Session 1 – How to balance innovation vs. stability with limited resources – Chris Eben
Many PMs have to balance supporting an existing customer base with infrastructure, platform and general enhancements while innovating to increase sales and market share. You can never do it all with the limited resources you have. A facilitated discussion on this topic would be useful

Session 2 – The Customer is Never Right – Stephen Pollack
We’ll review how some PM teams get too caught up in being led by the customer versus their own innovation — this can be detrimental to early stage markets whereas thought leader teams tend to do better.

Session 3 – Button Soup – How to make something from nothing as a product manager at a startup – Al Huzienga
PM’s at a startup can have a hard time reconciling theory with reality when they arrive day one – there often isn’t very much to work with. This session could focus on how a startup PM identifies the resources at hand, then grows them into an idea, an innovation, an opportunity, and finally a business. Real life war stories definitely required.

Session 4 – How to pitch your company to investors – Craig Hayashi
Practical advice on how to best pitch your product/company to investors for the purpose of seeking investment.

Thus we’re happy to announce that in addition to our traditional 60 minute (roughly) sessions, we’re going to give those of you who want to share your knowledge, but want a shorter format an opportunity to present.

Enlighten Us, but Make it Quick!

Based on the very popular Ignite series of talks, — where the motto is “Enlighten Us, but Make it Quick! — we’re going to provide 5 minute time slots to people who want to talk about something they are passionate about and can share with attendees.

The format is simple:

• You have 5 minutes to present your topic
• You don’t have to have slides, but if you do,  you get 20 slides maximum that will forward automatically to cover the 5 minute time slot. e.g. 20 slides means 15 seconds per slide, 10 slides means 30 seconds per slide etc.
• The topic should be related to the ProductCamp themes. i.e. related to product development, startups, product management, marketing, etc.

That’s it. I’m sure most of you reading this have something you can share with the audience. Maybe it’s a problem you solved, or something you learned in your job, or an experience you want to share. Don’t get too caught up in the rules, and if you’re not sure about anything, contact us at the email below. We’re here to help.

Don’t be shy. 5 minutes flies by quickly!

It’s only 5 minutes of your time, but you can impact a large audience.  If you want to present a short talk, or want more information, please contact Saeed Khan. You can reach him via the ProductCamp email — productcamptoronto@gmail.com.

And here’s a (5 minute) video describing how to give an Ignite-style talk!

We’re looking forward to your talks!

Tom’s focus as an analyst at Forrester covers Product Management, Product Marketing,  Social Media and Agile development.  He blogs regularly as an analyst on the Forrester site – http://blogs.forrester.com/tom_grant – and is a great advocate when it comes to educating the market about the disciplines of Product Management and Product Marketing.

We’re looking forward to having Tom share some of his insights with us at ProductCamp.

ProductCamp Toronto is a collaborative, user-organized, unconference focused on product development, product marketing and product management.

There is no cost to attend ProductCamp Toronto, but your participation is required to make this a great event.  We will be looking to you to lead a session or actively participate in the session discussions.  You can suggest a session here.  Check back here soon for updates on how the sessions will be organized this year.

Please register for ProductCamp Spring 2010 here.

A big thank you to Ryerson for hosting us again this year!

If you are going to attend ProductCamp Toronto, let others know but adding the following HTML into your site.

<a href="http://www.productcamp.org/toronto"><img src="http://www.productcamp.org/toronto/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/pcampbadge-attend3-border-small.jpg" alt="I'm attending ProductCamp Toronto, Oct 4, 2009" width="127" height="212" /></a>

If you are a sponsor, then add the following HTML to promote your support for ProductCamp Toronto.

<a href="http://www.productcamp.org/toronto"><img src="http://www.productcamp.org/toronto/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/pcampbadge-sponsor-border-small.jpg" alt="We're Sponsoring ProductCamp Toronto, Oct 4, 2009" width="127" height="212" /></a>

Either way, we thank you for your support.

Here’s what we’ve been up to. We have more people involved this year in helping! This is awesome! Folks are helping us with getting the venue ready, finding sponsors (know of any?), getting the word out through blog posts, tweeting etc. Thx.

I’ve asked the organizing team to leave a comment below that:

• Introduces themselves.
• Tells you what area they are leading in.
• Where they need help!

Some other really important things for you to know:

• You can register for ProductCamp Toronto here.
• You can submit a session topic, vote and comment on others here

Here’s something to get you going! A recent Globe and Mail article by Konrad Yakabuski is enough to stir some debate and conversation. Is there an innovation gap in Canada? Aren’t the products and services we bring to market innovative? Are our methods of developing products and satisfying the needs of our customers innovative? Let the debate begin. (By the way, we invited Konrad to come to ProductCamp Toronto, he loves the idea of PCT but can’t make it).

We really want to have a great event in the Fall, and thought that bringing some of you together would help kick things off. All you have to do is enjoy a beverage or two at our Pub Night next Wednesday, July 22nd, 6:00 PM, at Fionn MacCools, at 70 The Esplanade

Bring with you your ideas for sessions — either ones for those that you would like to lead, or would like to attend — and suggestions on improvements from last year’s ProductCamp. This will also be a great chance to network a little in the Summer, and have some fun!

ProductCamp Toronto Pub Night

WHERE
Fionn MacCool’s, 70 The Esplanade
( Google Maps: http://bit.ly/2c8aIx )

WHEN
Wednesday, July 22nd, 6:00 PM

We are pleased to announce that this year’s ProductCamp will take place on Sunday, October 4th at the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University!

A big thank you to Lea Sawal at Ryerson and everybody else for providing this great venue for the event. The setting worked out great for us last year, and I think we’ve got some ideas to make it even better this year!

If you missed last year’s event, ProductCamp Toronto is a collaborative, user-organized unconference, focused on software product marketing and product management. At ProductCamp there are no “attendees,” since everyone participates in some manner: This means you get to present, lead a roundtable discussion, share your experiences, help with logistics, help secure sponsorships, or volunteer. ProductCamp is a great opportunity for you to learn from, teach to, and network with professionals involved in Product Management, Marketing, and Development, in Toronto and the surrounding areas.

Pre-Register here:
http://pct2009prereg.eventbrite.com/

And follow us on Twitter for the latest updates:
http://twitter.com/PCToronto

Stay tuned for more!

Here are some highlights from last year’s event: