What’s your official job title, and where did you go to school?

You can call me an Online Reputation Strategist. I’m a freelancer now, though previously I was Co-Founder and Chief Strategist at #engagementlabs.

I’m an M.A. graduate in Media Studies from Concordia University.

Elevator pitch. Describe yourself in a nutshell (or sea shell, or any shell for that matter).

I’m a senior social media strategist who first cut his teeth as a digital activist.

Innovating in the trenches with groups such as Indymedia and Adbusters in the 90s, I gained a deep understanding of what makes corporations and governments vulnerable to social media crisis and, conversely, how to adapt their communications to create productive exchanges with their stakeholders.

In my career so far, I have overseen the sale, design and management of millions of dollars’ worth of social media projects for clients in the Fortune 500, the resource and energy sectors.

I have also just published the #Social Survival Manifesto, an eBook that warns corporations about the risks of doing social media poorly or not at all. It is available for free download here:
http://socialdisruptions.com/socialsurvivalmanifesto/

Why did you pursue what you’re doing now? What was the inspiration?

I have always been passionate about social innovation and social change. For a long time, I worked with green and fair labour projects for little to no money. I definitely put in my time earning good karma. As corporate social media communications started to go mainstream, I saw an opportunity to work with larger clients without selling all my values down the river.

I sincerely believe that social media has hard-coded certain expectations and values into its culture that force corporations and institutions to behave more responsibly. I am more than happy to be the bridge between citizen and activist demands and corporations that need to maintain their reputation and a constructive dialogue with their stakeholders. This is essentially my sweet spot.

What is the best part of your day-to-day?

I love teaching and storytelling. When I get some time to myself to draft a strategy for a client or do a training session with a group, I’m at my best.

What’s the most challenging?

The most challenging part of my job is when strategies go ‘live’ and when I have to reaffirm the right way to do social and fend off backseat drivers. This kind of education is tricky because tensions run high when real interactions start to happen.

If you took a look in the cliché crystal ball, what do you see for yourself?

For the next while, I have a lot of skills-transferring to do. This means training and capacity building with new teams that want to build big budget Online Reputation campaigns. There is early talk of a book deal arising from my Manifesto and I am flirting with several agencies to see where I might fit best as a partner. Maybe I will feel like starting up my own social media outfit later but not for now.

How do you embrace disruption in your work and personal life?

My area of expertise, social media as applied to corporate reputation management, is disruptive in itself for most of my clients and event the PR firms I work with. I guess I am at ease being a disruption facilitator though I try to smooth the edges of these transitions for the uninitiated.

At home, my kids are pretty disruptive too and I continuously learn how to live with more and more chaos in my surroundings.

What is the most memorable moment in your career?

Convincing Canada’s oil and gas lobby to open up to questions and answers with the public through social media. Pioneering project, good budget and very hot topic. It was a colossal learning experience for me and my team!

Do you support any initiatives or charities?

I love crowdfunding and microcredit initiatives like Kiva.org. Everyone should give it a try. It’s easy to participate and you can keep tabs on your community investment and reinvest in others. It’s the best mix of gamification and global development and does not feel anything like a typical charity.

Tell us what you see yourself doing at 65 years old.

Writing from the woods somewhere, teaching some courses at a distance. Doing manual work, mountain biking, skiing and keeping fit. Spending time with grand kids. Doing work, but only for good causes.

Just for fun: if you had to pick one app in the whole APPVERSE, what would it be?

Evernote! Can’t imagine how I lived without it. My daily planning is there, my random ideas and my grocery lists, all travelling neatly from device to device. Priceless.

With the tag line, “No More Tears” on your products, consumers tend to foster a certain level of customer trust that your products are safe to use on the whole family.  Unfortunately for Johnson & Johnson, one of the leading family care brands in the world, this hasn’t always been the case.

In 2009, the coalition group, Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, conducted a study on a wide array of personal care products and the results were quite shocking; a number of Johnson & Johnson products contained now identified carcinogens such as formaldehyde and 1,4 dioxane. The ‘trick’ of sorts is that these (and other) harmful chemicals weren’t listed on the ingredient labels! Why? Because ‘technically’ they weren’t ingredients, just by-products of the preservatives breaking down as the products aged.

After the discovery, the real work and PR balancing act began for Johnson & Johnson as they strived to reformulate their products while assuring their millions of users that while they’re doing this, their current products are still safe. Susan Nettesheim, VP of product stewardship & toxicology for Johnson & Johonson commented on the situation by saying, “Even though as a scientist I will sit here and tell you these things are perfectly safe,” consumers are worried about reports that call these conclusions into question, “I understand that and we can’t ignore that.”

So the company set to work reformulating their beloved products, some of which have been on the market for 50 years. The first wave of reformulation included all of their baby products and was promised for completion in 2013. The company delivered on their promise and earlier this month were presented with a collection of 30,000 names from consumers giving thanks to the corporation for their efforts in product safety. Johnson & Johnson also launched a new website outlining their commitment to safety.

The next step for Johnson & Johnson is their adult personal care brands including Neutrogena, Aveeno and Clean & Clear. They are striving to remove all triclosan and phthalates from these products by 2015 but will continue using 3 parabens and in exceptional cases, Formaldehyde where there is no other preservative option. From now on though the company has agreed to complete transparency when it comes to product ingredients. Company spokesperson Samantha Lucas stated, “We’re committed to absolute transparency about what’s in the product, and what’s on the label. We’re very involved in the complete supply chain, including holding our suppliers and our raw materials providers to our high standards.”

The efforts of Johnson & Johnson aren’t passing unnoticed by environmental/consumer groups either, Kenneth A. Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group praises the company, “We’ve never really seen a major personal care product company take the kind of move that they’re taking with this… Not really even anything in the ballpark.”

What do you think? Is this a PR win for Johnson & Johnson, or is it too little too late?

Sources:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/16/business/johnson-johnson-to-remove-formaldehyde-from-products.html?_r=3&smid=tw-nytimeshealth&seid=auto&

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=johnson-and-johnson-removes-some-chemicals-from-baby-shampoo-other-products

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=johnson-and-johnson-removes-some-chemicals-from-baby-shampoo-other-products

• Be sure to tweet links to interesting content
• Ask! “Please Retweet” has a 51% success rate.
• Stop talking about YOU. Only 1.5% of tweets contain self-reference
• Instructional and entertainment based content get the most attention

All these and more in the image below:

On the eve of his return to Earth earlier this week, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield racked up one more first before leaving the ISS, the first music video filmed in space! Check out the video above for Hadfield’s version of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity.”

What’s your official job title, and where did you go to school?

I am the PRINCIPAL, HEAD OF MAGIC at the Toronto based innovation firm Kinetic Café and according to my Facebook profile I went to school at the RINGLING BROS. AND BARNUM & BAILEY CLOWN COLLEGE majoring in Mummenschanz but to be honest, it has been so long since I was in school so I can’t really remember if that’s accurate anymore.

Elevator pitch. Describe yourself in a nutshell (or sea shell, or any shell for that matter).

I am North America’s best word of mouth marketer specializing in big impact with low budgets…on top of that I am very handsome and my charm has no bounds.

Why did you pursue what you’re doing now? What was the inspiration?

I recently read an article that had the following description of the word Visionary, “a word that manages to convey both a capacity for mercurial insight and a lack of practical job skills.” I am not sure that accurately describes my career or personality but I did want to prove to you and your readers that I am very well read.

So to answer your question, I got to where I am not by pursuing a dream path from the beginning but rather identifying very early where my strengths were and focusing on being the best in the world at a specific skill (or big thing) instead of being OK at a lot of little things. By playing to my strengths instead of my passions I was always in a position to be successful and I never made my passions my job, therefore losing the love for the things I love. Hobbies should always be hobbies and separate because this is how you find inspiration and recharge.

What is the best part of your day-to-day?

Being creative and having people love me.

What’s the most challenging?

Convincing big brands that they should finance a re-imagination of the Harlem Globetrotters or Pro Stars cartoons.

If you took a look in the cliché crystal ball, what do you see for yourself?

I can answer this with absolute confidence because I recently had a tarot card reading and was told that in my near future my prominence will grow to a level of Oprah like beloved-ness, Seth Godin like respected-ness, Shawn Kemp like virility and Andy Kaufman like spectacle-ness, all to be followed by obscurity, irrelevance and a Howard Hughes like reclusive-ness.

How do you embrace disruption in your work and personal life?

Disruption is what I do for a living. Getting peoples attention and making people scratch their heads is that skill I referenced earlier as the thing I am better at than anyone, so you could say I embrace it with all my fingers and toes. Its what gets me out of bed everyday.

What is the most memorable moment in your career?

I don’t look back much and kinda keep moving forward so even though I have been featured in INC and Forbes Magazine for doing cool stuff and have spoken 6 years in a row at SXSW I am going blame my poor memory and say this interview is the most recent memorable moment right now.

Do you support any initiatives or charities?

I support a few charities financially (my schedule doesn’t allow too much hands on support) and while I am very proud of these initiatives I don’t talk about that stuff publicly for fear people will realize I am really a good person.

Tell us what you see yourself doing at 65 years old.

Running a school for retired print and runway models focused on teaching them the skills they need re-enter society and deal with common folks…and if that doesn’t happen I would like to be still doing what I do now because spending your days dreaming up solutions to complicated problems is pretty rewarding as well.

Just for fun: if you had to pick one app in the whole APPVERSE, what would it be?

Not sure I have a favorite app right now but I am most interested in trying out Felt App. I love the idea of handwritten notes to people.

Jennifer Lawrence for Miss Dior
With her recent Academy Award win and her upcoming sequel to The Hunger Games trilogy, Jennifer Lawrence has been killing it lately. The humble 20-year-old actress was announced to replace Mila Kunis as the new face of Dior’s Miss Dior handbag. When first shown images from the campaign, Jennifer told Access Hollywood, “That doesn’t look like me at all. I love Photoshop more than anything in the world. People don’t look like that.” (Source)

Beyonce for H&M
Beyonce flaunts her perfect post-baby beach bod in H&M’s latest “Beyonce as Mrs. Carter” campaign. Think Beyonce and bikinis, and this is what you get. Her glowing bronze skin and fearless posing though, may be too much for locals of the Lower East side of New York City. Residents have been ‘censoring’ a bus stop poster ad with a sheet of paper, covering the lower half of the shot. (Source)

Cara Delevingne for DKNY
From becoming every fashion designer’s must-have runway model to being Rihanna’s new bestie, Cara Delevingne is the new girl everyone wants to be friends with. Starring in DKNY’s spring 2013 campaign, Cara showcases their vibrant collection in the streets of New York City. (Source)

Coco Rocha for Longchamp
Coco Rocha returns for a third season campaign with Longchamp’s Spring 2013. This time around, she is rushing into an airport and uses the security check as her dance op. Busting a move on set is nothing out of the ordinary for the dancer-turned model, as she is famous for Irish-dancing down the runway for Jean Paul Gaultier’s Fall/Winter 2007 show. (Source)

Amanda Seyfried for Givenchy
Amanda Seyfried looks absolutely breathtaking in the new TV commercial for Givenchy’s “Very Irresistable” perfume. She is seen strutting into a small café – western style, before showing off her rosy pink lips and signature gold locks. (Source)

ADDITIONAL SOURCES:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2322274/Amanda-Seyfried-Very-Irr-sistible-new-Givenchy-perfume-advert.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

http://hypetrak.com/2013/04/beyonce-hm/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/29/dior-veil-jennifer-lawrence-ad_n_2980953.html

http://www.whosay.com/cocorocha/photos/304137

http://fashiongonerogue.com/see-amanda-seyfried-star-in-givenchy-very-irresistible-tv-spot/

(Image via)

One of the most important elements of my job is keeping current. I’m constantly surfing the web for content, PVR’ing daytime talk shows, and consuming multiple newspapers and magazines. Each and every day revolves around finding top news stories, digesting other PR pro tips, and reading up on current trends. To an outsider, the amount of information we (as PR peeps) have to constantly consume may be a bit overwhelming – but guess what? We love it.

In an effort to assist those who may be new to the industry, or perhaps want to learn more about PR, I thought I’d put together a few of the industry sites I visit on a daily basis – to keep my mind fresh and up to date:

PRDaily | PRWeek | All Top PR News | Mashable | Inc | Entrepreneur |Techcrunch | Techvibes

When it comes to news/content consumption that’s not industry related, I rely on a few different tactics. Here’s a few extra tips:

1. Learn To Love Your Remote

As I mentioned before, I make sure to PVR many of the local/national chat, daytime and morning shows so that I can watch them in my down time. It’s important as a PR person to know individual show formats, and what they look for in segments – if only to make your job easier when pitching your clients.

2. A Weekly Magazine Run

Each Tuesday, I try to make it out to my local bookstore to stock up on magazines. The selection varies based on what beats my current clients fall under, but I’m constantly on the lookout for opportunities and great fits for potential pieces.

3. A Daily (If Not Hourly) Scan Of The News

Knowing what’s up on a local, national, and international scale is essential.  Having context for potential story pitches, and being able to tie your pitch into current events is something media will love you for.

4. Twitter 

Twitter is a godsend. Of course, you can’t possibly keep up with absolutely everything going on in the world, and do your job – but Twitter certainly helps. Reading realtime news/articles from likeminded people, or those you admire can play a big role in keeping your fingers on the pulse.

For more tips, articles, and advice, be sure to follow us @EmbraceDisrupt.

Until next time,

Cory

Clearly, the two biggest cogs in the social media machine are blogging and contingencies. Good blog content gets noticed and shared. It’s also one of the biggest drivers of traffic to your company’s site. When it comes to contingencies, this includes unscheduled posts (such as Oreo’s Superbowl ad) as well as damage control/emergencies. The more pre-planning you can do, the less overall impact these events will have on your company and strategies.

Finally, don’t forget about engagement. It’s always good to have fabulous content but you need to get out into the social media-verse and share it, discuss it, and build relationships with like minded individuals. The great thing about social media is that it makes our world smaller and more connected; you just have to commit yourself to building those relationships. 

Check out the infographic below for more helpful tips to budget your time.

(Image Source)

Happy Friday Everyone!

Since its inception, LinkedIn has been a destination for professionals to connect and share achievements, while proudly displaying a working copy of their online resumes.  LinkedIn announced Wednesday May 1^st that users can now include visual representations of their work, allowing for companies and potential co-workers to see achievements even before making contact!

This addition means that photographers will now be able to upload samples of their work; video editors can upload films or commercials they have worked on and fashion designers can put their sketches on display. Not only will users be able to upload these images, video and/or presentations from their own computers, but they will also be able to link to content from other sites while providing detailed descriptions and explanations as to why the visuals were included.

With the inclusion of the new Personal Portfolio section of LinkedIn, people will also be able to ‘like,’ comment and ‘share’ all uploaded materials. This will definitely come in handy when trying to scout talent: just locate a candidate’s LinkedIn resume and share the examples of their past work with the team. Members of the same professional communities can also offer their peers feedback and suggestions on their work.

Sources

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/05/linkedin-professional-portfolio/

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2418429,00.asp

http://mashable.com/2013/05/01/linkedin-visual-profile/

Context is so important: it provides reasoning behind information or an event, while also allowing individuals to draw the correct conclusion about something. When it comes to marketing, context is all about being able to provide the right content, to the right people at the right time.¹ By providing a more complete picture of what a product/service actually is and the many uses and benefits it can provide, it enables potential customers more information to make final purchase decisions.

Contextual marketing is at it’s best when the content is personalized and relevant to the people looking at it. The best ways to figure out what your potential consumers want is through market research and identifying where they land in the buying cycle. If they are just starting to research purchasing a product, the information they’re looking for is vastly different than what they would require in other areas of the buying cycle (see the image below).

When conducting contextual marketing, here’s are 3 tools that you can use:

• Dynamic Calls To Action: telling people what you want them to do; i.e. “contact us for more information,” “buy now,” or “tell us about your experience.”
• Organized E-mail Blasts: don’t bombard people with information they won’t need.
• Smart Forms:  by gathering targeted data, you can personalize your interactions with past/present/future customers.

When it comes to online advertising, Todd Wasserman had this to say:

“…standard ad formats for TV, print and radio are pretty set, the Internet has viewed the social media and mobile revolution as a chance for a do-over in which the lines between advertising and editorial are blurred a bit…”

We’re all bombarded with examples of  targeted online marketing. How many times have you googled a product, and been chased by a plethora of banner ads (advertising that very product) with each site you visit? That’s another form of contextual marketing that uses behavioral targeting. Many search engines employ the use of adware (software that picks out key words from our searches) and display ads that are meant to be of interest to us. This technique could still use some improvements though, behavioural targeting still can’t decipher whether or not a consumer has purchased a product – meaning the banner ads still appear, even after completing the online buying cycle.

Whatever form it comes in, contextual marketing has become an industry standard – helping to provide consumers with products and services they actually “want”.

Sources:

http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/33894/What-s-the-Deal-With-This-Whole-Context-Marketing-Thing.aspx

http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/56351/contextual-marketing

http://mashable.com/2013/05/03/contextual-marketing/

And if that wasn’t cool enough, here is the “how it was made” video:

Nell was a costume designer back in England before moving to Canada. She decided to make the switch to puppets because she always had a dream of putting on productions with puppets, as they lend themselves much easier to being transported around in comparison to a bunch of heavy costumes.

