Octopz: a year in review
Hard to believe it’s been more than a year since the launch of Octopz at the 2007 Web 2.0 Expo. Yet here we are, getting ready once again to make the trip to San Francisco for the 2008 edition of that show, to showcase the next major release of our award-winning collaboration software. It’s as good a time as any to pause and recount some of the highlights of the last year.
Josh Lowensohn of Webware.com was the first to review Octopz upon it’s launch and he praised our software service for its functionality and simplicity. He also picked Octopz as one of the Webware.com top 5 favorites from the Web 2.0 Expo.
Michael Pick followed with a more in-depth review of Octopz for MasterNewMedia.org, highlighting its suitability for the target audience, creative professionals, and lauding the ability to work with a wide range of media in a single collaborative application.
In May, after a successful launch and accolades at the Web 2.0 Expo, we were nominated as one of the 250 finalists in the Webware 100 awards, and identified as a 2007 Rising Star by InfoWorld magazine. We also made an appearance at Mesh 07, our hometown web conference and our new CEO, Ron McKenzie, joined the company.
In June we took part in the How Design Conference and in July we produced an extensive guided video tour of Octopz featuring our co-founder and Chief Evangelist Barry Fogarty.
In early August, Octopz received more private investment from our original investors, Growthworks and Wallace Studios. Red Herring magazine listed us as one of the 10 hottest startups in Canada.
In September we were picked as one the the Companies to Watch in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 awards and profiled in the Globe and Mail newspaper.
In October we took part in Max 2008, Adobe’s developer conference in Chicago, where our mascot Inky made his official debut and became a big hit with attendees. In late November, Inky and his Octo-posse paid a visit to the Autodesk University conference in Las Vegas. And what happened in Vegas did not stay in Vegas as you can see by these photos.
In January ComputerWorld Canada covered the adoption of Octopz by the Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD). In February we were once again selected as a finalist in the Webware 2008 awards.
In March we were selected as one of the Top 25 Up and Comers in the Branham 300, an annual roundup of Canada’s top performing tech companies. And just last week we learned that we’ve been chosen as one of Canada’s 20 Hottest Innovative Companies that will take part at the upcoming Canadian Innovation Exchange (CIX) in late April.
Which brings us back to this week and the roll out of the next major Octopz release. We’ll have lots more news and specific announcements in the days ahead, both here on the blog and on our website, so check back often. And if you’re going to the Web 2.0 Expo, be sure to stop by our booth (#228) to have a first hand look at the new Octopz. Or if you want to experienced all the collaboration goodness that Octopz has to offer from the comfort of your desk, sign up for a free trial online.
PS. As you can probably tell, Inky does like to have his picture taken especially with people, so if you spot him at Web 2.0 Expo (or anywhere else) and have a camera handy, snap a pic and throw it up on Flickr or send us a copy or a link so we can include it in our online photo album. Use the tags Octopz and Inky if you can to make it easier for us to track Inky online, in case he goes off on one of his sidetrips.
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