Portable Luxury is the best kind of luxury – those pocket size, or backpack sized items you can take with you on the run. We expect to see a whole lot of small things, and some big items of course, but mostly hand held conveniences that help separate humans from animals. Things like expensive watches and diamond rings will no doubt be popular entries, but also technological apparatus. And remember its all about the photography; if you have a great photo in the mix, its a lot easier to get your friends and strangers from other social networks to come to Lenzr and vote for it. Some of them will sign up and submit their own pictures no doubt, with the prize being so cool, this contest winner is going to have to engineeer support groups.

The prize is a Las Vegas vacation! And that means airfare and hotel accommodation for two people for three days and two nights in this hedonistic hotspot in Nevada. At the time of this writing, Lenzr admin doesn’t know the exact dates, carrier or hotel specifics. No mention of meals, but from what I understand good food comes cheap in Las Vegas hotels. Finally, please remember, the winner is obligated to send Lenzr admin some pictures and anecdotes for storytelling on this blog.

The sponsor is a portable toilet rentals business that owns and can deploy several dozen luxury units to any location in Southern Ontario. If you ask them what the words  ‘portable luxury’ mean, they’ll open the catalogue and show you what Hollywood movie companies rent for A list stars, and the bathrooms going out for the foriegn dignitaries at the G20 summit.  They have some really fantastic bathrooms on wheels.

Backyard Party Events  – Photo Contest Winners

Here’s Sandra Ausma the 2nd place contestant standing beside John Kenyon the marketing director at Absolute Tent and Event Services who was actually the first place winner of the challenge.  It wasn’t a mistake – his photo was excellent and you can read all about it in the contest summary two posts below this one on the Lenzr blog.

Sandra’s photo was equally storyful and she was rewarded with the 10×10 pop-up tent that you can see big John leaning on, as well as, a $500 gift certificate to be spent on anything and everything this unique Toronto party rentals warehouse stocks.

On behalf of John Kenyon let me thank everyone that participated in this very entertaining Lenzr photo contest.

16th photo contest on Lenzr launched May 3rd 2010 has already become a busy space with a couple dozen photos, several hundred votes and sixteen comments.

Crowded Places has become a rich media repository for images relating to really popular recreational activities. Here’s an inside look at unpleasant traffic jams, and pedestrian bottlenecks in rush hour.  There are many geographic variables and circumstances that make popular places that spawn crowded spaces.

Like all photo contests on Lenzr this web challenge is specifically designed for Canadians.  Yes of course anyone may upload photos and participate, but the prize may only be won, and will indeed only be shipped to residents of Canada.

Just as the name Crowded Places implies traffic and commerce, so too has the odour and intensity of competition become manifest in this online photography event. Behold photos of Olympic torch athletes and fish ponds, raves and transit problems.

Everyday the whistle blows and you hear the alarming sound of the municipal rooster in the morning – just watch the people start moving forward on sidewalks, streetcars and subway cars. The same whistle blows all through our history, at meat packing plants and on factory floors. It issues forth from the subway cars and the whistle also sits in the dry mouths of the brave captains who urge their men over the top.

Innate Media Group is a full service web, media design, application development and internet marketing company that consistently provides effective solutions for global business. They make websites that perform well in search engines and this makes crowded places on the internet.

PS everyone at Lenzr just loves the photo of Smojoe submitted by Ampfoto.  The picture was taken at the IABC conference on May 12th at Ryerson in Toronto. The image captures the moment when Rob Campbell announces to the audience that Smojoe stands for ‘social media optimzation’ joe. You can read all about the seminar in Smojoe blog. There was a crowd of at least forty people in the room, and so it does indeed qualify as a crowded place.  The Toronto web developer that sponsored the Crowded Places photo contest is sitting at the laptop with his back to the window.

There’s an art to creating good content on the web; its substance over style here at Lenzr – we admire web content portals that inform readers using an interesting perspective and tone of voice. And we’re always looking around and reading other people’s blogs and scrutinizing other people’s websites (esp photo contest sites), as we surf the net looking for information and opportunities.

This summer lots of people over 50 years old will probably become more aware of Tempo Toronto an online magazine stuffed to the spine with stories and coupons and contests shaped for their demographic. That age group is hard to target, and even harder to please.

Tempo Toronto will satisfy them. Its a decision maker’s magazine that chronicles the sophisticated lifestyles of fascinating people over 50 years old and living and working in the city. Stuffed full of advanced fashion tactics, high class art and photos and links to gorgeous sexy fashion designers like Catherine Curtis. Last month the magazine covered the LG Fashion Week and focused on the Lundström Collection with exclusive pictures and quality journalism. The web portal also reviews Toronto restaurants, theatres and the latest books by bestselling Canadian authors. And of course there’s recipes, coupons, links to contests, and profiles of other people – lifestyles of other cool fifty year old people, musicians and artists and investment bankers.

