Stacey Diffin-Lafleur (@TheStacey) & Brendan Mullen (@Brendan_Mullen)

A part of its community for the past 76 years, United Way – Centraide Ottawa is the major non-governmental funder of local charities and social services. Even in today’s difficult economic environment, UW-C Ottawa raised a record $30 million in 2009 to invest back in its community to support important and needed social programs and services.

A cornerstone of UW-C Ottawa’s annual campaign success is a communications plan that generates awareness and excitement to help rally the community behind the campaign’s goals and encourage people to give whatever they can. With the general public’s adoption of mass social media, United Way Ottawa has begun to adapt how it communicates and engages its community.

Stacey and Brendan will share their journey – from the baby steps of using email marketing to demonstrating the power of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Learn how an organization that has traditionally done things ‘this’ way can experience success when it adds a little bit of ‘that’ to its communications mix. We’re hoping the UW-C Ottawa’s case can spark great discussion! We encourage you to bring along your stories, best practices and lessons learned to Breakfast 14!

The registration details:

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

7:30 AM to 9:00 AM

http://smbottawa14.eventbrite.com

But how are social media tools really being received and adopted among mainstream organizations and consumers in Canada today and how will that impact your company’s go-to-market strategy?

Krista Napier, Senior Analyst at IDC, will be featured at Ottawa, Canada’s 12th Social Media Breakfast taking place on Wednesday morning, October 14th, 2009. Krista will examine how Canadians are using social technologies with an emphasis on social media. Her presentation will deliver insight into what social media technologies are actually being adopted from a business and consumer perspective, how they are being adopted and the business implications.

I recently stopped by the Toronto, Canada offices of IDC Canada and recorded this brief video of Krista giving a preview of her research (apologies to Krista for the shaky & poorly exposed video!):

Interesting! In advance of the Breakfast, we invite you to join in the pre-Breakfast conversation on Twitter with @KristaNapier. As usual, our event tag is #smbottawa. Hope to see you on the 14th!

Housekeeping and SMB Ottawa 11 wrapup

Special thanks to Tara Hunt for speaking at our September breakfast. If you couldn’t make it, here’s a video of the start of Tara’s presentation:

We’ve actually broken up Tara’s 1-hour presentation into six video segments. Here are the links to parts 2-6:

• Part 2: Video of Tara Hunt at Social Media Breakfast Ottawa
• Part 3: Video of Tara Hunt at Social Media Breakfast Ottawa
• Part 4: Video of Tara Hunt at Social Media Breakfast Ottawa
• Part 5: Video of Tara Hunt at Social Media Breakfast Ottawa
• Part 6: Video of Tara Hunt at Social Media Breakfast Ottawa

Here are the slides from Tara’s presentation:

Following the breakfast, SMB founder Bryan Person sat down with Tara to discuss the highlights of her presentation. This video is also chunked into segments. Here’s part 1:

And here are the links to the rest of the interview:

• Part 2: Video Bryan Person’s interview with Tara Hunt
• Part 3: Video of Bryan Person’s interview with Tara Hunt

Many people tweeted and blogged the event. Check out this recap by Erin Bury.

Rob, Ryan and I are mindful of everyone’s time so we’re working with our guest speakers to make sure we’ve got plenty of time for Q & A and for your announcements!

• the author, Cory, is one of Boing Boing’s (blog) editors
• Cory is all about Creative Commons. Hence the book can be downloaded for free vs. the $12 I paid to Amazon ;(
• In the “Down and Out” universe, he creates the “whuffie”

What’s a “whuffie?”

Since it’s September, for Breakfast 11, we’re bringing in online community rockstar and author of The Whuffie Factor Tara missrogue Hunt to come school us on the subject of whuffie!

Tara is a recently repatriated Canadian which makes it a bit easier for her to visit our Nation’s Capital! Some of you may have followed her relocation this summer from San Francisco to Montreal via her Whuffaoke tour. We’re quietly hoping she’ll drive up in the Whuffaoke RV

What:  Social Media Breakfast Ottawa 11 featuring Tara Hunt

When:  Wednesday, September 16th, 2009 – 7:30 to 9:00 AM

Where:  Gowlings, 160 Elgin Street, 26th Floor, Ottawa, Canada

How:  Purchase your ticket at http://smbottawa11.eventbrite.com

Event Tag:  smbottawa

Can’t wait for the 16th for your Breakfast fix? Join us on Sixent, LinkedIn and Facebook.