Nell explained she usually waits for a script to be developed and written before her puppets are created. On average, a puppet takes a week to stitch together initially, with the face being the last piece to be completed. Faces are left to the end because Nell wants to get a better sense of the character before giving them ‘life’ with a face. But Malcolm was a different story. Malcolm was a collaborative effort between James and Nell where he went to her and described what he was looking for in a puppet without a real idea of a show for him to work in. Malcolm was created and took to the stage first in a production that featured James Kedelka, Bill Coleman and counter tenior Don Taylor.

After the success of this production Malcolm was then cast in a 15-minute production entitled AllOneWord. The short production is a spoof of Law & Order where poor Malcolm plays the accused in a murder plot.

Now Malcolm has the opportunity to seize centre stage in a self-titled production, a duet between himself and James Kudelka. Nell teased that the production is quite fun and features a great rapport between Malcolm and James and even features interaction with accompanist Don Taylor and Malcolm.

Since he was ‘born’ 4 years ago Malcolm has undergone many a cosmetic procedure to ensure that he’s moving just the way James likes, and to fix any mishaps that may have occurred on stage.

As for Nell Coleman, she keeps herself busy with her puppet players company ‘Saints and Sinners’ that adapt and perform ‘bawdy Medieval plays’ & ‘definitely different Bible tales’ for adult audiences (for easy referencing, think in the vein of Avenue Q). Nell is also being honoured as the Textile Museum of Canada’s Volunteer of the Year.

Congratulations Nell!

Tickets to ‘Malcolm’ can be purchased online by going to Coleman Lemieux Compagnie’s website.

• Wi-Fi trumps all. Really now, could you imagine staying in a hotel that didn’t have internet access? That’s a nightmare waiting to happen.
• Guests want a high end coffee machine in the room. This makes some sense: if you fork out the money for a gorgeous room, the last thing you want to do is leave it to find a good cup of joe.
• Complimentary bottled water was a simple amenity that most guests would like to see.
• Wine tasting and happy hour is a fan favourite (you don’t say!)
• Interestingly enough, a lot of people snatch a magazine or book from their hotel room. We just want to ask those people: do you really need ANOTHER copy of the bible?

Check out all these stats and more in the INFOGRAPHIC below:

People often say the best part of their job isn’t necessarily in the material gains and successes but the feeling they get from a job well done. That was only one of the metrics used to determine the ‘Best Jobs’ of 2013 as decided by CareerCast. Aside from job fulfillment, the Jobs Rated method uses measurable statistics including median salary, projected job growth and the collective Jobs Rated Score (where, just like in golf, the lower the number the better). Take a look at the top 10 Best Jobs list below:

1. Actuary
2. Biomedical Engineer
3. Software Engineer
4. Audiologist
5. Financial Planner
6. Dental Hygienist
7. Occupational Therapist
8. Optometrist
9. Physical Therapist
10. Computer Systems Analyst

Of course, every ‘best of” list has an accompanying ‘worst of’ list. The worst jobs of 2013 were rated on a similar scale as the best jobs, including things like physical risks and stress levels associated with the job duties and activities. Here’s the top 10 worst jobs of the year:

1. Newspaper Reporter
2. Lumberjack
3. Enlisted Military Personnel
4. Actor
5. Oil Rig Worker
6. Dairy Farmer
7. Meter Reader
8. Mail Carrier
9. Roofer
10. Flight Attendant

What do you make of this list? Any jobs excluded from either list you think are worth mentioning?

1. What’s your official job title, and where did you go to school?   

Associate, Foundations & Partnerships at the Art Gallery of Ontario
Principal, Craddock Consultation & Creative
Event Manager, Pants Off for Prostate Cancer

I went to school for quite a long time at several different places:

Ryerson University – Master of Fine Arts in Documentary Media
Ryerson University – Master of Arts in Media Production
Huron University College – Political Science and Global Studies

2. Elevator pitch. Describe yourself in a nutshell (or sea shell, or any shell for that matter).

I am a professional fundraiser, event manager, artist/curator, and volunteer. I have an affinity for working hard and working passionately, taking on new and innovative initiatives, and challenging myself to always expand my goals – and to reach them. I find congruency and harmony across my activities and areas of interest and like to apply my skills and talents to work to develop and contribute to projects and events that provide opportunities and experiences for others, with the ultimate goal of making them “feel good.”

3. Why did you pursue what you’re doing now? What was the inspiration?

I actually got involved in supporting non-profits at a very young age. When I was just 12 years old, I became the youth coordinator for my local humane society. I organized some of the society’s most successful fundraisers and events, including an annual car wash and pet treat cooking and sales.

When I was in undergrad, I got a student job working in my school’s development office. At first, I was calling alumni and soliciting donations, but I soon moved onto doing research and campaign coordination. My extra-curricular involvement also engaged me in coordinating various events that served as fundraisers for local charities. While my formal education has not been specific to fundraising, much of my work and volunteer experience has.

Most recently, in my MA in Media Production, I undertook independent studies focused on innovation in fundraising using digital technologies, social media, and donor interactivity. It was a really fascinating and rewarding area of study that has inspired me to undertake this as an area of work over the next few years.

My current major work – at the AGO and with Pants Off for Prostate Cancer – has been inspired also by my love of the arts and my interest in organizing engaging and memorable experiences for people. Working at the AGO has really opened up my ability to dive into the art world, which, as an artist myself, has been rewarding on so many levels. In my organization of the annual Pants Off for Prostate Cancer event, I have the pleasure to developing an evening that brings hundreds of people together for a great cause, and sends them home with amazing memories that they talk about until the next year’s event.

4. What is the best part of your day-to-day?

While I completely love my job and the responsibilities and tasks involved with it, the best part of my day is coming home to my 3-and-a-half year old dog, Manny. Each and every time I open the door, Manny rushes to me, jumps up and down, and comes up to give me a hug (really though, he jumps up and puts his front legs over my shoulders!). Having a dog is a good reminder of how peaceful life should be. Regardless of any stress I’m under or deadlines that are pressuring me, Manny is a great reminder to take a deep breath and just enjoy myself.

5. What’s the most challenging?

The most challenging part of my day is waking up. Working 9 to 5 and having additional employment and significant volunteer work in the evenings often keeps me up into the wee hours of the morning. The result: a severe lack of adequate sleep as recommended by doctors. I get through it though, keeping in mind that in the end, my dedication and hard work will pay off.

6. If you took a look in the cliché crystal ball, what do you see for yourself?

Looking in that crystal ball I see a lot of work, but great promise. I believe that sometimes hard work pays off immediately, often with smaller, less permanent gratifications. But true hard work, dedication, perseverance, and positivity don’t always have immediately payoffs. Sometimes it takes years for the results, but in these cases, the rewards are much larger, more fulfilling, and more lasting. It’s a fascinating web of cause and effect. This is what I see in that crystal ball.

7. How do you embrace disruption in your work and personal life?

I love to embrace disruption in my work and personal life by challenging the status quo, providing new ideas and opportunities, and pushing others to think about achieving their/our best in new and innovative ways. With my employment and volunteer work, I take great excitement in entering situations and developing strategic thinking around ‘usual’ operations to develop plans for improvement, growth, and greater success. This involves anything from fundraising, to outreach and audience engagement, to improving and diversifying the quality of project’s content.

In my personal life, I like to embrace disruption by encouraging people to think about political and social issues in new ways. With an undergraduate degree in Political Science, and much course study in critical thinking, I really like to push myself and others to reconsider the usual perspectives on important issues. I put this into practice with my 2011 documentary film Gay Rights: Politics, Activism, and Canada’s Gay Conservatives. The film explores how several gay men – both young and old – align themselves with more typically right-wing ideas, policies, and parties in the face of a predominantly ‘left’ queer community that sees them as traitors out outsiders. Making the film was an incredibly eye-opening project for myself and for those who viewed it. It really brings politics down to a personal level and helps the viewer to consider the history and currents of LGBTQ politics in a new light.

8. What is the most memorable moment in your career?

Having engaged so many different areas of employment and work with various projects so far, there are many memorable moments I could share. However, my most recent memorable moment was in working with the AGO and securing a major grant in support of one of our blockbuster exhibitions. The proposal process was a extremely detailed and extensive one, but when I received that phone call informing me of the successful proposal, I was ecstatic!

9. Do you support any initiatives or charities? Tell us about it.

Given that I work in the non-profit industry, I am a strong supporter of a range of charitable organizations, both as a donor and as a volunteer.

I am currently a Board Member and multi-faceted volunteer with the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives. As a Board Member, I help lead the organization’s strategic direction and take leadership roles in a number of the CLGA’s activities, including the management of certain archival acquisitions, fundraising, events, community outreach, and the Archives Gallery.

As a donor, I give to a range of organizations. Some of these include: Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives, Huron University College, Art Gallery of Ontario, Canadian Mental Health Association, Alzheimer Society of Canada, and more.

10. Tell us what you see yourself doing at 65 years old.

I’d like to say that at 65 I would be retired, living with my lifelong partner, and enjoying a healthy income. Truthfully, however, my work-a-holic character knows that I will still be hammering away at whatever great projects or organizations I am involved with. I’m not complaining though, I feel most comfortable when I am constantly working.

11. Just for fun: if you had to pick one app in the whole APPVERSE, what would it be?

I definitely would have to say Shazam. I am constantly hearing songs that I like, but too often don’t know their names or artists. Shazam is a saving grace that identifies the songs for me so that I can enjoy them again and again and again!

• Envelope Design: matters most to the subscribers. Infographic shares best practices pertaining to the FROM NAME, TO FIELD and SUBJECT LINES. Subscribers decide to read or delete an Email within 3 seconds.
• Pre-Header and Header: Snippet Text should be well aligned with the subject line as few clients show preview text, pulled out from the first few lines of email content.
• Johnson Box top is ideally 400X300 Pixels, with the height of the header set at around 150 Pixel.
• Mobile Optimized Emails has to be restricted to single column template, using techniques like responsive and scalable coding standards as 42% of all email is now opened via mobile and 43% of mobile email users check email 4+ times per day.. Mobile emails should have tappable calls to action of minimum size 44 x 44 pixels and Mobile Email width of 320 to 480 Pixels.
• Images in the email: Images in the email: Images with an Alt text should be used as in case an email does not display correctly, 69.7% will delete it immediately. Try to avoid background images layered with text. Many of the email clients (Outlook, one of them) don’t support background images.
• Guidelines: Avoiding the use of Flash or Ajax functionality.

One tech-savvy musician that’s using Vine to promote his new single is Jason Derulo. Known for tagging all his singles with his name, the R&B singer was one of the early adopters of Vine and now he wants to use the app to promote his new single, “The Other Side” which dropped last week. Essentially, he had the song broken up into 6 second increments that can be chosen to ‘score’ your Vine video as you post it. The singer is asking fans to tag the Vines with ‘#TheOtherSide’, then Derulo and his team are going to choose a bunch of them to edit together to create a full-length ‘fan video’ to be posted on YouTube.

Ayal Kleinman, Warner Bros Records VP of Marketing says Vine is “the emerging social media platform” for artists. Also commenting, “The high-energy feel of the song really lent itself well to the platform, and so all the elements came together to create this really engaging promotion.”

Vine seems like the perfect opportunity to not only allow singers/bands to put their music out to a wider audience, but also to have a more personal relationship with their fans by ‘Vine’-ing backstage or sharing behind-the-scenes clips!

Pants Off for Prostate Cancer returns for a fourth consecutive year in support of Prostate Cancer Canada

TORONTO, ON (April 22, 2013) – On May 15, 2013, hundreds of pants-less professionals will gather for the fourth annual Pants Off for Prostate Cancer event benefiting Prostate Cancer Canada. Aptly named for the party’s pants-less dress code, guests check their pants at the door and party with bare legs to raise funds for this serious below-the-belt issue.  This year’s event – Pants Off Fore! Golf & Country Club – will transform Toronto’s Berkeley Church into the most unique and exclusive clubhouse in the city.

Since its foundation in 2010, Pants Off for Prostate Cancer has raised over $200,000 to increase support for the fight against prostate cancer’s impact on the 1 in 7 Canadian men who will be diagnosed with the disease in their lifetime. Funds raised support prostate cancer research and awareness and contribute to services for those living with the disease.

“We were inspired by the opportunity to create something unique that would appeal to a younger and more adventurous group of urban professionals that may not be as attracted to traditional fundraising events,” said Peter Shippen, co-founder and co-chair of Pants Off for Prostate Cancer.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer to affect Canadian men. 26,500 will be diagnosed with the disease this year alone. Prostate Cancer Canada encourages men over the age of 40, as part of their annual checkup, to initiate a conversation with their doctor about early detection of prostate cancer, which may include PSA testing and a Digital Rectal Exam.

“The notion of going “pants off” for one night was envisioned as a fun and playful way to draw attention to the below-the-belt nature of this very serious disease,” said Boris Novansky, co-founder and co-chair with Shippen.

Pants Off Fore! Golf & Country Club is generously supported by Presenting Media Sponsor tonight Newspaper; Lead Sponsors Bayer Inc., Redwood Asset Management, and Joe Boxer. Supporting Sponsors include Fasken Martineau and Georgeson; and Friends Beam Global, Cave Spring Cellars, Collins Barrow, CST Phoenix Advisors, Deloitte, Hogtown Brewers, Mill Street Brewery, and Renaissance Investments.

“We are delighted to be partnering with Pants Off on a creative event that draws attention and raises funds for a disease that impacts thousands of Canadians each year,” said John Cameron, Publisher, tonight Newspaper.

To purchase tickets for Pants Off Fore! on May 15 at the Berkeley Church at 8:00 p.m. or for more information, visit www.takeyourpantsoff.ca.

About Pants Off for Prostate Cancer:

Pants Off for Prostate Cancer is an edgy and innovative fundraising event that puts the focus on the below-the-belt nature of prostate cancer by enforcing a mandatory no pants policy at the door for its guests – a diverse mix of Toronto’s professional crowd. Since 2010, the annual event has drawn crowds of over 400 people – all pants-less – in efforts to raise funds to benefit Prostate Cancer Canada, the nation’s leading charity funding prostate cancer research, support programs, and awareness.

Website: http://www.takeyourpantsoff.ca

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PantsOffForProstateCancer

Twitter: @PantsoffToronto

About Prostate Cancer Canada:

Prostate Cancer Canada raises funds for the development of programs related to awareness and public education, advocacy, support of those affected, and research into the prevention, detection, treatment, and cure of prostate cancer. For more information visit prostatecancer.ca

About tonight:

tonight is Toronto’s free evening commuter newspaper. Published Tuesday and Thursday evenings, tonight offers the latest news and entertainment for transit commuters on their way home. tonight is available through an extensive downtown distribution network of handlers (Newsies), boxes, PATH billboards, outside most TTC stations and as an iPad and Android app.

To schedule an interview or for more information, please contact:

Cory Stewart

Embrace Disruption PR

647.638.1586

cory@embracedisruption.com

-or-

Rebecca von Goetz

Vice-President, Marketing & Communications

Prostate Cancer Canada

416.441.2131 ext. 258

rebecca.vongoetz@prostatecancer.ca

A random video selection for your Friday afternoon! Each year it seems like Britain’s Got Talent finds the most unique and talented people (remember Susan Boyle?) to feature on their show and with a new season that started last week they seem to be off to an amazing start with shadow theatre group “Attraction.” Prepare to be wowed and moved with their audition piece.

Each week at Embrace Disruption we introduce you to an influential person in the digital, blogger, arts, culture, film, or media world! Every Thursday, you can check back at EDPR to find out who we think is particularly amazing at ‘embracing disruption’ within their respective industries. This week, we’d like to introduce you to Starlight Canada’s Chief Operating Officer, Jeannie O’Regan!

What’s your official job title, and where did you go to school?

• Chief Operating Officer, Starlight Children’s Foundation
• Ryerson University, Event Planning and Management
• George Brown, Business Management

Elevator pitch. Describe yourself in a nutshell (or sea shell, or any shell for that matter).

I am a successful meeting/event planner and operations executive with 20 years’ experience providing services and cultivating change. I have excellent hands-on skills in clarifying needs, creating opportunities, nurturing relationships, and growing profits.

I often refer to myself as an M&M … hard exterior shell but soft on the inside.

Why did you pursue what you’re doing now? What was the inspiration?

There’s a time in your life when you have to decide if your high-paying yet high-stress job is worth it.  I truly believe that when you are passionate about something, you give your all to what you are doing – Starlight has given me that passion back.  I know what I do has a positive impact on the lives of so many children and their families and that is food for my soul.

I’m inspired by my family and by the support they’ve given me.  I’m inspired by children who struggle through illnesses day in and day out and yet can still smile.   I am inspired by animals that are abused and yet still trust in humans.

What is the best part of your day-to-day?

Professionally – having a parent or child contact me about how we made a difference.

Personally – when my kids tell me they love me every morning.   Unconditional love … it doesn’t get any better than that!

What’s the most challenging?

When I see pictures or hear stories of Starlight children who have passed, my heart breaks and I find myself giving my kids an extra squeeze when I get home.

If you took a look in the cliché crystal ball, what do you see for yourself?

All of life is experienced through the present moment; therefore the future does not exist. By the time tomorrow comes it is now the present moment!

How do you embrace disruption in your work and personal life?

As Charles Kettering once said, “The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress.” I have learned to embrace change … good and bad; it is about moving forward, learning from our successes and our failures and making the best of each moment.

What is the most memorable moment in your career?

