With that in mind, we’re very pleased to be able to support this evening’s Heart for the Holidays event put together by the GenYTO crew and in support of the Hearth House Hospice.

But we’re not stopping there. This December 16 is the third HoHoTO event. Each one of these has been in support of the Daily Bread Food Bank and we couldn’t be happier having helped contribute to the over $38,000 raised at the first two events.

So please join us in celebrating 2009 and supporting those that can use it most. Heart for the Holidays is this evening at Marben, 8:00p, with tickets still available. And if you have your own charity event you’d like to share with the community, please post it on the Toronto Events Calendar.

The post ’tis the season. appeared first on Say Yeah!.

A good technical book will achieve two goals: inform and inspire. Now, a great technical book, that will motivate. It will force you to act. Not out of obligation, but with verve that’s usually reserved for a kid in a candy shop. And the Facebook Cookbook is motivating as hell.

It’s so motivating that I’ve passed off the book to our other team members, Matt and Jim, to get them on board with not just some of the Facebook app ideas I’d like to explore this year, but some of the other technical insights that are found in the book. We’ll see if they’re as excited as I expect them to be after having a read. And, who knows, maybe a great Facebook app will come out of it. As long as it doesn’t involve Zombies, I’ll be excited to work on it.

So, let’s talk about application ideas. Clearly, the Facebook application environment is super crowded, with volumes of applications in all sorts of categories, but there’s always room for new successes with a well executed idea. More important than anything, with the Facebook Cookbook Jay’s been able to get me to explore ideas that may otherwise have been put on the back burner, simply because of a perceived complexity in building for a new technical environment. The directness with which Jay and guests such as Jeffrey Tseng and Ilya Grigorik (among other great contributors) tackle not just the technical aspects of the Facebook Platform, but supporting technologies, Facebook specific marketing, and more, demystify this new environment.

Even better than breaking down the process of moving from idea to app to growth, across all of the key aspects of managing a successful Facebook app, the Facebook Cookbook is full of detailed and specific insight. For example, Application Notifications are limited (such as the notification you’d get from Scrabulous (now Lexulous) saying “Mike Fragomeni has played a move in Lexulous. You may have moves pending in other games too. Click here to view your games.” (By the way, Mike’s pretty good if you’re in the mood for a challenge)). The Application Notification limits are also based on user feedback. For example, your notifications can be flagged as spam, which sicks the Facebook Platform Police on you. So, you need to be very careful about how you manage your notifications. Rather than ramping up to the maximum number of notifications, play with your wording and context of delivery to ensure that you have a healthy opt-in rate, aren’t getting flagged as spam, and aren’t losing app users because they’re getting tired of all the messages they have to sift through every time they log in. Once you find the right balance, that’s the time to increase your flow of notifications. And, the more engaged your users are, the more notifications your app will be allocated. Win win.

There are great insights just like that throughout each chapter of the Facebook Cookbook. I know I’m writing more about idea generation and marketing. That’s simply because I don’t play much of a role in coding these days. That’s where the aforementioned Matt and Jim come in. I can say that the thoroughness of the technical aspects of the book is impressive, with Setting Up Your Environment, FBML, FBJS, FQL and FB API chapters accounting for 70% of the book. Each section with more great insights on subjects from caching to connecting to user data and other integration points.

Facebook Cookbook is so thorough that we not only find a great and relevant discussion on the social graph, but we also have the opportunity to compare the Facebook Platform against Google’s Open Social and the wealth of networks that are connected through Google’s platform. You even get an answer to the question, is it better for your app to have access to more people on different networks, or have access to a more connected network? Better yet, why not do both? Facebook Cookbook includes details for architecting your app to run on both platforms with as little rework and maintenance as possible.

All this and beyond the publication Jay’s still hands on continuing to work with the Facebook Platform to come up with new insights.

Clearly, I heartily recommend the Facebook Cookbook. Truthfully, I have just one complaint. This has to do with a tremendous error in the book that I really hope will be corrected in subsequent printings: Jay, the toilet paper should fall on the front. Come on, man!

The post Facebook Cookbook Review appeared first on Say Yeah!.

A great customer is gold. You enjoying working with them. They enjoy working with you. Man, could you ask for anything more? We’re so thankful for our great clients. And I wonder, what’s in their DNA that makes them so magical?

