Kutoto

The weather gods have told us that barbecue season is finally here. By that we mean Weather.com. So, what are you waiting for? Let's jump right into summer!

Here are a bunch of things that should be on your to-do list for summer - 

1. Plan a barbecue party - Call the entire block over. Heck, we say call the entire neighborhood over and show-off your beautiful home, your adorable kids and the backyard. And your barbecuing skills. 

Things you will need - Clean home. Clean Backyard. Barbecue meats. Some beer. And kids (not mandatory). 

2. Go downtown and attend one of those festivals you hear about every summer - You know those amazing sounding festivals your arty friends tell you about all the time? The something-or-other-palooza, or the jazz music festival or that delicious sounding food festival. Go for it. Decide on a day, pack your things and go for it! 

Things you will need - Festival details + Tickets. Picnic Lunch. Car full of gas or transportation.

3. Host a Garage Sale - You have a bunch of stuff that you don't use. Just admit it. It happens to the best of us! Let's plan a garage sale. Put all that stuff to work by earning some money selling it off! It just requires a Sunday and some tables (More or less)!

Things you will need - A Saturday and/or Sunday. Some tables. Heavy-lifting to lug all the stuff out. Listing down all your "for-sale" items. Garage Sale signs on lamp posts in your neighborhood.

Kutoto was on CBC News Toronto as well as Global News Montreal. Did you catch either?

If not, take a quick look here and spread the love!

For Earth Day, one of our very cool Providers, Tracy Chen, showed us a few upcycling projects that you can do at home yourself.

What is upcycling you ask? When you take a useless item, transform it into something gorgeous, it's called Upcycling. If you do this transformation yourself, it's called DIY (Do It Yourself) Upcycling.

So, with the basics in place, let's see what amazing things you can make by using simple wine corks!

1.  Slice corks in half, place on mounting paper (or any thick cardboard), cut into the size of coasters and glue them together to turn them into DIY Coasters.  Glasses will rest perfectly on them and it looks really rustic.

2. With a sharp coring knife, hollow out the top of the cork, 3/4th of the way through. Plant small planters in it with fertilizing mud and look at your tiny trees in wonderment!

3. Take a small piece of ribbon, and wrap it around the lower half of the cork. Stick two sequins in a straight vertical line above it and draw a face on the top quarter.  Take a needle and thread and create a looped hanging thread from the top of the cork and your little corkmen ornaments are ready!

4. With the help of three corks, a few beads and a needle and thread, string together a cool napkin holder.

5. Using a hot glue gun, stick a bunch of corks standing up into a hexagonal shape to make a pot trivet. You will need easily more than 25 corks for this. 

A relaxed day at the spa?

A glass of wine, a book and a warm bubbly bath?

A night at the local jazz club with the girls?

Hiking at dawn to catch the sunrise on a mountain?

Or a run, around the neighborhood, enjoying the crisp spring that we have?

What is keeping you from doing these, then? Too much work, too many chores, too many responsibilities? 

Well, let's take a step back. Find that time. Prioritize "me" over work, chores, and other unimportant things. 

Every day in our lives, we spend quite a lot of time in worrying. Tensions and stress are a daily occurrence. How many times have you noticed that your forehead is creased and you don't know how long that has been happening for?

That's more than half of us!

33% found that overloaded work and family responsibilities had a high tendency to cause them to lose sleep or dramatically reduce their energy levels.

You know what this means? We are losing our me time, health and peace of mind.

Here's what the doctor has ordered for all of us. Try out these small tricks for this month, and if you see that your quality of life is better, continue doing it.

Once a week, take an hour out of your work schedule and home schedule and just go on a walk. Alone. Don't worry about anything, just concentrate on enjoying spring.

If you have a ton of pending work, sort it according to priority. Do the "GET IT DONE NOW" pile now. Leave everything else for later, finishing it gradually. Outsource your work to your team, if it is way too much for you to handle.

Divide and conquer home chores. Split your to-do's with your children and partner. This will teach everyone responsibility and accountability.

Easter is around the corner, and that's when things get really crazy, right? If your kids like to decorate their own Easter Basket, or if you would like a pretty baked goodie in the center of your table, read on to get a scoop on our tips!

Make an Easter Basket -

Take a simple cane basket, and lay some festive red packing paper inside. Make carrots out of thick, conically rolled up paper, with orange crepe paper stuck on them, and green crepe paper on top, cut to wisps. Heap fistfuls of jellybeans in a pretty mini-cupcake lining paper, or take a plain white paper cup and dot it with an orange or red Sharpie. Hard boil eggs with food color in the boiling water and try to use colors like yellow, green and orange. Assemble all the decorations with a chocolate bunny or a bunny shaped cake in the basket, voila! Your Easter Basket is ready for gifting!

Request for an Easter Basket here

Easy Easter Decorations -

Pick up dried wood branches from your backyard, or around the neighborhood. They don't need to look pretty, that is the part where you come in! Roll up some colored crepe paper into balls of different sizes, start from a really tiny ball, penny sized, to a ping pong ball. Use some hot glue to stick these to your dried (clean) branches and put bunches of them into a large vase, with the decorated part towards the upper end. Place the vase somewhere near the entrance of your house to make it look festive.

