I Heart Edmonton

Northern Alberta Institute of Technology By Emil Tiedemann There is a large banner hanging from a pedway at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) that reads “We are essential to Alberta.” That couldn’t be more true!  Tens of thousands of part-time and full-time students from nearly 90 countries study any number of 120 credit programs essential for Alberta’s technical and knowledge-based industries, including everything from petroleum engineering and business administration to hospitality and interior design.  That’s a far cry from the very beginnings of NAIT, when 326 students graduated at the first graduation ceremony in 1965, two years after the school first opened. Over the years, NAIT (Edmonton’s equivalent to Calgary’s SAIT) has rapidly expanded, with the construction of numerous additions and extensions, and there are more plans for the near future.  In a province like Alberta, trades people are always in demand, and NAIT just so happens...

Career Opportunities by emil tiedemann A few years back, when I was miserable at my dead-end job, I made the decision to try something different with my life. I applied to a small school downtown, gleefully quit my job, and took a chance at finding something to do with myself that would make me happy for once.    A construction worker at Ice District in 2015. It was one of the best decisions I ever made, and one that will have a lasting effect on whatever it is I do from now on.  I’m lucky though, even being able to make that decision to quit my job and go back to school to find a better one, because not everybody has it so “easy.” But, we live in a city where opportunity is unlimited, surprisingly attainable, and just waiting for you to grab a hold of.  For whatever sector you fancy - health care, construction, industrial, business, hospitality, the trades, entertainment - Edmonton’s the place to be!    NAIT's motto, 'Essential to Albert...

Saskatonian Jesse Beyer will deliver come sunshine or rain as Global Edmonton's newest member of their #1 weather team! by emil tiedemann " G O big or go home!" That's what local meteorologist Jesse Beyer told himself when he made the decision to spend a year in Australia after he finished high school in hometown Saskatoon.  It's an adage that he seems to have stuck with through the years, as he now gets set to take over the six o'clock weather over at Edmonton's #1 news station, Global . Can't get much bigger than that!  Jesse Beyer (center) with Global's six o'clock anchors Nancy Carlson & Gord Steinke When Beyer, 27, returned home from Aussieland, he enrolled in NAIT's Radio & Television program and upon graduating found work as an intern at CHAT TV in Medicine Hat. Then he spent a year as the six & ten o'clock weatherman at Saskatoon's division of Global, and then two and a half years over at Edmonton...

It's Brittney, bitch! 'I Heart' gets to know one of Edmonton's prevalent social media darlings... BY EMIL TIEDEMANN "I NSTANT teleportation," answered Brittney Le Blanc , when The Unknown Studio asked her what "super power" she'd prefer most. "I wouldn't have to worry about parking, I'd get more sleep, I'd cover WAY more news and stories...I'd be unstoppable. Plus, I could travel more." That says a lot about Le Blanc, a local media "wonderkid" and prolific Twitterer who's lived in Edmonton all her life. She works long hours, enjoys covering the goings-on of our mutual hometown, and seems to know everyone who is anyone in it. Seriously! I've seen photos of Ms. Le Blanc posing next to software developer & fellow social media guru Mack D. Male , Olympic gold medalist Kevin Martin , and even Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach . Nice! The former NAIT student ( Radio & Television Arts ) has spent the las...

BioWare Edmonton are behind the success of the recently-launched Mass Effect 2 video game BY EMIL TIEDEMANN T ALK about good timing! Right in the dead of winter the multi-billion-dollar gaming industry has launched yet another reason to stay inside, and it goes by the name of Mass Effect 2 . The role-playing action game has become one of the most critically-praised projects in gaming history, and is seeing early numbers that will see it as a commercial triumph as well. By now you might be wondering why I Heart Edmonton is telling you about the No.1 video game in the world right now. Well, it's because Mass Effect 2 was developed right here in the southside studio of BioWare , which was founded in Edmonton 15 years ago. BioWare, a subsidiary of video game pioneers Electric Arts , has gained a reputation for developing award-winning PC games like Neverwinter Night and Baldur's Gate , as well as state-of-the-art console ventures such as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic ,...