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Nominations Open for Leaders Summit

21incMy first experience with 21inc came through the Emerging Leaders Summit in 2010 where fifty of Atlantic Canada’s most promising leaders under age 35 gathered in St. Andrews, NB.

The leaders were chosen from a pool of 407 nominations and engaged in curriculum focused on providing them with the leadership skills and knowledge needed for the 21st Century.

It was a fantastic program where I met some amazing people – people who I have kept in touch with ever since.

21inc is now accepting nominations for the latest Emerging Leaders Summit, and there was a great article covering it in today’s Telegraph-Journal.

Be sure to take a look, and send in your nominations!

 

FUSION Saint John

The following article was written by FUSION Saint John’s Claire Ryan:

A regional “action tank” that works to develop, support and encourage leadership across Atlantic Canada is looking for exceptional leaders between the ages of 20 and 35.

21inc. has opened nominations for the second edition of the Emerging Leaders Summit, an intensive three-day leadership experience, designed to encourage and support young Atlantic Canadians who have been identified as leaders or who have demonstrated considerable leadership potential in their field or workplace. The selected participants will take part in sessions led by some of the region’s most highly respected educators, practitioners and mentors, while networking and collaborating with peers from across the region.

“With the present economic situation and the challenges the Atlantic provinces have to overcome, it’s pertinent to assure collaboration among the next generation of leaders and offer them the tools necessary to take the lead and face the challenges,” says 21inc.’s executive director Nadine Duguay.

21inc. is reaching out to its network of alumni and supporters for nominations, with the target of receiving 500. Nominees will be asked to submit an application package, from which 50 participants will be selected by a panel of regional judges. Applicants will be evaluated on criteria including: demonstrated leadership, achievement and a commitment to serving or enhancing the community.

“Participating in the Emerging Leader’s Summit was a challenging and refreshing experience that helped me grow as a leader and transition into a meaningful career path,” says Angélique Wojcik Simpson, who participated in the 2010 Emerging Summit and is manager of international recruitment at the University of New Brunswick as well as the president and project manager at Interlingual Translation. “I met a wide variety of inspiring colleagues across Atlantic Canada who have, in the time since, encouraged me to strive for excellence and work toward the best for our province and our region.”

The Emerging Leaders Summit will take place in St. Andrew’s October 20-23, and is held in conjunction with the Ideas Festival, 21inc.’s bi-annual forum that brings young leaders together with the region’s established business leaders, entrepreneurs, innovators, artists, educators and policy makers. The Ideas Festival will be held October 23-25, with the theme of “The Internalization of Atlantic Canada.”

“In many ways 21inc. sets participants on fire and leaves them with a strong network of movers and shakers to help them get things done,” says Wojcik Simpson of her own experience as one of the seven people from Greater Saint John who participated in the 2010 Summit,

The nomination period for the Emerging Leaders Summit will be open until Friday, June 7. More information on the nomination and selection process is available on 21inc.’s website: 21inc.ca.

Claire Ryan is on the FUSION Saint John board. Reach her atcryan@mtlpr.ca

 
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Saint John Whiz Crowned Champion

Published on 2013-05-16 by in News, T4G, TourOff

Today’s Telegraph-Journal featured myself and the idea that I pitched at T4G’s Geekfest event, check it out!

Geekfest 2013

One of New Brunswick’s tech stars is still the Ultimate Geek.

Shawn Peterson received the honour for the second year in a row on Tuesday night at Toronto’s GeekFest – an innovation competition that pitted him against 11 other finalists.

GeekFest is run by T4G, a Toronto-based IT consultancy with offices in Saint John, Fredericton and Moncton.

The 28-year-old IT consultant from Saint John walked away with $10,000, winning for his work on the app Touroff – a mobile platform for downloadable walking tours of cities.

Still in development, Peterson said the idea for his app came to him in 2012 when he toured the province as part of 21Leaders New Brunswick, a program for emerging entrepreneurs in the province.

