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This is a very special project I am bringing on and I am especially happy about this one, since it is a pro-bono agreement. It is the first one I do as eMarketing 101 and I am going to tell why this is so close to my heart. The Zajac Foundation for Children is an non-profit organization that raise money for children with serious and chronic illnesses and disabilities who might not otherwise have a chance to enjoy a summer camp experience. So when Jason Brice came to me and ask for some help with their search marketing plan, the answer was obvious. The idea here is quite simple, kids with a medical condition have the camp from June to September. The rest of the year, the Zajac Ranch for Children rents the facility for groups of all kinds: conferences, private groups, weddings, kids, associations, churches etc. The Ranch itself has everything you can ask for and you can bet that if you scratch yourself on the horseback riding trail, the on-site hospital has everything you can ask for to… love included apparently. 

A lot of my close friends know this but I will share it with everyone now. 10 years ago, I had testicular cancer. A pretty rare one too. I found that having cancer at 27 years old was a pretty disturbing but yet enlightful experience. 3 surgeries later and countless trips to the hospital still seem like a small ordeal compare to what kids with cancer or serious illness have to go through. I considered myself lucky in the end, not having to deal with chemotherapy or radiotherapy but some people are not as lucky, which is why your help counts.

There is a common misconception that has been going around too that I just want to clarify. Alex the man still has 2 balls, but Alex the legend has only one. So the myth continues. 

Please visit the Zajac Ranch for Children & Zajac Foundation when you have a minute and please reserve your spot for your next year’s corporate event or whatever you are responsible to organize.

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I could not help myself but taking a few pictures today. Apparently, lots of people were doing the same thing today. We were exchanging tips on the best shots. I am not a good photographer but here are my favorites, as souvenirs of this special day:

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It was a sad day in my family. My grandma, Rejane Quenneville, passed away last night, September 22 2008, and I spent quite some time on the phone with my family today. My grandma was such a bold character. According to my older brother, she carried the entrepreneurial spirit wherever she has been throughout her life and it is that same spirit that lives on through our passion for business and all the projects we have been taking on, including this one, eMarketing 101 which has been my passion for the last 8 years or so. I will remember how much she enjoyed listening to our business projects and the spark that she had in her eyes as if she wanted to help out and be part of what we were doing. She was never tired of listening to us. She understood and was there to remind us of her dad and her grand dad and all that they have accomplished in their lives. Apparently, success was running in the family and I am grateful that my grandma taught us the virtue of hard work. Merci grand-man! 

As I was speaking to my dad, he mentioned something funny to cheer me up. He said, you know what, grandma was slowly going down last night and with all the drugs that she has been given, she was not really conscious for the last few hours of her life. In a desperate attempt to get a reaction, someone in my family decided to dip a sponge in maple syrup and give it to her. Believe it or not, it was at that moment that they got the long awaited reaction they were hoping for. Actually, one could say that this may be the sweetest way to end a life, in a truly Canadian way. Au revoir grand-man. RIP

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Unlike most elections, this year is a little different. I have been asked by my dear friend Cendrix Bouchard from French CBC to be part of a TV show on RDI (Reseau de l’Information), which presents a few “undecided” Canadians from every province, to answer questions in a weekly interview and provide my impressions on the weekly progress that has been made in the current campaign. In light of such experiment, which I enjoy thoroughly, I would like to share something that has been sent to me with regards to the lack of funding by the conservative party in cultural events. I think it is hilarious (and shocking) and regardless of where you are coming from (French and/or English), I am sure you will find this clip delightful (make sure you turn the close caption on, from the bottom right corner).

If you care about the culture, here is something you have to watch:

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I am in shock. I have been working for the last few weeks on a new project of mine to develop something cool for the francophone community in Vancouver and as I was browsing around for some potential partners and polishing my invite list for the main launch event that will be on November 8 (yes, you can put that in your agenda already), I found this:

It reads like this:

The Francommunautés virtuelles program, which was created to encourage the growth of French-language Web applications, content and services, concluded on March 31, 2008. An archived version of the Francommunautés virtuelles Web site is available at: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/webarchives/.

