February 16th, 2010 by Mark | 7 Comments

It’s hard to believe that we’ll be celebrating the fifth edition of mesh in May. It seems like a long time ago when the five of us met at the Paddock in downtown Toronto on a cold February night to talk about what was happening online in Canada. Five years later, we’re excited that mesh has become such a popular event, and that Canada’s Web scene is vibrant and active.

Today, mesh ‘10 (which takes place on May 18/19) officially goes on sale. You can register here. The mesh gang has been meeting for months to talk about potential speakers and programming, and we’ll start to unveil more information in the coming weeks. In the meantime, we’re excited to announce two of our four keynotes.

Our media keynote is Chris Thorpe, the Developer Advocate for the Open Platform at The Guardian. His background as a research scientist and his early involvement in Open Access publishing makes him fascinated and passionate about what happens when data, content, platforms, identity and pretty much anything opens up.

Chris spends his time at The Guardian working on how to integrate its content, data and APIs with other people’s technology and businesses as part of the drive towards building the distribution and engagement channels of a mutualized newspaper.

Our society keynote is Joseph Menn, who just published his third book, “Fatal System Error: The Hunt for the New Crime Lords Who are Bringing Down the Internet”, a part true-life thriller and part expose that has become a bestseller.

A speaker at major security conferences, Menn will talk about the growing threat of cyber-criminals, and the involvement of organized gangs.

We’re looking forward to seeing everyone in a few months. In the meantime, we’re having a mesh meet-up on Feb. 25 at The Pilot Tavern to get everyone together, as well as celebrate mesh co-founder Mathew Ingram’s new gig as a senior writer for GigaOm.

It’s a free event but we ask that you register so we can get a handle on the number of attendees.

Tags: chris thorpe, joseph menn, mesh, mesh10, Toronto

Posted in mesh news, mesh10 | 7 Comments

November 2nd, 2009 by Rob | No Comments

At mesh09 Toronto Mayor David Miller announced the City’s open data project and spent some time talking with us about his vision for the project. The site has just launched.

Posted in mesh news, mesh09 | No Comments

August 6th, 2009 by Mark | No Comments

Since we launched mesh in 2006, the Web has clearly had a major and, in many cases, disruptive affect on many businesses.

Perhaps one of the most impacted are the advertising and marketing worlds as the Web has become an increasingly relevant, valuable and convenient way for consumers to not only get information about products and services but engage in conversations between themselves and the companies selling these products and services.

The Web has changed the marketing/advertising dynamic and the relationship between companies and consumers. And it will continue to do so as more advertising dollars flow online, and more tools and services are introduced to drive deeper, different and more engaged conversations with consumers.

Given all these changes and the enthusiasm about the marketing stream at mesh, we realized there was a strong appetite to provide more perspective, insight and practical advice for marketers and advertisers.

So, we decided to create meshmarketing, a one-day event on Oct. 22 at Circa in downtown Toronto focused on insights, tools and tactics to help marketing and advertisers win customers’ hearts and minds, online.

We are excited to announce that artist, blogger, writer and marketer Hugh MacLeod will be our keynote speaker. Best known for his cartoons, Hugh has also captured a lot of attention for his ideas about how the Web is impacting advertising and marketing. Stay tuned for more information about special events that will showcase Hugh’s art.

You can get more information about panelists and workshop presenters on here. We’ll be announcing additional speakers within the coming weeks. The schedule page can be found here.

Ticket for meshmarketing are now on on sale.

Posted in mesh news, meshmarketing | No Comments

May 27th, 2009 by Rob | 9 Comments

Last week, the Conference Board of Canada published a report titled “Intellectual Property Rights in the Digital Economy”. A few days later, Dr. Michael Geist, a University of Ottawa professor and the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law, and a past mesh keynote, blogged about the report, asserting that it plagiarized the International Intellectual Property Alliance, the primary movie, music and software lobby in the U.S.. Dr. Geist also challenged the conclusions of the report and two other reports on intellectual property released by the Conference Board at the same time (see follow-up posts here).

The Conference Board rejected Dr. Geist’s characterization of the Digital Economy report, and says it stands by it.

At mesh we’re deeply interested in the role of intellectual property laws in the development of the Web and the role it plays in our society. Several keynotes and panels in past meshes have studied these and related issues, and we’re committed to supporting a healthy and vigorous public discussion about the proper role of intellectual property laws in Canadian society. We think this situation presents a great opportunity for furthering that discussion by studying the two core propositions of the Digital Economy report:

1. Canada’s copyright laws are lax, making it a haven of unauthorized file sharing

2. Strengthening copyright law is necessary for the development of a vigorous digital economy

To encourage a healthy, spirited and constructive dialogue, mesh is offering to host a debate on this issue. We’re asking the Conference Board to send two of the report’s authors to join in that debate – one to take the affirmative side of each of those two propositions. Representing the “No” side of these propositions will be Dr. Geist, and Mike Masnick, the founder of Floor64 and the Techdirt blog. Both are long-standing friends of mesh and well respected for their valuable contributions to public discussion of these issues.

