G20 Protests – Part Two

Check out part one of my coverage of the G20 protests or my message in support of the police protecting us this weekend.

I headed to Adelaide and began my trek to King and Bay St. Twitter was buzzing with reports of violence at that spot. After a right turn on John St. I approached King and looked towards the downtown core. The city looked like it was on fire. Smoke billowed from what looked like the First Canadian Place. I had no idea what was happening at this point but I began to speed up to catch a glimpse of the action.

Smoke from the police car set on fire by rioters at Bay and King St.

Police surround a burned police car at Bay and King

It was clear that the protests had gotten out of the hand yet there was little word on any arrests. I shifted to Yonge Street where a secondary line of riot police held back protesters attempting to join the mob near the burned police car. These protesters, dressed in pink garb and looking like they had been sleeping on the streets for several days, were fighting against capitalism. This is when I got a true glimpse of what the protesters on TV were calling a “peaceful protest”.

I’ve seen a lot of people being interviewed this weekend claiming to have participated in “peaceful protest” while their colleagues around them were being arrested “for no reason”. I’ve also seen a lot of legitimately peaceful protesters who held signs, obeyed the restrictions, and peacefully voiced their protests around a large group of people (more on that later). I’ve seen reporters on the news voicing the same concern as the protesters, that people were being mistreated, arrested for no reason, or abused by police.

But these so called “peaceful protesters”, the exact same ones that I’ve seen interviewed on TV many times, the exact same ones that I’ve seen running from riot police with their weapons drawn, these people were by no means peaceful.

G20 protester yells at police with a megaphone

G20 Protesters scuffle with police

G20 Protester being arrested for suspicious behaviour

Sure, they weren’t there breaking windows or throwing rocks but they were there screaming and swearing at the police. They were pushing back against the police lines begging the police to “let me walk”, pointing megaphones in their faces and refusing to obey the restrictions put in place to protect the people of Toronto and the G20 leaders. Our opinions of what is peaceful may differ but the laws we live by in our democratic countries are the same and the G20 does not give people free reign to treat authority any way they please.

I saw a protester on the news today talking about the atrocities that she claimed were committed during the G20 here in Toronto. She said “the freedom’s that we fought for, that people died in the trenches for. That gift to our generation is being eroded”. And after a weekend of restrictions on entering the downtown core (that which most of the protesters would never visit on a normal day) and a week of inconvenience  to our fine city, I can safely say our freedoms have not been eroded.

And from what we saw yesterday, if anarchy is the alternative to a “capitalist society” then I’ll take slight “capitalist” inconveniences and restrictions on my movement during VIP events any day.

Horses move across the sidewalk during a protest at Bay St. and King St.

Onlookers and protesters stand on the opposite side of the main protest near the First Canadian Place

Police line the street at King and Bay St.

There’s a lot more to come from my G20 coverage so stay tuned. Coming up, a look at the damage done to our city from yesterday’s riots and a little later on, my take on the incredibly controlled (but seemingly chaotic) protests and arrests that took place last night.

G20 Protests – Part One

Last week the city went quiet. The hordes of people that saunter out of Union Station every morning were noticeably missing. There were no traffic jams during rush hour, the lake was void of its normal crowd. Instead, the downtown core of Toronto was lined with several three metre high fences. Police started appearing at every corner and Suburbans and black vans lined the streets. It was as if the city had been put on lock down and residents were no longer allowed to leave their homes. The G20 was coming and it was less than a week away.

Everyone you talked to had a negative opinion about the G20’s impending arrival in Toronto. Why can’t the leaders do a teleconference? Why are we spending so much money on this? Why do we need so much security? But organizers pressed on and the police continued to multiply.

Yesterday morning I woke up to a city that was the same as it had been the night before. Quiet, baron, empty. The fences had now been closed and traffic was being restricted but our city was safe. I went for a walk in the early morning and there wasn’t a person on the street. That was about to change.

G20 Red Zone Fence on Saturday morning prior to the protests

At around 1pm, just after the leaders started rolling in from the G8 summit in Huntsville, the protesters, anarchists and onlookers began to march. Until this point they were hidden, calmly gathering in a park on the east end of the city. The police presence was strong. Riot police lined the south end of Queen Street in an attempt to prevent protesters from getting near the fence.

Riot Police form a human wall on University and Queen St.

Road closed with Riot police to prevent protesters from reaching the G20 Security Zone

Initially, from my vantage point, these protests were calm. We questioned whether the extreme police presence was necessary. These people just want to be heard… right?

But fears mounted and Twitter was buzzing that certain protesters were planning to breach the wall and enter the downtown core through Spadina. At that point their plan was to attempt to break into the G20 security zone where the worlds 20 top leaders were meeting. It was a risk the police couldn’t take.

