Hundreds of people lined up to check out the grand opening of the first international Microsoft Retail Store at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre on November 16^th, the first retail hub outside of the United States.

Consumers, customers and Microsoft partners were excited to watch as the curtain dropped and the store doors officially opened in Canada – and High Road was thrilled to work with Microsoft to make it happen.

In advance of the grand opening, over twenty Canadian media were invited to the store for a sneak peek and had the opportunity to play with the latest products including, the coveted Surface tablet and the new Windows Phone 8.  The Microsoft Store manager, Alison Evans, and Microsoft’s Eastern U.S. marketing manager, Pete Harrington, were on hand to talk to media about Microsoft’s store strategy and what consumers can expect from the store.

On November 16^th, Toronto’s top broadcast stations were onsite to capture the excitement of the day.

The result? Tons of buzz both online and offline with attention from top tier outlets including Global News, CTV.ca and the Globe and Mail.  Not to mention, media and consumers were thrilled for the chance to chat with Microsoft Canada’s president, Max Long about the new store opening.

To kick things up another notch, Microsoft celebrated the grand opening with Wayne Gretzky and the band Train who were onsite during opening weekend to celebrate with consumers.  Gretzky was at the store playing Kinect with a few lucky consumers, and Train held a private concert on November 17^th outside of the Yorkdale mall.

Overall, the store opening was a huge success and Torontonians are delighted to have a Microsoft Store close to home.  Check out what people had to say:

This past weekend Boston Pizza enlisted the help of the largest parent testing community, Parent Tested Parent Approved (PTPA), to launch its new Kids Program complete with new menu items and fun for the whole family to enjoy.

Ten bloggers and their families gathered at Toronto’s Yonge and Sheppard location to try out the latest food creations, engage with the new activity packs and even got to meet a special guest—Lionel the Mascot!

Guests eagerly awaiting their meals

Among the tasty dishes were the BP Mini Cheeseburgers,  Pizza Pinwheels and the S’mores Sundae—just to name a few.  As part of the new program, the kids each received an activity pack in a small pizza box filled with memory cards, checker board and pieces, crayons and an activity sheet to keep them entertained.

Parents especially enjoyed that their kids were keeping busy as they sampled from the main menu with 26 new additions to choose from.

Guests interacting with the activity pack

While the food and activity packs were a huge hit, the real show stopper was a surprise meal time visit from Lionel. The kids were delighted to say hello and there was no shortage of flashes from proud parents as their kids gladly posed with him for some pictures.

The attendees were also busy tweeting up a storm and chatting about their favourite moments of the lunch time event.

Here are just a few of the great things they had to say:

Overall, the event was a huge success and a great way to launch the new Kids Program and celebrate family time at Boston Pizza.

Lionel the Mascot and kids

This blog is brought to you by High Road’s Tania DiVito and Rayanne Langdon:

You get 60 of Toronto’s top chefs together under one roof to celebrate their love of food in support of the city’s largest food rescue program.

Last month, High Road Communications teamed up with Second Harvest to promote the 22^nd Toronto Taste event at the Royal Ontario Museum.  The annual soiree, which is one of the city’s largest and most coveted culinary affairs, drew in more than 1,400 guests and saw the likes of celebrity Food Network stars such as Bob Blumer, Roger Mooking, Lynn Crawford and Mark McEwan.

The event theme was to recognize the importance of food rescue and was designed to empower Torontonians to give back to the community.  For each ticket sold, 250 meals are provided to those in need; this year enough money was raised to deliver more than 670,000 meals!

High Road was honoured to partner with Second Harvest to help increase awareness of the event and drive ticket sales through a strategic PR and social media approach.

The result? A unique experience for food lovers around the city; tons of event buzz both online and offline(with attention from top tier outlets like Global Morning, CityNews, Huffington Post, Toronto Life and more), a foray into a new social media channel (Instagram), and growth of existing owned properties for Second Harvest.

But as with any food event, the dishes took centre stage. Rubbing elbows with some of Canada’s top chefs was just a delicious bonus.

If you couldn’t make it out to the annual Toronto Taste this year, you can still support Second Harvest by donating online.