In The News

Vincent Cheung and Wenfei Yu, business partners and University of Toronto students, were recently awarded $25,000 from the IBK Capital-Ivey Business Plan Competition in recognition of their business plan for their company Shape Collage. Shape College uses advanced technology to help users create collages from photos. As reported by the National Post, competitions for emerging entrepreneurs have become ubiquitous across Canada with positive results for the Canadian economy. Besides the possibility of monetary winnings the participants at these events receive usefull feedback from industry experts, access to important resources and the chance to network.

"When Vincent Cheung and Wenfei Yu entered the IBK Capital-Ivey Business Plan Competition last month, they had no idea of the total cash prize they would receive if they won. The entrepreneurs, both students at the University of Toronto, viewed the competition as an opportunity to network, meet experts, and promote their new business, Shape Collage, which provides users with cutting-edge technology to create collages from photos."

"Yet, the pair won the top prize that comes with $25,000 along with of the recognition."

"For us, these competitions are about much more than the cash prizes," says Vincent Cheung, founder of Shape Collage."

"He says he and his business partner enter local business competitions simply to get feedback from judges and fellow entrepreneurs".

"We don't have a significant business background so we go to these competitions to go through the process of writing the business plan and pitching to investors and other entrepreneurs to get their feedback," Mr. Cheung says."

"The judges come from a variety of backgrounds and their job is to poke holes in your business plan," he says."

"In the several competitions we've gone to, we've presented to about 55 investors and entrepreneurs. What other opportunity to get to go in front of a panel, get their feedback? They want to see students succeed, so it's fantastic."

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original source the National Post

Toronto's Simcoe and Rees WaveDecks have been nominated for a Conde Nast Traveller 2010 Innovation and Design award and are featured in the magazine's May issue. The wavedecks, one of Toronto's newest public infrastructure constructions, consist of wave-shaped paths constructed of wooden planks and are the work of architectural firms West 8 of Rotterdam and du Toit Allsopp Hillier (DTAH) of Toronto.

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original source Conde Nast Traveller

The Huffington Post featured Sergeant Tim Burrows, a Toronto Traffic Control Officer who is using twitter to distribute information relating to traffic control and road safety. Burrows, the Communications/Media Relations Office "for all matters relating to traffic and transit for the city of Toronto" began distributing his messages over Twitter in order to make the city streets safer for users and because he was frustrated with how the media was presenting his messages.

"Burrows said that innovation and continuous learning have always been a part of a commitment on the part of the Toronto Police Service to being a leader in law enforcement, so getting the buy-in from department heads wasn't all that difficult."

"Well aware of the responsibility he took on by engaging the public in such an open medium and the associated risks that came along with it, Burrows had to produce reports measuring responses from the public on each initiative."

"I had to demonstrate that everything I wanted to try was going to benefit the needs of the service and the public we serve," he said. "I'd keep my supervisors, our public information directors and senior officers advised of what I wanted to try, the results of our efforts and the engagement that we were creating with the public."

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original source the Huffington Post

The lineup for this year's Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF), to be held May 8th and 9th at the Reference Library, is chock-full of world-renowned artists, designers and graphic novelists. In anticipation of the event the National Post is featuring interviews with some of the international artists would will be arriving in the city in the days to come.

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original source the National Post

Big Fish Interactive, a Toronto-based corporate training firm, has developed an effective and inexpensive system for spurring small business growth. Rather then look outward, Big Fish Interactive teaches business owners how they can capitalize on their existing assets by engaging and encouraging internal company staff. A recent report in the Globe & Mail looks at how Big Fish Interactive teaches small businesses strategies for "inviting the full participation of each staff member" such as providing incentives and making employees aware of how their personal contribution effects to the bottom line.

"Andrew Reid founder of Big Fish Interactive, a Toronto-based corporate training firm focused on leadership, business coaching and team building, says employees can help increase productivity and drive revenue."

"The key word is to invite," Mr. Reid says. "Ask employees: 'How can you see your own strengths contributing to the task at hand? What choices can you make that feel purposeful and connected?' "

"One of my favourite catchphrases is, 'The way I set it up is how it ends up,' " Mr. Reid says. "Set up the intentions and expectations clearly at the beginning of a project. If I set myself up to be bottom-line [oriented] and profitability-focused and understand my role, even if it's a small one, and how I can contribute to that, then you've got me as a committed employee."

"I've never met a fully engaged employee who leaves," Mr. Reid says. "People don't leave relationships that are working, whether it's romantic or business. It's the same thing. We only look elsewhere when we feel unfulfilled."

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original source the Globe & Mail

Toronto designer Jeremy Laing got a rave review in the LA Times last week after showing off his spring and fall 2010 collections at Los Angeles' Zainab boutique.  

"The 30-year-old Toronto resident had already planned to be in town for the Coachella festival when boutique owner Zainab Sumu asked him to show at her store."