To put things in perspective, these five line thick walls of riot police were blocking around 2.3 kilometres of city blocks along the parade route. There are at least 14 entrance points into the downtown core including some large open spaces. The police were spread thin, and the protesters were relentlessly trying to get through.

The wall of riot police begins to grow as protesters try to push through on Spadina

Mounted Police stand in front of a “Police State” sign on Spadina

But the police were holding strong. It was a tense atmosphere. Lines of riot police fell back to put on gas masks. Bus loads of new units arrived, marching in step and hitting their batons against their shields as a loud intimidation tactic. A group of us stood on the other side of the police taking photos as they held back the crowds but early on a line of riot police filled the street and pushed us back for our protection. Mounted police continued to arrive and the police wall got thicker and thicker. Reports began to surface that tear gas had been used for the first time in Toronto as smoke began billowing out of the protest crowd (turned out it was a flare lit by the protesters).

A riot police officer stands as crowd control for the onlookers

More riot police arrive, marching in step and hitting their baton against their shield

A wall of police forms to push back the onlookers for safety reasons

Police push back the onlookers away from the main protest area (notice the smoke in the background)

Lines of Riot Police fall back to put on their gas masks

But despite the heavy police presence and crowds chanting “let us through”, not a lot was happening. Both sides were unwilling to budge and the protest was at a stand still. And then there reports that something was going terribly wrong at King and Bay St…

For more updates on the G20 protest, come back shortly or follow my live updates on Twitter. Also, check out my first post on our heroic men and women in uniform who are working twelve hour shifts in full riot gear to protect us and our city.

President Obama’s Arrival in Toronto

Yesterday President Obama arrived in Toronto via the Marine One Helicopter (the call sign for a helicopter carrying the U.S. President) for the G20 summit. Coming from the east, two loud HMX-1 Nighthawks positioned themselves over the Distillery district and individually swooped into the city over the train tracks and Union Station. They came in extremely fast and landed on the lawn just outside the CN Tower. The second helicopter was carrying President Obama and British Prime Minister, David Cameron. Shortly after, two smaller Nighthawks arrived and landed on the lawn in front of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Here are some pictures:

First HMX-1 Nighthawk arriving from the East (Decoy)

First HMX-1 Nighthawk in front of the RBC Tower in Toronto (Decoy)

Marine One (Carrying President Obama and David Cameron) landing in Toronto

Marine One (Carrying President Obama and David Cameron) in front of the Royal York in Toronto

A support helicopter following the President lands in Toronto

The President’s heli-entourage arrives in Toronto for the G20

Also, take a look at this post on our amazing Police from around Canada and their incredible service to our city over the last several weeks of the G20

Proud of our Police

I just got back from walking around the city of Toronto and have to say I am having a lot of trouble writing this post. It was an insane experience but my perspective was limited to the South end of the downtown core so when I got home I turned on CP24 to find out what was happening in other parts of the city. Here’s what I saw on TV:

Cowards in black balaclavas torching police cars, relentlessly smashing windows and throwing rocks into crowds of people. And then Mayor Miller at a live press conference answering questions about whether or not the extreme police force or police intimidation was necessary. He was desperately trying to defend the police and the organization of this event.

Here’s what I saw on the ground:

Thousands of peaceful protesters and thousands of onlookers taking pictures of the police presence. I saw police politely helping people with their bags and kindly asking people to move away from the G20 security fence. I saw hundreds of protesters with mega phones and dirty, ripped clothing yelling in the faces of the police. I saw lines of protesters attacking and pushing the police because they wanted to walk where they weren’t allowed. I saw people yelling and swearing at the police for “supporting the man” and telling them how useless and pathetic the police were. I saw protesters taunting the police and repeatedly doing what they were asked not to do. I saw the police calmly walking violent protesters away while they kicked and screamed and hundreds of people around chanted “let her go”. I saw protesters pushing the police while they just stood there and didn’t react.

So did we need this police presence? Yes. Are our police doing a good job at handling this protest? They’re doing an amazing job! Are the police being too violent? No. I can promise that the thousands of police that I saw today were only reacting in the case of extreme violence.

I’m sure I’ll get in trouble for saying this but there are hundreds of pathetic people out there right now fighting for something that they know nothing about. They’re yelling at the police for “taking orders” and “not allowing people to walk” in places where they would NEVER be unless they were told they weren’t allowed to be there. These people aren’t protesting for a cause, they’re begging for personal attention, and it’s one of the saddest displays of human nature I’ve ever seen up close.

But the brave men and women in uniform that are frantically trying to protect us and our city are doing an incredible job today. I’m proud of our police!

