Toronto

After poring through over 3,000 pictures, we’ve picked 11 of our current favourites! We had such a hard time picking these 11, since all the pictures were amazing – a BIG thank you to all of our volunteer photographers! Check out the photos below, and share any awesome ones you’ve seen with us in the…

Social Media Week Toronto draws an audience from all around Canada. We’re lucky enough to have Christine Beevis Trickett join us from Halifax this week and be a part of our week. We’ve gotten Christine to share some of her thoughts on digital culture in Halifax, as well as what she hoped to experience this…

A closing review of the session “Accelerating Small Business Growth In These Economic Times” from our Theme Sponsor for A Social Society, Bank of Montreal. Small business owners connected with social media professionals and other entrepreneurs to learn valuable lessons about taking on the social media landscape at BMO’s ‘Accelerating Small Business Growth In These…

Are you a small business owner wondering about how social might help your business? Our “Social Society” Theme Sponsor BMO shares some of their thoughts on the topic. Recognizing the opportunity to connect with Canadian entrepreneurs, and help their businesses grow, BMO is excited to host the ‘Accelerating Small Business Growth in Our Economic Times’…

The best part about participating in Social Media Week is the feeling that you are living up to the expectations you had as a child of how cool the future would be. We get to do the coolest things with tech small enough to fit in the palm of our hands. Photo by Kazi Hirok…

How are today’s major players in news, business and finance keeping up with the increasing pace of social media? Can enterprise-level collaboration through social media bring on change for the greater good? We seek those answers today with our theme Business and Information at Light speed. Adapting quickly and learning to effectively provide information through…

This year we’re hoping everyone at SMWTO will be our Valentine; we just have so much love to give! We would never refuse candy (Elizabeth), chocolate (Hayden) and/or flowers (Amanda Lynne) but we would much rather woo you with a full day of amazing programs taking a look at the Community Within. Photo by Rafiq…

Ever been out and thought to yourself, “Man, my playlist is sooo much better than this Hootie retrospective!” (Nothing against Hootie, of course!) Here’s your chance to rock out to YOUR music at the Closing Night Party and win a subscription to Rdio. We’re calling all music buffs (and bluffs) to create a ‘crowd-sourced’ playlist…

Today marks the launch of Social Media Week! Here at SMWTO, our theme for Monday is A Social Society. Together with our theme sponsor, BMO, we would like to welcome you to SMWTO! Here’s a message from BMO: Social Media Week is finally here, and we at BMO couldn’t be more excited! For those taking…

A message from Eli Singer, Producer of Social Media Week Toronto and Founder of Entrinsic Today we kick off SMWTO 2012, Canada’s largest free digital culture festival. This year marks a major shift from our first two years. We’ve more than doubled in size from 2011 – over 115 events, 150 staff and volunteers, almost…

A word from our content partner, Epilogger! Call it providence or divine intelligence but it seems Social Media Week and Epilogger were made for each other. Epilogger is proud to be official content sponsor for Social Media Week Toronto 2012. Social Media Week Toronto is the epitome of social media engagement by virtue of its…

A word from our Theme Sponsor – A Social Society, BMO. Check out their event Accelerating Small Business Growth in our Economic Times! As a proud sponsor of Social Media Week Toronto, we at BMO understand that digital culture is ever evolving, providing ample opportunity for participation. As major brands develop their presence online, individual…

A word from our sponsor – MediaMiser! People are talking about your organization, your brand, and the issues that are important to you – but you already knew that. Because your customers expect you to have a social presence, staying on top of these conversations is now a necessity. But just being on Twitter and…

A word from one of our Global Initiatives – Boomurang! There could have been no better opportunity for us at Mocial.MEdia to publicly launch our Boomurang communication app than with Social Media Week and Social Media Week Toronto. With this year’s theme, Empowering Change through Collaboration, we are happy to sponsor the week-long festival by…

We have an exciting list of events this year, but unfortunately you won’t be able to attend everything – there’s just too much! But what happens when the session you are absolutely dying to see is full? As per Social Media Week policy, we do not oversell tickets to our events. If you have registered…

Guest post by Desiree Gamotin Over the past few years, digital music services have been growing and spreading like wildfire, freaking out big record labels with their massive success rates and user following. But now, there’s a new generation of music streaming services that are using social media not only as the main tool in…

