Lauren Haw on how Zoocasa seeks to streamline the often-emotional real estate journey for clients
Lauren Haw is Zoocasa's CEO and broker of record. What is Zoocasa and what does it do? Haw: At Zoocasa, we provide intelligent, modern real estate services through the seamless integration of technology and our full-service brokerage team. We aspire for a real estate experience that’s enhanced by technology, but grounded in human connections. Real…
Nearly 84% of Internet users bought goods or services online in 2018, spending $57.4 billion, up from $18.9 billion in 2012: StatsCan
By Troy Media More Canadians are using the Internet, with people in Alberta and British Columbia leading the way. A report released on Tuesday by Statistics Canada said the share of Canadians aged 15 and older who used the Internet was 91 per cent in 2018, with more seniors reporting Internet use (71 per cent).…
Where’s the evidence that the values this new world order has created produce happiness, fulfilment and the well-lived life?
A great article by Andrew Marantz in a recent issue of the New Yorker called Silicon Valley’s Crisis of Conscience details the struggle of American big tech to find its soul. The central theme is the growing awareness of big tech CEOs and senior executives that their endeavours are causing massive societal psychological harm. None…
Jason Masherah of Upper Deck talks about avoiding scams, particularly in the online marketplace
Jason Masherah is president of the trading card company Upper Deck. Can you explain the number of scams related to your industry that have been going on lately and why this is happening? Masherah: Trading cards and memorabilia have been a longtime target for these types of scams. Quite frankly, it was the reason Upper…
Robert Day talks about the technology that Integrity Advocate has developed to verify that online students complete the training required of them
Integrity Advocate co-founder Robert Day is a licensed investigator and paralegal. Can you tell me what you do? Day: I’m a co-founder of a company called Integrity Advocate, as well as a licensed paralegal and investigator. I co-developed the patented technology that Integrity Advocate is known for, which addresses legality and effectiveness concerns associated with…
Ryan Mracek of Keylo wants the online realtor referral service to be the place consumers go to get unbiased, data-based real estate advice
Ryan Mracek is owner of Keylo. What is Keylo and what does it do? Mracek: Keylo is Canada’s largest realtor referral service. We use an evidence-based approach to find the best realtor to buy or sell your home for free. We put the odds of success in your favour in an industry notorious for holding…
If enough people band together, they can finance a new platform. This is a free and open market
Against the frenzy of inaccurate and manipulative information consistently roaring through social media sites, the companies that manage these sites – like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter – have been trying to combat misinformation. However, they always seem to be two steps behind. Initially, in an effort to keep up with the sheer volume of material,…
Parties should publish their cyber security policies and subject themselves to audits that they publish. And they need to tighten up their practices
By Brennen Schmidt and Allan Bonner Contributors It’s almost federal election time. That means many Canadian voters will be trying to guess if political parties will do what they say they will if elected. That’s a difficult guess. But what about judging a political party’s credibility on a policy issue by seeing if it practises…
Who will ensure devices have been tested thoroughly and are secure? Who will ensure our privacy is protected?
Back in the early 1990s, I came across a story about a Coke machine that you could query from anywhere on the Internet and it would tell you the temperature of the drinks, the last time it was stocked and how full it was. The machine was in the computer science department of Carnegie Mellon…
Bruce Winder of Retail Advisors Network talks about the dramatic evolution taking place in retail and where the marketplace will go next
Bruce Winder is co-founder and partner of Retail Advisors Network. Tell me a little bit about your background and what you do now? Winder: I spent about 20 plus years in big retail at places like Canadian Tire, HBC, Sears and Air Miles before deciding I wanted to explore life outside a head office and…
Not long ago, the romantic notion that low earth orbit (LEO) satellites could make affordable high-speed Internet available in Canada’s many remote locations seemed fanciful at best. It was spoken of frequently at the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) hearing to establish the nation’s basic service objectives in the spring of 2016. Quite a…
Get CBC out of the advertising business on all of its platforms. And make its content available to other media for free within Canada
Several years ago, I by chance encountered a backbench member of Parliament who asked in a very straightforward fashion why we at the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) didn’t “do something” about CBC. Mildly startled, I replied that if something was to be “done” about CBC, Parliament should just go ahead and do it.…
It’s worthwhile remembering that before the Internet, instant messaging, social media and meme merchandising, depending on where you lived, almost nothing was private
One morning in the late 1980s in the middle of Nowheresville, a young woman, prompted by a profound sense of neighbourliness, impressed a couple of city girls by introducing them to her new pony, all of 12 hands tall. At the sight of the hoofed beast loping down the stone path towards our family homestead,…
Tom Super of J.D. Power talks about the company's surprising findings about the insurance industry
Tom Super is vice-president of property and casualty insurance intelligence at J.D. Power. Are insurance companies meeting customer expectations for digital self-service tools, customer service channels and omni-channel integration? Super: Insurance companies are fairly strong when it comes to customer service channels. Insurance has always been a very service heavy business and the lessons learned…
Why have millions of users decided to turn their backs on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram?
Not long ago, before Big Brother fully ascended his throne behind the nanny cam that is the modern Internet, people wrote books in private for other people to read in private. The process worked this way: Think, type, edit, sell and hope some bibliophiles liked your words well enough to cover the cost of your…
Lauren Haw is Zoocasa's CEO and broker of record. What is Zoocasa and what does it do? Haw: At Zoocasa, we provide intelligent, modern real estate services through the seamless integration of technology and our full-service brokerage team. We aspire for a real estate experience that’s enhanced by technology, but grounded in human connections. Real…
