Had an amazing week on Canada’s west coast recently and was quickly reminded that Vancouver is indeed one of this country’s most beautiful cities. By the time I was flying over the famous Canadian Rockies – my anticipation for a week in Vancouver couldn’t have been greater. It wasn’t all fun and games (actually, a lot was.) I was there on some official social media business. But it had been more than a decade since I was in Van City and it was nice to catch up. (Richard Budman photos.)

I’m not really one for shooting those touristy, “capture the landmark” type of photos. But if I see enough reason to shoot a scene in the right place – I will.

The hotel room view (Bayshore Westin.)

The Vancouver International Auto Show took place over the holiday Easter weekend in the all-new BC Place Stadium. I wasn’t surprised when the Good Friday turned out to be the show’s VERY busy day but the stadium seemed caught a little off-guard as a VERY large walk-up crowd to BC Place found themselves waiting in a long line to purchase auto show admission tickets.

It was the mobile game playing app SCVNGR that brought me to Vancouver for another activation on the Chevrolet floor.

I’m really in Vancouver to shoot the new Chevrolet’s. But when you see a classic like this ’38 Chevy at the show…

My social media dream team. Was nice to get the opportunity to travel out to the west coast and continue the story. (For Chevrolet Canada YouTube host Skye Collyer and camera / editor Mike Edge.)

NOTE TO SELF: Clean the fuckin’ camera mirror.

Went up high into the seats of BC Place Stadium for some birds-eye shots of the show floor.

iPhone continues to be the most popular type of picture taking device I saw this year on the Auto Show tour.

We found ourselves frequenting the Gastown area of Vancouver often for some awesome choices in restaurants.

Walking back to the hotel one evening past these now iconic Olympic structures – the torch memories came rushing back.

I enjoy shooting the auto shows and depending on the day, have learned to approach it a few different ways. Some days it’s about shooting the cars. Some days it’s about the people. Some days it’s about capturing how the people are interacting with the vehicles.

The big takeaway for me from spending time at the 2012 Auto Shows in Montreal and Toronto is the prominence of mobiles taking photos. All that talk of the death of the point-and-shoot camera does have merit. I witnessed far more photos being taken on mobile cameras than point-and-shoot cams than ever before. (All photos Richard Budman.)

Corvette Stingray Concept. At least one day during the auto show – I hit the floor a couple of hours before the doors open to the public so I can shoot the vehicles without any people around.

Licensed automotive technologist Conrad Italiano doing his Engine Build.

Hot Wheels Camaro concept.

Camaro SS convertible on the Playbook.

Playing Chevrolet SCVNGR.

The Foose Cruze.

I’m always challenging myself to find different shots and angles. The Auto Show floor is a treasure trove of picture making opportunities – you just have to spot them.

Chevrolet Product Specialists Veronica, Gary, and Jay.

Classic Chevy’s.

The Hot Wheels die-cast Camaro was a very sought-after collectible during the Auto Show.

General Motors of Canada President and Managing Director Kevin Williams on media day.

My friend (and blogger extraordinaire) Casie Stewart during a Social Media Week Toronto breakfast talk hosted by Chevrolet on the Auto Show floor.

In thinking about how attendees experience an Auto Show. We starting asking ourselves a while ago;

How can mobile devices enhance consumer engagement with Chevrolet vehicles at the Auto Show even further?

Chevrolet Canada has teamed up with mobile gaming startup SCVNGR to encourage Auto Show visitors in Toronto to engage more thoroughly with vehicles and displays on the Auto Show Floor – all while having fun and earning a reward or two along the way.

What is SCVNGR?

SCVNGR is a mobile game played on iPhone & Android enabled devices where players download the SCVNGR app – play “Chevrolet @ #CIAS12″ where they’ll be prompted to do challenges; like take a photo of their favorite Chevrolet or answer a question (What NHL Legend is an ambassador for Chevrolet’s hockey helmet program?) Players earn points which will get them neat rewards like the Hot Wheels Auto Show Camaro collectible or other cool Chevy swag.

