Number One SnowStreet

Thoughts on My Top 40 Selection

2011-04-30T15:45:00.001-05:00

Recently, I was honored to be selected as one of Canada's Top 40 under 40 presented by Caldwell Partners and The Globe and Mail. I've known for over a month that I was going to receive this recognition prior to the announcement this week. It was a tough secret to keep, but it was worth it because since the news became public I have been overwhelmed with congratulatory notes from friends, family, colleagues and peers.

While I haven't been to Toronto to let it really sink in and celebrate with my fellow classmates, I have had some time to reflect and share some initial thoughts about being named one of Canada's Top 40 under 40.

First of all, I want to express how appreciative I am of this honor. I look at my fellow classmates also selected this year and I look at the alumni from years past and I am humbled to be in such company.

This honor has to be shared with my wife Julia. It's real simple, I am not a successful entrepreneur without the love and support of my wife and best friend. When I was making NO money years ago, she stuck with me, it's as simple as that.

My business partner Maurice is the rock that I lean on. Be it good or bad, Moe is always there for me. Always.

Lets face it, I am not selected for this award without the success of ICUC. While I might steer the ship at ICUC, it's the entire team that is the reason we have had the success we have had. It is this team that I am most proud of and should share in this award.

I have mixed feelings about being the only Manitoban selected. While I am certainly honored, we must have some other worthy candidates from our great province?

Speaking of Manitoba, where are the Manitoba Alumni? I haven't heard a peep from any of them.

I am looking forward to meeting and learning from the other members of this years class as well as the previous years alumni. What I look forward to most however, is the chance to make some new friends and build some new long lasting relationships.

Named as one of Canada's top 40 under 40

2011-04-28T15:07:00.006-05:00

Today has been one of those special days in my life. I am honored to be selected as one of Canada's top 40 under 40.

From Number One SnowStreet

Great content, bad design

2011-04-17T16:57:00.001-05:00

I wish the National Post iPad and iPhone app made the sidebar and bottom bar hide when in the app.

Very poor use of screen real estate...

Thoughts?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Playing With Blogsy

2011-04-17T16:47:00.001-05:00

Trying a new blogging platform on my iPad.

Un-Masking Spidey...

2011-03-31T23:41:00.000-05:00

It sure is thin

2011-03-31T22:51:00.002-05:00

I still Live Here

2011-03-31T22:30:00.001-05:00

What is this dusty old thing?

Let's talk Social Media in Montreal

2009-03-09T14:49:00.004-05:00

Hello Montreal...

I will have the great pleasure of visiting Montreal next week on March 16th and 17th to visit some clients. I do have some time available to meet with anyone wanting to get together to talk social media, user generated content, social media monitoring or content and community moderation services and explore opportunities to work together. Want to connect?

DM me @k3ith or contact me at icucmoderation.com

Keith

Winnipeg Tweet Up - March 10th - #wpgtweetup

2009-02-27T09:37:00.005-06:00

Hey Winnipeg... Come join Adam Dooley (Dooley Communications) and myself at the first (is it the first?) Winnipeg Tweet Up.
Here are the details:

Date: March 10th
Time: 5-7pm
Place: Confusion Corner Bar and Grill

Come on down and join us for a Twitterini and a chance to see who is Twittering in River City...

Please DM @k3ith or @adamdooley if you need additional details.

The color within a comment

2009-02-13T08:43:00.001-06:00

Is the color of the text in this sentence black or blue? The answer is obvious isn’t it? It`s blue of course. I thought I would post this question in order to shed light behind the content moderation process and how we work hard every day working to prevent inappropriate and offensive content from appearing online.

ICUC Moderation Services has been moderating online user generated content since 2002, and in that time we have moderated hundreds of millions of messages, photos and videos for some of the world’s biggest brands. Currently my clients rely on the expertise of ICUC to minimize the risk that comes from participating in an online world that is increasingly being populated by user generated content. These clients rely on us because they trust us. They trust the many processes, procedures, and best practices we have implemented to ensure minimal risk is exposed when moderating their online content or community.

Our moderators are well trained, spending weeks (and sometimes months) of training along with an ongoing training program. We conduct regular workshops discussing hate /racism and human rights issues. We work very closely with our clients in creating and managing ongoing updates to the content moderation guidelines.

Unfortunately however, it is not as easy as reading a paragraph and making a decision that is black or white. What might be offensive to the eyes of one reader might be clearly agreeable to another – or simply offensive but not hateful. This is proven every time we sit down with a client to craft a set of moderation guidelines.

As well as we are prepared, and as knowledgeable as we can be, offensive content is unfortunately still going to make it online and onto a moderated website. Simply put, achieving 100% perfection is difficult if not impossible because when dealing with a person’s point of view, it is never black or white. What is entirely possible however is through both technology and people, to limit, manage and reduce the amount of offensive content that can potentially appear on a website.

Let me use this analogy to better set expectations. It has become an accepted norm that enterprise applications should operate 99.9% of the time. So if that’s the case, let’s then assume the same principles apply for online content moderation. A website that generates 100,000 comments per month will have about 100 offensive and inappropriate comments each month that will offend someone. Think about 100 comments that spit vitriol, hate, abuse and anything else that you can think of that is offensive.

Of course the alternative is having no content moderation at all and I don`t have to tell anyone what kind of can of worms that will open. While I personally agree with an open discussion and freedom of speech, it is not for everyone. I will add that if people are offended by what they see up there now, you should see what we have had to remove.

In closing, I can assure you we take content moderation very seriously and take the responsibility we have to our clients very seriously. We carry no personal views when conducting our job but simply follow the guidelines that are set in front of us. It is a difficult job, balancing and understanding people’s points of view, but it is a difficult job we are happy and proud to have.

Introducing keithbilous.com

2009-01-02T17:56:00.006-06:00

It took some time but it is now complete, keithbilous.com is now live and in living color.

With the help of my friends over at Revolute Solution and the excellent design work of my good friend Arif, we finally got the bugs out and went live over the past couple of days.

