Presidential visit

Yesterday was a jam packed day for Grey at the Hub, as Grey Canada President Ann Nurock joined me in a number of meetings. I was delighted to have the opportunity to spend the day with Ann as she is quite busy traveling between Grey Canada offices in Toronto, Vancouver and our affiliate office in Montreal plus travels to Grey Group headquarters in New York ... and then in two weeks she heads to South Africa, her home land.

Ann has been a very strong supporter of the excitement of the Communitech Hub. As the head of Toronto agency she is uniquely embracing possibilities outside of the GTA and investing in opportunities that are within the Waterloo Region. Our role as a marketing service provider to the Startups here at the Hub is exciting for everyone at Grey because it is a chance to work with companies who may be shaping our future.

After our day of meetings, Ann and I hosted a small group of business women for dinner and drinks. Ann continually commented about how much fun we Waterloo Region Ladies are; how friendly and keen we are to share experiences, laughs and learnings. She says this region is amazing for its energy and tremendous spirit. I agree and feel very fortunate to call it home.

Watch for a future blog story with an inside scope about Ann's South African connections here at the Hub. A story that will demonstrate that it is truly a small world.

2010's mobile year in review

This cool little video wraps up the mobile year for 2010 -- statistically speaking. It was a booming year for the cellular market. In my household we went through seven smartphones this year, between 2 people! We have a teenager.

It is expected that by the end of 2011 smartphones will over take the cellular phone market in the US. I attended DEVCON 2010 and a number of developers I spoke to are building applications that will make a significant impact in many industries that previously were not reliant on mobile email and immediate connections. When you combine the continued adoption of Cloud Computing with the advancements in mobile platforms that integrate calendars, GPS and data uploading, smartphones will continue to connect us in an ever expanding range. When you think about how companies like ClevrU are going to impact the world, it is an obvious prediction that soon almost everyone will have a smartphone. Even my Grampa Johnie.

There are a number of very interesting things in the works for 2011. The advancement I am most anticipating is how RIM will combine their new QNX o/s with the creative genius acquired with the purchase of The Astonishing Tribe (TAT). I've seen some of TAT's UI's and I can't wait to see how RIM will leverage their design talent with the new o/s.

As a resident of Waterloo Region I am always rooting for RIM's success and for advancing smartphone technology ... and I do love my BlackBerry!