In The Press

In October 2005, the NBA instituted a dress code for players. No longer would knee-length t-shirts and sweat suits be game-day or bench attire. The move brought cheers and jeers from across the hoops landscape. Some called it an affront to hip hop culture while others said it showed respect for the game. Six years later, there probably isn’t even a need for the dress code because, as Wesley Morris points out in a great piece at Grantland called "The Rise of the NBA Nerd," hip hop culture has changed its own dress code.

Morris points out how the emerging of Kanye West "ushered in the chic of the black nerd. He cleared a safe space for narcissism and self-deconstruction; for singing rappers with names like Drake, J. Cole, and Tyler, The Creator; for the Roots to be Jimmy Fallon’s house band; for the threat in the music to move from the street to the psyche. Hip-hop had already begun to splinter into a land of a million mixtapes before West’s arrival. And with that shattering, black male style was transitioning away from Sean Combs’ ‘Puffy’ era gilded age, with its plushness, flamboyance, glamour, and actionable danger."

The Basketball Jones deftly tackled the issue last month, with a hard-hitting report asking, "Who is the NBA’s biggest hipster?" But let’s not pretend this is a new phenomenon. The NBA has a long history of players who were leaders of or even way ahead of their sartorial time. Let’s just hope the league doesn’t go for throwback shorts.

by Kurt Helin

You are really going to get to test the color on that new 60-inch plasma screen you are getting for Christmas.

What you see to the right (and larger below) are the Christmas version of Kobe Zoom VII from our friends at Nike (via The Basketball Jones). Kobe will be wearing these on opening day/Christmas day in an apparent attempt to blind Derrick Rose.

Remember that last year Kobe went with “Grinch” green shoes, but this year he and Nike decided that they would spice it up with some purple. And Cheetah spots.

Kids, you can be the first on your block to have these for Christmas. These are way cooler than that iPad 2 you keep asking for.

Posted: 12/12/2011 1:00 AM

Looking for a new social network?

Facebook allows you to have 5,000 friends. Twitter allows you to share stories with virtually trillions of people. Well, have you ever wanted a social network where you just have just 50 of your closest friends? I recently ran into a really cool website called Path.com. It allows you set up a very personal profile, and only have your closets friends/family/colleagues on your network. The design is somewhat similar to Facebook, but much better in the design aspect. The thing that I find interesting is that there is no online site… it’s solely and completely a mobile application. This company launched in November 2010 and has grown to just over a million users. Path’s goal is to provide a service that enables you to keep a personal journal, or "path" of your life. I really enjoy this network, and applaud the idea. I’m going to try to get my whole family on this just so I can experience Path to the fullest. The mobile app is developed for iPhone and Android, so if you use a BlackBerry device, you’re out of luck. Go ahead and sign up for Path today, I do not think you will be disappointed.

Facebook’s ‘other’ messages

Under the Facebook messages tab, users have realized that there is an "other" tab. You may have noticed this, but have you checked it out? It contains messages Facebook has categorized as non-important. These messages are usually group shout-outs from events, or fan pages/groups. Though this "other" tab is certainly not new to anyone, it has recently caught the attention of many, including a reporter who was messaged by a man who found her lost laptop. When I checked my Facebook messages there, I found hundreds of fan pages that I have liked sending me out information. Most of it can be categorized as spam but some of it I may have wanted to read. So I encourage you to go check that "other" tab…there may be something you have missed.

YouTube’s most-shared advertisements of 2011

Advertising online is a big market, but it also is a big enough market that if your advertisement is funny/heartwarming/interesting you may experience a hit product. People love destruction, love crazy stunts and love action in advertisements. They also seem to like to be tricked. This playlist shows all the commercials that went viral on YouTube for the year of 2011. Enjoy! http://on.mash.to/youtubeads2011

Score mobile application for BlackBerry Playbook

If you are a Blackberry user, I’m sure you are always looking for cool applications to load up onto your device. I certainly know I am. Well for sports fanatics, Score Mobile will be exactly what you’re looking for. First off, when you open the application on the Playbook, it’s absolutely gorgeous. I can’t express that enough. Also the layout is very nice and it displays all the main sports feeds on the left hand side. They cover the CFL, NFL, NHL, NCAAF, NBA, and MLB. Once you choose on of those sports on the left hand tab, you can view all the scores, as well as all the news and video pertaining to that league. This application is by far my favorite application for the BlackBerry Playbook, and I use it nearly every day. The application is free, and is waiting to be downloaded in the App World.