It would have to be the first event I planned on my own.  It was the year 2000 and I had played a supporting role in dozens of events by then.  This event was in its 20^th-plus year and it was stale.  It wasn’t expected to survive and they took a chance that I could breathe fresh life into it.  It was a resounding success and went on to be the premier industry event in healthcare (in fact, the event is still held each year … my legacy lives on!).

Do you support any initiatives or charities? Tell us about it, and please provide links!

I’m a softie when it comes to those who can’t defend themselves.  Children, animals, the elderly.

Starlight is obviously dear to my heart (www.starlightcanada.org) but I also support Plan Canada – the “Because I’m a Girl” campaign is brilliant.  (http://plancanada.ca/BecauseIamaGirlOverview) and small community animal shelters.

Tell us what you see yourself doing at 65 years old.

Definitely retired but not idle!  I want to sit on a Board to keep my mind sharp.  Travel to experience new things.  Enjoying life to its fullest in all regards!

Just for fun: if you had to pick one app in the whole APPVERSE, what would it be?

I’m a news geek! Zite is my go-to APP everyday.  Zite analyzes feeds to create a magazine tailored my interests from a variety of sources. One-stop-shop reading!

(Image Source)

Data Collection

The original idea for an infographic often comes from a question someone poses or a pile of information they have collected. After the original source of information/data for a potential infographic is identified, it is time to start branching out to other sources. The idea is to create the complete picture and landscape of the given situation so that there are no holes in the data. If a hole exists in the data, it is only going to frustrate everyone and waste time when it has to be filled in the future.

Formulating the Outline

The purpose of an infographic is to convey a story to the people who come across it. A bunch of seemingly unconnected facts and figures aren’t going to appeal to someone in the way the statistics behind one particular, central topic are. For example, we posted an infographic a couple months ago about the Grammys winners if awards were given out based on online/social media presence; there was a lot of information but it was all on one topic. The worst thing that could happen is having all the boring data translate to a boring infographic.

Here’s a tip: make sure you know the information & data backwards and forwards by the time you go and create the infographic, this will make it easier to flush out a story.

Trouble Shoot

So you know what you want the infographic to say but is it feasible given the data you’ve collected? The last thing you want to do is mislead people looking at the finished product by intentionally leaving out data because it doesn’t support the story. What you do want to do is present the data picture in its entirety and let the viewers and readers interpret it. You want their response to be, “I know what they are trying to say, and this is what I’m gathering from this infographic.”

Finding the “Hero”

You have figured out the story you want to tell with your data and if it is feasible or not, now to figure out which specific piece of information to make your ‘hero’ piece of data. The ‘hero’ piece of data is that one statistic or figure that will get people excited about the story. It will be the focal point that the other chosen data will revolve around to help communicate the narrative to the audience.

Building the Graphic

After the hierarchy for the data is determined, the visual representation of the infographic begins to take shape. There are many popular formats for displaying data, including the traditional graphs and charts. If the data merits it, you can choose to display the data using diagrams, flowcharts or maps. The deciding factor of how the data should be displayed in the final project all depends on the data itself and the story to be conveyed. To make the most of the visual appeal of the infographic, be sure to consider the colours and typography used.

A Thorough Going Over

So the design of the infographic is complete and all the data is displayed, you’re done right? Wait, slow down a little, there is one more step before your informative masterpiece can be unleashed to the masses: editing & revisions. Just like any good report, press release or company project, an infographic needs to be poured over by those who created it, and those who didn’t! The infographic should be made to fit in with any existing branding or identity; why would a company create an infographic that goes against part/all of their core message? Additionally, you want to ensure the data is presented in a way that is easy to read and understand for those that are unfamiliar with it. That is why you want those outside the creative circle who developed it to look it over.

Release the Beast

Finally, the time has come to unleash your infographic onto the public at large! Most infographics are released and shared online in some fashion, they may end up in a print publication as well. The advantage to this is that the audience of your work will be much larger and reach those both within your target audience and beyond. It is also easier to garner and compile feedback to the infographic in an online setting, often in a much timelier manner than print. Feedback after publishing can generate discussion & illuminate a different dimension to the data presented.

But once the infographic is published, don’t forget about it. You spent all this time and effort to create it in the first place, why let that go to waste if new data is released? Make sure you keep tabs on the important information and sources to update and revise the infographic as required. It’s easier to update than to create a whole to project!

So there you have it, a detailed, step-by-step guide to creating effective, appealing infographics to engage your audience. Now get busy creating!

But before we show you that, we thought we’d give you a look at how our very own EDPR logo transformed during the creative stages. Check out the various versions below:

And now, the INFOGRAPHIC you’ve been waiting for (Source):

Over the years, medicine has come so far that sometimes we wonder if all those fancy scanners and simple shots from the world of Star Trek are not that far off. News released over the weekend is just another example of how the world of technology is helping victims/patients have even better quality of life.

A U.S. bionics firm, Touch Bionics has announced that they have developed the first upper prosthetic limb controlled by an iOS application. The aptly named ‘i-limb Ultra Revolution’ has 24 different grip options, device training and problem diagnoses that can all be controlled by your smart phone.

Aside from these features, movement of the i-limb ultra revolution is controlled by a body’s electric signals sent from the arm’s nerves when the muscles are contracted. The arm also features a rotating thumb and individually powered fingers along with a fully moving wrist. With so many advancements in technology associated with the prosthetic, anyone wishing to use the arm will have to undergo extensive training but it sounds like it is definitely worth it. CEO of Touch Bionics, Ian Stevens, has said the arm offers, “unparalleled dexterity and control, enabling wearers to more easily perform activities of daily living and this increase their quality of life.”

Losing a limb, no matter the reason, has to be tough on a person but with research and advancements like this one, we are getting closer to recreating the human experience. Check out the video below of the i-limb in action!

 (Source)

Each week at Embrace Disruption we introduce you to an influential person in the digital, blogger, arts, culture, film, or media world! Every Thursday, you can check back at EDPR to find out who we think is particularly amazing at ‘embracing disruption’ within their respective industries. This week, we’d like to introduce you to Embrace Presents’ Brand Partnership Builder & BestFan TV Host, Brock McLaughlin!

“I would rather be ashes than dust; I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot; I would rather be in a superb meteor, every atom of me in a magnificent glow than in a sleepy and permanent planet; the proper function of man is to live, not to exist; I should not waste my days in trying to prolong them; I shall USE my time.” – Jack London

What’s your official job title, and where did you go to school?

Unofficially, my job title should be “Man About Town” but my business cards read a little differently. I work at Embrace in Brand Partnerships securing sponsors for festivals such as NXNE, Halifax Pop Explosion, and the Toronto Urban Roots Festival.  I also host BestFan TV where I chat with current pop superstars and manage bands around North America. I didn’t go to school and instead surrounded myself with an amazingly talented team and a great set of mentors.

Elevator pitch. Describe yourself in a nutshell (or sea shell, or any shell for that matter).

I’m Brock McLaughlin and I’m a dynamic self starter.  I turn my dreams into reality  regardless if there are thousands of others doing the same thing.  I’d never give up on my dreams as long as I give it my all. I know I will successfully best everyone else.

Why did you pursue what you’re doing now? What was the inspiration?

I pursued my many ventures because the work I do doesn’t feel like work, I love what I do. I believe that true living ever exists when one follows their dreams and dedicates their life to it.  The support of the people around me (including my mom) really have helped me along the way.  I’ve heard I’m a pompous asshole, but when you call me and my team in we get the work done.

What is the best part of your day-to-day?

My day to day is always different, and I never know what tomorrow will bring. I thoroughly enjoy that.  I tell myself everyday I need to stay ahead and stay active and always finish first. As Mack Douglas suggests, “dedicate your life to a cause greater than yourself, and your life will become a glorious romance and adventure.”

What’s the most challenging?

The most challenging thing I face is that my hunger for success will never be satisfied. I am really hard on myself and am not happy till my mother tells me she’s proud. No one else matters at the end of the day.

If you took a look in the cliché crystal ball, what do you see for yourself?

I learned young that no one is going hand you the future so you gotta walk tall and work hard. Hopefully that cliched crystal ball shows great success, a fancy lifestyle and a loving supporting family.

How do you embrace disruption in your work and personal life?

I embrace disruption by being brutally honest and straight to the point. Having a good team around me at all times also helps, they keep me in line and organized.  I also have a wonderful mother who is always there to listen and help when times get tough.

What is the most memorable moment in your career?

Moving to Toronto was a major goal and here I am three years later. I’ve had a lot of ups and downs here but I know its worth it. I’m going keeping keep grinding it out, I have plenty more goals and achievements I want to achieve.

Do you support any initiatives or charities? 

I have worked in the past with the Covenant House and with DSAT and am currently planning some new initiatives for the fall.

Tell us what you see yourself doing at 65 years old.

I’m hoping I live in in a Beverly Hills mansion with a country club membership and am still actively working.  What that work entails I’m not sure, as long as it makes an impact and people are tuned in I’ll be happy.

Just for fun: if you had to pick one app in the whole APPVERSE, what would it be?

The following INFOGRAPHIC from Go-Gulf.com shows how companies structure their social media teams &  what they are using their social media for. Here are some of the more startling facts we uncovered:

• The majority of companies are simply piling social media responsibilities on top of their workers regular duties, with teams of >3 people in charge of social media.
• Only 5% of companies are ‘highly satisfied’ with the social media for their company, yet about 3/4 of them are NOT planning on hiring dedicated social media people
• Most companies are using social media to garner brand awareness so they use the # of likes/followers/subscribers/etc to measure how well they are doing, rather than looking at engagement.

TORONTO, ON (April 9, 2013) – On the evening of April 6, 2013 over 700 charitable attendees devoured cotton candy, fresh popcorn and decadent chocolate amongst fire-eaters, stilt walkers, strong men and a bearded lady at the Fairmont Royal York in support of the 18^th Annual Starlight Children’s Foundation Gala.

Celebrity supporters including Dragon’s Den’s Arlene Dickinson, ET Canada’s Rick Campanelli, MTV’s Matt Barker, Fashion Model Stacey McKenzie, The Listener’s Ennis Esmer and Rainbow Sun Francks, Love It Or List It’s Hilary Farr, App Central’s Amber MacArthur, Proud FM’s Mike Chalut and The Next Star’s Mark Spicoluk among others joined host CTV weather anchor, Anwar Knight for an evening of magic, wonder and excitement.

 “This year will mark our most successful gala to date. We’re absolutely thrilled with the amount of support and generosity from all attendees, volunteers, and celebrity talent. The money raised helps us to deliver our in-hospital and out-of-hospital programs and brighten the lives of seriously ill children and families.” said Starlight President, Christopher Barry.

Ticket-holders were granted access to a variety of priceless auction items including a sleepover at Toys“R”Us (the Gala’s presenting sponsor), a walk-on role and set visit to CBC’s Murdoch Mysteries and a private screening for 300 people to DreamWorks Animation’s upcoming film, Turbo 3D.

The $500,000 was raised through the evening’s live and silent auctions, games room and Starlight bear sales and, through Starlight Canada’s programs, gives seriously ill children the opportunity to laugh, play and just be kids again.

About The Starlight Children’s Foundation:

Starlight Children’s Foundation Canada is a charitable organization that brings smiles, laughter and joy back into the lives of children with serious illness through in-hospital distractive entertainment and out-of-hospital fun family events.

Website: http://www.starlightcanada.org
Twitter: @StarlightCanada
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/StarlightCanada

About Toys“R”Us, Canada:

Toys“R”Us (Canada) Ltd., is part of Toys“R”Us, Inc., the world’s leading dedicated toy and juvenile products retailer. Toys“R”Us, Canada operates 74 stores across the country. For store locations and convenient online shopping visit www.toysrus.ca  orhttp://www.babiesrus.ca

For interview requests or more photos please contact:

Cory Stewart
Embrace Disruption PR
647.638.1586
cory@embracedisruption.com

All photos courtesy of George Pimentel Photography:

CTV’s Amber Mac:

CBC’s Arlene Dickinson:

ProudFM’s Mike Chalut:

ET Canada’s Rick Campanelli and wife Angie:

1 Girl, 5 Gays’ Matt Barker:

The Next Star’s Mark Spicoluk:

Degrassi’s Taysha Fuller:

Love It Or List It’s Hilary Farr:

Fashion Icon & Model Stacey McKenzie:

Celebrity Designer Glen Peloso, NewsTalk 1010′s Pay Chen, and KiSS 92.5′s Taylor Kaye:

With the passing of Roger Ebert this week, the film industry lost one of its most influential and trusted voices.

Watch Ebert’s appearance on Allen Gregg (circa 1997) above to hear what he has to say about how the role of a film critic has changed over the years.

What’s your official job title, and where did you go to school?

Co artistic director of Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie; Grove Secondary School, Hastings, England.

Elevator pitch. Describe yourself in a nutshell (or sea shell, or any shell for that matter).

Rogue choreographer with a penchant for creating dances with people from all walks of life.

Why did you pursue what you’re doing now? What was the inspiration?

I love dance and dancing, and I wanted to see and experience more of the world…so I started to use my life in dance as a way to do this.

What is the best part of your day-to-day?

Going in the studio and moving.

What’s the most challenging?

Not going in the studio and moving….

If you took a look in the cliché crystal ball, what do you see for yourself?

A passport filled with entry stamps and visas from working all over the world.

How do you embrace disruption in your work and personal life? 

If we accept we are striving for perfection, we must accept that we are incomplete and in a constant process of attaining this, therefore we must live happily and embrace disruption as an essential part of the process of ‘getting there’.

What is the most memorable moment in your career?

Premiering a tribute to my father, a Requiem for sailors in WWII (Convoy PQ 17) with symphony orchestra, chorus, and hundreds of veterans in attendance in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Do you support any initiatives or charities? Tell us about it, and please provide links!

Amnesty International

Dance Collection Danse, an organization of friendly people who collect dance memories 

Sunday Contact Improvisation Jam at Dovercourt House, Contact  Improvisation is a very human activity that is accessible to everyone with a pair of sweatpants

Tell us what you see yourself doing at 65 years old.

Same as I am now, but dancing more, traveling more and having more fun.

Just for fun: if you had to pick one app in the whole APPVERSE, what would it be?

Ummm, my favorite mobile technology is BIXI Bikes.  It connects me with my friends and family.

TORONTO, ON (April 3, 2013) – On May 3, 2013, The Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives (CLGA) will celebrate their 40th anniversary by welcoming Richard Hudler and Rupert Raj into the organization’s National Portrait Collection for significant individual contributions to the LGBTQ+ community.

Hosted by ProudFM’s Pearse Murray, this event will provide context for the inductees’ contributions through personal letters, newspaper reports, and newly recovered manuscripts. Through artistic installations in the CLGA gallery, attendees will be provided the opportunity to explore the trailblazing work of Hudler and Raj.

Robert Windrum, President of the CLGA said, “We’re thrilled to be celebrating our 40th year of keeping LGBTQ+ stories alive. The National Portrait Collection will provide an excellent opportunity to look back on significant moments that have helped define our important and growing histories.”

The National Portrait Collection was established in 1998 with 25 original portraits and coincided with the CLGA’s 25th anniversary. Past inductees include singer k.d. lang, LGBTQ+ activist George Hislop, Canadian Armed Forces activist Michelle Douglas, and many others.

The inductee ceremony and exhibit opens on May 3, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. with a wine and cheese reception. The Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives is located at 34 Isabella Street in Toronto.

About Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives:

Established in 1973, The Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives aids in the recovery and preservation of LGBT histories. Its mission: to acquire, preserve, organize, and give public access to information and materials in any medium, by and about LGBT people, primarily produced in or concerning Canada. To support this function, the Archives also maintain significant non-archival collections, which include a research library, international subject files, and an international collection of queer periodicals. It is the CLGA’s mandate to make this information available to the public for education and research. Over the years, the CLGA has helped hundreds of people – students, artists, journalists, lawyers, filmmakers complete numerous projects inside and outside of the LGBT community.

Website: http://www.clga.ca
Tumblr: everyday queer archive
Twitter: @CLGArchives
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CLGArchives

About Richard Hudler:

Born in 1942, Richard Hudler is a social worker and an activist who has been working tirelessly to advocate for gay and lesbian rights since immigrating to Canada in 1971.

In 1980 Hudler joined the board of HALO, and starting in 1981, became the long serving board president. He represented HALO through the Project Guardian scandal with the local police, and in 1995 Hudler filed an official complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Commission against London Mayor Diane Haskett when she refused to issue a Gay Pride Proclamation.

Hudler continues his activism through Queer Ontario, a provincial network of individuals — and their allies committed to questioning, challenging, and reforming the laws, institutional practices, and social norms that regulate queer people.

About Rupert Raj:

Born in 1952, Rupert Raj is a Eurasian counsellor/psychotherapist, clinical researcher, educator, lecturer, writer, editor, activist and Gender Specialist. He is a trailblazing activist who has been paving the way to improve life chances for trans people across Canada and around the world since 1971, the year before his own transition.

During the ‘70s and ‘80s, Mr. Raj established and operated three transsexual organizations: Foundation for the Advancement of Canadian Transsexuals (FACT), Metamorphosis Medical Research Foundation (MMRF), and GenderWorker. Concurrently, he also edited and published three TS periodicals: Gender Review,
Metamorphosis Newsletter/Metamorphosis Magazine and GenderNetworker.

