About a year ago, I found myself in a gutted room on Barrington Street, sitting on a rickety chair with a big, fat marker in my hand. It was a brainstorming session for a communal business centre—a hub for freelancers, creative types, entrepreneurs—and a good friend had invited me along with little introduction. Each of us in attendance, many of whom had just met, had been handed said hefty writing tool to map out what we thought the space (what would later be the Hub Halifax) should look like, where we saw the walls, the desks, the rooms and the details finding a home. From the very beginning, the Hub has been all about collaboration.

The founders’ desire to move forward guided by the recommendations and input of their Halifax peers had me hooked that day, and I’ve been keeping a close eye on the Hub ever since, helping out when I can. But the space has evolved into more than just a modern and modular office for the office-less; by bringing together all these talents under one roof, the hub has made possible collaborations that have produced many community-building initiatives and social-change-focused events—and that’s why it makes my Best of 2009 list.

March 2009 saw Halifax Weekend in the Hub, an event that challenged a group of designers, marketers, programmers and managers to build a business in a weekend. The result: Waldii.com, a website that helps users find events in their area. At the end of May, the Hub (and Halifax) was introduced to its first Mobile Tech 4 Social Change BarCamp, when the non-profit and tech communities came together to ask questions and spark ideas about the use of mobile technology for social impact. The kicker: proceeds from the event were donated to a local charity (the Agora), decided by its attendees. In June, the Wall of Engagement (a taped-off space on one of the Hub’s walls) prompted a little safe, politically driven graffiti, urging passersby to share how they thought government and citizenship can be re-imagined “in the age of participation.”

The next month brought back the do-it-in-a-weekend theme with the iPhone Hackathon 4 Charity, a two-day event that had a group of developers creating mobile applications whose proceeds would be donated to local charities. The group “Apps 4 Good” was later created, and the alliance’s first charity application, Meet Me Here, was recently released. As part of 4 Days Thinking Forward Halifax, which ran in late October, the Hub hosted Halifax’s first TEDx talk, a short event that had innovative thinkers giving talks on the theme of global perspectives and local learning. November’s Demo Hub spotlighted entrepreneurship in Halifax, inviting young professionals into the Hub to soak up the advice of experienced local experts, followed by discussion and Q&A on the topic of building a business in the port city.

The Hub’s spirit of collaboration and community was pulled out again in December with ChangeCamp Halifax, a one-day event attended by citizens responding to the question “What does Halifax as a vibrant city mean to you?” through face-to-face and new media (think Twitter) interaction. Though I wasn’t in (in-person) attendance, a ChangeCamp discussion managed to trickle my way—Barrington 2010—by way of tweets upon tweets baring the #barrington2010 hashtag. While tweeters shared their thoughts on what to do with the Halifax main street’s decline, those at the Hub were at the scene of the crime, capturing video and photo, and returning to propose ideas (such as more Nocturne-esque art installations, designing and building street furniture, and friendly street games) to revive the street as we wait for further developments to unfold.

What the ChangeCamp attendees may not have considered is that their simple attendance at the Hub that night, and the various other events that have lit up that now anything-but-gutted space all year, is already livening and bringing change to Barrington—and Halifax.

After graduating from Halifax’s University of King’s College with a Bachelor of Journalism Honours degree and the Governor General Silver Medal, Nadine worked for two local businesses—a budding online publication and a publishing company—before heading back to King’s as the College’s communications coordinator, where she led the re-launch of the university’s website. At Trampoline, she’s the newest member of the client services team, and works closely on the Saint Mary’s University and Nova Scotia Health Promotion & Protection business, among others. A seasoned life juggler, Nadine is only happy when her plate is well stocked—she satisfies her pen by freelancing for dance, lifestyle and fashion publications, her mind by helping out local artists and initiatives get their feet off the ground, and her heart by cycling in the warmer months and by balancing on a yoga mat when she’s stuck indoors. Nadine, a Haligonian born and raised, thinks she and her hometown hold a philosophy in common: good things do come in small packages.