Time and again, this comes down to respect. And it isn’t just about a service provider relationship (our relationship). Their approach is the same with their employees, their customers, and often stems from their personal lives as well. It’s the old adage that you can tell if someone’s a quality person by how they treat wait staff. If they’re short, rude, or snappy with someone waiting on them, they’re probably putting on an act for you, while great clients are great with everyone.

Now, I’ve worked with some real jokers over the years. Customers who don’t pay their bills, ever. Or ones who complain when you won’t do twice as much work for half the price. (And most of those ones call on us again after we say no thanks, because they inevitably get crap work from the next person/company they try to pinch. But that doesn’t mean they respect you. It just means they’re desperate. But I digress.)

Great clients don’t play these games because they know that a reliable service provider (or employee) won’t be reliable for long if they aren’t treated well, which can mean as little as providing them with the resources they require to do their job properly.

There’s a great story on this subject that Scott Bedbury relayed in his book New Brand World. Following a disastrous ad pitch delivered to Nike by Wieden and Kennedy in the mid-80s, with his butt on the line as Advertising Director of Nike, when asked by Phil Knight how he was going to fix the problem Scott responded by saying they need to pay Wieden and Kennedy more. It may seem borderline ridiculous to reward someone for failure, but that wasn’t the point; Scott understood what was required of Wieden and Kennedy, and knew they could deliver if they had the resources to do so. And that’s a sure sign of respect.

So, how do we know our customers are driven by this culture of respect? Not one, but two of our customers have been recognized as Worldblu’s Most Democratic Workplaces, a sure sign of respect for their employees. So a hearty congratulations to Brainpark and CommunityLend for this auspicious acknowledgement.

And thanks for being so magical.

The post What do all great customers have in common? appeared first on Say Yeah!.

Last week’s Patio Friday was another fantastic day. With the imminent threat of rain in the forecast, our good friend Karin suggested the covered rooftop patio of The Pilot in Yorkville. To our oh-so-pleasant surprise the sun shone brightly over our afternoon and we lingered from noon or so until after six o’clock with some new and familiar faces.

I’ve always known that Toronto is a hotbed of business, technology and artistic talent and have had that insight tuned sharply over the past few weeks as Patio Friday has seen a steady rotation of engaging and bright people join us at the table for good food, beverages and lively conversations on life, love, and the world-at-large.

It’s not all fun and games though. Productivity can be pretty high when people are relaxed and with other like-minded folks. Prime example: the past few Patio Fridays have given the crew from Say Yeah great opportunities to hammer out ideas on some awesome projects with World Wide Web Foundation, TO Events Calendar, I Need Sugar Launch Party and more covert ops I’m sure will see the light of day over the Summer months. Hey, if you’ve got to work on a Friday afternoon, why not do it in the sunshine?

Last week’s conversations included the Iran election and the impact of social media on world politics, international import/ export of food products, urbanism and the impact of this shift on the economy, interpersonal dynamics, travel to Kenya, and new projects on the go including exciting stuff from @qasim, @shopcauses and @zoocasa. While the intent of Patio Friday is not to sell or promote any business, product or service, we can’t help but share the cool things we’re working on; we are, after all, a passionate community.

Those of you that aren’t able to join in the fun and meet these awesome people should still have the opportunity to know who joins us and what’s going on in the city. To this end we’re going to introduce you to the awesome people that sit at the table each week and offer a brief review of the restaurant. Consider this an expanded #followfriday supplement. If you’re not already following these fine people, check them out!

@SaulColt
Mayor of Twitter, Smartest Man in the World, Head of Magic ® at Zoocasa and graduate of the Handsome Boy.
Saul’s Blog.

@RJToronto
Displaced West Coast Buddhist hippie, advocating for refugees and human rights!

@MissVerna
Solutions Specialist at MSN TO. Sometimes I know what I’m doing. Sometimes I fake it. Happily married mom of 2!

@craigritchie
Web Strategist, Entrepreneur, Usability, Community and Social Media Builder. Generating and cultivating Big Ideas.
Craig’s site.

@thekarin
Fun, energetic, traveling foodie arty ENFJ trendhunter ninja at Cyberplex; into Advertising, Social Media and Strategic Planning. Travel, joy, design and film.
Karin’s blog.

@KevRichard
Recent Marketing Grad. Writer and analytical thinker. Interested in tech, social media and digital strategy.
Kevin’s blog.

@Qasim
Canadian web producer, audio visualist/ new media experimenter, dj, amateur chef and well, the list could go on forever…
Qasim’s site.

