Robsome

On December 27th 2011 it was announced by X that Justine Biebver and Emma Watson had the most influential haircuts of the year. And that’s not surprising. I’m sure wasn’t hard to pick the winners - millions of people under twenty yrs of age have these haircuts now. But can you predict the future trends as easily?

Modern crowd scientists can employ user generated contest mechanisms like photo contests to measure popular opinion, plant notions and improve their brands’ myths and … predict the  future? On Lenzr in 2012 the Aveda Institute is using / watching and will help judge the boards with two contests of their own designed to collect and celebrate creative new ideas for 2012 hair styles. Emerging trends elegant expression will be rewarded with votes and comments and one creative seer will win a handsome gift.   

Can you pick the next trend?

The Hair Styling Trends for 2012 fashion photo contest on Lenzr asks photographers to please look ahead and help predict the future of fashion. Submit your original photography showing what you believe will be the hottest hair fashion trends of 2012. Sponsored by Aveda Institute’s Winnipeg hair school, the PRIZE is a healthy gift basket sent in the mail containing $500 worth of AVEDA Pure Plant and Flower Essence Lifestyle products. Which is very compelling especially if you like the brand.

In Vancouver the weather is predictable - mostly rain. So Bad Weather Hair asks people if they like how they look in the rain. Its true that some people , especially those folks with short hair, look great in all weather conditions. Indeed this particular match on Lenzr photo contest website was actually inspired by the client’s memory of a recent Lady Gaga’s performance in NYC rain shower.

This generous contest asks to see people making the best of their bad weather hair. Sponsored by a Vancouver hair school, the match offers $500 worth of AVEDA Pure Plant and Flower Essence Lifestyle products as prize package worthy of a queen.

Do you want to become a professional hair stylist?

Be sure and check out the Aveda Institute scholarship video contest. Enter before March 31st 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. More information on Aveda Institute 2012 contests on Arob Glowphoto blog which covers more details than were expressed here and has different pictures and blog perspectives.

The gadgets and gizmos you get for Christmas will make most of last year’s whizzbangs obsolete - so let’s smash em up! The Electronic Engineering photo contest on Lenzr is sponsored by a reed switch designer and wants to see inside technologically interesting junk. Transmit for us your best view the actual electronic materials that make things work. The Prize is an Apple iPad2. Contest ends Jan 1st 2012.

The Toronto Christmas Market is a massive holiday spectacle in the Distillery District located at 55 Mill St, just south of Front and Parliament that runs from Dec 2nd to Dec 18th. In those 16 days there are expected to be over a quarter of a million visitors to the historic attraction.

Working with the event planners and Distillery District admin staff, I’m proud to announce that Lenzr proprietary software was chosen to power the Official 2011 Toronto Christmas Market Photo Contest - our engine displays all uploaded images right on a separate page of their website.

Renovation properties are popular subjects on cable television right now, but they have always been interesting to photographers. An old House for Renovation and barns are storyfull scenery when there are people or animals or beautiful flowers in the foreground, or but they are also wonderful subjects all by themselves. The prize is an Apple iPad2 courtesy of a successful Toronto mortgage broker located in the west central area of the city.

Now everyone is praising the great weather were having, but I am hoping for snow.  We have more pictures on Flickr, and i used some of them in a post I wrote and published about preparing the Toronto Christmas Market on the Big Media Blast Furnace which we used to call Famous Bob’s Multiply Blog. 

Carolyn Wilman is Canada’s Contest Queen

Carolyn is a veteran contest media blogger living in Oshawa Ontario with a huge twitter following of frugal folks that have come to depend on her for tips and insights into the most worthwhile online contests in Canada and the United States. She writes From The Contest Queen which is a weekly round-up of great challenges and best prizes, conventions and profiles of other successful sweepers. Because there are so many competitions to chose from today, people need an authority with a passion for these web competitions to sift through all of the variables and determine which matches are worth entering and which bear watching and which contests should ignored altogether.  Carolyn endorses Lenzr and has signed on as one of eight current Lenzr Judges!

Carolyn is probably Canada’s foremost contest blogger with a massive Twitter following @ContestQueen .  Carolyn was cast in a reality TV show about online contesting in the summer of 2011 and she’s a regular on Canada AM and other news programs.

 Carolyn writes her side of the story in a recent post entitled Get Clicking with Lenzr that I heartily approve of

 HOMEMADE HALLOWEEN COSTUMES

Are you the type of person to make your own costume for a Halloween party? to go door to door and collect candy with other kids? on the night of October 31st 2011?