The 50 Going On 15 photo contest on Lenzr is destined to capture the most courageous 50 year olds riding mountain bikes, motorbikes and driving muscle cars. Show us folks with a little grey in their hair acting years younger, water skiing, snowboarding, or running for their cars in a rain storm. The best pictures will show people in action, doing something outrageous.

The prize is outrageous. It’s a wheelbarrow full of dark chocolate. No kidding – the prize in this Lenzr photo contests is over 50 pounds of pure chocolate, supplied by Chocolicks, Toronto chocolate located at 573 Eglinton Ave west in the heart of Forest Hill.

You might ask yourself, what am I going to do with that much chocolate? We agree it’s a problem. But it’s a nice problem to have.

May 1st 2010 came with a BANG! Traffic to the website was the heaviest it has ever been leading up to the conclusion of the March / April 2010 photo contests. Everyone was anxious to see who won the prizes!

The March April 2010 photo contests on Lenzr were well trafficked. It’s a common opinion that the overall quality of the photography was arguably the best it has ever been, and the number of comments was significantly higher than previous totals.

Toronto Party Rentals employee wins Backyard Party Events

Here at Lenzr, we see something new in every round of contests, and this past session was no exception. John Kenyon the marketing manager at Absolute Tent and Event Services, the Toronto party rentals warehouse on 185 eastern ave, won his own contest.

For the first time ever, the contest sponsor won the prize, and there is no rule against that happening! Remember this website is 100% user driven and so if the sponsors can rally enough support behind their own photography, then they win the prize same as anyone else – there’s no judge or jury to reverse the decision.

Backyard Party Events was otherwise a very cool photo contest filled with images of birthdays and BBQs and even some wedding pictures and Bar Mitzvahs. The challenge was designed to collect party pictures and be dominated by party people that rent the big stuff and make big splashes – we asked to see some legendary events that will ‘stand the test of time’. Admittedly the winning photo entitled Only three remain is exactly what the sponsor had in mind when they commissioned the competition.

The winner is jkenyon, John Kenyon who is the head of marketing at the Toronto party rentals warehouse that sponsored the contest. The picture shows the dregs of a big summer bash, with cool event lighting from a mixture of sources. And there is a gentle hint of story, which makes this image so compelling. It won on its own merits.

The good news is that John Kenyon and everyone at Absolute Tent and Event Services, including Laura the blogger in the warehouse, is incredibly honest and morally fibourous. They couldn’t sleep at night if they thought they’d deprived contesters of a decent prize.

So the 10×10 Pop-up Tent and $500 gift certificate prize will go to the second place photo seen here, entitled, He really “nailed” that pig! This runner-up is equally excellent and was uploaded by a member Sausma1, who is a very prolific Lenzr participant, and one of the same crew that won the VIP Locaboire wine tour in the spring. (If you read that blog post below, you can see her in the in the extreme right hand side of the wine tour group photo) Sausam1 is actually Dr. Sandra Ausma, and in addition to having a PhD and a great eye for pictures, she now also possesses a 10×10 Pop-up Tent, and $500 Gift Certificate good for the rental of anything in Absolute Tent and Event Services catalog. Good win Dr Ausma! We look forward to seeing some pics of you inside that tent!

Sasuma1 also wins the Fire and Ice photo contest

The Fire and Ice photo contest on Lenzr was probably the coolest theme so far in 2010, and will be no doubt be referenced by photographers and artists for many years to come.

There were 26 photos uploaded in this challenge, and 633 votes cast. Yes it was a reasonably hot competition, as so many photographers were eager to show off their fire photography skills.

Nobody was more delighted with the results of the contest than Steve Hamoen, the geothermal design and installation business owner from southern Ontario that sponsored the challenge. On some level this contest got people thinking about how geothermal power is cost effective, reliable, sustainable, and environmentally friendly energy alternative. Historically this energy source has been limited to only a very few areas of the globe, like Iceland and Banff Alberta Canada. But that’s all changed now.

Recent technological breakthroughs have dramatically expanded the range and size of this viable new resource, especially for applications such as home heating, and in particular floor warming. Since the contest launched, Steve Hamoen has started his own blog. Check out the Geothermal Installers Blog and you will see a true Canadian hero with his feet in the dirt, out standing in his field, being an expert in real time.

