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Story Funnels, A Journey Between Platforms

Post by on Feb 22, 2012

A hundred years ago, the first filmmakers built their own movie cameras and recorded the world’s first motion picture images. These pioneers correctly predicted that their business would change the world. Making the ‘dancing shadows of light’ on the silver screen would soon be regarded as the highest art form, a powerful new communication tool called cinema. Storytellers from around the world experimented with length, dialogue and genres, and eventually a common narrative form appeared, and an entire new industry emerged to repackage man’s archetypal myths on silver nitrate. Human brains need emotional narratives the same way our human bodies need nutritious food. Today we live in another great age of change – web media is a powerful new tool that’s quickly transforming our lives and changing the way we do business, and the way we tell stories. But the more things change, the more they stay the same. All… Read more »


Toronto Christmas Market Integrates Lenzr Photo Contest

Post by on Dec 03, 2011

One of the best parts of my job as Managing Director of Lenzr Corp is walking to work in the morning through the Distillery Historic District in Toronto. Located at 55 Mill Street, south east of Front and Parliament, this is one of the oldest parts of the city and was originally the busy lakefront up until the 1870s. I used to work as a grip in the film business, and I’d get called to shoot movies here in the 1990s, which was before it was restored to its present glory.  Today the compound is still filled with cinematic old buildings and beautiful cobblestone streets, but also accommodates a thriving community of artists and theatre workshops, cafes, galleries, stores and specialty markets. The area has been preserved as much as possible to accommodate museum quality historic artifacts and tell the life story of a large Canadian distillery, Gooderham and Worts… Read more »


Casie Stewart’s Boardwalk Empire Canadian Club Whisky Tasting Event at Abode, Nov 3rd 2011

Post by on Nov 04, 2011


Harthfest, AndroidTO Afterparty And Rappers With Raymi

Post by on Oct 27, 2011

The anything-goes, colorful world of HARTH really came to life at 99 Sudbury St in Toronto on Weds 26 October 2011.  Harthfest 2011 was a large colourful event attraction filled with enthusiastic phone app developers fresh from AndroidTO. Raymi the Minx told me about harthfest in a heartfelt mass email. She wrote, Hey idiots this is how you come to harthfest for FREE tomorrow – get your tickets for your flight on harth air, i’ll be checking you in at the door. Forward this to friends of yours you want to bring with. 8PM 99 Sudbury See ya! http://harthfest.com Harthfest was the AndroidTO After Party 2 ROOMS – 2 EXPERIENCES, both of them kinda chilly LIVE PERFORMANCES COLORFUL EXHIBITS were arranged about the room behind a boxing ring, The StickerYou Make-Your-Own-Sticker Photo Booth Roller Derby champions THE ROLLERGETTES in-person The art of Jimmy Chiale The Eightshit social media profile pic… Read more »


How To Tell Business Stories With Photo Contests

Post by on Apr 07, 2011

As an interactive story engineer, I’m always interested in learning new ways to communicate business messages in digital media;  I like to see companies doing exceptional things that ‘hook me’ and make me want to know more, and thereby bring attention to their products and services through story. There are many examples of how the magic of a good story has moved consumers, most famously, Ted Williams, the homeless man-with-a-golden-voice in Atlanta Georgia, the Old Spice guy, and Susan Boyle surprising Simon Cowell and everyone in Britain’s Got Talent.  Susan didn’t win the competition, but her first  moments on stage were so special that her fame will forever eclipse the names of the winners.  She went on to sell millions of recordings and is living proof of the power of story.  Business management consulting uses visual storytelling to communicate complex ideas. Each Lenzr Photo Contest is a Ready Made Story… Read more »


