Yes they are self proclaimed blog stars, and no, it has nothing to do with their traffic or ecommerce sales, or even the quality of their information – it’s more about style and ’state of mind’, and how well these self promoters can project their own identities on their readers.  There’s an art and science = alchemy

But today I failed them. My own pictures of the Blogstars are terrible, and I’m twenty hours too late with this post. How can I be a citizen journalist about something as important as this, and not deliver original content minimum twelve hours of the event?  Fifty five minutes is prime delivery time btw.  Answer: Smojoe isn’t an event blogger, but rather I digest the experiences for myself, other humans and search bots who will forever index my account of this evening as page one search result for their names and blogs.

Casie Stewart, Sean Ward, and Raymi the Minx are now represented by Carly-Anne Fairlie and the Fairlie Agency

Carly-Anne Fairlie should be aware that some advertising people are watching her social media agency experiment, and keeping an eye on her network of local Toronto bloggers; I think most folks are wondering how it all works. And indeed I myself came to the event hoping to learn more about Carly’s business model and maybe even get a rate sheet that spells out the deliverables. How do marketing people and agencies ethically hire Toronto top bloggers? Nobody likes pay per post schemes, and everyone has trouble defining the true value of blogs. Just what are the metrics of a good conversation?  And Smojoe wonders aloud here, will it help define a new PR service to have one company represent a dozen local bloggers? I believe it will be a huge success, and its no secret that last summer Smojoe sought to unite Toronto’s top bloggers into a turnkey ‘blog marketing solution’ to build support for Lenzr photo contests.

Casie Stewart opened the evening

Casie Stewart went first and introduced herself, her twitter name @casiestewart, and the twitter hashtag #blogstars, before displaying a password protected blog post that was the codex of her discussion.

Casie Stewart is a pretty girl that isn’t scared of looking goofy. Her blog is built primarily for her – it’s an online journal in which she preserves her memories. Her presentation dispensed equal parts wisdom and inspiration.  She led with her own mother’s sage advice, ‘you can’t soar with the eagles if you roost with pigeons’ after which Casie segued into how blogging has changed her life. It was because of the new people that she met through her blogging and tweeting that she shed her old relationships; the new people she has met, and the opportunities to which she has been exposed have changed her life.  Now she does indeed soar with the eagles.  Because Casie was a blogger she now has a dream job at MUCH.  Smojoe would say because she harnessed her passion and created the necessary social capital to impress the ‘fifth floor’ management at MUCH music, she managed to land a dream job blogging and tweeting full time for this youthful TV station.

Raymi the Minx is still Toronto’s most popular diarist.

Raymi the Minx introduced herself as Lauren White, which is her real name.  It shocked me to hear it spoken aloud and I won’t repeat it again. To me she’s Raymi the Minx because that’s the brand I follow.
True to form, Raymi was impulsive, condescending and hilarious. I filled a whole page of my notebook with her original quotes. She is so casual and shockingly honest – there is no filter.  She just talks over her handout, which was the same one she used for Deb Lewis City Events, How to be Famous on The Internet - May , 09 and she didn’t refer to it while speaking then either.  Raymi just talks to the crowd about herself and her blog, much like she would gossip with a girlfriend that had just come over to hang out (and try on clothes in front of the mirror).

Raymi opened by admitting that she wants to be famous because she wants to be rich and appreciated as a blog artist, unlike other people, who simply want to be famous for no good reason.

Raymi started blogging in the year 2000 on Blogger, before it was Blogger. It wasn’t possible to leave comments or even post pictures like today.  Her first laughs came with one liners like ‘I’m a f^%&ing dinosaur’ and, ‘we can talk about my tits in a minute.’   She takes full credit for starting the Raymi blog style; her informal posts mix pictures with text in a stream of consciousness flow much like a drunk girl at a party will sometimes snap twelve pictures in a row.  So each photo sequence is as spontaneous as the text around it and its either bunkum or brilliant, and her readers get to decide and leave their opinions.

Still innovative, Raymi demonstrated how she recently polled her readers using a multiple choice question widget that asks ‘Do you masturbate to my blog?’  Even more interesting was the revelation that over twenty percent of her readers checked ‘yes’.
But the best part was when she just scrolled down through her website and talked about the pages as she descended down through the last few weeks of her life. As the content sailed up the wall In front of everyone’s eyes she narrated what she thinks other people are thinking. It was fun. She pegged me perfectly. I did wonder if she was sleeping with the guy on the motorcycle when I read that post, last week.

People like watching other people change.

Recently Raymi ended a long term relationship with her finance. This was major media news at the time and ironically it helped rejuvenate her blog career because it refreshed her single status. And I wonder about that too… If sex appeal is an important part of your blog strategy, then is being locked up in a monogamous relationship bad for your brand?  The kill switch is the Facebook status update.

Sean Ward

Sean Ward is a very stylized blogger. He has to be, he’s a cartoonist.

