Directors Blog

A great way to recognize members of the tech community!  The YTA Board determined that this is the year to start the Technology Leadership Awards - YTA members or non-members - those companies brought to the attention of the board as having made significant achievements in building their businesses while contributing to the 'greater good' of the tech cluster. 
Everyone who has heard of the new Awards has been delighted that the YTA has taken on this challenge and embraced the responsibility of drawing attention to the tech success stories that our members so often simply take for granted in terms of 'the way we do business'.
Aligned with our membership 'majorities' we will recognize three companies - one each in the start-up, scale-up, and grown-up categories.
Join us at the June 17th Awards and Member Recognition luncheon - sure to attain the status of a new 'must attend' YTA event.
Each of the award recipients will join the luncheon panel to share the recipe of their own 'secret sauce' including the things they wished they knew before they knew them, in the spirit of 'short cuts to success' the YTA fosters amongst members of the Association.
Come out and share in the celebration - book a table and bring your team or bring your clients - it is sure to be an event to remember!  -Pat.

Impressive that Markham hosts 22 top 300 companies.  Toronto lists 57.  Quite the achievement for the ICT companies and for the promise of sustained economic development of this area.  Congratulations too to the seven new members of the YTA receiving their membership certificates at the Branham luncheon last week. 

The 175 guests at the luncheon heard Wayne Gudbranson challenge the sector to use the capability and capacity of the ICT sector to make a difference in Canada's pursuit of the electronic health record.  Thank you Wayne for sharing your family's personal story and for the spark to our community to raise awareness and action in this critical Canadian opportunity. 

Wayne Gudbranson one time told me that he never wanted to be known as the list company guy; but that he thought bringing together the information of the Branham list would be a great way for Canada to see the depth and breadth of the ICT sector contribution to the economy, innovation and job creation. 
He has done both - known for the completeness and clarity of the listing is itself a significant achievement and deserving of Hall of Fame recognition; AND, each year the interest and excitement of the 'reveal' mounts for weeks ahead of the first presentation of the annual data.  Well done Wayne. The YTA is very proud to be a partner in the presentation of the data to the GTA community once again.

YTA is partnering with YorkU Office of Research Services to connect member companies with academic researchers who will qualify for NSERC funding in the search for innovative solutions to company problems.
Contact the YTA office if you are interested in participating in the 'meet up' this Friday where up to 10 companies and researchers are set to start the collaboration connection needed to access the funding needed to solve their problem...up to $25,000 for each initiative.  Email Patrick Shaw or call 905.415.4558 for more info.
   YTA - Fostering a vibrant tech ecosystem in the Greater Toronto Region. 

Congratulations to YTA member company, Compugen, Canada's largest privately owned IT solution provider. Company Founder, President and CEO Harry Zarek was recently recognized by VMware as a recipient of a
VMware Partner Network Award, winning the Global Partner Executive MVP category.  See the Compugen news release at http://www.compugen.com/pdf/VMwareNamesZarekForGlobalAward.pdf  

YTA is pleased to have Backbone as a media partner supporting the tech cluster in the Greater Toronto Region.  Now tech leaders across Canada can find information about upcoming YTA Events and Programs in the Backbone Magazine Events listings - and we invite you to join us at a Luncheon or event soon.  Check us out on  

Great attendance and terrific presentation arranged by E&Y to include CRA Tech specialist and client sharing experiences.  Wonderful seeing the sense of community demonstrated by both presenters and participants in this type of learning experience...'social' engagement and useful and practical 'knowledge' mobilization.
Thank you to Elizabeth Pringle of E&Y for putting this together and pulling it off with such professional demeanor.
Pat Shaw.

Congratulations and thank you to the many new members who have joined with their peers this year to reach 200 member companies.  The YTA is a community that appeals to tech leaders in the Greater Toronto Region for the collaboration, innovation and business growth that can be leveraged through their participation.
YTA peer to peer networks are actively shedding light on the "shortcuts to success" that many growing businesses are looking for...insight and encouragement from peers without constraints or strings attached.  Over 3000 people took advantage of the programs of the Association this past year. 
If you are not yet a member, come on out to an event or peer group meeting and see for yourself.  If you are a member, let us know what else you think your association could offer in the year ahead?
Pat.

Thanks to all of the members, new and old, that came out to the YTA Holiday Event last night at Marlowe.  A good group came out to enjoy some food, some Jeopardy and some good times.



The Holiday Event marks the end of the 2009 YTA Programming Year.  Thanks to everyone for coming out to our events and making this year a great success! 

See you all in 2010, when we kick off the New Year with the Deloitte Tech Predictions Lunch on January 28. 

Happy Holidays!

This month's luncheon recognized 11 new members to raise the total new members enrolling in the YTA to 25 over the past two months.  A great sign that the programs we are offering make sense for the tech community we serve.  Peer groups and topical issue luncheons attract tech companies interested in direct networking and the opportunity to learn from eachother  in the pursuit for better, faster business results.