The Art Of Marketing Is Back In Toronto & I Have A Discount Code & Details!

Speaker Lineup for The Art of Marketing Toronto 2013: (From Left) David Usher, Biz Stone, Charles Duhigg, Seth Godin, and Jonah Berger

The Art of Marketing is making its return to Toronto on June 5 this year to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and it has a great speaker lineup which frankly, I am excited for. They gave me a promo code for my readers to save some money on a ticket which you can find below. All facts on the table, they hooked me up with a ticket too cuz they’re nice like that (and, let’s be honest, because I am writing this).

These events do sell out and there’s only room in the conference for 1,500-2,000 people (that’s a rough estimate, I cannot back that number up). So you’re going to want to grab your ticket sooner rather than later. (You can do that here.)

If you’ve never been to a “The Art of” event, I highly recommend attending this one because of the speaker lineup.  As well, the networking opportunities with people in the industry are astounding. Here is where I am going to tell you something that they probably don’t want me to…actually no conference organizer wants me to tell you this but it’s my own experience at conferences:

Second Annual W.A.T.C.H. Community Chairman’s Fundraiser Is On April 12th – #WATCHCharity

The second W.A.T.C.H. Chairman’s Annual Fundraiser is being held on Thursday, April 12th from 8pm to 12am in the Loft at the Andrew Richard Designs studio (571A Adelaide Street East, Toronto) as they are being sponsored by the good folks at Andrew Richard Design Events (aka ARD Events). You can find ARD Events on Twitter at, predictably, @ARDevents as well as on Facebook again predictably at Facebook.com/ARDevents.

The official hashtag for the event tomorrow is #WATCHCharity.

I got invited to attend this night of music, art, and inspiration showcasing local talent from around the city and you can come too! Tickets are available for purchase online at http://www.watchcommunity.org/38 for $60 (also available at the door) which gets you admission, open bar, yummy treats, live music, local art and a silent auction (which will be taking place from 8pm – 10:30pm). I tried to find out some more details about what would be on auction in the silent auction but alas I was unable to get any details.

So what is W.A.T.C.H.? W.A.T.C.H. is an acronym which stands for: Words. Actions. Thoughts. Character. Heart. They are a group established in 1997 as a community service organization for young people in Toronto’s most underprivileged neighborhoods. The original group was made up of students attending the University of Toronto who wanted to spend time with inner-city children in Regent Park. Since then, this core group has gone on to become successful professionals, including: lawyers, engineers, police officers, physicians, professors and corporate executives, among others. Volunteers interact with these young people in a one-to-one basis for activities like sports, music, the arts, and even some tutoring so the young people can create a brighter future for themselves. Since its founding in 1997 word has increasingly spread of the work being done by W.A.T.C.H. and their volunteers and so did the number of volunteers and supporters.

Sounds like a great cause doesn’t it?

You can find them on Twitter with the handle @WATCHfoundation or at their website  www.watchcommunity.org.

Buy tickets through the PayPal link on this page – http://www.watchcommunity.org/38. Remember, there’s an open bar and it is all for charity…what can be better than that?

I’ve also added the event to a new service called Epilogger which helps unite everyone’s social memories by pulling in all blog posts, tweets, check-ins, photos, and more and putting it all on one page. Check it out here:  http://epilogger.com/events/watch-chairmans-fundraiser-2012#_

Tonight In Toronto: @NotableCA Brings You The Launch Of @CubeNightclub #NotableCubeLaunch

Tonight I will be heading out to an event by invitation from my friends over at Notable.ca. The event is, as the poster above implies, a launch party for a new venue in downtown Toronto called CUBE Nightclub (Web / Facebook / Twitter). CUBE is in the spot that was occupied by Ultra Supper Club for the past nine years at 314 Queen Street West, Toronto a couple hundred meters east of Spadina.

CUBE is a complete overhaul of the space –  which is still owned and operated by INK Entertainment – and is a complete departure from Ultra in that they are no longer going to be serving full meals and are instead going to have a shorter more “clubby” menu.

Of course everything I am writing here is all from what I have read and seen in a few pictures so I would recommend either grabbing one of the few tickets left of the 200 that were available at notablecubelaunch.eventbrite.com or following the hashtag #NotableCubeLaunch on Twitter.

When Should An Event Get/Announce Its Hashtag?

As someone who has been to a number of events (as I’ve oft chronicled here with my “Event” tag) especially ones that are promoted on, geared towards, and inclusive of Social Media and the people on Social Media sites – specifically Twitter – I have noticed that leading up to or even at many events no one seems to know what the hashtag for the event is!