Taking the time to make a great costume can actually improve your reputation as a friend or neighbour.  Halloween is a happy holiday that builds and fosters a sense of community with candy and cool costumes. Now there’s a photo contest on Lenzr. The Prize is $250 worth of cash or candy that comes courtesy of Jib Strategic Social Media Contests page where you can see how this boutique web marketing company is getting creative with online sharing tools and contest media storytelling.  it’s a sixty day challenge.  Upload your pictures to the index now, and right up until November 25th, 2011. It’s recommended that you promote your pictures when voting begins Nov 15, 2011 to get into the Top Ten grouping.
Judges pick from the Top Ten images that are locked down on the 25th of November at 12:01 am when voting ends - the winner is announced Dec 1, 2011.
Must be 13 yrs of age or older to enter. Contest is valid everywhere. Lenzr will ship prizes anywhere in the United States and Canada – see the blog post on this development.

Got any pictures of impressive warehouse stockpiles? A large manufacturing software company with information technology for efficient warehouse management systems and Inventory Management software developer and seeks specific images to accompany their white papers / new web pages on their website in which they show thought leadership specifically in raw materials handling systems, and Production Planning software that can better track expenses and non functional time processing - wasted time and wasted stock. This challenge seeks both interior and exterior photography, and warehouses are much easier to access and photograph than factory floors.

Lenzr is adding limiting scripts to prevent the usual chorus of social photographers from dominating the Top Ten photo gallery. The website administration has already taken the drastic step of manually removing multiple images that are held by the same members. You can read more about this development and about the development and installation of a manual limiting software switch in the Site Suggestions category of the Lenzr discussion forum.  

October has come and the Summer of 2011 is officially over. The Lenzr summer contests are now completely wrapped and all the July August contest winners have their prizes. It was a struggle, but its done and for the most part everyone is happy with the way things turned out.
Donna Dolphy made Danielle Thompson look like a modern day Farah Fawcett 

Donna Dolphy gave Danielle a hair dryer and a flat iron - Danielle won the Lenzr photo contest, Haircuts and Hair Styles. She is also a fashion and beauty blogger who authors My Heart on My Sleeve on Tumblr

Earlier in September I got away to my parent’s farm and did some beekeeping, which I wrote about on Smojoe blog/ We harvested honey from one hundred and forty hives all across a wide swatch of country from Peterborough and down almost to Brighton Ontario. That the home turf of Campbell’s Honey

Here I am helping my brothers harvest their honey crop. Lots of juicy apples on the ground here, and honey in the hives. You have everything you need for a terrific desert right here in this field. I love this particular beeyard because its centered in an old apple orchard. Once upon a time the pioneers came here and cleared the land and planted fruit trees for thier own health. They started seedlings, mostly apple trees, but some cherry trees and pears trees and in Niagara they planted peaches and plums with great success. The fruit trees were part of the annual harvest.

Each farm family made their own home cooked pies and preserves. Now here in a very old field, far from any major highway there are a half dozen hundred year old trees and their children, and their forgotten fruit lies all around the perimeter of the apiary enclosure.  

Nora Camps of Duo.ca Nora Camps of Duo Strategy and Design is a business storyteller with something fresh called High Fidelity Storytelling that she saves and uses only for the most deserving clients; . Nora has a wonderful storytelling process and it starts with listening…

Building your Brand Story

I am honoured to be working with Nora and Duo Strategy and Design We’re running a Lenzr photo contest for Duo called Canadian Harvest, wherein we’re asking folks to upload pics of people harvesting Nature’s bounty.

A web 2.0 storytelling tool, you can see all the pictures in Canadian Harvest, Photo Storytelling on Duo.ca

For two days the feed to Nora’s site from Lenzr had the 140 character descriptive text showing under each submitted pictures - like a sentence in a story. It was terrific. The images and text melted together and it revolutionized the entire storytelling experience.

This is how to tell stories! The Images and text together form a beautiful rich media collage - this is how I want the Lenzr Archives to display all previous contests.  

Lenzr has launched two new photo contests for the month of september. It’s almost fall and we are getting ready to start warming ourselves up for the cooler season. Grab your camera and capture images of the last days of summer. The new photo contests are quirky enough to intrigue everyone’s interest. 

Metal World Photo Contest: 

The first photo contest is called Metal World. Think back to your favorite sci-fi movies, what was the set made out of? Well we want you to think along the lines of Terminator and create your own metallic set. How does metal play into our world? The metal can be worn, shiny or rusty, whatever your creative edge needs to succeed. The winner of this contest will receive a Sony laptop courtesy of an Ottawa metal roofing company. So grab your camera and find your own metallic inspiration. 

