Author Archive

I have been given an amazing opportunity to guest blog with the CBC’s G20: Street Level blogging team. The blog launched yesterday and covers street level events and issues in and around the G20.

My main goal is to reach out to as many Torontonians as possible and listen to their experiences and insights surrounding this event. If you have a story to tell or want your voice heard let me know! Im hoping to hear from all sides and perspectives. Are you happy to host the G20? Has the G20 disrupted your day to day life? If so, how? What do you want to say or share?

Online video undoubtedly plays a significant role in emerging media. Video is nothing new, but its use on a growing variety of devices (smartphones, tablet PCs, laptops etc.) has sky rocketed in the last few years. YouTube alone reaches upwards of 2 billion views per day, doubled from one year ago. Video is obviously here to stay, but it isn’t a static format. With our ever-growing needs, it is constantly evolving to be clearer, simplified and easier for developers to work with.

I was recently given the opportunity to interview Peter Farfaras, Emerging Video Specialist for Microsoft. He spoke at SES Toronto last week and had the following to say about emerging media and Microsoft’s role in the development of online video.

Q: Can you provide some insight on Silverlight vs HTML5? Adobe has had a lot of push back lately (Apple war) and HTML5 is being touted as the next major platform for video. What are your thoughts on how Silverlight compares here?

A (this first answer came from Senior Video Product Manager Matthew McKenzie):

Microsoft ships the world’s most popular HTML client. Despite the HTML5 specification being a work in progress, we implemented several HTML5 features in our most recent browser. Microsoft has co-chaired the HTML5 working group in W3C since its inception, and we remain active participants. Our browser will continue to be the dominant HTML standards implementation for the foreseeable future.

Likewise, we continue to invest heavily in Silverlight development and deployment. There is no one-size-fits-all, perfect tool for every development job. HTML5 will be fantastic for some scenarios, while Silverlight will be great for others.

Q: Coverage being distributed via Silverlight? Are more developers using it now?

A: Yes, more and more developers are using Silverlight, and we have a DPE team dedicated to Silverlight evangelism. As for results from our collaboration with CTV for the Olympic video coverage, below are some impressive statistics worth noting provided by our DPE teams:



Q: Do you think large-scale production videos are going to be replaced by more web-ready compact video?

A: No, I don’t see large-scale production videos being entirely replaced by web-ready compact video. I do however see the changes or improvements being made to optimize the production of Video.

Definitions of video content types are always changing but the core question is around production and type.

There will be times when video production will either be less, the same or more complex to create than TV; but as I stated earlier, this will be dependent of the type/genre of content or event. We have millions (even billions) of examples of compact/low cost production—”handycam” or mobile video content—being created and uploaded to the web all of the time.

It really comes down to what environment the video viewer is in. Think of “a day in the life” scenario: do they want to watch premium long-form video content that has high production quality in the evening, short-form premium video on demand while they are at work or travelling, or low-res —UGC or viral video content—for a laugh. Context matters. We will still have large-scale production video, we’ll just have them optimized and create and distribute them more efficiently; that’s where the evolving world of video technology comes in. (Attached is a condensed version of our Context Matters by eMarketer.)

Q: Where do you see the video industry five years out?

A: Based on global statistics, Canada continues to maintain one of the highest levels of video usage as a percentage of population: currently 88%+ (according to comScore Video Metrix, April 2010).

I expect to see continued growth, especially if online video adoption, viewing, usage continues at its current trajectory.

It’s really exciting to think about how dynamic this environment will be. It’s always evolving and there are several forces at play, a few being:

• Increased PVR/DVR adoption
• More and more content shifting online (globally)
• Viewers continuing to want a choice of how they can access either long-form or short-form content
• What viewers can do with that content (stream, download, share, etc.)
• Networks wanting to capitalize on a growing/shifting audience—to meet the ‘convenience factor’
• Technology companies wanting to provide the vehicles for viewing this content (software, hardware)
• ISPs/cable operators needing to scale accordingly to this demand and perhaps even change their revenue structures

The perception may be that video is still in its early days when you compare it to TV, but we have this perfect environment where users will continue to demand access to video content online, especially as more and more short-form and long-form TV moves online. Just take a look at the Vancouver Olympic stats referred to above, those are some unprecedented numbers. Video isn’t going away.

Q: What are some ways that Microsoft is planning to use video and stay ahead of the curve?

A: Video will continue to be a key pillar for Microsoft: delivering premium video content to our users via the most reliable and cutting edge technology. Our new MSN Video destination site improves on previous versions. The end-user experience is paramount, and the new player takes the UX to the next level.

Features like:

• Dim the lights—cinematic experience—where users can dim the background of the site and content making the video player standout
• HD content: Full-screen in HD content
• 14 different sharing features and options
• Unique URLs for each video
• This is key for Video Search as the metadata is improved/more robust

What are your thoughts on the emerging role of video? What would you like to see companies like Microsoft introduce into the market?