It’s Finally Here – First World Cup Commercials

About two years ago myself, a team of network engineers, developers and marketing folk sat around a NASA like control room and watched in panic as server after server failed in the wake of a massive spike in traffic. We knew we were working on something big but we had no idea what we were in for. Thousands of people pinged the site every minute to catch a glimpse of the South American World Cup Qualifying rounds. We were the only place Online in North America that was broadcasting the games and we weren’t prepared for the passion and determination of a World Cup fan.

It took 10 months of negotiating, planning, developing and testing and it represented only a tiny fraction of games aired in the smallest soccer market in the World.

Flash forward to now, just days before the first coin toss, and the World is quickly grinding to a halt in anticipation of the what will be the largest sporting event in history. And with it, come some of the greatest ads of all time! Backed by billion dollar global marketing budgets, here are some of the best 2010 FIFA World Cup™ soccer ads out there so far:

Continue Reading…

We’re Going to Mars!

In 2005 a plan was set in motion to end the Space Shuttle program that had been taking astronauts to space for almost 40 years. The plan included the development of at least two new NASA launch vehicles that would carry people into space and eventually back to the moon. After several test flights and a manned space flight date of 2015, that plan was cancelled by President Obama earlier this year.

But NASA had something else up their sleeve. For the last 8 years a privately held company called SpaceX has been working in cooperation with NASA to build a launch vehicle that could carry people to the International Space Station. Today, that vehicle took its first flight and it was a huge success.

But what’s most exciting about this initiative is that it paves the way for NASA to focus on bigger and better things. We’ve been to the moon. We’ve spent 38 years in lower earth orbit. And now, with just two flights left in the Space Shuttle program and a clear path to privatized space flight, NASA is taking us to Mars!

What is Your Mount Everest?

57 years ago today, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay conquered Mount Everest.  They spent 15 minutes at the top and then began the tortuous decent back down the mountain.

It’s a feat that I would love to take on someday. Like a lot of things in life, it has everything to do with knowing in your heart that you have accomplished something incredible. A 100 kilometer run, a speech in front of thousands of people, helping someone in need. In the grand scheme of things these might not have an impact on anyone but yourself, but what a rush it is to succeed at something great.

I’m sitting here trying to think of my Mount Everest. Conquering something so great that when you stare blindly at the peak you get chills of anticipation. Coming from the business and technology world I’m inspired by people like Warren Buffet and Bill Gates who are gradually taking their billions and distributing them out amongst the poorest nations in the World. I’m inspired by the Sergey Brins’ and Jack Dorseys‘ who are fundamentally changing the way we interact with technology and media. I’m inspired by great leaders who can see flaws in our systems and work tirelessly to fix them.

But what inspires me most is that there are still endless possibilities to do something incredible in our World. Everything hasn’t been said or done before. So when you get to the point where you’re Mount Everest is far off in the distance with seemingly no hope of reaching the summit, take a look again and note how small it really looks. And when you do finally get to the top, spend more than 15 minutes up there!

This post was inspired by Kevin Eikenberry.

Space Shuttle Atlantis Final Flight

After 25 years, 32 missions, 282 days in space, 4,462 Earth orbits and 186 million kilometers traveled, the Space Shuttle Atlantis landed at the Kennedy Space Center at 8:48am ET for the final time.

Niche or Reach?

The online advertising industry is constantly pushing niche over reach; niche content, niche categories, niche audiences. The unique selling point: niche audiences are more targeted, more definable and more engaged. Publisher’s can charge more for these categories because the audience is a lot clearer than on a general purpose website. But is niche really what advertisers are asking for?

What it comes down to is niche is a way of defining the undefinable. We don’t always know as much about you as Facebook or Google so we place you in a bucket based on your interests, navigation paths, etc.

I agree with targeted messaging. If you’ve worked with me you’ll know I’m a big advocate of the few to many model. That’s why I have so much faith in social media as a service or SMAS (just trademarked that so don’t even bother). I truly believe that the push marketing model is dying faster than the major music labels. But ultimately advertisers still want the reach. Whether they’re running a run of network campaign or a channel specific one, if the traffic isn’t there, neither are the buys.

Life at the Speed of Google

If you’re like me, Google has forever changed your life. From the way I learn to the way I get around. It has a profound impact in almost every facet of my life. My knowledge, my social life, my entertainment and even the device that rarely leaves my hands are all, in a large way, powered by Google.

I saw this video (and stole the title) from a post my friend Ben wrote back in February. It’s a simple, sweet story (and only 0:53 seconds) that truly showcases the power and influence that Google has had on all of our lives. Google was born to “develop the enabling technologies for a single, integrated and universal digital library” (source) but it ended up changing the world.

Life at the Speed of Google.