By Terry Lavineway
The Ontario 2012 budget was released March 27, 2012. The general theme of the budget is getting efficiency out of the prior investments and government spending and cultivating the growth presumably inspired by previous stimulus budgets. This focus on efficiency carries through to existing programs and business-specific incentives, specifically with regards to research and development incentives and Apprenticeship Training Tax Credits (ATTC). Aside from these two areas, the budget was quiet with regards to specific tax credits and discretionary funding programs for businesses.
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By John Craig
My firm, Purple Forge, has developed a meaningful relationship as a supplier of mobile applications to governments at the municipal and federal level over the past two years. Given the integration of social and location-based information into our applications, we have been the defacto leader in implementing what is termed SoLoMo (or Social, Mobile, Local) with these institutions and borne witness to their trials and successes in leveraging mobile technology to engage with their constituents.
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By Francis Moran
The eyes of the Canadian commercialization ecosystem will be focused sharply on Toronto and Ottawa this week as the Ontario and federal governments bring down new budgets that are expected to considerably reshape broad programs of industrial, research and business incentives in each jurisdiction.
At the federal level, where the budget arrives Thursday, the main concern will be around the future of the Scientific Research and Experimental Development tax credit, a widely used program that accounts for well more than half of Ottawa’s annual $7-billion support for research and development. More than 24,000 companies every year underwrite at least part of their operations through this refundable tax credit that gets paid out whether the company is profitable or not. The fear is that the federal government will follow the advice of the Expert Panel Review of the Federal Support to Research and Development, a task force that suggested SR&ED be scaled back and the savings redirected into more direct funding of research.
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By Alexandra Reid
As a regular weekly feature, we provide our readers with a roundup of some of the best articles we have read in the past week. On the podium this week are The Globe and Mail, Phil Marks, Fast Company, Startup North and GigaOm.
How to get the media spotlight to shine on your business
As much as startups and entrepreneurs rely on social media to spread the word about their businesses and products, it is still surprising how much they covet coverage from traditional media and blogs. This article shares valuable advice for startups seeking that kind of attention.
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By David French
While recently on a trip to the United States, I was invited by an inventor with new technology relating to Cold Fusion to sign a Confidentiality Document, also known as a Nondisclosure Agreement, or NDA. I reviewed the document and I was reminded of the important points to consider before ever signing such a paper.
Inventors rely on non-disclosure agreements to preserve their rights to file for patent protection when disclosing their ideas to others during the development or funding stage of their inventions. Most countries in the world will not grant a patent, or uphold its validity in litigation, if it comes out that the inventor broke secrecy before filing a first patent application. This is the famous novelty requirement of patent law. Until further jurisprudence develops, it is likely that a single disclosure to a person who is not obligated to keep the information confidential will have the effect of invalidating the right to obtain a patent. Accordingly, it’s legitimate for inventors to want to discuss their ideas only on a confidential basis.
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My day at FounderFuel
March 21, 2012 by Francis Moran
When I first learned of FounderFuel, the Montreal-based accelerator program developed by the folks at Real Ventures, I asked if I could be part of their mentor program. I was pretty up front about […]
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Outsourced community management: Agency to B2B social media communications strategy
March 20, 2012 by Alexandra Reid
Outsourcing community management is a cost-effective way for companies to run successful social media programs regardless if they do not have the internal social media resources to support such activities on their own […]
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Great articles roundup: The domain name industry, writing lessons, advisory boards and more
March 16, 2012 by Alexandra Reid
As a regular weekly feature, we are going to provide our readers with a round-up of some of the best articles we have read in the past week. On the podium this week are CIRA, Globe and Mail […]
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The complete guide to optimizing new Facebook brand pages for your social media marketing strategy
March 15, 2012 by Alexandra Reid
Facebook has announced that it will roll out new brand pages on March 30. However, businesses and organizations already active on Facebook can take the tour and publish their new pages now. This presents an opportunity for social media marketers to prepare […]
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Looking for that sweet spot to get market traction
March 14, 2012 by Francis Moran
Sometimes, you need to take a step back to get two steps ahead. In the almost two months since we last touched base with Matt Lemelin, CEO of Genevolve Vision Diagnostics, this has certainly proven to be the case […]
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Tribal marketing
March 13, 2012 by Bob Bailly
My recent posts have looked at how our evolutionary past has shaped our modern business behaviour. Recently I looked at the desire to live and work in a tribal setting – a feeling so powerful that many of our business practices are based upon a tribe’s primitive […]
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Why I find the Stop Kony 2012 campaign so offensive
March 12, 2012 by Francis Moran
I first became aware of the Stop Kony 2012 campaign late on Wednesday evening and, from my very first viewing of the video, I had a sharp visceral objection to what I was watching […]
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The keys to delivering a killer pitch
March 09, 2012 by Martin Soorjoo
By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail
– Benjamin Franklin […]
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The Ontario 2012 budget was released March 27, 2012. The general theme of the budget is getting efficiency out of the prior investments and government spending and cultivating the growth presumably inspired by previous stimulus budgets. This focus on efficiency carries through to existing programs and business-specific incentives, specifically with regards to research and development incentives and Apprenticeship Training Tax Credits (ATTC). Aside from these two areas, the budget was quiet with regards to specific tax credits and discretionary funding programs for businesses.
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The Future of A&R – Walabe : [...] http://francis-moran.com/marketing-strategy/top-10-questions-every-strategic-communicator-should-ask... [...]
Traditional Marketing is Dead – Long Live Bikini Waxer Marketing | Scalexl : [...] pointed out by Alexandra Reid on the Francis Moran website content marketing is becoming more and more like journalism. So, it is not just about the content, [...]
It’s Summertime…and the Networking is Easy? | THE MERRAINE BRAIN : [...] In fact, summer is perhaps one of the times least used to network, yet at the same time has shown to be the most productive time to network. People tend to be in a brighter mood compared to during the gloomy winters-especially where I am from in England! Networking needs to be fun and not approached as another chore, like mowing the lawn. (http://francis-moran.com/marketing-strategy/social-media-strategy-why-meeting-in-the-real-world-matt...) [...]