Mango Stampedes Calgary
Last week, I spent an amazing five days in Calgary, Canada, for the Netspeed Alberta Library Show. We are so excited that the entire Province of Alberta is now part of the Mango family. I was able to meet and train public and academic libraries on the Mango system, introduce the new iPhone app and share additional products like Little Pim.
We met some raving fans of Mango:
I encountered many interesting people and even cultural nuances and experiences. Growing up in Detroit, Canada doesn’t feel very foreign. I guess it is because we used to be able to drive across the border in about 20 minutes with our Michigan Drivers License. I remember as a kid buying candy there and getting double what I could get in the U.S. as the dollar was so strong.
Flying to Calgary was different. Customs was much stricter and, as I travel often, it felt much more like going to Europe or South America to me. Once I arrived I found several things were different. Yes, they speak English but with a few differences. Lots of long vowels, but we have that in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, too. More importantly they say things like Parkade instead of parking garage and they ask for their bill instead of their check. And many words are spelled like the British, for example favour instead of favor.
What I can say is Calgary has some of the nicest and hospitable people around. I know I missed the Calgary Stampede but I did visit Fort Calgary and realized how much history Michigan and Calgary have in common. On top of all of that I visited Banff, and the Canadian Rockies are gorgeous! Go! You won’t regret it! Oh Canada, I already miss you!
