interVivos is pleased to be partnering with Edmonton NextGen
(http://www.edmontonnextgen.ca)  once
again for our up-coming Candidate event. Candidate aims to engage
young people in Edmonton to vote in the up-coming provincial election.
The event will be free and features informal access to Edmonton-Centre
provincial candidates. The format of the event will include brief
introductions of each candidate, rotational discussion sessions in
small groups with each candidate, followed by an informal networking
mixing period! Get ready to grab a cocktail, snack on some free appies
and chat politics! You'll be able to ask each candidate any question
you like and receive an up-front answer!

interVivos and NextGen always hold events around elections in order to
encourage young professionals to vote and help shape their future. The
details of the event will be posted here shortly--so keep checking
back for updates!

If you have any questions about the event or about InterVivos, feel
free to contact Zohreh Saher at zohreh@intervivos.ca.

Hope to see you at Candidate!

Deck the Airport Halls! For our 5th annual Holiday mixer, interVivos invites you to take a field trip to Edmonton International Airport (EIA) Expansion 2012 project. You will be provided coveted behind-the-scenes access to the brand new terminal, which doesn't open to the public until February 11, 2012.

Included are behind-the-scenes tours, snacks, a complimentary beverage and a chance to meet and chat with President and CEO, Reg Milley.

TRANSPORTATION:

1. Complimentary Shuttle: Step on to the complimentary shuttle BUS from World Trade Centre Edmonton (9990 Jasper Avenue) for a 5:30 pm SHARP departure.
2. If you choose to drive, please park in the parkade's 'hourly parking' area. A complimentary parking pass will be provided to you upon your departure.
3. Anticipated return time to Edmonton via bus is 8:30 pm.

Event is free and EIA is happy to sponsor and host this event; in appreciation, we invite you to bring a 'winter donation', which will be provided to the Youth Emergency Shelter Society on behalf of interVivos. Winter donation ideas: toques, mitts, socks, boots and runners, jackets and hoodies.

It is critical to book appropriate security for this tour, and therefore, firm RSVPs are required by December 16. RSVP here.

For more information, please email connect@intervivos.ca.

I initially went to the interVivos mentorship event at the Common excited to experience a great local Edmonton venue, meet some new people and have some good conversations.  I was surprised to find that even though I didn't have much in common with some of the mentors, I was able to listen and relate to their experiences.  The conversations with my group were quite interesting as well and the mentors were all eager to listen to our comments and guide our conversations.  

I walked away from the event with a new appreciation for this kind of dialogue and it really allowed me to think about my own path and future.  I used to think that I had to follow my education into a certain kind of job, but now I see that it's about finding something you are passionate about.  I look forward to continuing my involvement with interVivos and will definitely continue to attend events in the future.

On August 24th, interVivos hosted The Oil Sands of Our Lives. The event focussed on Alberta’s economic future and featured a panel of three esteemed leaders. The three panelists were extremely wise in their observations and analysis of the Premier’s Council for Economic Strategy.

One of the panelists needed no introduction as she was the former Deputy Prime Minister and also served as one of the twelve people who provided feedback into the Strategy, Anne McLellan. Anne discussed the fact that Albertans must resolve the situation with Aboriginal peoples. Aboriginal peoples are the fastest growing demographic and will be a great resource to help replace the aging workforce. However, she said that there still is a lot that needs to be done with helping them achieve higher educational standards.

The second panelist, Dr. Wenran Jiang (Associate Professor of Political Science and an expert in Chinese Energy) was extremely interesting and presented some eye-opening statistics about how China’s economy will become the number one and will be consuming an insanely high amount of energy in the coming years. He made note that they will be looking for a partner. He believed that Alberta has the potential to help them reach their energy need.

Last, but not least, the third panelist, Satya Das (author of Green Oil) had some powerful points to share. He apologized for his generation’s lack of planning during the original booms in Alberta. He reiterated that his generation were not good stewards of the oil sands resource and our generation now has to pay for it. He exuded so much hope for the younger generation in the room as they will learn from his generation’s mistakes and use greener and more sustainable technologies to extract natural resources. Satya believes that there is a way that all Albertans can take the money from the revenues of the energy sector and use it for good, whether it is building a school, improving social programs or developing greener alternatives.

A big thanks to the Canadian International Council-Edmonton (CIC) for partnering with us for this event. CBC Radio's Adrienne Lamb was a fantastic moderator and The Common was a fantastic venue.

You can listen to the Podcast from the event here.

Surprise, surprise! The provincial government has put together a report. They gathered input from stakeholders, hired some snappy graphic designers and want the public to take notice.

The critics have asked why another report on the economy. This report will just "be put away in the filing cabinet" as Wildrose Alliance Finance critic and MLA Rob Anderson retorted.

So why bother to download this report, or better yet, take the physical copy you may have printed long ago off the corner of your desk and take a look?

Like the oil sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.

Did you hear that Jennifer Aniston is making a special appearance on Days of Our Lives? Do you like the Hortons or the Bradys? Is Stefano alive or dead? Like The Days of Our Lives, Alberta may be going through its own drama soon as the good times can't last forever with another Global Recession looming.

Join interVivos and the Canadian International Council-Edmonton (CIC) as we try to answer a variety of questions over beers and appies at the Common. Our experts will tackle questions like: How can we maintain our current lifestyle without forsaking our future? What is Alberta doing to ensure its economic future? Do we focus on selling our oil without diversifying our economy? Do we keep the upgrading process in Canada or do we export the raw material and lose revenue? Is it best to stop refining all together and move to renewable sources as soon as possible? What is our role as citizens in maintaining our legacy? Should we worry about other countries stealing our advantage and compromising our future? Is Marlena really possessed? Okay, maybe not that last one!