Strathcona is Vancouver’s oldest residential neighbourhood, with hundreds and hundreds of businesses. Eighteen of these businesses, including restaurants, cafés, and breweries were celebrated at Meet the Makers Expo.

Sponsored by the Strathcona Business Improvement Association (SBIA), the expo took place at MakersLabs on East Cordova, and was a great opportunity for the public to discover Strathcona’s innovative businesses, sample local food and drink, and learn about the future changes and developments of the area. The expo featured interactive booths, on-stage demonstrations, and a panel discussion facilitated by Bob Rennie.

I thought this Play the Blox challenge was super neat. The idea is that you re-imagine how you want your neighbourhood to be, through the development of creative partnerships with your neighbours. Community is just so important – just think about the future generation: where do you want your children to learn, grow and play? What kind of community would best shape him/her into the best person he/she could be? Would you want a vibrant, inclusive community that reflects positive social change?

Besides, you get to play with stickers.. and who doesn’t love stickers?

I loved these “Divine Lights” pieces from Hfour Design Studio. These creations were inspired by the beauty of stained glass, and consist of video panels embedded into precision-cut surfaces. You can’t see it in the photo, but the images are moving – like a live kaleidoscope on your wall! Absolutely beautiful.

We were also treated to some tasty bites from Savoury Chef, a Vancouver-based full service catering company that features local fresh ingredients. Our bite of the day was takoyaki!

Propellor is a multi-disciplinary design studio that does mostly lights, but their work spans a broad range of design pieces. This was one of them – Range is a series of sculptural works made from basalt stone and gypsum, inspired by the North Shore mountains. No two are exactly alike. I love that they showed each step so I was able to see how these are put together to create something wonderful.

I also met this delightful lady from Ed’s Daily, who shared her love for cacti of all shapes and colours with me. I got to take home a small kale & soba noodle salad, with grilled zucchini, spiced peanuts, sauteed cabbage, lemon grass and hoi sin vinaigrette. Yum!

Who did it? The Butler Did It. This catering company brought in beef and eggplant tacos, as food samples and boy, were they popular. I’m pretty sure there was a line at their booth for the 4 hours the expo was open!

Junction Creative Solutions, a local digital agency in Railtown, created an interactive website called Friends With Websites, where anyone can share their favourite story about Strathcona, and share what community means to them. What a fantastic way to connect people and bring people together through their stories.

What does local mean to you? I really appreciated the community-driven, friendly vibe that resonated from Meet the Makers Expo. This was an event for Strathcona residents to celebrate local businesses, learn about new changes and developments that are happening, and really think about what they want to see grow and happen in their own community.