It is 24h of Skiing and is North America’s biggest sporting fundraising event, that’s raised over $8 M for children’s causes since 2001. ! I’ll give you some more information has you read this post but first let me tell you why I’m writing about this event;

I’ve been a spectator of this event almost every year since it’s creation in 2001 and since the birth of my daughter I’ve tried to make it into a family tradition to be there at least 1 day during the event and encourage the participants best I can.

This year though, I plan to up the ante! Inspired by the fact that my wife & I are expecting our second child and since this event is for the children in need, I’ve decided that daddy wont be a spectator no more! I’m going to be a participant and try to give the example to my own children! Thankfully I had some friends who already had a team setup with a name that fit me perfectly: The Soul Riders!

Ok so here we are a little over a month before the event and it’s time to get some people involved… Now read the next part, cause that’s where it gets important! :

I want all my Social Media “friends” (THAT’S YOU!) to Encourage me by donating between 5$ and 20$ to the event! Doesn’t sound like much? Good! You see if we do the math real quick and add-up

Twitter: 800+ followers
FaceBook:  600+ friends
LinkedIn: 175 + connections

That gives us 1575 Social Media friends!
give or take 150 repeated accounts
remove 20% for the dead or spam accounts

Total: 1140 people!

Now multiply that by 5.00$ that brings in 5700.00$ FOR THE CHILDREN IN NEED !!!

THERE ARE 2 WAYS OF CONTRIBUTING:
1- ON THE 24H TREMBLANT SITE (best way) = click here
2- IN PERSON TO ME (if you don’t want to do it online)

HAVE THE COURAGE TO ENCOURAGE !!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQcFnxWZDf0

Corporate Sponsors also needed!

The team will be lodged on location for the 3 day event and we sure could use a little help! Lodging at Mont Tremblant doesn’t come cheap  So contact me if you want to help from the contact page

MORE ABOUT 24H TREMBLANT: 

Back in 1998, Jacques Villeneuve and Craig Pollock founded a non-profit association called Formula Charity. Their mission was to create events to raise money for childhood illnesses. Shortly after the creation of Formula Charity, the association hosted a large-scale annual event in Switzerland, the 24h de Villars, to raise money for a charitable cause in the host region. In December 2001, Formula Charity introduced the event to Québec, hosting the first edition of Tremblant’s 24h of skiing. The Canadian event was a great success, thanks in part to the European experience and raised over $300,000 at its inaugural edition.Today, the event gathers up to 25,000 people every year, including almost 2000 participants, sponsors, celebrities, musicians and the media.

The main focus of the 24h of skiing is a friendly ski or snowboard relay which takes place continuously over a 24 hour period on the slopes of Mont-Tremblant. Teams compete to cover the most terrain during the 24 hour period and ultimately raise the highest amount of money for the causes. The 24h of skiing is the biggest social gathering of the year in Tremblant, with sports enthusiasts, the general public, philanthropists, artists and celebrities congregating every December to raise money for children’s causes.
Back in 1998, Jacques Villeneuve and Craig Pollock founded a non-profit association called Formula Charity. Their mission was to create events to raise money for childhood illnesses. Shortly after the creation of Formula Charity, the association hosted a large-scale annual event in Switzerland, the 24h de Villars, to raise money for a charitable cause in the host region. In December 2001, Formula Charity introduced the event to Québec, hosting the first edition of Tremblant’s 24h of skiing. The Canadian event was a great success, thanks in part to the European experience and raised over $300,000 at its inaugural edition.Today, the event gathers up to 25,000 people every year, including almost 2000 participants, sponsors, celebrities, musicians and the media.
The main focus of the 24h of skiing is a friendly ski or snowboard relay which takes place continuously over a 24 hour period on the slopes of Mont-Tremblant. Teams compete to cover the most terrain during the 24 hour period and ultimately raise the highest amount of money for the causes. The 24h of skiing is the biggest social gathering of the year in Tremblant, with sports enthusiasts, the general public, philanthropists, artists and celebrities congregating every December to raise money for children’s causes.

Tremblant’s 24h of skiing supports 4 foundations that focus on enriching the lives of children and their families. By donating to the 24h of skiing, you are supporting its beneficiary foundations that focus on research, programs and treatment for children that are sick, injured or in need, particularly in the fields of treatment and research of pediatric oncology. The fundraising profits are donated to the Fondation Centre de cancérologie Charles-Bruneau, the Ottawa Senators Foundation, the Fondation Martin-Matte and the Tremblant Foundation.The beneficiaries of the 24h make great progress, thanks to your generosity and support.

