Pet Food And Its Digital Journey
Believe it or not, brands, including pet foods, are using cultural movements to woo and win a new generation of consumers. People long to be part of something bigger than them. There is a lot of emotion surrounding the ones we love, and that emotion naturally extends to our cats and dogs. The question some marketers are…
Waterloo Regional Police Service Show Their Pride
The Waterloo Regional Police Service and more than a million people gathered for Toronto’s 2016 Pride parade. The organization is aimed at spreading awareness on the fight against violence and discrimination targeted towards the LGBTQ+ community. The pride parade plays an important role within the lives of many individuals around the…
Hacking Your City: Open Source Transit Edition
Smart Cities across the globe are utilizing open source applications to bring citizens together as they “hack the city”. This means creating a specialized Hack-A-Thon that focuses on creating open source, smart city centered solutions to city problems. Groups like Code for America are leading the charge in these Hack-Your-City events. One of Code…
Taking Tech Outdoors
Summer is officially here and so far it has been full of warm days which call for adventure. I enjoy spending some spend time outdoors, soaking in the sun and seeing all the different types of activities occurring. For Canada Day this year, a group of friends and I decided to celebrate Canada by exploring the Bruce…
Mandy Bujold and Her Road to Rio
Mandy Bujold's is finally going to achieve a lifelong goal of competing in the Olympics this summer in Rio, but it all started at the age of 16 where her first inspiration for boxing began. When moving to Kitchener after spending the most of your childhood in New Brunswick, her brother joined the local…
Distracted Driving: The Problems and Solutions for Safer Roads
In our era where technology has taken over our everyday lifestyle, it has resulted in different problems we were never faced with in the past. Distracting driving has always been a problem but has recently taken off due to the abundance of mobile devices. Drivers who engage in text messaging on a cellular phone are 23 times more…
Facebook gets interactive with 360 Photo
There is a new Facebook feature that you might not be aware of called Facebook 360 Photo. This feature allows you to add images that become interactive, as you can view images from different angels and discover what is above, behind and next to you. The new feature was announced on June 9, and already brands and celebrities such as Sir Paul…
Apple Update
Apple’s annual WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference) begins today and ends on Friday in San Francisco, CA. The WWDC is used to bring Apple developers together from around the world. Apple is more of a culture than a brand. Those with Apple products find comfort and class in using a sleek and seemingly simple device. Though Apple tends…
Virtual Reality: Extending the Music Experience
Virtual reality is not a concept to be put between parentheses or mentioned in a science fiction book. Google Cardboard and Oculus Rift (to name a few) have transformed the concept of virtual reality from clunky helmets to systems that transform your own device into a virtual experience. The majority of virtual reality experiences remain…
Summer Company Kick-Off
I had the pleasure to present for the Waterloo Region Small Business Center Summer Company students for the second year in a row. As well, this year I was joined by the newest Mad Hatter, Kalob Witzell. Our presentation focused on the importance of social media in regards to defining and creating awareness about your brand.…
Facebook Live Broadcasting
Facebook Live has arrived in Canada, enabling users to broadcast or watch live videos from the app. Related: Social Snapshot: LinkedIn and Facebook To start a live broadcast on Facebook: Navigate to the Page, group, profile or event where you want to publish your live stream. Tap the Live button at the bottom…
Integrated learning begins with technology partnerships
Integrated learning, the learning theory that has gain popularity in classrooms across the country, centers on this idea of “identifying opportunities to link related content and/or skills in two or more subjects and to give students practice in meeting expectations from two or more subjects within a single unit, lesson or activity (Ministry of…
GOOGLE: INSTANT APPS
Google continued to impress at this year's 2016 I/O mega event. They announced upcoming latest features, devices and latest apps with the highest expectations, and did they ever deliver. The hot topic and highlight of the day was Google’s teaser of Instant Apps. BASIC BREAKDOWN With countless apps for all…
Managing the Madness Recap
Our final Social Media Madness Series was all about Managing the Madness and putting the knowledge, information and lessons learned from the previous sessions into action. Participants discovered industry software platforms and technology tools that make the management of social media easier and more time efficient. Social Media…
Smart Cities and the Funding Applications that Sustain Them
A Smart City is a city that utilizes technology, integrating it in all public spaces. This can be everything from a mobile application that tells you, in real-time, when your bus will reach your stop to having free wi-fi in all public spaces, open data on city demographics to interactive zoning maps. With so many fantastic apps available, it is no…
Hurray for Apple Pay
What is Apple Pay? Apple Pay has arrived in Canada! Apple Inc. is now offering Apple Pay is a payment system that operates with mobile payment as a digital wallet service, enabling users to use their iPhone 6 (or any version after that), as well as devices that Apple Watch is compatible with (ie: iPad mini). Canadian’s…
Instagram rebrand causes reaction
It seems the Internet is quite vocal when a brand introduces a new look. On May 11 Instagram, the popular online mobile photo-sharing, video-sharing, and social networking service, unveiled a new logo. Related: Instagram Influence Mad Recap People did not hold back their opinions on social media, and outlets…
Science Influencers and Inspiration
Social and mobile technology has changed the world we live, play and work in. Communication and collaboration are constantly occurring with social engagement driving awareness and contributing to innovation. Aside from constantly emerging - technology spreads awareness, encourages conversation, and…
Choose Your Own Reality: VR in the Classroom
As a kid, I would pull quarters out of couches, complete chore lists, and hide my allowance to avoid using it just so that I could go to 3D movies. There was something about feeling like I was in the film that just changed the experience completely. In those brief hours, I too was exploring Pandora with the Na’vis as an Avatar (Avatar) or…
Kitchener is Becoming a Smart(er) City
Kitchener Council recently approved a city-wide municipal ‘narrow band network' which will be installed into new, energy efficient LED streetlights with sensor transmitters inside each of 18 000+ street lights in Kitchener. The project is expected to cost over nine million dollars and implemented before 2018 begins.…