Yup! FreshBooks’ own Support Rockstars will be on-site in downtown Toronto at the Dark Horse Cafe on Wednesday, November 11th 2009 to answer any questions you have about FreshBooks, provide support or just to chat.

The Details:

Where? Dark Horse Espresso Bar, 215 Spadina Ave.
When? Wednesday, November 11, 2009.
When exactly? 4 P.M. – 8 P.M.
Who? YOU (and us!)

Drop in when you can, coffee’s on FreshBooks!

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I was a bit upset to find out that CBC will no longer continue to use the Hockey Night in Canada theme song as part of their opening for hockey broadcasts. Like so many others, the song has been a part of my childhood while growing up and without it, hockey on Saturday nights would not be the same. I was even more shocked when I learned that CTV was able to purchase the rights of the song after CBC failed to work out a deal with Copyright Music & Visuals.

Was it a mistake on CBC’s part to pass up on the tune that has been a part of Canadian hockey history? I think so. But they do have a contest open to the public to find a replacement song that will award $100,000 to whoever can come up with a new theme song. This will create some noise but it will be drowned out by the song we so dearly love, playing on TSN.

For those of you who want to listen to an audio clip of the theme song, it’s below. It get’s you pumped just listening to it doesn’t it?!?

Today brings great news for Canadian merchants, straight from the PayPal Blog:

Canadian dollar transaction fees for receiving payments, for all merchant rate tiers, has [sic] been lowered from C$0.55 per transaction to C$0.30.

We’ve also lowered our currency conversion rate for some Canadian sellers that receive payments in U.S. dollars and withdraw those funds to a Canadian dollar bank account.

This brings Canadian pricing directly in line with the United States.

For PayPal merchants in Canada, these changes mean you’ll start saving money immediately, whether you’re collecting your payments in U.S. dollars or Canadian dollars. It also makes signing up with PayPal even more attractive.

Mr. Thornley must have agreed because he has started posting clips of that evening over on his Pro PR blog and we couldn’t be happier to share it with all of you!

Here is one of the three videos posted now and there will be more going up at Pro PR in the days and weeks to come!

Yes I know the videos are a bit hard to see but if you close your eyes you can pretend you were there and see why we had so much fun at this appearance!

…And if you found any of this interesting and would like to see it “LIVE” we will be doing this event again in June for Third Tuesday Ottawa!

[Editor's note: apologies for all the exclamation marks, but Saul makes an excellent point: "they're prettier than periods."]

Well, take a breath – and get an extension.

Your tax software service can probably do it online. If not – use Form 4868.

If you have a partnership or LLC filing as a partnership, or an estate (Form 1041) or trust (Form 1041), use IRS Form 7004.

The extensions are automatically accepted – no approval needed. Good for 6 months.

BUT, if you owe money, you need to pay. Drop by TaxWatch article at MarketWatch.com (it’s written by me) for tips on how to pay – especially if you don’t have money right now. In fact, read it BEFORE you finalize your tax return. You’re going to find one last way to cut last year’s taxes. But only if you put your tax return on extension.

Oh, let me dispell a rumor I just heard about extensions and the Stimulus Rebates. Some fool is spreading the rumor that you won’t get your rebate if you put your return on extension. That’s utter nonsense. You’ll get it. Perhaps a bit later. But it will come.

Happy Tax Day!

Then sign up for “Speak Powerfully/Sell More,” a one-hour online class on Friday, March 28, 2008. The session is co-hosted by FreshBooks customer Adrian Miller.

To grow your business or promote your career, it takes exquisite presentation skills and high impact, results-oriented sales techniques. And anyone can learn them.

In this fast-paced live audio teleconference, experts Diane DiResta (author of Knockout Presentations) and Adrian Miller (author of The Blatant Truth: 50 Ways to Sales Success) will lead you through powerful techniques to increase your confidence and grow your business.

Registration is $39 USD and includes a collection of takeaways, including an audio course on public speaking you can listen to on your own time. If you’re interested, get on over there and sign up now.

Stay tuned for more

Monday will bring a guest post from Adrian on selling your services. She’ll be joining us as a regular guest contributor, and we’re happy to bring her wisdom into the fold here on Fresh Thinking.

Welcome, Adrian!

Here are a few events that are definitely worth checking out.

Toronto hosts Social Tech Training

Sarah Pullman, social change guru and FreshBooks customer, is one of the faces behind Social Tech Training, a great new event hitting Toronto June 22–24.

We’ve gathered the best and the brightest leaders in [social change], and we’ve put together an agenda that will help take your organization to the next level. Each participant will emerge with new technical, creative, and leadership skills, a powerful network, and a customized, comprehensive “Web 2.0 Plan” for their organization.

