Dec 1st 2010 marks a historic time for Lenzr. Membership in this serial photo contest website has grown significantly over the last month; never before have there been such high levels of participation. There have been over 10,000 visitors this month! Look at the spike on Nov 20th when voting began. Saving the voting for the last ten days was a good idea. It certainly has made everything more exciting.

For the last thirty days there have been eight photo contests running on Lenzr with over $3K worth of prizes to be yielded to winning members. The five contests that ended this morning have inspired over a hundred Canadian photographers to upload and share approx three hundred images. The sponsors are thrilled; their branded contests have attracted a lot of attention in many different social networks and image sharing sites.
But these contests are not without controversy.

At 12:01am on Dec 1st 2010  five Lenzr photo contests came to their natural conclusion. The real winners won prizes and their pictures will be discussed in great detail in another post.  Backyard Critters had over 120 images submitted to the index and almost 7ooo recorded votes. That’s incredible.

There are no new photo contests launching on December 1st.

What does Lenzr most want?

Lenzr is a user generated, user governed arena that showcases amateur photography sponsored by online businesses in full or as part of larger digital marketing campaigns. Its okay to visit and vote, and then register as a member and vote again. Its okay to post solicitations in friend networks and on Twitter and Facebook; that’s encouraged.

It’s not okay to use a proxy email server like Malinator to create multiple profiles from which to vote perfect 10′s for your picture. Its not okay to use proxies to hide-your-IP and issue multiple votes from the same computer within a short period of time.

Regarding vote fraud

My name is Rob Campbell and I run Lenzr.com which exists physically in an old warehouse building in downtown Toronto Ontario Canada. I’m not the only stakeholder, but I wear the pants. And I write most of the copy and I make the hard choices, and ultimately, I also make mistakes. But I’m 100% accountable. I stand behind my decisions, and I’m ready to take on all comers.

In the spirit of total transparency I write the following explanations and indeed my sincerest apologies to those curious contenders that were unceremoniously removed from the challenge in the eleventh hour.

Truth is, we were simply not prepared to stop IP proxy vote fraud as effectively as I had earlier believed. It happened in all contests, and it certainly dampened my enthusiasm for an otherwise spectacular session. Instead of being excited by the numbers, I grew apprehensive that there would be more witnesses and ultimately more anger to the unnatural accumulation of votes and the embarrassing demise of three or more contenders. Lenzr tried to be a purely democratic system…  we really did try.

Why delete photos at the last minute?

During the course of the contest it became clear that certain image submissions were being advanced in a fraudulent manner using 3rd party IP proxy services and other connivances. This has happened before on Lenzr and photos have been deleted accordingly. New methods were introduced after September sessions to give better insight into the source of votes, but unfortunately these devices didn’t work to prevent all types of fraudulent votes. On Nov 22nd, Lenzr admin made the difficult choice to continue exhibiting the contests without any interference, rather than issue public statements or email personal warnings or delete photos and ban members as the contest progressed, fearing retaliatory moves which the site was unable to prevent.

The decision was made to make a list of known offenders and remove them with only a few minutes left in the contest which appears somewhat cruel, but makes a lot of sense when it is explained. These people have violated the Lenzr Terms of Service and so their photos can be deleted at any time.

I chose to remove them from competition when there was smallest window of retaliation. You see we feared they’d use their proxies and bogus accounts to fraudulently affect other people’s submissions.

For example, Pretty in Pink was deleted from the Pets in Winter Coats contest.  This is an excellent example of vote fraud that’s easily detected using even the most basic analytical analysis tools.

Here at Lenzr we have very advanced fraud detection equipment, which I’m not at liberty to show, as well as basic resources like good old Google Analytics, which I can use to illustrate my point here in this blog.

Remember in the Pets in Winter Coats contest there were two highly ranked member submissions doing battle for top position. Above is a picture called Pretty in Pink which had a lot of comments, but they were almost all fake.  Just by using a simple analytics tool, anyone can see that the number one referring site to this photo page was Malinator.com * Please, click the picture, it expands.

