Future Events

Gatherings

Join us for our monthly gatherings. Learn, connect, interact, and be inspired by some of Toronto’s most knowledgeable experts!

Gatherings

We will shortly be announcing our next gathering. Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter and follow Refresh Events on Twitter to get the latest news!

Workshops

Sign up for our workshops and learn from the experts in your industry. Get first-hand knowledge from industry professionals and walk away with new skills, insight and understanding.

• 

  WordPress: Zero to Hero

  Thursday, March 25th, 2010

  8:30am-5:00pm

  Rich Media Institute, 156 August Ave, Toronto, ON (map)

  Admission: $125

  Peter Flaschner (Keynote Speaker)

  A veteran of online marketing, Peter has worked in online strategy and design since 1997, for clients like Turner Broadcasting, Unicef, The Yellow Pages, MaRS, Hot Docs, Fox News, and many more. Peter brings a high degree of empathy, a killer eye for design, a sixth sense for business, the ability to teach, a desire to help, lateral thinking skills, and a love of technology to each and every project he takes on.

  Peter is a bonafide expert in the field of social marketing and social design for the web. In 2004, he founded The Blog Studio, the world’s first design studio focussed specifically on the then emerging social web. He regularly speaks and writes about social media, and has been featured in numerous books and articles and interviews. His web and identity design work have won a number of awards, is seen by over a million people per week, and generates millions in revenue for his clients.

  Nick La (Workshop Leader)

  Join Nick La, creator of the popular blog Web Designer Wall, owner of N.Design Studio, IconDock, and Best Web Gallery for a one-day immersion into WordPress, the world’s most popular publishing platform.

  If you want to learn how to create your own WordPress themes, understand how to use template tags and conditional tags to format and display the data you want, or how to use WordPress as a content management system, Nick will take you from WordPress Zero to Hero in 7 hours flat.

  This event is now sold out.

Past Events

Here’s a few of the events we have held in the past. View all…

• 

  Axle Davids, “Pragmatic Branding: How to Create Brands That Are Simple, Social and Scalable”

  February 16th 2010, 6:30pm

  Function 13, 156 Augusta Avenue, Toronto (map)

  Admission: $10

  Traditional branding is too slow, complicated, and un-collaborative for today’s pace of innovation and communication. To survive and thrive, brands must now be more than relevant, compelling and competitive. They must be easy to grasp, share, and grow. Drawing on extensive branding experience with industry innovators like AT&T Mobility, Applied Biosystems, and AutoShare, as well as his experience as a technology entrepreneur in the MaRS Incubator, Axle Davids will reveal the new brand strategies and new tactics to help your brand simplify, scale and succeed.

• 

  Scott Stratten, “Social Media Trends in 2010 and Beyond”

  February 3rd 2010, 6:30pm

  Function 13, 156 Augusta Avenue, Toronto (map)

  Admission: FREE

  2009 was the year of “What is Twitter?” and “Yes, I have a Facebook fanpage” but going forward, what are we getting into? This session will cover a variety of topics, including overused acronyms like:

  • ROI: How companies are planning to actually justify social media, instead of just “being there”.
  • FTC: Do the new guidelines come in to play for Twitter/Facebook/Blogs, especially for Canadian companies.
  • TMI: Location based social media, like FourSquare. Is it more than just approved stalking?

  Join us at 6:30 on February 3rd 2010 at Function 13 (156 Augusta Avenue) to hear Scott Stratten wax poetic on what 2010 has in store for social media.

• 

  Tamera Kremer, “The Social Tools Won’t Save You”

  January 18th 2010, 6:30pm

  The Drake Hotel, 1150 Queen Street West, Toronto (map)

  Admission: $10

  Social media is on everyone’s radar as we head into 2010, and while there are solid case studies proving the power of using the social web to drive business and relationships, social networking tools are not the answer to all marketing woes. Too many people believe that if you just open a Twitter account or run a UGC contest you are all set with customers, only to get burned in the space down the road. Social media is powerful when based on a solid foundation for engagement and a strategy that looks for long-term engagement vs quick hits. In this talk learn why integrating social media within the organization and engaging directly with customers and employees is the way to drive meaningful success, and what the tools can and cannot do for your company.

• 

  Panel Discussion: Using Twitter as a Customer Engagement Platform

  December 7th 2009, 6:30pm

  The Drake Hotel, 1150 Queen Street West, Toronto (map)

  Admission: $10

  Twitter is quickly becoming the de facto tool of choice for brands and companies to promote their products to a global audience. In keeping with the “engage, not broadcast” rule of thumb in social media, some organizations are also using Twitter to help customers solve tricky technical issues, resolve customer service complaints, or just find out why their flight has been delayed. If executed successfully, Twitter is a valuable tool that, when used in tandem with a larger social media strategy, can help companies engage with their customer, build new relationships and create an army of brand advocates.

  However, in a recent study by Weber Shandwick, only 9% of Fortune 100 companies examined used their Twitter account for customer service. The panelists (Jenn Godbout from The Drake Hotel, Brad Ross from the TTC, Shabnam Weber from The Tea Emporium, and Mary Pretotto from Rogers), moderated by Martin Rubio, will talk about their experiences with Twitter as a customer service platform, what they’ve found works, what doesn’t and shed some light on why Twitter is becoming a popular platform for customer engagement.