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Last night I attended Deloitte's Technology Fast 50 awards event in Toronto. I've blogged about this event before, but this is the first time I've attended. It was really well done, and the basic message is that this is a great showcase for up and coming Canadian tech companies. Lots of really interesting stories, and several companies are in my orbit, and I'll get to that in a moment.

To learn more, it's a lot easier if I steer you to a couple of links. First is Deloitte's press release, which provides a good summary of the event and the key winners. Second, the Globe & Mail had a feature section today about the event, along with some very nice profiles of a few companies like Sandvine, who was #1 overall.

Also notable in their profiles were two companies I've been following - Octopz and MyThum Interactive. Octopz didn't make the Fast 50, but did win a company-to-watch award. They are definitely a rising star, and I'm partial to them as I was following them very early and thought they were special then. MyThum Interactive was also the big winner recently at the Canadian New Media Awards, and I've done podcasts with both companies.

Aside from these companies, other winners of note in my orbit inlude AirIQ, Ascalade, Bridgewater Systems, DragonWave, Evertz Technologies, Impact Mobile, March Networks, Redline Communications, RIM, and Tira Wireless. No shortage of good companies here, and I've got podcast material from this to keep me going a long time.

You might find it odd to see RIM there, but they continue to grow year over year, and it was noted last night that RIM is the only company to have made the Fast 50 in each of the 10 years they've been doing this.

Perhaps the most innovative twist to the event was the inclusion of the Technology Green 15, which is pretty self-explanatory. They recognized 15 companies that embody green tech, but none were really in my space. Making that piece more special was the presence of John Baird, Minister of the Environment, who was a very convivial speaker, which was great to see.

A few photos courtesy of my Nokia N95...