While the site will continue to evolve over the next few weeks with slight changes along the way, it is more or less complete.

Keithbilous.com was built using Sweet Cron and it aggregates all of my online activity into one website. When I upload a photo to Picasa or Flickr, it will automatically post it to keithbilous.com. When I comment on a story across the web or post a tweet on Twitter, it will automatically post the content to keithbilous.com. It is simply magic.

So what does this mean for this blog NumberOne Snowstreet? Nothing. I will continue to post my thoughts, opinions and random dribble on this blog and have it aggregated to the lifestream.

Check it out if you have a moment and pop the lifestream RSS feed into your feed reader.

I welcome your comments and feedback as well.

Where to live?

2009-01-02T16:50:00.004-06:00

I got this great email from my friends Chuck and Joanne and thought I would share it with the rest of you.

Happy New Year to all!
May 2009 be YOUR year!

Chuck + Joanne Dueck

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA
1. Vancouver: 1.5 million people and two bridges. You do the math.
2. Your $400,000 Vancouver home is just 5 hours from downtown.
3. You can throw a rock and hit three Starbucks locations.
4. There's always some sort of deforestation protest going on.
5. Weed.

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN ALBERTA
1. Big rock between you and BC.
2. Ottawa who?
3. Tax is 5% instead of the approximately 200% it is for the rest of the country.
4. You can exploit almost any natural resource you can think of.
5. You live in the only province that could actually afford to be its own country.
6. The Americans below you are all in anti-government militia groups.

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN SASKATCHEWAN
1. You never run out of wheat.
2. Your province is really easy to draw.
3. You can watch the dog run away from home for hours.
4. People will assume you live on a farm.

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN MANITOBA
1. You wake up one morning to find that you suddenly have a beachfront property.
2. Hundreds of huge, horribly frigid lakes.
3. Nothing compares to a wicked Winnipeg winter.
4. You can be an Easterner or a Westerner depending on your mood.
5. You can pass the time watching trucks and barns float by.

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN ONTARIO
1. You live in the centre of the universe.
2. Your $400,000 Toronto home is actually a dump.
3. You and you alone decide who will win the federal election.
4. You get blamed for everything that happens elsewhere in Canada.

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN QUEBEC
1. Racism is socially acceptable.
2. You can take bets with your friends on which English neighbour will move out next.
3. Other provinces basically bribe you to stay in Canada.
4. You can blame all your problems on the "Anglo A*#!%!"

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN NEW BRUNSWICK
1. One way or another, the government gets 98% of your income.
2. You're poor, but not as poor as the Newfies.
3. No one ever blames anything on New Brunswick.
4. Everybody has a grandfather who runs a lighthouse.

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN NOVA SCOTIA
1. Everyone can play the fiddle. The ones who can't, think they can.
2. You can pretend to have Scottish heritage as an excuse to get drunk and wear a kilt.
3. You are the only reason Anne Murray makes money. (Her first name is really Morna.)

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
1. Even though more people live on Vancouver Island, you still got the big, new bridge.
2. You can walk across the province in half an hour.
3. You can drive across the province in two minutes.
4. Everyone has been an extra on "Road to Avonlea."
5. This is where all those tiny, red potatoes come from.
6. You can confuse ships by turning your porch lights on and off at night.

TOP REASONS TO LIVE IN NEWFOUNDLAND
1. If Quebec separates, you will float off to sea.
2. If you do something stupid, you have a built-in excuse.
3. The workday is about two hours long.
4. It is socially acceptable to wear your hip waders to your wedding.

Pass this along to Canadians who need a laugh and foreigners who can learn something about Canada and then enjoy a good chuckle. Let's face it, we're a rare breed.

Duplicate Tweets

2008-12-29T20:03:00.001-06:00

A short apology note for the duplicate Tweets.

I have been doing testing on my LifeStream and have been working on different posting methods with both Twitter Feed and Friend Feed. There appears to be a duplicate bug that is posting multiple Twitter entries which would explain why you might be getting duplicate Tweets.

Sorry about that, I will try to keep the duplicates to a minimum.

My Lifestream Update

2008-12-12T20:36:00.001-06:00

For the past few months I have been working on my new Lifestream (keithbilous.com) that will essentially replace this blog as my central place of online activity.

While I will continue to use NumberOne SnowStreet as my vehicle for longer blog posts, keithbilous.com will be the "hub" of all of my online activity aggregating the content I post across the internet.

The new site is powered by Sweet Cron and was designed by my good friend Arif. I expect it to go live next week as we take the next few days to do some testing and work through a couple of bugs.

When we do go live, I will be sure to be post an update here.

Update: Response from IAB

2008-10-08T08:09:00.012-05:00

I am a firm believer that the measure of an organization is how one responds in times of challenge, difficulty or wrongdoing.

Paula Gignac, President of IAB Canada has just shown me what a class act she and the IAB are.

Here is Paula`s response to my note yesterday regarding my disappointment in the recent Montreal IAB MIXX Canada conference...

Hi Keith!

We will definitely fully refund your ticket for the Montreal conference. As well, I will give you free entrance if you decided to come to Toronto MIXX event in March, 2009.

I`m so sorry that this caused you such an inconvenience. We definitely need to make the fact the conference is in French evident on all of our communications in the future. After 5 years of doing this in the Montreal market we assumed everyone was aware of this.

Again, my sincere apologies. Our Events Mgr. will contact you on Oct 9, to get your credit card to process the reversal.

Sincerely,

Paula Gignac

President, Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada

Class Act in my opinon. I will be there in Toronto in 2009.

An Open Letter to IAB Canada

2008-10-07T23:00:00.004-05:00

I recently attended the IAB MIXX Canada Conference in Montreal but it didn't really go all that well. Read on to see what happened with this open letter to the IAB that i recently sent to them.

Stay tuned for a response from the IAB (I hope)

Dear IAB Canada

I wanted to take a quick moment to let you know how disappointed I was with the latest Mixx Canada Conference that recently wrapped up in Montreal on October 6th.