“We were going to these different communities and having people show us around,” said Peterson. “It just struck me how great of an experience that was, and it got me thinking: why can’t I get that same experience wherever I go?”

Peterson said the content of the tours will be supplied by third parties, and will be a mix of user-created free tours and paid tours run by professional operators.

“It’s like how you would go purchase an app on your phone,” said Peterson. “You can find free apps; you can find premium apps. This should be a similar concept.”

He said he hopes to get a working prototype of the app ready within the next few months.

Touroff is currently available solely on its website, where only a handful of local tours are available.

Peterson said a major advantage the app will have over the website is that tours can be available offline.

“If you’re travelling somewhere where roaming fees might be an issue, you can download the tours in advance,” said Peterson.

“You’ll also be able to utilize the GPS on the mobile device,” he added. “It’ll be really good at knowing where you are and where the next point in the tour is and providing directions to guide you to that point.”

Peterson said he hopes to produce a “nice and polished” app by the end of 2013, when tours will also be made available in more than 40 different languages.

Peterson added that he hopes to eventually make the app available on all three major mobile platforms – Android, BlackBerry and iOS – but the prototype will only be for one. He hasn’t decided which one yet, but he said it will be a toss-up between Android and iOS.

Touroff’s victory was Peterson’s second Geekfest win after clinching the Ultimate Geek title last yearwith Q-Time, an app that estimated waiting times for hospital emergency rooms.

The top three – chosen by judges from the 12 finalists – present their ideas to an invite-only crowd of about 300, who then vote for the winner.

The runner-ups were Michael Heyd with Pic N Pay, a self-service shopping app, and James Craig with PromoDealz, a digital retail app. All of the top three will have their ideas further explored by T4G with potential for future development.

via telegraphjournal.com (written by Ethan Lou)

 
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TourOff.com at T4G Geekfest!

Published on 2013-05-14 by in 21inc, T4G, Technology, TourOff

TourOffTonight, I will be attending T4G’s Geekfest event in Toronto at MaRS!

I will be there to show off my idea TourOff.com.

The idea formed shortly after the 21inc 21 Leader’s provincial tour of New Brunswick that I had the opportunity to participate in last fall.

We met some amazing people in the various communities who took us in and showed us around – from their point of view.  The experience was fantastic, and it got me thinking – why can’t I access this type of experience when I travel and visit new places?

TourOff.com is focused on providing a common platform for people to create and share digital tours, as well as a cross-platform App to take tours.

For tour operators and marketing organizations, the platform offers eCommerce support (to allow selling tours online) as well as custom branding options (to allow a unique look/feel for their tours).

With this platform, anyone can create and share their tours – offering unique perspectives and experiences to newcomers.  With the technology costs removed, even small communities can offer a fantastic digital experience – allowing their stories to live on.

If you are unable to be at the event tonight, don’t worry – you can view the prototype from any device:

Follow along on Twitter tonight at: #t4ggeekfest.

More information about the event can be found here: http://geekfest.t4g.com

 
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Saint John Ward 3 By-Election Prediction Results

2012 PredictionsThroughout the Saint John Ward 3 By-Election, I ran a poll asking people to predict the outcome.

I posted a snapshot of the results prior to Election day:

After that post, I received additional entries to bring the total submissions up to 40.

As there was only one candidate to choose from, I also asked people to predict the number of votes they would receive (along with total votes cast in case of a tie).

Prediction Winner

Bragging rights (until the next Ward 3 By-Election) now go to:

  • Dave Drinnan – who lives in Ward 3successfully predicted the winning candidate (Gerry Lowe), and he was closest to predicting  the total votes received 1000 (actual was 1028).  He was also pretty close on the total votes cast, predicting 2,400 (actual was 2,782).