Top iPhone Apps for 2011

The award for best iPhone application of the year was given to Instagram, I have talked about Instagram several times in the past Wired weeks. But for new readers, it’s basically a photo-taking app that can add a lot of cool effects to those photos. This app is very deserving of taking home this award, but I think the game Tiny Wings should have won. Nevertheless, my opinion doesn’t matter. They also posted a list of the Top Paid, Top Free, and Top Grossing. The list is very cool, and it’s good for people who are looking for new apps, or who are just interested. So here you go!

TOP PAID
1. Angry Birds
2. Fruit Ninja
3. Angry Birds Seasons
4. Cut the Rope
5. Tiny Wings
6. Angry Birds Rio
7. Words With Friends
8. Camera+
9. Doodle Jump
10. Plants vs. Zombies

TOP FREE
1. Facebook
2. Pandora
3. Words With Friends
4. Angry Birds Free
5. Skype
6. Netflix
7. Angry Birds Rio Free
8. Groupon
9. Fruit Ninja Lite
10. Twitter

TOP GROSSING
1. Tap Zoo
2. Angry Birds
3. Zombie Farm
4. Tap Pet Hotel
5. Poker by Zynga
6. Smurfs’ Village
7. Texas Poker
8. Haypi Kingdo,
9. Infinity Blade
10. MotionX GPS Device

Score Media has secured the exclusive television and Web stream rights to the semi-final and final matches of the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2011.

theScore will also use its ScoreMobile FC mobile app to convey the latest scores and standings from the international competition.

Live coverage begins on theScore on Wednesday, December 14th with replay airings scheduled throughout the final two rounds of the tournament.

theScore.com will also live stream each of the semi-final and final matches.

theScore’s exclusive broadcast schedule includes live coverage on:

• Semi #1: Wednesday, December 14th airing live at 5:30 a.m. ET (replay at 7:00 p.m.)
• Semi #2: Thursday, December 15th airing live at 5:30 a.m. ET (replay at 8:00 p.m.)
• Championship Game: Sunday, December 18th airing live at 5:30 a.m. ET (replay at 1:00 p.m.)

“With European champions, Barcelona – led by the world’s greatest player Leo Messi – and South American giants, Santos – led by arguably the ‘next greatest player’ Neymar – we know our dedicated footy fans will be excited about catching the semi-finals and championship game of the FIFA Club World Cup on theScore,” Greg Sansone, Vice President, Broadcast Operations, Score Media Inc. exclaimed.

Score Media’s primary asset, theScore Television Network (“theScore”), is a national specialty television service providing sports news, information, highlights and live event programming in more than 6.8 million homes across Canada. The Company’s digital media assets include theScore.com and the industry leading mobile sports applications ScoreMobile, ScoreMobile FC and SportsTap which reach over three million unique users per month.

After nine cities, 12 flights, and 10,000 farts, The Basketball Jones are coming home for their final stop and show of the "No Season Required" tour.

That’s right, Toronto — you’re up!

On Friday, December 9th, come on out to help The Basketball Jones celebrate the end of the NSR (No Season Required) tour — and the start of the NBA season — by checking out a *FREE* live recording of the audio podcast, followed by an all-out dance party.

Guests to include: Ewan Currie (lead singer of The Sheepdogs) and more TBA …

Doors at 8 p.m., show starts at 9.

by Andrew A. McNeill

Join Graydon Gordian and myself for a live online discussion about the latest San Antonio Spurs news on VOKLE. Our guest for tonight’s show is none other than Tas Melas of The Basketball Jones. We’ll discuss the rumor that the Spurs will amnesty Richard Jefferson, who can fill in his spot and what to look for this season in the NBA.

If it’s your first time checking out 48MoH TV and you’re unfamiliar with VOKLE, it’s an online video-streaming program that allows you the viewer to interact with the conversation via text or video questions. If you’re going to submit a video question, make sure to plug in some headphones and find a quiet spot.

Make sure to tune in below tonight, Wednesday, December 7 at 8:00 PM CT. Click “Join Event.”
Read more: http://www.48minutesofhell.com/48moh-tv-show-5-tas-melas-the-basketball-jones#ixzz1fxhRyuNZ

By Raj Giri | December 07, 2011 | Comments (92)

Arda Ocal and Jimmy Korderas of Aftermath Radio on thescore.com recently spoke with former WWE superstar Duane Gill, better known as "Gillberg." Here are some highlights, you can listen to the full interview at this link.

