We arrived in Revelstoke, BC, yesterday afternoon. The last time I was here was in 2015, and already I can tell that a lot has changed since then. I'm sure I'll have more to say on this over the next few days, but one of the first things that stood out to me was the city's signage.

In 2020, Revelstoke City Council approved a $3.2 million, multi-phase wayfinding plan designed by Cygnus Design Group. So, what I have been seeing are the first completed phases.

Wayfinding signage serves (at least) two critical functions. The first, and most obvious one, is that it tells people where they are and how to get to where they likely want to go. The sign in the cover photo of this post is what you see right before you enter downtown.

The second function of wayfinding signage is to send other signals. It communicates to visitors that things are well-managed, that the place is hospitable, and, most importantly, that the place attracts visitors from around the world. It conveys importance.

Before I had even reached downtown, the signage made me think to myself, "Wow, Revelstoke has grown a lot since I last visited!" That's the power of good communication, and it's a vital part of placemaking.

Cover photo from Cygnus

Despite COVID-19, I am still going to work and going to the gym. (Zoom and Peleton are up 23% and 6%, respectively, from February 21 to March 5, presumably because there's a belief we're all going to start doing less of these two things.)

On my walk home from the gym today I noticed that some new wayfinding had just been installed at the corner of Church and Wellington. I'm not sure how long it has been up, but I am fairly certain it is new. Here is a photo.

The wayfinding is part of the City of Toronto's TO360 project, which was launched in 2011 and includes everything from transit shelter maps to finger posts like the one you see here. (Don't worry, I am confident that detailed shadow studies were conducted before this thing was erected.)

The "Astral" street furniture that we still have kicking around this city can't be removed fast enough and so wayfinding like this is a significant improvement. I like the designs.

But I also think the project is important from a placemaking standpoint. Signage like this helps to brand the city and the places with in it. It also signals a certain degree of internationalism, because wayfinding is most useful for visitors.

So I am happy to see more of these going up.

On Thursday night I spoke at Product Hunt Toronto about the overlap between real estate and tech. My slide deck will be made available online and I’ll be sure to tweet it out and link to it in the comment section of this post.

What was amazing to see was a room filled with 250 people coming together from almost two different worlds. I’m generalizing here, but you had the real estate people in suits and the tech people in t-shirts. But they were all mixing together to figure out how technology is going to disrupt the real estate industry. That is great to see.

This was not the case 5+ years ago when I started obsessing about the overlap between these two spaces. I remember pitching at a Startup Weekend here in Toronto where I was pegged as the fringe outlier for wanting to work on a real estate idea. Now I can’t keep track of all the startups who are tackling this space.

But this is a trend that is happening not only in real estate but in almost every other vertical. Here’s a quote from Fred Wilson that I used last night:

“One of NYC’s great strengths is the diversity of its economy – finance, real estate, media & entertainment, retail, fashion, health care, education, and now tech. And the reason tech is growing so fast in NYC is that it is embedding itself in all of these other industries.”

It’s an exciting time.

In any event, for those of you weren’t able to attend, the 3 startups that presented were Evercondo, PiinPoint, and MappedIn.

Evercondo is a condo communication and management tool for property managers and boards. PiinPoint is a data-driven tool that helps businesses find the best places to locate within a city. And MappedIn creates digital wayfinding solutions for (primarily) retail stores and venues.

If you know of any other interesting startups tackling the real estate space, please share them in the comment section below. Early stage companies need all the support and exposure they can get.

We arrived in Revelstoke, BC, yesterday afternoon. The last time I was here was in 2015, and already I can tell that a lot has changed since then. I'm sure I'll have more to say on this over the next few days, but one of the first things that stood out to me was the city's signage.

In 2020, Revelstoke City Council approved a $3.2 million, multi-phase wayfinding plan designed by Cygnus Design Group. So, what I have been seeing are the first completed phases.

Wayfinding signage serves (at least) two critical functions. The first, and most obvious one, is that it tells people where they are and how to get to where they likely want to go. The sign in the cover photo of this post is what you see right before you enter downtown.

The second function of wayfinding signage is to send other signals. It communicates to visitors that things are well-managed, that the place is hospitable, and, most importantly, that the place attracts visitors from around the world. It conveys importance.

Before I had even reached downtown, the signage made me think to myself, "Wow, Revelstoke has grown a lot since I last visited!" That's the power of good communication, and it's a vital part of placemaking.

Cover photo from Cygnus

Despite COVID-19, I am still going to work and going to the gym. (Zoom and Peleton are up 23% and 6%, respectively, from February 21 to March 5, presumably because there's a belief we're all going to start doing less of these two things.)

On my walk home from the gym today I noticed that some new wayfinding had just been installed at the corner of Church and Wellington. I'm not sure how long it has been up, but I am fairly certain it is new. Here is a photo.

The wayfinding is part of the City of Toronto's TO360 project, which was launched in 2011 and includes everything from transit shelter maps to finger posts like the one you see here. (Don't worry, I am confident that detailed shadow studies were conducted before this thing was erected.)

The "Astral" street furniture that we still have kicking around this city can't be removed fast enough and so wayfinding like this is a significant improvement. I like the designs.

But I also think the project is important from a placemaking standpoint. Signage like this helps to brand the city and the places with in it. It also signals a certain degree of internationalism, because wayfinding is most useful for visitors.

So I am happy to see more of these going up.

On Thursday night I spoke at Product Hunt Toronto about the overlap between real estate and tech. My slide deck will be made available online and I’ll be sure to tweet it out and link to it in the comment section of this post.

What was amazing to see was a room filled with 250 people coming together from almost two different worlds. I’m generalizing here, but you had the real estate people in suits and the tech people in t-shirts. But they were all mixing together to figure out how technology is going to disrupt the real estate industry. That is great to see.

This was not the case 5+ years ago when I started obsessing about the overlap between these two spaces. I remember pitching at a Startup Weekend here in Toronto where I was pegged as the fringe outlier for wanting to work on a real estate idea. Now I can’t keep track of all the startups who are tackling this space.

But this is a trend that is happening not only in real estate but in almost every other vertical. Here’s a quote from Fred Wilson that I used last night:

“One of NYC’s great strengths is the diversity of its economy – finance, real estate, media & entertainment, retail, fashion, health care, education, and now tech. And the reason tech is growing so fast in NYC is that it is embedding itself in all of these other industries.”

It’s an exciting time.

In any event, for those of you weren’t able to attend, the 3 startups that presented were Evercondo, PiinPoint, and MappedIn.

Evercondo is a condo communication and management tool for property managers and boards. PiinPoint is a data-driven tool that helps businesses find the best places to locate within a city. And MappedIn creates digital wayfinding solutions for (primarily) retail stores and venues.

If you know of any other interesting startups tackling the real estate space, please share them in the comment section below. Early stage companies need all the support and exposure they can get.