The second submission was a near perfect vote solicitation in social media case study – a true win win scenario.

The winner of the contest was Dressed, Prairie Winter which features a beagle in a sweater sitting outside on the prairies – this photo collected friends’ votes from 21 different referring sites including, Facebook followed by SmartCanucks, Twitter, Frugal Shopper, and RedFlagDeals.   This participant worked hard to spread the message.  This member deserves to win the snow blower prize being offered by the sponsor.

Once again I must announce changes to the Lenzr photo contest model.

Starting Jan 1st 2011, all Lenzr photo contests will be decided by a mixture of member voting to bring about a Top Ten grouping from which the winner is ultimately decided by judge(s) appointed by the sponsor and announced at the beginning of the event.

I’ll be the first to admit that this makes more sense. The best photos will make the top ten, and although the commenting and community sharing frenzy will certainly be diminished, cheating should also be reduced.

More information on new IP proxy filters, formats, winners and prizes to follow. Do you have questions or criticisms? Let me know in the comments – we publish all queries and complaints.

On Weds, 20th October 2010, Rob Campbell of Lenzr met Slimmswitch (Helder H) and his wife CheeslyC at Balzacs, outside the art gallery /coffee shop in the historic Distillery District complex at 55 Mill St Toronto.

On that happy occasion Rob presented Helder with two prizes donated by last month’s Lenzr contest sponsors, a Blackberry Bold 9700 and an Apple iPad courtesy of a Toronto area deck building company.

How does Slimmswitch win prizes in Lenzr photo contests?

After we handed Slimmswitch the goods,  we asked him about his ‘winning process’.  Much to our collective surprise, Helder told us exactly how he incentivizes friends to come to Lenzr and vote for his images.

Slimmswitch, like so many other Lenzr winners, harnesses a network of ready voters on Facebook, and on Twitter and he even takes the bold step of individually emailing his real friends and acquaintances to ask for their help and participation on his behalf.  And now, long after the contest has ended, he’s still paying them back. When they post pleas for help, he comments and clicks on their written pieces, he spends half an hour a night paying them back with ‘thumbs up’, comments and votes. Its a time commitment to his growing ‘friend network’. Amazing eh?

Helder holds the Lenzr prizes, a Blackberry Bold 9700 smart phone courtesy of Smojoe Social Media Marketing, and a brand new Apple iPad.

How Helder became Slimmswitch?

Years ago, when he first signed up for internet service over the telephone Helder was speaking to phone rep for AOL (America On Line) and he was asked to pick a user name. The handle had to be something other than his real name, and hard pressed Helder looked around his home office for inspiration and found it stamped on the SLIM SWITCH printer switch that channeled information to a series of interconnected printers.

As an AOL user, Helder built quit a reputation as Slimmswitch in online contest forums – this is where he built the network of friends and supporters that help him today.

This is Helder’s third and fourth prize on Lenzr

Helder has won two prizes on Lenzr before.  Most recently, some readers might  remember that Slimmswitch won the rechargeable battery powered Nueton CE6 lawnmower in the How Green are You? photo contest.  And of course Lenzr members might also remember that these winning pictures really aren’t anything special. And we mean that in the kindest possible way.  But its true, even the most eccentric judges would probably not have selected Helder’s photo(s) as winners  – yet he won.  He won on Oct 1st 2010 because today the appraisal system on Lenzr is a purely numeric accounting program; the greatest number and quality of votes always wins the prize(s).  Sure its easy to game, but only by doing what the sponsors want most; by collecting friends and sending referrals to vote on their images, the individuals promoting their pictures are encouraging participation on Lenzr as a whole.

Now is that fair? Not entirely. Where is the photography art appreciation in collecting friends?

