Author Archives: Jeremy McLean

About Jeremy McLean

Jeremy is a front-end web developer and marketing professional in Saint John, NB. He has 5+ years experience helping small businesses succeed online in the greater Saint John area. At his primary career with Kinek, he is helping build a start-up throughout North America. He also runs his own web & video development company, Memorywalk, in evening and weekend hours.

Dominican Volunteer Trip

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Shooting video with DSLR
Sometimes it’s not easy to ask for help, especially if you are a 28 year old competitive male that has a history of trying to do everything himself. In this post, I am putting my instinct aside and am asking for a helping hand for those that can offer some assistance.

My wife, Kara, and I are heading to Yamasa, Dominican Republic for a week long volunteer trip to help those who cannot afford any type of medical treatment. We will be traveling down March 19th with a group of Audiologists and nurses who will be fitting hearing aids and providing medical treatment. This is the first time I personally have done anything like this, and I really don’t know what to expect.

I am planning on documenting the entire trip to see where this experience takes us. This is where I need help. I have some experience with shooting photographs with my Canon t2i DSLR but do not have a great amount of experience shooting video. I’ve put in my research but I am finding the more I dive into it the more accessories there are to make a professional quality video. Right now all I have is a very cheap tripod, the camera itself and a decent lens. If you can lend a follow focus, external mic, camera rig, or anything that you think can help me document this experience it would go a long ways.

I hope this post finds the right eyes and that you want to be a part of the journey. The people receiving the hearing aids and medical kits will surely make this worth while. If you have any questions about the trip or can help out in any way, please leave a comment or contact me.

Thank you so much for reading this post and if you don’t mind “liking” this to the right of the page it would help spread the word!

Make You Laugh

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What makes you laugh? If you sit down and think about it, our imagination can run wild. Here are a few things that make me roll over laughing at times.

  1. I catch myself flipping through the channels and end up watching the India channel where they often play their countries top music videos. I don’t know who makes their videos but they are unique to say the least. They are always good for a laugh! 
  2. I filmed this while I was in PEI with the Teed sisters years ago. I felt so bad for this little girl trying to learn how to rollerblade but she just couldn’t figure it out. I have watched this video over a 100 times and it never get’s old. 
  3. More cowbell anyone? I can only imagine being on set shooting this video. It’s actually better the 2nd and 3rd time you watch it to appreciate it’s cleverness. Sorry for the poor quality but its the only one I could find on Youtube.
  4. I recently didn’t know how funny a ventriloquist could be until my wife and I went to a Jeff Dunham show in Saint John, NB. He did go overboard a few times on some jokes but it was non-stop laughs for the most part. Check out his famous act of Achmed the dead terrorist. 
  5. I dislike Drew Carey doing the Price is Right because that means he is no longer hosting “Who’s Line is it Anyway”. That was one of the best shows on TV for getting people to laugh. I’m not sure why it was ever cancelled. The funniest show they ever had was when special guest Richard Simmons appeared. Words cannot describe what you are about to see…

Do you have something that just makes you literally laugh out loud? Share your videos/stories in the comments!!

Black and White Compositions

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It’s no secret that I have found a new love in Photography. My wife bought me a new lens for Christmas (Tamron 2.8/f 75mm) and I am currently taking my 4th photography course online. I have learned quite a bit over the past year and after a recent chapter on composition I took to the streets to practice some shots. I have placed a few below that I put up on my Flickr page for the world to see. It’s more for myself than anything else but it’s really neat to see the improvement in your photographs as you gain more and more experience from quality tutorials.

One of the greatest tips I learned recently is simply what to look for in taking a photograph, “how to create a great composition“. Balancing the photograph and always getting closer to make the subject more of the focus goes a long way. Framing the photo with lines or shapes is not always easy to see but if you look for them, you can find a great photograph that you would have never saw before. Lastly, making sure the subject and the background are easily distinguishable is a must. If you look at the basketball hoop below, it jumps out and is the first thing you look at in the photo. The background with the tree, bench, and fog is meant to serve as a balance to the rest of the photo. More… →

Kinek on TechCrunch

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Kinek on TechCrunch

If you work for a start-up like I do there are a few goals that you aim for in the tech industry. Profitability, sustainability, competitive advantage, and being mentioned on TechCrunch. This past Friday, Sarah Perez wrote an article on Kinek and how our company has entered the mobile space with our new iPhone app. I was off that day, but when a co-worker texted me the simple line “Check out TechCrunch” I almost lost my mind. Needless to say my day off turned into a pretty busy work day for all the right reasons. I knew we were in contact with Sarah and we truly appreciate her writing the article, but just seeing it on the biggest tech blog in the world was a big day for us. More… →

Facebook Timeline

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Facebook timeline

Changes in the tech industry are usually expected and mediocre. Some companies change frequently to show they are growing and adapting to users wants and needs. We see this so often in tech because its a competitive space that needs to change to stay current. When you’re a leader in your space, you need to stay on top, and do whatever it takes to stay there. Facebook has changed the way your profile looks a few times recently and they just came out with their new timeline view which went live yesterday. You can change your Facebook profile to the new timeline view now by visiting http://www.facebook.com/about/timeline. It’s set up so you can try it out and not publish it until Dec 23rd so give it a try. More… →

GoPro Videocamera

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GoPro Hero

If you like action sports and capturing life’s exciting moments on video for the world or your family and friends to see, the GoPro is the camera of choice. This little compact videocamera can capture 1080p HD video footage at 30fps and the Hero 2, which just came out, has an even sharper lens and better focus capabilities than its original counterpart.

I personally purchased the GoPro for capturing video footage of my paintball bachelor party, which was one painful yet amazing experience. I also brought the camera on my honeymoon to Mexico and took some footage of my wife and I zip-lining and snorkelling. I was highly disappointed in the underwater capabilities as the videos online that show very crisp video is just not realistic at all. The original GoPro is not great under water, but it shoots at amazing quality in normal conditions. (see example below). More… →

The Importance of Great Design

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Ian Watt Real Estate example

What is the difference between a user clicking on an ad or not? Great Design
What is the difference in looking professional or not? Great Design
What is the difference in becoming a premium product or service? Great Design
What catches the eye more than anything else on the web? Great Design

Let’s face it, most companies want to keep costs low, and be smart about where they spend their money. The problem is, in Atlantic Canada having a website is not used nearly as effectively as it should. In modern cities like Vancouver and Toronto websites are considered to be one of, if not they, most important marketing tools for their business. The web is where people are spending their time, and that’s the new staple for researching any type of product or service. Your website not only needs to be well designed, it needs to be found in search engines, and it needs to be connected to where people are talking like social media networks, such as Facebook and Twitter. More… →

Live Empowered

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live empoweredI was recently approached about a great cause that I wanted to share with everyone. November is National Family Domestic Violence Month as well as November 25th being the International Day to End Violence Against Women. The greater Saint John area is having a few events that support this great cause.

To raise awareness Live Empowered was born. It is being held at The Chang Yong Taekwondo College (278 Waterloo Street) on November 19th. The silent auction for Hestia House is from 10:00am-12:00pm and the Women’s Empowerment Session and Self Defence Course from 1:00pm-4:00pm. In addition, there will be numerous door prizes and light refreshments from Piece O’ Cake and Starbucks. There are over 50 silent auction items up for grabs including many great gift cards and items from some of Saint John’s most generous businesses. More… →