Hany came to talk about the innovative work they’re doing at Ribbon in order to make the purchase conversion higher within the social networking space. If you’re a retailer, or even someone who’s selling product independently online – you NEED to check out the cool stuff that Ribbon is doing. As good as Hany’s presentation was, there was one thing that really stood out to us:

Jealous of @hany for scoring a super-short twitter handle #cmto13 pic.twitter.com/d0CRF8ZwYo

— Cory Stewart (@coryjstewart) February 21, 2013

@coryjstewart you should see the amount of spam at-replies I get

— Hany Rashwan (@hany) February 21, 2013

Then came bit.ly’s Brian Eoff  who chatted about the BitCoin – something he claims is worth it’s weight in gold. Brian was clever enough to send some of his gold to a lucky audience member (to the tune of $50 worth). The one thing that really stood out to us from Brian’s presentation was:

RT @TessaSproule: It's not how big your data is, it's how you use it. Big data only important as the insight u get i #cmto13

— EmbraceDisruption PR (@EmbraceDisrupt) February 21, 2013

After that came Trendrr’s Mark Ghuneim who spoke to the value of social TV.

@markghuneim: “You don’t have to watch TV alone anymore” — Trendrr quantifying 2nd screen interactivity data #cmto13

— Jan Jekielek (@JanJekielek) February 21, 2013

Stages of #socialTV: Passive (old), Persistent engagement (now), Perceptive (future-your TV "knows" your likes/habits) @MarkGhuneim #cmto13

— Tessa Sproule (@TessaSproule) February 21, 2013

How many out there are binge viewers? What are you binging on? It's been Mad Men and Breaking Bad for me #cmto13

— Cory Stewart (@coryjstewart) February 21, 2013

Sadly after Mark’s presentation we had to duck out – but can say without a doubt, we’ll be back next year. We’ll leave you with something that we thought was really stand out about the conference – a LinkedIn wall. Yes, every single attendee who had a LinkedIn profile was on display near the entrance. Genius? We think so.

Genius idea to have a LinkedIn wall at the conference. Can you spot me? #cmto13 pic.twitter.com/xbtKM4RPkN

— Cory Stewart (@coryjstewart) February 21, 2013

The first two speakers hit the stage after lunch!

Gini and Geoff spoke a lot about measurement and use of data to discover the true value of our digital efforts. It was amazing to see how many people were not aware of Google Analytics. Gini did a fantastic job stressing it’s importance, and rightfully so – Google Analytics is necessity online.

Next up, Tim Burrows from the Toronto Police. Tim really stole the show with great laughs, and candid conversation. It’s safe to say that Tim definitely improved all of the attendee’s perception of the Toronto Police force.

Scene stealer, Tim Burrows

Next came a quick briefing on The Remix Project – a fantastic initiative helping youth in Toronto to flourish in a variety of artistic positions while providing coaching and mentoring.

Finally, yet another scene stealer hit the stage to close out the conference – Film Friday’s Gary Vaynerchuk. Gary’s insights and outlooks on business and social media were so enlightening and refreshing.

He made one statement that I thought was incredibly bold, yet compelling:

Gary’s site has tons of videos and keynotes that are worth watching, check it out here. 

FInally, 2 of my favourite pics from the day:

Me and speaker/online buddy Amber Mac

Cool vintage taxi parked outside of The Fairmont Royal York during the conference.

Hope you enjoyed the brief rundown, and I’ll definitely recommend that you attend this conference next year. It was worth it’s weight in gold due to it’s fantastic speakers, content, and level of engagement.

All in all, a ton of fun – and just what the name Social Mix should entail.