Please be patient with Lenzr. Its growing and getting busier. Soon it’ll be as big as the ocean, and then it’ll be real hard for one contester to colour it purple.  Indeed there’s some mind blowing  stuff coming down the pipe.  We are designing an entirely new social interface that will distribute sponsors coupons while tracking and measuring each user’s honour.  No insight into release date yet … but there is a surprise coming for Nov 1st 2010.

This is Eric C‘s prize winning photo Morning Rays
Contest: Morning Sunshine
Tags: rays, light, sun, sunrise, morning, trees
Current Score: 381.90
Total Views: 999
Uploaded on: 19 Sep 2010 @23:15

The August / September lenzr photo contest was indeed a strange session.

The new voting ritual certainly tested the vote fraud mechanisms and tested this Administrator’s own patience with humanity. But of course it was a blessing in disguise, and it taught us all a valuable lesson.  I’d like to report more, but this isn’t the place for that and the really juicy stuff will probably have to wait for the feature film about Lenzr.

Suffice to say that after the October / November photo contests have been announced there will be time to detail the new vote algorithm, and new vote fraud detection systems.  My apologies to anyone that’s disillusioned with the processes by which Lenzr collects votes – please keep an eye on this unique contest portal however, because  in the near future we’re introducing some really radical ideas including VIP voting with pin #s, and or a badge code honour system.

The Morning Sunshine photo contest was where most of the action occurred last month. There were 45 photos uploaded, and almost 2500 votes!  This challenge really captured the imagination of the membership and it was a hard fight between Morning Rays and Sunrise of my Heart.  We all thought for sure that ljclo was going to win, but then Eric C pulled ahead at the last moment.  It was an honest win that happened in the last six hours of the contest.  Indeeed Eric C won after he wrote the tender comment, “Thanks everyone for your votes and support. I was hoping to win the IPad to test and app for children with Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome but it looks like I will have to get one another way. Thanks anyway guys!” This comment tugged at everyone’s heart strings, and most certainly affected other members and visitors, and in the end, that might have been what put him over the top! Congratulations Eric C !

The View From The Roof photo contest was the second most popular preoccupation of at least twenty different Lenzr members. The challenge enjoyed 34 image submissions and 1150 votes from members and visitors. It was a tough fight that was eventually won by ljclo

View From The Roof was sponsored by an industrial roofing company that’s owned by Dan Sheridan located in Toronto Ontario he services the GTA and most of southern Ontario. He was very impressed with the diversity, and the overall quality of all the imaginative submissions. The winner was… well it was unusual to say the least and roofing guys appreciate that particular view, even if it wasnt the most photographically breathtaking or beautiful vista.

A veteran Lenzr member and previous contest winner named Slimmswitch took first place in the People Building Things photo challenge. This contest enjoyed 22 photo submissions and over 700 votes. Whenever the contest asks for specific images like that, the numbers are always a little lower, and consequently the odds of winning are perhaps a little higher.

And finally its our great pleasure to announce that Slimmswitch is a multiple winner in this session! His photo Clubbing Conflict is the winner of the Conflict photo contest that was sponsored by Smojoe social media marketing in Toronto.  Congratulations Slimm, the prize is a Blackberry Bold 9700 smartphone which will no doubt only improve your already powerful social network.

Three new photo contests will launch July 10th 2010. They will be subject to a new voting ritual. A change is occurring whereby pictures are collected and displayed until the last two weeks of the contest, when votes are collected. This levels the playing field for photographers and professional contesters.  Please read more about the new Lenzr voting mechanisms in the next post.

May June contests come to a conclusion, with one strange upset…

Another unusual chapter in the story of Lenzr has been written today. An unprecedented event occurred at 11:45pm on June 30th, 2010. Mommakoala’s image, My Candy Stash was eliminated from the competition. The correction was made by admin.  The result of their decision makes her ineligible to win the Portable Luxury photo contest, and the Las Vegas vacation prize for which she has been campaigning in multiple social networks for a month.

