Share it! Social Media Week at MaRS

We are rapidly gearing up at MaRS for Social Media Week (@smwto), taking place in
Toronto from February 13- 17. One of Canada’s largest free digital culture festivals, Social Media Week (SMW) is the perfect match for the ‘lean’ budgets of many startups.

SMW explores how local and regional societies, cultures and economies are becoming more integrated and empowered through a global network of communication.

Why is it timely? The recent release of the GlobalWebIndex 6 (GWI.6), the world’s most detailed global insight study into consumer behaviour online, has revealed that social networking is still the fastest-growing active social media behaviour online, increasing from 36% of global Internet users in GWI.1 (July 2009), to 59% of users managing their profiles on a monthly basis by the end of 2011.

Must-see events

Here are some must-see events happening next week here at MaRS and beyond:

  • The Sharing Economy Revolution (interactive!) – powered by Uniiverse (who were just reviewed in TechCrunch) – To request an invite, contact me: nmonk@marsdd.com. This event will be hosted in the MaRS Commons, the new home of the MaRS Information technology, Communications and Entertainment (ICE) practice, and a hub in Toronto for technology consumer- and enterprise-based startups. It’s a fantastic 6,000-square-foot space, full of startup energy, advisory services, capital and events (such as:#startupbookclubTO). Come check it out!

More importantly, this event will be a great opportunity to meet and greet a fellow lean startup team (Uniiverse), and hear them discuss the ‘sharing economy’ revolution, which they are firmly behind. For more information on Uniiverse, visit their press page, follow them on Twitter @Uniiverse or visit them on their Facebook page.

Looking forward to seeing you all at the MaRS Commons!