Senator Paula Simons🇨🇦He started #mstdnca as an experiment - and was as surprised as anyone when it exploded into one of Canada’s top Mastodon instances! In this week’s episode of #AlbertaUnbound, @chad explains the unique Edmonton genesis of this corner of #Mastodon. https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/alberta-unbound/id1511810939?i=1000594999150 #Alberta #Canada #Twitter #yeg #yyc #Edmonton #ICYMI #abpoli #cdnpoli #SenateofCanada #Paulatics #PaulaSimons
Here is the video to go with the music we play at the podcast’s conclusion. It is as delightful as I promised. And @chad and the Chronos Vocal Ensemble perform live - and together - in a concert at All Saints Anglican Cathedral this Sunday evening. https://youtu.be/dITYiRI_L5U #yeg #Edmonton #choir #StanRogers #yegdt #yegmusic #Alberta #Canada #mstdnca
Chronos Vocal Ensemble - Choristers' Private Tears
micropainter@Paulatics @chad Bwahaha! My choir kid loves this--brilliant! The only thing missing was someone forgetting to either turn on (or turn off!) their mic on Zoom.
Stéphanie Pageau@Paulatics @chad Thank you for talking about this fantastic "experiment". One thing that didn't make it there, but I think is important, is how much Chad has encouraged the #bilingual vibe of the instance too, which I think is really important for Canadian identity 😊
#mstdnca
#mstdnca
@Pheneatis @chad Oui, c’est une chose importante. Et moi-même, j’ai besoin de trouver les gens ici qui « toot » en français. Mais qui?
@Paulatics @chad Oui c'est vrai, beaucoup de francophones sont sur des instances en français. Mais j'ai trouvé plusieurs personnes d'Ottawa et d'ailleurs qui sont toujours enthousiastes à l'idée de parler en français (ou de se pratiquer aussi!). Je devrais faire plus de "pouets" (😆) en français!
@Pheneatis @chad Pouets? Ça c’est le vrai mot?!
@Paulatics @chad C'est ce qu'utilisent les gens francophones que je suis, et ça me fait rire chaque fois!
@Pheneatis @chad Peut-être quand je suis à Ottawa, nous pouvons faire une rencontre, et avec @erin aussi. I’d love to coax more of my Senate colleagues, both francophone and anglophone, to explore Mastodon!
Dr. Young-Leslie 🇨🇦
Chris Alemany 🇺🇦🇨🇦🇪🇸 🌱
Roberto Selbach 
🇨🇦@Paulatics @Pheneatis @chad c'est vrai que c'est rare, mais je suis quelques québécois qui tootent en français ici.
Mais oui, c'est plutôt rare.
RD Smith@Paulatics @chad This was great! I didn't know the instance was local to Edmonton/Alberta when I signed up (or if I did I forgot), not that the specific location matters that much. I was just happy to find one that was Canadian, with a dot CA and had a name I like that is succinct. Truncating has a certain elegance that I really appreciate. Didn't know what instance to choose but when I saw the name, I knew it was for me. Thank you Chad for setting this up, good luck going forward.
Kathryn Mathias@Paulatics @chad really worth a listen - a fascinating story about how mstdn.ca came about, has grown & is managed by volunteers. It's interesting to learn more about Chad's perspective. I still like Senator Simons' suggestion that a choir could be a metaphor for mstdn.ca, while agreeing with Chad's point that there isn't a choir master, more like a town square. I like the idea of harmony from different voices converging, and while administration isn't directing, it IS crucial (and appreciated)
GroguTheGreen 
@Paulatics @chad what a great episode. I enjoyed hearing about how the instance came to be and am thankful that @chad didn’t abandon it when things got real over at Twitter.
Garden Variety Linguist@Paulatics @chad This episode made me wish there was a re-toot button so I could endorse the hell out of it! Guess I'll just have to write my own post.
"We didn't keep score" is a such an insightful observation about the way rural Alberta used to be, & I hope how it will be again in the future. So glad that I found this instance, looking forward to spending more time on #mstdnca !
@gardenvarietylinguist @chad Wasn’t that a lovely line? I was so happy that this was both a conversation about Mastadon and a story about the way Alberta thinks about community.