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5 Questions With… Yeggies Organizer Brittney Le Blanc

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Yeggies Edmonton

Edmonton’s New Media Awards, The Yeggies, is the brainchild of local do-gooders and community boosters Adam Rozenhart and Brittney Le Blanc. The 2nd annual awards show goes this Friday, May 9th, so I figured this is a good time chat with Brittney.

Did I mention that I’m a finalist for two awards myself (Best in Food, and Best Twitter)?

I think you’d have to work pretty hard to live in Edmonton and not know Brittney Le Blanc, or at least have heard her name before. The former radio journalist is seemingly everywhere, from volunteering for Make Something Edmonton projects, or trying to meet 5000 people in 1 year, to organizing Yeg Girl Geek dinners and helping launch Capital Ideas. If that’s not enough, she is the Community Manager for Gastropost Alberta, whose weekly feature in the Edmonton Journal has a loyal following.  She is huge champion of all things Edmonton, and the city is very lucky to have her.

Brittney has loads of personality, with a sense of humour to match, as you’ll soon see. But don’t let that sweet, unassuming demeaner fool you…. she’ll cut a mo-fo (usually just verbally) if she has to. This is definitely a woman not afraid to speak her mind.  Her enthusiasm and energy are indeed infectious, which is pretty annoying to someone like me whose own efforts look like shameful laziness in comparison.

Before Brittney drags everyone to take a spin on the big baseball bat, take a minute to read her thoughts on the Yeggies and her love of local food:

the insatiably curious, Brittney Le Blanc

the insatiably curious, Brittney Le Blanc

1) What was your inspiration for creating the Yeggies? Follow up question…Would you consider changing the name next year to “The Baconhound Memorial Award for New Media” after the inevitable outcome of the Yeg Burger Odyssey?

The Yeggies were born from a love of social media in all of it’s varied mediums. There were award shows dedicated to other types of media as well as social media but on a large scale, like the Webby’s, but there was no one recognizing the hard work, passion and dedication of people locally who were really doing amazing things. From the work of fashion and food bloggers in the city to political and current affairs to the hilarious or the parenting or fantastic podcasts, blogs and projects, we have a great community that we felt should be celebrated. It’s been fantastic because every year we discover more and more things being worked on in the city that I know I would never have learned about if not for the Yeggies. 
As for naming it The Baconhound Memorial Award for New Media, I’m still working on a category for cats or an award for people named Brittney, so we’ll see how it goes.
2) I love the idea that the winners cannot win simply by having family/friends vote for them relentlessly (Of course, if I lose, I reserve the right to reconsider my opinion on that). Can you briefly explain the judging process and explain how you came up with idea of having an independent panel of judges and how you select those judges?

Whenever you have anything with it’s roots in social media, you’re going to hear that people think it’s a popularity contest or people think that the more family/friends who nominate them increase someone’s chances of winning. However, all it takes is one nomination. From there, we shortlist the nominees based on merit, whether or not they fit the category, and various other criteria. Then, the fun begins. We email the nominees and ask them to submit their best work and a bit about what they do. We do this to try and level the playing field and allow every nominee to showcase the work they do in their own words. We pull together a panel of judges, they each get some categories and then we lock them in a room for a day and make them fight it out. Our judges based their decisions on who best represented their categories and based on how well the nominees used social media. They also are given some criteria to look over to help them make choices – looking at quality, consistency and various other things we believe a Yeggies winner should embody. 

Judges themselves are chosen to have a wide variety of opinions, backgrounds and knowledge of social media. Having judges independent of the Yeggies organizing committee make the final decisions helps us take a less biased approach and prevents us from being stuck in an echo-chamber. The final decisions are completely in the judges hands and the Yeggies committee does not have a say in it at all. I facilitate the judging that day, and other than a few clarifying questions being asked of me or my announcing the category/keeping the day moving, it’s really the quietest you’ll ever see me. It’s a really interesting day because the judges are usually quite passionate and you get some fascinating debates and discussions. There are some fantastic picks this year and some surprises, so I look forward to the event Friday night.

3) Are Yeggies filled with chocolate or solid gold (or some magical combination of the two)?  If not, who dropped the ball on that one?

 
Sadly, there is no chocolate or solid gold in the Yeggies. They are magical though, but we’re sworn to secrecy from talking about it. Most of the nominees from the Best in Humour category got together for the Inglorious Hipsters podcast (released yesterday) (inglorioushipsters.com/comic/2014/05/yeggies-supa-comedy-podcast/) and they suggested that the medal actually being giant wheels of cheese with the Yeggies symbol carved into them. That idea is pretty gouda, but not brie-ly easy to do. I think we’ll stick to the medals – they’re less cheesy.

4) What are some of your favourite dishes around town, and if you can only eat at one restaurant for the rest of your life, what would it be?

 
Sure, warm me up with the easy questions! There are so many amazing things in the city, so I’ll try not to go too long. The dill pickle soup at Continental Treat is incredible, the marshmallow squares at District Coffee made me text inappropriate things to a friend they were so good. Bul Go Gi House is a long-time favourite (the Bul Go Gi is fantastic), Shogun has the best miso soup in the city (and other delicious Japanese food), Chef Andrew Cowan at Hundred makes a charcuterie board that is unreal, Elm Cafe has this curried tuna sandwich that I always bug Nate about putting back on the menu, King Noodle House is my favourite for pho and probably Dream Tea Bubble Tea. I also love Drift Food Truck and pretty much everything they make and can’t resist those cheese empanada’s from Paraiso Tropical on Alberta Avenue. My day-job involves a lot of focus, sharing and discussing local food so I’m pretty passionate about it.
If I could eat at only one place? It would be tough, but I’d probably go with Urban Shabu. I’m a huge fan of hot pot and there are so many different combinations. Plus, it’s such an experience and a great meal to bring people together for.
 
5) When you’re cooking at home what do you like to make and what kind of music is your jam (mmm…jam)?
 
I am possibly the worst cook ever. I rock a mean mac and cheese and can layer jello like nobody’s business. I’m trying to experiment more in the kitchen, being inspired by friends and Gastroposts, but I wouldn’t say I have that one dish just yet. When I’m cooking, I normally listen to audiobooks, but when I listen to music it’s usually something along the lines of Tegan and Sara, a Country playlist, Childish Gambino, The Lumineers or random stuff like Russian Unicorn. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjaZNYSt7o0&feature=kp) I have pretty eclectic taste in both food and music.
~~~
Thanks for your answers, Brittney!
If anyone is interested in joining us at the Yeggies, there are still tickets available and you can get them here.

 

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