The founders of the Ottawa chapter of Social Media Breakfast (aka SMB) just announced the date of their next event - Tuesday, July 15th.

This month’s speaker is Rob Lane, CEO and Co-founder of Overlay.TV. Rob’s main responsibilities include being Overlay’s chief evangelist and community listener. With this input, Rob sets Overlay’s direction and creates an environment where the team can excel in the ever-changing space of video commerce and interactions.

A marketer at heart, Rob has built and led teams at both start-ups and blue chip tech companies in Europe and North America.

What’s Rob going to talk about?

Rob will cover two main topics:

The first will focus on video as a social utility using case studies from Overlay’s client base. The discussion will illustrate examples ranging from large agencies such as JWT to individual UGC producers at the other.

The second part of the discussion will focus how Overlay is using social media to build its community and business.

And the special guest is…

Also in attendance for this event is SMB founder Bryan Person! Join us in showing him some Canadian hospitality!

To register and read more event details, visit http://smbottawa2.eventbrite.com

Melany | Women 2.0 Canada | Ottawa Co-founder

I attended the inaugural Social Media Breakfast Ottawa (SMB Ottawa) event on Tuesday and was it ever a great time. Over 60 attendees came to Ramius headquarters to hear Adrian Salamunovic, co-founder of DNA11, talk about his experiences and lessons learned in using social media to build his company’s brand.

DNA11 is an Ottawa-based company that creates art based on your DNA. The art they create includes fingerprint portraits, kiss portraits and even portraits of your actual DNA.

Adrian attributes the success of DNA11 — the company’s art has appeared in Absolut Vodka promotions and on an episode of CSI! — to directly embracing the social media phenomenon. It is the bloggers and journalists using the web to share interesting news and stories with readers who helped launch DNA11’s explosive growth.

Social media golden rules…

During his talk, Adrian shared a few golden rules about using social media to build brand awareness.  A lot of these rules mean taking a common sense approach to any social media strategy and mirror PR best practices:

1. Have an interesting product or story. Be creative.
2. Know your target. Stay focused.
3. Understand which blogs influence your target (demographic).
4. A little bribery never hurts. (i.e. providing product samples to people with a genuine interest in reviewing your product, not to people just looking for a freebie)
5. Be authentic.
6. If possible, let an evangelist (company spokesperson or brand champion) do the pitching.
7. Be persistent (not annoying).
8. Build real relationships.
9. If you get into the ‘big’ blogs, the little ones will follow.
10. Measure and monitor.

Rinse and repeat, and there you have it. A social media strategy that’s helped build DNA11 into a global brand, and could potentially help you do the same.

More about SMB Ottawa 1

Check out these resources for more event recaps:

http://www.socialmediabreakfast.com/2008/06/12/recap-social-media-breakfast-ottawa-1/

• - Mark Blevis’ podcast and blog post
• - Andrew Alexander’s photos
• - VideoBot’s (by EventBots) VideoBytes

Save the date…

The next SMB Ottawa event is scheduled for Tuesday, July 15th!

Melany Gallant | Women 2.0 Canada | Ottawa Co-founder

Thanks to Simon Chen of Ramius, Ottawa now has its own franchise of Social Media Breakfast, an event started by Bryan Person (a blogger and podcaster Simon and I had the privilege of meeting during this month’s Community 2.0 Conference).

According to Bryan, Social Media Breakfast (SMB) is “an almost-monthly event where social media experts and newbie’s alike come together to eat, meet, share, and learn. Marketers, PR pros, entrepreneurs, bloggers, podcasters, new media fanatics, and online social networkers are all welcome to attend.”

Cities that host SMB include Boston, New York City, the Twin Cities, Austin, Memphis, Phoenix, San Francisco, Singapore, and Cincinnati. And now Ottawa!

SMB Ottawa 1 takes place Tuesday, June 10th.

The inaugural speaker is Adrian Salamunovic, Co-Founder of DNA11. DNA11 is a company that pioneered the creation of personalized artwork from the DNA of its customers. Much of DNA11’s success has derived from social media exposure.

To find out more and register to attend SMB Ottawa 1, visit at http://smbottawa.eventbrite.com. You won’t want to miss it!

Melany Gallant | Women 2.0 Canada | Ottawa Co-founder

Come join Women 2.0 Ottawa at the next Ottawa DemoCamp - scheduled May 26th at The Velvet Room in The Market.

For those of you not in the know, DemoCamp is a variation of the un-conference style event. PowerPoint is not allowed - presenters must give an actual demonstration of the product or service they are presenting.

Demonstrations are 15 minutes in length: 2 minute introduction, 8 minute demo, 5 minutes for Q&A and discussion.

It’s a fun event that brings together a wide range of people from Ottawa’s high tech sector. And it would be great to see more women from the high tech sector attending DemoCamp.

So we encourage you to come watch demonstrations of some cool products and technologies either already created or in the midst of development. Give feedback to the presenters, ask questions and learn about the cool technologies and products being developed right here in the Nation’s Capital.

