Between June 8-12, 2009 Social Innovation Generation (SiG@MaRS) played host for Net Change Week at the MaRS Discovery District. 12 events were held at the 101 College St building in Toronto’s downtown core, while 2 partners decided to fly the Net Change flag from the historic Gladstone Hotel.

Net Change Week was an extension of the very successful Social Tech Training held for the first time in 2008. Given the explosion of social technology over the last 5 years, there are many social change organizations and traditional charities that need a hand understanding this terrain. In addition to the training components, the Net Change team thought it important to include events where professionals working online in digital design and interactive spaces could meet change-makers. This bridging of the digital divide was designed to introduce, to inspire and to discover potential synergies that would not otherwise have had the chance to flourish.

There were many highlights for Net Change Week and also many take-aways that will inform an even bigger - even better Net Change Week in 2010.

Until now, Canada’s Internet has been an open network and a level playing field for free speech, innovation, and consumer choice. All that is now under threat.

SaveourNet.ca is partnering with Rabble.ca for a very special event. Held during Net Change Week in Toronto, SaveourNet.ca and Rabble.ca will present Toronto’s Open Internet Town Hall, which will be filmed by TheREALNews.com.

For video from this event, please visit our media page.

*Mark Surman (Executive Director of the Mozilla Foundation)
*Olivia Chow (Member of Parliament (NDP))
*Rocky Gaudrault (CEO of Teksavvy Solutions Inc.)
*Steve Anderson (Co-founder of SaveourNet.ca)
*Derek Blackadder (National Representative with CUPE)

The Town Hall is designed to give local citizens the chance to shape Canada’s broadband future. As Canada falls behind other OECD countries on Internet speed, cost, and openness, SaveourNet.ca will host a lively discussion guided by panelists representing web innovators, social change leaders, and public policy gurus.

We will gather citizen testimony that SaveOurNet.ca’s Steve Anderson will use to guide his presentation to the CRTC at the July 6 “Traffic Management” hearing. We will also record the town hall meetings and present video testimonials to the CRTC and share them online. Information gathered at the town hall meeting will also help us develop the “Open Internet Declaration” which we will put before MPs and policy makers.

We want to engage the public in discussion on what the future of the Internet should look like by addressing the following questions:
How can we ensure Internet services for everyone in Canada?
How do we expand consumer choice and lower costs for Internet services?
How can the Internet be a catalyst for economic growth, jobs, and prosperity?
How do we preserve the Internet’s level playing field so everyone can access the content, applications, and services of their choice?
What roles should the federal government, local governments, private industry, and everyday citizens play to build a better Internet?
What can and should citizens do right now?

Toronto’s Internet Town Hall will be held at the historic Gladstone Hotel
1214 Queen Street West, Toronto
Monday 8 June, 2009
7 - 10pm
PWYC (suggested $10)

Register for this event today: http://saveournet.ca/toronto

For more information about the campaign, visit SaveourNet.ca

The Skills Exchange is an event designed to show what an interactive agency can do when presented with a unique problem. On May 25th, we paired up 3 agencies with 3 non-profits and gave the agency their challenge. They will have 2 weeks to come up with a presentation on what their solution will be.

Join us on Friday, June 12th from 4pm – 6pm to see what the agencies dreamed up, as they present at the MaRS Discovery District auditorium and close out Net Change Week.

Register now: http://netchange-skills-exchange.eventbrite.com

The Pairings:

Idea Couture + Social Purchasing Portal

Idea Couture – http://www.ideacouture.com
Idea Couture is a strategic innovation and experience design firm. We partner with clients to uncover uncommon ideas that will advance business goals, create shareholder value and leverage social technologies to transform enterprises. We bring together the analytical capability and financial competency of a strategic consultancy, the customer empathy of a research and design firm, and the creativity and technological capability of an interactive agency.