Chris Thorpe, Developer Advocate for The Guardian presented one of my favourite sessions at Mesh this year. He spoke about The Guardian’s open platform program which opens their API, data, and content to developers. This is a stark contrast to the many newspapers in North America that have started charging for content, placing it behind pay walls and forms. Chris believes this will ultimately decrease their influence, reach and engagement, leading to lower traffic and ad revenue. He explained that the longer people spend browsing on your site, the more pages they view and the more likely they are to click through on ads, increasing revenues overall. If you block off your content, you can kiss those extra eyeballs and advert dollars buh-bye.

Before you get the wrong idea, Chris and The Guardian aren’t giving away the farm for free. They are implementing developer agreements (revenue sharing, syndication, etc.) on data and API codes to build businesses with developers. The four stages of newspaper production are creation, production, monetization, and distribution. Chris says to put a “co-” in front of each stage. Involve the public and the audience in the process.

Why is this a good thing?

First, it gets people engaged in the journalistic process, using the engagement of the audience and the readers to bring out more information and news. He cited the example of G20 “protester” Ian Tomlinson who was killed by police. The police told one story, but the pictures and video sent in by other protesters told quite another. Time has come for the public to take back some of its power in bringing truth and justice to the forefront. By empowering the world’s citizens and bringing them into the process, trust in mass media as a source, and newspapers as a medium, can be restored.

Second, it allows developers to use The Guardian’s data to develop new websites, microsites, and apps weaving The Guardian into their fabric. This will put The Guardian in front of new audiences and increase traffic to the newspaper’s website. It will also increase ad revenue and provide information needed for more targeted ads both on the partner sites and The Guardian’s own website.

Third, most developers are creative and entrepreneurial. By working with, instead of against, developers The Guardian will reap the benefits of new and innovative business models.



Chris sees The Guardian as an online business, not a print business, and he believes that in order to survive, news entities must restructure their business models to work with the online shift, not against it. He believes that by opening up their content and data, The Guardian can one day be the world’s leading liberal source. With already more than 40% of their traffic coming from outside the UK, this certainly seems to be within their grasp.

What do you think?

The Mesh 2010 Conference was in full swing last week. Overall, the organizers did a great job of gathering some of the finest digital marketing and social media minds under one roof to share, collaborate and learn from one another. That said, there is always room for improvement. Below are my Mesh Hits and Misses for 2010:

Miss #1: Swag bags x 2

I arrived at Mesh bright and early on Tuesday morning. After picking up my name tag and agenda, I was handed a big bag of swag. Two bags actually, one laptop bag (similar to the one I received last year) and a second smaller lunch bag. Both were filled with a bunch of swag that I’ll probably never use, and definitely don’t need. Not to mention I had also brought my own bag, so I was now left with 3 bags to cart around and no coat check or drop space to leave them in. I am definitely down with receiving free goodies from sponsors, but why not introduce the concept of digital swag (this being a digital media conference and all). It would have been so much cooler to receive a login and user code where I could peruse and select free digital gifties online. I wouldn’t have had to cart any extra gear around with me all day, and I would probably have actually made use of and paid attention to the sponsors’ freebies.

Hit #1: Keynotes

Great Keynote presenters and topics on Day 1! Day 1 was all about privacy and security. The first keynote was Chris Thorpe from The Guardian, who spoke about their decision to open up their content and data to developers. Great session (expect a detailed blog post in days to come). The second keynote was Joseph Menn, who spoke about his new book Fatal Systems Error, and went on to tell gangster stories of  digital crime lords—very cool!

Miss # 2: No visibility

You couldn’t actually see any of the presentation if you sat toward the back of the main auditorium rooms. Mesh set up large screens behind the speakers and then just projected the Mesh logo. Great as it is, it would have been so much better to project the speakers onto those screens. It’s so much more engaging when you can both see and hear the panels.

Hit #2: Food and drink

There wasn’t a break that went by that didn’t offer snacks, meals, drinks, and tasty treats. Everything from ice cream sandwiches to giant pretzels were supplied along with your choice of juice, coffee, and even Red Bull. Mesh organizers did a great job to make sure us meshies never went hungry or thirsty.

Miss #3: Sessions and Tracks

Mesh would benefit and keep people coming back for years six, seven, and eight if they divided tracks and sessions geared toward beginners and more experienced digital marketers. I totally understand the need to have 101 and base-level sessions, but unless Mesh sessions continue to expand and geek out as we do, numbers will start to drop off. One thing I heard from a five-year mesh goer was that the first year it changed her life, her entire career path, and way of thinking, but five years on the level of education she was receiving was really tapering off. DON’T LET IT TAPER OFF! Offer some more in-depth, geeked-out sessions next year!