Auto Show attendees are already highly engaged with their mobiles and adding game-like play is the next level of using mobile technology to enhance engagement between show goer and Chevrolet.

Chevrolet Canada is the first automotive brand in Canada to bring a location aware, mobile game playing app to an auto show floor.

Chevrolet Canada will offer prizes to Auto Show attendees using SCVNGR’s iPhone or Android apps at Canada International Auto Show Feb 17-26, 2012. Chevrolet is in the South Building, Hall D of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

Major brand names partnering with big sporting events is nothing new. National brand advertisers have supported sporting events for decades. Sports themselves have come to rely on the BIG money sponsorship revenue.

What’s new is how brands are leveraging often very newsworthy content from the major events they sponsor – especially on social media channels. And why not. It’s usually great content and a little newsjacking can be damn good marketing. With a previously established relationship between sponsor and event – access to getting content can usually be arranged.

My recent work on Chevrolet Canada‘s partnership with Hockey Canada and the World Junior Hockey Championship in Alberta provides a good example of sharing on social media a very newsworthy event – and also using social media channels to promote Chevrolet’s presence there.

Because of Chevrolet’s partnership with Hockey Canada – we had access to tournament tickets. We used a pair of Gold medal game tickets to drive engagement with Chevrolet Canada’s facebook page by holding a contest. Using the Wildfire app platform – we built a custom facebook app that allowed people to enter the contest. Thousands entered the contest resulting in hundreds of facebook Likes for the page.

The IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship has a Fan Zone adjacent to where the games are played. Chevrolet has an activation display in the zone. A great experiential idea was having fans wish Team Canada good luck by signing a custom decaled Camaro SS.

Throughout the tournament we used the Chevrolet Canada social media channels to ensure people were aware of the activities in the fan zone. And not just leveraging the Chevrolet social properties – but also using the partnership with Hockey Canada to get mentions for Chevrolet on their social channels as well. A few times the official Twitter account for the games (and its over 10,000 followers) re-tweeted @ChevroletCanada messages. We ensured Chevrolet stayed active on two official Tweet streams for the tournament – #WJC2012 and #IwasThere.

Great examples of a convergence of experiential marketing and social media to expand the reach of an event.

(all photos Richard Budman)

Facebook photo albums from Live, newsworthy events usually make for great stuff to share on brand pages. Engagement and “Likes” are usually high. But the photos need to be very good quality, tell the story of the event, and be posted to social channels in timely ways.

Congratulations Team Canada on your #Bronze medal at #2012WJC in Calgary! You guys played hockey with hearts of #Gold. #IwasThere

— Chevrolet Canada (@ChevroletCanada) January 6, 2012

I’d like to thank the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame and our fans. This is your victory.

— Axl Rose (@axlrose) December8, 2011

Shots I took on my point-and-shoot camera at Axl’s Gn’R show in Hamilton, Ontario (November, 2011.)

Had the pleasure to recently shoot an assignment at BMO Field – Toronto’s home to soccer action. The occasion in mid-October was the Canada Men’s National Soccer Team as they are in the midst of qualifying play for 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil match play.

I hadn’t shot at BMO Field before, so it was good to get a chance the day before game day to visit BMO Field and shoot during the training / media day. One thing that quickly occurred to me is my favorite lens, the Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 wasn’t going to cut it come game day (and I didn’t think a 200mm lens was going to be long enough either.)

While BMO Field does have an intimate feel to it, the soccer action still seems to occur far away from photographer side lines, hence a fast (it would be a night game) and long lens would be a priority. I ended up renting a 300mm f/2.8 for the night game and turned out to be a great choice.


I was shooting on behalf of Chevrolet Canada who recently entered into a partnership with Soccer Canada and was supporting the team through vehicle activations around BMO Field and signage throughout.

Loved the Canadian spirit in at least one section of homers.

Protest marches can be fun to shoot – there are always colourful characters and the signs are a creative exercise in itself. But this is Toronto, the peaceful, so I pretty much knew there would be no photo opportunities like this yesterday. (all photos Richard Budman)
The crowd started to gather just after 10am. By the time it left the King and Bay intersection – it had swelled to well over a thousand people.