Imagine how startled I was when I sat down Monday morning to hear Michelle Leblanc deliver her presentation in French - and I don't speak or understand French? As the day went on it didn't get any better. As a result, I never stayed past lunch.

The simple question I have is this - why didn't the IAB publish on the MIXX Canada website that the Montreal conference was going to be 90% in French? If I knew the conference was going to be delivered in French, I would never have attended the event in Montreal. As a result, I wasted money on a hotel room, meals and a conference ticket that was of no value to me.

In speaking with others at the conference and thru Twitter, it appears I was not the only one who was surprised this conference was delivered in French.

My question to the IAB is this, will you compensate me with a return on my conference ticket?

I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Keith

Keith Bilous | President & Founder | ICUC Moderation Services Inc. | P: 204.955.6666 | E: keith@icucmoderation.com | Follow me on Twitter @k3ith

Introducing the Snoo.ws

2008-09-23T17:35:00.003-05:00

A few weeks back, I spoke about a "secret project" I had been working on for the past year, and now the cat can be let out of the bag....

Snoo.ws -noun (usually used with a singular verb)

1 - A report of a user generated marketing event; UGC contests, information: The brand is making snoo.ws with the launch of their new UGC video upload campaign.

2 - The presentation of a report on recent, new or breaking user generated marketing events in a snoo.ws paper or audio and video Snoo.ws cast.

Why the Snoo.ws? A few reasons...

1) The moderation business as a whole might not be the most exciting to talk about (all of the time!!! - C'mon - I don't think so) but user generated content certainly is.

2) I wanted to create a destination and a discussion around UGC with marketing professionals and other than Twitter / Friend Feed, this to me seemed like the most logical way to do it.

3) My plan was to help drive organic search for ICUC Moderation Services - and it appears to be working too.

4) Oh and last but not least, to get new business for ICUC.

Check out the Snoo.ws and to stay on top of what’s is going on in the world of UGC subscribe to our Snoows Feed or twitter feed .

Taggging Nostalgia...

2008-07-30T23:30:00.005-05:00

TagggRGBTall, originally uploaded by k3ith.

This is a comment I recently posted on Techcrunch after learning of the launch of the taggg successor - Tagga.com

Oh - and I had to throw the old TAGGG.ca logo in for nostalgia purposes...
-------------------------------------------
Hey guys…

Congrats on the launch of Tagga….

I have to be honest, when I saw this site I had a case of deja vous as I thought I was looking back at 2005.

Why?

In 2004/ 2005 I had started a service in Winnipeg, Canada (Exact same product and service) as Tagga and but it was called Taggg.ca and our shortcode was 82444.

Unfortunately we didn’t make it. People simply didn’t get it. Since then I have gone on to build a successful content moderation business (icucmoderation.com). (It sure beats having to deal with the carriers, aggregators and the fact people “didn’t get SMS”

With Tagga launching NOW it shows me that maybe I was to early to the party and that maybe people are NOW “getting it.”

I would be happy to talk to the team at Tagga to discuss our key learning’s if you are interested. Drop me a note at keith - at - icucmoderation.com. I would love to chat.

Good Luck guys

Keith

ICUC Moderation Services Lively Headquarters

2008-07-29T14:16:00.003-05:00

We have had such tremendous success using Meebo on the ICUC site to talk to potential clients, that I think the next logical step is to set up a virtual "Office" to speak to our potential clients...

Check it out - The ICUC Moderation Services virtual headquarters - courtesy of Google Lively..

Come have a visit...

Secret little Project

2008-07-11T13:18:00.004-05:00

For the past year I have been working on a small project that has simply not gone anywhere. Until recently....

With the help of Adam, this little pet project will be getting off the ground very soon. Very very soon...

Stay tuned..

Sneak Peak at The Dark Knight

2008-07-11T11:03:00.002-05:00

This looks AMAZING.

CBC vs CTV tonite on Hockey Night in Canada

2008-06-09T16:32:00.006-05:00

After posting this and then posting this, to say I was surprised to read this recent story on TSN would be an understatement.

I like the fact this theme song is going to stay a part of Canadian 'culture' BUT I don't know if I agree with it being used for "non hockey" stuff like the Olympics etc.

There is also something to be said for moving on like the CBC is going to do now with a new Hockey Night in Canada theme song. Because really, are people in Canada going to stop watching hockey on the CBC because there is a new theme song? I don't think so. Now if they got rid of Ron McLean, that may be a whole other story...

Cue song....

Embeding a FriendFeed Room

2008-06-06T11:00:00.003-05:00

How do I embed content from my Friend Feed Room onto my site? I would like to embed content from the ICUC Moderation Services Friend Feed Room and post it on the ICUC Moderation Services website.

Does anyone know if this can be done yet? I know I can embed my personal feed but it appears I can't embed a room feed.

Any thoughts?

Need a Great Place to stay in Mexico?

2008-05-27T11:15:00.008-05:00

Recently friends of mine (Chuck & Joanne) moved down to Progreso Mexico. They bought a house, renovated it and added 2 suites for rent.

If you are looking for an amazing place to stay (I have never been so I am going by what they are telling me), check out Oasis Del Mar. Be aware though, if you are looking for a vacation tourist hot spot, Progreso is not the place to go. But if you want to experience authentic Mexican cuisine and culture among friendly locals, Progreso is the place to be.

Some Highlites from the Oasis Del Mar website include:

Each suite has a fridge, stove, microwave, toaster, coffee maker, blender, dishes and utensils.
Each suite contains a fridge, stove, microwave, toaster, coffee maker (No Tims), blender, dishes and utensils.
The main level accessible suite has one king size bed
The living rooms each contain a futon for additional guests or children
High speed internet access and a DVD player are included
Laundry facilities are on site and available at a nominal fee
We provide one set of linens and towels per week. A roll of paper towels and toilet paper, salt and pepper, sugar, soap and cleaning supplies are also included.
Each suite has a one purified water dispenser included. Refills can be purchased on site
On-site parking for one car per suite is included

Bring Back the X-Files!