Sean Ward writes Sean Ward’s Super Party and in the last portion of the evening Sean shared style tips related to three different aspects of personal brand building.  He discussed Persona, Visual Identity and Unique Positioning and how and why to be unique.  He talked about selling comic books at bars, bus stops and hotel lobbies instead of comic book conventions.  He quoted stats to present the current overcrowded dimensions of the blog world, and then brought home these numbers by pointed to a picture of rain forest canopy and saying, ‘right now you’re not even a tree. Right now you’re just a leaf on a tree somewhere there in the back and the only way to stand out is to define yourself.’  His ideas on Visual Identity are original. Much like Casie’s idea of going to parties with stickers, and your @twitter name on your shirt, I liked Sean’s idea of wearing something like a silver sheriff badge atop every outfit for a year.
The evening wrapping up with mingling, and networking both inside and outside the Kensington Market venue. I shared a moment with Lisa Charleyboy and Keri the Canadian Explorer. It was a great night and time well spent with a room full of local blog celebrities.

On Saturday March 13th 2010, The Wine Ladies traveled alongside some very fortunate Lenzr photo contest winners on a whirlwind Locaboire wine tour of Prince Edward County wineries.

Without going into too much detail about the Lenzr photo contest website, and how and why all this happened, let me just say I had an opportunity to taste a dozen great wines and meet three of most knowledgeable winemakers that are shaping the region. Their wines are grown next to Lake Ontario, which has a moderating effect on the air temperatures. Indeed it was almost balmly this 13th day in March, 2010.

Locaboire is all about drinking locally produced wines and beers

As the white limo streaked through the muddy brown landscape of Prince Edward County in early spring The Wine Ladies thanked everyone for accompanying them on the Locaboire wine tour that was co sponsored by Dave Dingle of Shrinkray Mobile through Lenzr, a serial photo contest website.

Welcome to Historic Eastern Ontario, and down into the heart of a new wine region on the north shore of Lake Ontario near the town of Brighton. Closson road is still peppered with very old buildings on wilderness properties, derelict barns and wild grapes smothering trees and stone fences. I thought I saw some wild apple trees which are all that remains of the orchards that were planted on every farm here in the 1800s. This region boasts some of the oldest settlements in Upper Canada and each lot has a long legacy of owners and entrepreneurial activity.

The vines in this part of the world are young, and they’re on the opposite side of the lake from Niagara. The north side of the lake, where the growing season is just as long, but the winters are colder.

Our voyage visited only three of the thirty wineries that exist here now. Here’s a link to the Prince Edward Co (PEC) wine region index. In addition to these sites, I believe there are at least ten more seedling vineyards that have planted grapevines and hope to establish themselves as PEC wineries in the near future.

Locaboire Wine Tour of Prince Edward Co.

The secrets of Prince Edward County lie in the soil of the region.  Most properties here can find limestone bedrock just 3 to 5 feet underneath the top soil. The best properties have a very gentle slope down towards the lake. For a very good explanation of the characteristics of Prince Edward County wines please refer to this article about the Locaboire wine tour on The Wine Ladies ‘One Sip at a Time’ blog.

Partly because of its soft and friable calcareous limestone soil, and partly due to assiduous care on the part of its winemakers who have learned how to protect their vines each winter to shelter the tender primary buds from killing cold, the vines have endured, and the wines have excelled in tastings all over the world.

At The Grange Wineries, 990 Closson Road. Hillier, ON K0K2J0

Ten minutes into the expedition, our limousine turned off the paved road and bumped its down a muddy side road, over Dorland Creek, and past a 19th century farmhouse to stop outside The Grange winery.

Inside a cozy wooden barn we met Caroline Granger who, along with her father Bob Granger, owns the property and facilities. This family manages six different vineyards, with six different varietals – they harvest 180 tonnes of grapes every year.

Caroline Granger was great and very down to earth considering her name is perhaps most often associated with the area.  She is literally part of the terior of the region. The Wine Ladies really liked her – Susanne and Georgia unpacked their signature huge wine glasses, and all together we shot three segments for The Wine Ladies TV show in three different locations on the property. Here’s The Wine Ladies You Tube video of the lenzr wine tour,  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fS84EUY3BFA

The Grange of Prince Edward Estate Winery is a family run business established in 2002 by Robert Granger and his daughter Caroline.  With sixty acres of vineyards, its a breathtaking pastoral setting with a timber hewn tasting room that is the hayloft of a lovingly restored 1826 barn. The set-up of The Grange of Prince Edward Vineyards & Estate Winery has been called ‘the Loyalist version of a French wine estate’ by other notable Canadian wine bloggers and that’s because it comes complete with rich textures, historical outbuildings and old-world ambiance. The vineyards comprise more than 55,000 vinifera and are planted on Hillier clay gravel over calciferous fractured limestone. The vineyard planting began in 2001 and wine production began with the 2003 vintage. Their signature wines include a Riesling, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Rosé

The Lenzr prize / VIP Locaboire Wine Tour from left to right, Rob Campbell, Dave Dingle, Michell Walkau, Susanne and Georgia - The Wine Ladies, Debbie (MommaKoala), Johnny Cochrane and Dr. Sandra Ausma at The Grange Winery - that’s Caroline Granger pouring Trumpours Mill, 2007 Pinot Noir. Photos by Bill Watson (Ve3bnw) check ve3bnw Flickr stream for more pics.