If Bill Goldberg ever tried to get in contact with him, and doing the segment with The Rock and Goldberg on an episode of RAW in 2003 on the segment "Rock Concert II": "Goldberg hates my guts. He wanted to kill me. I remember the night I did meet him, the night we did The Rock Concert were I was dancing all the ring and all. They just wanted me to just stand there and tap my foot. So I had to explain to Mr. McMahon about what I wanted to do and he started laughing his ass off and he goes lets do it (laughs)."
On his wrestling school "Gillberg’s Pro Wrestling Academy" and what made his decision to branch out the wrestling school: "We have yet to advertise and were packed. Were loaded with students. I would imagine the article on WWE.COM ‘Where are they now’ had a lot to do with helping me there. I just want to take it to the next level. I just wanna teach the way we teach. I teach old school ways. It’s taught proper and it’s really good."
How long he felt the "Gillberg" character in WWE would last: "It was actually supposed to be a one night deal. When I came back through the curtain, I got the highest honor I ever received in pro wrestling. When I came through that curtain, every McMahon, every writer, producer, boys, everybody in the back that was working was standing there clapping, and had tears in there eyes cause they were laughing so hard. That was the highest honor I ever got."

Working for WWE without being under contract for almost 10 years: "I’m a mark. I love professional wrestling, and to be honest with you, I love the WWE. Let me put it to you this way… I didn’t give a crap what I was doing, there were times were I wrestled 4 or 5 times a night. I didn’t care, man. I was there. I was in the locker room with Hulk Hogan, Brutus Beefcake, Jake The Snake, Macho Man. I went to the bar, I sat down to have drinks with them, and I got to rub shoulders with the best of the best. To me it was everything."
You can listen to the full interview at this link.

Read more: http://www.WrestlingInc.com/wi/news/2011/1207/547365/gillberg/#ixzz1jHEXU1mM

NBAers, NCAAers and media members talk social media.

by Jeremy Bauman / @JBauman13 and Peter Robert Casey / @Peter_R_Casey

Avoid it if you must, but there’s no questioning social media’s transformational impact on how we experience basketball—as fans, media, players or coaches.

Before a game even tips off, fans have already checked-in on Foursquare, uploaded a picture of their seated vantage point to Facebook and perhaps tweeted about the ever-increasing price of concessions.

The media are sharing anecdotes and sound bites from their courtside perches, and receiving immediate feedback on their post-game stories. Fans can quickly share these recaps, advance the dialogue or Stumble it to websurfers with similar interests.

Immediately following the final post-game exchange with a reporter, players take to Twitter to thank fans, talk about their performance or provide a glimpse of access into their transient and often-envied lives via Tout or other video tools.

Coaches can diagram plays or describe, demonstrate and drill on YouTube. They can network on LinkedIn or share a motivational quote on Google+. They may even remind a player what time practice is the next day via Instant Messenger or the team’s Ning site.

The options are endless, the reasons are plentiful and the landscape is changing every day. No matter which way you shake it, social media is enhancing how we watch, analyze and interact with the game of basketball.

But don’t take it from us. We canvassed a cadre of bloggers, media, coaches and players to hear exactly how social media’s impacted their experience:

Players/Coaches

Anthony Davis, @AntDavis23, Freshman Forward at the University of Kentucky: “It connects me with a lot of different people; whether it be former teammates or guys who are in the League now—guys who are at the level where I’ve dreamed of being at.”

Chris Mack, @CoachChrisMack, Head Coach of Xavier University: “I try not to take it too seriously. It’s a lighthearted thing for me. If I find something funny, I’ll tweet it.  I try to let people see my personality.”

Tristan Thompson, @RealTristan13, Rookie Forward for the Cleveland Cavaliers: “I don’t have a Facebook, but Twitter is a good way to stay connected to the fans and show them we appreciate them—without them, we are nothing.”

Iman Shumpert, @_IAM_Iman, Rookie Guard for the New York Knicks: “Social media has enhanced my basketball experience tremendously this summer by giving fans and critics insight on what I’m doing to stay prepared when the lockout is over. Building my brand was my goal this summer and I feel that I have done so by being able to give video and blog updates on Facebook, Twitter, and now updates in the NY Post!”