"Laing's stunning silk-heavy collections marry bold shapes -- think waist-length, strong-shouldered jackets -- with major fluidity, in the form of clever drapery and tailoring (one draped shirt boasted side sections of fabric that dropped nearly to the knee). The overall impact is edgy, but never forced. "There are a lot of easy things," said Laing while showing the collection. "Things you can just throw on."

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original source the LA Times

The Torontoist looks at the Toronto Underground Cinema, the city's newest repertory movie theatre. With a tentative opening date of May 14th, the theatre will screen its films in a revamped basement of an old movie theatre at 186 Spadina.

"If you've ever been a regular at your local repertory cinema, then chances are you've romanticized the idea of rebuilding your own independent movie house in the style of Cinema Paradiso or The Majestic. For three Toronto guys, the dream is quickly materializing in a long-defunct screening space at Spadina Avenue and Queen Street West. Alex Woodside, Charlie Lawton, and Nigel Agnew have revamped the space in the basement of the building at 186 Spadina Avenue�formerly home to a popular Chinese cinema�rebranded it as the Toronto Underground Cinema, and are currently preparing it to open its doors (tentatively) on May 14."

"And while there's little doubt as to the vibrancy of Toronto's film culture, the question of whether the city can sustain another rep cinema hangs over the heads of the Underground's eager managers, especially given their proximity to the Scotiabank, NFB Mediatheque, and Rainbow Market Square. "Once we get rolling we are interested in attracting more independent film, first run stuff, to this location," says Woodside. "Being so close to Queen West and being so close to OCAD might be pretty good for us. If we get some film in that has some buzz in those kinds of scenes, they can come see it here."

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original source the Torontoist

Researchers at the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab continue to be recognized as the leading global experts on internet censorship. In a recent article on the topic, David Drummon, chief legal officer of Google Inc. and senior vice president of corporate development, described the Citizen Lab's Open Net Initiative as a key institution in the push to monitor internet censorship and to develop effective circumvention tools. Published in the Washington Post, Mr. Drumman's article outlined Google's "four-part plan to help encourage access to online information" citing support of the Citizen Lab as one of its major pillars.

"�we're helping to build support online to protest repression. Google has provided resources to maintain and expand the work of groups such as the Open Net Initiative, which tracks global trends on Internet censorship, and the Citizen Lab of the University of Toronto, which monitors censorship and helps develop circumvention tools�"

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original source the Washington Post

The Toronto Star recently featured Toronto entrepreneur Robert Ayoub. Inspired by a local waffle-maker on a 1991 trip to Belgium, Ayoub  opened a series of small waffle-selling storefronts in the heart of downtown Toronto. While the company, called Wanda's Belgian Waffles, recently had to close one of its outlets due to a collapsing wall on Gould Street, with two other bustling storefronts close by -- at Yonge and Gerrard and Yonge and Wellesley -- the business does not expect any significant loses.

 "�if you're walking along Yonge Street and the scent of freshly-made waffles captivates you, Ayoub's marketing strategy is working."

"He's already dominated a section of downtown foot traffic with three Wanda's Waffles shops � named after his older sister Wanda, which, conveniently, is a popular Belgian name � in a dozen blocks along Yonge Street."

"Each shop is small; one has no seating area, but they all have a storefront with a one-man four-waffle machine window so the saccharine scent wafts into the city air."

"Although plenty of his business is repeat � customers grabbing coffee and a bite in the morning, or a midnight snack � Ayoub carefully selects locations in tourist-heavy neighbourhoods."

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original source the Toronto Star

The National Post writes on the impressive history of Elena Quistini, "Canada's Pasta Queen". Pasta Quistini Inc., a family business launched by Elena Quistini and her husband Orlando in 1981 in Toronto, continues to expand 29 years later as a second generation of Quistinis prepare to take the company into the future.

"Launching a family business was the last thing on Elena Quistini's radar when she began experimenting in her kitchen, to make a homemade pasta sauce for her diabetic mother. She just wanted it to be nutritious and delicious."

"Hre sauce turned out to be so good, family and friends urged her to start her own company. In 1981, Mrs. Quistini and her husband Orlando launched Pasta Quistini Inc. in Toronto. It wasn't long before it began producing pasta for retail chains and restaurants. By 1986, she was crowned Canada's Pasta Queen by Toronto media."

"Pasta Quistini now produces a line of fresh, frozen pastas, sauces and casseroles and supplies airline companies and other food manufacturers, that use Pasta Quistini products in their finished products."

"The Quistinis' children -- Massimo and Marisa Quistini -- have grown up with the business and are being groomed to take over. "They were raised in a business-oriented home where it was treated as part of our lifestyle. It is second nature to them," Ms. Quistini said."

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original source the National Post

University of Toronto scientists have linked the mere presence of fast food chains to increased impatience and the desire for instant gratification. As reported by the Times of London, the Toronto researchers discovered that exposing participants to fast food logos made them "jittery" and agitated and even decreased their impulse to save money. The findings of the study will soon be published in the journal of Psychological Science. 