My thoughts about this really coalesced  into me writing what you’re reading now when I read this blog post by my friends over at Notable.ca: called Tweeting Your Way Through Events. Notable.ca and the article is targeted towards Young Professionals but, in my opinion, what’s mentioned in the article holds true for almost any demographic. They say that we find Twitter so useful because although “we make our own notes as writers at events and leave armed with media kits…being able to go back and have a digital diary of things we may have missed – plus the access to comments of others at the event – is always appreciated.”

NOTE: This post assumes you know what a “hashtag” on Twitter is and their purpose. If you don’t know, I suggest reading this article in the Twitter Help Center: “What Are Hashtags (“#” Symbols)?” before continuing.

I couldn’t agree more with the above assertion, it is EXTREMELY useful to be able to look up the hashtag before, during, and after an event to see what the buzz is about it, what’s going on at the event (if it’s big enough of an event there’s no way to be everywhere at once), and what happened at the event after the fact. The article goes on to say:

In this day and age, most organizers will create a designated Twitter hashtag and announce the hashtag ample times to promote the event and connect with their key audiences. It is important to let people know well in advance so they can follow along if they’re interested and engage using the same hashtag.

Unfortunately, in the article the Notable team never makes mention of what they define the terms “ample time” and “well in advance” to be in this situation so I thought I would offer my take on it.

#HatTrickWineLaunch & Contest For My Readers

Tonight I have been invited by the fine folks over at Diamond Estates Wines (on Facebook and on Twitter @DiamondEstates) are launching a new kind of wine along with the NHL Alumni called Hat Trick.

From what they have said in the press release they sent me they tell me that the wine is the result of Diamond Estates bringing together three distinctly Canadian elements for the launch of “Hat Trick’ Wine. Toronto, Hockey, and fine Niagara wines come together to create the perfect hat trick of distinctly Canadian elements to host the launch of Diamond Estates newest vintages “Hat Trick White’ and ‘Hat Trick Red’.

Diamond Estates Wines & Spirits Ltd, one of Ontario’s leading winemaking facilities, has partnered with the NHL Alumni Association to come up with the new hockey-inspired VQA wines. Each three-varietal wine blend has been specifically crafted in collaboration between former NHL stars and the winemakers. $0.50 from each bottle sold goes to the NHL Alumni Association to support various charitable causes and promote the game of hockey. Charity is always good in my books which is why I am all the happier to be supporting this event and this wine.  The event will be talked about on the Twitters using the hashtag #HatTrickWineLaunch.

Also, something which sounds just awesome, NHL Alumni Members will be in attendance to comment on the development process of Hat Trick. Attending members include: Johnny Bower, Rod Gilbert, Mark Napier, Lou Franceschetti, Troy Crowder, Dennis Maruk, Ryan Vandenbussche, Jason Zent, Dave McLlwain and more!

CONTEST!

But, I have also decided that it isn’t enough to just tell you guys about an event I am going to because what the heck is the point of me telling y’all about an event you can’t or didn’t attend? This is why I contacted the folks over at Hat Trick Wines and they have graciously agreed to hook up one of my lucky readers with a prize pack! I can’t say what is in the prize pack because, I honestly don’t know right now but I have been told it’ll be damn good!

CONTEST RULES

So here’s the deal: All you got to do is comment on this blog post below about your favorite NHL experience.

You can only comment once and have it count BUT you can get an extra entry per day if you tweet something like this:

I want to win a  Hat Trick Wine prize pack in honor of  #HatTrickWineLaunch from @DiamondEstates & @TheDanLevy http://wp.me/pVpvJ-1eO

The tweet has to have my Twitter handle, Diamond Estates’, a link to this post & the hashtag to be a valid entry.

Contest is open to GTA residents and is will be open for entry until Saturday afternoon at 5 P.M. Toronto time (as evidenced by my blog’s comment system – if it says you posted before then and you followed the rules you’re good to go!).

UPDATE: WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT!

Thank you to all who entered and I wish I could give you all prizes […except the Habs & Sens fans 😉 I kid, I kid!]. I hope to do more such contests in the future and hopefully I will be able to include a further reach than just the GTA.

