Contents | January 2012

cover
Professional Bucket Lists
Twelve B.C. executives envision their ultimate to-do lists and a conversation with a business hero.
features
Patent Wars
As war threatens to break out over Canada's intellectual property laws, companies are faced with an option: arm themselves to the teeth with patents or ask themselves, "Who cares?"
by David Godsall
Bean to Brew
Once relegated to the overlooked organic shelves of grocery stores, locally roasted coffee beans are now the gold standard of java in the province. But running a successful roastery is a lot more complicated than simply filling bags with organic, fair trade beans.
by Andrew Findlay
Let's Go Downtown
Vancouver’s downtown peninsula may be a planner’s fantasy of a livable urban environment with its towers, pedestrians, bike commuters and virtually litter-free streets, but beyond lies a vast expanse of suburbs with low-rise subdivisions and retail complexes, and a self-serving maze of road networks.
by Peter Mitham
Buying the Farm
Not all recent university grads aspire to jobs in video gaming and iPhone apps. Meet a hardy new generation of idealists determined to make a go of it in farming. But with dismal returns, and the rising cost of real estate, is there a future for the industry in B.C.?
by Tiffany Sloan
Profile: Diana Douglas
Over the past 40 years Diana Douglas has built Self-Counsel Press, a publishing house that now boasts 300 how-to titles. Her next challenge: how to bring it online.
by Sarah Fullbrook
business briefs
Shoppin' Away the Blues Vancouver retailers take high-end shopping to decadent new heights
It's a Virtual World Business in the 21st century means your computer is in your pocket and your assistant is in another country
Revving Up the Grid Hummers and tanks are just a stepping stone for local electric car-makers REV Technologies
Inquiring Minds Have You Ever Judged a Book By Its Cover?
Need to Know How Do You Inspire Philanthropy in the Workplace?
Crossroads Rob Pease, President and CEO of Sabina Gold and Silver Corp.
Lunch with Lucy Lucy lunches with fashion agent Liz Bell