Product Camp Toronto: the schedule is now available

Tentative agenda for Product Camp Toronto – Sunday May 30, 2010 has been determined. Each session will consist of 3 or 4 individual talks or presentations.

9:00am Registration, continental breakfast
10:00am Welcome
10:15am – 11:00 am Session 1
11:15am – 12:00pm Session 2
12:00pm – 1:00pm Box lunch & networking, sponsor tables
1:15pm – 2:00 pm Session 3
2:15pm – 3:00pm Session 4
3:15pm – 4:00pm Session 5
4:00pm – 5:00pm Wrap up, feedback, networking, giveaways etc.

You can still vote for sessions here.

Based on the final online voting results, morning sessions will be selected and posted 2 days prior to the event.  Sessions for the afternoon will be picked by attendee voting at the event.

More details here

ProductCamp Toronto Spring 2010

The time and date for the next ProductCamp Toronto  has been set.

The Date: Sunday May 30, 2010

The Location: Ryerson’s Ted Rogers School of Management in downtown Toronto.

For those using Twitter, keep watching the  #pct3 hashtag.

STUDENTS & YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP – SUMMER COMPANY PROGRAM

Summer Company program run by Enterprise Toronto

The Summer Company program provides hands-on business training and mentoring – together with awards of up to $3,000 – to help enterprising young people, ages 15-29 (as of April 30, 2010) to start up and run their own summer business.

Summer Company is coordinated and delivered at the community level through the government’s Small Business Enterprise Centres by way of business mentoring groups. Business mentoring groups consist of volunteer business advisors from the local community.
Successful Students will receive:
An award of up to $1,500 will be given for start-up costs, and $1,500 award upon the successful completion of the Summer Company program;
a minimum of 12 hours of business training; and an opportunity to regularly meet with a local business mentoring group for support and advice on operating their summer business.

Free Entrepreneurship 101 Lecture Series starts at MaRS again

Interested in learning more about entrepreneurship? Looking to start a new venture? Wondering what can be done for your career during this recessionary climate? Look no further!  Sponsored by CIBC, MaRS offers a free, non-credit introductory course on entrepreneurship that introduces you to the nuts and bolts of building a business.

http://marsdd.com/mars/Events/Event-Calendar/Ent101

Free seminars for small businesses that want to become suppliers for the federal government

OSME – Ontario Region offers the following supplier seminars to individuals and groups. Seminars include the fundamentals of selling goods and services to the Government of Canada.

• How to do business with the federal government:
  This seminar provides information on how to market to the federal government, how the government does its buying, and how to keep track of opportunities to bid on Canadian government purchases.
• Understanding the procurement process and responding to bids:
  This seminar provides advice and guidance in preparing a proposal. Gain a better knowledge and understanding of what is in a Request for Proposal (RFP), how bids are evaluated and how you should respond to a RFP.

Register for a Supplier Seminar

SR&ED – for accountants and business management consultants

SR&ED is a government program that refunds companies their expenditures on research and development. (Some information on SR&ED)

How can you benefit from SR&ED if you are not involved in R&D?

If you are an accountant, a business management consultant, or do something else that brings you in touch with many businesses

SR&ED Q&A

What is SR&ED?

SR&ED (Scientific Research & Experimental Development) program is a government incentive program. It refunds Canadian companies involved in Research and Development (R&D).

PWC SR&ED Breakfast Seminar – Thursday, Jan 29

There were some recent changes in SR&ED procedure. If you are interested in SR&ED or involved in SR&ED claims in any way, you should attend.
Seminar description and link for registration

SR&ED is a federal tax incentive program that refunds Canadian businesses their research and development (R&D) expenditures. Learn more about SR&ED

Aunt Tania’s advice for an aspiring translator – continued

Some more advice (continued from here).

Q. I don’t know how to send an invoice – I do not want to appear unprofessional
A. Create a simple form including all the required information (date, your name and address, client’s name and address, short description of performed work, amount). No one will hold it against you if the invoice contains no bells and whistles. (Note that from the legal point of view you are not obliged to register your business, you can conduct it using just your own name.) I started using somewhat nicer form when I registered my own company (so now I have something like a logo in a corner) but the rest is pretty much the same. Don’t worry about the clients, they will look at how you do the job and not at how artful your invoices are. Besides, many of my clients do not require any invoice whatsoever – I name the price, they agree, I do the job and they send me the payment. Translation agencies usually ask you to send them an Excel spreadsheet once a month for all the jobs you did in that month, and they often give you their own invoice form to use.

Aunt Tania’s advice for an aspiring translator

I met some people at an event in Glendon college (where I take a course right now) and they asked me how to get started as a translator. I think I am very well qualified to answer this question: when I decided to switch from software development to being a full-time translator and technical writer, I started, practically, from scratch, and in less than 2 years I got to a level where I can support myself and my family, being a sole breadwinner. About 90% of my last year income came from translation.

So, here’s my advice to an aspiring translator in the form of questions and answers.