Thanks to David Alston at radian6, we’re having our first Third Tuesday (actually being held on Wednesday) Social Media Meetup in Fredericton (January 9th, 7:00 pm).  Jason Falls, Social Media Explorer from Kentucky is in town next week and we’ll have the opportunity to talk with him.

As David says;

Jason is definitely a pioneer when it comes to social media. If you are on Twitter you would probably be aware of his social media experiment with Robby Gordon’s Baha1000 race. Not only is Jason extremely knowledgeable in the use of social media but his posts are very entertaining. He has a great sense of humour and uses it to convey his points on a regular basis. It promises to be a great evening of sharing, stories and networking. Make sure to RSVP and bring along a guest.

As I mentioned in my previous post, this year is about making connections in real life. So let’s start off the New Year right.

You can follow Jason on twitter.  Join Third Tuesday NB Social Media Meetup to find out more details about the event.

I’m not a transit user anymore but I can see the value in this, especially in Fredericton. Visitors, new students and new residents especially will find it easier to reach their destination.

Fredericton Transit has joined with Google to offer a mapping service that allows transit riders to not only map out their routes, but to get walking route suggestions and projected durations of their trips at different times in the day.

It would come in handy for anyone who has tried to make sense of some of the transit routes where if you need to go to one side of the North Side to another area of the North Side by crossing to the SOUTH side of the river.

 
(Click for larger image) 
Fredericton Transit

NB has made some good progress with the transit systems and the use of the web as Moncton had wifi implemented on their transit not that long ago.

Speaking with Chris Nadeau at Evolving Solutions was a pleasure. I found him to be modest and confident with an evident passion for what he was doing. 

What is Evolving Solutions?

My brother Adrian and I formed Evolving Solutions 7 years ago. In 2004 we moved into our office space where we are now in Saint John, NB. At Evolving Solutions we offer several products:

Big Santo - CMS web marketing system

Office Gateway - Online Office Project Management

Envoy - Email Marketing

YourTeamOnline - branched off of Evolving Solutions and is now it’s own company. It was originally created as Elite Coach, a product for coaches, but that evolved into the current YourTeamOnline which launched it’s beta on November 6, 2007 as a product for coaches and players to manage their teams and share with others.

Other services include web design, logo design, hosting and consulting.

I covered more of YourTeamOnline Recently that has links to a review from StartUp North and comparison with its competiton Team Page with this blog posting.

What makes you tick?

The web and sports.

Can you share some information about your clients? Success stories?

YourTeamOnline has 700 teams on it including a team in Italy. Evolving Solutions has severeral small to mid-sized companies that it provides products and solutions. Something that was very unusual compared to most other companies at ThinkNB is that 85% of it’s business comes from within Atlantic Canada.

What technology is used at Evolving Solutions?

Java integration, java api.

Are you funded or self-funded?

Evolving Solutions is Self-Funded. YourTeamOnline received a New Brunswick Innovation Fund of $50,000.

How are you marketing Evolving Solutions?

Primarily through building relationships. Although YourTeamOnline being a social networking aspect, it is virally marketed through blogs and other social media.

Who are your competitors?

Mighty Community and Spheric would both be local competitors.

Do you find it challenging being located in NB?

No

What does Evolving Solutions have that makes it stand out among everyone else?

Simplicity, no jargon and building relationships.

Chris really seemed to understand the value of relating to people in everyday terms. Their marketing reflects that and I think it will be an asset to them.

What’s next for you guys?

YourTeamOnline will continue to grow. There are lots of great features that we’ll be looking to grow and build on.

I think their passion and desire to really make a difference will take them far. You can also follow along with Chris on his blog.

thinkNB launched tonight for a mix and mingle with exhibitors and guests at the Aitken Center in Fredericton. Tomorrow is a full day event open to the public. I had the opportunity tonight to meet with a few of the exhibitors and talk to them about their businesses. It was all rather loose this evening and tomorrow I’ll dive more into specific questions when I talk to various technology industry demographics. I used this event as my first time trying out utterz.

I met Dan Martell from Spheric last year at a Wizard Academy workshop put on by the Fundy Group. We have always had lots to discuss about web 2.0, online marketing and social networking. Tomorrow I’ll be talking to Dan and the others at Spheric tomorrow to find out exactly how they’re lazy but for now here’s an utterz from Dan.

radian6 is a Fredericton, NB based start-up that provides advertising and PR professionals a way of monitoring social media. Social media is having a huge influence on how brands are being perceived by consumers. As web users we often participate in social media. Who hasn’t joined facebook yet? Myspace, youtube, blogging, digg, twitter and more all litter the web 2.0 landscape. radian6 has provided a solution to monitor these online conversations

Today radian6 announced that Weber Shandwick, a worldwide leading PR firm will be implementing radian6’s social media monitoring solutions throughout it’s offices worldwide.

When radian6 first launched, there were skeptics about the need for another social media monitoring tool. But I think they’re proving that what they have is targeted, effective and a time saver.  And as Kami at Communication Overtones discovered, it also tracks comments, something that will prove very useful. She was fortunate enough to test out radian6’s software and wrote a review on her experience with it.

David Alston, VP of marketing has been very busy lately. He was recently in vegas for  WOMMA (Word of Mouth Marketing Association) and I think they’re only going to get busier.  I’m hoping to meet up with radian6 in the near future to interview them as I do have a lot of questions about the software. How they compare to BUZZLOGIC and what kind of information they provide to their clients on interpeting the data. 

Congratulations, radian6,  on your new venture with Weber Shandwick!