Debbie is upset, Bill is furious, but Lenzr has to be fair to all members.

As everyone knows this blog is connected to a serial photo contest website that issues new challenges every sixty days. Its the only indy photo contest website of its kind, and as such it has developed a core following of veteran contesters that dominate each challenge and sub-divide the spoils. These individuals scour other social networks recruiting votes and promoting their work, and this activity is encouraged by admin. That’s right. We like it when that happens. When contesters put the message out on their own social platforms it compounds the quality and distribution of the marketing.

However, Lenzr website admin must also guard against proxy IP vote fraud and multiple domain registrations for / by which the only activity is voting perfect 10s for specific images from specific members (and voting 1 for everyone else) We can see when that happens.

Although Mommakoala’s My Candy Stash was the only photo removed in this session, almost all of the photos uploaded by just about every member have red flags attached to them in Lenzr reports; they are being flagged for some terms of service violation or another, by both humans and the filter. And that’s understandable because its just the way the votes are collected…

WHO’S TO BLAME? Because the abuse is so widespread across the entire database we have to believe that individual contesters themselves are not really responsible for the methods and passion of their friends, or strangers who might otherwise seek to disqualfy them.

Its a strange web we weave when we invent and launch a ‘democratic photo contest website’ made ‘by the people for the people’ wherein admin has ALMOST no control.

Remarkably, Seattledredge’s Portable City had no such red flags or suspicious activity. It appears to have collected 330 points in a most organic fashion. Admin had to act here, to be fair to Seattle and reward her for submitting some very pretty images in all three categories.

So a decision was made to reward Seattle’s image over Mommakoala’s submission, and as Admin has no power over the voting algorithm itself, our only option was to eliminate Debbie’s image entirely from competition.

Mommakoala is one of our favourite associations. As you will read in the next write-up, Debbie’s Elton Johnish photo is the winner of the 50 Going On 15 photo contest, and she will collect over 50 lbs of pure chocolate from Choclicks courtesy of TempoToronto.ca

Ve3bnw Bill Watson, Debbie’s husband will reap the Blackberry reward for having submitted the first place photo in the Crowded Places photo contest. I myself, Rob Campbell the Lenzr blogger have offered to host a banner promoting Bill’s aerial photography business in the sidebar of the Lenzr blog.

NOW WE ADAPT A SMARTER PROGRAM where VOTES ARE COLLECTED AT THE END

From July 1st 2010 forward, Lenzr has a new voting ritual. The new procedures will cure all the vote fraud malaise as we together evolve and perfect this social experiment and make it friendlier and fair for everyone that chooses to participate. Comments and queries are encouraged and will be answered directly.

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!

On Saturday March 13th 2010, The Wine Ladies, myself Rob Campbell, and Dave Dingle of Shrinkray,  hosted the winners of two Lenzr photo contests and together enjoyed a Locaboire wine tour of Prince Edward County, Ontario.

The winner of Macro Photos of Life, Bill Watson ve3bnw and his wife Debbie, joined the winner of Best Gourmet Food Sandra Ausma sausma1 and her companion Johnny Cochrane.

Locaboire Wine Tour of Prince Edward Co.

The wines of Prince Edward Co have gained prominence over the last decade, which is remarkable considering most of the vineyards in the area didn’t exist fifteen years ago. This is still a very young wine region, but the idea is maturing as viticulturists are now producing excellent products.

Partly because of its soft and friable calcareous limestone soil, and partly due to assiduous care on the part of its winemakers who have learned how to protect their vines each winter to shelter the tender primary buds from killing cold, the vines have endured and excelled in tastings all over the world.

We all met up at The Timberhouse

Lenzr attracts an interesting mix of people, and our assembly was a terrific cross section of contest participants and colourful sponsors; there was great chemistry right from the beginning.