In 1999, Rupert co-founded a peer-support group for transmen and female-to-males (part of the Meal-Trans Program at the 519 Community Centre), as well as a support group for transpeople who use or have used alcohol and/or drugs.

Currently Mr. Raj works at the Sherbourne Health Centre as an LGBT Mental Health Counsellor and maintains his own private practice, RR CONSULTING.

For Media Inquiries and Photos Contact:

Cory Stewart
Embrace Disruption PR
647.638.1586
cory@embracedisruption.com

• The expandable banner ad is the most popular format.
• iOS is still in the lead, but Android is closing in quickly.
• Video and direct response are the most popular, and widely used ad features.
• Consider context when creating your ad, as each vertical has an additional standout feature.
• Social media makes your ads MUCH more effective (obviously).
• Users love to share branded content — we’re skeptical about this one…

See all these insights and more in the INFOGRAPHIC below:

We’ll be closed for Good Friday, and returning to work at 9AM EST on Monday. We’re wishing all of you a safe and happy long weekend!

What do you think of this list? What are the TOP and BEST words to use in a release? Are any of these words staples in your communications?

These tips come from Jessica Turner at PR Daily & The Mom Creative:

1. Use text on your photos, or create a title graphic 

This is the single most important thing you can do to stimulate pins and repins. When people pin and repin on Pinterest, they are scanning through a lot of thumbnails. Having text on a photo makes it easier for users to identify what an image is and if they want to pin it.

2. Ask friends who are active on Pinterest to pin your content

If your content is relevant to a friend’s Pinterest boards, ask if they would be willing to pin your post. It is important to do this on the first day, when you are trying to gain momentum on Pinterest.

I have seen a direct correlation between asks and posts going viral. That early traction can make a big difference.

3. Push the post out via social media, multiple times over an appropriate period

While I am not an advocate of posting every single blog post to Twitter, Facebook, etc. multiple times, certain posts that I am really trying to push via Pinterest I will share numerous times.

For instance, I had a post that received more than 19,000 pins related to Father’s Day gift ideas. I tweeted about that post almost every day for the two weeks leading up to Father’s Day. Each day, I saw more pins to Pinterest, more traffic from Pinterest, and more sales from the affiliate links within the post. I was creative with my tweets, posted at different times of day and had other unrelated content in my Twitter stream, so it wasn’t like my followers were only hearing about that post.

4. Pin from your favorite sites If you see something you like on a website pin it! (I have the Pin It tool installed on my toolbar, which makes it really easy to pin from any site. It takes about 5 seconds to install.) Pinterest is only as good as the stuff that is pinned on it, so it needs people to pin new items to it. Plus, pins help drive traffic to your favorite sites.

5. Write meaningful descriptions (include key words, @+a name will tag someone) Pinterest requires you to write a description of some sort. Be sure your description tells what the pin is.  It is also nice when you include the blog name or tag someone.  You may have noticed that more and more bloggers are including text on their images to make the images “Pinterest friendly” and helpful for viewers on Pinterest.

Check out these tips from Ashley Zeckman:

6. There are SEO benefits: Pinterest is indexed by Google and should be part of your backlinking and social linking strategy.

7. Create community: Users can easily embed their social sites and contact information into the Pinterest profile description.  This alerts users to all of the ways that they can connect with you.

8. Measure, refine, repeat:  To determine what has been pinned from your boards you can visit: http://pinterest.com/source/yourURL.com or utilize tools like Repinly.com. Viewing your top pins will help guide your content strategy.

Amy Lynn Andrews offers these Pinterest Tips:

9. Write your own summary description. Don’t copy and paste the whole post, the whole recipe or all the instructions from the original post directly in your pin. Not only does it clutter the images with unnecessary text (see my pinterest pet peeves post), it’s not good Pinterest manners. Plus, posts are copyrighted so pasting them in their entirety is copyright infringement (more on copyright below).

10. Space out your pins instead of flooding the stream. If you’re pinning a lot of stuff at once, you can overwhelm your followers. For example, if you’re researching black shoes and spend an hour pinning a gazillion pairs of black shoes to your “Rockin’ Black Shoes” board, anyone who follows you will just see a sea of black shoes in their stream. (I’m guilty of flooding the stream.) Instead, spread it out a bit.

11. Follow individual boards to cut out the noise. One of the nice things about Pinterest is that you can follow individual boards. You don’t have to follow a person and therefore, all of their boards (although you can do that too). So, maybe you want to follow my “handy tips” board but you don’t want to follow my “easy peasy crafts” board. To subscribe to individual boards, simply click on the name of any Pinterest user and you’ll see all their boards. If you follow the person, you’ll follow all their boards. Otherwise, just pick and choose the boards you want.

12. Use Pinterest to connect with brands. You’d better believe companies are taking notice of Pinterest. Of course, we, the little people, have an advantage. That advantage? We’re small enough that we can dive in and get our hands dirty quick. Big companies, on the other hand are sometimes a little slower to the punch. What about approaching a large company you don’t see on there, let them know of the rage that Pinterest is and suggest ideas for the two of you to work together? Be respectful of course, but lead them by the hand and make suggestions from which you can both benefit.

And there is always something you shouldn’t do on Pinterest, Daniel P. Howley explains:

13. The wrong way to post material on Pinterest: The social network discourages its users, even marketers and businesses, from engaging in blatant self-promotion. So adding pins about your company alone won’t cut it. Georgieva, however, says businesses can use this restriction as an opportunity to get creative by pinning topics that showcase the lifestyle their brand represents. Try working pins about your business into these lifestyle boards as a reminder to followers that that board’s particular topic is exactly what your business is all about.

Check out one of his most popular videos, Coffee: The Greatest Addiction Ever, and see why we shouldn’t necessarily feel bad about needing all those glorious cups!

What’s your official job title, and where did you go to school?

My official job title is “Writer”, because that’s what I do – I spin stories. I have a Bachelor of Commerce from Ryerson University.

Elevator pitch. Describe yourself in a nutshell (or sea shell, or any shell for that matter).

I’m constantly trying to perfect the art of “conversuasion”; that is, a gentle call to action in the midst of a great story, adventure or just one of life’s moments.

Why did you pursue what you’re doing now? What was the inspiration?

Isn’t it obvious? I thought the world needed another mommy blogger. Joking aside, I have always had a love for creative writing and business; blogging combines the two perfectly.

What is the best part of your day-to-day?

The best part of my day-to-day is knowing that I am in complete control of my day-to-day. Being your own boss is exactly as great as it sounds.

What’s the most challenging?

Trying to keep organized is a huge challenge for me, but then, it’s not strange to find Hot Wheels lined up on my office desk at any given moment.

If you took a look in the cliché crystal ball, what do you see?

The 3 L’s: love, luck and laughter.

How do you embrace disruption in your work and personal life?

With two young boys who share an “office” with me every day, my entire life is about disruption. Disruption for potty breaks, snack time, whining, hissy fits… and sometimes, my boys bother me too.

What is the most memorable moment in your career?

Every day is a memorable moment – if I don’t absolutely love what I have to say, I don’t hit “publish”.

Do you support any initiatives or charities? 

As a #MiracleMom, I am a huge supporter of the Children’s Miracle Network. And Sick Kids will forever hold a special place in my heart; we donate monthly.

Tell us what you see yourself doing at 65 years old.

At 65 years old, I’ll be sitting with my husband in our condo in Del Boca Vista, Phase III.

Be sure to visit Lena’s blog at http://listentolena.com

TORONTO, ON – From Thursday April 11, 2013 to Saturday April 13, 2013, Torstar Digital employees will have a chance to pitch, create and launch a new business in just 54 hours during their 2^nd Annual Startup Weekend. In partnership with Startup Weekend Toronto, this voluntary experience is a chance for employees company-wide to collaborate and contribute to diversifying and enhancing Torstar Digital’s growing portfolio of businesses.

Startup Weekend is a global organization with initiatives continuing to garner entrepreneur interest around the world. Last year, Torstar Digital partnered with Startup Weekend Toronto to be first at bringing this event into a Canadian corporate environment.

Chris Eben, founder of Startup Weekend Toronto, who will be mentoring during this year’s initiative comments, “In the past, Torstar Digital has been a great support to Startup Weekend Toronto. It’s been my pleasure to assist with bringing such a globally successful concept into a progressive organization such as Torstar Digital. I look forward to witnessing more of the innovation and creativity that was present at last year’s initiative.”

The event will kick-start with a keynote from Wattpad founder, Allen Lau and quickly progress into a ‘pitch’ session in which employees will be able to share their new business ideas with the weekend’s participants. The ideas will be voted upon, and participants will be divided up into teams to develop the top new business ideas.

Seema Lakhani, Torstar Digital’s Director of Strategy and New Ventures said, “Torstar Digital’s vision statement is to be Canada’s most entrepreneurial digital company. This event speaks to that vision. The goal of the event is to promote the entrepreneurial spirit amongst Torstar Digital employees, give employees an opportunity to build new business and meet new people across the organization. It’s also a great way for Torstar Digital to identify great new opportunities and businesses.” 

At the end of the weekend, all teams will present their venture to a judging panel of prominent Canadian venture capitalists and leaders from the startup community including: Andy Yang (Extreme Startups), Bram Sugarman (OMERS Ventures), Candice Faktor and Matthew Leibowitz (Plazacorp Ventures). While the winning team will walk away with $5000, the real prize will be the opportunity to see their concept further developed and potentially turned into a real Torstar Digital portfolio business.

About Torstar Digital:
Leading the charge in Canadian digital innovation and investment, Torstar Digital was founded in 2005 to provide leadership in digital media for Torstar Corporation and is building a portfolio of leading digital businesses that serve both Canadian advertisers and audiences, developing cutting edge technologies, and creating a centre of excellence for digital talent.  Torstar Digital’s current portfolio of leading digital businesses includes Workopolis.com, eyeReturn Marketing, Olive Media, WagJag.com, TravelAlerts.ca, Jaunt.ca, Tuango.ca, ShopCatch and web2mobile.

Website: http://www.torstardigital.com
Twitter: @TorstarDigital
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TorstarDigital

About Startup Weekend
Startup Weekend was founded by Andrew Hyde in July of 2007 in Boulder, Colorado. In June 2009, Marc Nager and Clint Nelsen purchased Startup Weekend from Andrew and restructured it as a 501(c)3 Non-Profit. Shortly after, Franck Nouyrigat joined as the third Director. Startup Weekend quickly became a nexus for early stage startup activity in communities across the globe. By the end of 2010, Startup Weekend had built a network of over 25,000 alumni, 150 volunteer organizers and 60 trained facilitators spread across more than 100 cities in 30 countries. In September of 2010, Startup Weekend received a grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, allowing Startup Weekend to come closer to reaching its potential in attempting to understand the unpredictable science of successful entrepreneurship.

For interview requests or photos, please contact:
Cory Stewart
Embrace Disruption PR
647.638.1586
cory@embracedisruption.com

Hashtags: defined as those no space phrases starting with ‘#’ that so many people use on Twitter. Hashtags started out as a way for people to track specific phrases and trends on Twitter, but now they seem to have blown up on all social networks as a snarky way to add commentary – serving no other real purpose. Admittedly, we’ve always found it incredibly irritating when hashtags were used on Facebook for no real rhyme or reason. Now, those pesky hashtags on Facebook may have a real purpose.

The powers-that-be at Facebook are toying with the idea of using the hashtags to group conversations on a specific topic, much like what is seen on Twitter. This will help facilitate organizing social comments on television shows, movies and even event specific tags. Sources say that Facebook hashtags are currently in testing phase, but aren’t going to be introduced to the entire user population right away.

So what exactly is Zuckerberg seeking to accomplish by letting people use hashtags in their posts and status updates? Besides allowing ‘trending topics’ and popular conversations to have a common place to be archived; the hope is that Facebook users will spend more time on the site, scroll through chats, and ultimately consume more advertising. It’s no secret that Facebook’s user engagement is dropping, and the social heavyweight is loosing loyal users on a daily basis.

 The Evolution of Facebook

The move to hashtags is all part of the Facebook evolution. Mark Zuckerberg has stated in interviews he wants Facebook to become a “personalized newspaper” for users; similar to Twitter’s end goal. This aligns closely with the introduction of features like the new news feed design, the ability to subscribe to users and the graph search. It’s important to note: Facebook pulled in $4.3 Billion USD last year: 4 times higher than Twitter’s revenue. The gap on the mobile platform is smaller, $249 million this year for Twitter, versus Facebook’s $851 million.

That said, Twitter is working towards closing this gap. By allowing advertisers to ‘pay to trend’ or have their trend promoted within a user’s timeline, Twitter assists in exposing brands to a wider audience while hashtags remain a unique or compelling way to drive up click rates. We estimate Facebook will replicate this model, allowing people/brands to pay to promote specific hashtags.

So what do you think about Facebook copying the Twitter hashtag model? And who do you think will ultimately win the social media ‘war’ between Twitter and Facebook?

• Take your phone out of the toilet immediately (hand washing can wait).
• Dry it off with some toilet paper (or equivalent – super absorbent is best)
• If it’s an iPhone, but it in a ziplock with rice ASAP.
• If it’s a different model, take out the battery/etc and place all pieces individually into a ziplock with rice.
• Be sure to check the white indicator strip (in the headphone jack of iPhones/in the battery section of other models) and see if it’s turned red. If it has, cut and paste a new piece of white paper overtop and take it to your service provider for repair (fingers crossed for a new phone!).

Watch the video to learn more:

Have you ever dropped your phone in water? Were you able to save it?

Today’s (brief) post/INFOGRAPHIC is outlining some of the best apps geared to help you run your business from the palm of your hand (via SalesForce).

Nothing will grab a consumer’s attention better than a video from a brand; a product demonstration, a celebrity endorsement or an innovative commercial all demonstrate this perfectly. The problem is, brands used to utilize large budgets on flashy commercials to enter the video market, and this (as we know) is no longer a relevant way to spend ad dollars. Modern technology such as DVRs and Internet streaming mean that people are recording or downloading their favourite shows, meaning commercials are not making nearly as big of an impact to their intended audience. So where can you, as a brand, post your videos/commercials for your products where people will actually consume them? With a quick internet (or common sense) search, the answer is pretty clear, YouTube.

Undeniable YouTube Statistics

The user and viewing statistics for YouTube are pretty staggering:

• Over 800 million unique users visit YouTube each month
• Over 4 billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube
• 72 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute
• YouTube is localized in 53 countries and across 61 languages
• 25% of global YouTube views come from mobile devices
• People watch one billion views a day on YouTube mobile
• YouTube is available on 400 million devices

Souce: http://www.youtube.com/yt/press/statistics.html

YOUTUBE PARTNERS

With such amazing global attention, learning how to harness the power of YouTube is undeniably valuable, and brands have attained desirable reach doing so.

Basically, if you are a brand on YouTube, you have 2 options to advertise; run ads in front of other channels’ content as part of the YouTube Partners program, or you could run your own channel. The YouTube Partners approach has pretty wide appeal, more than a million advertisers use Google ad platforms, the majority of which are small businesses. (x) The advantage of these ads is that YouTube only places your ads on the category of videos that it feels your potential customers will come from, there’s no point of putting an ad for make-up as the intro to Wii U console review, it just won’t garner the desired traffic. The one drawback to these ads is that 65% are skippable. So again, if someone doesn’t want to see your ad, they don’t have to watch it.

OLD SPICE

The other approach for brands on YouTube is to have their own channel where they can upload their own videos, have people leave comments about the brand, etc. This approach is another way a company can develop the brand identity and personality, creating a personal connection with their consumers. One brand that did this very well was Old Spice. Back in 2010, the Unilever brand had a major viral/commercial hit on their hands with the ‘Old Spice Guy;’ the seemingly perfect, gentlemanly specimen who was a Jack-of-all-trades and could do anything better than your man. Who WOULDN’T want to smell like this guy? As part of their marketing campaign, the Old Spice Twitter followers were invited to submit questions or comments and then the Old Spice Guy would film video responses to them. The initiative was beyond successful, probably due in part to the fact that Old Spice Guy responded to some pretty famous names. Below is the original ‘Questions’ video & the video response to ‘Everyone’

HEINEKEN

Looking at current YouTube data, Heineken is the clear winner in beer market as not only YouTube leader but overall social media leader in their industry.(x)

So what makes them the best on YouTube? Let’s take a look at their channel. The branding of the channel is clear and it’s very user-friendly: props to their marketing department!

And the content itself is beyond creative. Their featured video at the moment is entitled “The Candidate,” and yes you’re right, it has nothing to do with beer.

This video completely focuses on the company culture; what it is like to work at the company. Customers who identify with a culture or personality of a firm aren’t just product loyal; they are brand loyal which is way more valuable. Clearly, the marketing and public relations firms & agencies at Heineken are rockstars.

RED BULL

If you want to see a company that knows how to market itself on YouTube, look no further than Red Bull. Besides being the major sponsor of some very popular sporting events, including Red Bull: Crashed Ice, Red Bull was the main sponsor of one of the most discussed stunts in recent history, Felix Baumgartner’s jump from the edge of space. That event was live streamed and the residual video from that jump can be used for a time to come in product videos as well as brand videos.

Red Bull has done their research when it comes to their targeted audience and brand positioning. Their sponsorship of extreme sports fits very well with the YouTube community as many BMX riders and skateboarders use technology (such as GoPro cameras) to capture their latest and greatest stunts and upload them to YouTube. When fellow extreme sports enthusiasts are searching and watching content on YouTube, Red Bull wants to be in there to capture a portion of those views, and boy have they ever. As of January 2013, the Red Bull YouTube channel had over 1.4 Million subscribers, (x) more than the next 2 top ‘Brand User Movers’ (Apple & Sony Music India SME) combined.