Landscaping and Lawn Care:

The second contest is called Landscaping and Lawn care. We are going from metal to nature. During the summer, you must have spent a lot of time on your lawn, fixing it and perfecting it. Well, now that the weather is changing, we want you to take pictures of your finished results. You lawn at it’s best. Lenzr judges want to lust over the greenery in your shots. Great yard work is what this contest is all about. The winner of this contest will receive $250 worth of gardening tools courtesy of an eco-friendly property maintenance company. This prize would definitely come in handy maintaining your beautiful work and help you perfect it next year. 

The contests officially Launches september first and voting will begin October 15th. Voting will go on for 10 days and the winner will be announced November 1st 2011.  

Lenzr has launched two new photo contests for the month of september. It’s almost fall and we are getting ready to start warming ourselves up for the cooler season. Grab your camera and capture images of the last days of summer. The new photo contests are quirky enough to intrigue everyone’s interest. 

Metal World Photo Contest: 

The first photo contest is called Metal World. Think back to your favorite sci-fi movies, what was the set made out of? Well we want you to think along the lines of Terminator and create your own metallic set. How does metal play into our world? The metal can be worn, shiny or rusty, whatever your creative edge needs to succeed. The winner of this contest will receive a Sony laptop courtesy of an Ottawa metal roofing company. So grab your camera and find your own metallic inspiration. 

Landscaping and Lawn Care:

The second contest is called Landscaping and Lawn care. We are going from metal to nature. During the summer, you must have spent a lot of time on your lawn, fixing it and perfecting it. Well, now that the weather is changing, we want you to take pictures of your finished results. You lawn at it’s best. Lenzr judges want to lust over the greenery in your shots. Great yard work is what this contest is all about. The winner of this contest will receive $250 worth of gardening tools courtesy of an eco-friendly property maintenance company. This prize would definitely come in handy maintaining your beautiful work and help you perfect it next year. 

The contest officially Launches september first and voting will begin October 15th. Voting will go on for 10 days and the winner will be announced November 1st 2011.  

Lenzr has launched two new photo contests for the month of september. It’s almost fall and we are getting ready to start warming ourselves up for the cooler season. Grab your camera and capture images of the last days of summer. The new photo contests are quirky enough to intrigue everyone’s interest. 

Metal World Photo Contest: 

The first photo contest is called Metal World. Think back to your favorite sci-fi movies, what was the set made out of? Well we want you to think along the lines of Terminator and create your own metallic set. How does metal play into our world? The metal can be worn, shiny or rusty, whatever your creative edge needs to succeed. The winner of this contest will receive a Sony laptop courtesy of an Ottawa metal roofing company. So grab your camera and find your own metallic inspiration. 

Landscaping and Lawn Care:

The second contest is called Landscaping and Lawn care. We are going from metal to nature. During the summer, you must have spent a lot of time on your lawn, fixing it and perfecting it. Well, now that the weather is changing, we want you to take pictures of your finished results. You lawn at it’s best. Lenzr judges want to lust over the greenery in your shots. Great yard work is what this contest is all about. The winner of this contest will receive $250 worth of gardening tools courtesy of an eco-friendly property maintenance company. This prize would definitely come in handy maintaining your beautiful work and help you perfect it next year. 

The contest officially Launches september first and voting will begin October 15th. Voting will go on for 10 days and the winner will be announced November 1st 2011.  

Lauren Howe has officially been crowned Miss Teen Congeniality World. The beautiful 18 year old was given the title last week when she visited the Teen World Competition. Lauren, along with 24 other young teens, from around the world travelled to Houston TX in order to represent their countries in hopes of becoming the next Teen World.  The girls were all magnificent in their own special way. She magnificently shined during the show because of her bubbly character and beautiful smile. Lauren Howe was the fourth runner up and won Miss Teen Congeniality. 

Even though the weather is hotter than a furnace, Lauren Howe found time to spend the day with me and talk to me about how she prepared for the Teen World competition. The big show consisted of three events, swimsuit, evening gown and costume. Lauren was particularly looking forward to the Costume portion of the show. The costume portion is the best representation of your country in dress form. Lauren wore a strapless white dress with red maple leafs on it. Her sash was made of velvet like material to show off the snowy months of winter we face in Canada.

This is a great opportunity for both Lauren and Canada because it shows off what the country has to offer in an international setting. The international title is not the only thing Lauren was competing for: gifts such as clothes and jewelry were also up for grabs. She also competed for a scholarship for secondary schooling.There are many incredible qualities to young Lauren Howe. She is known around her high school for her charming personality and down to earth attitude. Lauren loves the water and finds it very relaxing to take time out and go to the beach. She is very conscious of being sun healthy and always uses a protective. She also loves to visit a Toronto bed and breakfast that is located right on the edge of the city. She also loves fruits and healthy eating.