Request for house decoration

Bake an Easter Goodie -

You can't go wrong with an angel cake made with a bunny mould, swiss buttercream meringue and some pretty sprinkles on top. Or bake cookies shaped like eggs, cupcakes with pastel colored frosting and mini chocolate eggs on top. Your options are endless.

Request for baked goodies

"I requested for a bunch of roses to make my girlfriend's Valentine's day special. Along with that, I got to meet a great guy, got a romantic drive, and the bunch of roses. Result? A very, very happy girlfriend and a GREAT valentine's day!"

- Rashad (Kutoto User)

Kutoto user Rashad ordered half a dozen roses for his girlfriend Nandini this  Valentine's Day as a part of an elaborate plan.

Rashad had planned the entire day around Nandini's favorite things. A walk in Old Port, her favorite red roses, and an elegant dinner. He wanted the roses delivered to him, so he could hand it to his girl himself.  A Kutoto Trusted Provider, Jorge, got on it immediately, establishing small details, such as where he’d like to get the flowers, its packaging etc.  Since Rashad was unaware of the florists in Montreal, Jorge suggested a very affordable and kitsch floral shop that he knew carried beautiful roses.  "Jorge took pictures of almost a dozen bouquets just so I could find the perfect one and choose it myself! That, to me, was so amazing!" Rashad gushed.

Rashad picked a bouquet that he liked best, but since he was running late, he asked them to be delivered a little later. Jorge offered to deliver the bouquet to wherever Rashad was, regardless of the distance. When Jorge reached the Old Port, Rashad and Nandini were already delayed for their dinner reservations. So Jorge decided to help them out even more.

"Look, here's this really sweet boy, trying his best to make Valentine's day amazing for his girlfriend. The least I could do is help him along, right?" Jorge offered to drive the couple to their dinner reservations. "I put in some soft, romantic music, the two of them sat in the back and I drove them to their next appointment."

Nandini got her perfect valentine's day, gift-wrapped, Kutoto-style. She loved her roses, loved the fact that her boyfriend got her a romantic, chauffeured drive around Montreal and an elegant dinner. And Rashad? "Jorge did not charge me a dime extra for everything he did," he told us, "I changed my drop-off location, he gave us a ride to the restaurant and made our night amazing. But he refused to take any extra compensation! He was amazing!"

Some famous man has definitely said that "A business that listens, works," or something to that effect.

So we at Kutoto have decided to start listening and make it easier for you to talk to us too.

Kutoto Live Chat Help

Now on the Kutoto website, there is a live chat button aptly named "Help" on the left edge of the screen. 

What does this button do? It's the magic button that you click to talk to us about all that you wish. Just one click on it will summon one of our expert Kutoto Helpers who will guide you through any concerns, questions, issues or even life problems you have.

So just hit up the live chat to drop a quick hello to us, welcome us to the neighborhood or bombard us with all your questions. Anything.

  Kutoto Twitter Help

Also freshly launched is the @KutotoHelp twitter account. You can tweet us about cool stuff, how productive you are, or how we are helping you be more productive on the usual @KutotoCanada account, but for all help related matters, @KutotoHelp is our dedicated twitter feed.

This dedicated account will answer all your queries and concerns as instantly as we can. Any issues with a request posting, provider help, payment information or beyond that will be answered here. You can still reach out to us for general knowledge sharing on our original account, but this is the super dedicated place for all your queries. Feel free to send us a shout out!

As Kutoto is a social marketplace where community members can request talents and services, this month of February proved to showcase just how diverse we are. Within the hundreds of requests, Kutoto helped many community members get their tasks done, customized to their personalized needs.  Although there have been some requests that were not eligible for consideration, Kutoto analyzes all requests as sources of feedback, helping Kutoto assess new ways to serve each and every one of our requesters.

That being said, here are February’s most creative requests:

Number 1:  Burmese Gerbil

“Been looking for a while for a Burmese colored gerbil.  They cost around $14 and I’ll cover that plus an extra $30 for finding one.  I prefer a female.  Thanks.  PS: You can Google what they look like as well.”

Number 2:  Sing For My Boyfriend

“I would love to have someone sing ‘Fallin’ For You’ by Colbie Caillet (preferably with guitar or ukulele) for my boyfriend before we go on our first date.”

Number 3:  Pulmonologist Interprets Sleep Apnea

“I own an ambulatory clinic to test sleep apnea patients at their residence.  I need collaboration of a pulmonologist for the interpretation of the analysis result.”

These chosen requests depict what Kutoto cherishes most in the community: creativity and uniqueness; expressing togetherness through the community; and of course benefiting our society through experimentation, research, and/or any other means.

As Kutoto is growing, our community grows with us, whether it’s through requestors or providers.  Every single person helps keep Kutoto’s goal of having a strong community collaborating together, sharing each others skills and talents, and more importantly, getting things done, locally.