Everyone was surprised to find a stretch limousine waiting for us outside the  Timberhouse Resort in Brighton Ontario.  Some local vintages were waiting inside, with more down the road. The wine started flowing from the moment we all climbed aboard.

From left to right, Rob Campbell, Dave Dingle, Michell Walkau, Susanne and Georgia – The Wine Ladies, Debbie (MommaKoala), Johnny Cochrane and Dr. Sandra Ausma at The Grange Winery – that’s Caroline Granger pouring Trumpours Mill, 2007 Pinot Noir. Photos by Bill Watson (Ve3bnw) check ve3bnw Flickr stream for more pics.

The Locaboire Wine Tour started at The Grange

The prize winners enjoyed a short (hot) drive in a long limousine through the brown landscape of Prince Edward County in Eastern Ontario, and past some very old properties with dilapidated barns and overgrown stone fences. i though I saw some wild apple trees – all that remains of the orchards that were planted on every farm in the area in the early 1800s. This region boasts some of the oldest settlements in Ontario and the wineries people are quite connected to their history.

This is a blossoming wine country in the springtime of its existence and our tour visited three of the twenty wineries that are here now; ten more vineyards have planted grapes and hope to establish themselves in the near future.

Ten minutes into the expedition our limousine turned off the paved road and gingerly traversed down a muddy sideroad, over Dorland Creek, and past a 19th century  farmhouse to stop outside The Grange winery.

Inside a cozy wooden barn we met Caroline Granger who, along with her father Bob Granger, owns the property and facilities.   This family manages six different vineyards, with six different varietals – they harvest 180 tonnes of grapes every year.

Caroline was great and The Wine Ladies really liked her – Susanne and Georgia unpacked their signature oversized wine glasses, and we shot three segments for The Wine Ladies TV show in three different locations on the property.

Caroline was very down to earth as she related the history of her property – the farm is 200 years old and was once the location of a chicken canning business which packed under the label Meadowvale farms.  The chicken cannery was quite succesful in the early 1900s and printed material still exists that show the goods were sold in the market of the Eaton Centre in downtown Toronto.  Caroline Granger was born and raised on the property, she described how she plowed the fields when she was a little girl and  The Wine Ladies in particular were very impressed with her – they remarked afterward how genuine it is for the proprietor of a winery to be so well connected to the climate and soil, the terrior of the region.

Next Stop, Closson Chase – 629 Closson Rd, Hillier Ontario

At 3:30 pm the Locaboire wine tour continued down the road to Closson Chase.

Its no secret, these vineyards was founded by and are still owned and managed by a smattering of Canadian film and television celebrities, most notably Sonia Smits. The first test plots were planted in 1998 and the winery itself was founded in 1999.

This destination was a perfect exercise in serious wine tasting as Lynn Carmichael explained that Closson has two properties. The grape vines on their farm in Niagara are 30 years old, while the vines grown here in Eastern Ontario come from vines that are less than six years old. We tasted the difference as we sampled the Chardonnay – one glass was from 6 yr old vines, and other from 30 yr old vines. We savoured the contrast, and came to understand more about the structure of wine in general. It was a good education, and great exercise.

All of the wine we consumed on the Locaboire tour was of course Estate Bottled which means the wine was produced from grapes grown on the farm, or by the estate.

Locaboire Wine Tour ends at RoseHall Run

The final destination on our Locaboire wine tour was Rosehall Run at 1241 Greer Rd Wellington Ontario where we met Dan Sullivan who is both the winemaker and vineyard manager. He is a lifetime student of the art of making good wine (in large batches) and has been honing his craft for almost fifteen years. This guy is super passionate about his life’s work and very hands on, eager to discuss the smallest details of his craft. At one point he stood over a pump and explained how the mechanism could move whole grapes to the press without breaking or bruising the fruit. He also lectured on the experience of setting up the winery itself, and the geology of the soil as evidenced in the barrel cellar, which was hewn out of the same limestone that makes the grapes so delicious.