Caroline Granger was very down to earth as she related the history of her property – the farm is two hundred years old and once hosted a chicken canning business which raised and packed poultry under the name Meadowvale farms. The chicken cannery was quite a success in the early 1900s, and printed material from just after WW1show the goods were sold in the market of the Eaton Centre in downtown Toronto. Caroline Granger was herself born and raised on the property; she described how she plowed the fields when she was a little girl.  The Wine Ladies were very impressed with her and remarked afterwards on how genuine it is for the proprietor of a winery to be so intimately connected to the property.

Next Stop, Closson Chase - 629 Closson Rd, Hillier Ontario

At 3:30 pm the Locaboire wine tour continued down the road to Closson Chase.

Lynn Carmichael greeted us all inside the unique and beautiful  Closson Chase tasting room.  We sauntered through the space to the far corner of a large wooden barn.  This establishment began back in 1998 on just seven hectares of land. Geoff Heinrick and Deborah Paskus studied the soil of Prince Edward County and speculated that Burgundian grapes could do well in this climate. After producing successful wines, Seaton Mclean and Sonja Smits who had purchased a country home in the area offered financial support to Deborah Paskus so she could open Closson Chase Vineyards in 2004.

Deborah Paskus is one of Canada’s premier winemakers and uses centuries old European traditions to create the exceptional Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays of her brand.  The firm only focuses on two grape varieties because ‘the creation of exceptional wines requires exceptional focus’. Their fine wines are the product of several important factors and the winemaking practices developed by Old world masters over centuries. Their grapes are produced from vines imported from France, from similar soil and conditions.

In the tasting room, Lynn Carmichael explained that Closson has two properties. The grape vines on their farm in Niagara are 30 years old, while the vines grown here in Eastern Ontario come from vines that are less than six years old. We tasted the difference as we sampled the Chardonnay – one glass was from 6 yr old vines, and other from 30 yr old vines and the differences were profound.  All tasters remarked at the contrast, as we came to understand more about the structure of wine in general. It was a good education, and great exercise.

All of the wine we consumed on the Locaboire tour was of course Estate Bottled which means the wine was produced from grapes grown on the farm, or by the estate.

Locaboire Wine Tour ends at RoseHall Run, 1241 Greer Rd Wellington, Ontario

The final destination on our Locaboire wine tour was Rosehall Run at 1241 Greer Rd Wellington Ontario where we met Dan Sullivan who is both the winemaker and vineyard manager. He is a lifetime student of the art of making good wine (in large batches) and has been honing his craft for almost fifteen years. This guy is super passionate about his life’s work and very hands on, eager to discuss the smallest details of his craft. At one point he stood over a pump and explained how the mechanism could move whole grapes to the press without breaking or bruising the fruit. He also lectured on the experience of setting up the winery itself, and the geology of the soil as evidenced in the barrel cellar, which was hewn out of the same limestone that makes the grapes so delicious.

Rosehall Run is a new operation, that just opened in 2006 is located in the heart of the Hillier Wine District, Rosehall Run Vineyards founders are Dan Sullivan, Cam Reston, Lynn Sullivan, Cindy Zwicker Reston.

Dan Sullivan is seen here sharing his experiences operating a twenty five acre vineyard that produces Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Gamay and others.  The famous Hillier Clay soil (clay with limestone gravel/rock over fractured limestone) has many properties. The first vintage was 2004 and now Rosehall Run’s estimated annual production drifts between 6,000 - 8,000 cases.

Dan believes the art of winemaking starts in the vineyard and he maintains a hands on approach to managing the vines and vineyard staff, which allows him to keep a close eye on the resulting quality of the fruit. The walk about Rosehall Run Winery got most interesting down in the barrel cellar where Dan did a great interview with The Wine Ladies.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayB1ycNKwIc
The group tasted several different wines, including 2008 Sullyzwicker rose and red, and a syrah that was made from grapes grown on a neighbour’s property.

We all ended up at The Timberhouse in Brighton Ontario

Lenzr attracts an interesting mix of people, and our assembly was a terrific cross section of contest participants and colourful sponsors; there was great chemistry right from the beginning. By the time the tour ended and we poured ourselves into chairs in the dining hall of the Timberhouse Bed and Breakfast in Prince Edward County, Ontario. The meal was exquisite, especially when accompanied by the many different  wines of the region.  I put the full Timberhouse dinner menu including the Prince Edward County wine list in the story about the Locaboire wine tour with The Wine Ladies in the Lenzr blog.

