Kenton's Infotainment Scan

What is your favorite social-media website or app? Tell Wallwisher!

2012-02-26T18:21:00.000-06:00

When you wish upon a wall, makes no difference who y'all.

Wallwisher is another fun site - an online notice-board maker that allows users to create a virtual wall for brainstorming and feedback, get a custom URL, and share it with others to get a response.

Its intent: to allow users to collaborate, share ideas, and thoughts on a specific topic. Let's get started, shall we?

Who is your least-favorite CBC personality? Tell AnswerGarden!

2012-02-26T17:06:00.000-06:00

What's the meaning of life?

More importantly: who is your least-favorite CBC personality? There are so many to choose from! (Update: I'm talking about Rex Murphy, Strombo, and Doyle - the local people are all lovely, right? Right!)

Here's AnswerGarden: a great Web tool I ran across researching instructional multimedia. Using AnswerGarden, you simply post a question, share it, embed it, sit back and await the answers, which are displayed in a lovely word cloud.

I await your answer.

Update: I never worked at CBC, but thanks for voting for me!

Who is your least-favorite CBC personality?... at AnswerGarden.ch.

Communication jobs for communicatin' people, week of Feb. 26, 2012

2012-02-25T09:51:00.000-06:00

1. Communications Assistant, City of Winnipeg, Water and Waste Department

2. Public Relations and Social Media Manager, Honest Tea (Bethesda, Maryland - click on "headquarters")

3. Merchandising Specialist, Princess Auto

4. Advertising Services Coordinator, FBC Communications

5. Reporter/Photographer, Moose Jaw Times-Herald (Saskatchewan)

6. Assignment Editor, CTV (Vancouver)

7. Communications Coordinator, Dairy Farmers of Canada (Ottawa)

8. Anchor, Shaw TV (Calgary)

9. Reporter-Editor, CBC (Victoria)

10. News Editor-Presenter, CBC (Halifax)

11. Writer/Story Editor, Best Boy Entertainment (Newfoundland)

12. A bunch of assorted jobs, Twist Image (various places)

How to pump up the writing '12

2012-02-23T10:07:00.002-06:00

Every year, I'm wont to write a manifesto on how to write good. Well. Gooder. Goodly. Whatever.

As a guy who reads and marks thousands of college papers a year, I get a rare glimpse into the places that grade- and high-school grammar classes are too scared to go: a world of complicated "rules" governing the way we write and speak.

The trouble is that troubled teens don't listen to grammar lessons anymore, because they're too busy downloading porn, sexting, and - coming soon! - watching TV on the inside of their Google glasses. Can you blame them?

I'll let the Limousines explain the rest:

Eight ways to improve your writing right now:

1. Know the difference between active and passive sentences.

Dick Cheney speaks in passive sentences, so you know they're evil.

Example: "Mistakes were made."

Passive sentences suck, because it means that no one is taking responsibility for the action. When clients read passive sentences, it makes them crazy, because they think that you're telling them to do the action.

Example: "Posters will be hung. Social media will be launched. Ice sculptures will be carved."

Active sentences are better. They tell you who is doing what and are much more interesting to read.

Example: "I made mistakes." "We will hang posters." "You will launch the social media." "I will carve the ice sculptures."

If you don't know who is performing the action, figure it out, then rewrite the sentence.

2. Run a spell check, then manually check any word you're not sure about.

This year's winners for most misspelled: Guerrilla and YouTube.

3. Follow CP Style for consistency.

What's the difference between 11:00 AM 23rd February and 11 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 22?

The first one is some dude's idea of "what looks good" and the second one is CP Style's rule.

The problem with choosing "what looks good" is that it's never consistent, and you end up getting into fights with your clients because they have their own ideas about "what looks good."

When you follow CP Style, you can tell your client, "That's not correct. Here is how CP Style says to do it." Done.

CP Style is also helpful for letting you know whether it's "toward" or "towards." (Hint: if you're OK with "towards," you should also be OK with grandma calling it "Safeway's.")

The one exception: never use Canadian spellings when you're writing for a non-Canadian audience. In the U.S., the word "colour" looks like witchcraft.

4. Eliminate unnecessary fat.

Example: "Mike and Mary are both going to jump off a bridge."

Eliminate the word "both." Yep, the sentence still works.

Example: "We will all go to church on Sunday."

Eliminate the word "all." Same deal.

Example: "We like Twinkies, Ding Dongs, as well as Ho Hos."

Change "as well as" to "and." Same deal.