This walk about Rosehall Run got most interesting down in the barrel cellar where Dan did a great interview with The Wine Ladies. The group tasted several different wines , including 2008 Sullyzwicker rose and red, and a syrah that was made from grapes grown on a neighbour’s property, Steven Singer the viticuluralist of nearby Fieldstone.

The Timberhouse

That evening, at the Timberhouse we tucked into an incredible feast accompanied by the wines we enjoyed throughout the day. The chef prepared a feast fit for visiting monarchs, and indeed that’s certainly how we felt about ourselves at that time.

The Dinner Menu at The Timberhouse

First a small bowl of sautéed shrimp in Tai sauce garnished with diced pepers and strawberries on a tuft of vermicelli laying on a big piece of Swiss Chard.

Second course was a crisp  salad of assorted greens, with tomato wedges and cucumbers smothered in raspberry vinagrette

Third course and entree featured bacon wrapped Fillet Mignon in a herb compound butter with rosemary roasted potatoes an fresh vegetables.

All this was followed by a delicious homemade chocolate cake for desert.

The wines we drank at dinner include,

Rosehall Run 2007 VQA Pinot Noir
Rosehall Run 2007 Riesling
Rosehall Run 2007 Cabernet Franc
Rosehall Run 2007 Gewurztraminer
The Grange of Prince Edward Vineyards 2008 Trumpour’s Mill Gamay Noir
Closson Chase 2007 Chardonnay VQA Prince Edward County
Redtail Vineyard 2007 Pinot Gris
Redtail Vineyard 2007 Pinot Noir
Huff Estates 2008 VQA Riesling Off-Dry

Downtown Toronto, its winter time and Absolute Tent and Event Services is stuffed to the rafters with everything required to make a party.  This place is a bonafide party bomb waiting to explode with tents and staging, folding chairs and tables, event lighting and so many other luxuries waiting to be delivered and assembled in backyards all over the Greater Toronto Area.  Kaboom its party time!

Just because its winter time is no excuse not to throw a party. This building is filled with heaters and insulated tents, snow blowers, troughs and buckets. Maybe we should have a made their photo contest a ‘winter parties’ theme?

Their building is huge and multi-faceted and worth visiting if you live in Toronto and you’re organizing an event. Tell them you’ve entered a photo on Lenzr and you may get 10% off…  maybe.

Here’s Laura, the Absolute blogger who is our eyes and ears inside this busy Toronto tent and party rentals house. She gives us the skinny on upcoming events, Hollywood film shoots, parades and even Toronto waterfront conditions from the perspective of a rentals house employee, which is kind of fascinating. The company does movies and big City of Toronto public occasions too, like Canada Day,  Woofstock and Gay Pride Parade  and so its possible she will have celebrity pictures and details about the assembly and clean-up of big urban bashes. Another interesting thing about Laura are the little glimpses we get into her daily life at the business, and how she struggles to improve her skills driving forklifts and

Backyard Party Events is for the little people who host their own good times at home. Every photographer worth his salt has party pictures and the ones we want to see will hopefully show off some residential geography and show off backyard BBQs, games and dancing under shady trees. Already there are shots of some rowdy kids and a whole of beer cans, but I think we can do better than that.

The prize for the Lenzr member that uploads the highest ranked picture is a spiffy new 10×10 Popup Tent, and $500 Gift Certificate * that must be spent at Absolute Tent and Event Services obviously. Laura is actually building the tent prize in the photo above and the Absolute blog will detail its specifics.

It’s March 1st 2010 today. Three photo contests ended on Lenzr at 12:01 am this morning, and now three more photo challenges are set to begin.  It wasn’t the smoothest contest we must admit – the changes to the voting algorithm caused severe problems when the votes were finally collected.  But all issues have been resolved, and now the website voting, grading and ranking mechanisms are well oiled and twice tested.