Toronto Police presence was light on the day. After the G20 fiasco and the black-eye it caused a normally outstanding police force – officers were taking no chances. Police kept their distance from protesters and stayed well on the outside perimeter working to ensure streets were cleared of traffic so the march could safely precede. But Toronto Police were certainly ready just in case the shit hit the fan and violence broke out. I did see many unmarked mini-vans in the area, each full of Police officers. You could sense if they needed reinforcements – in about a minute hundreds of Police could have been on scene.

There was no shortage of photographers documenting the day. We’re always looking for creative ways to gain height when shooting large protest marches (my best shots yesterday of the march moving along Adelaide were shot with me standing on newspaper boxes.)

In this age of everyone thinking they’re a great photographer because of an iPhone and software trickery like instagram – it was cool to see one dude going old-school with his Deardorff camera gear.

After the demonstrators left Bay and King, they marched east on Adelaide to St. James Park. Some estimates put the peak size of the march at around 2,000 people.

Great to see my old friend, the Toronto Sun’s Joe Warmington. Joe recently spent a week in Afghanistan covering things over there so it was good to hear about his experience preparing for such a dangerous assignment.

The march ended up at St. James park. How long they’ll last and how many days they camp out is anyone’s guess at this point.

A few photographers had their helmets with them in case any violence broke out and the projectiles started falling (I left mine at home.)

To support this large traditional media buy across out-of-home, digital and broadcast – Chevrolet took over Yonge-Dundas Square in Toronto on October 4th for #ChevroletALLday – an all-day event of vehicle showcases, graffiti art, test drives, contest giveaway of a brand new Sonic, and capping the whole day off with a free concert from Fitz And The Tantrums.

To put an innovative spin on things – Chevrolet became one of the first brands in Canada to broadcast the whole days events at Yonge-Dundas Square Live to Youtube Canada’s homepage and Facebook.

I’m part of a small team that is taking a closer look at Live experiential events for ways to leverage social media tools to reach even more people and create more engaging experiences between consumer and brand.

The success of the Live online broadcast feed had a lot do with the production value. There wasn’t just a single camera mounted high in the sky streaming the same boring shot. Multiple cameras roaming on the ground – and one on a crane – were used to produce the feed.

In looking for ways to ramp up social chatter around the October 4th Yonge-Dundas Square event. Popular Toronto bloggers and media were pitched and invited.

It doesn’t always look pretty in the tent but this crew got the job down beautifully editing their way through a continued 5 camera feed for twelve hours.

Fitz And The Tantrums capped off the evening with a great concert. Earlier in the day, they sat down for an interview that went Live to YouTube.

#ChevroletALLday was hosted by TSN personality Cabbie Richards. Here Cabby is getting Live testimonials about test driving the Chevy Volt from Casie and Keri.

Chevrolet Canada took over the YouTube Canada homepage from 10am to 10pm broadcasting Live the days events.

It was especially cool (and fitting!) to see noted on-line blogger Casie Stewart not just win a new Chevrolet Sonic – but have that whole experience unfold, in tweets and more all Live on YouTube in real-time.

This Tuesday, October 4th – Chevrolet takes over Yonge-Dundas Square in Toronto. During the day we’ll have music, vehicle showcases, a graffiti artist, test drives, and capping the whole thing off with a free concert from FITZ AND THE TANTRUMS at 7pm (who Rolling Stone magazine called this year, “A Band To Watch..”) All that, PLUS the chance to win an all-new Chevrolet Sonic!

Chevrolet Canada is further making history on October 4th by streaming the entire days events at Yonge-Dundas Square Live on YouTube Canada’s home page and Facebook. So contact me if you want to say “Hi!” Live on YouTube on October 4th. The show kicks-off at 10 a.m.

#ChevroletALLday from Yonge-Dundas Square will be hosted by Muchmusic’s Sarah Taylor and TSN’s Cabbie Richards.

I got a few special invitations for media and bloggers with some perks.

- Front-of-the-line access to test drive the three new vehicles – including the Chevrolet Volt, the world’s first electric car with range extender.

