Techvibes Blog on BC TIA

Wavefront launches Ericsson Test Lab

Mar 15, 2010

Last week Vancouver's Wavefront invited wireless developers to attend its network test lab launch event featuring Ericsson. The new lab allows developers to test new wireless applications on a carrier grade HSPA+ mobile network connected to Ericsson’s leading edge Montreal Test Facility.

In addition to getting a sneak peak into what Ericsson believes the future mobile ecosystem will look like, attendees learned how to leverage the test facility and were introduced to the Ericsson Developer Program.

A number of videos were take at the event and posted online. Below is a quick tour of the Ericsson facility by Alan Swain, Director of Engineering Operations at Wavefront.

Here's to marketers burning their boats

Mar 15, 2010

Mitch Joel, journalist, publicist, president of Twist Image - a digital marketing agency - and author of the book Six Pixels of Separation, elaborates on the need for marketers to embrace the paradigm-shift afforded by social media tools.

Joel contends that marketing will never be the same again, and that not only do marketers need to learn to experiment with social media tools as channels through which to ply their trade, but to also enrich and augment their traditional methods through them.

itbusiness.ca's Brian Jackson recently chatted with Joel and his interview is available online here.

Two days left to apply for BCTIA's 2010 Awards

Mar 15, 2010

You've only got two days left to get your application in for the British Columbia Technology Industry Association's 2010 Technology Impact Awards.

Founded in 1994 by the BCTIA, the Technology Impact Awards celebrate the successes of our industry and the companies, people and innovation that continue to put British Columbia on the map and who serve as role models for others in our province.

As a Finalist or Winner, your company will benefit from the local, national and international exposure the TIAs deliver.

Recognition as a leading technology company that demonstrates excellence and sets you apart from the competition.
Exposure through a variety of media channels, speaking opportunities, and year-round B2B marketing initiatives.
Opportunity to attract investment, new business, and talent.

Click here to view award categories and criteria and be sure to apply by March 17th. This year’s celebration dinner will take place on June 8th.

Vancouver Twestival is a go

Mar 15, 2010

Vancouver Twestival Organizer Rebecca Bollwitt announced today that this year's Vancouver Twestival is on schedule for March 25th and tickets will be available later this week. Bollwitt has assembled a great team of volunteers and sponsors to help out with the event and there is no doubt it will be a huge success again this year.

Vancouver Twestival organizers have a few surprises in the works for the evening's entertainment but have already confirmed that Rob Cottingham will be providing comic relief, independent band Mojave will be performing, and SmartPics will be hosting a "Direct to Twitpic" photobooth.

Sponsors so far include venue sponsor CBC (The Audience Lounge @ Georgia & Hamilton), wine sponsors Hester Creek, Tinhorn Creek and Road 13, and Nordica Photography who will document the evening with pictures.

If you would like to get on board with Twestival in any capacity, contact them at @YVRTwestival or by email at TwestivalVancouver@gmail.com. Tickets will go on sale within 48 hours.

Social Media Fundamentals with BizLaunch

Mar 15, 2010

Toronto's BizLaunch helps new entrepreneurs succeed through education and training. BizLaunch has advised over 20,000 new entrepreneurs worldwide.

Renée Warren is managing BizLaunch’s social media activities. Through a few questions, Renée explains what BizLaunch is currently doing for social media, what their strategy is and what they are doing to connect with their market.

Why are you on social media? What’s the purpose?

For BizLaunch, there are many reasons why we want to create a presence on social media platforms. One of the priorities of social media initiative is to get people onto their webinars and live seminars. Through social media platforms, BizLaunch has been able to build a relationship with our market and provide enough value where our prospects feel compelled to listen to our webinars and attend live seminars.

What content do you share with your following?

The schedule is based around the editorial schedule of large publishers. There is a theme for each month and the content reflects that theme. The advantage is that the topics of the posts are predetermined and can be scheduled in advanced; this is where the content strategy comes into place.

The content on the blog leverages what’s already being talked about. For example, if January was the month of location-based social networks, then the articles would reflect that theme.