A bit about him . . .

David is a software designer with a passion for community. At Microsoft, David helps companies understand the technology and design opportunities for creating compelling digital experiences. He focuses on helping companies to extend their customers’ reach with next generation technology for the desktop, digital devices, standards-based applications for the Web, and rich media applications.

David has been named Toronto’s Best Web and Tech Evangelist for his efforts in founding DemoCamp, BarCamp Toronto and Founder & Funders. David has worked to facilitate a vibrant community and ecosystem in Toronto. David continuously helps his clients understand that the power of community is beyond just being an audience: community is the framework.

Want to meet and learn from David Crow? Sign up today at http://smbottawa10.eventbrite.com or by clicking the button below!

Fall 2009 – Save-the-Dates!

We’ve also been busy programming for the Fall. A couple of Save-the-Dates for you to consider:

Wednesday, September 16th – Breakfast 11 with Miss. Rogue – Tara Hunt

Wednesday, October 14th – Breakfast 12 with Krista Napier, IDC

Rob, Ryan and I will tweet more details as we get closer to the dates. And, you can join us on Sixent, LinkedIn and Facebook.

We hope to see many of you on July 15th! Remember to help spread the word and tag your content with smbottawa

Citizen superheroes live their lives openly, work collaboratively and embrace their communities. These principles extend into everything they do and are exemplified by our speaker.

As described in his bio, Mark’s work and life are driven by a social mission:

to reinvigorate community resilience and adaptation in response to accelerating global change

He does this in his professional life as a consultant on:

• participation through social web technology
• engaging creative communities in co-creative solution building through face-to-face events
• community management practices and methods
• community engagement strategies
• design-thinking approaches to complex problem spaces

And Mark applies this as a citizen in his community of Toronto by organizing events like TransitCamp, an open-source ’solutions playground’ that looked to the future of the city’s transit system and its website.

Recently, Mark helped to organize the ChangeCamp, an event which asks its participants:

How do we re-imagine government and citizenship in the age of participation?

The inaugural Toronto event was a success! Its unconference model is being looked at as a tool for citizen participation by communities and governments everywhere including Ottawa! You too can get engaged at an Ottawa ChangeCamp on May 16th.

Want to meet and learn from Mark Kuznicki? Below are the event details. Hope to see you next week!

What:  Social Media Breakfast Ottawa 9 with Mark Kuznicki

When:  Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 – 7:30 to 9:00 AM

Where:  Gowlings, 160 Elgin Street, 26th Floor, Ottawa, Canada

How:  Purchase your ticket at http://smbottawa9.eventbrite.com

Event Tag:  smbottawa

Can’t wait for the 6th for your Breakfast fix? Join us on Sixent, LinkedIn and Facebook.

What:  Social Media Breakfast Ottawa 8

When:  Wednesday, April 15, 2009 – 7:30 to 9:00 AM

Where: Gowlings, 160 Elgin Street, 26th Floor, Ottawa,  Canada

How: Purchase your ticket at http://smbottawa8.eventbrite.com

Next week, our guest speaker is Chris Greenfield, product strategist and Founder & CEO of clever communications.

Who is Chris (the short form)?

Chris is a true innovator, a creative force with extensive experience in understanding the new consumer and digital landscape using research strategies developed over a career in communications and ideation. Having headed up two of Canada’s leading interactive agencies – Fuel Industries and TribalDDB – Chris has led the development of online and integrated media campaigns across a number of sectors helping leading companies gain insight on the new consumer and helping to build brands and social messaging through social media channels.

What’s Chris going to talk about?

Well, the title of his talk might give it away: Social Media Hype: Getting past the BS and making it really work.

‘Nuff said! No? Here’s is a bit more of an explanation . . .

Chris is going to lead a discussion about how social media is being co-opted by ‘experts’ (ranging from blogging consultants to big agencies) trying to cash in. 

When ROI means everything, businesses need to focus their social media efforts on their core business goals, with a realistic look at the resources and commitment required to execute well a social media campaign.