Social Purchasing Portal - http://www.sppwaterlooregion.org/
The Social Purchasing Portal facilitates the targeting of existing everyday business purchasing to suppliers of goods and services to blend business and social values. The Social Purchasing Portal (SPP) is an innovative and effective tool helping to build healthy communities.

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The Movement + Grassroots Youth Collaborative

The Movement - http://www.thmvmnt.com
The Movement is a Change Agency focused on using design for progress, change, and engaging experience for social good. Managed by Patrick Keenan and Alan Smith

Grassroots Youth Collaborative - http://www.grassrootsyouth.ca
The Grassroots Youth Collaborative (GYC) was formed in May 2004 to advocate for policies that empower young people to have a voice and contribute to their communities. GYC is a collective of culturally and racially diverse youth-led organizations that work in underserved, lower-income, at-risk communities where violence, especially youth violence, is regularly in the media spotlight. The programs delivered by GYC members reach out and engage young people who are typically missed by more mainstream youth programming.

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Polar Unlimited + 211 Toronto

Polar Unlimited - http://www.polarunlimited.com
We are a digital relationship agency that helps you create meaningful relationships with your customers and prospects. We believe that with the web as a hub, digital brand strategies and tools can engage a larger audience more efficiently and effectively than traditional media.

211 Toronto - http://www.211toronto.ca
Since 2002, Findhelp Information Services has operated 211Ontario.ca as a portal to specialized provincial information and referral databases. In 2007/2008, community-based information and referral providers will collectively work toward realizing their long-standing vision for 211Ontario.ca – to coordinate and web-enable local data to create a fully searchable, bilingual point of access to over 60,000 community, social, health and related government programs and services in Ontario.

June 12, 2009
1:00pm-4:00pm
MaRS Auditorium

This combination lecture and workshop will focus on social media strategies and effective ways to monitor their success for you non-profit or change-focused organization. Christopher Berry, Group Director of Marketing Science at Critical Mass will speak on practical social analytics. Following Chris’ talk the participants will be split into small workgroups where they will have the opportunity to work through example scenarios where they’ll be able to apply and explore what they’ve just learned. Each of these scenarios will give each group to work through identifying measurements and targets for three types of goals: Fundraising, Awareness and Engagement.

This three hour session will bring together a variety of participants, from key representatives of non-profits and charitable organizations to social media, community, design & marketing experts from the Toronto community. Participants will leave with a new toolset that they can take from this session and apply to their own organizations when measuring the impact of their social media strategies and tactics going forward.

Agenda:
1:00 – 2:00 “Practical social analytics”, presented by Christopher Berry, Group Marketing Science Director, Critical Mass
2:00 – 2:20 Break
2:20 – 4:00 Facilitated workshop with Ryan Coleman, Freelance Facilitator & Consultant, Ryancoleman.ca

Presented by Justin Kozuch, Refresh Events is a monthly community event for those interested in the interactive world. During Net Change Week, the Refresh audience will hear from those in the interactive space who have dedicated their work towards social change initiatives.

For video from Refresh during Net Change Week, visit our media page.

Net Change is Canada’s first week long, city wide event designed to dissolve the divide between digital professionals and social change-makers. Powered by SiG@MaRS Net Change is a concerted effort to join forces in order to:

* Minimize overlap between practitioners and capacity builders
* Have a single entry point for participants
* Give continuity to stand-alone programming

Keynote

* Craig Heintzman, World Wide Web Foundation

Speakers

* Darius Bashar, DailyChallenge
* Evelyn So, Noesium
* Jeson Patel, SocialDeck
* Tamera Kremer, Wildfire Strategy

Register today as this event is always popular and will fill fast.
http://refreshatnetchange-rfevent.eventbrite.com/

RECEPTION

Net Change partners with the Ontario Trillium Foundation and TechSoup Canada to host a reception at MaRS that includes the announcement of two Trillium granted Social Innovation Generation (SiG) programs soon to be launched.