- VIP seating access, photo opportunities and meet and greet with Fitz and the Tantrums.

- Say Hi! to your community Live on YouTube Canada’s homepage.

Contact me if you want to join us on October 4th in Toronto’s Yonge-Dundas Square.

Richard Budman has one big regret.

Three years ago, the photographer was taking a break between TIFF press conferences at the Sutton Place Hotel when a car pulled up next to his.

“Think we should shoot that?” Budman asked his colleague.

“Nah, it’s the cast of some small Indian movie,” replied the other photographer.

That day, Budman didn’t take a single shot of the cast from Slumdog Millionaire, Danny Boyle’s sleeper that would go on to win the festival’s People Choice Award and, ultimately, Best Picture at the 2009 Academy Awards.

“It was the biggest mistake,” he says.

continue reading at CBC.ca…

On behalf of Cadillac, the official vehicle of the Toronto International Film Festival, I’m thrilled to be covering all things TIFF again for another year in a unique social media reporting assignment. With my insider reporting partner Skye Collyer, in our beautiful Cadillac CTS-V coupe we’ll ride to some of the best of what TIFF has to offer – the press conferences, red carpet premieres, and parties that take over downtown Toronto.

I hope you’ll join us Festival Insiders as we ride through TIFF this year. You will have a few ways to keep up with us during TIFF:

– The Festivalinsider.ca blog where I post stories each day about the red carpet premieres and events we visit.

– Cadillac Festival Insider features the photography of George Pimentel – a TIFF renowned celebrity photography with his own unique access. Photo albums are published daily throughout the Festival on Facebook and Flickr.

– I’ll tweet a lot on our popular Twitter feed at @FESTIVALinsider about all the TIFF action.

– We produce a daily series of YouTube videos hosted by my co-insider SKYE as we visit the hot spots around the Toronto International Film Festival.

– And if that wasn’t enough, I’ll somehow find the strength to get up at 7am each day during TIFF to chat with Mad Dog on 99.9 Virgin radio where I’ll dish all things TIFF.

– We’ll even giveaway a few TIFF premiere tickets, so for that reason alone, it’s worth following along.

Four legends of tennis; Jim Courier, Andre Agassi, John McEnroe and Michael Chang take to a sponsor stage to share stories at the Rogers Cup in Toronto. (August 13, 2011)

I’m starting to see more brands play with cool concepts that tie together digital, traditional, and experiential marketing in smart ways.

Its not enough to get people to just visit brand websites (or increasingly, their facebook pages.) We want visitors to take some sort of action.

Budlight Canada tries to get the action going by asking, “Are You In This Ad?” in series of print and out-of-home ads that creatively direct a person to the Bud Light Canada facebook page. If you see yourself in a photo – tag yourself to enter for the big prize.

The campaign plays on the growing trend in social media marketing that it’s not enough just for you to see an ad. But to encourage action that causes your online network of friends to see that brand message too.

A special week in late June when two of the most distinctive voices in soul history made separate, but equally important appearances in Toronto. Ms. Aretha Franklin and Sade made rare concert stops in the city. Online music news site Manifesto.ca asked to use photos I shot at the shows. Was thrilled to see my shots end up in beautifully penned reviews (coincidentally, by a friend) – Mindbender Supreme.

On Aretha Franklin’s show kicking off the 2011 Toronto Jazz Festival;
“It was truly something reminiscent of the arrival of royalty: it was like the musicians had to lay a bed of sonic rose petals, orchids and chrysanthemums down before the Queen would even set foot down in the court of the crowd and concert. Honestly, for any other artist, it would have been a tedious display of pretentiousness. But on this occasion, it actually felt proper.” – SEE MORE.

On the magical Sade show at Air Canada Centre;
“Sade. Ooh, let me say it again, just because it’s so sensual: SADE. Her name alone is nothing short of holy in many music lovers’ hearts. She eternally floats in the pantheon of immortal soul vocalists, artists that create above and beyond the confines of time, space, and the plastic parameters of the music industry.” – SEE MORE.