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.

James Stortz the  C.E.O. and founder of  S.E. Telecommunications really surprised us when he came up with this perfect idea for a photo contest on Lenzr.  He said, why not make a challenge to show ‘tangled messes’ so we can make fun of how wired everyone is these days? And we said, of course.

James you’re a genius. The photo contest Everyday Tangled Web is designed to pinpoint the tangles that we, as a society, create and use everyday.

What does the back of your computer look like? If you run a network with multiple terminals in your home or business it can get really complicated behind the scenes. Add cable TV or fiber optic wires and device wires and audio cables and telephone wires and it becomes a real mess.  But can this mess ever be beautiful?  With or without the dust bunnies?

Its a challenging assignment, finding wired messes is not difficult, but it takes a special kind of artist to transform a natural composition of strings and wires, or steam hoses or even human hair into compelling photographic art.  This kind of out-of-the-box thinking by James will certainly require some innovative photo tactics by Lenzr members.

S.E Telecom would like to remind the public that choosing the correct business telephone system is very important, as that system will be an integral part of your business, helping you to grow and develop closer links with your clients. The wrong system can be expensive and disastrous.

This company is fast becoming the best business telephone systems provider in Toronto, offering consulting, design, implementation and support for small to medium sized businesses. They have integrated services for some of the most successful companies to date, such as Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Redline Communications, Remedy’s Rx, dineTO, to name a few.  They are distributors of AVAYA and Nortel giving them cutting edge solutions to bring your business to the next level. Located in Markham Ontario,  S.E. Telecommunications are experts at,

1.    Assessing your needs

2.    Mobile integration, including,  a)  Advanced Conference Calling Abilities  b)  Voicemail to Email c)    Call Recording  d)    Call Center  e)    Route-to-fax capability/Fax to E-Mail  f)   Cell phone Integration  g)    Call Detail Recording/Call Tacking

3.    De-mystifying the jargon and making sense of   a) VoiP or IP - Voice over Internet protocol and Internet protocol  b)  KSU - Key system unit  c)  PBX - Private branch exchange  d)  HOSTED PBX - A hosted PBX system delivers PBX functionality as a service  e) IVR - Interactive voice response.

4.    Estimating how many lines or trunks and how many extensions you need

5.    Choosing a supplier

SE Telecom designs phone systems that offer powerful capabilities to help employees communicate more effectively with customers, vendors, and each other. Combining advanced, big business functionality with the ease of use and simplified management that small businesses require.

The prize for the Everyday Tangled Web photo contest is a Plantronics Voyager 510SL+ Bluetooth Headset System with Lifter, retail Value $429.00

Enjoy wireless freedom in the office or on the go with the Plantronics Voyager 510S Bluetooth Headset. Ensuring lightweight, all-day comfort, the Voyager 510S delivers superior sound quality and provides WindSmart technology for clear voice transmission. At the touch of a button you can seamlessly switch between office phone and voice-enabled Bluetooth mobile device. Wherever, Whenever, Wireless
Highlights
•    Bluetooth-Enabled Technology
•    One headset for wireless communication in and out of office
•    Lightweight headset design for all-day wearing comfort
•    Desk phone adapter turns your office phone into a Bluetooth phone
•    Versatile headset for both office and Bluetooth mobile phones
•    Noise-Canceling microphone for clearer conversations
•    WindSmart provides wind-noise reduction technology for optimal sound clarity
•    Headset folds for easy storage
•    One-touch call control buttons
•    Now in silver for a sleek, updated look
•    Included lifter automatically lifts handset and returns it to the cradle
•    Enables remote or one touch call answer/end with your Plantronics headset
•    Included travel kit contains carrying pouch, CLA charger, USB charger, and indicator

“Using cutting edge technology and feature rich products is the corner stone of our business.  We have a team of researchers who are constantly reviewing the latest in telecommunications technology to ensure each of our clients has the latest and best systems out on the market.  That paired with our high level of customer service, and technicians that go the extra mile is what sets us apart from the rest. Whenever you need us wherever you need us, we are there for you”. James Stortz CEO, SE Telecommunications Ltd. www.setelecom.ca

This photo contest ends March 1st 2010 and at that time the member that uploaded the photo with the highest rating will win this prize. Good luck to all participants!

Readers of this blog, photographers, Lenzr members and friends know that this website is a work in progress. We are starting something here, and with bold intentions we are trying to perfect a mechanism that efficiently ‘harnesses business to make art’.  Already the success of our enterprise has proven that buzz marketing attached to a photo contest is a healthy way for any company and especially local business to tell consumers the specifics of their offering and share branded content and user submitted photo genius through an expanding social network.

