Today is the final day for my “5 questions” feature. We will be back in 2011. So keep your eyes focused here in 2011. Happy New Year.
What motivates you to do what you do on a daily basis?
We work with companies to help them understand what makes their brands tick and work on campaigns to them reach out to those passionate communities.
There is nothing more inspiring than working with people who are passionate about their craft.
Do you have any success start-up tips for people wanting to create a name for themselves in your industry?
I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for great events like GenYTO and Sprout Up and the connections made through blogging and Twitter.
However if you really want to create a name for yourself you have stop going to events, stop reading blogs and build something, there are far too many people out there just with ideas – go build something.
Toronto has a vibrant community of people with great ideas and many out there who genuinely want to help out but you need to walk the walk before you can talk the talk.
In your opinion why is Toronto a hotbed for cool tech start-ups?
Toronto is the gateway to Canadian advertising, a hub for smart and creative people and per capita we are one of the most wired and digital cities.
I do think we still have some ways to go to cross the chasm and really help and support these creative start-ups but it is a great place to start and there are already some bright spots emerging in the mobile sector.
What’s your favorite tech toy and social media site and why?
I am split between my Kindle and my iPad these days. I am a voracious reader and nothing so far has managed to beat the reading experience of the Kindle.
That being said the iPad feels like you are holding the future in your hands and from a news consumption perspective it has amazing.
Social media site? Everyone knows I am a Facebook Fan boy and I have been really impressed with the speed by which they have grown and the velocity that their engineering team is pushing out products.
Mark my words, the new Facebook Inbox is going to cause serious problems for RIM and Blackberry. It is a BBM killer rather than an email killer. I am looking forward to it.
Who would you say is one of Toronto’s social media/tech stars and why?
First I have to give credit to Sunta Sem from our team at Orange Rhino who doesn’t always get her name in the headlines when one of our campaigns are a success but she is an integral part of everything we do. We have big plans for her next year and she has been the best investment I have made in my business.
The GenY teams of Renee Warren, Casie Stewart, Erin Bury and Dave Coleman have already made their mark on the community but there is still a lot these smart folks have in store professionally and for the global GenY community.
I also have to mention the super star teams at Jet Cooper, BNOTIONS and The Biz Media. The amount of growth I have seen from them over the last year has been astounding and I know they are going big next year. If you get the chance to sit down with Alkarim, Satish or Guy they will be able to tell you what is really going on in the city at a grassroots level.