TARGET

A recent FORBES article ranks Target as the top retailer on social media and a quick look at their YouTube page shows why. Target has never shied away from strong branding; their logo is a bright red bull’s eye for goodness sake!

What they’ve done well is consistence. Their images are crisp, clear and easily distinguishable as Target. Their stylish shopping bag full of celebrity endorsements, product lines and partnerships don’t hurt either. Clicking through their uploaded videos you see: The Fray, Coco Rocha, B.O.B., and Brad Goreski, amongst others. The most recent edition to the Target family of celebrities, Mr. Suit and Tie himself, Justin Timberlake; when the guy makes a comeback, he does it in a big way. Check out his spot below:

What makes Target such a force to be reckoned with on YouTube is a combination of elements. Their content isn’t only fun, full of catchy songs and bright images, it is also informative. Without even stepping into the store, I bet the average person could name off a list of products you can buy from the retailer thanks to their videos. Their videos are also filled with tips and tricks from top Hollywood stylists on how to look like a star while sticking to a budget; in today’s image obsessed society, doing those types of videos well will definitely put you ahead of the competition.

RECAP

So what have we learned today?

1. Top successful brands should be using YouTube to share their video content with consumers, the facts and figures are too incredible to ignore.

2. A brand on YouTube needs to present their channel pages properly; make them user-friendly and make sure the colours and images presented represent the brand.

3. Content creation needs to be consistent and topical; if you’re a company that only posts a video every couple months, or on an inconsistent basis, you will be forgotten. Additionally, if you’re a brand posting videos than cannot relate back to your brand at all, what’s the point?

4. Be creative; such a clichéd phrase but still true. No one wants to watch a video of a spokesperson just standing there blabbing on about how useful or delicious your product is, they will click away faster than you can upload your next ‘masterpiece.’ You have a matter of seconds to capture your audience’s attention, don’t waste it.

5. MOST IMPORTANTLY: Use YouTube to develop your brand identity and personality. A video combines moving pictures, words and audio capabilities to engage a viewer more than a single sense medium such as print or radio. Written words can be misinterpreted, a well constructed video that shows what your brand is all about just can’t.

So there you have it, a list of tips and suggestions along with viable examples of brands that have taken over and used YouTube to their absolute advantage.

How will you utilize YouTube for your company?

Here at Shutterstock, if there’s one thing we obsess over as much as inspiring imagery, it’s data. Add that to the fact that we license more images than anyone else, and you have a recipe for some pretty insightful trend forecasting.

We created our first design-trends infographic last year; this time, we took things up a notch, incorporating a lot more data, a lot more images, and a more in-depth look at what we see heating up in the year ahead.

Below are Shutterstock’s 10 takeaways along with the informative INFOGRAPHIC:

1. Long Live the Long Tail. Our Top 50 images of the year only accounted for 180k downloads. That’s a tiny fraction of overall downloads, meaning that communicators are looking for diverse imagery to tell stories.

2. If Vector & Camera got in a fight, Vector would win. Sort of. 36 of those top 50 images were vectors; 11 were photos and 3 were illustrations. But before you swap your camera for a tablet, note that photos still account for nearly 2x as many downloads overall.

3. We’re all obsessed with labels. Labels of every size, shape, and style were popular this year, from a retro bakery to Victorian-inspired designs.

4. Textures, patterns, and prints, oh my! Textures, patterns, and prints appeared in virtually every market this year, but were especially prominent in Australia, with retro vintage designs and abstract bokeh among the top downloads.

5. Brazil could be the next design giant. With several abstract and cubic images, Brazil is on the cutting edge of design this year. Take a look at the top 20 downloads for this influential design hub.

6. From Russia with Love. Solidifying its place in the world of fashion and beauty photography, Russia continues to churn out some of the most alluring images in the world. Follow the work of MGV and Serov and you’ll see what we mean.

7. The grass is always greener. “Green” may not be a new trend, but now instead of simply being green, we have more refined terms, from “sustainable” to “eco-friendly.” View a collection of our favorite “green” images.

8. Out with the old, and in with the (slightly less) old. If you combined all the searches for “Cats,” “Dogs,” “Retro,” and “Hipster,” you still wouldn’t beat the number of searches for “Vintage.” Everything from 70s retro to ornate antique imagery will continue to dominate this year.

9. Laws of Abstraction. Geometric and abstract shapes are on the rise, big time. From pixel people to 3D labels, see a few of our current favorites.

10. Less Is More. Germany might be the epicenter for one the year’s biggest emerging trends: minimalism. It’s all about cutting through the clutter with striking imagery to make an impact.

Thanks to her recent shenanigans, the media and public are saying they are ‘never getting back together’ with Taylor Swift. Once the sweet teenaged girl with the blonde curls and nice voice, 2013 is quickly becoming the year America is falling out of love with Taylor Swift.

I’m not exactly sure that one incident started the downward slip from the crown of “America’s Sweetheart” but I’m sure she’s never been everyone’s cup of tea. When Taylor was first hitting the music scene she stated that her songs, especially those about relationships, were written out of her experiences with guys; but of course she’d never come out and flat out say THIS song is about THIS guy. So we, as the public, were left guessing/speculating about whom each song was referring to. But does this make the practice acceptable? If you listen to some of the lyrics they’re pretty negative towards her male subjects.

Then there was that very public diss of Harry Styles at the 2013 Grammys. Speculation says the song “We Are Never Getting Back Together” is about Jake Gyllanhaal but then she opens the Grammys with the song, speaking in a (horrid) British accent. Way to go Taylor!

Next strike against Taylor Swift was her Vanity Fair interview. In it, she responded to Amy Poehler and Tina Fey’s comment on her seemingly serial dating policy stating that she loved Katie Couric and her quote, “There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.” Well isn’t that a little harsh Taylor? Both women have stated that the jab was meant to be a light-hearted joke, as are MOST comments at award shows.

But totally juxtaposed to the teenaged dating drama is the way too serious nature she carries herself in. It appears that she can’t laugh at herself, she can’t look at some of the things from her past a say, “Yeah, I suppose that was a little questionable.” That is the advice of PR executive Dorthy Crenshaw, “I’d tell her not to play victim this time and to respond with humour. Swift can earn points if she shows that she doesn’t take herself so seriously.” The victim thing worked with the Kayne West ‘incident’ because that was a one-time freak occurrence of a guy expressing his anger at the outcome of an award. The Golden Globes jab was based on an observation of sorts, a comment on someone’s life. Don’t dwell on it Taylor, move on. How are we supposed to forget things happened and on to the next scandal/news if someone keeps dragging it up?

Matt Ragas (DePaul University) provides probably some of the soundest advice for Taylor Swift – keep doing your job! Taylor Swift didn’t make more that of Anne Hathaway and Brad Pitt combined last year by starting feuds with every female comedienne in Hollywood. She did it by writing killer hit songs and performing to sold out crowds. “Part of PR is words and messaging, but a huge part of is also actions and behaviors,” he explained. “If she continues to put out hits and stays out of trouble, she’ll be fine.” So really, this time (in a specific way) she should pull a Kayne West; go out and rock that world tour, and just talk about the music. I mean it can’t be that hard to stick to topic.. right?

Sources:

http://www.gossipcop.com/taylor-swift-lauren-hacker-photo-pic-cancer-patient-omaha-hospital-leukemia/

http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/Taylor_Swift_needs_to_rethink_her_PR_strategy_14004.aspx

The 18^th Annual Starlight Canada Gala is just over a month away and we’re pretty excited (to say the least)! To share in the excitement, we’ve launched a contest for you to win a pair of tickets to join us for the festivities at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in downtown Toronto on April 6^th + receive $100 in cab fare from Hailo Cab Company!

Enter for a chance to come celebrate Starlight Children’s Foundation Canada and raise funds for children across the country. The night features a Renaissance carnival theme that aims to capture the wonderment of being a child. Highlights include a dinner and silent auction as well as a variety of entertainment and slideshows to inspire attendees and assist in driving donations to help children suffering with serious illness or a life-altering injury.

To enter the contest, head over to starlightmatters.com/contest and enter your full name, e-mail address and hit submit! Next: share with all your friends via social media, because each share gets you another entry into the contest. It’s that simple!

Good luck, and we hope to see you on April 6^th at the Gala!

Here are some key points:

• Make sure you’re spelling things correctly (duh); no text speak or missed punctuation. Use your own voice, with a professional delivery.
• Hashtags are your friend, use them to draw in non-followers to your content.
• If you’re adding a link, SHORTEN IT! A shortened link (like a bit.ly) takes up less space, leaving more room for the MESSAGE.
• Always leave around 20 characters blank so people who RT can add to the tweet!
• Make people WANT to share your tweets, make them engaging and include a call to action.

So there you go, all the tips required to make your tweets A+ share-able material.

A version of this post by Gerry Moran appears here

Today we’re talking about Playskool and this message they tweeted about on Friday:

Now it may have only gotten 1 retweet and 2 favourites but the replies the message got numbered far more. Within an hour the brand was on the defensive, trying to ‘apologize’ to all the Dads (and Moms) out there they offended with the comment.

At first it didn’t seem that their Twitter person understood that people were offended:

But soon they came up with an explanation for their comment:

If they were trying to convey that sentiment I’m pretty sure there are clearer ways it could have been worded. Scrolling through Playskool‘s tweets for the weekend it seems that they had 2 or 3 go to messages they were simply recycling over and over. That didn’t sit well with followers either:

Perhaps the most jarred parent population were the families that include 2 fathers:

One of the most disappointing parts of their cookie cutter response is that there is no mention of families/parenting in the LGBT community. Not very forward thinking of the brand.

This whole mess erupted a DAY after Playskool posted this touching image on their Facebook page.

So what do you think of this whole situation? Was Playskool being insensitive to changing family dynamics? Share your thoughts in the comments!

TORONTO, ON (March 4, 2013) – Starlight Children’s Foundation Canada is embarking upon their 18^th annual Fundraising Gala on April 6, 2013 at Toronto’s Fairmont Royal York (100 Front St West), hosted by CTV’s Weather Anchor Anwar Knight.

“Our gala continues to be one of the most magical nights for all those involved with Starlight. It’s a chance for our supporters, donors and organizers to meet and celebrate the work that we do to benefit Canadian children living with a serious illness or life-altering injury,” said Christopher Barry, President of Starlight Children’s Foundation Canada.

Starting at 6:00 p.m., guests of the event will be treated to a renaissance carnival theme including dinner and silent auction accompanied by a selection of entertainment and sideshows in order to raise funds for the charity. 

Celebrities scheduled to attend include: Dragon’s Den’s Arlene Dickinson, fashion icon Stacey Mackenzie, CTV’s Amber MacArthur, MTV’s Matt Barker, YTV’s Next Star judge Mark Spicoluk, Love It Or List It’s Hilary Farr, cast members from television shows such as Degrassi: Next Generation, Murdoch Mysteries, and The Listener along with many other notable Canadians.

Starlight also welcomes an extensive list of sponsors and donors in support of their 18^th annual gala. Supporters include: Presenting Sponsor, Toys“R”Us and Babies“R”Us; newly announced Diamond Sponsor, Great Blue Heron Casino; and Silver Sponsor, Playtex Infant.

The Starlight Gala remains one of the foundation’s largest sources for fundraising, with $300,000 in donations collected at last year’s event. Tickets to this year’s event can be purchased online by visiting http://www.starlightmatters.com/gala. 

About The Starlight Children’s Foundation of Canada: 

Starlight Children’s Foundation Canada is a charitable organization that brings smiles, laughter and joy back into the lives of children with serious illness or life-altering injury through in-hospital distractive entertainment and out-of-hospital fun family events.

Website: http://starlightmatters.com/gala

Twitter: @StarlightCanada

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/StarlightCanada

About Toys“R”Us, Canada:

Toys“R”Us (Canada) Ltd., is part of Toys“R”Us, Inc., the world’s leading dedicated toy and juvenile products retailer. Toys“R”Us, Canada operates 74 stores across the country. For store locations and convenient online shopping visit www.toysrus.ca  or http://www.babiesrus.ca

About Great Blue Heron Casino:

The Great Blue Heron Casino, located in scenic Port Perry Ontario, first opened its doors in 1997 and has steadily developed into one of Ontario’s premier casino destinations. With 550 exciting slots, 60 thrilling table games and award winning dining, the Great Blue Heron Casino is the closest casino to Toronto. The project is operated by a partnership consisting of Casinos Austria International, the Steiner Group and Sonco Gaming Inc. on behalf of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation and OLG.

About Playtex Infant:

Playtex Products LLC, a division of Energizer Personal Care, is a leading manufacturer and distributor of infant products including the Playtex(r) Drop-Ins(r)  bottle System and Ventaire(r) bottles; The First Sipster(r), Lil’ Gripper(r), Insulator(r), Coolster(r), and Sipster(r) cups; mealtime plates, bowls and utensils; OrthoPro(r) and Binky(r) pacifiers; and the Diaper Genie(r) diaper pails. Playtex and all other trademarks are owned or licensed by Playtex Products, LLC.

For interview requests or photos please contact:

Cory Stewart

Embrace Disruption PR

647.638.1586

cory@embracedisruption.com

We spotted this very informative (7 month old) video INFOGRAPHIC of Apple by the numbers, and felt it worthy of a share. Check out some of the most interesting facts about one of North America’s most successful organizations.

Hany came to talk about the innovative work they’re doing at Ribbon in order to make the purchase conversion higher within the social networking space. If you’re a retailer, or even someone who’s selling product independently online – you NEED to check out the cool stuff that Ribbon is doing. As good as Hany’s presentation was, there was one thing that really stood out to us:

Then came bit.ly’s Brian Eoff  who chatted about the BitCoin – something he claims is worth it’s weight in gold. Brian was clever enough to send some of his gold to a lucky audience member (to the tune of $50 worth). The one thing that really stood out to us from Brian’s presentation was:

After that came Trendrr’s Mark Ghuneim who spoke to the value of social TV.

Sadly after Mark’s presentation we had to duck out – but can say without a doubt, we’ll be back next year. We’ll leave you with something that we thought was really stand out about the conference – a LinkedIn wall. Yes, every single attendee who had a LinkedIn profile was on display near the entrance. Genius? We think so.

(Image via)

So you have a new project or product you need to promote, which PR firm do you choose to help you out? The immediate thought is to go with the well-known name, if everyone knows about them, they have to be the best…. right? Not necessarily. The best PR firm  is totally subjective and based more on your requirements as a client than the firm itself. Let’s look at 5 reasons why choosing a boutique PR firm may be your business’ best option.

1. Many Firms Can’t Afford The Big Names

A big name PR firm means a big ol’ price tag. This expensive figure is something which many businesses just cannot afford in this economy. Instead, why not look into a smaller firm with a more affordable price tag. PR work is an important part of any business that shouldn’t be skipped over a restriction like smaller budgets. There are a lot of options out there in a variety of price ranges; all you have to do is look.

2. Smaller Overhead

Since a boutique PR firm is smaller, they are often run out of smaller offices. This means the firm’s overhead is smaller: a savings they can pass onto potential clients. Why pay for someone else’s overhead, when the product they deliver is on par with the quality of a product a business can get from a boutique PR firm at a fraction of the price?

3. Specialization

A small PR firm just doesn’t have the man power to be a master of all things so the publicist(s) will pick the one or two services they know they are best at, and offer clients PR plans and services centred on those skills. This business model is advantageous for companies who want to reach specific audience and don’t have the expertise and/or time to do it on their own. A boutique PR firm with a specialization makes it their duty to know all the tips and tricks to have their client’s projects reach the largest audiences possible.

4. Better Treatment

When a small business, with a limited budget, approaches a large PR firm for work it is common for their projects and needs to get delegated to a lower account executive. It’s only natural to give the best treatment and the most time to those companies shelling out the most money for services. But just because a smaller organization cannot pay top dollar for PR work, does that mean that they should get shafted to the bottom of the pile? How are they ever going to be able to make enough to secure the precious attention of the big firms if no one is willing to give it to them? That’s why choosing a smaller PR firm is again in a start-up/small company’s favour. In this case, both parties are on equal footing, the PR firms need the company’s business to grow just as much as the company needs the services of the PR firm to garner attention; a mutually beneficial arrangement.

5. Better, More Meaningful Relationships

In the same vein, working with a boutique PR firm delivers more meaningful relationships between the two parties. A boutique PR firm dedicates more time and talents to its clients simply because it has more of each to give. Additionally, it is easier to contact the associates of a boutique PR firm and updates on the progress of a client’s campaign are more frequent and forthcoming.

This post was inspired by Harvey Farr’s post which can be found HERE.

It took almost an hour for The Onion to delete the tweet but the backlash from the tweet was almost instantaneous with users voicing their opinions and condemning the tweet from all sides.

This morning CEO Steve Hannah took to the publication’s Facebook page posting an apology:

This glaring oversight in self-control shows that some people just don’t learn from the social media mistakes of others. A publication such as The Onion, seeing as it is in the satire business, has placed itself in a slippery position. It must always be conscious of the content it puts out, toeing the line between funny and outright offensive.

