Last weekend, we had the privilege to host an incredible talk with Fashion mogul Uri Minkoff of the New York fashion and accessory brand Rebecca Minkoff, as well as be the official bloggers in residence for Microsoft’s Surface Cafe here in Toronto. Taking place over the course of three days, the Surface Cafe was designed to show off the hugely versatile new Microsoft Surface Pro 3 which effectively replaces the need for a notebook. Taking place on the busy Queen West strip, Microsoft created an intimate cafe environment in which people could drop by and test out the new Surface Pro 3, engage in one of many workshops throughout the weekend, and enjoy a free coffee. The real success of Surface Cafe lay in how the new tablet/laptop can work under any circumstance. From prominent fashion designers, to internationally renowned comic book artists, famous photographers and musicians, each presentation showcased just how creative and multi-functional the new device was.
Of course the highlight for us personally was hosting the Q&A with Uri Minkoff, discussing the relationship technology has with fashion and how they use the Surface at Rebecca Minkoff to stay efficient while on the go. Following our Q&A attendees got to design their very own tote bag using the Surface Pro 3 program Fresh Paint, and Minkoff walked around the fashionable crowd signing bags and giving advice to aspiring designers.
We also enjoyed using photoshop on the Surface Pro 3 to augment photos with the help of noted Canadian fashion photographer Caitlin Cronenberg later that day at her InstaLife workshop. She brought along a photo presentation of some of her first works as a photographer and talked about some of the amazing subjects she’s shot and finding her niche within the industry over the years.
On Sunday we took part in Sunday’s workshop hosted by Dragon’s Den business mogul Michael Wekerle, gaining invaluable advice from some of Canada’s top entrepreneurs at Your Big Idea. Watching groups of young entrepreneurs transform their ideas into presentations shared via the Surface Pro 3, all vying for the prize of ten-thousand dollars in potential seed money. A big congrats goes to Raise Your Flag, whose business helps people find and start careers without a degree or diploma; a revolutionary idea in a world in which the industry of “Higher Education” has become an almost mandatory requirement.
If you haven’t yet had a chance to play with the new Surface Pro 3, we do recommend you give it a whirl. We are naturally Apple users, but the intuitive nature of the Surface Pro 3 really does make it a tool that transcends operating system preferences.
