Marketing, Communications and Social Media

Instagram, Intellectual Property, and Permission

Instagram, Intellectual Property, and Permission

Marketers & IP folk – I need your take on the third party use of  Instagram photos. As I’m sure you know  (and if you don’t… hey!) we do a Photo of the Week series on the CheapEats blogs  (Toronto / Ottawa) which we’ve been running using our Flickr Groups (Toronto / Ottawa  and very soon Vancouver / Montreal )   I’d to expand the submission options to Instagram, a la Gastropost who allows people to submit photos for their weekly challenge simply by tagging them in Instagram. But here’s my question: is tagging enough to give permission for reuse? I.e.…

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In the meantime, sheep!

In the meantime, sheep!

So much to say, so much to share, but in the meantime, check out this video of Sheep!

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Making The World Suck A Little Less With #HoHoTO

Making The World Suck A Little Less With #HoHoTO

Have I told you about the little thing I do called HoHoTO? Some people call it “the party twitter built”. Some people call it “a kick-ass party” Some people call it “Me and 600+ of my closest friends” Some people call it “a remarkable examples of a hyper-connected social media movement using the power of self-organizing online groups to make a real world difference.” Techvibes called it “social networking for a cause” Queen Rania of Jordan cited it as an example of online activism making an offline difference Daily Bread calls it their 3rd highest “3rd Party Fundraising event” I…

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The Mark & Marcuses of Content Marketing #mm11

The Mark & Marcuses of Content Marketing #mm11

The Mark & Marcus' of Content Marketing #mm11 — Originally uploaded by LexnGer I'm spending the day at Mesh Marketing and am delighted by the focus on content marketing. Getting really passionate info from Marcus Wilson of Idea Paint and Marcus Sheridan of the Sales Lion, moderated by Mark Evans. Loving the direct tie between content marketing and sales! No pussy footing around site hits, talking sales!

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Be A Taster in #TorontoTaste’s #ImATaster Contest

Be A Taster in #TorontoTaste’s #ImATaster Contest

Can you fearlessly balance a glass of chardonnay, a porcini tart and a mini strawberry dacquoise in one hand while entering rapt reviews of less than 140 characters with the other?  Do you have adventurous tastebuds, Twitter acumen, fast thumbs and a yearning to report live from Toronto’s most coveted culinary event of the year, Toronto Taste on Sunday, June 12, 2011 in support of Second Harvest? If you answered "@2ndHarvest yes, yes I can because #ImATaster and an #UberTweeter!" then you might be the tweeter we’re looking for in the #ImATaster Contest to win a prized spot as  a…

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Longos Goodies Give Away Winner

[Testing out a new tool called Storify which lets you construct stories from a variety of sources and then embedded them into your blog. I’d love to hear what you think and/or if it worked for you.]

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What Comforts You?

What Comforts You?

What did your mommy or daddy used to make you when you were sick at home? And if you have them, what do you make for your kids? As per my last post, I’m home sick, and a little thought on twitter inspired conversation about what we were given when we were home sick: alexaclark: Why does it seem SO wrong to eat toast slathered w/ butter & covered in white sugar yet add a little cinnamon it is instantly comfort food? ccath: @alexaclark Cinnamon toast! It never fails to comfort me as it was a childhood treat for me.…

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OneDegree.ca: Why Aren’t You On The Roster?

OneDegree.ca: Why Aren’t You On The Roster?

Recently, after reading a whack of blog posts about why conference speakers are so heavily weighted towards white male speakers, I decided it was time to simply ask the women I think should be speaking at the conferences I attend. I’d love your input too: read more and respond over on OneDegree.ca

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Cream Soda Smile

Cream Soda Smile

Cream Soda Smile — Originally uploaded by LexnGer The other day Saul Colt invited a bunch of folks over to the ZooCasa offices. Before Saul's presentataion on how How Building Communities Is Like Dating A Pretty Girl The presentation was amusing and Saul had some excellent points about community building and the metaphor fit, though even at the end of the presentation I was at a lost as to why Social Media is like dating a "pretty" girl as opposed to a homely one. Or even why a "girl" versus a "woman". Or, for that matter, even why it was…

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Copyright? What is This Thing Called Copyright?

Copyright? What is This Thing Called Copyright?

So the copyright discussion seems to continue with this new chapter from my friend Al, (aka @brundle_fly) who tweeted a link to this email, which I am reproducing with his explicit permission. He showed a lot more restraint in his subtle “UMMM No.” intro to this than I would ever be able to muster. Correction this was found by Al, not an issue he had. But still! “Please put them back right away”  You’ve got to be kidding me! [2013-02-08 - Sorry the original image in the original location has been replaced with something that I'm not comfortable having on…

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Commercial or Journalistic? You Tell Me

Commercial or Journalistic? You Tell Me

In the final episode of the Toronto Life Creative Commons drama, we have identified the issue to be a difference of opinion about what constitutes “Commercial Use”. After I sent in my letter to Toronto Life, I got a quick, respectful and reasoned response from Matthew Fox, Editor of TorontoLife.com. We have resolved the usage issue by TorontoLife.com including a link to CheapEatsToronto.com where they use any of my images (and they have already implemented this.) Matthew’s reply to my letter stated that TorontoLife.com believes the use of the images was journalistic and not directly commercial, and thus did not cause…

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Letter to Toronto Life

Letter to Toronto Life

As many of you have voiced your support on my Creative Commons issue with Toronto Life, I thought I’d share the letter I sent them about their use of my photos without permission.  [original post about that is here]   Hi, I’m writing because 2 of my photos are being used without my permission on your Daily Dish section. Both photos have a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-commercial license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/deed.en_CA) which states explicitly that my photos are available for non-commercial use only. I also state, explicitly, in my Flickr profile “If you want to buy any of my photos for commercial use,…

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