Son of a Beekeeper

Beauty and Style is Important on Lenzr Jan 2012

I maintain the Facebook page for The Distillery District and earlier this week I curiously followed a ‘like’ made by Wedding Girl back to a young lady named Mary Bratko in Toronto. I friended her on Facebook immediately and have been emailing her and asking her all manner of personal questions. She has been answering them. And so today I added Mary Bratko the Wedding Girl to Canada Blog Friends after a spell of interrogation and Im happy about it because she loves her job. By all accounts she appears to be a top notch wedding planner and  her blog, WeddingGirl.ca is fun to read. It was a pleasure to profile her for the Canada Blog Friends index.

New photo contests on Lenzr for January 2012 include two offerings sponsored by AVEDA Institute.

Bad Weather Hair when planning for an outdoor exchange of marriage nuptials in what appears to be unpredictable weather conditions, some hair stylists will take extraordinary precautions against the elements. They’ll use potent hair paralyzing sprays or accessories, or they could just let go … The best hair stylists will engineer a weather proof haircut. It is possible for anyone to look great even in the worst conditions. Lenzr asks to  see what you have to share on this subject. … Have you ever seen pictures of a bride and groom in a rain storm? Sponsored by a Vancouver hair school, the match offers $500 worth of AVEDA Pure Plant and Flower Essence Lifestyle products as prize.

Hair Styling Trends for 2012 fashion photographers please look ahead and help predict the future. Submit your original photography showing what you believe will be the hottest hair fashion trends of 2012. Sponsored by a forward thinking Winnipeg hair school, this match will make a gallery of visual predictions - it will be thrilling to look back and see who was right. PRIZE Win $500 worth of Pure Plant and Flower Essence Lifestyle products.

Saving the best for last, be sure and check out the Aveda Institute scholarship video contest. Enter before March 2011 and one could be one of five applicants to win free tuition at an Aveda Institute across Canada, in Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary, Vancouver, Victoria

Casie Stewart Goes Boardwalk Empire With Canadian Club

With the help of Canadian Club whiskey, Casie Stewart paid homage to the hit HBO series Boardwalk Empire and hosted an authentic Prohibition Era speakeasy at Abode nightclub in Toronto on the evening of November 3rd 2011.

Casie was in her element as a sexy flapper girl with a fur shawl and many feathered accessories. Like a gracious host she met the first guests out on the street and welcomed everyone inside to what turned out to be a remarkably original rye whiskey tasting event full of interesting people. It was a recipe for success - Casie’s personality plus free alcohol great music, friends and cool information about smuggling and the art of bartending.

Two bouncers wearing depression era costumes were stationed between the front door and model T ford parked out front of the venue.  They told me the secret password because I had forgotten it entirely.  They were checking folks in line to see who had printed invitations and also who knew the secret password was ‘real mccoy’. 

A Real McCoy was either a drink, or the name of a brand of whisky that was distilled and marketing by Wisers in the Canadian marketplace during the American prohibition of the 1930s. Or possibly Real Mccoy was the codename for Canadian whisky? Do you know?

Once inside Abode nightclub we were given free drinks all made with Canadian Club whiskey of course, and trays filled with thick blocks of pungent cheese and bread made from organic ingredients were circulated by attractive staff members all wearing Depression Era period costumes. The bartenders were excellent.

Both mixologists were juggling bottles and shakers and making flavourful concoctions with a seemingly endless supply of energy. And they were having a good time doing it, making jokes as they served up the sponsor’s whiskey. 

Several museum quality displays inside the venue made apparent the profit margins and production planning required to organize all elements of the supply chain to execute the full scale smuggling operation that kept Canadian distillers busy making the nectar so necessary to the American black market. Having the best Canadian whiskey at your Speakeasy was the mark of a professionally run operation in Boardwalk Empire Atlantic City, and in Al Capone’s Chicago and probably New York City too. 

Abode nightclub doubled for all of those places and was always a luxurious establishment. I learned from a Toronto mortgage broker who negotiated loans for several downtown properties that this address used to contain clubs called Turbo, and Fluid and now as Abode it offers multiple environments for patrons and plenty of room for PraxisPR to get creative. Good job Casie Stewart and Andrew F Stewart.