For video from this presentation, please visit our media page here.

FIRESIDE CHAT WITH ERIC YOUNG

To follow; a discussion on profound innovation and social change with Eric Young in conversation with Bill White. A must-see event!

MaRS Auditorium
6:30-8:00pm

Eric Young, President, E.Y.E. | The Social Projects Studio™

Ric YoungFor over twenty-five years, Eric Young has been at the vanguard of social marketing, a discipline focused on the development of strategies and campaigns to promote social change. He is the founder and president of E.Y.E., an agency that works with leading government, corporate and voluntary organizations to address some of the most pressing issues facing contemporary society. Young has been the architect of numerous campaigns for changeä and social innovation projects in areas ranging from health, environmental sustainability and ethics in sport, to citizen engagement, corporate social responsibility, community development and global humanitarian relief.

He has written and lectured extensively throughout North America on the challenge of change, and the remaking of community in the 21st century.

He is on the faculty of the Boston College Centre for Corporate Citizenship. His current voluntary roles include: membership on the board of Ecotrust Canada, the Canadian advisory board of Right To Play and the editorial board of the Social Marketing Quarterly. He is a fellow of The Royal Society of the Arts and a member of Massey College’s Quadrangle Society. In 2008 he became a fellow of SiG (Social Innovation Generation) at the University of Waterloo.

Bill White

William White is the retired President of DuPont Canada and a member of the Board of Directors at MaRS. He held a variety of global business unit leadership roles in his 34 years with E.I. DuPont de Nemours (Wilmington Delaware), including Titanium Technologies, Chemical Solutions Enterprise and Safety Resources. Prior to his 2006 appointment as President of DuPont Canada, Mr. White worked across the corporation leading programs focused on growth through marketing and sales transformation, developing emerging markets, and step change business strategies. He is currently a partner in CBW Associates a Canadian business consulting firm. A graduate of Purdue University, he is a 2009 Distinguished Engineering Alumnus and chairs Purdue’s Mechanical Engineering advisory committee.

Due to the constraint on space this event is by invitation only.

As part of the Net Change Week line up helping social change organizations harness social tools, Social Mastermind // Social Media for Social Change looks to pair social change organizations with marketing experts for direct consultation, advice and strategic planning.

Video from this event is now posted here.

On June 10th 10-4pm at MaRS participating charities will be given direct access to a world-class network of advisors to help with every aspect of their social media strategy, marketing and promotion.

If you would like to represent your social change organization for the Social Mastermind, fill out the application here and send it to Sarah at sarah@redwirenation.com

Social Mastermind brings together a diverse mentor network of social media strategists, marketing specialists, advertising gurus, and public relations experts to help put together the foundations of a viable and impactful campaign.

The aim of this day is to collapse the time it takes to make and develop these critical plans from months to one day.

Each organization selected to participate will be paired with a tailored ecosystem of experts who each come to the table armed with experience in leveraging tools, campaigns, promotions and word of mouth outreach. Each participant will leave with a tangible strategy - an action plan for immediate execution.

The schedule for the day is as follows:

10am Welcome & Kick Off

10:30am Break Off Into Groups

10:30-11am Introductions & Discussion

11am-12pm Mastermind Brainstorming

12-12:30pm Identify Most Effective Ideas

12:30-1:30pm Networking Lunch

1:00pm Discussion & Plan Generation

3:30pm Presentations & Idea Sharing

At the conclusion of this great session, all participants are invited to register for drinks & the reception at Wired Wednesday for Net Change.

Matthew Milan speaks with co-creator Michael Dila about Innovation Parkour.

Innovation Parkour @ NetChange Week. from Matthew Milan on Vimeo.

Michael Dila is a partner at Torch Partnership and Chief Strategist at Strategic Innovation Lab at the Ontario College of Art & Design

Matthew Milan is Partner and Director of Design at Normative

For a snapshot of what the parkour looked like on the day and for the presentation itself, check out our media page.