Good writers say the most with the fewest number of words.

5. Care about design.

Make your writing easy on your readers. Write in short paragraphs, avoid hyphenating words at the end of sentences, and don't end or begin a page in the middle of a thought.

6. Know the difference between "that" and "who."

Example: "Those are the girls who beat up old people."

People are "who."

Example: "Those are the houses that fell down."

Inanimate objects are "that."

Don't mix and match.

7. Know when you're using a word that might be misunderstood.

Example: "Candace and Amy went to the Hamptons and met some random guys at a random bar, and it was, like, all so totally random!"

The word "random" has other meanings in advertising, PR, and research: a scientifically selected sample from a larger subset of individuals.

A good article on our obsession with the word random.

Of course, "random" is but one of these words. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for the next one, and use it sparingly or not at all.

8. Avoid making big leaps in logic.

Example: "We will hang posters, and people will come to see our event."

Uh...how, exactly does this work?

Writing is hard work; it sometimes means explaining something that's very hard to explain, like how posters work at attracting our attention, and what can be done to turn that attention into action.

Resist the urge from jumping from Point A to Point B, and your clients will love you more for your ability to explain things that other writers cannot.

***

Reminds me of the time that this random person told me this random story about this random event that randomly unfolded at the International House of Random. But that's another story...

Lessons learned: No poseurs at the fishing derby

2012-02-22T17:16:00.001-06:00

Can we keep him, dad?

Give a kid a fish, and you'll feed him for a day. Teach the kid how to fish, and he'll starve to death.

When I was a kid, I went to Lockport on a fishing trip with my friend Richard and his dad.

None of us was much of a fisherman, but Richard's family was fresh off the boat from England and eager to experience Canada. So: off we went.

Richard and I spent the better part of the day standing at the side of the river, fishing rods in hand, waiting for a fish to bite. Behind us, Richard's dad - in a frock coat and deerstalker - paced back and forth, smoking a pipe and saying nothing.

Finally, at the end of the day, a big, dead fish came floating by, and Richard was ecstatic.

"Dad - we could pull the fish out of the water, and tell mom that we caught him. Can we do it dad?"

Richard's dad stopped pacing, carefully considered the request, and proclaimed, "There will be no pretension!"

He continued pacing behind us, as the sun set and our stomachs growled.

Click on the Twitter Gif of laughter

2012-02-21T11:27:00.001-06:00

Click the image for the Gif experience of your life.

Twitter is for the birds.

Here's the latest masterwork in my oeuvre, created and designed for the education-tech class I'm taking at Central Michigan University.

Aside from animating Gifs, I've learned how hard it is to find a service that allows you to upload, embed, and display one's Gifs in any kind of user-friendly way, hence the clickable thumbnail from Photobucket (above), which embeds my Gif at the expense of giving away its hilarious punchline.

Cheep, cheep.

Mind-mapping Obama's life on Louis Riel Day

2012-02-20T18:58:00.003-06:00

When you're a Canadian studying at an American university, how do you celebrate Louis Riel Day?

By mind-mapping Barack Obama's life, of course.

My assignment:

"Select a person of color who made significant contributions to the culture of the United States. Include appropriate images for the concepts and include the relationship between two concepts when linked. You also need to include links to appropriate pages on the Internet that serve as resources about the person you choose."

I started by downloading Inspiration (available for a free 30-day trial - just click on the link), a cheap mapping software package. Then, I got to work.

Here are the results, in PDF format. Unfortunately, you can't click on the links, listen to the audio, or watch the video, but you get the point.

If you're inspired, someone still needs to do this for Louis Riel. We're waiting!

Barack Obama Background

Communication jobs for communicatin' people, week of Feb. 19, 2012

2012-02-18T11:32:00.000-06:00

1. Managerial Assistant Intern, Empirical Artist Management (Stephen Carroll of the Weakerthans)

2. Experienced Dialogue and Screenwriter, ZenFri Inc.

3. Manager, Communications (bilingual), Canadian Museum for Human Rights

4. Account Coordinator, Direct Focus

5. Ad Setter/Coordinator, FCB Communications

6. Copy Editor, Brandon Sun

7. Producer, CBC Radio

8. Interactive Publishing Strategist, SaskPower (Regina)

9. A/V Manager, Casino Niagara (Niagara Falls)

10. Senior Marketing and Admissions Manager, International College of Manitoba

11. Director of Marketing and Communications, CancerCare Manitoba Foundation

12. Reporter/Photographer, Swan Valley Star and Times

13. Reporter/Photographer, The Winkler Morden Voice

Communication jobs for communicatin' people, week of Feb. 12, 2012

2012-02-11T12:28:00.000-06:00

1. Multimedia Editor, Winnipeg Free Press

2. Reporter/Anchor, Global

3. Print Production Coordinator, Prolific Graphics

4. Freelance Writers/Bloggers, Shaw

5. Coordinator, GO4health EXpo Coordinator (contract)

Ten new words to shout-out to your peeps

2012-02-10T09:10:00.000-06:00

See number 4.