What is your definition of a successful social media strategy?

The first metric everyone talks about is usually the number of followers on Twitter. But in my perspective, the number of followers can be misleading. BizLaunch looks at the number of followers but also the quality of the followers. If the followers are actual humans (not automated accounts) and if they are engaging with BizLaunch’s content, then our social media activities are successful.

What was one of your biggest challenges with implementing social media?

The biggest challenge was convincing upper management. With larger budgets allocated to other marketing channels, investing in social media doesn’t make sense logically. In the past, the more money you invest in a marketing channel, the higher the return; social media is slowly changing that.

What are your next steps for engaging people on social media?

We are starting up a video interview campaign whereby we bring in high profile entrepreneurs and have an open ended 10 minute interview in our studio here. Each video is launched strategically aligned with our social media posting schedule as well as our editorial schedule.

ING Direct to launch new initiative at Toronto's Kool Haus

Mar 15, 2010

After a successful tour of Canada with their Meet and Tweet, ING Direct is ready to take social media meetups to the next level.

On March the 24th, Toronto's Kool Haus will be playing host to ING's social media team as well as popular indie music star Lights.

ING Direct is promising to unveil an announcement that will allow consumers to "save your money anywhere". What exactly is this event about? We tried to find out but this is all we (and you) will be told:

Good question - we're coming out with something new to help you save outside the box, and we're inviting you to come celebrate. Shh, it's a surprise, so you'll have to come and see. Think savings, but outside the box. It's a night of energetic entertainment, refreshing refreshments, tech-savvy giveaways, and plenty of orange. Cheers – the first two drinks are on us.

Besides getting some cool swag, attendees to this event will also be entered into a draw for one iPhone 3GS and one BlackBerry Bold 9700.

Visit SaveOutSideTheBox.Eventbrite.com to register and get more information on this event. You can also follow the event on Twitter at #ingSOTB.

What do you think ING will be announcing? Leave your comments and guesses below.

McGill Entrepreneur's Society hosts the perfect pitch

Mar 15, 2010

On the March 22nd the McGill Entrepreneurs’ Society is hosting the Perfect Pitch from 5:00pm - 6:30pm. The informal event will welcome an entrepreneur and a Venture Capitalist to guide attendees to the perfect pitch and begin with five students pitching their business ideas.

Entrepreneur Benjamin Yoskovitz will share his experience raising funds for Standout Jobs and Montreal Start Up's Daniel Drouet will give the presenting students feedback on their pitches. Droulet will also share what VCs really looking for and the right way to catch their attention during an elevator pitch.

Students that are interested in pitching their ideas should email vp_internal@mcgillentrepreneurs.com before March 17th.

Yorkdale Shopping Centre taps the Power of Social Media

Mar 15, 2010

At last week's MIXX Canada Conference in Toronto, Oxford Properties' Claire Santamaria and Yvette Bernard had a fascinating talk about their foray into the social media space for the contest Yorkdale is...You? to promote Oxford's Yorkdale Shopping Centre.

The promotion for the campaign included mall executions, and made use of email and online advertising to help spread awareness. They used social networks Facebook and Twitter with Flickr and YouTube added to the mix to help reach their audience and not only spread the message but to converse with them.

The contest was on the lookout for the faces of Yorkdale. The prize was a photo shoot with a professional photographer to be used as part of an upcoming Yorkdale marketing campaign, $1,000 in mall gift certificates and the most important thing - a reserved parking spot at the mall.

All you had to do was submit a photo and tell them why you should be the new face of what it meant to be upscale. It had over 1,400 entries when only around 700 were forecasted and 47 entires were chosen for the final voting phase.

Nine of the ten winning entries were chosen by a celebrity panel with the 10th being voted on by the public. At the end of the campaign they had 2.7 million online votes cast and over 130,000 text votes sent in and the most important metric of all 49% more sales per visits generated.

The case study showed how social media could drive retail traffic and engage with people, turning them into some of your strongest advocates. Now that this campaign is complete, in the future they will be going mobile as Kamar Shah of Vortex Mobile said later that day welcome to the mobile world.