We look forward to seeing you all next week!

Special thank you to our partial event sponsor, Custom Scoop, publisher of Media Bulls Eye Magazine. Thanks to their generosity and the generosity of Rick Korn from Rick’s Pond View we are able to offer this breakfast at a low cost to you.

What’s Custom Scoop?

CustomScoop, a leader in Media Intelligence,
delivers customizable media monitoring technology and analysis to its
customers in Public Relations, Sales, Marketing, Investor Relations and
Competitive Intelligence.

CustomScoop’s solutions utilize proprietary software, an extensive
database of sources and a team of search experts to deliver information
quickly, accurately and with detailed reporting. Products range from an
efficient online news clipping service to an enterprise-level blog
monitoring and analysis solution.

CustomScoop is headquartered in Concord, NH.

Location: Rick’s Pond View, 92 Route 125, Kingston, NH 03848 (right in the middle of several major highways and roads: Hwy 101, I 495, Route 125, Route 111, Route 107, Route 108 and more. Follow Rick’s Pond View on Twitter, or Rick’s A Cafe and Grille, also on Twitter, and check out both on FaceBook (group/fan page).

Social Media Breakfast History

Over the last few weeks I’ve been quietly planning and plotting a new branch of the nationwide Social Media Breakfast in NH. It isn’t that we don’t love Boston, because we do, but our neighbor to the north is rich in technology and social media, and often overlooked when events are planned. I saw a need for networking opportunities that were easier to get to for the northern tech and social media crowd, and decided to step up and fill it. Because NH itself is a diverse and scattered state, the Social Media Breakfast there will be just a little bit different than the one in Cambridge/Boston.

What is a Social Media Breakfast?

From the official description: The Social Media Breakfast was founded by Bryan Person in August 2007 as an event where social media experts and newbies alike come together to eat, meet, share, and learn. Marketers, PR pros, entrepreneurs, bloggers, podcasters, new-media fanatics, and online social networkers are all welcome to attend.

The breakfast series began in Boston and has now spread to more than a dozen cities throughout the United States and around the world.

How will the Social Media Breakfast in NH be different?

The main difference between Social Media Breakfast NH and other SMBs will be all-inclusiveness. I do not want only social media people and companies to attend, I also want technology types, programmers, coders, tech writers, tech companies and more to attend. As a state that is rich in technology but scattered in distance, I think the best networking and connection making effect will be achieved by combined our different cultures. You never know, as a social media type you might just meet the coder you’ve been looking for to create your dream project if we all come together to connect and to learn from each other!

Theme for the second Social Media Breakfast: Government 2.0 (how utilities, organizations for the environment, and more work with and from municipalities and other entities using social media to achieve goals)

The second Social Media Breakfast NH (hashtag #smbnh) will be all about topics related to Government 2.0. In this struggling economy and shifting paradigm we need to be working together to be more successful and better weather the storm. We should be pulling in all aspects of technology, new media, old media and social media to succeed. This meeting will help us lay the foundation for a richer, better education, tech and new media community in NH.

In addition to myself, who will be your host and MC for the morning, you will have three speakers giving three brief presentations on topics relating to the theme for the morning.

‘Electric Tweets‘ – Why @psnh followers increased 1,700% in one week Public Service of New Hampshire’s Martin Murray will discuss the electric utility’s use of Twitter and other social media.

Boston Police Department is sending John Daley to discuss their web outreach efforts via Twitter and other media.

Now or Never Media’s Bill Rogers and his partners in clean air initiatives will discuss how they use social media to get the word out and reach out to municipalities for change.

TO SPONSOR THIS OR A FUTURE SMBNH CONTACT LESLIE POSTON via Twitter, Email or Phone or purchase a sponsor ticket above.

Let’s make the new SMBNH crackle with energy and success! See you there!

Our fledgling efforts in the Toledo-area center on defining trends and best practices, and highlighting new apps and experts, as we all try to stay abreast of the rapidly evolving idea of social media.

Internet Marketing speaker and author Michael Temple will provide opening comments and panel moderation. Our Toledo panel will include Damian Rintelmann, Director of Interactive Business Development at Hart Associates; Dave Rigotti, online marketer; Allen Mireles, social media marketing/PR strategist; and Victoria Kamm, teacher and entrepreneur.

