IN THIS
ISSUE
Six Tricks on Social Media
Twitter
•Including a picture will increase a
tweet’s shareability by 94 per cent.
•Using 100 characters will increase
retweets by 17 per cent.
Facebook
•Posts with 40 characters get 86 per
cent more attention.
Instagram
•Texture-heavy images are more
popular by 79 per cent.
•Blue-dominant photos get 24 per cent
more likes.
LinkedIn
•By posting every week your chances
of being contacted by a recruiter
increase 10 fold.
CONTACT HUMBERLAUNCH
[email protected]
3180 LAKE SHORE BLVD. W
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA
M8V 1L7
416.675.6622 EXT 79250
CONNECT WITH US
/HUMBERLAUNCH
Community and
Students
Collaborate
SPRING 2015
On March 12, 2015, HumberLaunch hosted Startup Skills Mixer, an event
bringing entrepreneurs in the Etobicoke community and students of Humber
College together.
The event provided attendees, with a place to network and build relationships.
Entrepreneurs with gaps in their businesses sought students with newly
acquired skills, hoping to fulfill their business needs. Students were able to
network with business professionals and potentially walk away with a new job
opportunity.
Additionally, attendees were given the opportunity to participate in speed consulting sessions. Industry professionals were placed at stations around the
room covering marketing, legal, social media, technology, business, strategy,
digital media and advertising, design and stokehold goals, business strategy
on disruptive innovation, marketing and sales, launching internationally, and
lastly legal structure and contracts.
UPCOMING CLASSES
The event was generated out of Startup Weekend, an event HumberLaunch
hosted in October 2014. Feedback from the event suggested entrepreneurs
were finding it difficult to locate individuals with technological skills. Startup
Skills Mixer was thus created as a place where these skills could be found in
plenty.
Rest Revolution
Does this event sound like something you may be interested in?
Sunday, April 19th at 2 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
HumberLaunch often hosts events bringing business professionals, Etobicoke
community members and students together. To stay updated with every event,
sign up for the HumberLaunch mailing list.
Community Outreach
Project Co-ordinator
Mindful Meditation
Thai Yoga Union
With champagne & chocolate
Sunday, April 26th at 2 p.m. - 4 p.m.
Yoga & Meditation in the High Park
Labyrinth
Sunday, May 24 at 10:30 a.m. - 12 noon
Yoga in Marie Curtis Park
Program Manager
SARAH LENARCIC
Sunday, April 12th at 2 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
A Walk In the Park
CHERYL MITCHELL
Program Assistant
Social
Media
Tricks
HumberLaunch
BUSINESS IDEA
FINDING TALENT AND CREATING
CONNECTIONS TO GROW YOUR
Visit humber.ca/humberlaunch
MARISA TOMASSI
LaunchPad and
Entrepreneur
Award Winners
Saturday mornings,
June to August 2015
BRAM CHERUN
Program Assistant
Urban Retreat
Detox Yoga & Meditation
Sunday, June 7th at 2 p.m. - 5 p.m.
HumberLaunch recently opened to the community and is proud to have
community member Marlene Sammy, owner of Branch Yoga & Wellness, join.
Located at 3473 Lake Shore Blvd West in Etobicoke, Branch Yoga is a
boutique yoga and wellness studio offering a large variety of classes
including, yoga basics, vinyasa flow, restorative yoga and aerial.
Marlene hopes to create a safe space for everyone to ‘branch out’ and
embark on journeys to discovering and living their most fulfilling and
authentic lives.
The studio sets itself apart from other yoga studios with its unique
classes, workshops and private services, including Wellness Coaching,
and Thai Massages with champagne and chocolate. Every Thursday
night there is a live DJ in vinyl vinyasa to keep you moving and sweating
to the beat! In addition, Marlene will travel and host in-studio movement, self-esteem and wellness events for local schools and businesses.
Recently, Branch Yoga & Wellness was named one of the Top 5 New
Yoga Studios in Toronto for 2014 by BlogTO! If you think you may be interested in joining, new members are welcome to try 30 days of unlimited yoga for $40.
For more information, visit: www.branchyoga.com
HumberLaunch is excited to have Marlene as a member and hopes to
see many more community members join. If you believe HumberLaunch
can provide you with support and are looking to become a member,
you can apply today.
Visit www.humber.ca/humberlaunch/member/register
MARK
STOIKO
INTRODUCING HUMBERLAUNCH’S
BUSINESS MENTOR
Mark Stoiko has been a part of
HumberLaunch as a mentor for
three years now. In addition,
he is a partial-load professor in
the Business School at Humber
College.
He is an expert in business
planning, general management,
marketing and high-level
conceptual selling.
Mark possesses a diversified
background in the financial
services, marketing, advertising
and marketing research industries,
having operated his own
advertising agency and marketing
research firms.
For several years Mark was a
member of Maple Leaf Angels in
Toronto, and mentored several
entrepreneurs in early stage
companies. He has mentored over
six unique members up to date
and can be seen at most of our
events as a consultant.
HumberLaunch Hosts Their First
Ever Entrepreneur Awards
Congratulations to all of the recipients!
For the first time ever, HumberLaunch hosted the Entrepreneur Awards,
offering individuals and businesses the opportunity to apply for the chance
to win up to $2,000. The funds are to be used in a way that will help their
business grow. All entries were reviewed and scored by a panel of industry
leaders. The 2015 recipients are as follows:
Entrepreneur of the Year Award
Winner: Zak Katz
Runner-up: Possibly with Dynamite
Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award
Winner: SoundStill Productions
Runner-up: Branch Yoga & Wellness
The LaunchPad Winners Have Been Announced
Check out which HumberLaunch members won a share of the $40,000!
HumberLaunch held the LaunchPad final pitch component on March 21, 2015 at Humber College, North
campus. The final eight entrepreneurs presented their pitches to a panel of experienced judges who awarded
the $40,000 grand prize amongst the winners.
Mentor of the Year Award
“This year the competition was fierce. All finalists are extremely passionate about their businesses, making
the decision process for the judges challenging,” said Cheryl Mitchell, program manager, HumberLaunch.
“HumberLaunch is happy to help entrepreneurs develop and nurture their business ideas. Congratulations to
all involved.”
Start-up of the Year Award
The top four winners were Flexible Integrated Tactics (F.I.T) awarded with $12,000, Rent4Students with
$10,000, Gig with $5,000, followed by Dsyk. Music with $4,000.
Innovation of the Year Award
F.I.T., which was founded by Fashion Arts student Madeline Pishori, provides a service called FitMyIntake, a
basket containing all the necessary dry ingredients for a full days’ worth of healthy meals. FitMyIntake also
provides informational cards with recipes and a code to download an app to assist with each meal
Winner: Steve Bang
Runner-up: Elizabeth Fenuta
Winner: Ansik Inc.
Runner-up: Aqua Greens
Winner: Aqua Greens
Runner-up: Possibly with Dynamite
Tweet @HumberLaunch the number one business tool
you can’t live without. Use the hashtag
#ToolsForLaunch for a chance to win a special prize
pack!
“I am so overwhelmed, this is such an amazing accomplishment and to have it all actualized after working so
hard for everything, it is just an amazing feeling.” said Madeline Pishori, founder, F.I.T
The LaunchPad competition was introduced in 2012 and attracts more than 40 applicants annually.
Candidates meeting selection criteria are narrowed down to 16 semi-finalists who then participate in two
unique pitching events. Eight finalists compete in the final pitching event, where $40,000 is shared among the
winners.
For more information visit www.humber.ca/humberlaunch/thelaunchpad