Movember hits Canada

What's cute, fuzzy and helps fight cancer. A moustache! Long gone are the days when the 'stache' is considered repulsive. Girls no longer shutter at the site of a glorious 'mo'. Men can once again sport their 'soup strainers' with pride! Best of all, we can now grow a 'cookie duster' and raise money for the fight against prostate cancer.

The origins of Movember are uncertain. It is believed that it began in 1999 when a group of young men in Adelaide Australia decided to grow moustaches for charity at a local pub. The "mo-vement" spread across the rest of Australia and leaked to New Zealand. In 2004, the Movember Foundation was created to raise awareness and funds for men's health issues. Since then, countries such as Canada, Spain, the United States and the Republic of Ireland have joined in on the month long event.

Movember is a perfect example of how one can fully take advantage of social media. For instance, the Movember homepage is full of awesome links that can engage anyone interested in the movement. These include news forums, donations pages, team pages and my personal favourite, the lab. In the lab, any reader can go in and find out the history of the moustache, the different styles and what they look like, pictures of famous people and moustaches, videos and more.

Movember also makes use of other types of social media such as Twitter. While they only have approximately 2,250 followers, they use the site to post updates such as this years Movember progress and links to sites and organizations that are taking part. Movember also has a Facebook group, not only for their main headquarters but for different factions across the world. These sites allow for people to engage with each other, sharing war stories and videos such as this one.

Movember has also reached out to millions through partnerships. One example of a partnership is with the Toronto Marlies. Through their website, the Marlies are supporting the cause and having the first annual Movember Night at Ricoh Coliseum. Finally, Movember has several Gala events for all the mo bros and sistas at the end of the month where those who participated can show of their mo and take part in several contests. Social media has also been used to promote future events and highlight the parties of the past. In 2008, Movember raised approximately $2.4 million, making it the largest charity event for men. On top of the money, this initiative has increased global awareness of male cancer.

Cottick out

He shoots he scores: Hockeybuzz.com brings social networking to hockey fans

It wasn't until I went to college that I realized how much of my life was involved with social networking. Just like most of you, I have a list of go-to websites I check every time I turn on the Internet. Only now do I realize that they are mostly social applications. Of all the social applications that I use, my favourite one is Hockeybuzz.com.


Hockeybuzz is a great way for fans of the sport to get together and argue over who supports the better team. With over 50 bloggers, it is one of the fastest ways to find out rumours around the league and discuss them with others. While there are many different sites that allow for fans to discuss current events in hockey, this site has a few extra features that make it so unique. One only needs to register to a free online account to have full access the site.

One of the perks of joining this site is that you gains access to the chat rooms. This allows hockey fans from all over the world to discuss issues with each other and the site's bloggers. There are also Hockeybuzz forums where fans are able to talk about more specific events around the league.

As mentioned before, there are well over 50 bloggers on the site. Some of these bloggers post live podcasts while others are linked through other applications such as Twitter. This makes it much easier to follow what they are doing and what is going on in the league.

One of the best aspects of this site is the fantasy hockey leagues. This is when you form into groups with other users and simulate creating competitive hockey teams. Over the course of the season you manage your team by picking up free agent players, or trading players with others in the league. The statistics are kept throughout the season and at the end the winners are given prizes.

The reason Hockeybuzz is such a great media application is because it is user friendly. For example, the toolbar on the homepage allows users to navigate through all the different applications with ease. When you first open the site, there are a number of boxes with the most recent league transactions and rumours, as well as a little video welcoming users to the page.



While it was difficult for me to find out exactly who started the site, it appears that it was founded by several bloggers. One of these bloggers goes by the name of Eklund. He is very involved in the site through various blogs, depth/rumour charts, podcasts and chat forums. While I have only been following the website for the past year, it seems to have been around since 2005.

As far as longevity goes, there isn't any reason why this site should falter. In all actuality, Hockeybuzz has the potential expand. With revenue coming in through ad space and the store, the site is likely to grow. One of its main advantages is that it relies heavily on its users. As long as there are hockey fans with something to say, this site will exist. This sense of community amongst the users of the site makes the site stronger, creating a loyalty that is hard to beat.

While this social application does not directly tie into PR, it can be useful for those in the sports industry. This site is an example of how one can set up a user friendly application so that everyone can join in on social networking.