This debate will be held in Ottawa, at a time and place to be determined after consultation with the participants. We’ll be announcing further details of the debate as we have them. If you’d like to be notified as news is released, please subscribe to the mesh blog, or give us your email address and we’ll contact you.

We think these are profoundly important issues, and hope you will help us get the word out by forwarding this link to anyone you know who might be interested. Please stay tuned for more news, and join us if you can!

Posted in mesh news | 9 Comments

May 13th, 2009 by Mark | 8 Comments

We are pleased to announce a new event we’re calling meshmarketing on October 22 in Toronto.

meshmarketing is a one-day event focused on insights, tools and tactics to help you win customers’ hearts and minds online — through a combination of great keynotes, “show and tell” presentations and in-depth workshops.

General admission is C$489 + GST. Get your ticket here.

At meshmarketing, you will interact with digital marketing thought leaders, connect with peers and prospects, and get a better understanding of the impact that new developments online will have on your strategy and your job. Together, we’ll discuss best practices and the successful use of social media, online marketing, mobile marketing, search, video and word-of-mouth.

meshmarketing brings together people who are passionate about the potential of the Web to change how we live, work and play. This day is not just about presentations from the stage. Like our other events, meshmarketing will be a highly interactive experience where we will continue the dialogue and explore the next generation of ideas, leaders and companies.

Who should attend? Marketers, digital agencies, PR practitioners, communication professionals and anyone passionate about marketing and the web.

You’re spending more and more of your budget building your business using the Web. But are you making the right calls? Is display the way to go? What about search? Social media? Community? Video?

You know that word-of-mouth is one of the most powerful tools you and your company can use to spread the word about your product(s) or service(s), and the Web is like word-of-mouth on steroids. What’s working and why?

Within minutes, fans can spread the news of a new service or feature across thousands of blogs, Facebook groups, Twitter updates and Web forums. What people think about your brand or company is influenced in a split-second. Unfortunately for some companies, that same power can spread bad news just as widely and just as quickly.

Come to meshmarketing to sort through the noise so that you can benefit from the former and handle the latter.

meshmarketing is where you get ahead.

If you’re interested in participating in this event as a sponsor, please contact sponsors@meshconference.com.

Tags: marketing, mesh, meshmarketing

Posted in mesh news | 8 Comments

May 12th, 2009 by Mark | 1 Comment

The Greater Toronto Area (aka GTA) is filled with talented people innovating in the
fields of online commerce and digital content. Combine that talent pool with the strong current of enterprise that distinguishes the city and the result is a burgeoning digital-commerce cluster.

The mesh/ITAC Digital Commerce Forum is designed to provide a gathering place for this community of innovators and entrepreneurs, something that we believe passionately in at mesh.

The success of the mesh conference and meshUniversity indicates there is a strong appetite for networking, inspiration and business and professional development in the Web-centric business community.

The mesh/ITAC Digital Business Forum is designed to extend these opportunities throughout the year. The Forum will meet regularly in the Toronto area (with occasional forays into other locales) to share best practices and to keep up to date with emerging ideas and technologies.

Future events include the following:

The Stratford Institute: Digital Cultural Innovation on a $10 Million Scale
Date: May 14, 2009 – 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Location: The Spoke Club, 600 King Street West, 4th Floor, Toronto

In May 2008, the University of Waterloo, the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation and Open Text Corporation, along with a number of other stakeholders, announced the creation of the Stratford Institute. The institute will be a major research and commercialization force in at the global forefront in digital media technology, bringing together leading researchers, businesses and entrepreneurs to create, examine and
commercialize opportunities in digital media and create jobs of the future.

Open Text has been a driving force behind this initiative and believes there is an enormous opportunity for Ontario to play a leading role in the development of business, government and cultural applications of digital media. No one is more excited about the innovative potential of this new venture than Open Text Chief Information Officer Eugene Roman.

Eugene will present an overview of the Stratford Institute, how the institute was conceived, and how it will function and engage students, innovators, corporate participants, government, and what its role will be in the community. His presentation will detail how the Stratford Institute can serve as a resource for digital technology companies of all sizes
throughout Ontario.

Please go to http://www.itac.ca/digitalbusiness for more information about this free
event.