THANK YOU

Ghislain Roy – Styles 2011

version française: “J’espère que tu auras la patience d’être à mes cotés jusqu’au prochain round, parce que la vie est un combat que j’ai l’intention de GAGNER!”

But tonight, it’s the singer that discovered! I rarely get baffled by talent but once in a while I do and this time, I felt the need to share!

Meet Karmin! Karmin is a band of 2 and they are mostly known for their covers and how amasingly they execute them.  Nick and Amy will amaze you, especially Amy (sorry Nick) She can RAP like Busta Rhymes and NickiMenaj and sing like JessieJ. and Adele.

Your not a believer? well.. Take a listen my friend! Lets start with some Busta:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=khCokQt--l4

Not enough? ok… some Adele then?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRS6s9g_K7Y

Where to find them:

On Youtube= http://www.youtube.com/user/karmincovers

Twitter= http://twitter.com/karminmusic

The web= http://www.karminmusic.com

Enjoy!!

There are many creatives out there and it seems that the numbers are growing rapidly. Some are great at execution and others are best at developing the concept behind the execution. There are also the born leaders that bring all of the different creative minds together. If your selection is based on portfolios there is a huge risk you will be disappointed after the fact. Often, you’ll hire someone that executes the projects but that wont bring it to the next level. In some cases, of course, this is exactly what you need.
Portfolios don’t tell the whole story, they just show you the end result.

Being a creative myself and having hired a few in my time, I can tell you from experience that you should always go for the one who inspires you the most during the interview process. The references are also important, not just what they say but who they are too. You can even go as far as ask the candidate for the references’ resume to get a good idea of who you are talking to. Gutsy, but smart! One last thing to remember about past work from your candidates is that their portfolios show what their client asked for, not what they are capable of.

So to hire the best creative for the Job, meet with them, explore their imagination, ask how they perceive your company and what their vision is for your business. If you feel the candidate is exploding with aspirations and that he makes you feel like there is new energy when the meeting ends, then you may want to hold on to that!

Good Luck

The Old Spice Advertising campaign, featuring “The Old Spice Guy”, as been the Buzz for the past month or so, first for it’s originality and second for it’s failure to generate sales. What went wrong? or did anything go wrong after all?

Find the old Spice ads bellow

So before we get into the nitty gritty, I think we should give the few who haven’t seen the campaign the chance to know what we are talking about. The first ad of this unique campaign was showcased during Superbowl on February 7th 2010.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE

A second ad was launched on Tv Screens that had less impact but did well none the less

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpUrz9RvuPk

Although these are well conceived and original ads, they are not what set the Old Spice ads to be on everyones lips. What really set this campaign apart was it’s fresh look at how to use Social Medias (twitter, facebook, youtube, etc.) and how the reinvented “Realtime” Ad broadcasting.

So here we are… Ihave a million Blogs to write and about 10 mins to write them in english and in french. The solution? Vlog! Yep, Video Blogs that I will transcript later. This is the first, and if all goes well…

Please Comment

I think that one of the main dilemmas in photography is if or how to define yourself & your work/art. There is the obvious “Pro or Not” debate, which is the easiest to resolve. Pro = earns his living through photography. Not = doesn’t (plus a few acceptable variants). Then we get into what can be called categories, genres, fields or types of photography.

It may seem restraining to have to define yourself or your work within these parameters, but it is very important to do so, because this will help you on your quest to master your art, and it will also help you to target the appropriate audience.

There are categories and subcategories and invented categories you can choose from but I suggest that you stick to the basics. Here are lists of commonly used Photography categories:

General:
Portrait – Lifestyle – Sports – Nature – Landscape – Architectural – Still-life – Animal – Nudes – Glamour – Fantasy.

Commercial:
Family – Sports – Architectural – Industrial – Events – Wedding – Editorial – Stock – Commercial – Fashion – Advertising – assignment – Furniture.

If you can’t decide what category best describes you, it could be that you are still growing and that you haven’t found your true path yet. It may also be that you are not concentrating on mastering specific disciplines (and you should). In general, photographers pick between 1 and 3 main categories to define their  personal work. On a professional side, try never to define yourself by more then 2 categories, this will help your clients find you among your competitors. You can still have 16 portfolios of all kinds of photography.

So to finish this post; It is Good to “label” your photography. Choose not only what you think your best at, but also what you want to do in the futur.

Good Luck