Social media practitioners and others interested in communication come together to eat, meet, share, and learn. Marketers, public relations professionals, entrepreneurs, bloggers, podcasters, videographers, new media fanatics, and online social networkers are all welcome to attend.

Come share with our new community of social media users by registering for the event today.

Can’t be there? We will broadcast live on Ustream and Twittercast at #smbtol on Friday.

Even before I can blog a recap post about our awesome Breakfast 6 with Stuart MacDonald, my co-organizers, Rob and Ryan, have reminded me that we need to announce our next Breakfast!

What:  Social Media Breakfast Ottawa 7

When:  Wednesday, March 11, 2009 – 7:30 to 9:00 AM

Where:  Gowlings, 160 Elgin Street, 26th Floor, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

How:  Purchase your ticket at smbottawa7.eventbrite.com

This month, our guest speaker is Brady Gilchrist.

The CV . . .

In the early 1990s, Brady founded Marshall Fenn Intermagic, one of Canada’s first online agencies. There, Brady helped many major brands discover the possibilities of the Web. Brady has developed and implemented online strategies for clients including Motorola, Shell, Toyota Dealers, Covad, Cincinnati Bell, Ford, Acura, Microsoft, McDonald’s (Global). He built the online practice at GJP Advertising as Senior Vice President of Digital and most recently was the EVP and CSO of Ottawa-based Fuel Industries. Brady is currently providing strategic services under the BlueScience brand and leading the startup of Admodo. In the past two years, most of Brady’s efforts have been focused outside of Canada.

Interesting Bits . . .

Brady began his career as a pilot with a love of science and an appetite for knowledge about technology. His first venture into the realm of communications technology was the creation of software that would allow pilots to receive wireless email in-flight. When the Internet began to emerge as a new medium, Brady made the jump from the skies and into the world of advertising to harness the limitless potential that it possessed. Brady’s love of exploration is not just limited to the world of marketing. In 2000, he wired up a sailboat to the Internet and started one of the first blogs about living life entirely on the grid. Later that year, he became a crew member aboard the Microsoft, Sony and Stern-sponsored Starship Millennium Project – a ship making a record of the planet at the turn of the new Millennium.

What’s he going to talk about?

Brady will be talking about the fundamental changes in media, how we relate to advertising, and what that means for businesses.

We hope to see you out on the 11th!

Patience and hard work have also been what we needed while programming for this new year of Ottawa Social Media Breakfasts. We’ve had some fits and starts with concerns due to a season of cold weather and transit strike related woes. But, we’re back and happy to announce our next Breakfast event! Here are the details:

What:  Social Media Breakfast Ottawa 6

When:  Friday, February 20th, 2009 – 7:30 AM to 9:00 AM

Where:  Gowlings, 160 Elgin Street, 26th Floor, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

How:  Purchase your ticket at http://smbottawa6.eventbrite.com

And who is our February Breakfast guest speaker? It’s Stuart MacDonald, CEO and Founder of Tripharbour. Tripharbour is an online cruise vacation e-commerce and community site. It operates at tripharbour.ca for we Canucks and at tripharbor.com for our American neighbors. A self-described e-business and marketing geek, Stuart will talk about launching Tripharbour in a Social Web world. Of course, he’ll bring along his knowledge and experiences having founded Expedia.ca in Canada, acted as the Chief Marketing Officer of Expedia.com and is one of the originators of mesh, Canada’s leading web conference.

We work with a sponsor like Gowlings to cover food and location costs.  And we’ve relied on the goodwill of out-of-town visitors like Bryan Person of Liveworld and Jen Evans of Sequentia Environics to piggy back Breakfasts while they are visiting our city.  By doing this, we’ve been able to keep our Social Media Breakfasts at no cost since last summer. However, there are more expenses involved in continuing to bring in an out-of-town speaker and we need to charge a small admission fee to make sure we can sustain the Breakfast series.  That said, if you are a student, or simply can’t afford the $10, let us know and we’ll make arrangements.  The last thing we want is for people to be left out of the conversation for monetary reasons.

We hope to see you in a few weeks!