By Leo Valiquette
If you are not familiar with it, the Canadian Toy Testing Council is a 55-year-old non-profit that enlists the volunteer aid of families to subject toys to the most rigorous testing possible – at the hands of kids.
The council’s philosophy is to evaluate each toy from a child’s perspective and gain their input. Each toy is evaluated based on its design, function, safety, durability, battery consumption and play value.
My wife and her sisters were toy testers for many years. We were given toys based on the kids’ genders and ages, they would play with the toy for several weeks and the parents would submit written evaluations.
Each year, these efforts by the various testing families are distilled into a report, just in time for the holiday shopping season, with the council’s recommendations for the best toys.
This process falls into the category of exploratory qualitative research, something for which a client of ours, Macadamian, is a tireless proponent.
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By Daylin Mantyka 
Last month’s contents were newsworthy and informative. Leading the pack was Francis Moran’s post on angel investors and crowdfunding, followed by Maurice Smith’s post on the definition of “Digital Media.” As always, we had some great contributions from our guest bloggers on presentation skills, leadership, government policy makers and entrepreneurs, among others.
In case you missed any of it, here is a handy recap of our posts, as ranked by the enthusiasm of our readers:
November 14: Angel investors can’t sit on crowdfunding sidelines, by Francis Moran
November 13: ‘Digital media’ evades easy definition, and so proper measurement, by Maurice Smith
November 11: Join Startup Canada for an entrepreneurial invasion of Parliament Hill, by Francis Moran
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By Daylin Mantyka 
Friday has rolled around yet again, which means we’ve compiled a short list of the top articles we read and loved over the week. Grabbing our attention were posts from Spin Sucks, Fast Company, Social Samosa, memeburn and velocity.
Why newswire services don’t work (and when they do)
In this article, Kate Finley questions the value of newswire services. She states they may be useful in some limited circumstances but mostly she is finding little value for her clients. Most of all, she says, newswires are not earned media. What do you think: Are newswire services worth their effort in this day and age?
What not to do when growing your company, from a CEO who’s done just that
Les Kollegian is the CEO of an award-winning communications agency and has had his share of ups and downs. In this article, he recounts five pitfalls he experienced during the growth of his company and then provides insight on how to avoid them. One of the five lessons learned was, “Don’t rush the hiring process.”
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By Francis Moran
When radio first came on the scene, getting the little box with its seemingly-magical mechanisms that plucked sound waves out of the air to actually make noise required users to know how radio worked. For most early radio adopters, it actually required them to build their own radio sets. As time went on, though, knowing how to operate a radio became common knowledge, and nobody had to be taught how to do it. That didn’t mean that the builders of radios and the programmers of good radio content became obsolete; it just meant that pretty much everybody knew how to use the tool while others, the experts, were still valued for their ability to build the tool and make it useful.
I used that analogy in a Facebook conversation yesterday that was prompted by my posting a link to an article that suggested that the job of social media expert will become obsolete as “youngsters (who) are already immersed in platforms such as Twitter and Facebook … enter the job market familiar with social media.” The article quoted Workopolis vice-president of human resources Tara Talbot, “People will need to be even more literate with social media just to get in the door and it will no longer be something that absolutely differentiates folks.”
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By Denzil Doyle 
One of the best networking opportunities in the Ottawa area is something that is known as Tech Tuesday and is sponsored by Terry Matthews. It is held on the first Tuesday of every month at the Marshes golf club and is open to the public. I have never seen a mission statement for the event but the people who attend range from entrepreneurs looking for money, to recent college grads looking for jobs. The focus is very much on information technology and how it can create wealth for Canadians.
There is no charge for attendance except for drinks at the bar. However, organizations like accounting and legal firms tend to serve some finger food for those who might feel the pangs of hunger before the event winds down.(It starts at 5:30 pm and ends about two or three hours later, depending on whether or not there is a formal presentation of some kind.)
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What’s in a name?
November 26, 2013 by Leo Valiquette
A company name that is a mashup of the founders’ initials. A company name drawn from the item the first business plan was sketched upon, or where the founder was enjoying a cocktail when they struck upon the idea […]
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Is your founder a Rob Ford?
November 25, 2013 by Jeff Campbell
The behaviors and acts of Rob Ford that are being amplified by media outlets around the world are comical at times, misguided for certain, illegal and problematic […]
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Great articles roundup: Misfit and millennial entrepreneurs, marketing teams and content marketing
November 22, 2013 by Daylin Mantyka
It’s Friday — which means that it’s time for the great articles weekly roundup. This week. we selected some read-worthy content from Fast Company, Under 30 CEO and Marketing Tech Blog […]
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‘They didn’t do any marketing. They just went to SXSW’
November 21, 2013 by Francis Moran
I’d be a semi-rich man if I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard someone point to one of the spectacularly successful companies that have exploded onto the marketplace over the last few years and say, “They didn’t do any marketing. They just …” […]
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The facts behind unhappy unpaid inventors
November 20, 2013 by David French
A recent story published by the OTTAWA CITIZEN on November 7, tells of an individual named as an inventor on a patent for foaming alcohol hand rub who feels that he has not received just treatment at the hands of his employer. Here’s the story […]
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Entrepreneurship: It isn’t really about the money
November 19, 2013 by Leo Valiquette
It’s Entrepreneurship Week.
There are events aplenty to recognize, celebrate and wax philosophical on what it means to be an entrepreneur, what it takes to be an entrepreneur, and how entrepreneurs should be supported, encouraged and nurtured […]
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What gets in the way of a great presentation?
November 18, 2013 by Anil Dilawri
I learn a lot from my clients. Recently, I witnessed a couple of clients who had dramatically improved their presentation effectiveness. Their delivery was good, their engagement level was good, the content was clear, but do you know what the secret sauce was? […]
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Great articles roundup: Content strategists, equity, content distribution, social media and startups
November 15, 2013 by Daylin Mantyka
Friday is the day for our weekly content roundup. This week, we’ve read and shared a number of interesting pieces published in Fast Company, Techvibes, Forrester Research, SmartBlogs and Forbes […]
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