Who knew that a $150 toy sitting in your living room could one day become an important tool in surgeries? Image from Microsoft XBox press images That’s the story of Microsoft’s Kinect. The Kinect is a device that captures full body 3D motion, allowing users to control their Xbox by simply moving their bodies. In…

Guest post by Desiree Gamotin Digital media box, media extender, digital media adapter, media streamer, Internet TV adapters – whatever you want to call it, they all offer relatively the same service, allowing you to stream online videos and other digital media via Internet onto your television screen. A new generation of game changers are…

This year’s SMWTO events are filling up in record time, but don’t despair – there are still more exciting events coming your way! We just want to take a moment to make some formal introductions in to our 3rd round of event announcements. If you’re still looking to host an event, our absolute deadline is…

Financial institutions form the backbone of the economy. Digital communications from these institutions face very unique challenges, bridging a traditionally conservative industry and cutting-edge technology. SMWTO producer Eli Singer took some time with Bank of Montreal’s Pritesh Gandhi to discuss how social media is changing the game for financial institutions. Background Pritesh’s past accomplishments include…

Here at SMWTO we aim to decode industry jargon and find out what it means—to social media and to you. Think of it as a crash course, or just great preparation for the stimulating discussions you’ll have when you’re enjoying all that Social Media Week has to offer. Today we tackle SOPA! So what is…

As of NOW registration for our first round of Social Media Week Events is open! We are so excited for this year’s lineup, with over 70 city-wide events, (and more to come,) SMWTO lets you choose your own adventure and lets you explore Social Media in a way you’ve never been able to before. With…

Are you a recent grad / student looking for some hands on experience in the digital space? We’re looking to hire a Community Management Intern! Not only will you connect with some of Canada’s coolest brands, top marketing professionals, and be a part of a global movement – you get to work with us at Entrinsic,…

Guest post by Desiree Gamotin When the underdog NFL team Denver Broncos beat Superbowl regulars Pittsburgh Steelers in a thrilling overtime win to make it to the divisional playoff round this past Sunday, Twitter exploded. The next morning Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow became the top trend on Google following six Bronco-related topics and landed a…

If supporting a brand is supporting a lifestyle, then supporting a not-for profit is supporting a dream. The ability to focus on social media has many advantages for the not-for-profit sector especially allowing cash-conscious organizations free access to global powered marketing tools that before had never been available. Social Media for Social Good has become…

Written by Hayden Tay Location, location, location – that’s the latest buzzword that is on the tip of the tongue of the social media and marketing crowd. We hear so much about Location Based Marketing, but most of what we know is actually location based services. Do you know the difference between the two? Let’s…

In our feature with Social Media Week Global, we mentioned that Toronto has a great startup culture; there are many innovative thinkers in the city looking to change how we live and work digitally. To help us explore this side of Toronto, Entrinsic and Social Media Week invited David Crow to join our Advisory Board….

Guest post by Desiree Gamotin Life can be tough to manage sometimes. We all run on tight schedules while balancing time for family and companions, interests outside of work and vacations – it’s easy to forget the little things in your household, say, when your laundry’s done or that the basement might be flooded. But…

BuzzWords is a new feature from SMWTO where we aim to decode industry jargon and find out what it means—to social media and to you. Think of it as a crash course, or otherwise great preparation for the stimulating discussions you’ll have when you’re enjoying all that Social Media Week has to offer. BuzzWord: Gamification…

It’s amazing how quickly some technologies go from novel to essential, but social media-related technologies in particular seem to be moving at light speed. We can share and connect faster than ever but let’s be honest—sometimes these tools straddle the line between creepy and awesome. For today’s Super Cool Technology post, we looked at at…

Did you shop online this holiday season? If you didn’t, you might be in the minority. Online shopping is booming. ComScore released a report on online holiday spending in the United States recently, and the key findings of that report may surprise you: Over $24 billion USD has been spent online in the holiday season…

Dear SMWTO Friends, Thank you for being a huge support of us these last few months as we gear up towards the festival in 7 short weeks. Our office will be closed for the holidays, and will re-open January 2nd. We’ll still be posting to this blog, Twitter and Facebook throughout the holiday break, but…

For anyone recently entering the social space we have four key terms to give you as a guiding mark for the immediate future of social media: Location, Mobile, Innovation, Metrics. All have been heralded as shaping the ‘next big things’ for the digital world, they encompass four unique thought points and are helping drive social…

