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GTA Geeks Gather To Give Generously

hoHOTo [1]Toronto – In an extraordinary example of the power of self-organizing online groups, the Toronto technology, digital marketing and social media communities have come together once again through their Twitter streams to create what looks set to be one of the biggest and most exciting summer gatherings of 2009.

hoHOTo [2], a party in support of Toronto’s Daily Bread Food Bank, takes place Tuesday, August 18, from 7pm until late at the Suite 106 & WetBar in downtown Toronto. More than 300 people have signed up to attend so far, drawn by the appeal of a night of DJs, interactive media, summer festivities, and the chance to meet the real world friends behind their online avatars. Pulled together over the course of a few weeks, with all organization and promotion being run via Twitter and email messages, hoHOTo was inspired by a small group of volunteer organizers who wanted to do something to help the hungry.

“It all began on Twitter. One tweet started it all,” commented Corey Reid, one of the hoHOTo organizers. “The thing that strikes me is that it is a community project with no one leading the charge. It happened in December organically with the right people with the right skills and passion to make it happen. And the same can be said for the summer edition.”

On average, there are over 85,000 monthly client visits to food banks in the GTA, 35% of whom are children. The money and food generated from this project will help Daily Bread continue the fight against hunger by providing food and resources to those in need, mobilizing greater support, and creating social change to reduce poverty through research, education and advocacy.

“Daily Bread is the first charity that I chose to support,” commented Alexa Clarke, one of the hoHOTo organizers. “For me, one of the most important things is that there are so many invisible hungry people out there. There are so many people in Toronto – in the world for that matter – going hungry. Sometimes it’s the child that sits next to yours at school. Or the friend that was laid off and through a series of bad coincidences ended up using the food bank. When Daily Bread Food Bank was chosen as the charity to benefit from our event, I jumped in with both feet to help in any way that I can.”

By reaching out through their personal networks using Twitter, the hoHOTo instigators have succeeded in securing sponsorships and donations from organizations as diverse as Molson, teehan+lax, Agoracom, Rogers, Thornley Fallis & 76 Design, MCC – Moore Carlyle Consulting, SUN, SimpleLogic, Sequentia Environics and many more.

Tickets for hoHOTo are still available via the event website [2] at and sponsorships and donations are still encouraged. Full details also available through the website. Followers can track the ongoing discussion around this event on Twitter by searching for messages tagged #hohoto.

The HoHOTo team includes:

Leila Boujnane – CEO, Idée Inc.
Alexa Clark – Managing Partner, Plethora Press
Ryan Coleman – Chief Community Evangelist, VizThink
Duarte Da Silva – Senior Manager, Communitylend.com
April Dunford – Principal Consultant, ICT Advisory Group
Peter Flaschner – Founder, The Blog Studio
Rob Hyndman – Founder, Hyndman/Law
Carmen Millet – Marketing Manager, Direct Energy
Sheri Moore – Partner, Creative Director, MCC – Moore Carlyle Consulting.
Michael O’Connor Clarke – Vice President, Thornley Fallis Communications Inc.
Michael Penney – El Presidente, Afterlight Films
Michele Perras – Manager, Mobile Experience Innovation Centre
Corey Reid – Chief Cat Herder, FreshBooks
Ryan Taylor – Goldsmith, Adventurer, The Fair Trade Jewellery Co.
Rannie Turingan – Photographer, photojunkie.ca
Elena Yunusov – Founder, communicable.ca