Renjie Butalid

TEDxToronto is taking place on September 10, 2009 at the Theatre Passe Muraille in downtown Toronto. The only problem is that the theatre holds 100 people. From what the TEDxTO organizers have mentioned on their blog as well as on Twitter, they have had an overwhelming response to the event, with over 500 applicants vying for the 100 seats.

I knew earlier on that they would be live streaming TEDxTO and in the true spirit of TED and ideas worth spreading, the organizers have encouraged people to organize live webcast meet-ups in their local communities to experience a TED-like event.

That being said, please feel free to join us for a live webcast meet-up at the Kitchener Public Library for those of you in the area. As far as I know, this seems to be the only live webcast meet-up happening in the Kitchener-Waterloo area. Other live webcast meet-ups are also taking place at the Centre for Social Innovation, Toronto Public Library and the Manifesto Community Project, all of which are locations in Toronto.

You can register to attend the TEDxTO live webcast meet-up at the KPL here.

TEDxTO Speaker Line-up:

Waawaate Fobister
Playwright, choreographer, dancer, and producer
“Telling Very Personal Stories”

Mathew Ingram
Journalist, Editor
“Five Ways New Media Will Save Old Media”

Min Sook Lee
Writer, Director
“Raising My Toxic Baby”

Peter MacLeod
Principal, MASS LBP
“Imagining 2017 and Why it Begins Now”

David Makepeace
Eclipse Guy
“Understanding Ourselves in an Epic Universe”

Michael McClelland
Architect
“Renewing Concrete Communities: Tower Renewal”

Richard St. John
Success Analyst
“Success is always asking ‘What’s Next?’”

Gavin Sheppard
Co-ordinator, REMIX Project
“Creative Education”

Don Tapscott
Author
“The Future of Education”

Tom Rand
Entrepreneur
“Planet Traveler: The Green Hotel”

Steven Woods
Google Canada Engineering Site Director
“Google’s Vision for a Mobile Web”

Dr. Charlotte Yates
Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, McMaster University
“The Future of Unions”

D’bi Young
Dubpoet
“What’s Next?”

Full speaker bios can be found here.

Posted via email from Renjie Butalid

If you are a regular reader of this blog, a follower on Twitter or a friend on Facebook (of course, all of which I truly appreciate), you may have noticed a seeming lack of my online presence these past two weeks.

In case you were wondering what I was up to, I was away on a two-week holiday with my girlfriend Monika and instead of jet-setting to somewhere in Europe where the additional costs of booking last minute flights and hotels would come into play in an expensive way, we decided instead to stay ‘local’ and visit Ottawa and Montreal for a couple of days, before spending the rest of our time in Toronto and Waterloo. We became tourists in our own backyard and took the time to visit old friends that we hadn’t seen in a while, not to mention some much needed relaxation time away from work and projects.

Just before we left for on our trip, Monika handed me the following newspaper cartoon comic that she had cut out and saved for me.

Excellent commentary, perhaps on how social media tools are simply just that, tools to communicate, share information and connect with people on an ongoing basis. However, I find that the value of really getting to know people can still be found in conversation over a meal or drinks in a social setting.

That being said, I made a conscious effort to not use email, Twitter or Facebook while we were away on holiday, except to get in touch with friends, inviting them out for dinner or drinks while we were in town. I figured that any important news story, online article, blog post or event that would be of interest to me or to the work that I do, would find its way to me through my network once I got back from vacation mode. That being said, I still scanned my Google Reader and various online newspaper headlines every night before bed so as not to completely cut myself off from the outside world (note: the operative word here is scanned), and we used websites like Yelp and TripAdvisor to get the low down on recommendations of things to do while in Ottawa and Montreal, as well as reviews of any restaurants or bars we were considering going to.

The time off was certainly refreshing and has provided me with renewed energy and focus to the projects that I am currently working on.

On a personal level, a major reason for choosing Ottawa and Montreal as a holiday destination has a lot to do with my becoming a Canadian citizen this past January. Since then, I have been reflecting on what it really means to be Canadian, and in order to answer my own question and provide some perspective, I have been feeling the need to ‘discover’ Canada and learn more about its diverse cultures and history any opportunity I get. Having already been out west to British Columbia and Alberta in early July to visit family, Monika and I figured that Ottawa and Montreal were great cities to visit, especially since both cities are steeped in Canadian history. You simply cannot talk about the history of Canada and the founding of this country without mentioning the intertwining histories of both Ottawa and Montreal. Hence the guided tour of Parliament Hill and a visit to the Museum of Civilization whilst in Ottawa, as well as a tour of the Museum of Archaeology and History in Montreal and the numerous churches found throughout the city, including the Basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal and L’Oratoire Saint-Joseph du Mont-Royal.

And of course, we threw in the Toronto Zoo for good measure towards the end of the trip, taking Maximus the lion with us!

Posted via email from Renjie Butalid

I had a lunch meeting with a rather remarkable person this past week, Graham Whiting, an architect who graduated from the University of Waterloo School of Architecture several years ago. Graham runs a small design firm focused on sustainable design, and together with a business partner named Jeff, they also own and operate a number of business development properties in the Kitchener-Waterloo area.

What is remarkable about these two individuals is their approach to business property development in the local community. They have recently purchased a building in a prime location in uptown Waterloo (right across the street from Waterloo Town Square) and rather than renting out the 5,000 sq. ft. building to another business owner for commercial development, they are asking members of the community for their vision for the building. I believe they are going to be hosting an open design meeting this coming September, will post details once they are available.

This approach in itself presents a number of game-changing opportunities, and they have already received a number of ideas with an accompanying business plan, ranging from an artists co-op to a net-zero homeless shelter.
Imagine what other possibilities might emerge if every property developer took this approach as well.

Co-Location, Co-Work Space in Waterloo Region?

As for a compelling idea that I had in mind, one enterprise that I would really like to see emerge in the Waterloo area, is a co-location, co-working space for social entrepreneurs and their respective projects and startup organizations. This would be similar to the Centre for Social Innovation in Toronto; or The Hub, with locations in Halifax, Toronto and numerous cities around the world. Other examples can be found in Citizen Space in San Francisco, as well as Treehouse and New Work City, both of which are located in New York City.

If you do have an idea or a vision, I am sure that Graham and Jeff would love to hear from you. You can get in touch with them via email at info@whitingdesign.ca

Posted via email from Renjie Butalid