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 bash. I’ve been to few benders like that. We all have. But do you have any pictures? The photo contest is designed to immortalize the people that have rented the big stuff and made a big splash, a memory that will stand the test of time.

The sponsor is a Toronto tent rentals company that’s absolutely stuffed to the rafters with everything required to make a massive bash. This place is a party bomb waiting to explode on somebody’s backyard. Here’s a link to Laura on the Absolute Blog.  She’s standing by to write about the best photographs in the contest that includes tents, staging, folding chairs, tables, event lighting and much much more.  All of this is detailed in the Toronto party rentals sponsor profile on the Lenzr blog.

The prize for the Lenzr member that uploads the highest ranked picture is a spiffy new 10×10 Popup Tent, and $500 Gift Certificate * for anything in Absolute Tent and Event Services catalog.

Geothermal Installation Company Sponsors Fire and Ice photo contest on Lenzr

The Fire and Ice photo contest on Lenzr is probably the coolest theme, and will be no doubt be the hottest competition on the index as photographers show off their skills.

The back story here begins on Saturday Feb 27th 2010 when I journeyed down to the National Home Show and met Steve Hamoen of ZoneLife.ca in the Better Living Centre in Toronto.

I spent two hours talking to Steve and hangingout with him at the show. I enjoyed watching him answer questions and set minds ablaze with every explanation of exactly what’s possible these days with geothermal heating and cooling systems.

Steve Hamoen is a geothermal installer who stamps out common misconceptions about this new energy source.  Firstly, the heat doesn’t just come up out of the ground in easy to use levels, but rather in units that are commonly referred to as low grade energy - the source needs to be ramped up into more viable residential or industrial heating (or cooling) strengths using boilers or coolers as the case may be. This usable low grade energy also needs to be distributed from the source to the areas that require heat or cooling, and all of that sort of thing also requires electricity. Overall the system is part of a bigger, better planet saving solution.

Geothermal power is cost effective, reliable, sustainable, and environmentally friendly, but has historically been limited to only a very few areas of the globe, like Iceland. Recent technological advances have dramatically expanded the range and size of viable resources, especially for applications such as home heating, and in particular floor heating.

The Prize is GeoAir PCO air purifier

Photo Catalytic Oxidation (PCO) is perhaps the most advanced air purifying technology available today.  And unlike existing air cleaning systems that rely solely on ultraviolet light, the GeoAir PCO device integrates a titanium dioxide semiconductor to leverage photocatalytic oxidation allowing it to vaporize indoor air pollutants, including those that cause odors, and break them down into non-toxic products like C02 and H20.

Bacteria, viruses, mold spores don’t stand a chance and are destroyed when they come into contact with the system’s 187 square-inch Ti02 grid.  All volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) are destroyed. The system is cost-effective, maintenance-free and provides maximum energy efficiency with negligible resistance to airflow.

Toronto Grass Cutting Company asks How Green Are You? in Lenzr Photo Contest

The How Green Are You? photo challenge hopes to collect one sentence stories and snapshots of eco friendly notions submitted by Lenzr users that could be readily adopted by society in general.  The photo contest should become a repository of green ideas and inspirations. Already we have men making ‘half fuel’, clotheslines, compost piles and gardens, and we’re certain that even more sophisticated images will be uploaded before the contest ends, May 1st 2010.

Photographers are asked to be generous and share wisdom inside environmental theme images and art.

The How Green Are You? photo contest is sponsored by a solar powered grass cutting business in Toronto Ontario that has trucks and trailers festooned with adjustable solar panels.  They offer a sustainable, organic service that is also a relatively silent; their Neuton battery powered lawnmowers are very quiet.  This service is just finding its legs in the GTA and needs public support to achieve its true potential.

This sponsor is competing in the 2010 Green Innovation Awards.  Every year the Toronto Community Foundation donates up to $50,000 to help green businesses get established in the competitive Toronto marketplace. Green ideas may include any new technology, product and/or service that helps make Toronto a greener and more liveable city. Successful applicants are invited to present green ideas and funding requests to a panel of experts sometime after the submission deadline of March 12, 2010. The good news is that the Award recipients will be announced at the Green Toronto Awards Ceremony in April. 

How Green Are You? photo contest prize is Neuton CE6 battery powered lawn mower.

On May 1st the highest ranked image as decided by the members wins Neuton CE 6 Battery-Powered Mower with DURACELL® battery technology. There is no gas or oil to spill and no engine emissions to pollute the air. The 360 watt-hours of battery provide plenty of power. The Neuton CE 6 mower can cut about 1/3 acre (approx 15,000 sq. ft.) on a single charge. If you need more time, just swap in another battery and keep on mowing! Approx retail value $489.00 + shipping.

Toronto business phones installation company issues a challenge for Obsolete Office Equipment

Obsolete Office Equipment is another dynamic challenge centered on the workplace. The contest hopes to uncover the antiques that are still being used in today’s offices. Show us the obsolete objects that are still relied upon by frontline staff and backroom employees and the people who manage them.  Show us that much hated office things that slows everyone down.

