So I have been horrible at keeping up my blog lately. This is my vain attempt to get back into the swing of things now that my life is getting close to a new normal. I moved back to Waterloo 2 months ago to help achieve some work/life/health balance. My workout life has been a roller coaster, one minute I can run 41k another seemingly I am wheezing to run 5k. I wanted to take things back under control, so I joined Crossfit. For those that are not familiar it is a pretty intense series of workouts designed to push you and essentially make you Stronger, Fitter and Faster. So after tonight of completing an epic workout and can’t sleep because my muscles ache I was reflecting on what Printchomp and Crossfit have in common. 1. Push your limits – Whether it is building a new business or getting in shape it is all about pushing your limits. Seeing how far you can push yourself. You don’t know how far you can go or achieve if you don’t push yourself hard. Whenever you stop pushing yourself, you deprive yourself from getting to a goal faster or sooner. So don’t take your foot off the gas pedal, you only have limited time on this earth so make the most of it. 2. Surround yourself with people that push you – You are only as good as the people you surround yourself with. If you only hang out with uninspired, lazy individuals soon you will become one. Both in Printchomp or Crossfit both are highly motivated to achieve their goals. At a critical point of my workout I was behind (it was a timed workout). I might not have completed it in the allotted time if a colleague hadn’t pushed me to work harder to complete the workout. You also need good people to help you constantly raise your game and constantly improve. 3. It is ok to be uncomfortable – The old adage of getting out of your comfort zone. It has become so clichéd. Pushing yourself to do new and tough things is the only way you improve. If you don’t fail or had a chance of failing you have no way to get better. When I first ventured out to create my own business, it was a scary experience. However if I didn’t take that first step to start something, I would have never went beyond what I knew. For me never trying is far scarier than trying something with a chance of failure. 4. Form is everything – Form is everything when working out, so to does...
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So I usually have a pretty lively Superbowl party and this year I decided to evolve it further. One of the highlight of my party 2 years ago was that Mill Street Brewery and a few other companies sponsored their product for the party. I thought this year I would take this to the next level and see how I could expand this, hence my Social Media Influencer Superbowl Party. This year I am actively soliciting sponsors for the party, to put their product in the hands of Toronto social media influencers while watching the game. It is the hope that people at the party, will Tweet, Facebook and share products they like during the party while watching the big game. We have our first sponsor Hollywood Gelato, that will be providing Gelato for the event. Looking for Sponsors We are looking for a variety of sponsors, whether it be food, drink or swag. If you want to share your product with social media savvy people this is your chance. Contact me at joseph@jpuopolo.com Sponsors Hollywood Gelato is a favorite of mine. We have been going to them for years to get amazing Gelato.At Hollywood Gelato we are proud of creating innovative, fun, delicious and authentic gelato. Developing new flavours is a science that takes time, dedication and persistence. We have over 200 recipes in our repertoire and are continuously adding more. Of these recipes you will see 22 of the top selling flavours in our display case. Follow @hollywoodgelato St. Louis Bar and Grill is a Mainstay for wings and BBQ in the city.St. Louis Bar and Grill 528 Yonge St, 595 Bay St and Fairview Mall locations are the best places in the city for Wings, Ribs and Raptors Games. If you are a NBA fan, this is on the only in the city that shows more love for NBA.Follow @stlouiswings I just learned of Black Oak and their great craft beer.Black Oak has been brewing award winning beer since the last millennium! We make slow brewed, all malt, authentic hand crafted beer that’s true to style. Focusing on quality, character and consistency, our Pale Ale and Nut Brown are gold medal winners at the Great Canadian Brewing Awards. We also make seasonal beers in limited quantities, each suited to the season they represent.Follow @BlackOakBrewing Dufflet has been providing me with cakes for years for all my family events.Eat More Cake! Dufflet Pastries’ 3 locations are renown as Toronto’s source for fresh baked desserts that are hand-crafted from scratch using no artificial flavours, colours or preservatives. Along with signature cakes, chocolate confections, and sublime wedding & celebration cakes, Dufflet cafés also offer light lunches and...
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After our crazy adventure to New England, me and my dad decided to keep the insanity going by flying to San Francisco. So after a crazy trip we got to watch the game. Now it was definitely a wet one, but an adventure we will never forget. There was an incident at the game, but it we were still able to have a great time. Thanks to Tom Petty, a California original lending some music to the video. This music is not owned or created by...