A Look Behind Lenzr in March 2011

Post by on Mar 26, 2011

Lenzr is a serial photo contest website that lets business sponsor art.  We started the website in August 2009, and have hosted over forty contests in two years.  The average price of a photo contest is about five thousand dollars, with prizes and tax included.  The companies that sponsor the photo contests get some buzz marketing, and notice some rise in traffic, but more importantly they get a shot-in-the-arm of social relevance that search engines can’t ignore.  A photo contest is a catalyst to growing social capital. On February 1st 2011 nine different matches launched on Lenzr, with all manner of interesting and unusual theme challenges.  For the first two days there were no photos entered into any of the categories… it was unnerving. But as of March 26th 2011, there were over 300 photos entered in all nine different challenges that compose the latest Lenzr offerings.  In the ten… Read more »


Pictures and Discussions from 2010 Search for Miss Teen Canada World

Post by on Jul 22, 2010

Channing Smendziuk is Miss Teen Canada 2010 Miss Teen Canada World Winners press release gives insight into the action-packed week of activities, events and experiences that culminated in a dazzling night, the Grand Finale on July 17th. Congratulations to 17 year old Channing Smendziuk from Brandon, Manitoba. She’s the 2010 Miss Teen Canada-World. The girl is tall and beautiful, and smart and funny; she’s a very good blogger who finished with a score over 8.0 in the blog component of the pageant. Be sure to check the MTC-W facebook group for more news and updates about Channing’s most recent adventures, and her follow her challenges at the Miss Teen World pageant in Houston Texas.  After that climactic event, and in company with all of the agents and producers choreographers photographers and web storytellers that she meets abroad, Channing will be traveling all across Canada as part of the pageant next… Read more »


Elite Canadians Collecting PEZ and Battery Powered Lawnmowers

Post by on Jun 09, 2010

Let’s start this journal update with good news… As an online storytelling service, Smojoe likes to hand craft happy endings, and we’re especially fond of documenting Lenzr photo contests, especially when prize winners send in proud photography of themselves with their winnings. Slimmswitch won the Neuton CE6 battery powered lawnmower courtesy of a Toronto area grass cutting service. That’s a happy ending. The sponsor was thrilled too; they used the Lenzr platform to promote their solar powered organic lawn care business and used contest messaging to get their name passed around in social networks. Slimmswitch reports that the high technology lawnmower is flawless. It’s good, fast and really quiet. He’s been tweeting about it @LOCOHIPPO.  So have I, and in keeping with my tradition of packaging top shelf ideas as fragmented stories, I’ve been putting a lot more resources on Fotki, and webshots. You can find more details there and… Read more »


Toronto Tent Rentals, Geothermal, Grass Cutting, and Business Phone Companies Sponsor Photo Contests on Lenzr

Post by on Mar 11, 2010

Lenzr is packed full of photo contests for March and April 2010. They came out of the woodwork to be part of this series, and there’s more queuing for May.  It seems local businesses like the buzz that a properly promoted photo contest can deliver, and the price is right. If you’re interested in promoting your business on Lenzr email rob at smojoe dot com, or you could message Lenzr admin but it all goes to the same place. The buckstop is here. Toronto Party Rentals Company seeks Backyard Party Events photos on Lenzr Backyard Party Events is a photo contest for the DIY party people who would rather host friends than be guests.  The sponsor is a Toronto party rentals company that wants to see pictures of people who stay home and do it themselves, renting tables, chairs, tents, wet bars, stages and fences for their own world class… Read more »


Seattle Dredge on Lenzr, and Dr Yoni Freedhoff on Canada Blog Friends

Post by on

Yesterday I wrote two blog entries, back to back, two hours each, from 7am til 11am in the morning. Then I spent the rest of the day leisurely bookmarking and promoting the posts in a ritual that has evolved over the years to include Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon, and Reddit and I tweet the links on @roberrific and have recently begun to use Zoomit. Toronto Dentist on the Lenzr Blog I started writing this piece by hammering out my recollections of the exact moment when Toronto dentist Dr Natalie Archer DDS of the Rosedale Family Dental Care office at 600 Sherbourne St unit #808 met a 22yr old female York University student named Seattle Dredge, the winner of the Lenzr Kids in Action photo contest, who already has lovely teeth btw; her smile is today far whiter whiter than my own teeth will ever be.  While writing the blog I remembered… Read more »