2008-05-26T23:19:00.002-05:00

I just watched the trailer for the new X-Files movie and while the trailer doesn't tell you very much about the movie, it certainly builds my excitement for the movie. I was (am) a huge X-Files fan and I can only hope this movie is as good as I want it to be. If it opens poorly and doesn't do well at the box office, one has to wonder if this tv/movie franchise would be officially done (or at least until X-Files next generation). I then bet it is resurrected by some new cutting edge director in 10 - 15 years with a new take on the X-Files.

Personally, I really hope it does so well at the box office that Chris Carter and company decide to go back to work and make the series for us again. Even just for a few years......

Go to the movie. - But enjoy the trailer first

Picked up the 2008 Bomber Season Tix Today

2008-05-23T10:57:00.002-05:00

picture message, originally uploaded by k3ith.

Emergency! Our Brand is Under a Negative UGC Attack

2008-05-21T11:34:00.007-05:00

Recently I was asked by an agency partner (with respect to confidentiality, the agency and brand will remain nameless) for some advice on how to handle a situation that had arisen on a UGC website for a major brand. The situation: the brand was under fire due to negative comments that were posted from users. They were asking for advice on what they should do with these comments. Do they go in and clean them all out and "sanitize" the community? Do they leave the comments up and continue as if nothing happened? Do they remove only a select few comments?

The challenge, as they saw it, was keeping the "community & comments real" and not a sanitized version of reality.

Now I always say to somebody who asks me about playing in the UGC space, if you are going to participate in this space, and begin a conversation or encourage participation with your brand using UGC, you need to be prepared to continue the conversation and accept negative comments or criticism about your brand and / or products.

This is a summary of my recommendations I made:

Remove the posts that are derogatory and flaming. They are from the same person so the impact is minimal. These posts would not have been allowed in the first place if the content was pre - moderated and the posts would have been removed in a post-moderated environment.
Remove the advertising posts and the posts with profanity. Again, these would not have been allowed in the first place.
Leave the honest comments on the board.

While these comments certainly sting, they are valid points that the customer is raising. Either respond "as an expert" in this thread of posts OR / AND start a conversation on the corporate blog about why the brand made this decision about the product that these consumers clearly have not liked. Instead of being silent to the consumers, engage in a conversation. This as an opportunity and not a negative.

We start moderating the posts daily.

It will be interesting to see the approach the brand takes. I know from prior working experience with this brand that they are very conscious of how they are perceived when using UGC in any marketing campaigns.

Subscribing to the TSN.ca RSS Feed is Useless

2008-05-19T16:19:00.006-05:00

TSN.ca - Please publish a complete RSS Feed..

Life's Big Highlites

2008-05-15T19:49:00.000-05:00

These are the moments one appreciates and remembers..

Coming home from a road trip and having Carter - who recently learned how to walk - wobble walk all the way over to me with open arms and a BIG Hug.

Going for a long walk and play in the park with Mr Bully, Ray Charles. Heaven..

Why Content needs to be Pre-Moderated

2008-05-08T11:31:00.003-05:00

It has since been removed.

Twitter in Plain English

2008-05-08T09:10:00.002-05:00

This is an excellent little video explaining in plain English what Twitter is and how it works..

Enjoy..

Oh ya - And if you want to add me as a Twitter friend: Simply follow @k3ith or go to twitter.com/k3ith

Send a picture to screen on Punch Much

2008-05-07T17:33:00.003-05:00

Our friends (and client) over at CTV today turned on picture messaging on Punch Much, an interactive television video station where viewers program the videos by voting for the next video via mobile.
Additionally, viewers are able to chat with each other on the screen via SMS and now have the ability to send pictures to the screen.
Each text message or vote is $0.75 cents per message and each picture sent is $3 per picture.

Update: LinkedIn Responds Quick

2008-04-24T14:18:00.006-05:00

I don't know if it was coincidence or not, but within 30 minutes of this blog posting, I received this response from Rob M. at Linked In Customer Service.

Dear Keith,

Thank you for contacting LinkedIn Customer Support.
Firstly, I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this issue has caused.
No, for the time being the News Feature cannot be disabled. This is a beta program, so we will be making system enhancements in the near future.

Rob M.
Customer Support Agent

Thanks for the response Rob. I look forward to the enhancements...

LinkedIn Customer Service. Will you please help me?

2008-04-24T13:00:00.005-05:00

Dear LinkedIn...

I emailed LinkedIn on April 20th with a unique problem that I just can't seem to correct. LinkedIn hasn't responded yet so I thought I would post it on my blog and see if I get any action......
Here is the details...

When I log in to my LinkedIn account and I view my home page I see the company news section displaying news about a company I have no relation too. How do I remove this company or change this preference?

While this really is no big deal, it is an annoyance I would like to correct.
Please see the attached screen shot for reference and as an example.

I look forward to hearing back from you.

Keith

We wanted Rain - NOT Snow

2008-04-24T10:05:00.002-05:00

, originally uploaded by k3ith.

Stock up on the Internet

2008-04-22T22:46:00.004-05:00

Oh No. We better stock up on all of the internet that we can.
According to AT&T, the internet is going to fill up by 2010.

ICUC is #1, #2, #3, #4 and #1

2008-04-22T21:49:00.012-05:00

This makes me happy and it is great to see our online marketing is working.

In this search for "moderation services for content", we occupied the top 4 spots in non paid search results and the number 1 spot in sponsored search results.

To ensure my search wasn't influenced by any online services, I did this search with a "clean browser", and not logged into any web services - IE) Google, yahoo etc.

Next goal: Occupy an entire page of search results if / when someone searched for "moderation services", or "content moderation services", etc.

Obama vs Clinton WWE Style..

2008-04-22T10:53:00.002-05:00

This is a very cool video (1 min long) even if you are not a WWE fan...