How I chose: I went through all the tweets that had been tweeted since the contest opened and wrote down the names of the tweeters going back from oldest to newest and assigned them a number starting with (duh) 1. I then went to the comments on this post that fulfilled the requested info – even if it was a Habs or Sens memory – and wrote down those names while continuing the count from the Twitter list. I again started with the oldest and went to the newest. I then went to http://www.random.org/ and used their “True Random Number Generator.” The random number it spat out was matched to the above mentioned list and I had my name.

The winner is….@annecayer with this tweet.

I will be contacting you shortly to get details so I can send it on to the people at Diamond Estates/Hat Trick Wine.

#JoeyEaton Was Nomtastic

Last night I went out to a small tweetup organized by the one and only @ClickFlickCa aka Joallore at Joey Toronto’s Eaton Centre location. I arrived quite late not realizing that the tweetup started at 6 not 6:30 and alas I missed seeing Toronto Maple Leaf Phil Kessel who was hanging out at Joey but I had a fun time nonetheless because I wasn’t there to see Maple Leafs I was there to see some good friends, make some new ones and have some nomtastic food. (Yes, I just used that word in a sentence.)

Joey Eaton Centre Toronto tweetup sign Szechuan Edamame in the background.

We got some complimentary Szechuan Edamame and Chili Chicken at our tables and got acquainted with each other – there were a lot of familiar faces but some I didn’t recognize which was great because it was a relatively quiet and small tweetup so I got to really say hi to everyone and talk to everyone. This is part of the reason I LOVE Jo’s tweetups, they’re always awesome in the way of the intimate-get-to-know-people-setting and are not just a quick hello to random folks you may not see again for months.

#ATorontoXmas Charity Event At Steam Whistle Brewery

My friend Meg Button is kind of a big deal on the Twitters with the handle @MegButton. I’m actually pretty lucky to call her my friend because Klout continually says she is a Twitter celebrity. But I digress.

You all know I am a huge fan of Steam Whistle and that I attended their event for Oktoberfest as well as got an awesome tour of their facilities in September. Meg has teamed up with Hennessey Events for this event raising money for GlassFrog to bring you the city’s swankiest charitable Christmas party! Here’s the official Facebook event page for it http://www.facebook.com/events/253139528061000/. The event is also listed on the Steam Whistle website here.

The event is already blowing up on Twitter with #ATorontoXmas as the hashtag.

What the heck is GlassFrog? Well they’re a charity whose mission is to swiftly deploy shelter, water and fuel to meet immediate needs of those impacted by disasters worldwide. They tell more about it on the Hennessey  Events blog here http://hennesseyevents.com/seeing-past-the-green.

We hope you can join us at Steam Whistle Brewery on Friday, December 16th for A Toronto Christmas at 9pm (www.ATorontoChristmas.com). Tickets are going for $40 and are available here. FIFTY PERCENT of the ticket price will be donated to the charity which is just awesomesauce. Also, Meg has hard tickets (as in not digital) available if need be so get in touch with her on Twitter.

I am, as per usual, going to be completely open and honest and let you all know I am being hooked up with a free ticket for the event. HOWEVER, I was ready to buy a ticket to it and support this event because:

• It’s a great cause.
• Meg is my friend.
• I like going to parties.
• I like the folks at Steam Whistle.

Also, the fact that I’m going to this party should say something. After all, it’s a Christmas Party and I’m Jewish! See, they’re all sorts of inclusive when it comes to charity!

If you’re a member of the, now infamous, debauched group of folks on Twitter flying under the #PartyPeopleTO hashtag you will be pleased to know that the mysterious operator of the brand spanking new @PartyPeopleTO account has managed to secure the #PartyPeopleTO crew our own area in the Gallery at #ATorontoChristmas with not one but TWO Tweet screens for us to clog with tweets for the night. This is probably going to get messy so it is a good thing the brewery is right near TTC Union Station!

Now, more about the party itself: This year, Toronto’s own Nights & Weekends will be playing this party! I have never heard of them but they are a band which fuses bluesy rock with elements of hip hop. Nights & Weekends command their own unique sound that has been pumping energy and fun into packed rooms across North America since 2008. Their recorded work has been featured on MTV’s Jersey Shore and The Hills (I wonder if the other Dan Levy has met them?) and their live show has quickly become one of the most buzzed about music experiences in Toronto.

Santa hats and reindeer antlers will be given out at the door, but be careful who you get caught under the mistletoe with!….Or maybe don’t! 😉 Even with those reindeer antlers and Santa hats, it seems this is a “semi-formal” attired event.

Check out the video from last year’s event below

Ticket Link:

• Click HERE https://secure1.gettickets.ca/…..