It seems like Flight Centre, who’s putting on the contest (along with a slew of sponsors including Intrepid Travel and Air Canada), have jumped on the social media bandwagon to rally up the most adventuresome, travel lusty communicators across Canada to create a short video about why they’re the best choice to win the contest.

The videos are up for voting for the month of April and then the Top 25 videos are evaluated by a panel of celeb judges. Six entrants get sent on a trip by Intrepid Travel to vlog to their heart’s content. And then the best two from that gets the GRAND PRIZE from Flight Centre.

Here’s our rather salacious entry. We decided to go for the tongue-in-cheek testimonial approach. Plus, it’s the first piece of video I’ve been the editor for in a looong while. I’m pretty happy with the way it turned out:)

Yep. Me. How rad is that?

It’s a bi-monthly column called “Bridging the Gap” and its aim is to discuss the interactions between Old Media vs. New Media.

I’m pretty pumped because I get to use this forum to analyze and geek out about all the different moves played by traditional media outlets like TV, magazines and newspapers to try to make themselves more relevant via the rapidly changing medium of the Net. On the flipside, I also get to talk about New Media and how its users have been working to legitimize themselves and build business models around the content they’re creating on the web.

My first column really sums it all up:

The Internet has been a catalyst for change for a lot of different industries, but particularly within the world of traditional media, like newspapers, magazines and television.

Over the last six years, I’ve worked various media roles, from a chase producer for Canadian network programs to launching five online TV shows. Coming from a background of both traditional and “new media,” which essentially means online publications and web shows, I have had the benefit of seeing how both worlds have been growing and adapting to each other to accommodate this paradigm shift in how media is being consumed by the general public.

With regards to video consumption, for example, ComScore’s latest Video Metrix data report released April 2009 ranked Canada as the highest in online video viewing - beating countries like the UK, Germany, France, and the U.S. - and reported that the average Canadian online viewer spent 10 hours viewing online content, up 53 percent from last year.

The Internet really is the Wild West for mass media and in this column I’ll be taking a look at how the web has affected traditional mediums and point towards concrete examples of stories like networks launching webisodes to complement their TV shows or original web-only series; citizen journalism or viewer-created content becoming more sought out by news organizations; and newspapers and networks embracing the two-way conversation the Internet has become notorious for.

I’ll even be bringing to light examples of how web start-ups have made the leap into traditional mediums, with online magazines expanding into print or web series being sold to networks and launched as TV shows.

It seems the medium is no longer the message. Not entirely, at least. Content is king. And hopefully this column will help make sense of it all and offer a forum to explore, discuss and bridge the gap between Old Media and New Media.

The Art of Interviewing. It’s a skill set all journalists have to learn, whether they enjoy doing it or not; it’s the backbone of every story. It’s possibly even something they’ve always done without realizing it. If they’ve always been the type to be curious enough about people and the world around them to ask questions constantly, chances are, they have the right basis for conducting a good interview.

Interviewing is more than just asking questions, though. Any journalist will tell you you should be throughly RESEARCHED about the person or topic so you avoid any redundant questions and can dig deeper than the information you can simply Google online. That is if you’re doing a more in-depth feature or profile. Hard news usually asks you to stick to the five Ws and one H: Who, What, Where, When, Why and How (if it’s relevant, of course. Don’t be afraid to use your common sense).

On the topic of questions, you should go into an interview prepared with a list of five or six of them. But AVOID READING them to the interviewee. The key to a good interview, in my experience, is to make it a conversation. It makes the interviewee much more comfortable and at ease, which usually leads to better responses. A level of professionalism is important to maintain, but if you can chat to your interviewee like a close acquaintance, you’ll be pleased with the gold you’re able to get out of them.

Quite possibly the most important thing to remember is to LISTEN. It might seem straightforward, but it’s something a lot of journalists, including myself, have had to practice to become comfortable with it. Yes, as an interviewer you’ll have a certain agenda (even though we’re all taught to be objective) with the list of questions you want answered. But if you really listen (like a conversation with a good friend) you’ll be able to follow up on tangents you may not have even considered, that add a unique (or even more relevant) angle to your piece. You may end up telling the story that REALLY needs to be told instead of what’s been assigned to you.