So let’s have a look at who won the last contests, how and why…

The Kids in Action photo contest was a real battlefield last month. With 27 photos uploaded and 851 total votes there was some competition for the prize , an advanced NiteWhite teeth bleaching kit courtesy of a Toronto dentist.

The photo named Soccer Stand by a rather prolific user named  seattledredge (why does nobody ever capitalize their username?) garnered the most votes.

Uploaded on: 27 Jan the image was a late addition and still managed to win with a score of 215.80 points.

The Total Votes:      116
Popular rating:        8.4 (99 votes)
Registered rating:   7.1 (17 votes)

Congratulations seattledredge !

The Everyday Tangled Web photo contest got the most attention, and to some extent it went viral as phone service technicians called each other and shared their most horrific case studies with the public.  There were 28 photos uploaded into the competition, and these images accrued 1680 votes.  The classic pictures uploaded by members Tialdone and Phonemaster were exceptionally good, real pictures of everyday tangled webs clogging telephone service rooms and data racks.  This is what the sponsor most wanted the public to see as this is the particular type of mess they specialize in curing.

Not surprisingly however the winner was a much less technical image that caught the hearts and tickled the minds of voting patrons.

The photo of a colourful stuffed animal lost in the wires and cables that was uploaded by a user named mroy won the challenge with humour and grace. Her picture, This Looks Yummy carried the storyful caption: “My twin grandsons hid this toy for me to find. Took me 2 hrs to find it, hidden behind my computer.”  The image with caption earned a total score of  573.30 points.
Total Votes:             247
Popular rating:      8.5 (189 votes)
Registered rating: 7.4 (68 votes)

Congratulations mroy ! You win the Plantronics Voyager wireless headset courtesy of an office phone systems provider in Markham Ontario!

And finally,

The winner of the Best Gourmet Food photo contest was Berry Delicious!, a photo uploaded by another very prolific photographer, member named sausma1 that she snapped at her friend’s wedding.

The caption reads, ‘There’s nothing like the taste sensation of squeezing seasonal fresh berries in your mouth. These are Mini-Creme Brulee with fresh berries.’

The very attractive and informative picture scored of 119.30 points

Total Votes:              47
Popular rating:       6.9 (32 votes)
Registered rating:  6.3 (15 votes)

Congratulations sausma1 ! This talented shutterbug will now be joining myself (and last session’s Macro Photos of Life contest winner Bill Watson plus guest) and The Wine Ladies on the Locaboire Eastern Ontario wineries and breweries tour

Stay focused on the Lenzr blog for stories about the winners as they receive their prizes.

The first contest period has ended now, September 1st 2009 and three winners have been declared. These members will soon be contacted by Lenzr admin re:  delivery of prizes, testimonials, and perhaps even candid self portraits. It was a very successful launch and there were so many photos uploaded to the index we wondered about adopting some kind of photo Inventory Software to keep track of all the submissions in all different categories, and indeed this might be something we consider licensing in the future. In the meantime,

Best Toronto Skyline had 46 photos submitted, including some amazing shots with lightning and ducks and vintage shots of the skyline that have all together gathered up over 2500 votes.

The first contest was sponsored by Lenzr.com and brought a lot of attention to the site. The prize is a Pentax Optio P90 digital camera.

The winner is DuCourt, who describes himself in the third person in his Lenzr.com profile, “Thomas is a long-standing freelance film technician in the Toronto film industry who is attempting to transition into an on-set photographer”. That could explain the wide aspect ratio here. There was certainly room for more details, objects and nouns contained in a Storage Ottawa solution, especially for the contest winners who become burdened with fame.

The photo entitled Looking back is a wonderful panorama shot of the city and bears the Caption ‘I took this photo looking back from one of my favorite Toronto hang-outs – THE DOCKS driving range down on Cherry St.’ This photo won the prize with 107 green thumbs up.