Group Prediction Results

When looking at the total responses for the entire group, people were strongly predicting a Michelle Hooton victory (with a close race between Gerry Lowe and Graeme Stewart-Robertson for second place):

Candidate

Position

Michelle Hooton

56%

Gerry Lowe

17%

Graeme Stewart-Robertson

17%

Group Prediction Surprises

The group ended up preduicting the wrong candidate, and the percentages were quite off when compared to the actual the vote breakdown: Saint John Ward 3 By-Election Results

If you only look at Ward 3 predictors, the results closer; but, Michelle Hooton was still clearly leading within that group.

 
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Saint John Ward 3 By-Election Results

Below are the unofficial results of the Saint John Ward 3 By-Election:

Candidate

Votes

Brian Boyd

69

Barbara Ellemberg

74

Michelle Hooton

816

Mark LeBlanc

225

Allen Leslie

24

Gerry Lowe

1,028

Anne-Marie Mullin

273

Graeme Stewart-Robertson

264

Voter turnout was 2,782 out of 11,663 voters (23.85%).

Congratulations Gerry!

 
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TourOff.com – Validating the Idea

Published on 2013-05-13 by in T4G, TourOff

TourOffMy 2013 Geekfest entry this year, TourOff.com, has been receiving some great traffic (and interest) lately!

While it’s a fully functional responsive website that users can access to see the idea – it’s only the tip of the iceberg (in terms of actual work) when you look back on the project as a whole.

I won’t go into details on the actual solution (as it could be re-written in any number of languages and platforms).

I will, however, share some details and tips that lead me to this point.

Validate, validate, validate

Once again, validating the concept/idea has been the biggest part of this project.

Most of my time early on was spent meeting with local groups and individuals in the tourism sector – especially those involved in creating, marketing, and selling tours.  Many meetings with lots of coffee (and a few lattes).  The key is getting outside of the office to talk to people.

I’ve also been surveying potential end users, and finding some pretty interesting information – specifically the type of content they are looking for and how much they would pay for it.

Understanding what was involved in creating and marketing the tours helped identify the type of platform that would help these users promote their communities.  Understanding the business challenges of the tour operators and marketing organizations helped drive the business model.

While some details continue change on a daily basis – the idea is starting to take shape; however, it’s ready to pivot at any time to meet the needs of the users.  I’m even flexible on the domain name.

You should talk to…

The biggest benefit I’ve had has come though talking about the idea with anyone who will listen.

In addition to getting great feedback/suggestions; I usually get a reference or introduction to someone else who may be able to help.

Here are a few examples:

  • Discover Saint John (our local DMO) was very helpful in understanding the market conditions – as well as providing the contact for three walking tours in Uptown Saint John.
  • By talking to others within T4G, I was put in touch with other walking tour advocates.  The Moncton Heritage Tour was added after talking to a T4G spouse working for the City of Moncton!
  • Another T4G lead put me in touch with a senior contact with Microsoft Canada.  After a variety of emails and phone calls, he helped me narrow down and implement the translation component – even offering to get me in touch with the team working on it.
  • Enterprise Saint John (our local economic development agency), helped arrange meetings with various agencies to discuss funding options.  They also helped setup a meeting with a tourism company, who we are working with now as an Early Adopter – helping us narrow down the business model.
  • Another T4G lead put me in touch with a lean development company in Fredericton that is doing some amazing prototyping for local start-ups   They are interested in helping create the MVC app (minimum viable product) at a cost that makes sense for us!
  • After receiving a lead about NBCC, a phone call lead me to an instructor at NBCC St. Andrews who helped arrange adding a walking tour that one of her students created.  The class took the guided tour (with some checking out the digital version on their phones as they went).
  • By talking about the idea on Twitter, I was able to receive a fantastic logo.  Another interested person asked about creating a Boutique Shopping Tour.  After sending along the content, I added it to the site where it has received a great deal of traffic and interest.

Your point?

The point I’m trying to make is there isn’t anything overly special about the TourOff.com solution (in terms of design or code).

The real opportunity is created from identifying challenges faced by businesses, individuals, and groups.  Talking to them helps determine the solution; however, it has to be supported by the business case.  That’s what makes this special.