Guest post by Desiree Gamotin Are the days of manually plugging in the tangled Christmas lights of the fresh-smelling pine tree no more? With Christmas just around the corner, companies and retailers are coming up with more and more creative ways social media can be integrated into the holidays. From decorated Facebook platforms to Nordstrom’s…

We’re really excited to be sharing our next round of 21 programs! Check out some of these really cool events happening this festival. If you missed our first round of event announcements, you can find them here. We’re still looking for more event partners – let us know if you are interested in participating. The…

One of the things Toronto is quickly becoming known for is the diverse startup culture. Off the top of our heads, local hotties like Sprouter, MyCityLives, Sysomos showcase just a fraction of the amazing things coming out of Toronto. SMWTO Producer Eli Singer got a chance to pose a few questions to one of our…

On the subject of super cool technology that is changing the social scene, it’s hard not to notice how social media is changing the face of conferences and the conversations that surround these major events. With a simple hashtag, any audience member can become just as influential and command as much attention as the speaker…

Guest post by Desiree Gamotin Radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology is nothing new. Electronic tags have always proven effective in a variety of ways, from transportation and automatic toll systems to banking and security to the use of “chips” to track animals in large ranches. By using radio waves to transfer data from electronic tag to…

In the age of rampant content consumption and sharing, journalism is experiencing myriad changes. Social media has enabled ordinary citizens to break news stories and engage worldwide readers—territory once only occupied by broadsheet and broadcast journalists. To investigate how social media has impacted journalism, the Entrinsic and Social Media Week Toronto sought out Sean Stanleigh,…

According to a 2011 study done by Ipsos, 86% of Canadians aged 18 to 34 are active on social networks. Without a doubt, this demographic has a significant presence in and on social media and will be shaping the development of the technology landscape. As such, the Entrinsic team embarked on a search for an…

We’ve been featured on the Social Media Week Global blog! In case you missed it, here’s the post. As we lead up to Social Media Week February, we’ll be helping you get to know the organizations and people behind each of our host cities. We’ve touched base with Tokyo and Hamburg. Now this week, we’re…

With the face of the industry ever-changing, the SMWTO Advisory Board was picked by the Entrinsic team to represent as many aspects of social media culture as possible. One of the must-watch under 30’s in the Toronto community is Sheldon Levine, a community manager and analytics specialist. A master of the art of high content…

Social Media Week Toronto likes to feature the best and brightest the city has to offer, and since it’s no secret that Toronto is home to some of Canada’s top mobile industry thought leaders, product developers and supporters, that’s no easy task. This is why we want YOU at this year’s SMWTO. As an up-and-coming…

It’s no lie that we have an amazing advisory board. Spanning all industries, they represent some of Toronto’s best and brightest digital minds. In the coming weeks, we’ll be spotlighting each of the 14 members of our advisory board; today we proudly present Sue Edworthy. Background Sue has worked in the non-profit performing arts for…

Over the next while we are going to address some of the top FAQs – from event hosting to content creation, we know you have a lot of questions. Whether this is your first event or your fiftieth, you’re no doubt looking for a way to generate new audiences and some great buzz. Regardless of…

Guest blog post By Jeff Biggar Mention social media in a conversation and ears perk up. Yet there still remain more questions than answers as to what makes messages stick. Critics of social media are quick to point out that there is a sizable gap between awareness and understanding. As part of Social Media Week…

Hard to believe that it’s been a month since the awesome whirlwind that was Social Media Week ended! We did our best to share content as it came in, but just in case you missed it, here are some highlights: Hosts at the hot new shared space, the Foundery, blogged about the Red Cross event…

A little confession: it’s the middle of the day, and I’m still in my PJs. I suspect I’m not the only one having a lazy day after a packed week of learning, sharing and networking. According to Sysomos, we’ve had 10,857 #SMWTO tweets so far – an incredible response from the social media community. This…

Tonight Social Media Week participant @JoelReilly quipped: “#smwTO is the #TIFF for tech nerds” – and that’s an apt comparison in many ways. We’re three days into a stellar week of industry events, parties, and non-stop e-schmoozing. After a chilly walk home from @redcrosscanada‘s inspiring evening of case studies, I’m catching up on work, resting…

Has it really only been one day? I’m sifting through hundreds of insightful and hilarious tweets from events across the city, and astounded that we still have four days to go. I’m going to need a lot more coffee I started my day at JWT’s offices, where a big crowd was packed in to hear…