The final thing to remember (mostly if you’re doing an audio or video interview) is to NOT be afraid to interrupt your interviewee. No one wants to hear/watch an answer that goes on for 10 minutes. Again, this is where listening plays a role. Listen to what the interviewee is saying and if it’s going on for too long, take the lead again. It’s YOUR interview, after all. Take control. But don’t be a douche about it, of course. Do it elegantly:)

Note: Absolutely feel free to forwarn your interviewee of how long the final piece is going to be so they know to keep their responses concise (again, specifically more useful if it’s going to be an audio/video interview).

These are all little bits of etiquette that I have found to be of use over the last few years. Of course, not everyone does it the same and different journalists will have other techniques that work for them. But if you can keep these in mind, I can guarantee you’ll have a pretty great starting point.

If you’re a Journalist or in Journalism school I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve already seen this.

But if you’re a complete n00b when it comes to news, this video gives a frighteningly accurate breakdown of how to structure a news piece for television.

Seriously, my professors could’ve simply shown us this video and then thrown us out into the world to get our hands on experience immediately after.

I’ve never seen this Charlie Brooker character before, but BBC likes him, and he’s British, which to me is synonymous with HILARIOUS.

There are half a dozen in-studio teams, and this year I was called upon to join arms with the NERDS heh heh. Quite frankly, it was a team of Nerds AND Geeks, but the difference between the two (whether there really IS one) will be left for another blog post.

There were a total of 180 participants divided into six teams, including Twins, Politicians, Believers, Atheists and Contact Sports Athletes. It was a “star-studded” event with the likes of Justin Trudeau, Marc Garneau, Little Mosque on the Prarie’s Brandon Firla and Dragons’ Den’s Brett Wilson. And the TV special exceeded a million viewers across the nation. Pretty rad.

Naturally Team Nerds won. Could it be any other way?:)

Here are some pics of our hijinx:

Check out the episode and cheer along with the Nerds in all their glory:)

What are the Tasty Awards?

Held in San Francisco, it describes itself as the Oscars of the food, fashion, drink and style industries and awards people for outstanding food and fashion programs on television, film and online.

Luckily, the Naked Wine Show made the cut as a nominee in the “Best Critic/Review Show” category. And then beat out unbelievable competition like Gary Vay-Ner-Chuk’s Wine Library TV. For those who don’t know, GaryV’s held the stranglehold on anything having to do with WINE on the Internet for years. So…this really does feel like a double whammy of an achievement for the show.

NewTeeVee broke the story. Then win was also featured in the New York Times and CNN. Badass.

You better believe we celebrated with wine. LOTS of it:)

And today’s announcement of the opening of the world’s tallest tower, Burj Khalifa (formerly Burj Dubai), makes me want to cross the pond even more.Here are some of the records it’s broken (from the Burj Dubai website):

•  Tallest building in the world

•  Tallest free-standing structure in the world

•  Highest number of stories in the world

•  Highest occupied floor in the world

•  Highest outdoor observation deck in the world

•  Elevator with the longest travel distance in the world

•  Tallest service elevator in the world

Yes, it’s sad Toronto no longer holds the record for the tallest tower, but if anyone could beat us, I’m glad it was those insanely imaginative rich guys in the UAE:)

The past few days have been rather interesting, as I’ve been adjusting to life back in bustling and teeth-chatteringly cold Toronto.

Why, you may ask?

Because I just came back from my dream trip to India! (No, I’m not gloating. I’m just grateful for being able to say that:) I just spent 3 1/2 weeks wandering through central, north eastern and southern India and my GOD, all the reading and interviewing and research in the world couldn’t have prepared me for the raw and unapologetically chaotic world that is India.