Kick Apps Rocks

2008-04-22T10:13:00.005-05:00

Thanks to Jeff Zaretsky over at Kick Apps for including ICUC Moderation Services in the partners section on the Kick Apps website.

What is Kick Apps you may ask?

KickApps is a web-based platform that makes it easy for you to add community-building features to your website. Whether you are a one-person show or a global corporation, the KickApps suite of applications are designed to integrate seamlessly with your website and your brand.

Simply put - they enable do it yourself social networks.

Check them out at kickapps.com

Oh and if you need moderation services along the way, we can help too.

You Have No Shared Stuff

2008-04-20T16:45:00.006-05:00

Apparently Google must have been cleaning "stuff" with the Google Shared Stuff Service.

Today I logged into my Google Shared Stuff Page and to my surprise and disappointment, I had no shared stuff left.

Happiness

2008-04-18T20:32:00.001-05:00

My Son. Carter

4 Minutes

2008-04-08T10:40:00.002-05:00

Just saw the amazing new video and cool song by "50 year old" Madonna and Justin Timberlake.

It's Hot - Check it out...

Hello fellow Twitterers

2008-03-31T09:34:00.000-05:00

In the last couple of weeks I have had a sharp increase of Twitter followerers...

Why?

I'm not sure....BUT here is a shout out to all of my new Twitter friends.

Hello everyone - If you are ever in need of content or community moderation services, don't forget to check out icucmoderation.com - we can help!

Keith

Sent from my Blackberry

Facebook and My Birthday

2008-03-01T11:52:00.000-06:00

As some of you know or don't know, (and most simply don't care), I have been away from Facebook for what seems like a lifetime.

Why you may ask? I was simply bored with it and bored with having to manage it regularly and keep responding to the good ole Facebook application spam.

Well low and behold, my birthday comes along (today) and because of all the warm birthday wishes sent to me through Facebook it seemed like a good time to make a re-appearance.

To those that have messaged me through Facebook in the last few months and I haven't responded, I apologize. It wasn't you I was ignorning, it was Facebook.

Thanks for the Birthday wishes.

See you in Facebook......

Sent from my Blackberry

I'm Not Loud.....Really....

2008-02-04T13:51:00.001-06:00

So I was just told to shut up!! WTF??

I am sitting here in Pearson International Airport in Toronto awaiting my flite back to Winnipeg and at the same time trying to get some work done via this good ol' Boingo enabled hotspot.

While on a conference call a few minutes ago, a "nice" elderly lady just came up to me, whacked me on the shoulder with her book and told me to "quiet down young man, I am trying to watch the news"

I didn't think I was being loud...

I am not loud.

Apparently to some I am....

Congrats Giants

2008-02-04T07:28:00.001-06:00

As luck would have it, I missed another Super Bowl again yesterday due to a scheduled trip to Toronto. While we were waiting to get off the plane, I got a call from Julia and to my surprise, she gave me the sports news of the century.

The Giants had won. Eli Manning was a dream killer. The Pats would NOT go 19 - 0.

What an upset it was... To bad I missed it.

Insight Not Entitlement

2008-01-25T18:05:00.000-06:00

This quote is so true and really underscores the importance when managing and moderating an online social community.

"'When you invest enough time in a social community, you gain a sense of ownership. Not entitlement -- that's an important distinction to make. I don't feel like I'm entitled to anything, but I do feel that we're responsible for the community that we're a part of,' Sorcini says"

Article Source: Wired: Near-Revolt on Digg Underscores Site's Dependence on Its Users:

A Canadian Sports Hero Passes away

2008-01-19T13:20:00.000-06:00

I just found out that a Candian Sports Legend has passed away.

Legendary CBC Sportscaster, Don Wittman died today at the age of 71.

Without a doubt he was one of the best and he will be missed
Sent from my Blackberry

Brand New Blog Design

2008-01-19T01:07:00.000-06:00

I started out with the plan of looking to update my blog and this is what I ended up with. Thanks to a template from jackbook.com it looks like numberonesnowstreet.com has a new fresh look.

I kind of like it.

UPDATE:

Screen shot added...

Nokia N810

2008-01-18T15:00:00.001-06:00

I Just ordered one...

It should be here on Tuesday next week.....

Check out the video...

New ICUC Twitter Page

2008-01-17T19:44:00.001-06:00

Happy New Years...

We set up a Twitter Page for ICUC today.

If you are a follower of Twitter - you can check out the ICUC Twitter page at twitter.com/icuc

Upcoming Toronto Trip

2008-01-17T16:16:00.000-06:00

I am going to be in Toronto the week of Jan 28th - Jan 31st. If you want to get together to talk about doing business drop me a line.

Facebook for Blackberry appears to be useless

2007-10-24T14:50:00.000-05:00

Ok. maybe i have missed something on the "download" of the application.

I have it on my Blackberry and I am stunned at how useless it really is. I can't receive messages from people, as it only appears that I can send them.

I have two messages sitting in my inbox on Facebook that appear when i log into the website but don't appear when I log into the FB application. I can't view the Facebook mini or news feed on the application. Essentially, it is a one way application to allow you to send messages, send invites, poke people, upload photos or update my status.

Thats it.

It appears to be quite a poor excuse for a Blackberry Facebook Application.

Sorry Blackberry / Facebook team, you missed out on this one.

Here are additional photos of the Shit Facebook Blackberry Application I took.

Facebook for Blackberry is Here

2007-10-24T14:16:00.000-05:00

It's official, my data usage on my Blackberry is going up.

Why?

The official Facebook for Blackberry application has been launched and I "just" downloaded it to begin playing with it.

I will post my thoughts on it after I have had a play with it.

People lie about their age on the Internet?

2007-10-23T10:54:00.000-05:00

TechCrunch is running a story today entitled Has America’s First Friend Been Lying About His Age? and while this really isn't "news", here is a great example of a company not being transparent and it apparently coming back to biting them in the ass.

Or will it?