I have to admit that I was not aware of the existence of such program. All I can say is that the idea of building websites has changed dramatically in the last few years and I am very disappointed to hear about the lack of enthusiasm & support of francophone communities in web development, contents and online services. It should come as no surprise for everyone that most sites for francophones living outside Quebec are poorly built and they are built in such a way that it serves organizations more so than the actual French people living in these communities. This is a shame as there is no better way to network francophones in each community than using the Internet to get it done. I promise that I will do my best to change this. It might only be a pinprick (for now) but it is the only way things could change. Stay tuned for the launch (beta) of francouver.ca in the next few months.

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I just wanted to let you know that I will be away for the next few days in lovely Montreal and although I will still be in work mode with client meetings and so on, I might not be able to answer your emails in a timely manner during that time. I will back in the office on Tuesday August 26. Thanks for your understanding. 

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This is a very special day. For 6 months, I have been holding tickets to see my favorite band: Angels and Airwaves. If don’t know about them, now is a good time to check them out and even attend the concert. You won’t be disappointed. Some compare them to the next U2. Here is the video of their most famous song, The Adventure. I am sure there would still be tickets available.

Here are the details for tonight’s concert:
Angels and Airwaves (with The Color Fred)
Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver, BC
Thursday, Aug 7, 2008 07:00 PM

Additional Information:
This event has been rescheduled from March 6, 2008 to August 7, 2008.
Tickets will be honored for the new date.

For more info about Angels & Airwaves, please visit their official site and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angels_&_Airwaves

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Since the introduction of the Yellow Pages new positioning within the search engines community with their new slogan: The Find Engine, I could not stop but to rant about the company. As if hearing them on the radio was not hurtful enough, that did not help last month when I saw them at Search Engine Strategies in Toronto where they were desperately trying to give their Yellow pages directory a new life by mingling with the search marketing community. I did find a new usage recently to the Yellow pages directory and I was delighted with it. Check it out:

This picture was taken over the last few days while Sonia and I were camping near Harrison Hot Springs, a great camping spot. Email me for indication. 

Thanks go to Sonia who thought it would be a good idea to unclog our closet with these massive books that we don’t use anymore. They not longer clog our entrance closet and I am warmth with pleasure. 

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2 weeks ago, I stumble upon the most amazing dish rack I have ever seen, made by a company called Simple Human. I did not expect to see this in a Costco for some reason, which basically added to my surprise. Sonia was exasperated to see how crazy I was becoming over this dish rack, but not so much my friend James, Chief Punk of AdHack, a DIY (Do It Yourslef) Avertising Community who immediately suggested that I should do an AdHack about it. Just in case you were wondering, an AdHack, like the name suggests, is basically an ad that I would do myself and that could potentially be commissioned to the company who popularized the product or service. Like most of you would think, what could be so special about a dish rack. More than you think. Stay put, you’ll see, it gets even better when I unfold the story.

So last week, considering I did not know exactly where to start creating an AdHack for my brand new dish rack, which only cost $45 by the way, I sat down with James to go over the creative brief. The creative brief contains the thought process by which you must go through in order to come with the killer idea that will make the ad to stand out. Here are some of my notes:

Goals:
The ad must raise awareness towards the existence of a better dish rack out there that destroys the one you currently have. The initial hypothesis is that you endure your old dish rack because you have never thought that there could be a better option. Dish racks are usually not something we shop for or think about. (I found it by accident and I have never shop around for a dish rack before)

Audience:
People who already have a dish rack: most likely old (the dish rack!), ugly with faded colors and too small. The audience is urban and they live close to where they work.

Context:
We thought that the best context to come across this ad would be in a urban-type setting, like in public transit for instance. The setting must be somewhat relaxed in order for the audience to open up the idea that they should replace their old dish rack.

Promises:
Ad promise (story): The ad is a personal testimonial based on my discovery of a new product & the delight in finding that product. More than just a dish rack, the experience of doing dishes is becoming augmented because you now think about where you are going to put the dishes. As in any intellectual games, doing dishes is becoming like a puzzle game, which transforms the experience completely.

