From BBC comes this story about an Australia court ruling that says a negative review from a food critic in the Sydney Morning Herald back in 2003 was defamatory. When the restaurant closed a few months after the review appeared, the owners of the establishment drew the conclusion that the negative review caused customers to stay away. (Of course, it just might have been the unappetizing food that led to the review in the first place that had people making reservations elsewhere). If this case holds up and other jurisdictions follow the Aussies’ lead, think about all the lawsuits facing guys like Mossberg at WSJ for writing negative (honest) reviews of a tech gadget that doesn’t fare well in the marketplace. Under the threat of litigation, we can expect to see more “average” reviews of products/restaurants/theatre.

Toronto Technology Week (TTW) is in full swing now. The local blogosphere is currently buzzing with updates from the mesh conference, one of the anchor events of TTW. At long last, the city is getting together to collaborate, network and celebrate our local technology successes. It is great to see the excitement in Toronto, and to be a part of it. I had the opportunity of speaking and participating in a panel discussion at the opening session of TTW on Monday.

For my keynote, we produced a short video that features Jay Goldman, Mark Relph and Ken Nickerson talking about their view on tech in Toronto and what we can do to get the word out. A couple people asked about it, so here is the online version of the video (thanks again for participating, Jay, Mark and Ken!).

As I mentioned in my speech, the Toronto tech community needs more events like TTW where we can not only meet and share ideas, but showcase some of the great innovation happening in our own backyard. But we need to think bigger?

Attendance at the opening was okay, but as business leaders and technology innovators we need to get even more involved, embrace these events and talk about great innovations – if we really want to put Toronto on the map. It was great to discuss how we can better market Toronto tech to the world. But next year I would love to see the TTW opening session packed with keynotes by tech gurus from around the world, like mesh has attracted some of the best and brightest from the world of Web business and social media.

Other regions like Waterloo and Ottawa have a much stronger track record in the tech area. They not only have incredible networking ops for all levels, from CEOs to developers/innovators – they also do a much better job of promoting the regions as a tech centre of excellence. Just think of the potential if Toronto had more networking ops downtown and more associations dedicated to enhancing collaboration across our sector. And what if everyone worked together towards a common goal?

I was absolutely amazed at all the innovation and great companies we have in Toronto, as well as the technology breakthroughs happening at our universities and colleges. As the third largest ICT centre in North America, we have a small window of opportunity to really differentiate the Toronto region, market that out to the world and drive more growth of ourselves as the place to build your business.

Toronto is a great place to work, live and build your career! We need to keep evangelizing, and TTW was a great starting point, thanks to ICT Toronto. Now what? Well, let’s keep going!

How would you market the Toronto technology sector to the world?

Mia Wedgbury

High Road co-founder and president Mia Wedgbury will be talking about new ways to market the Toronto technology sector during the opening session of Toronto Technology Week (TTW) on May 28th.

There are many events every day during TTW, including mesh, the Canadian New Media Awards, the first Annual Municipal Wireless Applications Conference, and EnterpriseCamp. The events calendar on the TTW website provides an overview and more information about all events.

As part of a Globe and Mail special about “Technology in the GTA”, Mia spoke with Paul Lima about “some of the PR challenges and opportunities facing tech companies in the Greater Toronto Area” and “how this metropolis should position itself as a global high-tech hub.”

How should Toronto tech companies market themselves to the world?
First, they should stop being afraid of mentioning that they are Canadian and located in Toronto. They think being in Toronto, as opposed to Silicon Valley, isn’t good. But look at Waterloo and Ottawa – the tech companies in those cities have a much greater sense of pride. Why do Waterloo entrepreneurs talk about innovation and their city with great pride?
We have to be prouder about Toronto and talk it up more. But in some ways, this reluctance reflects Toronto’s image of itself. The Toronto Technology Week [May 28-June 1] is a great opportunity to talk about Toronto.

The full interview is available online here.