What makes the situation worse is that The Onion wasn’t the only outlet to single out Quvenzhane Wallis negatively. E! Correspondents referred to the Oscar nominee as ‘Little Q’ and ‘Annie’ (in reference to her being cast in the upcoming remake) which started a firestorm of tweets in the vein of:

And then there was Oscar host Seth MacFarlane who delivered the following during the broadcast:

“To give you an idea of how young she is, it’ll be 16 years before she’s too young for Clooney,”

For the youngest Oscar nominee in history, Quvenzhane Wallis has sure had quite a big storm of negativity surrounding her; none of which was invited or called for. Maybe this time the call for professionalism moving forward will be answered. Social media isn’t going anywhere, learn the proper etiquette and remember, once it is on the Internet, it is out there forever.

Article Sources:

http://thecontributor.com/onion-hot-water-calling-9-year-old-oscan-nominee-c-twitter
https://www.facebook.com/TheOnion/posts/10151500974969497
http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/quvenzhane-wallis-called-the-c-word-by-the-onion-on-oscar-night-website-under-fire-2013252
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2284169/Fury-The-Onion-brands-year-old-Oscar-nominee-Quvenzhan-Wallis-c–shocking-tweet-says-deserve-better.html

Sysomos took a moment to create a quick INFOGRAPHIC outlining some of the highlights from the entertainment industry’s biggest night, and here’s some of their findings:

• There were 403,862 total red carpet tweets
• Jennifer Lawrence was voted best dressed female
• Anne Hathaway was voted worst (we have to agree)
• #Oscars was the hottest hashtag with over 800,000 tweets
• Women tweeted over double the amount of Oscar content of men during the evening

Check out the full INFOGRAPHIC below:

What a day! Before we begin, we must say that this was one of the best conferences we’ve had the pleasure of attending. The best part? Being able to hear from so many different speakers, thanks to the 7 minute time cap on each person.

We arrived at 8:30AM and picked up our name tag. Interesting fact: any name tags that had a blue circle on them indicated that the person/company was hiring.

FYI:

We were then treated to a lovely breakfast: complete with fair-trade coffee, bagels, fruit and croissants – followed by a prompting by super-host Gavin McGarry to get seated. It must be said that this isn’t Gavin’s first time at the hosting rodeo, and he did a superb job honing in the audience and keeping the pace of the conference (all while injecting selections of his quick wit and sarcastic humour).

We felt it necessary to call out the wifi password – as it definitely set the tone for the duration of the day:

Up first was Roel Vertegaal, Director of the Human Media Lab, Queen’s University to talk about paper tablet technology. We snapped a quick video for your viewing pleasure (apologies for the shaky hands – too much fair-trade coffee!)

Here you can see Roel holding the tablet in his hand:

Corey Vidal (from YouTube fame) came soon after – offering up some sound advice for getting your brand out there in the Youtube space. Corey stressed many amazing points, a couple of them being:

Soon after came Deborah Hall, Head of Mobile, Torstar Digital (one of our favourite clients). Deb spoke about the future of mobile, and how important it is to remain disruptive in the space.

It became quite clear that DISRUPTION was the theme of the event, and you can imagine our delight!

Then came the entrepreneur lunch with the folks at Torstar Digital where we were treated to a spread of sandwiches, drinks and sweet treats! We got to meet some pretty innovative people, and fingers crossed we’ll be speaking with some of them in the near future!

All in all, it was a fantastic morning of technology, innovation and disruption. By 1:30PM we were salivating at the thought of the afternoon’s speakers (inclusive of companies like Ribbon, Bit.ly and SavvyMom Media), and we can’t wait to share what they had in store!

Stay tuned as part two is coming your way tomorrow afternoon!

In a world where interconnection is quickly becoming the norm, CrossMedia Toronto is here to showcase how to make the most out of crossover in platforms to build the best business and outreach possible. The showcase will present 26 of the most innovative firms from gaming to marketing, television to mobile. The event, which takes place tomorrow, February 21^st from 8am-6:30pm at the Bram &  Bluma Salon, will feature speakers, demos, case studies and networking opportunities for attendees.

The speakers for CrossMedia Toronto represent leaders in their fields and include:

• Roel Vertegaal, Director of the Human Media Lab, Queen’s University
• Erik Martin, General Manager, reddit.com
• Veronika Sonsev, CEO and Founder,inSparq.com
• Jamie King, Founder, VODO
• Veronica Holmes, President, Digital, ZenithOptimedia Canada
• Andrew Macdonald, General Manager, Uber Canada
• Mark Ghuneim, CEO/Founder of Wiredsetand Trendrr
• Rhonda McEwen, Assistant Professor, University of Toronto
• Brian Eoff, Data Scientist, Bitly
• Jeffrey Remedios, President and Co-Founder, Arts & Crafts
• Peter Vessenes,  Chairman & Executive Director, Bitcoin Foundation
• Rob Segal, Co-Founder, Get Set Games
• Deborah Hall, Head of Mobile, Torstar Digital
• Paul Kontonis, GM, Magnet Media Originalsand Chairman of the Board of Directors,International Academy of Web Television
• Ipsa Desai, Strategic Partnerships, Google
• Adam Clarkson, User Experience Lead,Chartbeat
• Corey Vidal, Founder and President, ApprenticeA Productions
• Hany Rashwan is the co-founder & CEO of Ribbon
• Asif R Khan, Founder & President,TheLBMA.com
• Tony Walsh, Founder, Exec. Producer & Creative Director, Phantom Compass
• Paul Sparkes, Executive Vice-Chairman and Co-Founder, Difference Capital
• Laurie Mirsky, President, 3DPhacktory
• Jeff Brenner, Co-Founder and CEO, Pressly
• Minnow Hamilton , Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder, SavvyMom Media
• Ross Davies, Director of Member Engagement, BBM
• Gavin McGarry, Co-Founder, Jumpwire Media

While this may seem like an impossibly long list for a single day event; CrossMedia Toronto is using a ‘quick fire’ method of presentation. Most of the speakers will have only 7 minutes to present their material to the audience. We’ll be posting a full run-down of the event on Friday, so keep your eyes peeled.

Here’s some more deets incase you’re interested in joining us there! 

What: CROSSMEDIA TO

Who: 26 top Digital Media & Tech Companies

When: Thursday February 21^st, 2013 8am – 6:30pm

Where: Bram & Bluma Salon, 789 Yonge St.

Why: Showcasing innovation & the future of crossover advertising and promotion

With the recent news of Burger King being hacked, followed by Jeep and MTV – we find ourselves wondering who’s next?

Incase you’re not familiar with the scenario, we’ll break it down for you:

Burger King Twitter Hack

The Damage

The hacker took over the account, changed the display picture to the McDonald’s logo, and posted some of the following tweets (Image via):

It was revealed that BK’s password was “whopper” (creative right?). Burger King later acknowledged the rogue tweets:

and released the following statement to media:

“We have worked directly with administrators to suspend the account until we are able to re-establish our legitimate site and authentic postings. We apologize to our fans and followers who have been receiving erroneous tweets about other members of our industry and additional inappropriate topics.”

The good news? Burger King saw a jump of 100,000 followers over the course of the day. Is it worth the headache? Time will tell!

Jeep Twitter Hack

The Damage

The hacker posted odd tweets, including mentioning luxury brand, Cadillac. The account has since been tamed, but looked something like this (Image via):

Cadillac later responded to ensure tweeps they were not involved:

MTV Twitter Hack

The Damage:

The hacker made promises to return Jersey Shore, changed the brand logo to BET, and continued on a wild tweeting rampage (Image via):

UPDATE: Reports are saying that MTV hacked their own twitter in promotion of their new show, Hacked. Good one, MTV..

1. Change your passwords regularly. And change them to something obscure that has nothing to do with the product you sell. Random numbers, letters, and symbols are your best friend. We change our passwords every month—that will probably change to every two weeks in light of this development.

2. Have procedures in place to stop an attack in its tracks. Create a fail-proof social escalation policy that can end something like this before it gets out of hand. Have the assets you need on hand to be able to restore the images on your profile.

3. Minimize the number of mobile devices that can access the account. If you look at all the apps that can access your account, you should know for certain where they’re all coming from and what their purpose is. If you’re unsure about any of them, ax them.

4. Make it mandatory that any mobile phones that link to corporate accounts are password protected. That way, if you leave your phone at, say, a Burger King and you’re signed into your brand’s account, no one can have easy access to it. Similarly, make sure that if you leave your computer at, say, a Burger King, it’s not logged into any accounts. Password protect everything that allows access to accounts that are password protected. Thinking about the computer I’m typing on, if I were to leave it somewhere and some swarthy character logged onto Facebook, they would be able to wreak havoc on about six different accounts (none of which are my personal account). That’s pretty scary when you think about it.

5. Change your passwords every time someone leaves the company—whether or not it’s amicable. Don’t trust people. There’s too much at stake here.

If you had to guess, which brand do you think is next – or do you think the hacker is done their dirty work?

And it’s not just our boyfriends/girlfriends that are getting the love, in the USA pet valentines is a $367 MILLION business! We don’t forget to show ourselves love either, with 15% of ladies sending themselves flowers.

What began as the Feast of Sainte Valentine, to commemorate the Valentines of Rome that were martyred from 200-300 AD has become a multi-billion dollar affair with chocolates to flowers and jewellery, the mission remains to spread love to those you care about most. Also, it should come as no surprise that an estimated 10% of wedding proposals happen on Valentine’s Day each year.

Check out the infographic for more interesting Valentine’s Day facts!

Source

In the age of social media and online communities, some of the other music award shows have changed their voting processes to include digital downloads and online popularity but The Grammy Awards remain a process where eventual winners are nominated and eventually determined by members of the Recording Academy, the music industry equivalent of SAG. Semantics aside, Activ8Social has created the winners list for the big awards of the night based on online presence and popularity.

Image via Msn

Best New Artist

• Actual Winner: fun.
• Social Media Winner: Frank Ocean

Song Of The Year:

• Actual Winner: “We Are Young” – fun.
• Social Media Winner: “Gangnam Style”

Record Of The Year:

• Actual Winner: “Somebody That I Used To Know” – Goyte
• Social Media Winner: On YouTube plays, Gotye; followers, TSwift

Album Of The Year:

• Actual Winner: “Babel” – Mumford & Sons
• Social Media Winner: Again, online following got this one ‘right’ too!

It looks as though the person managing The City Of Vaughan’s twitter account wasn’t so happy about a certain individual’s parking skills (Image via @_melissaashley).

Sadly, it doesn’t end there – it looks like the community manager showed signs of going rogue earlier last night:

The reaction on twitter seemed a bit mixed:

The worst part of it all is that the city decided to delete their twitter account full stop. We hope that they decide to come back to social, address the situation – and admit to mistake. After all, this isn’t the first time something like this has happened.

Reality is, goof-ups and fumbles are inevitable in this space – and we all know that. Here’s hoping the person responsible for this doesn’t get terminated, because they’ve most certainly learned their lesson. City Of Vaughan, if you’re listening: get back on twitter and acknowledge your mistake, you’ll be surprised how forgiving we all are. Silence is never a good thing, come back to the conversation!

UPDATE

The City of Vaughan has re-activated their twitter to say the following:

We have to say, this response is good – but should’ve happened soon after the incident, instead of 6 hours later. Reality is, all the news coverage that has generated today could have reflected a more professional conduct if the city was on their game. Ah well, lesson learned – the Internet will move on to something new tomorrow!

This guy has literally thought of everything from highlighting references to outlining skill sets. We do have to wonder why he gave himself 37 one-star ratings, but perhaps that’s just some angry exes?

What do you think of Phil’s resume? Would you hire him?

Simply put, Neuromarketing uses neuroscience to understand the ‘secrets’ of the human brain so that marketers can tap into the minds of the consumers to better market their products to them. In fact, 95% of a person’s thoughts, emotions and learning occur before we are aware they are happening. (Source:  Neuroscience Marketing, Fast Company)

So the truth is, before that celebrity even opens their mouth to tell you why their weight loss program is working for them, or how their new shampoo is, chances are your brain has already formed opinions on the celebrity, the brand and the products. The real question is, how do you combat something that is seemingly out of your control?

A study conducted by Neurolabs at Neurofocus offers the following insights:

• People prefer images with rounded edges to those with sharp edges.
• People don’t seem to like human images without a head so PLEASE find those mannequin heads and reattach them!
• Men are more apt to listen to the features a product offers, women want a deal (they are more sensitive to price changes)

People may seem like they’re into something but their brain tells a different story. They often don’t emotionally connect with ads even if they find them funny at the time; meaning the ad won’t be remembered after a short amount of time.

Fast Company recently published an article with their tips for better neuromarketing:

• Speak more to how a product will better a consumer’s life, then just why it is a good product
• K.I.S.S. Method – the tried and true method of ‘keeping it simple’ applies here. Short meaningful statements are better than pages of copy any day
• Visualize – people subconsciously connect with pictures and other visually appealing aspects of products/marketing before they read the words to go along with them. Make those visuals as appealing as possible.
• Start Strong, Finish Strong – Our brains pays the most attention to what happens at the beginning and at the end of a pitch, make those your strong points.
• Play on Emotions – tap into how consumers feel, that way any connections created will be more meaningful and deep as opposed to just a surface conversation.

So there you have it, some tips and tricks to make the most of neuromarketing for your business!

Last Friday, the pastor of St. Louis-based church Truth in the World Deliverance Ministries took her congregation to an Applebee’s after an evening service. The receipt for the meal added an 18 percent gratuity, which is restaurant policy for parties of eight or more.

However, Pastor Alois Bell crossed out the 18 percent and left the server a note that said: “I give God 10% why do you get 18.”

An employee at the Applebee’s took a picture of the receipt and this week posted it to Reddit, where it went viral. The employee was swiftly fired from Applebee’s.

Applebee’s released a public statement that you can read here. The gist of it is:

“Our franchisees are committed to acting in the best interests of guests and team members. This is a regrettable situation and we wish it had never happened. However, the disregard for an important policy left the franchisee no choice but to take the action they did.” -  Applebee’s President Mike Archer

Today, Pr 2.0 Chat had a full discussion on the issue via. Twitter. We thought we’d share some of the notable tweets from the conversation:

What are your thoughts on the situation? Do you think it should’ve been handled differently? Discuss!

Any restaurant professional knows that empty seats are like idle dollars waiting to be made – and it’s important to operate as efficiently as possible. PR can make those empty seats full in a matter of ‘media hits’ by effectively positioning the restaurant into public view.

How, you ask?

There’s several tactics to making sure the restaurant in question gets favourably placed in the media. Any PR pro worth their salt will work with the GM, the executive chef, and perhaps the concierge to ensure they get a full grasp of the restaurant’s offerings.

PR pros have even been known to conduct ‘secret shopper’ visits to see exactly what the ‘secret sauce’ (media angle) of the restaurant really is – and build on it.

From showcasing the establishment’s chef on a popular breakfast show, to facilitating special promotional events, to getting a respected reviewer into your restaurant –  a PR pro’s skills can make the desirable happen!

What else, you ask?

Well, coverage is great – but it’s important to get the right coverage. PR pros can sift through their extensive contact lists and cater pitches to target the right people and the right outlets for your delicious restaurants to start making delicious profits.

That’s not all though, social media should also be high on your PR person’s list as a fantastic way to generate some organic buzz around the restaurant. Skilled pros will have tactics to create content for the standard Twitter & Facebook, along with Instagram, Pinterest, and even Tumblr!

Remember: innovation is of the utmost importance. If you work with an agency that has a focus on doing things ‘differently’ – you’ll most definitely see the results you desire.

We know the restaurant industry is insanely competitive, and guess what? So are we.

Samsung:

Volkswagen:

Mercedes-Benz:

Coca-Cola

Go Daddy:

A few times a year, the Internet is taken by storm with news of a new and flashy mobile app – promising to change the life of it’s users (presumably) for the better. This is the case with Twitter’s new Vine app, which allows it’s users to record 6 seconds of video and publish it for their social followers to consume.

Brands and users have adapted to the app virally, if only to secure their all important ‘handle name’. Afterall, no one wants to be stuck with a handle like ‘JohnDoe56237126′, do they?

Because there’s been some really fantastic creativity from North American brands, we thought we’d do a little digest for you of some notable posts.

Dove uses the popular ‘stop-start’ functionality to play a quick bowling game with some of their top products.

Trident employs it’s consumers to ‘chew like you chew’.

General Electric shows off their bright idea.

Gap outlines details on their 1969 denim.

Urban Outfitters challenges Comedy Central to a bear off. Tempting, no?

Wheat Thins spells out their campaign in product.

It’s clear Vine is the beginning of something, and they’re certainly boding well in terms of user acquisition. Only time will tell if this app is the next big thing (Instagram, anyone?), or just another fad like DrawSomething – remember that?!

• Telephone Information Services: whether it’s calling 411 or the movie theatre, the Internet has made it pretty unnecessary to call anyone on the phone for information. A simple Google search could unearth your info in seconds.
• Payphones: Sorry Adam Levine, that payphone is no longer in service thanks to this little invention called the cellular phone; perhaps someone can buy you one?
• Old School Mediums: Be it VHS tapes recording TV, a Walkman, a dictionary or the Yellow Pages, it seems that no one is using these portable, yet bulky items anymore. When was the last time you saw someone carting around Encyclopaedia Britannica anyway? Surprisingly, vinyl records are as popular as ever.