My Beekeeping is a Canadian Harvest Business Story

The strange summer played havoc with the annual honey crop.

July was a drought and August was drowning in rain.

We were forced to leave the honey supers on until September and

Although you can see full boxes of honey in these pictures, the harvest was actually pretty disappointing. There was a shortage of water during the good hot July days, and things were too dry to yield much honey. Then August was the opposite, wet and cold. The bees were mad as hell that morning and their stinging pain was a constant reminder of their temperament. As I wrote on Smojoe, the mist covered scenery is breathtaking and so was the pain of being stung four times across the chest when my coveralls came undone under my veil, which happened more than once during this day’s excursion. September was memorable for meeting Nora Camps of Duo Strategy and Design, a business storyteller with an marvelous approach to making media and a great track record, and a website full of referrals from well known clients.  She wrote Building your Brand Story

Lenzr Corp is proud to execute a photo challenge for Duo called Canadian Harvest, and we’re asking people to upload pictures of themselves picking the fruits and vegetables that grow native in their regions of Canada.

Richard Carmichael wrote about Nora Camps of Duo.ca and in particular her decision to use a Lenzr photo contest to crowd source images for Canadian Harvest business story. This is an advanced form of listening to an audience. He described how Nora engineers an orchestra of participation to help businesses prosper online in an age of earned media in his article Building your Brand’s Personality on Frank Ideas Blog. He writes,

 ”..she extracts memorable stories out of her illustrious clients and demonstrates them through minimal text, powerful imagery and personal details of the people behind the story that’s being told. “Your stories are hidden in you and in your staff and clients,” says Camps. “When they are shared with the world, ‘branding’ becomes a pale old idea. Your connection with them will become something more altogether–something irreversible.”

A web 2.0 storytelling tool, you can see all the pictures in Canadian Harvest, Photo Storytelling on Duo.ca as Nora tests the RSS feed innovation on her website

Duo Strategy and Design is providing a $400 CAN photo licensing agreement available to the winning image that Nora can use in further marketing endeavours related to the Canadian Harvest editorial piece she is creating.

Rob Campbell Talks Story at Word11

Word11 was a unique blogging convention (open to all platforms) held at Bathurst and Bloor in Toronto on August 27th 2011. It was created and executed by two companies, TruFinancial and Cg6. I might be wrong, but I do not think TruFinancial has a website, which makes it an odd choice to sponsor a web blogging festival. The event was preceded by an online mixer called PREFIX which was by some accounts and my own experience, slightly underwhelming. 

The event was held at CSI, the Center for Social Innovation on Bathurst St just south of Lennox (one street south of Bloor) which made it a very handy location for people commuting by TTC.  And there are several Green P parking lots in the area and street parking abounds. This is one of those events where people come early to beat traffic as they study how to make traffic, online.

One of the most talked about subjects was ‘How to create an online community?’ and Karim Kanji came to tell us that “…it’s not about the tools but the people.” Recently, he helped found and is now a director at Third Ocean which collaborates with big and small companies and helps them utilize online, digital and social tools to strengthen their business. Karim is also the co-founder of XConnectTO, which explores the impact of new media and technology on industry. You can follow Karim on Twitter @karimkanji The Word 11 crowd was a unique blend of amateurs and experts.

During the question and answer session I asked Karim about his penchant for Bit.ly (a Libyian domain) and whether or not he was getting the full SEO value by constantly linking to these third party website link shortners, or Tinyurls. @RobCairns informed us that the general consensus seems to be that link shorteners do not affect SEO, or if anything perhaps they amplify the value of the link because they are cached and indexed - on Bit.ly for example they yield analytical data that can be scrutinized by yourself and Google.

Suddenly it was my turn to speak. Annoyed with the layout of the room, I moved a portion of the central table under the projection screen to accommodate more people and was vindicated by the arrival of more bloggers and a large comfortable audience  - the most yet in the room .  I talked for forty minutes about Story Funnels to Buckstops and one of the operating principles behind the internet marketing at Page One Program. This is how we distribute messages

Several of the bloggers got together afterwards and shared their stories and questions and presented their challenges to each other over some pints at Victory Pub.  The beer was tasting great and the ideas were really flowing. 