"Although each individual sighting of a logo has only a short-term subliminal effect, researchers fear that walking daily past numerous burger bars and sandwich shops could have a cumulative "behavioural priming" effect, making people hurry whether or not they are pushed for time."

"Fast food represents a culture of time efficiency and instant gratification," said Chen-Bo Zhong, assistant professor of organisational behaviour at Toronto University in Canada."

"The problem is that the goal of saving time gets activated upon exposure to fast food regardless of whether time is a relevant factor in the context.For example, walking faster is time-efficient when one is trying to make a meeting, but it's a sign of impatience when one is going for a stroll in the park."

"We're finding that the mere exposure to fast food is promoting a general sense of haste and impatience regardless of the context."

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original source the Times of London

As reported by the Globe & Mail, Curiosity Inc., a Toronto-based research and innovation company, has set itself apart from the competition by developing a unique style of market research. Inspired by her education at Denmark's 180 academy, Curiosity Inc.'s founder Karen Ward ignores traditional "linear" methods of market research opting instead for a hands-on and qualitative approach. Rather then have participants answer a strict pre-determined questioner, Ward spends time conversing with each participant while they use the product in their daily life.

"Ms. Ward provides a critical, and often missing, communication link between businesses and their customers by gently teasing the truth out of test subjects. "One of the things I get frustrated with � is that if a customer doesn't offer up something that supports [the client's] point of view, then they think the customer is stupid," she says. "This is not the case�you need to accept they have a different point of view and start asking more questions. There are always more questions."

"Large corporations hire Ms. Ward in the early stages of product development, sometimes before a product has even been conceived. Her field research can convince a company that a product is viable, or force it to change track and approach the situation in an unexpected manner."

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original source the Globe & Mail

York University's Schulich School of Business is taking bold initiative to build bridges between emerging business leaders in Canada and India. The Financial Times reports on the launch of a two year-joint MBA program that has students spending the first year attending Mumbai's SP Jain Institute of Management and Research and their second attending Toronto's York University.

"The crowded streets of Mumbai are a long way from the leafy streets of Toronto. But a programme launched early this year by York University's Schulich School of Business in Toronto seeks to bridge the two financial capitals by offering a two-year MBA where students spend their first year in India and their second in Canada."

"To gain a foothold in India, Schulich has partnered with SP Jain Institute of Management and Research to offer the Schulich India MBA at SP Jain's Mumbai campus. With its vast young population, fast-growing economy and need for trained graduates, India is a promising market for higher education."

"While there are plenty of exchange programmes and tie-ups between Indian and international universities and business schools, there are no overseas university campuses in India. And there are just a handful of programmes like Schulich's, which offer a full-time degree from a foreign university by partnering with an Indian institution."

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original source the Financial Times

Launched in December, Toronto-based Damn Heels, has already sold hundreds of pairs of their trademark product: portable women's shoes. Hailey Coleman, the founder of the company, created the fold-up ballerina flats so that women could have something comfortable to slip on after a night out in heels. As reported by the Toronto Star, the shoes, lightweight, comfortable, and small enough to fit in a clutch, have quickly generated a loyal following among Toronto women.

"Coleman, a recent graduate of Ryerson's marketing program, spent nearly a year working on Damn Heels before she sold her first shoe in December 2009. She hired a shoe designer through Craigslist, consulted a PR agency and web designers, investigated shipping and, finally, financed the project with student loans and lines of credit."

"I knew what I wanted it to look like, and then my designer brought in her expertise on shoes and materials," she said. "I've learned so many things about shoes since we started last March, from materials to quality control to bringing in a manufacturer from China."

"Damn Heels are made of high-quality polyurethane material with a soft, leather lining. The flats have a two-millimeter-thick sole that is bendable and has tread."

"Coleman has sold more than 250 pairs of the flats. They're available in her e-shop and at several salons and restaurants in Toronto, including Blo Blow Dry Bars, Madison Nails and Le Papillon on the Park. And her business plan has won several prizes: $7,000 from the Ontario Partnership for Innovation and Commercialization in December, and $25,000 from Ryerson's Slaight Communications Business Plan Competition."

"Coleman is confident Damn Heels will turn a profit this year. "I think it's a problem every women can relate to. That's why the response has been so amazing."

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original source the Toronto Star

Business Week recently reported on the positive effects the Toronto smoking ban has had on the state of the city's public health. A study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found that Toronto hospital admissions for heart and respiratory problems fell by as much as a third since the ban took effect in 2001.

"The 10-year population study found 39 percent fewer admissions for cardiovascular conditions such as heart attack, angina and stroke, and 33 percent fewer admissions for respiratory problems such as asthma, emphysema, and pneumonia or bronchitis after the ban went into effect."

"The findings are "consistent with the evidence that exposure to secondhand smoke is detrimental to health and legitimizes legislative efforts to further reduce exposure," wrote Dr. Alisa Naiman, of the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences at the University of Toronto, and colleagues."

"Further research is needed to determine which types of smoking bans are most effective, they added."

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original source Business Week