Check out all these and more in the INFOGRAPHIC below:

TORONTO, ON (January 29, 2013) – Starlight Children’s Foundation Canada is pleased to announce Toys“R”Us and Babies“R”Us Canada are returning as Diamond Sponsors for their 18^th annual Fundraising Gala on April 6, 2013 at The Fairmont Royal York.

Since 1998, Toys“R”Us and Babies“R”Us have supported Starlight through annual in-store sales of Starlight Stars and the annual Starlight Gala.  “We are pleased and proud to be the lead sponsor for Starlight Children’s Gala” said Kevin Macnab, President, Toys”R”Us Canada  “Children have always been the focus of our charity work and we are thrilled to have donated over $10.2 million to Starlight to date.  We look forward to partnering with Starlight and other Starlight Gala sponsors to help even more children and their families in 2013.”

Christopher Barry, President of Starlight Children’s Foundation Canada said, “Our community outreach and in-hospital programs have been greatly enhanced with the help of Toys“R”Us and Babies“R”Us Canada. We are pleased to have the generous support of such a fantastic organization, and look forward to a successful fundraising event.”

Starlight is also welcoming several other sponsors to support their gala such as sparkAV, Cineplex, The Brettler/Mintz Foundation, DST Output Canada Inc., and media sponsor Metroland Media Group.

The Starlight gala remains one of the foundation’s largest sources for fundraising, with $300,000 in donations collected at last year’s event. Tickets to this year’s event can be purchased online by visiting http://www.starlightmatters.com/gala.

About The Starlight Children’s Foundation of Canada: 

Starlight Children’s Foundation Canada is a charitable organization that brings smiles, laughter and joy back into the lives of children with serious illness or life-altering injury through in- hospital distractive entertainment and out-of-hospital fun family events. 

Website: http://www.starlightmatters.com

Twitter: @StarlightCanada

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/StarlightCanada

About Toys“R”Us, Canada:

Toys“R”Us (Canada) Ltd., is part of Toys“R”Us, Inc., the world’s leading dedicated toy and juvenile products retailer. Toys“R”Us, Canada operates 74 stores across the country. For store locations and convenient online shopping visit www.toysrus.ca  or http://www.babiesrus.ca

About Metroland Media:

With more than 100 trusted community and daily newspapers both in print and online, as well as innovative websites including flyerland.ca, save.ca and gottarent.com; Metroland Media is dedicated to delivering relevant and quality communication vehicles that reflect the local voice and connect its readers to their community.

For media or interview requests, please contact:

Cory Stewart

Embrace Disruption PR

647.638.1586

cory@embracedisruption.com

CAPTCHA was developed by a team at Carnegie Mellon University back in 2000 in response to a request from Yahoo! to quell the use of their mail services sending out automated spam messages. The result was a computer program, CAPTCHA or Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart. The idea was to have a program where images are created that humans can decipher but not computers, therefore diminishing the ability for automated systems to go in and mess with Internet traffic.

CAPTCHA is now found on almost all interactive sites. Before you post a comment on a blog or news site, a CAPTCHA is there to make sure you’re not using spamming software to boost SEO. Rate limiting is a common use of CAPTCHA in order to protect the integrity of sites for their human users. The theory is that a CAPTCHA test will not be seen as an inconvenience to human users as they use the features on a site once or twice while a software program designed to spam a system will want access over and over. That theory is debatable, no?

Buying concert tickets? Better have your quick-type fingers ready to pass the CAPTCHA test before time runs out. Ticketmaster would rather have their tickets in the hands of actual fans instead of scooped up by scalpers whose only intention is to re-sell the tickets at ridiculous prices.

As with any system, there are always those rebels looking to circumvent CAPTCHA via software and human means. Some software programmers have developed programs that attempt to crack CAPTCHAs in one of three ways:

• Pre-processing: the removal of ‘background noise’ from an image
• Segmentation: splitting an image into single character segments
• Classification: identifying characters in the regions of images

Some attackers/spammers have set up whole businesses, hiring workers (mostly in developing countries) to solve CAPTCHAs that are then archived and sold off to other attackers intent on getting around CAPTCHAs.

Since its inception over 10 years ago CAPTCHA has continued to become more prevalent and advanced, as have those trying to hack the system. CAPTCHA has been (and will continue to be) the ‘water locks’ system of the Internet, keeping the spam at bay for all of our personal enjoyment.

Articles consulted for this piece:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1812084,00.html

http://tech4b.blogspot.ca/2012/04/beating-captchas.html

http://paper.ycsns.org/)7_book/200703/20070348.pdf

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~biglou/recaptcha_science.pdf

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/26/technology/26captcha.html?src=me&ref=technology&_r=1&

http://web.archive.org/web/20071106170737/http:/ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jnNrQKxFzt7mPu3DZcP7_UWr8UfwD8SKE6Q80

http://web.archive.org/web/20060613111749/http:/www.ceas.cc/papers-2005/160.pdf

Moderated by ProudFM’s Mike Chalut, this event will showcase pivotal Canadian LGBTQ inclusion employment cases and provide up to date legislative context. Partnering with the CLGA and CCCA to host this event is the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Conference (SOGIC) of the Canadian Bar Association and Pride at Work Canada.

Scott Kettles, General Manager of the CLGA said, “Our mission remains to keep LGBTQ stories alive. We’re pleased to offer such an informative session to people across the nation and further delve into topics like workplace diversity.”

Attendees of the event can expect a keynote from Canadian human rights activist, Michelle Douglas along with a panel of industry experts sharing insights on diversity and inclusion policies.

The in-person event starts at 7:30AM on February 25, 2013, with the webcast commencing at 8:00AM. Tickets for the event can be purchased online by visiting http://bit.ly/143714c. Those wishing to participate in the webcast can register by visiting http://bit.ly/148Ou6p. The Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives is located at 34 Isabella Street in Toronto.

About Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives:

Established in 1973, The Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives aids in the recovery and preservation of LGBT histories. Its mission: to acquire, preserve, organize, and give public access to information and materials in any medium, by and about LGBT people, primarily produced in or concerning Canada. To support this function, the Archives also maintain significant non-archival collections, which include a research library, international subject files, and an international collection of queer periodicals. It is the CLGA’s mandate to make this information available to the public for education and research. Over the years, the CLGA has helped hundreds of people – students, artists, journalists, lawyers, filmmakers complete numerous projects inside and outside of the LGBT community.

Website: http://www.clga.ca

Twitter: @CLGArchives

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CLGArchives

About The Canadian Corporate Counsel Association (CCCA):

An integral group within the 37,000-member Canadian Bar Association, the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association is dedicated to supporting and enhancing the interests of Canadian corporate counsel. CCCA provides uniquely Canadian perspectives, resources, tools, professional development, conferences and peer-to-peer networking opportunities.

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Twitter: @CCCA_News

For Media Inquiries and Photos Contact:

Cory Stewart

Embrace Disruption PR

647.638.1586

cory@embracedisruption.com

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Karen Sadler

Marketing and Communications, CCCA

ksadler@ccca-cba.org

GetGlue is an entertainment-based social media tool that lets users ‘check-in’ to the shows, movies, music, books and sports they’re watching/listening to. In return, the user can earn virtual stickers to mark their check-ins. These stickers can include limited editions for premiere episodes or opening weekends, along with achievement stickers for using GetGlue often or checking into a particular show on a consistent basis. In the spirit of sharing, users can also connect their social media accounts and choose to share their GetGlue check-ins via Facebook, Twitter and/or Tumblr. The more media you check into, the better the recommendations GetGlue can give you when you’re in a bind. User information is compiled to provide expert recommendations on fellow user media consumption patterns.

Movies ‘cling’ to Top-of-Mind thanks to GetGlue

The nature of GetGlue lends itself very well to being used as a marketing tool for individual shows, as well as to networks and studios. Movie distributors have invited fans of upcoming releases to check-in to their movie before the release date to receive exclusive stickers or sneak-peeks. What a great way to create buzz for your movie, and garner organic virality on user’s social media feeds!  Television networks have a bit of a different tactic. I noticed when I checked into the show ‘White Collar’ last night,  there was a 15% merchandise discount being offered to those checking in.  Clever, no?

Currently GetGlue has a variety of partners including 20th Century Fox, The CW, AMC, ABC Family, Disney Theatrical, Discovery, ESPN, FOX, Food Network, Hachette, HBO, HGTV, MTV, MSNBC, Showtime, Penguin, PBS, WWE, Random House, Simon and Schuster, Syfy, Sony Pictures, Travel Channel, USA Network, Universal Pictures, and Warner Bros. theatrical.

Direct TV is also a GetGlue partner. They offer viewers the opportunity to check in to shows on their television screen; doesn’t get much simpler than that, increasing the chances that people will actually use GetGlue.

The GetGlue system of ‘checking in’ to a movie or television program is also a good way to gauge the size of an audience watching at any given time. Users can monitor comments related to their check-ins, in order to get a feel for what other viewers like or dislike about the show.

The ‘stickers’ are definitely the MVP that makes GetGlue unique. Gamification remains a strong incentive for consumers, the act of collecting appeals to the competitive aspect of human nature.

GetGlue is a great combination of entertainment and marketing activation  – a format they should definitely “stick” to. Get it?

2013 will be the year of content

Content marketing remains top priority for both companies and agencies alike, followed closely by conversion rate optimization. In fact, 52% of marketers say the ability to target and personalize content is fundamental to their online strategy.

Boldly, 84% of marketers say their work will be more measurable in 2013 – no doubt due to more emphasis put in the digital areas (and shrinking budgets).

Mobile remains a close focus

However, marketers say they need to understand more on how users research and purchase products. Have a look at the INFOGRAPHIC below for all these stats and more (points if you can correctly identify the number of spelling errors within Adobe’s image).

The entire Internet is abuzz today with the second inauguration of U.S. President Barack Obama. Every one of my social media feeds is wall-to-wall Obama, from what everyone is wearing, to the performers and celebrities/politicians in attendance. The theme for the Inauguration (which also happens to fall on Martin Luther King Jr. Day) is “Faith in America’s Future” and if the crowd in this picture (below) from the National Mall is anything to go on, young and old alike believe that the re-election of Barack Obama will mean good things for the future of their nation.

The 57^th Presidential Inauguration is live streamed both on television and the Internet simultaneously, with no delay in the Presidential address reaching the ears of the world. In the time before there was a television in every home, and a computer in pretty much everyone’s hand, the White House had to wait days or weeks for their news and mandates to reach the people, delaying timely communication that government strives for. Luckily, we’re living in the Internet Age of ‘instant gratification’, where users voice their opinions and share their thoughts immediately – sometimes to a fault!

Obama is #5 on the list of Twitter users with the most followers

Obama’s team seems very keen and knowledgeable on the use of social media and the effect it has and will continue to have on the President’s second term in office. This year’s Inaugural Address seemed full of quickly quotable anecdotes that convey a strong ‘untwist-able’ message. Hats off to the President’s publicity team, and here’s to 4 more years!

This week, the top 12 chosen YouTube stars travelled to Los Angeles for the next round of the competition. This round consisted of the contestants getting divided into teams, ‘locked up’ at the Redbury Hotel in Hollywood and given 48 hours to film & edit a video together about the Nintendo WiiU & the new Super Mario Bros U (which I’ve played and is super fun!).  The 3 teams’ films were screened yesterday (January 17^th) at the Sundance Film Festival, which is kind of a big deal. Below are a couple videos from YouTuber Alex Carpenter, one of the members of the winning team for this year; the first is the video he filmed in order to qualify for the 48-hour challenge and the second is a vlog he filmed in the middle of the challenge.

The films created out of the 48-hour challenge were screened at the Nintendo Lounge in front of film industry influencers, Nintendo executives and other VIPs. The audience voted for the eventual winner out of the 3 films.

But the WiiU film challenge is only part of the Nintendo marketing campaign at Sundance. The Nintendo Lounge will be open to festivalgoers and Park City residents alike to play with the new system, including trying out some unreleased games.

Check out the toddlers Mark Zuckerberg knew before 1999.

After addressing the fact that a Facebook phone was “not the right strategy” in an early interview from 2012, most predicted today’s event would talk about new and improved search features within Facebook’s UI.

The first version of Graph Search focuses on four main areas — people, photos, places, and interests. You’ll be able to type queries (examples listed below) to help access the content you’re truly looking for.

People: “friends who live in my city,” “people from my hometown who like hiking,” “friends of friends who have been to Yosemite National Park,” “software engineers who live in San Francisco and like skiing,” “people who like things I like,” “people who like tennis and live nearby”

Photos: “photos I like,” “photos of my family,” “photos of my friends before 1999,” “photos of my friends taken in New York,” “photos of the Eiffel Tower”

Places: “restaurants in San Francisco,” “cities visited by my family,” “Indian restaurants liked by my friends from India,” “tourist attractions in Italy visited by my friends,” “restaurants in New York liked by chefs,” “countries my friends have visited”

Interests: “music my friends like,” “movies liked by people who like movies I like,” “languages my friends speak,” “strategy games played by friends of my friends,” “movies liked by people who are film directors,” “books read by CEOs”

The Graph Search beta starts today. Go to www.facebook.com/graphsearch to get on the waitlist.

The roll out is going to be slow so Facebook can see how people use Graph Search and make improvements.

(Source)

The study consisted of 4 men and 4 women driving a total of 500 miles, 250 without music and then 250 with music. Their entire journey was monitored using the MotorMate app for things such as speed, acceleration and braking. The drivers’ footage was then reviewed by psychologist Dr. Simon Moore.

So what makes a song safe? Here are the criteria:

• ideal volume: 55-65 decibels (for comparison, this is about the volume of conversation at a restaurant or office)
• the tempo of the song should mimic a human heartbeat, between 60-80 beats per minute

To encourage safe driving Confused.com put together a Spotify playlist of the 50 safest songs to play while driving. Take a look at the picture below for some of the highlights.

On the flipside, let’s take a look at the criteria for what makes a song ‘unsafe’ to listen to while driving:

• Songs with a fast tempo. Faster songs make drivers subconsciously speed up to match the beat of the song.
• Noisy, fast songs excite and arouse a driver. This stimulation means they’re more focused on the music than driving

Also, make sure you actually like the songs you are listening to. The stress and distraction of not liking a song, or constantly changing the music, will distract you from driving too.

So there you have it: you now know the songs to play and the tunes to avoid next time you hit the road. Your turn – which songs are your ‘go-to’ road trip songs? ABBA? Bon Jovi? Musical theatre classics? Share with us in the comments.

Happy listening & safe travels!

As you approach yet another year, it’s important to identify a few key items that you’d like to focus on improving at work. Even the best of us can fall behind on efficiency at times – but what’s really crucial is realizing your weaknesses, and working towards making them your strengths.

We’ve compiled a list of 5 things that you can implement immediately to start your year with a bang!

1. Meet with your boss and co-workers

Understanding what your boss and coworkers think about your current performance is of utmost importance. Make sure you have regular meetings to discuss what’s going well, and how you can improve (or make other’s jobs easier). You’ll find when you take the initiative to start these discussions, it sparks a better office morale – and perhaps even some gratitude from your co-workers!

2. Set realistic goals

There’s no point in setting goals that you know you can’t reach. Look towards the future with an open mind, and refer to past data and performance to effectively decipher what you think you can accomplish in the new year. Keep in mind that quantity isn’t always better than quality, and burning yourself out is not something that you or your employer desires.

3. Get organized

Tackle that filing cabinet, organize your computer files, clean up that desk, and clear out that inbox. Although we may not always realize it, a cluttered environment can take real effect on your job performance. Cleaning up and getting organized will help you keep a clear head to focus on your work.

4. Be more accountable

It’s simple really: if you say you’re going to do something, do it. Whether it be a follow up email to a colleague, or a monthly report – you want to make sure you establish yourself as someone who follows through. Not only will the person you’re connecting with appreciate it – but you’ll feel a genuine sense of satisfaction for completing these tasks.

5. Follow the empty inbox rule

At the end of each day, go through your emails and make sure you’ve responded to every one of them. If you can’t provide answers right away, write back and assure the sender that it’s on your list – and you’ll be responding in the coming days. Everyone appreciates reciprocal correspondence, and you’ll be admired for being on top of things.

We hope you can integrate some of these tips into your everyday work life, and wish you only the best in 2013!

Product Recall More Than Just a Migraine

Consider the Tylenol recall of 1982; the birth of the recall, that actually saved the brand from extinction in the end. Before Tylenol, product recalls were unheard of – but when reports began to surface that 7 people had died in Chicago after consuming cyanide-laced capsules of extra-strength Tylenol, the company could not remain silent. Instead the brand put consumers first, pulling all Tylenol from the market and offering replacement product in the form of the safer, tablet variety of Tylenol. It took 2 months for Tylenol to return to store shelves, complete with the now standard, tamper-proof packaging along with a killer media campaign.

This move was costly, carrying a price tag of $100 million for Johnson & Johnson (Tylenol’s parent company).

Consider the following statistics:

• Before the incident Tylenol held a 37% market share which fell to 7% after the recall – only to climb back up to 30% a year later
• Just before the recall, Tylenol stock was trading at a 52 week high, after a minor period of see-sawing it returned to these highs 2 months later.

Now let’s consider Fisher Price, arguably one of the most recognizable names when it comes to toys & toddler products such as sleepers and high chairs. It was reported today that the company is voluntarily recalling a seemingly long list of products for a variety of reasons. The General Manager of Fisher Price, Kevin Curran, has also released a statement on behalf of the company reassuring consumers & issuing an apology.

