To build excitement with online influencers and showcase opportunities for developers, Microsoft Canada hosted a Windows Phone 7 blogger night on Tuesday.

With 17 bloggers in attendance, Microsoft was able to give influencers a sneak peek of some cool new apps, including Songbuzz, Smiles and Sudoku 3D, as well as other apps that developers have been working on for Windows Phone 7 pre-launch.

The bloggers tweeted all night using the #WP7Dev hash tag, and by all accounts they were excited by what they were shown.  Stay tuned for more on Windows Phone 7, but in the meantime, check out Joey deVilla’s blog post on the event.

LG Electronics Canada helped usher in September with an exclusive media preview event at the High Road offices, showcasing a pair of 3D HDTVs from their brand new INFINIA line and a series of advanced networking options from their home theatre line.

This immersive single day session was led by Frank Lee and Kevin Andrews from LG, offering an intimate, detailed look at these incredible HDTVs. A dozen top Canadian media “geeked out” to the max, as journalists from the Toronto Star, Toronto Sun, Sympatico.ca, Marketnews and elsewhere speculated on the viability of 3D for the home market, the changing face of the local cable providers and the increasing pressure to offer smart, affordable HD and 3D content to Canadians everywhere. The event was good, ol’ fashioned public relations in its purest form and truly showed the value of engaging media in thoughtful two-way discourse.

Frank even commented at the end of the session that he learned as much from the attendees as they learned from him—a “win win” situation for all involved and proof that a strong media event can provide coveted industry insight far beyond the resulting press coverage and blog posts.

… Not a bad way to wrap up the summer and ease into TIFF season!

This week, Mia’s column addresses the hesitation that some business owners have about integrating social networking into their public relations strategy.

She writes: “The idea of putting yourself and your products on display for uncensored, uncontrolled commentary may seem scary – but if it’s done right, the benefits are staggering.”

In the column, Mia features a truly inspiring entrepreneur: Hana Zalzal, president and founder of the globally successful CARGO Cosmetics. Zalzal has found innovative ways to use social networking tools such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to seek product feedback and improve customer loyalty, fully inviting her customers to “co-parent” the CARGO brand.  Even more uniquely, Zalzal personally checks each and every post on her company Facebook page.

“As business leaders, our companies and our brands are so important to us,” writes Mia. “We engage advisory boards, conduct surveys and hold focus groups to ensure we’re on the right track. Social media has taken public engagement to the next level: with a bit of investment and a solid strategy, much stronger relationships with our customers are right at our fingertips.”

Check out her column every Thursday in the Globe and Mail’s Report on Business.