The question is if Tom Anderson hadn't lied about his age would we be talking about it? Maybe the bigger point to this story is that it generates buzz for Myspace who seems to be getting lost in all of the Facebook buzz as of late.

I don't think people lie about their age on the internet. Do they?

By the way to all of my faithful readers (HAHA) I am lying about my age too.

Pownce Invites - I have a few to share

2007-10-22T23:07:00.001-05:00

To anyone looking for Pownce invites, I have a few kicking around.

Email me at keith - at - icucmoderation.com and I will send one out to you.

Perceptions of User Generated Content

2007-10-22T21:59:00.000-05:00

It has been a long time since I have blogged about anything (where have we heard that before) and I thought, "Hey what the hell, here is a good post to write something about" and here I am back to contributing to my blog at Number One SnowStreet.

Julia forwarded me this email she received from Rob Fields at the Promotion Marketing Association. It is an interesting look at the perception of User Generated Content (UGC) from within the promotion industry.

To those 82% that are considering incorporating UGC into a future campaign and require any strategic implementation services or UGC Moderation Services, we would love to help you out. Get in touch with me at ICUC Moderation Services and let's see how we can ensure the success of your UGC next promotion.

The PMA conducted a survey with 3,003 PMA members a few weeks ago that resulted in 107 responses (a 3.6% response rate). Two thirds of the respondents were agencies and the remaining third were brands. This is a snapshot of the results:

70% of respondents have used UGC as part of an integrated campaign.

82% are considering incorporating UGC in a future campaign.

47% say sell through of UGC elements is "somewhat difficult", however 18% described it as "easy".

"Target engagement" was cited as the single biggest factor (40%) that drives the decision to incorporate UGC elements, while 21% believe UGC provides insight into brand perception.

More than half (53%) felt that UGC has "some" impact on consumer purchase decisions; 22% of respondents weren't sure of the impact; 13% felt it has "significant" impact; and 11% felt it had none.

Respondents were evenly split between those who indicated that their companies have made no progress or fair progress (33% and 31%, respectively) towards coming up with useful metrics for UGC. However, most (62%) feel that they will make "some progress" in this area in the next six (6) months.

59% feel that their use of UGC will increase over the next six (6) months, while nearly 38% felt it would stay the same. Just under 4% expect it to decrease.

Some additional thoughts from the PMA Survey:

The slow pace of metric development could be due to the early need for experimentation in order to better understand the medium. At the same time, members are being conservative in their estimates of their ability to get their arms around the metrics issue in the near-term.

A link to the survey can be found here (note: this article is a PDF file):

Thanks to Rob Fields Director, Programs & Research, Promotion Marketing Association, Inc. for the information.

Testing Twitterfeed from my Blog

2007-08-13T00:32:00.000-05:00

This is purely a test blog post to see how it will appear in Twitter using twitterfeed.

Julia and Carter

2007-05-17T10:28:00.000-05:00

I love this photo of my beautiful wife Julia and son Carter. This was taken on Julia's first Mothers Day.

Introducing Carter

2007-03-07T15:03:00.000-06:00

I set up a blog for Carter entitled "Introducing Carter"

I figured this would be a place where family and friends can check in whenever they want to see whats up with Carter. We have video, photos and random thoughts and musings about the little man.

Most importantly Carter, I set up the blog so you could come back and check up on how wierd our clothes were and how "normal" our haircuts were. Look in the mirror my friend, its your haircut that is different not ours.

I am a Dad

2007-03-05T00:22:00.000-06:00

Well it has been A LONNNNNNG time since I have been on this good ole trusty blog of mine. It's comforting to know its always "just here when I want it to be".

Much has changed since i last posted with the most significant change coming in the name of a certain Carter Bilous. That be a Carter Richard Donald Bilous to be exact.

I am now a father to a little son and I couldn't be happier. Carter joined us on Feb 25th, 2007 and weighed in at 8 lbs and 6 ozs.

What are the odds?

2006-10-13T15:28:00.000-05:00

What are the odds of this happening to one person

She needs to move into the middle of a field and get away from everything. But then again if she did that and with her luck she would probably get hit by lightning.

We Have A Roommate

2006-10-11T19:34:00.000-05:00

Today was the day Todd moved in!!

Julia's cousin Todd is moving to Winnipeg and becuz I did such a shitty job of finding him a house, he is stuck living with Julia and I for awhile.

I am looking forward to it, one more set of hands to pet Ray Charles, another cook in the kitchen (apparently he likes to cook ;-)) and another person I can convert to a NASCAR.

Welcome to our home Todd, please make yourself at home.

My Friend Soheil

2006-10-10T18:02:00.000-05:00

From Soheil and Mahsa

This is a beautiful photo of Soheil and Mahsa taken last year on their first anniversary together. Soheil tells me he got 600 roses as a gift from Mahsa and you can see all of them here.

Yes..600 Roses! And I thought I was the shit whenever I sent one dozen roses to Julia.

Snow Today!!

2006-10-10T15:29:00.000-05:00

It Snowed today says Ray Charles!!

My own Newspaper / News Site (Well Kind of)

2006-10-10T00:59:00.000-05:00

Google Reader allows you to easily keep track of your favorite websites and see all the updates in one convenient location.
Get started with Google Reader

In a cool new feature that essentially allows me to play editor of my own news site or online news paper, I can now allow anyone to view my "shared news" stories.

By using Google Reader I can click any story I find interesting and add it to my own shared page for the world to read. You can also subscribe to my shared news feed to ensure you are always caught up with what I am reading. You never know when you might miss something.

The First Photos of Mini Me

2006-10-09T23:24:00.000-05:00

From Mini Me Ultra...

My life changed forever five months ago, the moment Julia came downstairs sat down on the couch and asked me how my day was and how I was feeling. And before I could even finish my response she was showing me the home pregnancy "stick," the stick with the + sign telling me she (we) were pregnant!.

In that moment, my life had instantly changed, I was going to be a Dad.

I was ecstatic!