This photo contest is a vision quest, a nostalgic look back at how business used to be conducted. Show us rotary dial telephones, punch clocks, obsolete measuring devices and things we used in the 1970s. Submit shots of call center switchboards and data centers.  Can you believe how far we’ve come in just ten years?

What will offices be like ten years in the future?

The contest sponsor is a business telephones system design and installation company that believes understanding your business needs is the most important part of choosing the right telephone system, as the closer your chosen telephone system comes to meeting your specific requirements, the greater the value it will add to your business.

The Prize is a 4 Line office telephone AT&T Model 1070. This state-of-the-art communication device has 4 line speakerphone & answering system capability. With Caller ID / Page / Intercom / Call transfer / Expandable to 16 stations / 32 # speed dial / 3 party conference / 6 number redial,  it has so many wonderful functions!

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 that Seattle didn’t take the toothbrushes, toothpaste, dental floss and mouthwash that was available for her consumption - a year’s supply of dental products. Let’s make sure she gets that next time.  Seattle had her camera at the scene of course, and I cant wait to see her pictures and understand her perception of the event. Read all the details on how Toronto dentist rewards Seattle Dredge on the Lenzr blog.

Dr. Yoni Freedhoff profiled on Canada Blog Friends

Here is Dr Yoni Freedhoff profile on Canada Blog Friends.

Dr. Yoni Freedhoff is the author of Weighty Matters, a food science and health blog that shines a bright light on the soft underbelly of Big Food.

Canada Blog Friends is an index of Canada’s most culturally significant bloggers and Yoni is a valuable addition the collective. His blog probably should be required reading for parents of overweight children, or anyone looking for insight into proper dieting, and how to exercise and lose weight effectively. Also what so called ‘health snacks’ you should  avoid buying for yourself or your family.  But that’s not what makes Yoni’s blog special.

Dr. Freedhoff isn’t afraid of publicly waging war with Big food, and he attacks the advertising agencies and marketing executives that print health jargon on their packaging without substantiating their claims. Or they print false claims, or make impossible statements that are essentially fraudulent.  The most fascinating things happen when Yoni publishes his blog posts, and you can almost hear his sentences echo through Big Food boardrooms all across corporate Canada.

The biggest offenders include the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s Health Check which Yoni calls a “misinformation program”, and Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating which Dr Freedhoff feels is better described as, “Canada’s Food Guide to Unhealthy Eating”.

Years ago, Dr Yoni Freedhoff founded the Bariatric Medical Institute in Ottawa, a multi-disciplinary, ethical, evidence-based nutrition and weight management center.

As the Weighty Matters blogger, Yoni is now a respected trust agent. He prints the ugly truth about processed food products and their manufacturers and marketing departments. This is important because such editorials will not get printed in mainstream magazines, newspapers or radio, and will never be mentioned on any TV network that relies on these same food companies as sponsors for programming.

I have a habit of taking pictures of the television, esp when my friends appear and share themselves with the rest of the world in some reality show or real estate program as the case may be.

Gary Puppa has a very interesting company.  He is the President of ePixome, a pictures marketing company that he started in 2000 just the whole tech industry was collapsing. As a result, he wasn’t fortunate enough to find any investors to support his business plan, angel or venture, but since then he has taken his idea and developed it into a $250K / year business.

Gary Puppa Braves the CBC Dragons Den

Gary describes his 40+ minutes pitching to the panel of Dragons as ’surreal’.  The morning of his taping he was calm cool and collected. Joking with his producer, the audio techs, hair & make-up, it was looking like it would another typical business presentation he does so well. Things changed as he walked down the stairs and set up his gear centre stage. That’s when it hit him that 20 odd cameras were taping his every word, every breath, focused on every bead of sweat and probably the pulsing vein in his collar.

It took him a few minutes to gather his composure, focus his thoughts, and then he started in…
“Hello Dragons! My name is Gary Puppa and I am from Burlington Ontario and I am president and founder of ePixome! I am here today seeking $125,000. in exchange for 20% equity in my business.”

Unfortunately Gary walked away without any Dragon dollars, but he still considers himself richer from the experience as he was fortunate enough to have his pitch make it to air to the 1.5 million CBC Dragons Den viewers across Canada.

It may have only been 1 minute of fame, but that just leaves him with 14 more somewhere in the future.

Speaking of Lenzr, tonight, the international ice hockey event was just the opening act. Tonight all three photo contests will end at midnight! Who will win  the Locaboire wine tour? The automated scoring system leaves no doubts about the prize winners.  I’m very curious to see who will win the Best Gourmet Food photo contest because that person will share a Locaboire escapade through eastern Ontario with The Wine Ladies (and myself) in the middle of March.

Last week Smojoe had some fun at Fastlane at Dermatologica watching the ladies go crazy over cosmetics and creams, drinking protein shakes and wiped their fingers every ten minutes with all natural hand sanitizers.