Potential tag lines:
Now, I look forward to do the dishes
Makes a Mundane Task Extraordinary

Product promise: It is more than just a dish rack, it looks good. It is also very functional, versatile, flexible and customizable. You can also consider it like a game where you need to construct a puzzle with all the dishes you have. There are multiple options on where to put the dishes, which makes the experience fascinating.

Proof:
I am the proof. The ad is a personal testimony which gets its authenticity by the person who does it (me).

Tone:
Fun, Playful, Brisk

Requirements:
Not applicable

Directions:
Not applicable (yet) - experimentation

Executions:
Not applicable (yet) - experimentation

So after a few minutes of playing around with these ideas and picnik, a free photo editing online provider, I actually came up with something quite different than what I envisioned initially. This is the first test:

I do think that the polaroid treatment puts the product in the right category and convey the idea that it is so much more than a dish rack. Who would photograph a dish rack, unless it is really good quality? This still needs some work done, which is why I post it. If you have comments or would like to help me make it better, please let me know.

If you want to know more about the company, please go to simplehuman.com

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My dad, Carl Brabant, was a chemistry teacher at the College de Rosemont for most of his professional life. He retired last year after 35 years (or something like that) of dealing with students that rarely wanted to study. My dad, just like me, is known for having a bit of a mad scientist persona so no wonder he does not always make friends wherever he goes. (just in case you were wondering where this character was coming from) This post has nothing to do with search and I got it from another scientist: Mario Beaudoin from the Nanofabrication Facility at UBC. Thanks Mario! I just felt like posting it because I know he is going to appreciate. That’s for you dad:

A New Addition to Chemistry’s Periodic Table Research has led to the discovery of the heaviest element yet known to science. The new element, Governmentium (Gv), has one neuron, 25 assistant neurons, 88 deputy neurons, and 198 assistant deputy neurons, giving it an atomic mass of 312. These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons. Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert; however, it can be detected, because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A minute amount of Governmentium can cause a reaction that would normally take less than a second to take from four days to four years to complete. Governmentium has a normal half-life of 2-6 years; it does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neurons and deputy neurons exchange places. In fact, Governmentium’s mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganization will cause more morons to become neurons, forming isodopes. This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to believe that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a critical concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as critical morass. When catalyzed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium, an element that radiates just as much energy as Governmentium since it has half as many peons but twice as many morons.

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I discovered the band Keepers a few months ago when my friend Dan Beauparlant told me he was working on a music video for the group. Today, Ric Antonishin and the rest of his Keepers are releasing the video and I am pleased to share it with you. I really like this local rock band and I am pleased to mention that they will be playing at the Coppertank in Kitsilano on December 31, 2007. Tickets are sold at the Coppertank, 3135 West Broadway, Vancouver. I will be there.

Here is the video:

For more information on the rock band Keepers, where they play, when, or if you want to hire them for an evening, please contact Ric Antonishin: ricantonishin{at}shaw.ca

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My friend Taron Hall has traveled extensively during the last few years and he sent me a video today of a crazy road trip he made in Africa to find the Himba Tribes. He made this video as a demo to get himself known as a good host for a travel show which is why I am sharing it around. Taron is a great guy with a big heart and I a confident he would be awesome in such a position. I think you’ll find the video quite entertaining. It’s just 6 minutes long, check it out and send him your comments at tarongoneaway {at} yahoo.ca

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Just in time for Halloween Lee Lefever from Common Craft gives us Zombies in Plain English in the same format as his other cool introduction clips from the Common Craft show.

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My friend YB from The Dizzy Racers is in town and for the next few days, we will be heading to the Island. I will most likely not answer emails but I will be reachable by phone in case of emergency: 778-371-9988. I will be back on Friday, October 19.

Lorenzo Pistone, aka. YB

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My friend James from Up In Ontario wrote a story today on Google’s influence on how we seek and connect with information, across generations. He talks about how his grand-parents perceive our intense daily use of Google. Very touching. You should read it. The Onion also talks about the same topic where they report the launch of “The Google”, the same great Google search engine results with a different interface to appeal to older adults. Hilarious in a typical Onion’s style. 

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