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I recently returned from San Francisco, a city I consider my home away from home. I was there with friends and family to watch the 49ers vs. Giants NFC Championship game on January 22nd,2012 . We arrived at the game early and got ready for the game. The game was quickly soured by an incident in our section. Usher 137 (whose voice is featured in the video I am about to show you) created a mini police state in our section 36/38. She was constantly yelling at people that were in her opinion “excessively standing”. This highly subjective component of the fan code of conduct, was in my opinion not only being abused by the Usher, but was creating a experience that ruined the feel of an amazing playoff game. Having just come from the game a week previous the Patriots vs. Broncos where people were constantly standing, it felt totally out of place and inconsistent with a playoff game. I will state honestly that I did not know what provoked this incident, but having been to over 10 NFL games previously (in cities across the country – Oakland, Buffalo, Foxboro and even Toronto) I have never seen a police response like this, which is part of the reason that I am writing this post. I can say in all of my dealings seeing the SFPD they have accorded themselves with professionalism and compassion. This, however, really shocked me. The police, after not being able to get the person in question to leave their seat, proceeded to club the subject repeatedly. Everyone in our section was aghast at this. I grabbed my video camera to capture the tail end of it. What I captured was an office taking multiple swings at a seemingly unarmed with a blunt weapon in an apparent attempt to remove the man from his seat. I have seen drunk fools removed from their seats before at NFL games, but I have never seen anything like this. I was then accosted by the Usher 137, who yelled at me for recording this on video at the end of the video, seemingly knowing that she had precipitated this incident to spiral out of control with her attitude. For the rest of the game, Usher 137 continued to harass and intimidate paying fans who were there to cheer their team to a Superbowl. She seemed to relish her position of power and was using it to lord over people there just looking to have a good time. Now those saying that I am just doing this to get attention, I first attempted to go through the official channels to notify the right...
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In a totally spur of the moment occasion, it was decided that me, my brother and dad would travel to New England to watch the Broncos face off against the Patriots. We all made a pact to eachother, that we would look for any opportunity to do something cool together and create memories with each other. Memories were definitely made on that cold night. The aura of Tebow was in the air, but it wasn’t enough to stop Tom Brady and the Patriots from crushing them. We had so much fun that we decided to book another flight to San Francisco to see the game next week versus the Giants. Crazy I know, but crazy is what I do best. Here is a little video I shot. Sorry for the crappy camera work, it was freaking cold out there. Thanks to Axel Rose, Slash and the rest of GnR for the music. Random shots of us Tebowing...
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In 2011, social media had its share of growing pains. Large brands and corporations took to social media in force to try to find footing in this expanding medium. Some brands found success, while others found peril and new PR nightmares. One person who has helped brands navigate the proverbial social media minefield is Amy Jo Martin. She is the founder of Digital Royalty, a social media firm that has set itself apart by helping A-listers find their social media voice. Amy works with people like Dana White of the UFC, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson of acting/WWE fame and brands like Nike and Fox Sports (and now Joel Stein). Her specialty is working with organizations or individuals and making them look good online. Since the online world is in perpetual flux, I wanted to get Amy’s take on the social media landscape for 2012. Here were a few key trends Amy said we should look out for in 2012: 1. Social TV Integration Many shows have already begun to integrate social TV, either through polling or integrating social elements within the show. See my example of how both the UFC and WWE are integrating social media into their programming. Social media played a pivotal role in the last presidential election, and it will likely be more integrated into political broadcasts. As each news channel fights hard to keep their viewers engaged, networks like CNN and Fox have made significant strides to engage their audience, although some would argue that this social media integration has come at the expense of hard-hitting journalism and analysis. 2. TV Is Going Online in a Big Way 2012 will be the first time that the Super Bowl will be streamed live to the world. Since the Super Bowl is generally viewed as the mother of all advertising spectacles, it will add a new dynamic into the digital component to advertising and social media integration. 3. Facebook Credits Take Center stage Facebook in 2012 has the potential to project its power and truly take Facebook credits into a viable currency. Amy puts it quite well when she says “they’re building an online destination we’ll never need to leave, and my guess is they’re only about 8% of the way through their product roadmap.” 4. Big Business Has Woken Up The way corporate entities approach social media is shifting. Many companies realize that setting up Twitter, YouTube and Facebook accounts is not going to cut it as their social media strategy. Brands will need to seriously shift their perspective by treating social channels more like communication channels and less like an advertising channels in order to make a difference. From my perspective...
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