Mesh Hit #3: Mesh Live

Mesh Live encouraged people to share their Mesh experiences, photos, and videos online, direct to the Mesh website. This feature was a great idea. Hopefully going forward there will be more photos and videos of actual Mesh presentations; sometimes it was hard to choose between sessions, and it would be amazing to have access to the sessions we missed (hint hint).

Did you go to Mesh this year? What did you think? Any suggestions of how to improve the experience for next year?

Call me old-fashioned, but I have a hard time giving my credit card number and purchase pattern information to every Tom, Dick, or Harry who asks for it. I’m even less thrilled about having that information broadcast to all of my beloved friends and followers online.

In the last year, services like Blippy, which connect directly to your credit card transactions and post them onto your social networks for the world to see, have become popular ways of sharing personal information within social networks. It makes me cringe. Status symbol or not, I don’t feel comfortable sharing that information or linking my credit card account so publicly. (I still black out my purchasing information when I use my bills as receipts.) If I feel the world needs to know that I spent $150 on a pair of jeans, I’ll post that information myself, thank-you very much.

A couple of days ago, TechCrunch reported on a soon-to-launch service called Offermatic, which asks users to give up their credit card information and transactions in return for savings based on recent purchases. For example, if you recently purchased a kitchen table, you might get an offer for $10 off kitchenware at Ikea. I’m all for saving money, and actually LOVE the daily Groupon offers that I get. I also agree that this is definitely an interesting and highly targeted idea, ideal for advertisers looking to push their product or service, but I still don’t feel comfortable allowing a third party to sort through and analyze my credit transactions (anonymously or not). Personally, I can’t see myself signing up for Offermatic or Blippy anytime soon. I can’t shake the paranoia that some other analysis of my data may be taking place in the back end, behind the scenes.

What do you think? Too Big-Brothery for you? Or are you more from the camp of “meh, what’s the worst that could happen?”

Some of you may have noticed Ive been quieter than usual on BlogCampaigning. This is because I was neck deep in a site redesign and overhaul of my blog, Toronto Uncovered. Check it out if you haven’t already, and let me know what you think. I’m still working out a few kinks, but suggestions and feedback are always welcome!

One of the main features of the new design is to add visibility and prominence to different categories on the main page and in the menu bar. I’m hoping to grow out different sections and increase the amount and variety of content that readers have to choose from. I can’t do this alone—I need help! I’m looking for Torontonians who have something to say and need somewhere to say it. Come forward and help me uncover Toronto’s good, bad, and ugly. If you have a unique idea for a section that you want to take charge of, or just have a lot to say on one current category, let me know!

This is open to anyone who lives in Toronto, newcomer or born ‘n raised; all opinions and perspectives are welcome. You can contact me at hmorrison@torontouncovered.com or via Twitter at @hmorrison.

March 24th is Ada Lovelace Day, the international day of blogging, to draw attention to the achievements of women in technology. Ada Lovelace is often noted as the first computer programmer. She wrote the first computer algorithm in 1842, and believed in the strong role that computers and technology would play in society far ahead of her time. Today is a day to celebrate not only her achievements, but the achievements of every woman in technology and science around the world.

I believe women bring a valuable outlook to the technology field, viewing and solving problems in different ways from our male counterparts. The diversity of solutions created by active participation from both men and women enables the advancement and flourishing of science and technology.

Today I am thankful to be surrounded by so many brilliant women, who continue to create, invent, blog and inspire others to get involved each and every day.

Cheers to some women who inspire me on a daily basis:

Jen Evans: Founder and Chief Strategist at Sequentia Environics (where I work) – inspiring and amazingly brilliant!

Candice Faktor: Doing amazing things to push the envelope and keep the media industry churning – Managing Director of Corporate Development and Innovation, Torstar Digital.

Ashleigh Gardner: A digital publishing force to be reckoned with – Digital Publisher, Dundurn Press.

Sarah Prevette: Founder and CEO of Sprouter – persevered towards her dream of helping entrepreneurs connect and being featured one day in Wired Magazine.

Jess Bennett: Inspired Toronto blogger for Sift, Dust & Toss about food, health and nutrition – named best new Canadian blog of 2009.

Amanda Laird: Toronto food blogger for Mise En Place, community manager and communications specialist at CNW Group.

Which women inspire you?

If you live in or near Toronto you’ve undoubtedly heard about the Toronto Transit Commission’s (TTC) recent blunders: sleeping employees, rude drivers stopping traffic and commuters for a coffee break, leadership problems, and raise hikes. The public is angry, and rightly so. It’s hard to find anyone who speaks highly of the service they receive in any capacity from the TTC. As public sentiment reaches an all time low, the TTC marcomm team and the newly formed Customer Service Advisory Panel have a serious uphill hike ahead of them.