To register, add your name to the registration list on the Ottawa DemoCamp wiki at http://barcamp.pbwiki.com/DemoCampOttawa9

The companies presenting at this month’s DemoCamp:

• - dD dot tv - beta preview
• - Stockify - Investing Software
• - SIMtone - Virtual PC, http://www.simtonecdu.com
• - picsphere - complete workflow solution for event and studio photographers
• - Ramius Corporation - Sixent.com (psst…Ramius is the company I work for - Sixent is our newest product)
• - myChoiceBot - Web app for shoppers researching any type of purchase decision.

Date and Time: Monday, May 26 from 7 to 9 p.m.

Location: The Velvet Room, 62 1/2 York Street, in The Market (b/w William and Dalhousie)

Melany Gallant | Women 2.0  Canada | Ottawa Co-founder

Women 2.0 Ottawa invites you to join us at Vineyards in The Market on Wednesday, May 7th.

For this event we have no set topic for discussion. Instead, we’ll get together for a casual conversation about whatever topics come to mind!

Event deets…

When: Wednesday, May 7 at 6:30 p.m.
Where: Vineyards, 54 York Street (In the Cellar) website
What: Super casual networking mixer for women in technology and related fields
Why: To swap energy, ideas, and experiences with each other

Please RSVP

Please RSVP for this event on the Women 2.0 Ottawa event wiki.

You can also email ottawa [at] women2 [dot] ca to to join our mailing list for upcoming Women 2.0 events in Ottawa.

Melany Gallant | Women 2.0 Canada | Ottawa Co-founder

If you’re stuck wondering how to leverage the Web and search engines to build leads and sales for your business, then consider attending tomorrow’s Ottawa Network event “Leads and Sales Through Web/Search Engines.

Stephen Lau of Salientmarketing.com will share his knowledge and experience in generating leads and sales through web/search engines and the importance of brand association on Google (search rankings and leads) Leads and Sales Through Web/Search Engines”.

Event deets…

Wednesday April 9th 5:30-7:00pm
Nepean Sailing Club, 3259 Carling Ave

Melany Gallant | Women 2.0 | Ottawa Co-founder

I’m a bit late in writing this event recap about Martini Tuesday because of home renovations taking up all my spare time. My husband and I are installing hardwood floors on the main level of our home (with the kind help of friends) and let’s just say our home has been turned upside down in the process. I am stealing a bit of time today to give you the scoop on a fun and informative evening we had on Tuesday with our Women 2.0 Ottawa members.

Kristina Mausser of Digital Word led this session focused on productivity tools for business with a discussion about Freshbooks, an online invoicing and time tracking service. What Freshbooks does is make it easy for you to send, track and collect payments - all offered as a hosted service. Read more »

Join Women 2.0 Ottawa on April 1 for Martini Tuesday in the ARC Lounge at ARC The Hotel.

For this event, Women 2.0 Ottawa has invited Kristina Mausser, president of Digital Word - a global web copywriting and communications agency - to lead a discussion on managing the financial side of your business.

This event continues a running series we’ve dubbed ‘what’s in your technology purse?’ Discussions will focus on the different financial tools available (aside from accountants and bookkeepers) to help you run your business. And one service Kristina will share with us is an invoicing and time-tracking tool called FreshBooks.

Event deets…

• When: Tuesday, April 1 at 7:00 p.m.
• Where: ARC Lounge in ARC The Hotel, 140 Slater Street (b/w O’Connor & Metcalfe) - directions
• What: Super casual networking mixer for women in technology and related fields
• Why: To swap energy, ideas, and experiences with each other

Please RSVP

Please RSVP for this event on the Women 2.0 Ottawa event wiki.

You can also email ottawa [at] women2 [dot] ca to to join our mailing list for upcoming Women 2.0 events in Ottawa.

About Kristina…

Kristina Mausser is one of Canada’s leading Web Content Strategists, nominated in 2007 for Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 award. Realizing early on that success in business largely depends on effective communications, Kristina graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University in English Language and Literature, and was selected out of more than 200 business-degree applicants for a highly coveted entry-level management position with Fortune 500 Company, Great-West Life.

After a successful career helping other companies with their communications and marketing strategies, Kristina launched Digital Word in 2004. Through her agency, Kristina provides expertise in identifying, positioning, and promoting key messaging online for clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to high tech start-ups.

Krisinta’s blog, Word Up! Life in the Digital Hood, has garnered national and international media attention and has been referred to from ZDNET, MacAddict, and BusinessWeek. It is currently syndicated through Computerworld magazine’s editor-approved blog network, TechDispenser, as well as through National Capital Scan, Ottawa’s news leader for the tech community. In 2007, WordUp! was featured on the culture.ca portal as one of the best cultural blogs in Canada as chosen by the Banff New Media Institute, Canada’s internationally respected art and digital research innovation centre.

Kristina is an active member of the web community and regularly participates in meetups, BarCamps and Mesh, Canada’s web conference. A strong supporter of women in technology, she is the past Director of DigitalEve Ottawa, and is a current member of CATA WIT (Women in Technology) Forum and Women 2.0.