There was a real push to get men into the chairs, and all the clinicians had this strange and powerful obsession to put product on boys. As soon as I entered the venue I was ushered (past the bar and) into the white room.  Oh their eyes lit up when they saw me.  My pasty white skin needs help, and they wanted at it… But the white walls and white tile floors scared me. Yes I fear the cruel knife. Lots of stainless steel in here told me this was also an operating room, despite the crowd of laughing people drinking cocktails and nibbling on fruit I wasn’t comfortable and instead held court in the reception area (beside the bar).

Earlier that same day,

Deb Weinstein mentored with Rob Campbell at Personal Brand Camp 2

Deb Weinstein, President of Strategic Objectives is a fascinating person, and someone I should probably study. Here she is lurking behind me at Personal Brand Camp 2 at The Church on Berkeley, Feb 23rd.  We had a few moments before the crush of eager Humber PR students came to gather our knowledge, packaged and sold as Question #16: What are simple but effective social media practises that I can adopt?

My answer was never really defined - there are so many possibilities, and its different for everyone. But Deb brought a flip chart and had ten sheets of wisdom to bequeath. And of course I learned a great deal from her presentation too, and benefited from hearing it three times in rapid succession. My favourite part was when she asked the students to define themselves, because I could never guess exactly what they were going to say… and they were always so different.

Anyway I was so terribly inspired by the whole affair, and the quality of the ‘experts’ and the genius of Michael Cayley and his Memetic Brand that I blogged about Smojoe at Personal Brand Camp 2 and recorded my experience and observations (mostly about Deb W) for posterity right on the Humber PR Ning website.

Elizabeth Verge of Brain Possibilities

Earlier this week I explored the dark areas in my own brain with Elizabeth Verge of Brain Possibilities. She has invested time and money into the practice of mapping the human brain and studying brain activity as recorded by electromagnetic energy which is captured and observed as brain waves with EEG amplifiers and computers. Elizabeth’s computers process the brain wave information and translate the brain waves into an optimized pattern in the form of sound.

Brainwave Optimization with RTB™ encourages some brain waves and discourages others so the brain will begin to function differently - it will create a balanced condition. Basically her patients accept that harmonizing their brain waves can balance them into optimized patterns.

Do you believe this is true? I do.

As far as we know all human brain activity functions through tiny cells called neurons which interact and connect with each other forming neural-networks. These grids are activated based on stimuli. When given new stimuli they might be trained to behave differently, or use different routes to create different networks. Elizabeth claims that her clients have recognized the benefits of her unique treatments after just three sessions, but she likes to schedule 30 sessions to make the benefits permanent.

Brainwave Optimization with RTB™ is a completely non-invasive, individually tailored process of balancing and harmonizing the brain. Elizabeth and her system work to balance brain activity from the lobes of one side of the brain to the other, and from the front of the brain to the back.  Harmony refers to the way energy patterns function together from low to high in the various regions of the brain. The sole objective of brainwave optimization is to establish balance and harmony in the brain.

Do you think I should continue to explore brain wave technology?

I met Chris Binet last summer in connection with the Miss Teen Canada - World pageant.  Chris, accompanied by Ellen Smith of EnCourse, attended the very first web marketing seminar that Smojoe offered. The April 09 event was promoted by Deb Lewis of Toronto City Events, at the Spoke Club.

Heath and Beauty Toronto is a Ning Community site that Chris created, and I have pledged to support and grow to prominence. Its a two fold assignment - creating content and recruiting more content creators. Eventually the hub will become the first and best place on the web to find all Toronto related Health and Beauty offerings and events.

At the Center for Social Innovation on Spadina Ave, I had two business encounters with the following notables.

Downstairs in the Dark Horse coffee bar I met Tina Rogers who is the brains behind a content portal for people over 50 yrs of age called Tempo Toronto. It was a very casual discussion as I couldn’t get the internet on my laptop again - I message Beanfield and leave my phone number, but they don’t ever call or text me back with the PIN. I must be doing something wrong.

Ana Matica of Matica Design is a doll. She is so kind and relaxed, humble and accommodating, and she’s real easy to talk to; she coaxed one hour’s worth of Smojoe tactics out of me for a white paper she is writing on the subject. I will include a link here when she’s done.

Pro Bloggers know that some subjects are really hard to write about, and it takes mad skills to subtlety broach sensitive topics, especially in 3rd party social networks, blogs and discussion forums where you can’t completely control the reaction.  Now let Smojoe show you two women who make it look easy…

Enter two creative writers Skye Blue and Elizabeth Rose. These girls write good content on tough topics, like disease, bad sex and heartbreak. Believe it or not, there are lots of women out there who can’t talk about sex, even with their lovers, and they’re ashamed of getting personal and can’t communicate important emotions.

