroll Myce BuzzFeed and its cook- ing section Tasty until 2 a.m. “T would [mostly stay] on them be- cause they just appeal to me as a per- son. I find BuzzFeed just post enter- taining stuff and Tasty, the food just looks good,” said Tam, a first-year Lan- gara College psychology student. Online aggregators like BuzzFeed and local sources like the Daily Hive say they find suc- cess with millenni- als like Tam_be- cause they give their audiences content that they like. “We're giving people what they want,” said Farhan Mohamed, founder of Vancouver based website, Daily Hive. “T think a lot of times what we’ve been seeing with other outlets, they will invest in some- thing thinking that’s where people are going, when the data shows other- wise. So we try to go off of data to see what people want and adapt on that.” “T compare us to international out- lets like CBC, Glob- al, - our numbers are comparable to a lot of those outlets so we put ourselves on that level,” Mohamed said. Bob Kronbauer started Vancouver is Awesome in 2008 as a response to the “no fun city” reputation that Vancou- ver was gaining. He wanted a platform that brought together writers from the city who were passionate about local culture and history. The site took off - Kronbauer started as the first and only employee, and to- day the company has five on staff. “We're a lifestyle media outlet, we remind people of all the awesome stuff in Vancouver” Meghan Dixon, a Langara natural science student, said traditional news fails to produce enthusiasm in young adults. “I personally don’t like watch- ing or reading the news because I feel like I am old when I do,” Dixon said. “You can say [I like] hyped up news stuff like I feel like it’s more interesting and it like wants me to read more about it.” Dennis Pang, agency director of Pop- corn, a Vancouver media relations company, said what makes Daily Hive successful is that they are able commu- nicate directly to the millennials. “T think that comes from a combo of being really social media savvy as well, having their own presence on social media, and they’ve really grown from being just your Vancouver blog into more of a news outlet,” Pang said. Tam said he prefers online aggrega- tors for news rather than traditional media. “T would say it’s just different con- tent targeted at different audiences. Like CBC is more relevant, real-life news,” said Tam. “I prefer to read and watch Buzzfeed just because right now, world news isn’t the highest impor- tance to me.” BOB KRONBAUER Vancouver is Awesome founder 66 We’rea lifestyle media outlet, we remind people of all the awesome stuff in Vancouver Vancouver Pops Choir will be one of the many musical groups performing at the second annual Yuel Duel on Dec. 1 Yule Duel corrals carollers Choir groups duke it out in Christmas competition for good cause By MELANIE GREEN Ihe second annual Yule Duel choir competition for charity will kick off on Dec. 1 in Gastown. Yule Duel is a charity event involving choir groups from all over the Lower Mainland to sing Christmas carols. The best groups later perform against each other in a series of sing- off. All proceeds from the event go to the downtown eastside hospice care facility owned one of the sponsers, Bloom Group. With 5,000 people attending last year, the event raised enough dona- tions to allow 100 extra people to get care. Those people would have other- wise not been able to afford that cost. Darius Maze, media spokesperson for Bloom Group, said it is a fantastic free Christmas carolling affair, featur- ing 20 choirs with a wide range of styles. “There’s nothing like it here,” he said. “This year, there are going to be bigger names and bigger choirs.” Inspired by a thirty-year event in Seattle called Figgy Pudding Caroling Competition, the manager and head nurse of May’s Place suggested bringing the fund- 4 4 raising communi- We hope ty venture to Van- ° couver a few years fi undrais- ago, said Maze. ing will be The winner of the top fundraiser even more of the year award effective ast year was Im- ° promptu Rock this year Choir. TOM KUO The co-founder Fiona Sizer said the competition is worth it. “Tt was slightly overwhelming, but we were thrilled to bits to help such a great cause.” VANCOUVER POPS CHOIR MEMBER Unlike other competitors who focus on performance, Sizer said the acces- sible no-barriers choir is working on involving the audience with a sing- along this year. Tom Kuo, of the Vancouver Pops Choir, was quite impressed with the event last year, expecting the same positive, festive mood, and vibrant, high energy environment; weather- forgiving this year. The fifteen-member group will sing classic jazz standards and Christmas tunes, also featured in their annual Christmas show with their parent or- ganization, the Vancouver Orchestra Club. “We are very excited to come out. We hope fundraising will be even more effective this year and the audi- ence will like it,” said Kuo. Find the choirs and vote for the peo- ple’s choice award in person, when the event begins at 6 p.m. on Water Street. MAY'S Place HI Delivers caring compassion to vulnerable people in the Downtown East Side. Hs The hospice helps approx. 50 people each year. Hl Six bed hospice gives some resi- dents a warm bed to sleep in. ME Services include offering family reunication, recon- nection with faith and long term care. Source: yuelduel.com Comedy clinic creates confidence Langara comedy troupe empowers through laughs By STUART NEATBY ndrew Vallance believes that Joven comedy is the ultimate tool for turning the tables on ste- reotypes about people living with dis- abilities. As a student of the Langara College stand-up comedy clinic, Vallance sees rich material in the challenges of his daily-lived experience. As part of the clinic, he and other graduating stu- dents performed in front of a packed audience at Yuk Yuk’s Vancouver’s Comedy Club on Monday evening. His material excoriated a wide variety of targets, from rude caregivers to the atheist celebrity Richard Dawkins. “Always make fun of those above you in the social hierarchy,” he said. “Which means that if you’re a bank- er, or someone with a massive trust fund, you’re screwed. You’re complete- ly buggered. You basically have no ma- terial.” Vallance is a veteran of the comedy clinic, having taken the program for three years. He is also an accomplished theatre and improv performer, having performed with the Queer Prov im- prove troupe, and Realwheels, a profes- sional theatre company that seeks to reduce the stigma of the disability ex- perience. The comedy clinic is not strictly fo- cused upon individuals living with dis- abilities. It attracts people from a vari- ety of backgrounds. Instructor David Granirer believes the class, as well as the trial-by-fire graduating perfor- mance, pushes the boundaries of per- formers. “Tt just made them feel more confi- dent and also got them making some changes in their life,” said Granirer in a phone interview. Dave Symington is another graduate of the class, with a background as an artist in Vancouver. He acknowledges that there is “rich material” in talking about his own disability, but having lived with mobility issues for 42 years, he says he is also wary of it. “But [have to remind myself that not everybody else is as familiar as I am,” he said. STUART NEATBY photo Instructor David Granirer and Andrew Vallance.