Jimmer Fredette, @JimmerFredette, Rookie Guard for the Sacramento Kings: “It really hasn’t changed my basketball on the court but off the court it has been good for building my brand and getting in touch with all of the college basketball fans. They’ve been great and social media has just enhanced it all.”

Austin Rivers, @AustinRivers25, Freshman Guard at Duke University: “It’s allowed me to interact with the fans more, especially with them being able to ask me questions. I enjoy the back and forth with our supporters.”

Ashton Gibbs, @AshtonGibbs12, Senior Guard at Pittsburgh University: “Twitter is easy communication with the world. Being an athlete, it’s good to have news on the go because we’re always moving. I think twitter is good as long as it’s positive news.”

Andre Barrett, @DreDay3Gs, Point Guard for Roanne, France: “If I had it when I was younger I think I would have definitely enjoyed it. I did the SLAM diary for one summer and everybody loved it because they got to know me as a person—but you had to go and buy the magazine.”

Perry Jones, @PerryJones3, Forward at Baylor University: “Just being able to communicate with other people that play basketball. If I don’t have their number or anything, I can hit them up on Twitter…also, other players who play high school basketball, college, and NBA—it has enhanced it and i can see how other people view basketball.”

Ramon Moore, @MoneMoore, Senior Guard at Temple University: “It helps you interact with your fans, friends, family and connects you to different people. Following professional athletes, you learn about the right things to say and if a fan says something you don’t agree then you carry yourself in mature way.”

Andre Dawkins, @dre_day20, Junior Guard at Duke University: “It helps us to interact with the fans. A lot of the fans follow us on Twitter, and they get a look into our lives and know what we do on a daily basis so they get a better appreciation for what we do.”

Sean Kilpatrick, @SK23_ESPN, Red-shirt Sophomore Guard at University of Cincinnati: “When you watch me on TV, that’s just the regular Sean you see—the basketball Sean. Not everyone gets to know the other side of Sean, so that’s the reason why I have it.”

Seth Curry, @sdotcurry, Junior Guard at Duke University: “The biggest thing social media has done is let me connect with the fans on a daily basis. They get to see what we’re like off the court, our sense of humor, and it’s a better way for us to interact with them.”

Aaron Brown, @2ABeezy2, Sophomore Shooting Guard at Temple University: “It’s good to stay in touch with friends, family, and fans. It’s also a good way to stay in touch with my favorite athletes and is just a great networking opportunity overall.”

Danny Jennings, @Mr_Jennings30, Red-shirt Junior at Long Beach State: “The media just shows you as a basketball player, but I just want people to follow me to see what type of person I am. The more people that know about it, the more people that don’t just know Danny the basketball player, but Danny the person.”

Durand Scott, @DScott_1, Junior Combo Guard at the University of Miami: “A lot. Twitter users are the ones who publicize me and it gives people who haven’t watched my games a glimpse of what I’m doing. I guess without them there wouldn’t be as much publicity as you would like there to be.”

Tyler Harris, @TylerHarris34, Freshman SG/SF at NC State: “Social media has given me the chance to learn about other players in the basketball world and for them to learn about at me. It’s always good to know who you are competing against.”

Media

Ben Osborne, @Bosborne17, Editor-in-Chief of SLAM Magazine (@SLAMOnline): “Personally, Twitter has made it possible to feel like I’m watching a big game with friends even if I’m alone at a bar or at home. And business-wise, it has been an incredible tool for SLAM to reach our readers with links, contests, etc.”

Bomani Jones, @Bomani_Jones, BomaniJones.com: “The thing is that most of us are stuck at our houses watching basketball games. With Twitter, all of a sudden it puts you inside of a bar—except you can hear yourself think.”

Andy Glockner, @AndyGlockner, Writer for SI.com: “I think the biggest thing is if you cultivate a smart group of followers, you realize their collective wisdom is unbelievable. Whenever I watch a game, there’s not a play or scenario that can’t be discussed, debated and analyzed in amazing fashion. You always end up with clarification or an answer you didn’t know or better perspective as a fan and as a writer.”

Ian Begley, @IanBegley, Sportswriter for @ESPNNewYork: “Great to follow some of the top basketball writers in the country on twitter and get a sampling of their viewpoints in real time.”

Nate Jones, @JonesOnTheNBA, Digital Marketing and Pro Athlete Marketing @GoodwinSports: “Social media has enhanced my basketball experience by bringing smart fans from all over the globe together to comment on hoops real-time.”