Now here we are about 5 months later and I get to see the first images of Mini Me. And as I sit here and look and think, I can't wait for February 2007 to begin the next chapter of fatherhood in my life.

It is going to be awesome! I am ready.

Peer to Peer TV

2006-10-09T20:17:00.000-05:00

Ok I admit it, I Love my PVR and I Love TV. So, when I see a release about a mysterious new project called The Venice Project from the founders of Skype and Kazaa I get excited about what they are coming up with next:

Welcome to The Venice Project

We're working on a project that combines the best things about television with the social power of the internet - a project that gives viewers, advertisers and content owners more choice, control and creativity than ever before.

There'll be a lot more information about The Venice Project coming this way soon. If you'd like us to keep you informed of our progress by email, please fill in your details below. And if you'd like to take part in our beta-testing program, please click thelink to the left. We'll get back to you as soon as we can.

The Venice Project Team

So I signed up as a beta tester and will wait for the invite...

Google Buys YouTube for $1.65 Billon and Creates GooTube

2006-10-09T16:28:00.000-05:00

I discovered You Tube in December, 2005 and remember at the time wondering if and when Google would by them.

I even recall conversations with Ewan about that potential acquisition happening....

Today it did.

Thanksgiving 2006

2006-10-08T22:17:00.000-05:00

From Thanksgiving ...

A next generation family photos.

This Thanksgiving was the first time we had the entire family together for dinner now that Sherry and Chris have Rhylen and now the Scott and Kelly have Cole. It was pretty cool to see the evolution and expansion of the family and to know that in about months from now we will be adding to this mix.

Keith and Julia go to St. Andrews for Thanksgiving

2006-10-08T12:56:00.000-05:00

I sat down at my notebook this am and the first alert that popped up on my Google RSS Reader was this - Pitt, Jolie Give Baby Ride in Rickshaw.

And that is....News?

And this came from Forbes Magazine, the supposed reputable news and financial magazine?

Happy Thanksgiving Canada

2006-10-08T12:23:00.000-05:00

It is Thanksgiving today in Canada. It is time to head to my Mom and Dads and eat some turkey and pumpkin pie. Julia has made some meatballs and gravy for the feast today.

Thanks Google For the Canadian Thanksgiving Logo!

Time for a New Design

2006-10-06T01:19:00.000-05:00

I also think it is time for a new design as this old one is vintage and I reckon it is time to do a refresh. Let's see what I can do.... or maybe I will get Soheil to help me with a kickass new design.

New Blogger Beta

2006-10-06T01:08:00.000-05:00

I just switched to the new Blogger Beta, I thought it would be cool to give it a whirl. I did consider making a switch to Typepad since the GotLit? Blog and the PitRoad Post are both hosted with Typepad but since Google made some changes to Blogger and has shown a commitment to Blogger perhaps I will stay here for now.

Guess Who's Back?

2006-10-05T12:41:00.000-05:00

Hello long lost friends and blog readers. It's been awhile since my last posting and much has changed in my life since I was last here and as I was sitting here having that exact thought, it came to me - Blog it!

So here I am blogging my thoughts on the fact I haven't blogged in a long time.

This isn't the first time I have gone AWOL from NumberOne SnowStreet, It has happened before and if you have a read through the archives you will see some other sporadic blog moments in my life since I began.

Regardless I am back blogging and I hope to stick around for good this time.

A 3d Browser

2006-02-08T23:17:00.000-06:00

No Purpose really, but still pretty cool.

uBrowser

My Superbowl Predictions

2006-02-05T17:00:00.000-06:00

I predict Pitsburgh to beat Seattle by 7 points. Jerome Bettis will win his first Super Bowl in his hometown, retire after the game and join FOX or ABC next year as a football analyst.

Holograms help protect Super Bowl

2006-02-05T15:32:00.000-06:00

Ok this is freakin cool. I would predict this type of technology will be readily available for all of us common folk within the next 5 years.

Super Bowl Today

2006-02-05T13:53:00.000-06:00

I just got back from the gym and an amazing chest & shoulders work out. Time to sit back on the couch, get comfy and enjoy the big game today. Tim will be over later this afternoon and Jules is making a kick ass meal for dinner.

Man, am I looking forward to sitting back and enjoying the game and some good company.

And in two weeks....The Daytona 500.

Putting iTunes into Perspective

2006-02-05T01:50:00.000-06:00

If this article I recently found in Business 2.0 Blog doesn't put itunes and the digital music opportunity into perspective, I don't know what will.

Just finishing up moderation for the nite....time to crash in about 20 mins. Super Bowl tomorrow (later today actually)

Should you be able to video yourself being interrogated by the police?

2006-02-03T12:46:00.000-06:00

This is Brilliant

And....If you ever needed to Poach Eggs

2006-02-02T17:56:00.000-06:00

How to Poach Eggs

How to Boil an Egg

2006-02-02T17:53:00.000-06:00

In case you were wondering How to Boil an Egg

Rocket Racing League

2006-02-02T15:46:00.000-06:00

This is awesome. I can't imagine what it will be like to watch on TV.

In a nutshell - Rocket Powered Airplanes racing around a 2- mile wide, 5,000 foot high racetrack. I found this story while reading Wired News

Anderson Coopers Blog

2006-02-02T14:39:00.000-06:00

Ok, Ok, I will admit I am an Anderson Cooper fan (ever since the Days of the Mole) and to my delight I just found his Blog.

Now on that note, I really wonder how much of these "news blogs" created by "real news journalists" are real and not manufactured by the News Network as another form of marketing. How do I know these posts weren't actually posted by Anderson's assistant or publicist for CNN.

Is this the Blackberry Workaround?

2006-02-01T23:30:00.000-06:00

I don't know if this is real or not but this is a very interesting article discussing in detail how RIM might get around the legal dispute with NTP by introducing this BlackBerry Workaround

Don't STOP

2006-01-28T22:07:00.000-06:00

Very Cool Shot

Originally uploaded by Ewan

ew4n liv3s

2006-01-28T21:06:00.000-06:00

I found this "NEWSMAP" on ew4ns blog.It is Wicked and is a very visual representation of the news happening around the world.

