PHEW! We made it! It was quite the process.  While it was certainly a shot in the arm to see Ottawa chosen as one of the Smart21 by the Intelligent Community Forum it did instil a bit of fear in me because the next round of applications for Top7 was apparently the hardest part – the really ...

Read the full story

As you may know, OCRI is very much involved with the development of the Innovation Strategy for Ottawa. For the past several months, the Innovation Strategy working group which represents Ottawa’s diverse knowledge-based community including education, research, government and industry has been working together to collect input and feedback from all sectors in the community. ...

Read the full story

Bernie Ashe was so proud as he introduced his little brother, Rob, to the Technology Executive Breakfast  (TEB) crowd this morning.  Introductions can so often be bland and a direct steal from the speaker’s bio but Bernie’s humour, personal stories and insight provided the audience with much deeper appreciation for Rob the person, and what’s ...

Read the full story

Taking questions from a somewhat surprised audience before he began his presentation, Pat DiPietro, Managing General Partner of Vengrowth Capital Partners, aimed to set the stage for his talk and ensure that he was speaking about what the audience wanted to hear.  That was clever but putting Mary, a local high school student who was there ...

Read the full story

For as long as I can remember, I have always had keen interests in an eclectic mix of areas from fashion to construction, event planning to medicine. If I liked it, I just appended it to the growing pile of things that I had an interest in.  As a young child I was exposed to ...

Read the full story

Initiative is universal and intrinsic, it is something that can’t really be fulfilled unless it truly comes from within. So if we all have it, why don’t we all take advantage of it?   Why is it that some  of us need that ‘someone else’ to push us and/or keep us motivated while others will attempt to ...

Read the full story

When I was in elementary school we used to have “library class” once a week.  At first it was when the librarian would read us a story and as we grew older it was when we would be taught mundane skills that we only realized were important later on:  how to use an index, find ...

Read the full story

BOOK NOW! Don’t wait too long to register as an exhibitor for this event. We’d hate for you to be disappointed when all the prime spots are gone.  Register now, get a great location and use the summer wisely to plan your space. Think creatively, constructively and strategically to catch the eye of the media, ...

Read the full story

Food for thought.  Not concrete, not a statistically significant way to measure society, not a stab at telling us in any firm way how the world works, but food for thought. Gladwell presents us with fresh perspective, either through novelty, or an unabashed free conscience.  Either way, the man is truly affluent in his abilities with ...

Read the full story

Yesterday I participated in a book club discussion centered around Social Media. The club, which meets about once every three months, met at the downtown Fox and Feather Pub and was discussing The Cluetrain Manifesto. The ‘Manifesto’ is a book by now 10 years old but not to be confused as outdated. It talks about ...

Read the full story