Tas Melas, @TasMelas, The Score/The Basketball Jones: “Only medium that can make a Bobcats-Raptors Blowout bearable. Jokes. Insights. Brilliant ideas from both the famous and just plain old fans.”

J.E. Skeets, @JESkeets, The Score/The Basketball Jones: “Pre-Twitter, watching some meaningless late-night Pacers-Kings game made me feel sad and lonely. Now, it’s an orgy of NBA awesomeness.”

Chad Babel, @ChadBabel, Director @TheHoopGroup: “The biggest thing that social media has done has been to decentralize peoples opinions. You know what people are thinking right when they tweet it, which makes their opinion more genuine and gives you a look into their thought process.”

Jeff Borzello, @JeffBorzello, Writer for CBSSports.com: “First, prob wouldn’t have my job w/o it. My news comes from it, I’ve met BBall people and it’s a great audience. Plus, I’m verified, so…”

Matt Norlander, @MattNorlander, Writer for CBSSports.com: “The entire process of watching—or, sometimes in my case, attending—games has been drastically altered because of Twitter. You get widespread, immediate reaction, and Twitter’s the absolute best during big games. I’ve heard someone say Twitter’s the best sports bar ever, and it really is. There’s this communal, instant reaction, and it’s great.”

Jonathan Givony, @DraftExpress, Founder/Owner of DraftExpress.com: “It’s fun. I think a lot of times when your watching a game—the NCAA Tournament, the NBA Playoffs, or whatever it may be—it’s a lot more entertaining to see what people have to say on Twitter instead of listening to the broadcasters on TV.”

Peter Robert Casey is the community manager for fivestarbasketball.com, former social media specialist for the New York Knicks and first media-credentialed microblogger in college basketball history. Email: Peter@PeterRobertCasey.com.

Jeremy Bauman is the associate community manager for fivestarbasketball.com, an IU Alum and basketball aficionado who blogs about everything basketball at SLAMonline.com. If you have any inquiry at all, he can be reached by email at jsbauman13@gmail.com.

Posted by Paul Barraza on December 5th, 2011

If you’re a huge sport fan and looking for the right application to feed your sports craving you might want to check out ScoreMobile. ScoreMobile is an easy to use application that allows you to customize your app to follow your favorite sports, teams and players.

ScoreMobile even provides you with up-to-minute scores, box scores, player stats, game previews, recaps, top stories, schedules and league standings.

Live coverage includes:

• Football (NFL, NCAA, CFL)
• Hockey (NHL)
• Basketball (NBA, NCAA – including March Madness)
• Baseball (MLB)
• Mixed Martial Arts (MMA: UFC, Strikeforce, Bellator, Score Fighting Series)
• Auto Racing (NASCAR Sprint Cup, Formula 1)
• Soccer (EPL/ Premier League, Serie A, LLa Liga, Bundesliga, UEFA Champions, MLS)
• Golf (PGA)
• Tennis (ATP, WTA)

My first encounter with ScoreMobile was on a BlackBerry Bold 9700 and I was impressed with the application, especially for being a free app. I was able to get the scores of the games I wanted and keep on top of my favorite teams. I recently made the jump to an iPhone and for my sport needs I was using the ESPN app which is a good app but just didn’t give me all the details and information I was use to with ScoreMobile, not to mention push notifications.

ScoreMobile for iOS has more to offer than it does for Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone but is an excellent choice for all the mobile OS’. For iOS I’m able to get push notifications of when games start, scores, goals, end of quarters scores and key moments in games (If I’m follow a team that is playing). ScoreMobile version 3.0 is now available on iOS and new features can be found below.

New features:

• Completely re-designed gesture-based interface
• Player card profiles (Player photo, Recent performances, Season stats, Bio etc.)
• “My Score” area to customize the app to your needs. Follow any team, or player throughout the season to view their performances
• Player grouping ability to follow all of your fantasy teams in one app; live up to the minute
• Team view to browse news, rankings, recent performances, season schedules, rosters and injuries
• Social sharing ability: share any blog post or news articles via Twitter, Facebook, SMS or email
• iOS 5 Support

Score Mobile is available on Android, BlackBerry, iOS and Windows Phone 7. The application is free and gives you all your sport coverage you need. Get the application in your app store and let us know what you think.

By MARK EVANS

It took a series of twists and turns to create Pressly, but its circuitous path is starting to pay off as it becomes a popular way to read content on tablets.

