The mesh conference organizers have introduced a new event segment for “entrepreneurs, start-ups and do-gooders with great stories“. Submit your written pitch here and you may get the chance to present your idea/venture for five minutes on stage at the conference. Three people per conference day. Neat idea. Before you submit your elevator pitch, you could test it first with this web service.
Canada
Opportunities for IT Vendors
According to an IDC 2005 survey of medium and large businesses that is mentioned in IDC Canada’s April 2006 IT Matters newsletter, 70 per cent of large companies agreed that they’d be “open to dealing with new IT vendors”. That’s good news for vendors who are trying to get their foot in the door with Canadian enterprises.
My guess is that the openness varies considerably depending on which part of the IT system the new vendor is targeting and how big the pain is that the solution addresses. IDC says that “addressing less glamorous business challenges” may help close the sale.
Being nice goes a long way
Rick Segal wrote a post about his experience with Canadian immigration officers at the airport: “More often then not ‘Welcome back’ or ‘Welcome home’ is the norm when rolling into Canada.”
It reminded me that last week was my sixth anniversary as a landed immigrant and permanent resident in Canada. When I arrived at Pearson Airport in March 2000 with my immigration papers in my hand and a lot of nervousness in my eyes, the customs officer grabbed the papers and shook my hands while shouting “welcome to Canada, glad to have you here!” Could anyone ask for a better beginning to a new life in a new country?
Rick Segal says just being nice is a good start. I agree. And it can help others get off to a great start.
mesh conference – Toronto, May 15/16
From idea to reality in just a few weeks: the website for Canada’s Web 2.0 conference has gone live, and registration is open. Speakers include Om Malik, Michael Geist, Andrew Coyne and Steve Rubel. Wow. Looking forward to seeing the full agenda. I just signed up, and so should you.
The Sleuth’s surprising online success: it’s no mystery
Just reading through the March edition of The Merchant of Menace, the newsletter of Toronto mystery bookstore Sleuth of Baker Street. It includes an online success story of its own. The Sleuth started an online store a few months ago. According to the newsletter, the owners were surprised about the number of non-mysteries that people ordered through their online shop.
Being a Sleuth customer myself, I think there’s a simple reason. The Sleuth is a great specialized store with outstanding customer service, which includes staff with passion, real knowledge and insights about the authors and books they sell. Those qualities are hard to find in the age of mega bookstores and online-only retailers, and they deserve support. Buying non-mysteries through the Sleuth’s online store is easy and convenient, and an additional way for happy customers to support an independent book store.
The online shop is powered by Canadian software TBM BookManager, which – according to its website – helps more than 400 bookstores across Canada and internationally. The first version of the point-of-sale software came out in 1986, and twenty years later it has a database of more than four million titles and added functionality that lets independent book stores create their own online store.
It may not be the type of Internet business that gets Web 2.0 enthusiasts excited. But to me, this is what much of the power of the Internet is really about – making self-service easy and simple for the interests of individuals and niche markets.
There’s an interview with TBM BookManager founder and president Michael Neil in the March print edition of book trade magazine “Quill and Quire”. I’ll see if I can pick up a copy next time I am in The Sleuth.
Syndicate Canada 2006
Clicking through some pages on ITWorldCanada.com, I came across the website for Syndicate Canada conference, a new event around blogging, RSS, podcasting and other things related to content syndication. It is scheduled for June 14 to 15 in Toronto. This is the Canadian version of Syndicate conference in New York, which is scheduled for May 16/17 and has a number of the usual high profile bloggers plus a whole bunch more. Sounds like a great conference. No details about program and speakers for Canada yet.
With regard to conference program and speakers, it is going to be interesting to see how they will be able to differentiate Syndicate Canada from the Toronto Blogging/Web 2.0 Conference that Michael McDerment, Mark Evans, Mathew Ingram and Rob Hyndman are planning for May 8/9. But it is nice to see so much activity around blogging in Toronto all of a sudden.
Canada’s Top 300 Technology Companies according to Branham
The Branham Group announced their annual listing of the top 300 Canadian technology companies. Not a lot of suprises in 2006 but it provides a good overview of the Canadian market. Categories include:
• Top 25 Multinationals
• Top 20 Movers and Shakers
• Top 25 Up and Comers
• Top 25 Canadian Software Companies
• Top 25 Canadian IT Professional Services Companies
• Top 10 Canadian IT Security Companies
• Top 10 Canadian xSPCompanies
• Top 10 Canadian Wireless Solution Providers
• Top 25 ICT Hardware and Infrastructure Companies