The following video was previously published on itbusiness.ca. I have received permission to re-post it here.
The Webby award winners were announced today. But do they really reflect the best content the Internet has to offer?
[brightcove vid=1615943950001&exp3=96976228001&surl=http://c.brightcove.com/services&pubid=1815854478&pk=AQ~~,AAAAAGw7vY4~,MT1x6TzuB4-6gtolhFTaM4bruMSIwgr6&w=300&h=225]
Yesterday marked the first anniversary of the ING DIRECT Toronto Cafe. I count myself as one of the few lucky friends/tenants who has been there since the first day.
Over year ago ING DIRECT Canada’s Peter Aceto stood on the Cafe’s makeshift stage welcoming everybody to the Cafe. A year later I witnessed Melissa lead her team in a fun Happy Birthday dance!
In between these two events I have had the privilege of helping to move our thirdocean team to what today we affectionately call home. This downtown space has helped our team grow and mature. We look forward to continuing to grow our business with our friends at @OrangeYYZ and #NetworkOrange.
Happy Birthday friends!
I recently entered a contest that was promoted by Toronto-based My City Lives and sponsored by ING Direct Cafe. It was a contest that asked people to create a video that talked about a place they use to “save money in the city of Toronto.” I made a couple of videos. The one that I was hoping would win was my piece on The Work Republic. (See video below.)
Last week it was announced that my submission was one of the winners. First off, congratulations to all the other winners as well. There are some cool videos and suggestions of places that I will definitely be keeping in mind.
Second, thanks to everyone who watched and voted for my video.
Now things get a little complicated. I have two choices of prizing that I can choose from. The first choice is a brand new iPad. I would REALLY like a brand new tablet as I’ve been having challenges with my Android tablet. The second choice is to pick a charity for the ING Direct Cafe to donate $2500 to.
So the choice I’m left with is do I take the iPad or do I enable a worthy cause?
If I “donate” the $2500, the charity gets awareness and the money to help them continue their work and programming. I also win by being the “nice guy” who gave up the cool iPad to help out a worthy cause. However, some people might say I did this to increase my likeability.
If I choose the iPad I lose. Yes I get the iPad but I also will become known as the douche who chose to NOT give money to a charity.
If no one was aware of my choice maybe this wouldn’t be such an interesting decision. But it is public.
What would your choice be?
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4mrIrKNVt4&w=560&h=315]
There’s an interesting video campaign happening in Toronto right now called #SaveInTheCity. Sponsored by ING Direct (the bank here in Canada famous for their “Save Your Money” commercials) and being hosted and powered by My City Lives, this video campaign aims to inform Torontonians on the many local places people can save money.
If you know me, then you know why I LOVE this campaign:
All the details about this campaign can be found HERE.
And if you want to vote for me in this campaign consider “Liking” THIS VIDEO. It’s about my LOVE for the good boys and girls at The Work Republic (another great Toronto location!).
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4mrIrKNVt4&w=560&h=315]
Earlier this month I had the opportunity to lead a workshop focusing on social media as it relates to the business-to-business realm. It was a lively 75 minute workshop mostly filled with discussion and interaction amongst the attendees who were all from the marketing department at PwC (Price Waterhouse Coopers).
We didn’t video tape the workshop, but I do have the presentation below. I hope you enjoy. And if you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment or find me on Twitter
Are you an artist or a member of an art-based youth organization?
If so, you might be interested in an interactive workshop I’m helping to facilitate on February 23rd:
Join ArtReach Toronto for an interactive workshop where attendees will discuss how to use social media tools to communicate a clear brand and promote their art or nonprofit group / organization.
Another focus of the session will be on how to leverage these tools to generate revenue and raise funds to support your cause. Attendees will also hear from a youth arts organization that has successfully utilized social media strategies to increase their profile and raise funds.
