Sponsor Spotlight: FreshBooks

FreshBooksManaging the financials for a conference like WordPress can be a real headache. Sponsors, venues, food and drink costs, insurance… there’s a lot of stuff to fuss over. Thankfully, we’re using FreshBooks. The Toronto-based SaaS is like a painkiller for account management migraines. Thanks for the support, FreshBooks!

FreshBooks is Planet Earth’s leading online invoicing and bookkeeping service for small businesses.

Their mission is to deliver fast and simple invoicing and time tracking services that help you manage your business. They call these Unaccounting services and they will:

  • Save you time
  • Be easy to use
  • Make you look professional (think Fortune 500)
  • Let you manage your books without an accountant
  • Secure, encrypt, and back up your data
  • Be available 24/7 from anywhere with any computer
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Sponsor Spotlight: Headshots Rentals

HeadshotsHeadshots Rentals (1122 Dundas Street East) is supplying the video recording equipment for WordCamp Toronto 2011. Thanks to their generous support, as well as our volunteer editor Paul Bearne, you’ll be able to find all of the #WCTO presentations on WordPress.tv!

Established in 1990, Headshots sells and rents professional level products with the service to match. We are the Canadian distributor of Bowens lighting and the exclusive Ontario dealer of Hasselblad. Headshots joined with Henry’s Cameras in 2007 and have been growing ever since, recently adding professional video.

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Sponsor Spotlight: Make Web Not War

Make Web Not WarMake Web Not War is a passionate community of tech enthusiasts.   The group was originally started as an event organized by Microsoft Canada, which has grown into a diverse community of developers, technologists, business owners & students across Canada. They welcome anyone who is excited about the latest trends in web, mobile, cloud and open data.

Whether you like .Net, PHP, Python, Java, Ruby, use Open Source or Commercial software, or both – Make Web Not War is about building technology solutions that work together.

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We’re getting close – WordCamp Toronto 2011 is only two weeks away!

Happy Friday, Toronto WordCampers!

It’s been a crazy week at #WCTO HQ – there’s a whole lot of finalizing going on. Here’s the rundown:

  • Everyone: Our schedule has been finalized. The after-party @ Habanero’s kicks off at 6:30pm on Saturday, November 5th.
  • Speakers: You’ll be receiving information on George Brown’s A/V support, and other details, in the next couple of days.
  • Volunteers: If you signed up to volunteer, you’ll hear from us within the next week.

The WordCamp Toronto Organization Team

Continue reading We’re getting close – WordCamp Toronto 2011 is only two weeks away!

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Sponsor Spotlight: Habanero’s Restaurant

Habanero's RestaurantHabanero’s Restaurant, at 52 Wellington St. E., is only a short walk from WordCamp Toronto. That’s a good thing, because after a Saturday full of WordPress, we’re all heading over to Habanero’s to keep the momentum going!

We’ll be gathering at Habanero’s Restaurant @ 6:30pm on Saturday, November 5th. Complementary munchies will be provided, and Habanero’s will be closed for a few hours, making this a WordCamp-only event… so come and join us!

(FYI: For those of you from Toronto, Hernando’s Hideaway changed their name to Habanero’s. Same owner, same place, different name.)

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WordCamp Toronto 2011: Schedule now available!

The schedule for WordCamp Toronto 2011 is now available! Registration kicks off at 8:00am on Saturday, and our closing remarks are set for 5:00pm. Following the closing remarks, everyone is invited to join us at Habanero’s restaurant for food and drinks.

Our hands-on Sunday workshops begin at 12:00pm, with WordPress sandbox installations, before splitting off into our three workshop tracks.

Please note: Although we’re calling this a “tentative” schedule, we don’t expect it to change much — if at all — between now and November 5th.

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Sponsor Spotlight: Jetpack

JetpackSupercharge WordPress with tools that help you to blog better and faster — all by activating a single plugin. Jetpack is a suite of great add-ons that are fully supported by the team behind WordPress.com.

With Jetpack…
you can get better feedback on your site’s popularity with WordPress.com Stats
never publish a typo again with After The Deadline
readers will love the social features from Sharedaddy (including sharing posts on Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon and many others)
Twitter Widget lets people know your latest 140-character thoughts
and there’s lots more!

Find out more, and download Jetpack, at Jetpack.me

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Sponsor Spotlight: BraveNewCode

BraveNewCode Inc. (est. 2008) is a WordPress plugin shop with its offices in Canada.  Since that time it has developed several WordPress themes and plugins, developing and designing with a standard of quality that has become renowned in the WordPress community.

They’re best known for their stand-out WordPress plugins: WPtouch & WPtouch Pro(mobile theme add-on), WordTwit & WordTwit Pro (Twitter publishing suite for WordPress).

See their website.  Follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

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Sponsor Spotlight: George Brown College

George Brown CollegeAs anyone who has tried to set up a non-profit community event like WordCamp can probably tell you, finding a suitable venue is tough. Sure, if you’re running a big conference and charging lots of money, venues will be lining up to get your business. But, when you tell them you don’t want to pay for the space, they suddenly lose your phone number.

When we contacted George Brown College about WordCamp, not only did they return our call, Jonathan Gould, Chair of the Business and Media Arts Progam at the Centre for Continuous Learning, was excited to be involved with WordCamp! What a pleasure it is to find a venue like George Brown, and someone like Jonathan, who know what WordCamp is, and are eager to help make the event a success!

For more information about the programs offered at George Brown, check out their Continuing Education website.  And, just to illustrate how up to date their programs are, take a look at the WordPress for Designers course, new this fall!

Many thanks to George Brown College, and Jonathan Gould, for providing such a terrific venue for WordCamp Toronto 2011, and for making one of the hardest parts of organizing a conference like this seem easy!

For more info about the venue, take a look at Location and Facilities.

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Discount Rate at Holiday Inn Express

The Holiday Inn Express, at 111 Lombard Street, is only a short walk from our venue at George Brown College, and has offered a discounted room rate to attendees of WordCamp Toronto.
The discounted rate is $119.00 per night (single or double) and includes a full breakfast.
To get this discounted rate, you must call the hotel directly at 416-367-5555 and mention that you want the discount for WordCamp Toronto. (Update: There was some confusion, and hotel staff couldn’t find discount. Issue should be solved now, but if there is a problem, ask for the George Brown College rate.)

More details and a map here.

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