Last year I attended the 2008 Canadian Juno awards in Calgary, AB, as a media representative for Urban Vancouver. The media accredidation is open for this year's awards show, which are in Vancouver. I would love to attend this year as a photographer again, but am hoping to be able to go as a social media representative for another company where the coverage can potentially reach more people. I received a great deal of coverage both during and after the event, and was essentially one of the only social media people in the room who was using grass ...

Update - Hotwire came through for me again. We're going to be staying at the Magnolia Luxury Boutique Hotel right in Inner Harbour. So exciting. The other day Arieanna contacted me via Twitter and asked if I wanted a photo pass for the festivities this weekend in Victoria. Since I haven't been to Victoria in a few years, I thought it might be a good opportunity to sample some island beer and take some photos. Sometimes photo passes just let you get your camera in the door, and aren't really anything special. However, ...

I'm sure many of you know already know who Leslie Feist is. She's one of Canadian's most recognized young musicians now, thanks to obvious talent and also having her song 1-2-3-4 included in one of Apple's largest marketing campaigns. If I remember correctly, Feist snagged five awards at the Junos, which is as close to a landslide as you can really have at an event like that. I unfortunately didn't get to meet her (she was rather popular that night), but I did get to hang out a few feet away from her and snap a few photos. I was ...

I found a bunch more videos from the Junos. After the Gala on the Saturday night, a few of us headed to some after party. Here's a shot from the Jam Room upstairs in the VIP room.

I picked up a cab and headed down to the Saddledome to attend the Junos tonight. However, as soon as I got to the front door, I was told that I wasn't allowed inside by some lady. Of course, I received countless emails that said I had access to this event, which of course I tried to explain to her. Her argument was that those emails didn't mean anything, and that they were limited by space. Eventually she let me in, but it was a rather big hassle. The media room here is fairly ...

So, I really don't know how to describe the last few hours. It was pretty amazing. The thing is, I was invited to shoot photos on the red carpet for some all inclusive event. Unfortunately, even though it was sponsored by a company and they wanted lots of publicity, as a photographer most of us weren't allowed inside. So after about 20 minutes of taking photographs in the cold, I figured I had better uses for my time, and headed down to this other party downtown (thanks to a girl we met during the night). Anyways, despite not being on ...

First, the Penthouse Party at the Fairmont in Calgary. It was awesome. I put my camera down the entire time and just enjoyed myself, which was cool because almost every Juno nominee at the Juno Fan Fare came and hung out. I sat down and put myself next to this really cute girl (Nadine) from a Toronto Media Company. While chatting with her, the guys from State Of Shock swung by and I chatted with them for a while (great guys). There were Juno nominees everywhere, but I was too busy mingling ...

I woke up this morning at around 10am, close to being rested, but not 100%. The stupid alarm clock in my hotel room started going off at 4:30am, and it took me like 10 minutes to figure out how to shut it off. No matter. I cabbed down to the University this morning to check out the Juno Fan Fare. It's basically a huge event where the fans can line up and get autographs from their favourite groups. Media access to this event wasn't that great. They had set up two photo pits on ...

So there were five bands that played tonight, and to be honest, they were all awesome in their own way. I'm not a big country fan, but standing three feet away from Justin Rutledge listening to the guy pour his heart out in a southern drawl is enough to rope anyone in. Lindsay Ell was an absolute cutey, and I even got a chance to talk to her briefly after the show. And while they were all awesome, God Made Me Funky was pretty unbelievable. They are a group of eight members from the Toronto ...

Wow. That's all I can say. I really had no idea what to expect, but the event so far has completely blown away all my expectations. Sometimes when you get a media pass you can't really do anything. Contrast that with my pass, where I can basically do whatever I want. I literally have walked into any room I've wanted and photographed whatever I have wanted. I was up front, literally three feet from the stage, using both my SLR and my video camera during the whole night, all while drinking free beer ...