People have often asked me why I decided to go to this land of spices, mythology and aggressive development. My answer is simple: I’ve always been drawn to it. Ever since I was about 12, I used to sit in my parents’ living room every Sunday morning and watch Bollywood movies on TV. I usually didn’t understand a word of it, but something about the stories and the way they were presented always drew me in. As I grew older, more and more things about the culture and society intrigued me: the spirituality; the vibrant clothing and jewelry; the mouth-watering cuisine; the traditional values and how it clashes with the rapid westernization of their youth today; the music and movies; the dichotomy of rich and poor; the sheer factor that once you’re there you can’t believe that all the little pieces that make up that society somehow manage to grate against each other and function. It’s like a beautiful engima.

So you see, I could never avoid going. And thus begins my love affair with India. Because once you’ve had a taste of her, I sense you’ll always be drawn back for more.

My partner in crime in my day-to-day life, Matt, joined me on this spicy adventure. And I gotta say, when you stick a journalist and a filmmaker together, you get some pretty informative AND entertaining video diaries:)

Our journey starts in Mumbai then goes up to the mountains of Darjeeling, down to Buddha’s home of enlightenment, Bodhgaya, then over to the holiest point of existence for Hindu’s, Varanasi. It then treks over to Agra, home of the Red Fort and Taj Mahal, then to the palaces of Jaipur and a hop, skip and jump down to the southern state of Kerala, infamous for its backwater boat rides and ayurvedic treatments. The final destination? Notorious Goa, known for its white-sand beaches (spotted with cows, of course!) and echoes of the trance party scenes of the 90s and long-haired hippies before then.

So then, I naturally thought “who’s going to take OVER for talk shows?” I love The View, but clearly not quite the same with the ensemble of women (and let’s be honest, as brilliant of a career as Barbara Walters has had, she’s pretty much the weakest link on that show in terms of entertainment value. She’s BORING to watch.)

There’s the Ellen DeGeneres Show, but as knee-slappingly, can’t-breathe-because-I’m-laughing-so-hard funny as she is, she doesn’t offer the same kind of serious and in-depth journalism Oprah occasionally offered her viewers on her show. Nor does she unveil some of the most provocative and poignant books I’ve read in the last decade. Or offer a slew of incredibly useful info through carefully selected experts. I love Ellen, but let’s be honest - her show’s fluff.

Rachel Ray isn’t even on my radar because, as sweet as she is, I can’t STAND her voice. Not the accent, the tone of it. I find it grating.

Then there’s Tyra Banks with The Tyra Show who clearly strives to be just like Oprah, except interviews people like Tila Tequila and has already proven to the world, quite gleefully might I add, that she’s gone bonkers. I thought “Well I can’t stand her talk show, but she’ll probably try to fill Oprah’s shoes, right?” And then, about a month later SHE decides she’s retiring from talk shows to produce movies.

Not sure where the talk show landscape is going. Being in the industry, I know that talk shows are a wonderfully strippable format (meaning a solid format you can easily “fill in the blanks” with as a daily show) that networks are seeking out. But WHAT kind of talk show is going to resonate with viewers these days?

Similar to the way the Internet has become the domain for niches to flourish and find their audiences, talk shows seem to be moving in that direction. Sort of.

Look at the recent launch of The Dr.Oz show and his focus on health. Or Dr. Phil with his focus on relationships and metal health (please note I can’t stand this man either). Rachel Ray has her cooking niche deeply integrated into her talk show. And even Maury Povich serves to entertain the former Jerry Springer audience (that’s a niche too!).

Should the next talk shows that pop up be more general, topical and offer that journalistic angle Oprah did so well, along with her hefty dollop of compassion?

Perhaps the biggest question is, is there even a need for that kind of talk show anymore?

Obviously I was ecstatic to join her and got to come on to do a review of an app that has recently become very popular on the iPhone due to T-Pain’s shenanigans online -  Auto-Tune.

Although I thoroughly embarrassed myself trying to sing the Canadian anthem into it (though my most intimate friends assure me I was bubbly and adorable AS WELL as informative) I also got to review two of my personal faves on my iPhone, Shazam and Recorder.

I still need to get the video to embed to my site, but for now here are some pics and the URL where you can watch me in action: