Twitter for News

I experienced the news reporting power of Twitter today. Looking up from my desk I saw a big dark cloud of black smoke over the skyline.

What was going on? We checked the news sites: the star.com and cp24.com, but there was nothing.

Then I searched on Twitter for "Toronto Fire" and there were tons of results - questions, comments and lots of pictures - from every angle. Following the picture links I also found this web service crowdreel. It's a website that displays pictures linked to twitter. It's fully searchable so you can see all the picture associated with a search term like "toronto fire":

The news websites took another half an hour to report even sketchy details. Twitter provided thousands of points of view and nearly as many photos. This was a great example of crowd-sourcing the news.

It turned out to be a fire on the rooftop of a condo - it was put out in less than an hour - no injuries!

BOMA Toronto Awards Dinner

On Thursday April 22^nd BOMA Toronto hosted their annual awards dinner. Three of us from Space Database attended. Chris Gadula, our CEO, Greg Mounsey, our Account Executive and myself. We took on the job that had traditionally been John Zsolt's forte - the printing and selling of the Charity Draw Tickets. It's a tradition we will continue in his honor. The raffle raised $3,755.00 for the Children's Aid Foundation.

BOMA Toronto put on a great party and dinner. Congratulations to all the award winners! You can see the list of winners here.

New Space Database Website

We've refreshed and re-launched our public website. I think it more clearly explains what we do for clients. Not only do we measure buildings and create drawings, we also put that data to work. Leasing managers can reach more prospects with our marketing tools, property managers can better leverage drawing data with our drawing management tools and asset managers gain insight with our dashboard reports.

See more videos on Space Database's YouTube Channel

We've used text and illustration to explain how it all works at a hight level. There's lots of detail deeper in the site. Check it out at www.spacedatabase.com.

Data Driven Marketing Websites

Our Tru-Measure application hosts detailed availability and marketing data on hundreds of buildings. This includes not only CAD and marketing drawings but also building specs, amenities and pictures. In the past, this rich data has been available through our secure site as well as through our clients' websites.

In order to get the data working even harder, we are developing new channels of distribution. Here's an example of what we have done for 901 King St. West:

We output the information in our database as an efficient little sub-website at this location: http://www.spacedatabase.com/Buildings/Toronto/901_King_Street_W/ . This site is search-engine optimized for the building address. Google or Bing "901 king st west Toronto" and you'll see what I mean.

We also created a smart-phone formatted site at http://kingwestplace.tru-measure.com/ . This site is designed to display on hand-held devices and it allows visitors to further distribute drawings. It's a handy tool for leasing managers and brokers who spend time on the road. With this tool you can send and share drawings with a prospect while you do a tour!

Both these websites are just different views into the same data. We could plug it in to any other sites where the client wants to see it. When information - text, pictures or drawings - is updated in the Tru-Measure application, all of these sites are updated instantly.

Sponsor Me as I climb the CN Tower!

On Saturday April 17^th, 2010 I will be participating in the CN Tower Climb for WWF Canada. I'll be taking the stairs - all 1776 of them! It's for a good cause - to raise money for The World Wildlife Fund. You'll be helping to protect animals and the environment.
CLICK HERE to sponsor me!

• You will get a tax receipt for donations of $20 or more.
  
• The deadline for sponsorship is April 15th, 2010.

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Update: Thanks for all your sponsorship! My wife and I completed the climb in 21 minutes and 11 seconds. Here are some facts and figures on the public climb:

Number of climbers	6,420
Number of stairs	1,776
Number of landings	144
Shortest Time	0:09:13
Longest Time	1:44:26
Average Time	0:25:51
Median Time	0:23:23
Money Raised	$1.2 Million!

Retail Building Measurement

Retail property managers have unique needs when it comes to their drawings. For leasing purposes, managers don't just need to know how big a space is. They'll be asked how much display frontage a unit has. They'll need to show who the other tenants are and where they are located. They'll need site plans to discuss potential build-to-suit development opportunities.


Retail drawings present information critical to retail leasing

At Space Database, we start by creating a highly accurate set of CAD files using our ISO 9001 registered measurement process. We then develop a set of documents that meet the unique needs of retail managers. We can provide you with:

• CAD files for the creation of test-fit proposals
  
• Colour-coded lease expiry reports
  
• Marketing PDF files
  
• Large format drawings and site plans
  
• EPS files for use in brochures and posters

Drawings are the basis for a variety of management functions

Once we have created drawings and data for you, we make sure that it stays up to date. Our Tru-Measure hosting and update service ensure that your drawings are always up-to-date and easily accessible.

Tech April Fool's Pranks

Here's a great compilation of high tech pranks from Techcult.com
I implemented number 10 randomly around the office: caused mass confusion and was great fun! Here it is:

10. The Wrath of Rotation

A simple but quick and always amusing prank is putting the screen rotation hotkeys to uses Microsoft never intended. Just run by a co-worker’s desk, reach over and hit Ctrl-Alt-up or down to rotate their monitor orientation. If you have some alone time, you can one-up it by also going into the Control Panel and setting their mouse to left-handed. They’ll spend 10 minutes with their head tilted sideways trying to figure out what the hell is going on.

Pranking Hint: not all machines are as simple to change as above. You may need to go to Settings/Control Panel/Display/Settings/Advanced and adjust the driver settings.