Pressly’s origins go back to when its parent, Toronto-based Nulayer Inc., created an iPad application for The Score, an all-sports television network.

After The Score’s iPad app became a major hit, Nulayer, a software development company, was approached by The Toronto Star and several other publishers about also having an iPad app created.

But while that offered the potential for new business, Nulayer’s co-founders, Jeff Brenner and Peter Kieltyka, decided that, rather than develop one-off apps for individual publishers, there was a bigger opportunity to build a product that any publisher could use to provide consumers with an engaging content experience on the iPad and other tablet computers.

Thus came the inspiration to start Pressly, a spinoff focused on creating an iPad app that publishers could leverage to quickly deliver content on tablet computers.

But wait: Four months into that project, Mr. Brenner and Mr. Kieltyka changed their minds again. They decided to scrap the app idea and, instead, focused on creating a service that would run within a Web browser.

It was a major shift in direction because apps have become a very popular way for companies to offer a service that people can use, rather than having them visit a website.

Mr. Brenner, Pressly’s co-founder and chief executive officer, said, however, that the decision made sense because many publishers had made large investments to build their own standalone apps but had not seen the traffic they expected.

Instead, many readers are using a Web browser to read content on their tablets.

“A lot of publishers had gone through the experience of spending millions of dollars to develop their own native app, and they weren’t seeing the response they were hoping for,” he said.

“Pressly is not that tough to sell right now because publishers are seeking more traffic, and we are letting them do that. Native apps make sense for games and utilities, but we feel publishers’ content is about the Web.”

Pressly’s technology is appealing because it lets websites on tablet computers have the same user-friendly “swipe and read” interface as an app.

As a result, publishers can deliver the same kind of experience at a much lower cost than building their own app.

Pressly’s biggest direct competitor is OnSwipe, while apps such as Flipboard and Zite also play in the same marketplace.

Pressly’s first customer was The Toronto Star. It will soon be launching a tablet-friendly version of NBC Universal’s iVillage.com Web site. As well, the Economist Group will be launching a new publication powered by Pressly’s technology. Mr. Brenner said Pressly is also is negotiating with Hearst and several Canadian publishers.

“We have a dozen publishers we are talking to about putting content on the Pressly,” Mr. Brenner said. “We go in there and show the product. The reasons for using the Web make sense for publishers, and the business model makes sense because there is no upfront capital development.”

In addition to eliminating the need for publishers to create their own apps, Mr. Brenner said Pressly has also dramatically increased engagement as people read more content and click on features such as photo galleries and advertising.

While Pressly lets publishers display content in a compelling and user-friendly way, Mr. Brenner said publishers also like that advertising on a tablet becomes a better experience.

“For the first time ever, Pressly presents a context for full-screen interstitial ads, which are a real natural fit. As users come from reading content, they get full-screen ads that are more engaging and less intrusive than banner ads. It is a real opportunity for publishers to monetize their content.”

Pressly has a two-pronged business model. One is based on consumption; the more content people read, the more it gets paid.

The second is based on a revenue-share arrangement with publishers from full-screen ads viewed by consumers.

To date, Pressly has been self-financed but Mr. Brenner said the company plans to actively seek investment early next year to take things to the next level.

“We have a big vision of Pressly delivering the promise of experiencing content of publishers for any size,” he said. “Right now, we are focused on tier A publishers but we hope to accommodate some of the small publishers as well.”

Mr. Brenner said the Canadian venture capital landscape is stronger and more interesting than it was two years when he and Mr. Kieltyka, Pressly’s chief technology officer, were looking to raise money for CrowdReel, a real-time social photo search engine powered by photos on Twitter.

“We were offered the opportunity to join the Twitter team but we couldn’t find funding locally,” he said.

Crowdreel continues to operate as a service offered by Nulayer but Mr. Brenner said it has been put on the “backburner” as Pressly becomes more successful.

Given Pressly’s traction and growing customer list, it would be hard to believe that Mr. Brenner and Kieltyka will encounter the same financing challenges.

Special to The Globe and Mail

Mark Evans is the principal with ME Consulting, a communications and marketing strategic consultancy that works with startups and fast-growing companies to create compelling and effective messaging to drive their sales and marketing activities. Mark has worked with four startups – Blanketware, b5Media, PlanetEye and Sysomos. He was a technology reporter for more than a decade with The Globe and Mail, Bloomberg News and the Financial Post. Mark is also one of the co-organizers of the mesh, meshmarketing and meshwest conferences.

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