Category Archives: digital media

App Review: Bing News on Windows Phone 8 Nokia Lumia 1020

Like many of you know, I’ve been using WP7 and WP8 for a little while now. Did you know Rogers doesn’t consider the Lumia 1020 a smartphone? Strange. But I digress. I’ve done a few shout outs to apps on Windows Phone in the past. And I think it’s time for another.

The Bing News App is AMAZING. And maybe it’s because of what my options are. But it’s also because it’s a really good app.

I’m a fan of CBC. I love their radio station here in Toronto and I also listen to a number of their shows via podcasts. Recently, their Sochi Olympic app was heavily used by me and I’m sure millions of Canadians. Even their Windows version of the Sochi app was amazing. But this is about news. And the CBC News app used to be good. But now it just plain sucks. Sucks like a vacuum. It’s really just terrible. It used to be updated. I could share stories via Twitter and Facebook. Now? Well, I’m not sure. The last time I tried using it they only supported titles. Yup. That’s all. I could only read titles of stories. Not even the stories show up anymore.

What about Huffington Post? Nah. Most of the stuff is garbage and link bait. At least their Windows app is. Terrible experience.

And I’m not a fan of American news apps. Hey! I’m Canadian!

And then my future brother in law, Earvin, told me about the Bing News app. Bing? Come on!

Am I glad I listed to him. Bing provides a summary page and then allows me to view news from a handful of sources such as Gizmodo and the Toronto Star. I’m also able to pick specific topics for the app to source for me. My choice so far: Blue Jays (of course!).

The only problem that I have seen so far is that any videos accompanying articles don’t show up on the mobile version of this app. Otherwise I give this 4 K’s out of 5.

My latest on the Catalyst blog: The Sky Is Not Falling

Content Marketing: The sky Is Not Falling
The Sky Is Not Falling

Content marketing has been in the news recently. Well, at least the type of news I tend to consume. I work in the digital content space so I hear and read about people bemoaning the death of content marketing just as much as pundits applaud the benefits of content marketing.

Earlier this week I wrote a piece on content marketing on the Catalyst website. It is in direct response to a piece written by Mark W. Schaefer. I hope you enjoy it.

Read the piece here.

Twitter Marketing: Social Media Marketing Certificate

Twitter Marketing
Twitter Marketing

Later this month (next week in fact) I will be leading a class at George Brown as part of their Continuing Education program. As part of the Social Media Marketing Certificate I will be teaching the Twitter Marketing course.

To say that I am excited would be an understatement. I’m pumped. And not so much about having the opportunity to teach. But the opportunity to share and learn.

Social media continues to change. Both from a tools/platform perspective and a best practises perspective. This will give me and my students the opportunity to learn the latest trends and practises around using Twitter for marketing.

The best part of the course will be our guest speakers. Being situated here in Toronto gives us the opportunity to learn from some interesting people working at cutting edge brands. Twitter Canada also has their offices here (yes, I’m trying to get someone from there to come speak to the class).

Here is who is booked so far:

Trevor Dean from Level 9 Digital Strategies Inc.; Ira Kates from Catalyst; W. Ryan Dodge from Royal Ontario Museum; and Jaime Stein from ING Direct Canada. I’m also hoping to bring in two additional speakers.

So, if you’re interested in earning your Social Media Marketing Certificate and/or want to make sure you’re utilizing the latest Twitter marketing techniques, then this is the class for you:

Acquire the strategic approaches and practical skills needed to engage with a target demographic using Twitter. Evaluate Twitter’s effectiveness as a marketing tool using case studies and assigned readings. Learn to plan, develop and maintain a Twitter presence for your brand, organization or business that delivers real business value.

See you next week!

My latest on itbusiness.ca – 9 Canadians to watch in 2014

itbusiness.ca
itbusiness.ca

Happy New Year everyone! May 2014 be everything you want it to be and more in 2014.