Met Another Frog is a dating blog, a catharsis? an therapy with a feminine perspective that tackles tough questions and comforts readers. Unfortunately at this time the site is almost completely void of pictures, and my first piece of advice was to get images in there, and try make it a visual blog and more FUN.

Smojoe charted their future in his crystal ball. On Thursday Feb 11th, I both diagnosed maladies and prognosticated on the success of a bold new path… for in the fog I could see one schematic for success.  I told them that I hoped they would continue to encourage comments… and grow a readership. Then one day without fear they might implement a vBulletin discussion forum to grow a community within a readership and then start a newsletter. Grow the permission based email newsletter to 1000 subscribers by hosting real life singles events and condo parties, then gradually over time, evolve the content portal into an interactive dating website and then ultimately a sophisticated dating service for executive women.  Elapsed time: three years.

Should Ontario Fund Single Gender Education Schools?

Earlier this month, with the help of school staff and borrowed photographs from St. Andrew’s College I wrote an article on Orato that details the advantages that single gender education over co-education models. The piece chronicles Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty considering the idea of funding some all-boys schools in the future in response to the problem of declining male academics. The very idea has outraged some folks who see it as a giant step backwards in the battle for equality of the sexes. But when I was in grade school in Percy Centennial Public School in Warkworth Ontario, I lived in fear of a black leather strap that was contained in a drawer in the school Principle’s desk. I saw the strap once, and Jamie Jenny showed me his hand after it had been struck with the strap - just once. It was red.

So now there’s an new idea floating around that all-boys schools are friendlier places where boys can be boys without fear of corporal punishment. I started a discussion on my favourite discussion forum to poll the Greater Toronto Area and find out if the public thinks private schools are actually any better, and if so why? Toronto Forums: Are private schools better than public schools? Do you think kids enrolled in all-boys, or all-girls schools think co-education public schools are better? Are single gender education schools better for kids? I wrote that on Blog.ca

Do Over Day is coming up, Feb 26th is the day, once again…

Last year was the first ever Do Over Day and Smojoe helped spread the word. I went on a couple dozen blogs and discussion forums and asked folks to “…picture yourself re-experiencing the fabulous meals you’ve eaten, the exotic lands you’ve visited, the epic raves you cannot recall attending. Conversely, visualize yourself making amends for your life’s imperfect moments – the time you made a pass at your wife’s sister (and got caught), or the night driving home from the pub when you accidentally ran over your neighbour’s pet…” Hahaa that’s good web copy. I didn’t write it, but rather, I found it on the DoOverDay.ca website along with a whole lot more light hearted easy reading.

Three Lenzr Photo Contests Come to an Exciting Conclusion on March 1st 2010

Three very engaging Lenzr photo contests are approaching a predetermined temporal mark that’s the official finish line. I write it that way because most contests continue to get submissions long after the time period expires… not sure exactly why, but it could have something to with drugs and alcohol.  Should be interesting to see who wins in this batch of photo battles. The first two challenges are pretty much locked up now, but the Best Gourmet Food photo contest is still wide open and The Wine Ladies have put up an amazing prize, an eastern Ontario Locaboire wine tour vacation, to help promote their own wine blog. This challenge could be because its a late addition to the series; the contest just launched last week.  Already Mommakoala and Satsuma are both actively promoting their pictures on other social networks, and it makes for a fun morning of watching Google Alerts.

Last week I asked London Ontario Phronk to post on Lenzr photo contests because I absolutely love the way he approaches a paid post, and the total transparency he exudes, and because Lenzr pretty much writes itself.  Stay tuned to see what’s up for March / April; I think you’re gonna love it.

It was a very entertaining evening, and I had a great time talking to everyone, especially the bloggers and business people who came out to mix and mingle and help make a difference.

Of course the music was too loud. And it really was impossible to hear anything in the main room, where everyone gathered, and I found myself seeking corridors and cavities away from the audio assault. The DJ played dance music, like any other night at The Courthouse, and it was a little sad.  My ears didn’t need it, and I would have drunk more and stayed longer if they’d played native Haitian music at comfortable levels.

The high points of my night included meeting David Black, the Coordinator of Emergency Response Planning at the University of Toronto, and Heather Lesson, a Communications Lead at Tucows that was instrumental in their team’s response to the calamity.

The Big Thinker was there, Jonathon Sinden, and beside him is Kat Scrivener who is a smart young woman with a Masters in Globalization & the Human Condition.

I also met Kurt Gooden the co-founder of Targetivity and if you are reading this Kurt please know I’d still like to talk to you more, and I consider it unfortunate that we were interrupted. But as I was standing at the name tag table and holding the only red sharpie in my hand the interruption was perhaps inevitable. Hanging out at the name tag table or even appointing myself as name-tag-maker is an old trick of mine.  Its a great way to survey the landscape and meet dozens of people in short order. If they are boring you can move along to the next customer quickly and efficiently, and as a self appointed name tag maker, you can walk away anytime.