TourOff.com has done the homework.  We have a proposed a solution with a solid business case, and we will be at T4G’s Geekfest Event to pitch to the judges (and hopefully present to the audience) on Tuesday night.

Follow along on Twitter at: #t4ggeekfest.

Check out the site: http://touroff.com!

 
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Saint John 2013 Ward 3 By-Election Election Prediction

Update: I’ve updated the charts below to reflect the additional predictions made yesterday; however, the percentages have remained relatively stable.

Tomorrow is election day in Saint John – the Ward 3 By-Election is nearly over; but, you still have a chance to change the outcome!

As everyone keeps asking me how the “prediction contest” is going, I’ve decided to post the current survey snapshot in the hope that this may spur more people into casting a ballot.

There are currently 36 responses from people – the majority of responses coming from within Ward 3.


Ward 3 Areas

The Prediction:

The chart below shows who these 36 people are “predicting” to win a seat:

Ward 3 Predictions

Analysis

It appears that is Michelle Hooton is the favorite to win – with both Gerry Lowe and Graeme Stewart-Robertson close behind.  What do you think?  Are they right?

For your reference, during the last Ward 3 By-Election (Dec 2010), Mel Norton was elected with 516 votes. Total number of votes cast was: 1,941.

Note: This contest is simply for fun.  I’m very curious to see if anyone can accurately pick the winning candidate – along with number of votes (for bragging rights).  The actual outcome, as always, is decided by the people to go and vote.  If you want to see your candidates win – get out and vote!

 

Additional Information

Looking to get your picks submitted into the contest?  Submit your picks here (up until 8pm on Election Night):

Looking to learn more about the candidates?

 
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Ward 3 Candidate Video Interviews

YouTubeVarious broadcast students attending Atlantica Centre for the Arts have created video interviews of the Saint John Ward 3 By-Election Candidates.

Check them out below!

Read more about the candidates here:

Brian Boyd

Barbara Ellemberg

Michelle Hooton

Mark LeBlanc

No interview.

Allen Leslie

Gerry Lowe

Anne-Marie Mullin

Graeme Stewart-Robertson

 

 
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TourOff Heading to Geekfest!

TourOff

Next week is T4G Limited’s annual Geekfest event in Toronto, ON.

What exactly is Geekfest you might ask?

GeekFest is T4G’s annual showcase of creativity, innovation and entrepreneurialism.

GeekFest is T4G’s preeminent Ideas Competition where the ongoing efforts of our most talented employees and teams are featured in a competitive arena ending on the final stage where the TOP 3 teams present their ideas to the crowd, each team, hoping to win the grand prize of $10,000!  And YOU get to watch the whole thing! Wrap that up in the grandeur of the MaRS Centre at The University of Toronto, and you have an evening that you won’t soon forget.

Our goal for 2013 is to light a fire under our ongoing innovation efforts and give our employees a chance to show off their skills and passions. It’s an open playing field for new ideas, new takes on old ones, and all-around geekiness! Bring your pocket protectors!

GeekFest is also a gathering of our friends, our customers and our partners. It’s not a dog-and-pony show with everyone suit-and-tied and on their best behaviour. It’s a casual chance to come together and share and discuss ideas. GeekFest will be a success if everybody goes back to their jobs the next morning a little more fired up than usual!

This year, I have been working on an idea that has made it into the top 13 for the event this year.

My idea is TourOff.com – a platform for creating, accessing, and selling digital audio tours. The goal is to disrupt the traditional tourism industry.

There are lots of exciting things happening right now with this idea – so stay tuned for updates.

Until then, cross your fingers, and wish me luck!

 
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Predict the Ward 3 By-Election Winner

Voting MachineThink you have what it takes to correctly pick the winning candidate for the Ward 3 Municipal By-Election?

You did so well at predicting the winners in the 2012 election, that I’m curious if you can do it again.

You can submit your pick here:

Also, don’t forget to actually vote!

Looking to learn more about the candidates?

 
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