While the climb may be an arduous one, it is not impossible, and the rewards at the top are well worth the ongoing efforts. Think of how much the commission would stand to earn if the public actually believed in, and wanted to use, its services. Below are some ideas that the TTC (and the panel) should consider as they strap on their climbing gear:

1. Take advantage of the public’s desire to communicate their frustrations. Tap into the channels they are using, listen to what they are saying, and actually respond, taking their ideas, comments and frustrations into account. Showing a little bit of genuine empathy can go a long way.

2. Be more transparent. Give an honest and ongoing account of where the TTC fees are going. Be honest about hikes, wages, and time lines for improvements. I don’t mind paying a little bit more or being slightly inconvenienced if I understand the reason behind it. Include a section on the website that shows what is going on—think graphics and visuals. I don’t want to read heavy text. Seeing is believing.

3. Use mobile communication applications and programs to highlight and reward the best drivers and penalize the worst. With the popularity of smartphones and location-based apps, it is easy for riders to weigh in on their drivers and experiences in real time. I have had some amazing drivers who absolutely deserve to be rewarded, and others who really shouldn’t be allowed to deal with people at all. Why not set up a public system to track this?

4. Nominate someone to be the official “Face of the TTC”. This figure should be someone the public trusts as a liaison between public needs and the inner workings of the commission. The customer service advisory panel is a great start, but there is a need for something longer term.

5. Make your marketing programs cost-effective. Use social media platforms and online sites to distribute communications and facilitate marketing programs. I want to know that my money is going in large part to improving the service, not the image.

These are just a few ideas; other cities like New York have set up multiple social media platforms and actually respond to questions and interact with their audience—check out New York City Transit’s Twitter feed and Facebook page, which actually has discussion and feedback. They have also opened up their data so that community members can design apps. They host contests for best apps each year and feature different ones on their website regularly. In contrast, I can’t even find the TTC social sites on their website (@TTCnotices and @bradTTC – Director of Communications).

What do you think? How would you change the TTC if you were given the ability to do so?

In 2009, Parker wrote a post titled “Know Your Audience“. In 2010 it is just as, if not more, important. For the last few months I’ve been working on proposals and recommendation decks for my different accounts; no client or program is ever the same, but no matter what I am working on, I can’t begin to get to the heart of the recommendation without taking a good hard look at the audience.

This means more than just slotting them into easily identifiable title segments: managers are X, VPs are Y, and so on and so forth. When you’re building the skeleton of any proposal, consider asking the following questions about your audience:

1. What are their goals and objectives? What are their needs? By segmenting your audience by their needs, instead of their title, you are speaking directly to their pain points. You will end up with marketing collateral (be it digital or otherwise) that helps them find answers to their problems quickly. For example, a lot of companies now include “I Want To” sections on their websites.

2. How does your product or service fit with their goals? Now that you’ve identified what you believe to be your audience’s needs and objectives, you can tailor your marketing efforts toward them. Ask yourself: what do I have to offer that would solve that problem? Then fit the answer into place.

3. Where do they go for their information? Before spending too much money or effort on any particular channel, spend some time listening and doing some minor engagement on a variety of channels. Figure out where your audience is most active. There is an endless amount of tools available that let you search through Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, blogs, and any other social site. I always review any current and past analytics as well to determine which referral sites are already working. This should give you a well rounded view of where your audience is hanging out and talking shop. You will also expose more of their needs and pain points, which you can feed back into your marketing plan.

4. How do they digest their information? It’s also worth some time figuring out how your audience prefers to be reached. Do they respond well to e-mail over RSS? Would they prefer video to audio? Before sinking too much of your budget into any one medium, consider doing some initial split testing to figure out how your audience digests their content.

What kind of audience profiling do you find most helpful? What questions do you ask yourself?

Last year I wrote a whitepaper on Canadian law firms and their use of social media. I was interested in finding out how the legal industry had started to use social networking and social tools to grow their firms.

Torys LLP was among the firms I interviewed. They weren’t afraid to take some risks and try new things before other law firms. They positioned themselves as a leading firm in online marketing and communications, and they are still at it.

This week, Torys launched a free iPhone app for their firm, marking the first time a Canadian firm has taken this step. It certainly won’t go unnoticed.

Main features of the app include: Twitter updates, legal bulletins, lawyer and admin staff profiles, lawyer and student videos and a GPS office locator. I played around with some of the features and also got some feedback from a lawyer friend of mine.

Overall, the app is an impressive first step, especially in an industry that is generally a little bit behind the times when it comes to digital marketing. As with most first generation apps, there is always room for improvement. Torys might consider tailoring content and breaking down feeds to specific practice areas and also making the publications mobile friendly (they are currently web formatted PDFs).

If you are in the legal industry or just looking for a good lawyer, check out their app and leave some feedback!