On November 17th I had the opportunity to sit in the audience for a live filming of TVO’s The Agenda. It took place in the Bushplane Museum. It was very interesting. We were invited to the reception beforehand where we met Lisa de Wilde, Chief Executive Officer of TVO. There was some mingling etc.
Lisa de Wilde, CEO of TVO greets guests after the reception and before the filming.
None of us had gone to the Agenda Camp which took place the day before at Sault College. The filming was very interesting especially since it was live to air. We were seated around the stage area and we were in the second row right behind 2 of the speakers.
Getting ready to go live. We were in the second row.
At the filming of the Agenda. We had to take a picture (i.e. I made us)
The speakers were quite impressive in my opinion. There was Victoria Chiappetta, vice president, general counsel with Essar Steel Algoma Inc, Jamie Lim, president and CEO of the Ontario Forest Industries Association, Ken Neumann, national director of United Steelworkers Canada, and David Orazietti, MPP. They responded really well to the points, touching on many of the issues that were brought up at the Agenda Camp the day before. When they were put on the spot they answered quite well and seemed to “know their stuff”. I was most impressed by Victoria Chiappetta who answered very honestly about the touchy issue of Essar (and Indian company) buying Algoma Steel a few years back, and how they embraced the community etc. It was very transparent and very good while shedding a positive light on Essar Steel. I thought of all of the speakers she was the most relatable (maybe because I am younger though so I identified more with her). The only snag for her was when Richard Florida and Kevin Stolarick’s “creative class” theory was brought up. Steve Paikin asked her if the Soo has a “creative class” and she immediately started talking about the arts and the local production of Footloose. It was a good try though. I think if you weren’t aware of the “creative class” theory (which she most likely wasn’t) then it was a good answer.
I thought Jamie Lim had some good points but unfortunately some of them were lost in her rhetoric. For example, she was trying to make the point that there should be no talk of “Northern Ontario” versus “Southern Ontario” and we should be ONE Ontario. But sadly the point was lost when she kept talking about her “hometown of Timmins” versus her “urban cottage in Toronto”. Of course the focus went to her “urban cottage” in Toronto (when you use that phrase how can it not?) which was revealed to be next to the largest LCBO…so we’re guessing she has a nice “urban cottage” in Summerhill. I’d also like to add that I love the use of Web 2.0 in The Agenda. During the live show people were emailing from all over the province with their comments and questions. The Agenda has created their own wiki for Agenda Camp and also posted many of the videos from Agenda Camp on Youtube. They’ve also got a blog on their website. Good stuff! A great experience all around with lots of great points. Anyway, these were just some thoughts. Check it out:
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Plain Can Be Lovely 