1. Appsmanship - Fairness and respect for one's competing apps.

2. Appservescence - Showing high spirits or animated excitement around your app updates.

3. Beerstorming - Coming up with creative ideas and insights when you're loaded.

4. Censor-round - The low-frequency bodily sensations caused by the tension arising from threats of online censorship.

5. Gameathong - The undergarment you wear - whether you want to or not - after playing Xbox for longer than 14 hours.

6. Kentonsick - How my home feels when I'm in another city.

7. Notney - Every Republican's favorite nominee: "Not Romney."

8. Sellabration - A "party" designed to sell you stuff. See: Tupperware party.

9. Valentimes - Remember all of those dates with all of those women where you spent all of that money - and it didn't work out? Those were the Valentimes!

10. Valentinization - Cake-ology's great word for improving the resiliency of your business in February.

Glogging and blogging the next wave of apps

2012-02-08T14:22:00.000-06:00

These are a few of my favorite, new apps.

I built this interactive poster using Glogster - a cool website that lets you mix up images, copy, video, links, and audio into one, kick-ass glog.

(As of today, we found out that Path was accidentally stealing our data, so you might want to hold off on that one.)

Download away!

Announcing Indie Game: the Sequel, starring me

2012-02-06T09:51:00.000-06:00

I'm ready for my close-up.

If you thought that Indie Game: the Movie was awesome, you won't want to miss Indie Game: The Sequel, starring me.

Here's a short clip of the action; the full-length movie is exactly the same, except it runs for two hours and has a surprise ending where I wake up and it was all a dream.

The film comes out this summer and is rated A - for being slightly less than Awesome.

Communication jobs for communicatin' people, week of Feb. 5, 2012

2012-02-04T09:26:00.000-06:00

1. Supervising News Producer, CTV

2. Switcher, APTN

3. Reporter-Editor, CBC

4. Internships for Students with Disabilities, Shaw

5. E-marketing Manager, Travel Manitoba

6. Art Program Coordinator, Artbeat Studio

7. Casual Workshop Facilitator, Art City

8. Director, Marketing and Communications, Friends of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights

9. Assistant/Associate Librarian, U of M

10. Dialogue and Screenwriter, ZenFri

11. Product Marketing Specialist, Great-West Life

12. Senior Graphic Designer, Direct Focus

13. Marketing Coordinator, Folklorama

How to persuade people - the PR way!

2012-02-01T12:39:00.001-06:00

The iMovie experimentation continues.

This week's video is a topic near and dear to my and any of my students' hearts - the four principles of PR persuasion that you can use to win friends and influence everybody.

The bald man won't shut up, while the Star Wars cameos abound...

Communicatin' jobs for communicatin' people, week of Jan. 29, 2011

2012-01-27T09:31:00.000-06:00

1. Junior Graphic Designer, Botanical Paperworks

2. Site Editor, London Life

3. News Reporter (Web - part-time), CTV Winnipeg

4. Ad Executive, Corus

5. Chief Marketing Officer, Manitoba Lotteries

6. Senior Marketing Coordinator (one-year contract), KPMG

7. Web Designer (half time), Canadian Mennonite University

8. Senior Marketing Coordinator, KPMG

9. Account Manager, CX Interactive (Toronto)

10. Marketing Intern, TIFF (Toronto)

Great advertising is everywhere - if you know where to look

2012-01-23T21:44:00.000-06:00

Here is the latest masterwork in my oeuvre - as I continue to test my microphone and iMovie.

I swear: if I can keep this up, in just 25 years I'll be as good as lonelygirl15.

Zinio: the easiest way to read a digital magazine

2012-01-22T19:02:00.000-06:00

Zinio Reader Desktop Tutorial from Kenton Larsen on Vimeo.

A screencast about a digital magazine reader? How po-mo of me.