Here’s Lisa Charleyboy, the most beautiful native girl I know, and her friend Jon Gauthier who has a remarkable business card that bears a star burst on the back with the words ‘connect yourself with the limitless’, and when I stare at it, I get a warm feeling and it makes me happy.

I met Carly-Anne Fairlie of the Fairlee Agency standing in the quiet room (the room with the prizes which was 17 decibles less intense than the courtroom), and ofcourse the girl at the very top of the post is Casie Stewart holding a limitless supply of raffle tickets. When I think back on the evening I regret not buying any of those…  Jason bought some, and he didnt regret it.  Jason if you are reading this please tell us the story behind this photo in the comments.

That review is from a friend of mine who said he would publish it on his blog, if he had one. I laughed and copied it and now that document has evolved into this blog post. I’m publishing it on my blog because I’m my own worst critic, and clearly there’s a lesson to be learned. I’ve just got to get better at presenting thoughts and ideas in a linear progression.  Perhaps I do need to lay it out on a boring old power point, and practice it alone at home in front of my pals? Rehearse the material, going slow and steady and explaining everything in great detail…

Smojoe sprang in action this week at the Spoke Club on Tuesday Feb 2nd downstairs in the gallery at night. That occurrence came courtesy of Deb Lewis and her City Events team. She’s Toronto’s best event producer with an obsession for details. Deb is constantly pushing technological boundaries and at this event she debuted new social technology that puts YouTube videos in emails. City Events has a powerful newsletter with over five thousand subscribers and Deb’s bi-monthly blasts enjoy a 25% open rate.  Deb’s events are always packed with devoted followers as I discovered when I rudely interrupted her on the floor to indicate that she should speed up, or better yet wrap it up; the audience feedback was very critical of my behavior… but in my defense it was only so I could have the full hour and half that was promised me in order to slow down and present my linear ideas…

On the evening of Feb 2nd 2010, Deb Lewis and I discussed How To Market Events in Toronto and of course I got a little too specific on how to use the toolbar in a Wordpress blog to craft beautiful keyword rich articles and Craigslist advertisements etc and what 3rd party event marketing widgets are most effective on your blog sidebar and why.. I think people came to learn secrets and discover new high tech magic wands they can use to magically bring traffic to their events.

The next morning Gary Puppa of Epixome twittered about joining EventPeeps which looks terrific and I wish I could have imparted that web address to the audience. But I did tell them to read my blog, and follow me on Twitter @roberrific

Smojoe with Rapport Communications in the National Yacht Club Feb 4th

Two days later on Feb 4th 2010 I wore my other pair of fancy pants to The National Yacht Club in Toronto. In this venue, at 12:00 noon I worked with the team at Rapport Inc specifically Bill Tibbles and Denise Breen and I followed Faith Seekings on stage to hold the floor for two and half hours discussing exactly how to write compelling content for humans and robots, and how to make story funnels to buckstops work for you, and how to feed search bots juicy keyword sandwiches. It was my own brand of madness from start to finish.

Here’s Faith and Will Web setting up a fancy new digital projector at the National Yacht Club.

Presentation Points – Secrets of Smojoe Social Media Marketing

Its no secret that Smojoe believes the blog is central to good social media; it’s a really fertile field where great content can be easily made, and harvested. It’s cheap to make content here and good posts accrue more and more value over time. The blog is the cornerstone of good social media marketing, and the sidebar is a content catalyst that’s too often neglected.

The blog is at the center of every story funnel because it connects so nicely to all other components, and the keyword rich crops grown here are quite often the most compelling, information rich threads in your social net – the blog is the source of daily content and soon becomes every expert’s most powerful influence tool. If your business were drawn as a stick man, the blog would be the mouth.

Story Funnels To Buckstops

Don’t put the whole story on just one page. Fragment your media so curious clickers have to travel to multiple platforms as they assemble the adventure in their heads.  Break your content into chunky bits and leave hooks in photo descriptions, articles, blogs and in discussion forum posts.  Make each piece of media link to another piece; some should link up to articles, but most will link down to your Buckstop.

You buckstop is your conversion form, and incoming links should be embedded under keyword rich text to tell robots what you are offering.

Writing Content for Humans and Robots

When bloggers take advantage of all the ways that Wordpress and other content submission platforms can index content ie headlines, subtitles, alt text under pictures tags and categories they can make truly information rich packages.

How To Make Keyword Sandwiches

When blogging, its possible to make tasty keyword sandwiches for robots by following this precise writing ritual: 1) in the back of your wordpress blog import a picture as URL from your Flickr account that has a proper headline, description and tags, and insert it in your blog. Then put keywords in all the right places on the picture as title, alt text and if possible tags.  2) Write a good rich media blog post around the picture using the same keywords in headline, subtitle, tags and categories, and then publish the blog post. 3)  Bookmark your post using Digg, Delicious, Reddit or StumbleUpon to add the same search terms to the package again -  that’s how you create a keyword sandwich, and this rich media is exactly what search bots most love to eat!