Peter Evans was in attendance at the DemoCampToronto17 and understands the focus we’ve tried to take with event.
- Be inclusive
- Be interactive
- Celebrate the demo
- Focus on problems, not products
The efforts and transformation of the MaRS to be inclusive, to be interactive, to celebrate the work of the community, and to focus on problems not products. MaRS has embraced these concepts. They have programs like ExperienceTech!2008, Entrepreneurship101 and other events signifies that Ilse and crew are beginning to solve the problems of the community. By providing training, programming, and tools to bring people together rather than focusing on MaRS.
And all of this is inspite of the fact that Peter keeps milking me for free advice and panel participations ;-). I’m actually very excited and priviledged to be speaking as part of the Toronto program on a panel hosted by Stuart MacDonald of TripHarbour.com with Leila Boujnane of Idée and Jeff Fedor currently of AideRSS.
The highlight of the day for me is toss up between Tom Kelley from IDEO presenting “The Ten Faces of Innovation: Managing in a market of continuous change” from Boston and the Technology Showcase area designed to give entrepreneurs excellent exposure to a targeted audience. Tom Kelley and IDEO have served as inspiration for how to build a successful product design firm with the most innovative processes and products of almost any firm in the world. And the local Technology Showcase is a great way to meet local entrepreneurs. It is provided free of charge, and it reinforces my respect for the changes that MaRS has made over the past few years.
There are still tickets available if you want to attend. Registration basically covers the cost of providing meals for each attendee.
Experience!Tech 2008 brings you the plenary sessions and keynote via live broadcast from IDC’s annual Directions Conference in Boston combined with MaRS Master Classes in Toronto. Together, this event highlights the important technology advances, emerging business models and technology leaders who are shaping today's competitive markets. This exciting event will focus on the market trends and players who are disrupting customer behaviour and driving market demand in key sectors such as mobile, search, infrastructure, communications, social media and location-based services.
Experience!Tech 2008 features leading IDC technology analysts and innovation leaders that help you get a better view of what lies ahead. The event will also bring out some of the tech community's brightest and most successful players. Our MaRS Master Class sessions feature interactive, moderated discussions that speak to what matters most today in building successful tech ventures. The Experience Tech 2008 Company Showcase will also host an exhibit area featuring over a dozen promising companies chosen from some of the hottest tech sectors.
Experience!Tech 2008 is not just about technology. It's about the people that power successful companies. This event is specially designed to create a more focused and engaging dialogue between entrepreneurial talent, market analysts, investors and the industry leaders who know how to build successful tech companies.