Summer in Toronto had people snapping and submitting shots of anything and everything outdoors in Toronto . The rules were fast and loose to encourage mass participation.  This was the most successful contest with 58 pictures uploaded and over 3700 votes.

This contest was sponsored by myCELLmyTERMS and offers as reward one smart phone.

The winner is Snickerzmom, whose bio reads,  ‘just me, a great BF and three cats’.  She wins the grand prize with a picture of a man (her father?) at the Blue Jays game.

Dad at the Game had 112 green thumbs up and the caption may have contributed to the success of this image. Caption “This is one of my favourite pictures of my Dad. For me, enjoying the game with my Dad is one of the best things about TO. It’s our time!”

Stay tuned for more details on Snickerzmom meeting representatives of myCELLmyTERMS to declare her choice and receive the grand prize.

Which phone will she choose?
Emergency in Toronto had 15 photos and gathered over 300 total votes.

The contest was sponsored by Bristall Morgan and offers an Esquire Verve 2020 luxury watch as reward.

The winner is mpirra.  This photographer’s bio reads, ‘I have been an amateur photographer for the past 30 years. Would like to go pro one day‘.

The winning photo,  entitled Firefighter saving lives carries the helpful Caption “Toronto Firefighter returning from a fire”.  This image won the contest with 55 green thumbs up.

Emergency in Toronto event was the most rigidly thematic of Lenzr contest cycle #1. The web challenge tasked users to upload images of Toronto’s frontline emergency respeonse workers in action and because of the stern criteria it received the fewest votes, but perhaps the most attention. Some of our favourite photos have been uploaded here

Lenzr.com is almost sixty days old, and now has 73 members that have uploaded 114 original photos which have collectively amassed 6000 votes.  So far only one user has been banned from the website, and only four photos have been removed by Admin from the listings.

Here’s a glance at the Google Analytics dashboard for the entire first contest period. The spikes correspond to marketing initiatives by partners on various affiliated platforms. Participation is growing as Lenzr.com discovers new markets for contest data and streamlines the information distribution processes.

Hooray!  This is reason enough to cheer. I’ve seen other contests with twice the budget do half those numbers. And I want to give a shout out to those photographers who uploaded some really creative shots (like mighty shrimp’s picture of the 2008 Queen St Fire (below) and the lady who gave up the pictures of Cherry beach and Toronto Harbourfront. The high level of creativity is another big reason to cheer…Yay!

Summer in Toronto is the most successful contest with 56 pictures submissions and 3594 votes.  Highlights here include pictures of a man and dog eating ice cream, a Toronto Blue Jays fan, and a little boy in a splash pond.

Best Toronto Skyline has 44 photos submissions, including some amazing shots with lightning and ducks and vintage shots of the skyline, that have together gathered a total of  2390 votes.

Emergency in Toronto had 14 photos and 269 total votes – this was the hardest challenge and yet our favourite of the bunch. Photos like the one below (credit to mighty shrimp) are perfect as make Lenzr.com a worthwhile social political and historically culturally relevant destination.  In otherwords these shots make Lenzr cool.

Stay tuned for information on contest winners. These three contests end August 31st 2009. The Winners are the members who uploaded the most popular photos in each contest, as determined by the number of green thumbs up votes. And I should mention that the red ‘thumbs down’ vote does nothing, just so you know. Yes that’s what we’re changing…

UPCOMING CHANGES:
It’s no secret the voting mechanism is flawed – its too simple and inspires user manipulation. There’ll will be a multitude of minor changes coming in Contest Period #2 (the next round of contests will commence September 1st and conclude on October 31st 2009) The very first thing to be changed is the voting mechanism, alterations are also being made to the user registration process.

REGISTRATION:
Upcoming changes will force all current users to re register their usernames and profile information and check boxes to accept or deny coupons from sponsors, and other options.

LENZR WIDGET ADOPTERS
Have a look at DebLewis.ca and check out the 100x vertical sidebar widget on the lower half of the template.