The Details:
RSVP: This workshop is open to youth (13 to 29 yrs). Please REGISTER no later than February 21 at noon by emailing:info@artreachtoronto.ca with your name, organization/ group (if any), email address and phone number. A confirmation will be sent. Space for this workshop is limited so register today! Food and refreshments will be provided.
Date: February 23, 2012
Location: ING Direct Cafe, 221 Yonge St (Yonge and Shuter), side entrance.
Time: 6:00pm – Registration
6:30pm to 9:00pm – Workshop
It’s finally here.
The last unofficial workday of 2011. So what better thing to do then continue something I started last year here.
Here is this year’s list of Tweeple (people on Twitter) who positively impacted my life in one way or another (in no particular order). After reading this make sure to follow all these people. Your life will be better for it.
There’s probably a bunch of Tweeple that are not on this list that have impacted and continue to impact my life in a positive way. This is an incomplete list. I have also not included the many people not on Twitter who I interact with often whom I could not do without. To everyone, thanks for making 2011 another amazing year!
If you’re not on Twitter, get on and follow me at @karimkanji.
Earlier today an article I wrote was published on the website Web Not War.
On the weekend of December 10th Dana White’s UFC settled in Toronto with Sunday’s UFC 140 anchoring their activities. Over the past 10 years, Dana White, his partners the Ferenzzo brothers and their MMA athletes have created one of the most popular and fastest growing sporting and entertainment brands in the world. The reasons are manifold: the demise of the boxing industry and the need for fresh and new programming for this 200+ channel universe being just two of them.
To read the rest please visit http://www.webnotwar.ca/ufc-uses-social-and-digital-to-rule-sporting-universe/
Almost a year ago I blogged about co-working spaces in Canada. On December 
17, 2010 I wrote a piece titled “the (in)complete list of co-working spaces in Canada”.
The impetus of the previous co-working post was the desire to find a space to work from while at the same time being able to take advantage of other people working and building. Listed below are three places that I’ve had the privilege of working out of:
BNOTIONS:
While not officially a co-working space, BNOTIONS has had a profound positive impact on the growth of thirdocean. We spent 6 months calling the BNOTIONS office space our home. We held our team meetings there and also met potential clients in their space.
The culture of BNOTIONS also positively influenced the culture of thirdocean. Every time a guest exited the elevator on the 4th floor a loud round of applause greeted them. The BNOTIONS office is also famous for their WWE DVD collection and superhero action figures. Today, no matter where we work, all thirdocean visitors are greeted as long lost friends.
The Work Republic:
No matter what I say about TWR it will not be enough. Located at the corner of Victoria Park and McNicol Avenue’s, TWR is only a 5 minute drive from my home. This has allowed me to work out of a space while still being able to drive my son to his morning and afternoon classes.
This north-Toronto space is a welcomed and quiet reprieve from the hustle and bustle of downtown Toronto. On most days you can find Ray, Maurice and Milan listening to old school hip hop (Neil Young when I visit!), building mobile apps and making videos.
Need a space outside the city (yet still very accessible) centre to work from and bring your guests to? The Work Republic is the place for you.
Network Orange:
A slice of heaven in the middle of downtown Toronto, Network Orange is ING Direct’s contribution to Toronto’s startup and freelance community. Nestled at the corner of Yonge and Shuter, Network Orange offers our team a home 7 days a week. Included in their package are a choice of 3 meeting rooms, wifi, coffee, a functional kitchen as well as ample desk space. Open 7 days a week, I have actually “opened” this space at 8am and left when it closed at 10pm.
Operating out of this space has also allowed us to meet with potential clients, clients and even our service partners. More than any other space, Network Orange has helped our team at thirdocean grow from a young company looking for an identity to Canada’s community management and social media agency.
If you have a favourite co-working space please tell me about it in the comment section below. If you want to receive this blog in your email, click on the “sign me up!” button on the right.
Earlier today I spent an hour talking to Wayne in Milwaukee on his show. We chatted about social media, community building, what brands are doing right and wrong, and what makes Toronto so special when it comes to startup community.
Here is the embed code for all of you.