Blog about your experience at WORD11 and you’ll have a chance to win one of two, 4 night/5 day Caribbean cruises for you and a guest. The cruises are provided by Absolute Tent & Event Services and It’s My Potty and are valued at more than $1,200. They include all meals (yes, room service is covered!) and also feature Las Vegas-style entertainment. To be eligible for this amazing giveaway, write a blog post about your experience at Word11, what you liked or didn’t like but be sure to include a link one or both of our generous sponsors, Absolute Tent & Event Services or It’s My Potty. If you attended the evening component you would have seen their support equipment everywhere. Even if you missed the evening sessions be sure to give us your spin on the event and you just might be heading to the Caribbean this winter. An expert panel will look at blog posts until September 10, which means you’ll have two weeks after WORD11 to get your blog entry posted. In case you’re wondering, I cannot enter this challenge.

John and Paul Kenyon’s generosity reminds us that Absolute Tent and Events Services is Toronto’s best choice for party rentals and supplies.

As eco friendly property maintenance company, The Grasscutters took the opportunity to show off their new portable solar generator / equipment trailer, that was custom designed and built by Dan Shephard at Solarline Power. This portable solar work unit ran the lights and powered the entire evening event. Here’s a bad picture of Rob Campbell with Jim Pagiamtzis the unit.

TM Mahdi The night activities were full of knowledge sharing - advanced tips and tricks. There was an ebike center stage in Rob Cairn’s show! It was a moment to remember and what Rob shared about Sexy Bookmarks and Back-Up Buddy.

Word11 was about bloggers sharing secrets and helping each other.

September Contests from Lenzr Will Challenge Photographers

September brings a pair of photo contests that promise to satisfy any challenge-starved photographers.  Though the topics are wildly different, they both require a professional and innovative approach.

Remember: both of the following contest will end on September 25, 2011.

Classy Summer Drinks

A good photographer can stir the emotions of his or her audience.  Sometimes they elevate our souls with their work, and sometimes they tempt us with shots of ridiculously good-looking food.

At the height of summer, the photo of a delicious drink can be a siren call to weary travellers.  Lenzr’s newest contest, Classy Summer Drinks, asks photographers to shoot an irresistible drink under summertime conditions.

The sponsor of this contest, an online seller of stainless steel ice cube trays, will award the winner a package of stainless steel containers.  What’s more, the winner will be able to customize the contents of their package by browsing the sponsor’s catalogue.

A Manufacturing Process

Ever since Marx began talking about the alienation of labour, people have become increasingly wary of the origin of manufactured products.  With the recent surge of interest in CSR, eco friendliness, and free trade, consumers are more vigilant than ever about how their products are made.  Even so, few people have seen an assembly line at work, let alone stood beside one.

Lenzr’s next contest, A Manufacturing Process, wants photographers to provide an exclusive glimpse into the manufacturing process.  More precisely, it’s asking for photos of machines performing some sort of manufacturing task.

The main purpose of this contest is to find images for the sponsor’s website.  Solarsoft will enter a $250 licensing agreement with the winner, and a $75 licensing agreement with three other runners-up.  As an added bonus, Solarsoft may feature the winning photos on their site, though they are not obligated to do so.  Solarsoft is an expert in ERP, and photos from the contest are intended for their pages on process manufacturing and lean manufacturing.  

These contests are already open, so make sure to submit your photos soon!  For both contests, voting to determine the Top Ten photos will begin on September 15th, 2011 and last until Sept. 25th.  On Sept. 25th, the Top Ten photos in each contest will advance to a panel of judges, and the winning photos will be announced on Oct. 1st, 2011.

White Teeth Courtesy of Best Toronto Dentist

Last year, I whitened my brown smile with advanced cosmetic dental surgery.

Smile for the camera!

Dr. Natalie Archer DDS is the best Toronto dentist I have ever met. In three 2 hr sessions she installed seven anterior all ceramic crowns for my teeth 1-4 (upper right first premolar) to 2-3 (upper left canine) across top front of mouth.

The procedure was painless and not even very expensive, and now I can smile proudly at the cameras and show off my white smile with confidence. 

You can read more about my experience in this Toronto dentist testimonial I wrote which chronicles this entire episode in my life.