Check it out here.

Madagasar

2006-01-28T18:26:00.000-06:00

I am moderating and watching Madagascar right now. This movie is Hillarious!

The Price is Right

2006-01-27T15:17:00.000-06:00

I was reading TV Squad today and came across this

"Fun facts about The Price is Right that will blow your mind:

On the air for 34 years
1.3 million people in the studio audience
50,000 people have made it to contestants' row
More than $260 million in prizes"

I reckon they missed a few:

Times Bob Barker has been kissed
Number of custom shirts created by people wanting to get on the show
Number of times you heard "and you are the next contestant on the Price is Right"

Cardio Day

2006-01-27T12:25:00.000-06:00

WOW - just got back from the gym (yes I am still going) and from 60 Min of hardcore Elyptical Cardio. I feel great.

Superbowl this weekend!

2006-01-27T09:56:00.000-06:00

Just spoke to Tim and it looks like he is coming over to watch the game on Sunday in High Def! I am looking forward to Tim's company, I haven't seen him in awhile.

We will never have Peace in the Middle East

2006-01-26T20:16:00.000-06:00

With the news today that Militant Islamic group Hamas has won the election in Palestine it becomes clear we will never have peace in the Middle East. Why do I say that? Look at the facts and what has transpired over the last 18 months.

Former Palestine Prime Minister Yasir Arafat dies.
Current Israeli leader Ariel Sharon has a major stroke and is no longer running Israel.
Iran is creating a Nuclear Weapon and the current President of Iran has publicly stated he wants to wipe Israel off the map.
Hamas wins the federal election and political control of Palestine and also ran on a platform of eliminating Israel.
And let's not even discuss the mess going on in Iraq.

If the past is any indication of the future, the future doesn't look bright in the middle east and perhaps not so bright for the rest of the world. When you have a terrorist group like Hamas running the country, it will not be long before we are in another situation like Afhganistan where the Taliban ran the country and turned it into a terrorist haven and a place of hate directed at the western world.

I will end with this, we are on the verge of something ugly in this world. Something so catastrophic it will define a generation for years to come. I don't know what it is, but there is a shift happening right now, a shift in the world which could end up producing doom for millions of people.

Mario Retired this Week

2006-01-26T19:47:00.000-06:00

I see that hockey legend Mario Lemieux retired this week on Tues. While I can understand why, it is sad to see hang up the skates for good. I grew up watching Mario Lemieux rise out of junior hockey and enjoy an amazing NHL career. He was certainly one of the best of all time and some would say the best of all time. (For the record: I personally think Wayne Gretzky was the best of all time)

I don't think Mario will venture very far from hockey in the years ahead. Sure he owns the Penguins today but who knows about tomorrow. I wonder if he will coach one day just like Wayne Gretzky has done with the Phoenix Coyotes and like Mark Messier will one day. Regardless of what Mario does, I don't think we have seen the last of Mario

Images courtesy of Getty Image from the TSN Site. I am not implying it is mine.

Visit with Scott and Kelly and New Pix of Cole

2006-01-25T23:27:00.000-06:00

Scott put new pictures of Cole up on his Flickr Photo site here. He also took some pictures of Cole's stuff and his room here.

Julia and I were over to visit with Scott, Kelly and Cole tonite. Scott looks to be settling into his new role of new dad as when we walked in the door, Scott had Cole in his arms rockin' with him on the rocking chair. I will tell you, when I walked in and saw that image, it really hit me again "My brother is a Dad!" - It seems like just yesterday him and I were sharing a bedroom in St Andrews which in reality was many years ago. (I don't want to write the number as then it is too obvious how long ago it really was.) Scott also started a new venture in life this week as an electricians apprentice and let's just say he is getting used to it as it has only been two days on the job.

Kelly looks great and says she is feeling great. She was joking along with Scott about what has happened to her body since Cole has started feeding. Let's just say she would give Pamela Anderson a run for her money right now. Kelly appears to be settling into the role of mother extremely well and that was never more apparent as she bathed Cole. She looked like an old pro confidently holding, bathing and equaling loving her new son. Good on you Kel.

Cole didn't visit much, other than his "love" for the bath he had, we didn't hear a peep out of him all nite. When it was bath time, he certainly let us know he really didn't care for having a bath.

Kelly's mom Cathy was also over at the house helping out the new parents for a few days and at the same time making fantastic Rice Krispie Cake for guests who drop by to eat. Because I was a guest dropping by, I had to ensure I had a piece or two....Mmmmm.

Introducing Canada's New Prime Minister Stephen Harper

2006-01-23T21:05:00.000-06:00

It's official - a Conservative Minority Government has been declared in Canada. Our new Canadian Prime Minister is Stephen Harper.

So now the question is, when do we go back to the polls.....again.
My prediction: 18 - 24months.

Conservatives Projected to win

2006-01-23T20:32:00.000-06:00

Kevin Newman and Global National have declared a Conservative Government. This is the first Conservative Government in Canada in 13 years.

Now we wait to see if it's a Majority or Minority Government.

U.S. Supreme Court won't hear BlackBerry case

2006-01-23T19:58:00.000-06:00

U.S. Supreme Court won't hear BlackBerry case

My Prediction -
Blackberry will Not be shut off in the United States of America.

It's Raining in January

2006-01-23T19:27:00.000-06:00

There is no reason voters shouldn't have gotten out tonight to vote as the weather today has been amazing. It's currently +2 Celsius and it is raining outside.

Capturing my Vote on Video

2006-01-23T15:14:00.000-06:00

I just came back from the polling station (it was a school) after casting my vote in this 2006 Federal Election. Because I thought it would be cool, I captured my entire voting experience on video to share with you.

I warn you, this is a riveting and dramatic video and may offend those who have different political views than my views which are expressed on this video.