As our first-year students embark on a tradition dating back to before even I was a student - "the magazine project" - I hope that they take heart at knowing that this might be one of the last years we care about whether they print it or even call it a "magazine" (I hope - I'm starting to feel like I'm trying to sell Gutenberg a stone tablet).

As the magazine stand at 7-Eleven continues to shrink and print pubs continue to fold, I thank Zinio for keeping the magazine-reading experience alive and well on my laptop, iPad, and iPhone.

Zinio bills itself as "the world's largest newsstand and bookstore," allowing you to subscribe, search, read, share, save, and sync magazine content.

You can buy the Zinio app for iPhone and iPad in the App Store, or download the Zinio Reader for your laptop.

Screencasting for dummies (like me)

By the way, the embedded video above is my very first screencast, as you can tell by my "ummms" and "tsks."

I made it using the trial version of the Snapz Pro X software, which is pretty cool if you can get past having to wear the nerdy microphone headgear ("roger, roger!"). To post it here, I simply recorded it on my laptop using the software, uploaded it to Vimeo (YouTube works too, but I hate it), and used the embed code to show it on my blog.

Communication jobs for communicatin' people, week of Jan. 22, 2012

2012-01-21T11:52:00.000-06:00

1. Editor, Fanfare Magazine Group

2. Mac-Savvy Graphic Designer with InDesign, Spherion (term)

3. Fundraising Assistant, Canadian Cancer Society

4. Reporter/Editor, CBC

5. Camera Editor, APTN

6. Promotional Product Purchasing Coordinator, Direct Focus

7. Digital Reporter, Metro

8. General Manger, Corus

9. Marketing and Development Assistant, Royal Winnipeg Ballet

10. Communications Intern, Food Matters Manitoba

Your mission in '12, should you accept it

2012-01-19T15:45:00.003-06:00

We've shattered the mission-statement glass ceiling.

Every year, my PR students write a mission statement for our class. Each student composes one, I shortlist the candidates to five or six, and the class votes on them. The winning mission statement is our reason for being and motivating force for the semester.

This year - with help from student Scott "The Hatchet" Best on shortlist duty - the class selected the mission statement written by Jennifer Thiessen, which is the first time that a woman has taken her place on the Mission Statement Wall of Fame - a well-deserved and long-overdue distinction.

The PR-class mission statement Wall of Fame:

"To learn Kenton's ways so that we may one day take his place."
- Ray Brickwood (class of '08)

"You can't spell party without PR."
- Will Cooke (class of '09)

"Share some laughs, share some beers, share some work (just kidding, that's plagiarism!). Share some tears, shake some hands, walk away the better for it all."
- Thor Blondal (class of '10)

"To propagate, not contaminate."
- Eman Agpalza (class of '11)

"To systematically break down students' will and character, then rebuild them as indestructible PR robots (or PRobots)."
- Jaremy Ediger (class of '12)

"Our mission is to be creative, unlike this mission statement."
- Jennifer Thiessen (class of '13)

Know yer online copyright law

2012-01-17T10:22:00.000-06:00

Intelligence borrows, genius steals. I know because I stole that line from some guy.

This week at CMU was a master's class in online copyright and plagiarism in which I learned much about the murky world of copyright, lawyers, guns, and money. Hint: guns and money aren't as bad as lawyers.

Your resources:

1. Website for the great doc, Copyright Criminals.

2. Online copyright quiz.

3. Indiana U's "How to recognize plagiarism," online test, and official plagiarism certificate making you a certified plagiarist. Or something. Every student at Indiana U must take - and ace - the test, which constitutes understanding and compliance of the school's guidelines.

4. How to use and cite Creative Commons resources.

5. Taking the mystery out of Creative Commons Licenses.

Copyright And Open Content (Student version)

View more presentations from Karen F

Creative Common Licenses

View more presentations from William Merrill

Communication jobs for communicatin' people, week of Jan. 15, 2012

2012-01-14T13:03:00.000-06:00

1. Junior Fund Development Officer, Career Trek

2. Development and Communications Officer, St. Amant

3. Junior Development Manager, Terracon

4. Intermediate Graphic Designer, DMT Development Systems Group

5. Reporter/Anchor, Global (Regina)

6. Writer/Producer, Global (Regina)

7. Chase Producer, CTV (Saskatoon)

8. Video Journalist, CTV (Saskatoon)

9. Technical Director/Producer, Live Events, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (Toronto)

10. Loyalty and Promotions Leader, Hallmark Canada (Richmond Hill, ON)

11. Director of Talent/Social Butterfly, DECO Windshield Repair

12. Digital Reporter, Metro (across Canada)

A dozen new words to the wise-ass

2012-01-13T08:33:00.000-06:00

Do all the work. Pay us. F- off. (See number 12).