Lenzr member Sausma1, the same member that placed second in Backyard Party Events challenge and claimed the tent prize by default, won this photo contest as well. The image is right on target, it shows fire and ice garnished with a human subject and a modicum of story.

Sasuma wins a GeoAir PCO air purifier

Dr. Sandra Ausma is probably the perfect candidate to appreciate the benefits of Photo Catalytic Oxidation (PCO) and the resultant clean air. Bacteria, viruses, mold spores don’t stand a chance ariund this machine and are destroyed when they come into contact with the system’s 187 square-inch Ti02 grid. All volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) are destroyed. The system is cost-effective, maintenance-free and provides maximum energy efficiency with negligible resistance to airflow.

Unlike existing air cleaning systems that rely solely on ultraviolet light, the GeoAir PCO device integrates a titanium dioxide semiconductor to leverage photocatalytic oxidation allowing it to vaporize indoor air pollutants, including those that cause odors, and break them down into non-toxic products like C02 and H20.

Toronto business phones

Obsolete Office Equipment was kindly ignored by most folks, in keeping with how most people feel about old and used technology that’s out-of-date, slow or cumbersome to use. The sponsor asked to see pictures of stuff that slows office workers down, and contributes to loss of productivity – overtime having obsolete equipment can cripple a business, esp old telephones and obsolte telecommunications devices.

The contest only had 8 photos uploaded, but accrued 1861 votes! which is strange. And although this web challenge was less succesful than Everyday Tangled Web which broke records for the number of photos and votes, the result was the same – the contest brought lots of traffic and exposure to the sponsor, a business telephones system designer and installer in Tornoto Ontario.

And like other contest sponsors, James Stortz the CEO of S.E. Telecom has also just started blogging on his new S.E. Telecom Blog. The WordPress arena was facilitated by Toronto web developer Innate Media Group, the sidebar widgets and style come from the pimp my blog shop of Smojoe social media marketing.

The winner was an picture of vintage typewriter – content worthy of Dumpdiggers the photo was taken by dausma and she appears to be friends with, and quite possibly related to Sandra Ausma.

The Prize is a 4 Line office telephone AT&T Model 1070. This state-of-the-art communication device has 4 line speakerphone & answering system capability. With Caller ID / Page / Intercom / Call transfer / Expandable to 16 stations / 32 # speed dial / 3 party conference / 6 number redial, it has so many wonderful functions!

Slimmswitch wins Electric Lawnmower from Grass Cutting Company

The How Green Are You? photo challenge was the premier event in last session’s of Lenzr. The challenge collected 27 photos which garnered 1592 votes. Almost all of the images are entirely focused on green subjects, and most have a smattering of story that share insights into the green energy industry and reminders of all the little things that we as a society can do to make a difference.

Sponsored by a solar powered grass cutting business in Toronto Ontario, curious members can read about the company on their grass cutting blog and see pictures of their bio fuel trucks and lawnmower trailers adorned with adjustable solar panels. The firm proudly offers a sustainable, organic service that is also a relatively silent; their Neuton battery powered lawnmowers are very quiet. This service is just finding its legs in the GTA, and needs public support to achieve its true potential.

The contest really did collect a wide array of one sentence stories and snapshots of eco friendly ideas for the benefit of all humanity. And on May 1st 2010, a Lenzr member named Slimmswitch won the prize.

How Green Are You?

Slimmswitch is another regular player on the site. Last fall he placed second in Ontario Tourist Attractions photo contest, which was arguably the most successful lenzr photo contest of all time with over 70 pictures uploaded and over 3000 votes collected.

The How Green Are You? photo contest was very competitive, and there was a real fight between Slimmswitch and another member named Johnny who had a photo wth over 300 votes. Its no secret, these individuals promoted their images on other social networks. Behind the scenes, Slimmswitch used twitter to wrangle votes from friends, while Johnny had posts on other contest social networks funneling participation in exchange for him helping support other people’s endeavours. Some members emailed me to complain – they believe this takes away from the spirit of the contest, and results in poor quality photos winning the grand prize, but from a marketing point of view it’s exactly what the sponsors most wants; they love it when particpants promote their pictures because they make the make the message go ‘viral’.

Neuton CE6 battery powered lawn mower.

Slimmswitch wins the Neuton CE 6 Battery-Powered Mower with DURACELL® battery technology and judging by the comments and chorus of support there will be a lot of friends asking to borrow the equipment. The battery has 360 watt-hours of life and the Neuton CE 6 mower can cut a third of an acre which is approx 15,000 sq. ft. on a single charge.

Great win Slimmswitch!