For immediate release
TAKE THAT, TWITTER! BLOGGING IDOL WINNERS PROVE THE VALUE OF IN-DEPTH WRITING
TORONTO – ComputerWorld Canada, the national voice for IT professionals, is pleased to announce its readers’ choice of Pedro Cardoso as the grand prize winner in its 2009 Blogging Idol contest.
Cardoso, IT director for a medical technology firm, generated themost overall traffic in a contest that asked ComputerWorld Canadareaders to post contributions to a special “Blogging Idol” Web site.Contestants were each given a weekly theme by the editors ofComputerWorld Canada. Cardoso not only generated the most traffic butwas also among the most prolific of the 15 competitors over a six-weekperiod.
In his last post of the contest, Cardoso reflected on what theexperience of blogging had taught him and the merits of Blogging Idolspecifically.
“It has truly been an experience that has not just met, but exceededmy expectations,” he wrote. “I hope there will be a third installmentof Blogging Idol, and that the great work that IT World Canada isdoing, sponsoring great programs and initiatives such as this, willcontinue to nurture and foster the Canadian blogging scene.”
Chris Lau,who returned to Blogging Idol after winning third place last year, wonthe second prize of a Nikon CoolPix digital camera, for generating themost traffic for a single post, on Windows 7. Lau also won the thirdprize of a $100 Best Buy gift certificate for generating thesecond-highest overall traffic.
“In the context of the contest, views were the main driver so we allneeded to learn about social networks, Twitter, and learning to usekeyword searching to our advantage,” he wrote in a comment on Cardoso’sblog. “I was certainly pushed to go beyond what I thought I couldaccomplish. It’s motivating to race against the No. 1 who set the barso high.”
“We were extremely impressed not only by the quantity of posts butthe creative use of images, deep linking and particularly the Canadianinsights from each of our contestants,” said Dave Webb, Editor ofComputerWorld Canada. “In an age of 140-word messages, it’s gratifyingto see so many technology professionals willing to write – and read –more comprehensive, thought-out analysis of how IT is changingbusiness.”
IT World Canada editors are going over all the posts and will beannouncing a fourth winner later this week for pure writing abilitybased on a single post or a series of posts. This winner will be givena complementary pass to Search Engine Strategies Toronto, taking place in early June.
“The Blogging Idol contestants make me feel lazy,” said Shane Schick,Editor-in-Chief of IT World Canada. “They work full-time jobs andmanaged to post during the day, at night and over the weekends. Wesincerely appreciate the investment of their time and talent, which israising the IT conversation in Canada to a new level.”
Contestants from Blogging Idol will be invited to continueshowcasing their work and adding their voices to IT World’s network ofblogs at http://blogs.itworldcanada.com.
About IT World Canada Inc.
IT World Canada is the information resource of choice for CanadianIT professionals. For more than 25 years, the Toronto-based company hasbeen building relationships with Canada’s IT professionals throughleading publications including: CIO Canada, Network World Canada,ComputerWorld Canada, DI Informatique and CDN, as well as the Web sites ITWorldCanada.com, ITBusiness.ca and PCworld.ca.
IT World Canada is the Canadian affiliate of International DataGroup (IDG), the world’s largest IT information provider. IDG publishesmore than 300 publications worldwide. IDG also provides IT marketanalysis through 49 offices in 41 countries worldwide. One hundredmillion people read one or more IDG publications each month.
For further information: Shane Schick, Editor-in-Chief IT World Canada, (416)290-0240 ext. 349, sschick at itworldcanada.com; Fawn Annan, Vice President and Chief Strategist, (416) 290-0240 ext. 171,
fannan at itworldcanada.com