1. Anticipointment - Awaiting inevitable disappointment.

2. Anuary - January: the month you freeze your arse off.

3. Barbadass - Arriving back from Barbados with a larger "trunk" than when you left.

4. Deutschbag - The place you put your German garbage.

5. Enterpride - Bragging about your new business.

6. Fistmas - The day you open presents and feel depressed.

7. Kention - Thanks for the shout-out!

8. Misfaithed - "I have utmost faith in this policy." "It is misfaithed, bonehead."

9. Quilty - Feeling bad that you have no marketable skills when someone gives you an elaborate, homemade quilt.

10. Ricktum - Body part found near the caucus.

11. Scamsung - A Samsung product that looks like an Apple product.

12. Self-Serving Checkout - The checkout at Sobeys, where the store gets you to do all the work and gives you no pay.

Communication jobs for communicatin' people, week of Jan. 8, 2012

2012-01-07T12:20:00.000-06:00

1. Young Canada Works Programs (Summer Internships), Canadian Museums Association

2. Communications Officer, Canadian Agricultural Safety Association

3. Promotions Coordinator, Corus

4. Social Media Specialist, Paperny Entertainment (Vancouver)

5. Director, Audience Development, Winnipeg Free Press

6. Marketing and Communications Leader, Princess Auto and Tallman Foundation

7. Technical Writer, New Flyer Industries

8. Communications and Community Outreach Coordinator, Winnipeg Humane Society

9. Digital Marketing Specialist, Ricki's

10. Client Service Coordinator, CBS Outdoor Canada

11. A big pile of communications jobs, Dubai Events

Ted Kennedy's blurry head: a Fotobabble

2012-01-06T08:40:00.000-06:00

You've seen the photo, now hear me babble.

I've been fooling around with Fotobabble for my Master's, and it's a load of fun. Upload your photos, narrate, embed, sit back, and wait for the money to pour in.

Visit the website or download the app now. Students: might make for an awesome first blog post of the semester. Hint, hint.

Remembering my uncle Charlie

2012-01-01T19:39:00.000-06:00

Charlie Camilleri, from argonauts.ca.

My uncle, Charlie Camilleri, passed away in Toronto on Dec. 23. He is remembered as a war veteran, a two-time Grey Cup winner with the Argos ('46 and '47), and an executive with CBS records.

To me, he was uncle Charlie of "my Toronto family," famous for mailing us a giant package of records at Christmastime, hanging out with Tony Bennett, Bruce Springsteen, and Pink Floyd, going to every sporting event in town, and - get this - having a backyard swimming pool.

I remember my uncle as the funny guy who had a quip and opinion for every occasion. He delivered my favorite on a road trip to Niagara Falls, as we passed Hamilton, ON: "It looks like Independence Day after the aliens hit."

His banter with his sons is legendary in my family:

Charlie (to my cousin Ron): You need to exercise more.
Ron: Dad, I played golf yesterday and carried my clubs for 18 holes.
Charlie: You should have carried the cart.

My cousins once made fun of my uncle's plaid shorts and said they would be too embarrassed to sit with him at a Blue Jays game. After delivering a barrage of insults back at them, he disappeared for a bit, and walked back into the room, ready for the game in a new pair of pants.

I'll miss him.

Obit from the Toronto Star:

On December 23, after a long illness, Charles passed away in his 88th year. He will be lovingly remembered by his wife Margaret, sons Rick and Ron, and grandson Spencer. Charles will be greatly missed by his nephews, niece and relatives as he reunites with his parents Joseph and Mary and brothers Michael and Vincent.

After serving in WWII, Charlie returned home and joined his beloved Toronto Argonauts where he found teammates for life. He was rewarded with two Grey Cup wins. He now reunites with some of his legendary teammates. He also played and won a Canadian softball championship with People’s Credit Jewellers giving him two pro sports championships in the same year.

After his athletics, he enjoyed a wonderful career with CBS Records where for decades he was loved by his fellow employees and artists alike. He retired from CBS to home life. He will be remembered for his enduring friendships and dedication to the people around him.

Charity also played an vital role in his life as he served for many years with the Variety Club of Canada, also being awarded the prestigious Heart Award. The family will be holding a private service and a celebration of Charlieʼs life in the new year. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the charity of your choice.