Stay up to date with Lauren’s journey on the Miss Teen Canada World Blog.

The new Lenzr photo contests plan to peak everyone’s interest. If you are planning on entering your photos then make sure to read up closely about the contests to ensure you are abiding by the rules. The new round of contests are filled with incredible prizes. Contestants are given product choice and fame. Since the summer time is almost coming to an end, it’s best to go out with a bang. 

Classy Summer Drinks Photo Contest: 

The first contest of this cycle is called Classy Summer Drinks. For this contest, relax, have a drink and just enjoy your evening by snapping some pictures. Capture the essence of summer in a glass. Show us your favorite drink concoction, do you like to add fruits and umbrellas to it? show us just how creative you can get. Take a shot of your favorite drink mix and how it cools you down during the heated months of summer. Don’t forget to add some ice cubes to your drink to show off the chilling sensation you get with every sip. Our sponsor, a stainless steel ice cube trays expert would be happy to see that. The winner of this contest will receive $400 worth of product (of choice) from the sponsor’s catalogue.  

A Manufacturing Process Photo Contest:  

The second contest for the August cycle is A Manufacturing Process. This contest is looking for professional photography and creative shots. A manufacturing company approached Lenzr to help them find images for their lean manufacturing and process manufacturing pages.  Take pictures of  machinery’s robotic movements. A great example would be bottles lining up, waiting to be labeled. The winner of this contest will receive $250 and a 3 year licensing agreement from the company to use their image (not exclusively). You get the cash and fame with this contest. The manufacturing company is also offering $75+licensing agreement each to three other members for their photos. You can easily be the winner. 

Both contests began on August 1st. You have until September 25th to upload your picture but voting does start september 15th. Top ten photos will progress to the next level. Judges will deliberate and announce the winner October 1st.  

On Saturday July 16th there was magic in the air as the 2011 Search for Miss Teen Canada World commenced in the heart of exhibition place, in the heart of Toronto, Ontario, the biggest city and fashion and entertainment center of Canada. The crew came together to select a new teenage beauty queen from among a small army of contenders.

Over seventy girls from all across Canada gathered in the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Exhibition Place to sing and dance and speak and parade swimwear and evening gowns in front of hundreds of people, and news cameras, film and video recording devices from agencies and entertainment news media outlets all across the country.

The crowd pays $40 each for assigned seating to watch the spectacle of fashion, modeling, dancing and singing - and they all watched one girl win the crown. There were teen fashion magazine editors, modeling scouts and commercial directors among the judges, and so many opportunities for young girls with real talent to get discovered and perhaps live the rest of their lives as celebrities - thats the fantasy of course and the sad fact that only one young person can win is the reality.

Lauren Howe is the 2011 Miss Teen Canada - World

Lauren was selected as the brightest, boldest and most beautiful girl in this year’s competition On her blog she describes how she felt the moment they called her name, http://www.missteenontario.ca/miss-teen-canada-world/

The Search is now concluded - but it has been going on all year.

All last week the Miss Teens had been visiting major tourist attractions including the CN Tower and Style Exchange on Queen W where they bought Marc Jacob clothes and fashion accessories at 50% off. They spent their free time strolling, shopping and boating around the city - but they didnt have much free time. Most of their stay in Toronto was spent preparing for the big night - the 16th July main Event.

To the left is Rob Campbell also known as Smojoe, the Prime Innovator of the Miss Teen Canada Blog Network sharing some laughs at the Royal York Hotel. This photo was taken Friday 15th July at about 8pm at night, just before the Talent Show and Banquet Dinner in one of the huge ballrooms on the third floor of the historic facility.

Lauren Howe won the crown at the end of a long hot Saturday night, the details of which will be forever etched in the minds of many people on stage and in the audience.

As a brand new star Lauren Howe shined bright from the beginning - its written on the Miss teen Canada blog that Lauren Howe "...is from Toronto and was representing the province of Ontario. Her beautiful spirit grabs hold and infuses others with energy and charm. When you are around her, you simply can’t help but smile. Her charisma shined on and off stage–during the preliminary show, swimsuit competition and the day of the finals, she was radiant with energy." and this was especially evident in the well produced, high quality video that played during the 2.5 hr show on Saturday night.  Congratulations again Lauren Howe - 2011 Miss Teen Canada -World