Earlier on Thursday, itbusiness.ca published my latest article. In it I highlight who I think will be the top Canadians to watch in 2014. And not just any Canadians. but those who, I believe, will be making a big impact in 2014 and beyond in digital technology.

I hope you enjoy the article which you can read HERE.

2013: A Look Back

karim kanji
karim kanji

As we approach the last day of 2013 I thought I would take a moment to reflect back on the year.

2013 started off on a high with my start-up, thirdocean. However, it became clear after a few months that the company would either have to undergo some dramatic changes in what we offered or we would have to shut down and move on (which is what eventually has happened). A little bittersweet but a move that has turned out for the best.

My co-founder, Carolyn Van will be starting graduate studies in 2014 and is currently doing some interesting work as a consultant.

In September 2013 I started as the Digital Content Manager with Catalyst. It’s an industry-leading company with some amazing people working here. I can’t wait to tackle 2014 and do some really innovative and interesting things in content marketing. I was also approached by George Brown college. I will start teaching part-time in their Social Media Marketing Certificate program in 2014. That should be fun!

In 2013 I travelled to Orlando to cover BlackBerry’s annual (last?) BlackBerry World Conference. I also went to Bogota, Colombia to check out that South American country’s digital and start-up community.

Top Videos from 2013:

Alicia Keyes at BlackBerry Live 2013

Walk Off The Earth at ING Cafe Toronto

City of Vaughan Twitter Fail

In conversation with Laurie Dillon-Schalk

Royal Ontario Museum – Social Media Coordinator

In conversation with Andrew Jenkins

Community Manager of Real Sports

MADE Clothing

HOVR.IT with Adam Jarczyn

Top Blog Posts from 2013:

HootSuite vs Buffer

the (in)complete list of coworking spaces in Canada

a look back at Syncapse

Think Like Zuck

Beware Bullshit from Conferences

I also continue to contribute to the itbusiness website and community.

Thanks to all my good friends and family who helped support me in 2013. A special shout out to the lovely boys and girls from The Work Republic family, all the Karim’s at big time design and communication, and the smart folks from The Cat’s Pyjamas.

My latest on the Catalyst blog: 5 Content Marketing Trends for 2014

I wrote my last blog post of the year for Catalyst yesterday. This being the end of the year I focused on looking forward to the upcoming year. If you’re in marketing you might find my latest interesting. I’ve enclosed the link after the photo.

content marketing
content marketing

http://catalyst.ca/2014-content-marketing-trends/

Let me know your thoughts and “predictions” in the comments section. Thanks!

 

My latest on Catalyst: Coca-Cola and Content Marketing

http://catalyst.ca/coca-cola-journey-into-content-marketing/

I have my hands full these days working with some really interesting brands on their digital content. Many times I find inspiration from what I see other brands doing. And many of my friends can tell you how HUGE of a fan I am of what RedBull has been consistently doing to raise the bar when it comes to storytelling.

Recently, another beverage company, Coca-Cola, embarked on their own journey of sorts. They recently launched their new website and I wrote about it on the Catalyst blog.

Coca-Cola Jouney
Coca-Cola Jouney

Let me know what you think in the comments section. Thanks!

Maersk Line and Social Media

A few months ago I had the opportunity to chat with Jonathan Wichmann. Who is Jonathan? Among other things he used to be the head of social media for the world’s oldest and largest shipping company: Maersk Line.

maersk line social media
maersk line social media

What is a 100+ year old boring shipping company doing playing in the social space – a space many believe is reserved for sexy and young consumer brands? Well, I hope you take the time to listen to my conversation with Jonathan.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXAQAJGfavM&w=560&h=315]

Now, more than ever, it is important for companies of all sizes and types to understand the value of social media and content marketing. We are all playing in a crowded space. We are not just competing with other brands in our space. We are competing for the attention (heart and minds) with our friends, family, other companies and finally our competitors.

Creating content (social or otherwise) that our consumers and potential consumers want is paramount if we want to rise above the noise and capture the hearts and minds of people and businesses.