Tags: ITAC, mesh, Open Text, Stratford Institute, waterloo

Posted in mesh news | 1 Comment

May 12th, 2009 by Mark | No Comments

SpinTO is a fundraising project that kicks off with a party on May 15 celebrating the Friends for Life Bike Rally from Toronto to Montreal in support of the Toronto People with AIDS Foundation.

Last Thursday evening, our friend and Microsoft developer evangelist, David Crow personally donated $500 to the Toronto People With AIDS Foundation through our SpinTO project. With that donation, he issued a challenge via Twitter.

We saw that challenge, and wanted to offer our support to spinTO and David’s effort. Soon, Idée Inc. CEO and long-time HIV/AIDS advocate Leila Boujnane, David Suydam of Architech Solutions and Jaimie MacPherson of Mischief Media joined in on the effort.

All told, within a few hours in one evening we raised over $3,000 to help men, women and children living with HIV/AIDS through the work of the Toronto People With AIDS Foundation.

The challenge still stands, but we also encourage you to join the community at an event that will make a difference for others. On May 15, join us at the spinTO at Mod Club. It is sure to be a great night for a great cause.

Learn more here.

Tags: AIDS, David Crow, Friends for Life Bike Rally, HIV, mesh

Posted in mesh news | No Comments

April 10th, 2009 by Rob | 2 Comments

If you’ve been hoping to see video of this year’s mesh, you can see them on meshTV, where Mark McKay and our team from MaRS and mDialog have been busily preparing them and getting them online. Details are here. You can also see HD versions on the mesh09 channel in iTunes (which is now in the no. 2 spot in the technology category & # 33 overall in Canada iTunes).

Posted in mesh news | 2 Comments

April 6th, 2009 by Mathew | No Comments

We had a huge amount of interest in our call to vote on what charity should get the proceeds from our mesh ‘09 after-party. There was a heated competition between supporters of a number of excellent charitable groups, including the Daily Bread Food Bank, Habitat for Humanity, WarChild, Love of Reading and Little Geeks (which was the charity we chose last year). After an extended voting round, we came up with a winner — and the charity of choice is WarChild. Congratulations to them, and to all of the very worthy groups who participated this year. The following is a statement from James Topham of WarChild, and there’s a tip-jar for donations directly below:

War Child Canada is 10 years old this year. But this is no reason for
celebration.

For a child in sub-Saharan Africa to make it to 10 years old is a major achievement. 1 in 6 die before they’re half that age. And in the 10 years that we’ve been open, over 30 wars have been raging, while man’s brutality towards children has, if anything, intensified. From rape as a weapon of war ­ against girls well under 10 years old -to the almost commonplace use of children as front-line ’soldiers,’ to the targeting of children and their communities as a matter of course, the threats to children’s lives and well-being only increase as we develop more lethal and immoral ways of waging war.

War Child Canada works in some of the most violent and terrifying places for a child to grow up. In countries such as the Congo, northern Uganda, Afghanistan and the Darfur region of Sudan, we work with local people to restore a sense of security to children’s lives. Our efforts are focused on three building blocks: rights protection, education and poverty reduction, all of which are fundamental to this next generation’s ability to lead their communities out of darkness and towards a more peaceful and hopeful future.

Vital to our continued success is a network of like-minded people across North America, whose generosity with their time, talents and donations allow our work to continue and grow.

That is why we are so delighted to be associated with Mesh ‘09, a conference
celebrating the power of interconnectivity. You can join our network at
warchildheroes.net or by following us on Twitter. And you can donate through the chip-in jar or at warchild.ca/Mesh09.

Posted in mesh news | No Comments

April 5th, 2009 by Mark | 2 Comments

We’re disappointed to let you know Jason Calacanis will not be able to do his keynote at mesh ‘09 due to a last-minute business commitment.

We know many people were looking forward to hearing Jason provide his insight about Mahalo, the venture capital landscape, and what’s happening within Silicon Valley. Jason was looking forward to visiting Toronto to speak at mesh, and spending some time when Mahalo developers located here.

The schedule for the morning of April 8 will now start with Mike McDerment having a fireside chat with venture fund advisor and well-known tech blogger Paul Kedrosky and venture capitalist Howard Lindzon about what’s next on the high-tech horizon.

This keynote will be followed by Stuart MacDonald talking with Bonin Bough, the Global Director of Digital and Social Media with PepsiCo, who oversees digital strategy and the implementation of social media tools and techniques across the company.

And the morning will be capped off by a keynote with Toronto Mayor David Miller.

We’re excited about seeing everyone on Tuesday!

Tags: jason calacanis, mesh

Posted in mesh news | 2 Comments