Small Business Marketing Unleashed hits Houston

If you’re a small business owner or an old-school marketer, Small Business Marketing Unleashed will get you up to speed with online marketing on today’s Web. The inaugural conference comes our way in Houston April 21–22, 2008, and is hosted by FreshBooks customer Jennifer Laycock.

While the Small Business Marketing Unleashed Conference is specifically designed for small businesses, it will also serve as a great primer for mainstream marketers and public relations execs who are trying to gain an understanding of topics like search engine marketing, viral marketing, blogging and local search.

Check out your local BarCamp

Ahh, BarCamp. It’s sort of like a conference… except it’s not insanely expensive, inanely corporate, and innately boring, like most conferences. In fact, if you attend BarCamp you’re not only allowed to contribute, it’s pretty much expected that you will.

You’ll see presentations and panels aplenty, and throughout the event discourse is encouraged, ideas are shared and creativity is fostered. And it’s a great crowd.

If you’re actively involved in your local Web community, you should really be going to your local BarCamp. Here are a few of note:

• BarCampAustin happens Saturday, March 8, 2008, alongside the SXSW Interactive Festival. (FreshBooks will be there!)
• BarCampNYC comes our way March 15–16, 2008, and leads into the Search Engine Strategies conference that begins the next day.
• BarCampOrlando is early next month, April 5–6, 2008, and is organized by some wonderful folks we met at the Future of Web Apps conference in Miami last week.

Check out BarCamp’s Web site to find — or organize! — an event in your area.

Are you following RoadBurn 2008?

Finally, be sure to check out FreshBooks RoadBurn for the latest video updates from Mike, Saul and Sunir as they journey across the southern United States.

Since kicking off the trip on Friday, our travellers have already posted five videos for your enjoyment, the most recent being Saul’s fulfilment of a life-long dream: a tour of the Burt Reynolds museum. Check it out, and subscribe to e-mail updates or the RSS feed to keep tabs on this most excellent adventure, which concludes next Tuesday.

Yee-haw!

It’s official: FreshBooks RoadBurn 2008 has begun!

Yesterday our intrepid travellers attended BarCamp Miami, and today they’re enjoying the excellent Future of Web Apps conference.

According to the FOWA Web site, starting this evening the whole thing apparently just turns into one big party! A beach party this evening, a breakfast tomorrow morning, and another beach party after that. I always knew my Dad was lying when he said business trips were no fun.

Keep tabs on RoadBurn 2008

Be sure to follow our crew’s journey on the RoadBurn blog, and keep up with new posts by subscribing to the RSS feed or signing up for daily e-mail updates.

Oh, and if you’re somewhere between Miami and Austin, get in touch with us! Judging by the first video update from RoadBurn, Sunir has already kicked off the “most horrific Hawaiian shirt” contest with a real doozy. I’d like to see somebody top that thing.

FreshBooks and Yahoo! take you to the good old hockey game

In conjunction with PodCamp Toronto, FreshBooks and Yahoo! Search Marketing Canada are taking three video/podcasters to see the Toronto Marlies vs. the Hamilton Bulldogs this Sunday, February 24 at 4 PM ET.

Go here for details, and enter by Saturday at 5 PM ET for your chance to win.

SEOs fight fat for charity!

A bunch of SEOs realized they needed to lose some weight, so they got together and made it a public event. FreshBooks is pledging $500 on long-time customer, Jennifer Laycock, Editor-in-Chief of Search Engine Guide. Ever the mommy blogger, if she wins the Human Milk Banking Association of North America will get a cheque for thousands of dollars. She’s currently leading! Cheer her on, or make a pledge yourself!

MediatorTech book launch!

Tammy Lenski, another FreshBooks customer and professional mediator, is having a virtual book launch party, for her new book, Making Mediation Your Day Job, her marketing guidebook to help mediators open their own private practice. It has five stars so far on Amazon! FreshBooks is offering up a year-long “shuttle bus” package as one of the prizes in the drawing. Be sure to check it out!

For those keeping track at home the event is now three days in length. The additional day should be of note to Fresh Thinking readers. In Mathew Ingram’s writeup, he described May 20 as meshU and said:

What we have in mind is a one-day event — which we’re tentatively calling meshU — that will be filled with small, focused workshops by those who have earned their stripes in the startup game; people who can talk knowledgeably about everything from interface design to using Amazon’s S3 distributed server network.

The team here at FreshBooks is going to be heavily involved in selecting and recruiting the content, and while I cannot comment on the specifics, I can tell you we’re aiming to make the speakers a great mix of imported rock stars and showcased local talent.

On a related note my good friend Stuart MacDonald finally pulled back the curtain on his latest startup — Tripharbour. Stuart is the founder of Expedia Canada, former CMO of Expedia.com and probably the business person I have learned the most from over the last 24 months. Trip Harbour is the place to go if you are looking to book a cruise and I’m betting this venture is going to be a great success and another win for Canada’s technology community.