The language used in the statement shows that like Tylenol, Fisher Price’s main focus is consumers above all else. Their statement leads with the clever “Because we’re parents too,” which succeeds at establishing common interest with concerned consumers.

“Many of us here at Fisher-Price are parents, too — myself included — and we share your belief that nothing is more important than the well-being of our children.”

- Kevin Curran, Fisher-Price General Manager

A direct link is provided to the specific details about the recall.

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Some interesting insights:

• 40% socialize more online than they do face-to-face.
• There are more devices connected to the internet than there are people on Earth.
• People spend an average of 6.75 hours month on Facebook.
• Facebook is accessed by 7,000 different devices every day.
• 11 accounts are added every second to Twitter.
• Since 2012, 12 BILLION minutes have been spent using Pinterest on the web.
• Every second 1 new user joins LinkedIn.
• 30% of videos account for 99% of all YouTube views.
• 74% of brand marketers saw an increase in website traffic after investing just 6 hours per week on social.

All this and more in the INFOGRAPHIC below:

There One Minute, Gone the Next

So what is exactly is SnapChat, and why does it have hipsters abandoning their collection of fun filters? Simply put, SnapChat is a way to share photos with your favourite people (on iPhone and Android) that will get to them 10x faster than a regular MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service). Besides being faster, the ‘gimmick’ to Snap Chat is that the photos, or ‘snaps,’ are on a timer so you can control how long receiver of the photo actually has access to it before it disappears from their device. Perfect if you’re trying to organize a surprise for someone who has access to your phone! Of course the app does offer a save option on their preview screen or you can take a screenshot if you’re quick but the sender of the Snap will be notified!

Every App Has Its Dark Side

So you’ve downloaded this app to your phone where you can take ‘impermanent’ photos that will not (supposedly) be finding their way onto the greater World Wide Web, what’s the good in that? It seems the overwhelming answer is the ‘indecent exposure’ kind; which can be corroborated with a quick Google search. With a user demographic between the ages of 13-25 this news is more than a little shocking. SnapChat was recently featured on Good Morning America  with the warning that yes the app may say that the photo is gone after the viewing time is up, but there are other ways to save the photo. The reporter on GMA cautioned parents to monitor what their children were doing on their phones considering sexting is becoming a larger scale issue with teens and young adults. Additionally, the SnapChat developers have stated they cannot 100% guarantee the instantaneous deletion of photos off their servers.

So yes, SnapChat can be fun when people want to send those obnoxious self portraits to their friends: but remember, nothing is fool-proof!

On that note, have you ever had a mishap where a photo found its way onto the Internet when you didn’t want it to?

1. Establish Interest / Qualify

2. Establish Credibility

3. Establish Need

4. Offer Solution

The final step in this video is more of a hidden sales pitch to it’s viewers, but the first four are spot on. Have a look below as the above are talked about a little more in depth:

This year all that is going to change. Atleast that’s what the strategic partners behind Paperless2013.org are hoping for. Heavy hitters like Google Drive, Hello Sign, Fujitsu ScanSnap have teamed up to provide a seamless organization of green-savvy crusaders striving to provide paperless solutions for small and large businesses alike.

How can you get in on the action?

It’s simple really – just sign up! Paperless2013.org will provide you with new monthly tips and services that will help enhance your green efforts. Google Drive is always going to be a fantastic tool (one we use constantly at EDPR), but we’re really excited about the prospect of using HelloSign – a paperless way of getting those pesky contracts signed.

Our efforts will continue in 2013.

From collaborating on documents in the office, to sending out contracts and agendas – we’re constantly optimizing and encouraging further use of technology to reduce our corporation’s carbon footprint. As we go through 2013, we’ll keep you updated from time to time on the different services we’re using to maintain our efforts – and shed some insight on what works, and what doesn’t. Here’s to a Paperless 2013 – now.. on to conquer the Diet Soda.

This article was based on the article “Year In Review: PR Wins & Sins” from On The Fourth Floor. Mistakenly, this article originally appeared uncredited on our site. We take content ownership very seriously, and maintain a strong belief that credit should be given where credit is due. Our deepest apologies to those at rock-it promotions, and to owner Deb G.

Bring on the Big Buzz & Good Tidings

“Our Food, Your Questions” – McDonald’s

Everyone is familiar with McDonald’s, but there are definitely questions of where their food comes from and what is actually in it. To address the negative press surrounding their brand in 2012, McDonald’s launched the ‘Our Food, Your Questions” campaign. Customers & critics were encouraged to send in questions that were then answered by the  McDonald’s team. Sure some of the answers see to be delivered with an all too happy tone, but the sheer honesty and transparency of this campaign made it an all around winner in 2012.

“My Drink’s Zero, Coke Zero” – Coca Cola

This year marked the 50^th anniversary for the James Bond franchise and the release of their highly anticipated movie, ‘Skyfall’. To capitalize on the popularity of the franchise, Coca Cola came up with a way to get people pumped and feeling like a secret agent themselves, all in the name of free tickets to Skyfall. 70 seconds to reach platform 70? Not a problem for the guys in this video! What a great way to create word-of-mouth buzz for two of the most recognized brands in the world.

Every Little Boy Deserves Their Train Set - LEGO

PR win of the year has to go to LEGO. Over the years, we’ve all fallen in love with a specific commercial product: be it a pair of shoes or a favourite shade of lip gloss. Over time the product gets used up, or even falls apart – so we attempt to replace it, only to find out it’s been discontinued.

This was the story for James Groccia, an 11-year-old with Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of autism. James is a part of a LEGO play group that helps him learn to socialize with kids his own age. So when James saw LEGO’s Emerald Night Train Set, he began to save his money and two years later he finally had enough. Unfortunately by that time, the set had been discontinued by LEGO and sellers on eBay were charging way above the original price. So James decided to write LEGO and explain his whole situation. Lo-and-behold, what arrived just in time for James’ 11^th birthday but the Emerald Night Train Set. If that story doesn’t warm your heart, we don’t know what will.

Not Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining

So for all the good PR stories last year, there had to be the ones that made us cringe. Here are a couple of the examples not to follow.

“Here’s your burger, side order of dirt off my shoes” – Burger King

So we all did silly things when we’re teenagers, even at our first jobs. The thing is, we usually didn’t go too crazy, and we probably tried to be super discreet about it. Not so for some employees at Burger King. Not only did someone decide it was a good idea to stand in the lettuce bins, but they had someone take a photo AND post it to social media! Needless to say, the employees involved were caught and fired for this one.

“Don’t Worry, it’s Just a Little Wind” – American Apparel

Hurricane usually means secure everything and get somewhere safe for the duration of the storm. Not, “Oh look one of my favourite retailers is having a killer sale, better get on that!” That’s right, during Hurricane Sandy American Apparel decided it was a good idea to have an online sale. And the language they used in their advertising for the sale wasn’t what we call……… empathetic.

But the PR FAIL of 2012 has to go to:

Chick-fil-A (of course)

President and CEO of Chick-fil-A made it pretty clear this year that he holds a homophobic & anti-gay marriage stance. With a little digging it came to light that the Chick-fil-A charity, WinShape Foundation, perpetuated this stance with large donations to political organizations that are also opposed LGBT rights. This stance enraged Americans, driving them to stand together against Chick-fil-A, mayors of Boston & Chicago pledged to not allow any new franchises to open in their cities and San Francisco’s mayor warned the chain to stay away from them altogether. The company released a statement saying that any support of anti-LGBT organizations has since stopped but there is apparently no clear proof of this.

Founded in October 2010, Instagram was exclusively available for Apple products (iPhones, iPads & iPods) until April 2012 when it was made available for Android platforms as well. April 2012 also marked the month that Facebook made a $1 Billion bid for the 13-person company. Approved in September 2012, Instagram is now an independently run department under the Facebook umbrella.  Before the expansion onto the Android platform, Instagram already had 30 million registered accounts but in the 6 months that followed that number more than tripled to 100 million active users by September 2012.

Instagram has come under fire recently because of their proposed changes to their terms of service but the terms were revoked almost as quickly as they were announced in favour of a re-write. Nevertheless,

Yesterday (December 26^th) the Instagram Community Team released their “Year in Review.” The team as compiled some of this past year’s most publicized and photographed about events throughout the world for everyone to look at. Click through some of the links below to marvel in what can be captured on your phone’s camera.

-       Pamploma, Spain’s Running of the Bulls

-       Olympic Opening Ceremonies, London

-       Space Shuttle Endeavor, From Texas to California

And if you just can’t get enough, go check out the Instagram Blog.

Look forward to

Our office hours over the next two weeks:

December 24: OPEN UNTIL 1PM

December 25-28: CLOSED

December 31, January 1 & 2: CLOSED

Embrace Disruption PR thanks you from the bottom of our hearts, and wishes you a safe and HAPPY HOLIDAYS.

Looking at user data is becoming increasingly important when attempting to properly engage your audience. Effectively analyzing patterns, and correctly identifying when and where user experience can be improved is of upmost importance.

Take a moment to watch these videos. Not only are they revealing, but also extremely entertaining.

Since their first video, Jib Jab has posted many a politically driven parody as well as “Years in Review” that are just as snicker-inducing.

Over the years Jib Jab has branched out to include a whole e-Card division, so sending your special someone a card for any occasion is super easy. Plus, you can make them feel famous by putting their face in the card. Maybe you’re friend has a bachelorette party coming up & you want to send out her invites in the style of Chippendale dancers. Who wouldn’t like that?

Dancing Elves, Silly Santas & Partying Penguins

Since it is the holiday season, let’s take a look at what Jib Jab has cooked up to entertain us. First, you can use your personal photos or Facebook photos to cast your favourite people in a music video for some of the most popular holiday songs. Maybe your friends are a bit more… adventurous with their festive cheer. In those special cases Jib Jab lets you star in such classics as “Farting Carol” or “Tree Slaughter.” I bet either will become an instant classic to be enjoyed for generations.

The holiday “Elf Yourself” tradition is also back. Started in 2006 in partnership with Office Max, users are able to cast themselves in 3 different elf-themed songs/videos this year: Snowball Fight, Christmas Tree & Office Party.

And after you’re finished casting everyone from your Facebook you’ll probably have no time for Christmas shopping anymore which is okay because Jib Jab has teamed up with Amazon to offer the option to send Amazon gift cards with any e-Card.

We’re all faced with going to countless engagements and parties over the holiday season – it’s inevitable. These engagements are amazing opportunities to network with new people, and build a larger list of professional contacts. However, let’s face it – not everyone is blessed with networking talent. Sound like you? Well, we’ve taken a moment to compile 5 things that you should keep in mind when heading out to your next holiday party:

1. ASK “GOOD” QUESTIONS

The typical “so what do you do?” won’t ever make you a memorable person to meet. Make sure you think up some interesting and creative conversation starters that will engage the person you’re talking to. Construct those questions as though you’re constructing a tweet: 140 characters or less!

2. LISTEN MORE THAN YOU TALK

Take in what the other person is saying. People innately enjoy talking about themselves – allow them to do it. The more you listen, the more you know about the person – and how you might be able to leverage your newly found connection.

3. DO FOR OTHERS FIRST

When you meet someone new, and get a good idea of what they’re all about-  identify how you can help. Keep realistic expectations of your time, but offer a helping hand. What you do now will come back to you tenfold in the future – and you never know where your ‘good deed’ could take you!

4. OFFER YOUR BUSINESS CARD AFTER THE CONVERSATION

Don’t lead with your card – it’s just awkward. Make sure you fully engage your new found friend, and if it makes sense to: hand them your card.

5. SET FOLLOW-UP EXPECTATIONS

After a great conversation, let the other party know when you’re going to get in contact again (ie. “I’ll shoot you an email tomorrow”). If you follow through on your promise, this shows an extremely valuable character trait – accountability.

So, when you head out this season – tuck these 5 tips into your seasonal socks, and let your inner networking rockstar SHINE!

Bonus: we did in fact prove that we aren’t all (completely) crazy; they DO play Rihanna’s ‘Diamond’ hourly.

We used our fabulous Excel skills to create the following graphs of data for your viewing pleasure. Obviously our study is by no means *scientific*, just something fun to add to your day.

We also thought it would be fun to look at the number of plays individual musicians had vs. bands. Not surprisingly, bands had far fewer plays overall compared to solo artists.

In Canada we have a requirement that radio has to play a certain amount of Canadian content throughout the day. The CRTC’s definition of Canadian content is quite detailed so we just  separated based solely on if the artist on the song was Canadian.

And last but not least we did the ol’ girls vs. boys comparison to see that fellas still have the edge over their lady counterparts overall.

Fun Fact: Around 2 pm we made a comment that many of the most catchy/annoying/overplayed songs had yet to be played. That quickly changed.

Now that we have over examined our radio listening patterns for today. Go listen to DJ Earworm’s JUST RELEASED annual mash-up of the biggest songs of 2012. Here are a list of all the songs featured in this amazing mashup:

Gotye and Kimbra – Somebody That I Used To Know
Fun. – Some Nights
Carly Rae Jepsen – Call Me Maybe
Maroon 5 – One More Night
Fun. and Janelle Monáe – We Are Young
Maroon 5 and Wiz Khalifa – Payphone
Ellie Goulding – Lights
Rihanna – Diamonds
Bruno Mars – Locked Out Of Heaven
Ke$Ha – Die Young
Kelly Clarkson – Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)
Flo Rida – Good Feeling
Nicki Minaj – Starships
The Wanted – Glad You Came
Adele – Set Fire To The Rain
Lumineers – Hey Ho
One Direction – What Makes You Beautiful
Flo Rida and Sia – Wild Ones
Phillip Phillips – Home
Bruno Mars – It Will Rain
Katy Perry – Wide Awake
Alex Clare – Too Close
PSY – Gangnam Style
Taylor Swift – We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
Flo Rida – Whistle

What do you listen to in the office to make the time go by faster? Any songs you wish they played on the radio more often? Any that make you want to smash your radio?

- 66% of social users made purchases on Black Friday/Cyber Monday as a direct result of social interaction

- Recommendations of social users are 2 times as likely to lead to a holiday gift purchase

- 52% of users are willing to pay more for a brand they trust

- Brands are only responding to half of the posts they receive (jeesh!)

Read all this and more in the festive image below:

Journalists receive dozens of unsolicited phone calls and hundreds of unwanted emails each day.

Their Twitter networks churn out an endless stream of updates, links, and photos.

Their RSS (really simple syndication) feeds offer innumerable stories from their favorite blogs and websites.

With all of that information constantly coming in, it’s not hard for reporters to find potential news stories. But finding news stories they can actually report on? Now that’s the hard part. That’s because every news organization has constraints on which stories their reporters can cover and how they can cover them.

In virtually every newsroom around the world, here are the five factors that drive news decisions: time, speed, space, profit, and bias.

Time

Journalists have never before faced such bruising deadlines. Newspaper reporters who once had to write a story a day now have to continually update that story for their paper’s website.

Their broadcast counterparts now have to produce separate Web-only versions of their radio and television segments throughout the day and promote them via social media.

Plus, many reporters are doing the jobs of two or three people, because it’s likely that their news organizations have laid off several—if not dozens—of their colleagues. If your story requires reporters to do extensive research, they probably won’t cover it at all.

Speed

Competition from faster-moving new media has largely forced traditional media outlets to abandon rigorous fact checking. To keep up, they now rush deadlines and release stories sooner than they’d like, especially when covering breaking news events.

If you can’t explain your story quickly (and easily), it’s more likely that reporters will get at least some aspect of it wrong.

To read the rest of this entry, head over to PRDaily!

Bringing Product to its Target Market

YouTube is a haven for pretty much everyone who uses the internet. People are constantly posting a wide variety of videos from hair/makeup tutorials to product reviews/unboxings. So naturally, Nintendo decided to include YouTube in the marketing plan for the new Wii U console. The concept for the campaign is simple: Nintendo gave 50 Wii U’s to 50 well-known YouTubers, tasking them to create a video based on one of the games offered for the console. The videos must then get 10,000 views to be considered to advance to the top 12. The top 12 are flown to L.A. to compete. Four YouTubers will eventually be chosen to attend the Sundance Film Festival where their self made video will be shown. The winners will also be declared Nintendo Brand Ambassadors, providing Nintendo with on-going promotion.

Stealthy Marketing Tactics that Work

This marketing plan is a genius way to get Nintendo’s new product out into the minds of consumers. Who doesn’t spend far too much time on YouTube procrastinating daily? We all have YouTube channels we watch regularly and love to support, so helping them achieve something like screening at Sundance is engaging for both audiences and content creators. Additionally, by harnessing the creativity of 50 different people, Nintendo garners unprecedented creativity in appealing to potential buyers. Who better to communicate with teens, young adults and/or avid gamers than one of their own? It’s almost like a celebrity endorsement – but better because a YouTube celebrity is someone “just like us”. We know they actually used and enjoyed something if they make a video about it. They are a trustworthy source viewers are probably more inclined to listen to. The videos themselves are not presented as advertisements for the Wii U either, which is becomes even more appealing to the casual viewer. Who wants to watch an advertisement on purpose anyway? Here are some screencaps of video entries:

The cut off for views on the 50 entries is Friday, so it will be interesting to see the cumulative views vs. any correlations in sales for the Wii U. Overall, this marketing plan is a win for Nintendo – worldwide exposure for their product on the Internet for the cost of 50 units.

What other internet-based marketing plans have you noticed in 2012?