Online Search Leads to Free Arts in Toronto

Luminato Festival In The Distillery District

The Luminato Festival had begun and I was on a search for some free programming that I could check out. There had to something for free.  The historic Distillery District known for a growing artistic hub in Toronto surely had some free arts performances. My web savvy search lead me to the Young Centre and the free events to attend during Luminato.  Every little bit helps, when on a tight budget and when you are inspired by the other creative arts.

Dance - Emoticonics - Technological Influence

I noticed some very intriguing programs during my search.  Especially Emoticonics, it was on the top of my list. It was described as a love story told through dance and beatbox, directed by Weyni Mengesha, choreographed and performed by Troy Feldman and Kristy Kennedy. The schedule showed there was another performance piece called Bedtime Stories that suggested you might be settling into comfy beds and transported into an intimate bedtime inspired performance.  This looked good and I had to make a decision. They were both scheduled at the same time. The decision to see what Emoticonics was made.  This modern day love story and the effects of social media on our love lives was incredible.

Modern Day Love Story to Beatbox

Emoticonics had a brief description had me curious.    can be exciting not knowing what to expect in a public  performance. I was not expecting much only because of the word “Free” was involved. I would have paid a lot more for a lot less. It was a performance that most could relate to, I know that I could.  The story line was relevant, for most of us live in the digital world. The fine details in the movement and the direction of the dance kept the audience engaged. There were only three performers on stage during the performance and I was amazed at the ability to convey such a strong tight story through sound, light and movement. The dance performers Troy Feldman and Kristy Kennedy worked well together and conveyed a believable and fun love story. Everyone connected with social networking could connect to these three at the Tank House Theatre. The sound designed and performed by aka SUBLIMINAL was tight with the performers. There was definite proof that art reflects life in the piece. I always thought I could do a University research thesis on the social networking and here it was condensed into a light hearted and fun story told through sound and dance in the Distillery District. This was definitely a performance that any of the audience from IT Staff to Toronto Accountants could find themselves finding something they could relate to in this modern day world.

Music Cabaret at the Young Centre for Performing Arts -

Search and you will find discover. After Emoticonics I was hoping there was more free arts programming. I wanted more!  Fortunately as we were leaving we were guided into the other theatre at the Young Centre. It was a different type of ambiance.This cabaret featured some performing artists in a lounge type setting with a talk show cabaret featuring live music, and special guests that I was familiar with. It was good music but not what I was looking for at the moment.

Online Freebies - Photography Contests Too

During my web search I also found some free online photo contest.  It was my lucky day.   I found Lenzr which has a main office in the Distillery District and is free.  You can easily upload your photos for various contests and valuable prizes with any strings attached.  The current contests consist of: A Counting Exercise, Best Office Staff Party, and Construction Sights. These contests have  Sony laptops and cameras offered to the winners thanks to support from an Ottawa roofing company and another business that specializes in sunrooms. My favourite is the Shafts of Sunlight photo contest and look forward to seeing the photo submission. The four current photo contests only run until the end of July but there will be new contests with Lenzr starting in August. The Lenzr judges determine the winning photo after the online voting.  People start voting online from a scale from one to ten and then the top ten rank photos move to the judges panel.   It’s fairly easy to win and great to see the winners written on the blog. 

Toronto Arts Girl Experiences Meagan O’Shea

Toronto Arts Girl

Lover of ALL arts. I see art everywhere, and in everything we do in this beautiful City of Toronto.

The Atomic Weight of Happiness – Stand Up Dance

May24

Stand Up Dance

Toronto Arts Girl, Ruth Wilgress recently wrote about Meagan O’Shea who presented by Stand Up Dance called the Atomic Weight of Happiness. 

Co created with, and directed by Andrea Donaldson, the play sounded smart and unusual. The movement coaching was done by Susie Burpee.  The sets and costume design is by Lindsay Anne Black. 

The performance started April 22 and continue until May 29th, 2011 at the HUB, 14 Markham Street. 

Meagan O’Shea – The Atomic Weight of Happiness

I have to admit that I was slightly drawn more to the production after hearing about Meagan’s background as a dancer. It inspired me to move forward and stand up and dance in my own creative movement.

OTHER Toronto Arts Girl Posts

• • The Atomic Weight of Happiness – Stand Up Dance
  • The Terragon Theatre Experience
  • The Graffiti Pop Culture in Toronto