The Major League Baseball season is a long one.  162 games from April until September.  Then players begin to play for a chance at immortality.

Before this though there is Spring Training.  And prior to Spring Training is the popular Winter Meetings (usually in a nice hot climate.  This year is was at Disney in Florida.)

Something interesting always happens at these meetings.  Big name free agents get signed.  Roster altering trades happen between teams.  Managers get fired or hired.

Big moves during a 3 day period.  Why?

I don’t believe that it’s because managers are tweaking their rosters for the long season ahead.  It’s not because General Managers begin their work during the Winter Meetings:  They tend to work almost everyday of the year.  Even during the winter season.

What happens during the Winter Meetings that results in deals either beginning or being consummated.

I believe it’s because there is a Winter Meeting.

General Managers don’t have an opportunity to meet like this all together during the season (except for the All-Star break).

There is something comforting, safe and natural in conducting business with people you can actually see and “press the flesh” with.  There is only so much one can do over the phone, email or other digital and social channels.

Let’s translate that to this ever-changing world of digital and social media.  We communicate with others online in these social spaces.  Some even develop friendships.  Others conduct research and crowdsourcing for projects this way too.  And there are cases when productive work and business gets done.

However, I am a firm believer that when the opportunity arises people, brands and businesses should take the opportunity to meet face-to-face.  Relationships become stronger.  Trust becomes built. We put faces to names, voices and avatars.

Something powerful happens when people get together in their “protein forms” (credit to Mitch Joel for that term).

Just ask the Boston Red Sox and Carl Crawford.

On a weekly basis I hope to introduce to you some of the interesting people I encounter in Toronto and everywhere else I go.  Here is Andrew Witkin.  Andrew is the President of Toronto-based start-up StickerYou.com.

What motivates you to do what you do on a daily basis?

We are motivated to create a breakthrough solution for anyone in the world’s sticker needs. We get excited knowing that we are pioneering new ground and creating partnerships with customers and consumers to help make our platform better. Most of all we love seeing people’s reaction to getting their own personalized sticker product. That fuels us every day.

Do you have any success start-up tips for people wanting to create a name for themselves in your industry?

Take time to plan the business model such that what you are creating solves a problem, is differentiable, and (most importantly) is something that you can be passionate about. If you are going to have to work religiously at anything, you’ll want to love doing it. Determine what is needed from the technology. Build the core technology first, and not all the frills around it. Test the concept with customers and iterate.

In your opinion why is Toronto a hotbed for cool tech start-ups?

I believe people in Toronto collaborate fairly well and there is a diverse pool of talent to pull new concepts together.

What’s your favourite tech toy and social media site and why?

I have only used it a few times, but the iPad is impressive. You really enjoy the depth and simplicity of leisure consumption when using it, and I think that is powerful. If you can have fun using your media you are going to use it a lot more. I am admittedly not a huge user of social media, in part because I have less time for it, but when I do have some time I enjoy the features Facebook provides me.

Who would you say is one of Toronto’s social media/tech stars and why?

I think some folks I am following actively are Erin Bury and Sarah Prevette of Sprouter. They are doing a lot to raise the profile of start-ups in Toronto. Anything that can be done to raise the profile of the city is great!