But all is not perfect. There are problems that need to be remedied and the biggest issue seems to be the manner by which the winning photo is selected.

As you know on Lenzr, there are two qualities of votes. To encourage more participation, we have opted to have a popular vote that does not require registration, and yet we have a registered vote that is more powerful.  In the last set-up the registered vote was worth five times more than a popular vote.  In the new equation it will be worth 10x more than a popular vote, and members will have to have uploaded a photo before they can cast a registered vote. Newly registered members that have not uploaded a photo or if their photo has been deleted, will find their registered votes actively or retroactively rescinded into popular votes.

Another factor is the number of votes, and this is where we went wrong last contest period. The weight was too high and the members who uploaded their images first received the lion’s share of audience participation and won by sheer volume of votes, both low and high scores.  In the new algorithm, the # of votes will still count, but only be worth half as much.

Slimmswitch wrote us an email last week and said,  “Maybe another suggestion would be to allow both the registered user and anonymous user to only be able to vote on one photo per day as opposed to every photo? as people might get others to vote a terrible score on every other photo.  I think this would make voting more accurate as people will be forced to vote more honestly.” Our response: Although we agree that limiting the # of votes per day would force people to be selective and discriminating, we think it would be too limiting, and severely affect participation numbers, which is a metric intricately connected to our sponsorship sales efforts.

# of Comments Here at Lenzr we have decided to add another variable to our increasingly complex formula. Now we are adding # of comments to the equation. Each comment will be considered a positive addition to the photo selection metrics.

SUMMARY of the new LENZR SCORING ALGORITHM

The winning photo on Lenzr will now be selected by a combination of Registered Votes and Popular votes, whereby Registered Votes are worth 10x more than Popular Votes. The total numbers of votes each photo receives will be halved and this amount added to the equation.  And finally the # of comments will collected and added to the scoring with each comment being worth one perfect or 10/10 registered vote.

Lets try that, and see where we are in sixty days. Your feedback is appreciated.

Friends and photographers visiting Lenzr.com last week migt have noticed some changes in the mix; there have been about twelve small fixes and three large alterations to the code.

Profound changes have been made to the way people vote on images.  We’ve abandoned the thumbs in favour of a rainbow coloured numeric scale for greater accuracy.

And there are now two kinds of votes, public and registered. Public votes are for fun and will not count for deciding winners. Registered votes are made by registered users. Participate in either way, and our system will log your computer’s IP address to prevent multiple votes.

Users cannot vote on their own photos. The image above was uploaded by quansathome; her computer will not show the rainbow vote bar.

Users can disable their accounts at anytime, and they can delete their photos within 24 hours of uploading them onto the site.

Do you have any suggestions?

This amazing woman is the Contest Queen, a very active contest participant and promoter with over twenty years experience and wisdom to share. She’s also a prolific author and thinker and a very informative and entertaining blogger.  Add it all up and Carolyn is a profoundly original web marketer that would probably like to be considered North America’s Contest Queen, and indeed that’s exactly what she’s becoming…

You can read all about Carolyn Wilman, the Contest Queen on Canada Blog Friends which has just recently profiled her and published her vision of the future. The author has once again gone to great lengths to get all the subject URLS in order, and link to all platforms and properties in Carolyn’s royal realm.

Buy her book You Can’t Win If You Don’t Enter to read all her secrets.

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.

Lenzr was built to help photographers gain attention in online media and get professional work by providing an easy,  fun to use platform that showcases great pictures.

Registered members have the option of listing their web URL in their profile and it really makes us happy when we see users taking advantage of this feature.  A link is a link, and successful artists and photographers have hundreds of them.  This little piece of social capital belongs to the photographers that use the site and that’s another curious biproduct of this cute little photo contest construct.

As we evolve Lenzr’s brand of premium online entertainment, we’ll no doubt make some friends along the way.

This is the best photo competition index website that we’ve ever seen;  our experts are indeed surprised at how much information these developers and administrators (and data entry interns) have thus far squeezed into this portal.  Seriously there must be over five hundred contests on there now, and almost all of them are free.

Photo Contest Rituals

This website boasts that a new photo contest is added everyday, and that’s exactly what serial web contest participants need to hear to plan and execute their daily entries, or atleast make bi-weekly visits.  That’s another winning strategy at work here.

Coincidently, we find it interesting to note that almost none of the contests listed on the afformentioned web index  are judged by the website’s own membership;  so we recognize now that this is something that makes Lenzr unique, (even if it is fraught with click fraud and abuse by iPhone users and their duplicitous friends* ).

RELAX devotees. *There are some serious changes coming down the pipe for the next round of contests on Lenzr, and that includes the scoring system. We’re confident, you’re going to like it.