Wired Wednesday is a free monthly event for forward-thinking Toronto area entrepreneurs to gather and mind-meld. A great chance for startups around the city to get friendly, discuss current trends, and network in a casual, open, and focused setting. Attendees will walk away with new insights, new friends and actionable ideas for their businesses. 


 



The June Wired Wednesday is a special event – it will be held in partnership with Net Change Week and will take place at MaRS. Net Change is a week-long event designed to explore how social technology can bolster social change. Presented by the Social Innovation Generation team at MaRS (SiG@MaRS), Net Change Week will tap into the potential that exists when new methods of communicating, organizing and mobilizing are brought to bear on chronic social issues. More details at NetChangeWeek.ca.

For video from Wired Wednesday during Net Change Week, check out our media page.

Whether it’s your first Wired Wednesday or you’ve been with us since the very beginning, join us for another fabulous night of invaluable insights, new & old friends, & of course your lovely hosts from RedWire (www.redwirenation.com). 


Date & time: Wednesday, June 10th, 2009, 6-9pm
Location: MaRS, 101 College Street, Toronto, ON
Theme: Social innovation

Guest speakers: Tim Walker, Beka Economopoulos, Sam Dorman

To RSVP, visit www.meetup.com/WiredWednesday/

Guest speaker bios:

Tim Walker is co-founder of Biro, a pioneering online creative firm that advises movement-leading organizations from around the world working for sustainability and social change.
This includes non-profits, charities, campaigns and campaigning green business. Drawing on almost a decade of experience in field, Tim provides strategic council for the company’s select tribe of long-term clients – including Greenpeace UK, 350.org, Global Zero and Brighter Planet – helping them grow their movements online. He is also the former Communications Director at the Adbusters Media Foundation.

Beka Economopoulos has 15 years experience as a grassroots field and online organizer, working with local, national, and international NGOs, community groups, and activist mobilizations.
Prior to her current role with Fission Strategy, Beka created and ran the Online Organizing department at Greenpeace USA. She is also the co-founder and director of Not An Alternative, a volunteer-run non-profit organization based in Brooklyn, New York, whose mission aims to integrate art, activism, technology and theory in order to affect popular understandings of events, symbols and history. She has been interviewed extensively and quoted on CNN, BBC, and the NY Times.

Sam Dorman proudly bears the scars of many (mostly) successful technology battles fought on behalf of nonprofit organizations throughout the years. With a background in communications strategy, new media, and facilitation and training, Sam brings a strategic and comprehensive creative approach to his work. He recently served as Managing Director of the League of Young Voters, a national youth political empowerment organization, before which he was the organization’s first Director of Technology and Internet Programs, and he worked at MoveOn during the 2004 election.

Social Tech Training (STT) returns to Toronto’s MaRS Centre, June 10th — 12th, 2009. Join us for our second hands-on Web 2.0 oriented intensive for people learning mastery in the social tech and social change sector.

To see videos and presentations generated during Net Change Week, go to our media page and click on Social Tech Training.

Thank you!

In 2009 the business case for online and social media is clearer than ever. No one working in social change can afford to ignore the opportunities offered by the web, and STT makes these opportunities available to forward looking organizations through this Masters level training. We bring together 65 emerging practitioners from across North America and match them with industry leaders in web strategy to create the next generation of social web strategists.

Our dynamic program helps move the sector towards a more innovative, creative, and engaged model of change and offers participants the social media expertise, story telling skills, and campaign ideas they need to take their online engagement to the next level.

For full details, including the full agenda, trainer bios, and more, please visit the Web of Change site.

Social Tech Training Advomentary from MaRS Discovery District on Vimeo.

Social Tech Training Partners

Social Tech Training Sponsors

May 11th update: Registration is now closed. A few more spots may still open up. To be added to the waitlist please email julia@communicopia.com with your name, organization, email, phone # and city.

Thank you!