@CamDePutter
Consultant at Toronto PR agency. VP Marketing for local networking org CAWEE. Love great communications, cool business stuff, and food.

@Paul_Henman
Englishman living in Canada; scrum master / agile project manager; Linux geek; F1 fan; badminton player; photographer
Paul’s site.

@JeremyWright

@hyfen
The guy behind @torontoist, CUSEC co-Chair (student software conf), Varsity online editor, UofT computer science student, Ruby developer, cyclist, photographer
Andrew’s site.

@Merlene
One of the ElevenMoms, I’m a full-time Geekette and proud of it. One half of the TwestofTO team.
Merlene’s site.

@RandyMatheson
Toronto based Social Media Strategist, Interactive Designer and New Media Know-it-all at Delvinia Interactive. One half of the TwestofTO braintrust.
Randy’s site.

@Ali_Johnson

@MikeLevitt

And last, but not least, the patio review. The Pilot is a great spot! It’s one of the few rooftop patios in the city – with the added benefit of retractable canopies for rainy days. The menu is chock full of tasty treats, the prices are reasonable and the staff is super friendly – even if slightly over-whelmed by a large group of people coming and going throughout an entire Friday afternoon. Check them out the next time you’re in Yorkville looking for a sunny meal and nice people.

Since early May we’ve spent time on patios in Kensington Market, St. Lawrence Market, Yorkville, and King St. West. Feel free to let us know if there’s a patio in the city you think we should check out or join you on. Ideal spots will be able to accommodate large groups and WiFi – western exposure for optimal Vitamin D is a big plus! Have laptops. Will travel.

Get in touch with us on twitter: @PatioFriday, @PaigeSaid or @leedaleyyz

Article originally published on Paige Freeborn’s Brands, Business, and Buzz Blog.

Photo courtesy of Kevin Richard.

The post Patio Friday June 19, 2009 appeared first on Say Yeah!.

We just participated in our 4th Patio Friday of 2009 this past Friday, June 5. What a treat. Rahaf was in from Geneva in support of her book launch, so we had the opportunity to get Craig, Dave, Rahaf and I together to talk World Wide Web Foundation and the future of the Web.

Matt and I also took our early arrival time as an opportunity to discuss next steps for the Toronto Events Calendar. Really, why would you sit in a stale air, bulb lit meeting room when you had the chance to enjoy some sun and air. Invigorating.

We’re looking forward to continuing to be at Patio Fridays throughout the summer and would love to see you out, whether to discuss a project, idea, life in general, or just to enjoy the good company.

As Jevon said, “It looks like @patiofriday is going to be the thought commons in Toronto this summer. Get there and share.” Let’s make it happen. Fun in the sun, indeed!

Keep on top of the goings on with the Patio Friday Twitter account.

Patio Friday pics on Flickr.

The post Patio Friday. Gettin’ ‘er done in the sun. appeared first on Say Yeah!.

We’re happy to announce the Toronto Events Calendar, a central location for all of Toronto’s design, technology and cultural events.

There are already too many events sites, why should I use this one?

We created this calendar to group all of Toronto’s events together. We’re not trying to replace Facebook, Eventbrite or other event systems, we’re just here to help you find relevant events from those sites. As such, this calendar gives a quick overview of each event that is listed, with a link out to the official event page where you can go to find out more and sign up. It’ll also tell you what hashtag to follow on Twitter, so you can get in on the conversation.

And, yes, we’re super thankful for the hard work that’s been put into the Torcamp and TOGeekEvents calendars, but that’s just the problem: one person managing a Toronto calendar is near impossible with all the events that come and go on a daily basis. We want to save the aggravation and wiki the heck out of this, so anyone can add or edit any events in this calendar.

How does it work?

Events that are posted on the calendar are public. Anyone who visits can view all the events on the calendar. If you’d like to post or edit an event, you just need to register with an email address, username and password. We never share your info with anyone, not even leprechauns.

This won’t work without you, so please share your events and the ones you’re attending with the rest of the community. We’ll keep the data as open as possible and find ways to improve sharing as we continue to build out the calender and make all our lives easier.

What’s next?

This is just the first step in creating a truly useful event calendar, and we’re looking for your help. We’ve got lots of ideas on how to improve it, and I bet you do too, so let us know of your suggestions on how we can make this calendar more useful. You can use the comments, hit the feedback button on the left, or email us directly at events@yousayyeah.com.

Check out the calendar

You can access the calendar by clicking on the ’Events’ link in our main menu. So check it out.

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