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Vancouver conference attracts smart people

TED world conference
to come to Vancouver
in 2014

By Aidan Mouellic, Contributor

very year in Long Beach,

California, the brightest
minds from the technology,
entertainment, and design
sectors gather to discuss the
latest and greatest developments
within their fields at the annual
TED world conference. The
highlight of the annual TED
conference are the 18-minute
talks that brilliant minds give
on ideas they wish to share. The
TED conference is essentially
the Olympics but for the mind,
and instead of medals your
performance is measured in the
amount of YouTube views/ likes
you receive. The popularity of
the online TED talks has made
the TED conference the place to
be for academics and celebrities
alike. In 2014, TED will be
celebrating its 30th anniversary
of spreading innovative ideas.

To celebrate this milestone,
the people at TED are moving
their 2014 world conference
to Vancouver and Whistler

between March 17 and 21.
The main portion of the
conference will be held at the
convention centre downtown
in Coal Harbour. Whistler
will be hosting a simulcast
at the Fairmont hotel of each
Vancouver talk and the hotel
will also be hosting a TEDactive
conference where delegates will
discuss topics relating to the
sorts of activities that go on in
Whistler.

Residents getting excited
at the thought of attending

In 2014, TED will be celebrating its 3oth
anniversary of spreading innovative

ideas.

the conference and rubbing
shoulders with the world’s most
elite minds should likely start
saving immediately. Tickets for
the conference are $7,500, and
there are only 1,200 available.
To make matters worse for the
proles of Vancouver, attendees
must fill out an application

to attend the TED conference
and explain why they deserve
to be in attendance and also
explain how they will make the

world better. At a previous TED
conference held in Scotland,
attendees who had to pay $6,000
to attend also had to disclose
what their occupations were and
their major accomplishments.
The applicants then had to
provide two references along
with three websites that
discussed who they were and
what they were known for.
Needless to say, the TED
conferences are not for your
average Vancouverite. On
the bright side, it will all be

rebroadcasted for free online.

For a week in 2014, the
average IQ of Vancouver will
be significantly higher and
since the city hosted the most
physically capable individuals
from around the world back in
2010, it is only fitting to host
the most intellectually capable
people in 2014—even if once
again the average citizen won't
be able to participate in the
festivities.

A chat with Barrie Lynch

By Dylan Hackett, News Editor

Last week I spoke with BCNDP
hopeful for the riding of Coquitlam-
Burke Mountain, Barry Lynch.
Below 1s an excerpt of the
conversation and choice quotes from
the candidate about his political
Iustory and campaign.

E late 2012, Barrie Lynch
announced that he intended
to transition from municipal
politics, after being a city
councillor in Coquitlam for nine
years, into provincial politics.
One of four nominees to run
under the NDP banner in the
upcoming May election, Barrie
hopes that being a long-time
resident of the riding and his
broad history of careers—such
as working as a paramedic,
auxiliary police officer, and

in trade unions—will make
him the top choice for the few
hundred BCNDP members
making up the electorate of the
riding association nomination
meeting on March 3.

Barrie Lynch

OP: What is your assessment
of Douglas Horne, the current
Coquitlam-Burke Mountain
MLA, and his performance?

BL: Doug came in with no
political experience, so J think
he had a steep curve. I think that
when Ian Black [former MLA]
was around, he had a mentor.

I know they had their offices

 

together. I would be a different
style. I’m definitely out in the
community more. IJ think he
should have a higher profile
out in the community. I would
like to hear him speak out about
more issues... He was very close
to Gordon Campbell and the
philosophies that Campbell
had. They’re different than my
philosophies.

What about Christy Clark’s
performance thus far?

Clark was my MLA. She’s a
very capable person, but our
philosophies aren’t aligned. I
am somewhat surprised that
she hasn’t performed at a higher
level—you never know until
someone is in that position. She
came in after Campbell and
after you have a party that is

so blatant about things like the
HST, where they say they’re not
going to do it and then they do it
right away, selling off properties
the provincial government
owns—saying one thing and
doing another. It’s pretty hard

 

to build up credibility. She came
in at a time when the credibility
of the Liberals is low and she
hasn't been able to do anything
to change that.

On municipal politics.

Coquitlam is the only place I’ve
been involved in politics. Last
election I was of the opinion that
there needed to be a change of
the mayoral seat. I ran against
the mayor and I didn’t beat him,
obviously, because I’m not the
mayor, but it’s an interesting
process. I wish the outcome

had ended differently but I still
believe it was the right decision
to run at the time.

On nominee Joe Keithley.

Joe Keithley announced [his
intentions to run] just before

I did. He wanted to run in
Burnaby, which makes total
sense. A strong thing for me is
the fact that I live in this riding.
I live in New Horizons. J have
since 1980. I think people who

live in the community, who've
grown up in the community,
who are active in the community
just have a better understanding
of what it’s all about. I couldn’t
imagine me saying ‘I’m going

to gorunin Burnaby’ because

I don’t know a whole lot about
that area.

On transportation.

I think [the Evergreen Line]
needs to go all the way out into
the [Fraser] Valley. You want to
encourage people to get out of
their vehicles more than force
them out. Tolling is forcing
people out. You make them

pay more to drive but if they’re
provided with an alternative,
that’s an issue with supply. I
think a lot of people, if they had
a convenient bus service or train
service, would like to use that
instead of driving their cars all
the time. People are becoming
more environmentally sensitive.