After buying their new HDTV, Mark and Louise N. needed some help getting the television delivered to their house and installing it in their home so they would have more time for more important stuff.  Debating on whether to utilize the stores pricey personal delivery and installation team, Mark and Louise were informed by one of their friends that they should post a listing on the Kutoto app - this way, they could receive the service they needed for a price they wanted and were willing to pay.

Within minutes of their post, three Trusted Kutoto Providers contacted Mark and Louise through the Kutoto app to help with delivering and installing their newly bought television.  Using the simple chat system offered through the Kutoto app, Mark and Louise had the opportunity to directly connect and talk to the providers, helping them make their final decision.  Ultimately, choosing Trusted Kutoto Provider and co-founder of Kutoto, Abi A., Mark and Louise were greeted within fifteen minutes by Abi and another Kutoto co-founder Julien C.  Abi and Julien then delivered Mark and Louise’s television to their home with the help of Abi’s spacious van, and installed the television into Mark and Louise’s living room using both of their professional handyman talents and skills.

Mark and Louise expressed how grateful they were for Kutoto's help in simplifying their lives with such a quick and cost-effective solution to their dilemma. Kutoto gave them the free time they needed for more important stuff in life. With the Kutoto services they can be even more productive in their busy lives. In addition, Mark and Louise declared that were incredibly pleased and satisfied with their received service, thanking the Kutoto team, alongside wanting to share her story with the rest of the community. 

February is here and Kutoto is sharing the love with our community.  From February 8th, 2013 to February, 14th, 2013 all Kutoto requesters will be given the opportunity to claim a 25$ credit that they can use anytime, on any task they need.  More information about this promotion and other Kutoto events will be posted throughout the month on our social media platforms so be sure to follow us on:

www.facebook.com/kutotocanada

www.twitter.com/kutotocanada

www.instagram.com/kutotocanada

  Promotion Guidelines:

1-    Get the Kutoto mobile app on your iPhone.  You can get the app at: www.kutoto.com/do     wnload

2-    Claim your 25$ credit from February 8th at 9:00AM to midnight on February 14th at: www.kutoto.com/claim

3-    The 25$ credit will appear on your app, under the “My Balance” tab.

4-    The 25$ credit does not expire and can be used at any time for any task.

  Terms and Conditions:

1-    The 25$ credit will only cover the cost of Kutoto’s service (ex: will cover delivery of groceries, but not the price of the grocery items).

2-    Credit is not redeemable for cash.

The New Year has just started and Kutoto wants to help you with your New Year’s resolutions.  If you need tutors for your midterms, a personal trainer to help you stay fit, an extra hand around the house, or any other service, Kutoto is here for your every need.  So, before we start helping you, let’s get to know each other!

WHO IS KUTOTO?

Kutoto is a web and mobile app marketplace that brings the community together by offering service and talent exchanges that showcase the community’s local culture.

WHAT IS KUTOTO?

Kutoto is a mobile marketplace where community members are introduced to services that are locally available when they want, how they want, and at the price they want.

WHERE IS KUTOTO LOCATED?

Currently, Kutoto is available for the cities of Montreal and Toronto, and will soon be available all  across Canada.

WHEN IS KUTOTO HAPPENING?

Right now! On your iPhone!

HOW CAN I JOIN AND USE KUTOTO?

To join the Kutoto team, you can download the mobile app at the Apple store for free, or you can visit our website at www.kutoto.com and sign up to start enjoying this new and wonderful experience.

Kutoto is extremely simple to use, all you need to do is post a request for a service that you wish to be done and wait for our Trusted Kutoto Providers to respond promptly and fulfill them.  Upon creating your request, you can choose the time, price and location, and discuss the details with our Trusted Kutoto Providers via chat through the app.  Once having agreed on the service details, you can lay back and let us do the rest. Once the task is taken care of, you can immediately pay for the service through the Kutoto app itself!

BECOMING A PROVIDER

If you have any special talents or skills and would like to earn additional income with freelance work you can find our provider set-up tab on our Kutoto app. The Kutoto team will assess your request and respond promptly so you can become part of the Kutoto family after a quick interview process.

New year.. New year to do things.

January brings with a series of bothers. Have you had that disastrous moment when you drive out of the underground car park of your apartment building, all warm and toasty in your heated car only to be stopped midway under the exit door (which is automatic) because the little stretch of land between the exit door and the street is packed as high as mountain with piles of snow?

Or how about that time when you step out, all padded up in several layers for a run, only to see that your entire sidewalk is crowded with discarded Christmas trees. Three days before the garbage disposal comes chugging around to pick it up!

How about the extreme inertia that comes with a snow covered, -23 degrees Sunday morning where you wish someone could bring you brunch from your favorite brunch restaurant. And on that topic, what is it with food delivery during the winters? That’s when we need it most people! So many restaurants pull off their delivery service over the winters that it could drive you crazy! What’s someone to do when you need food, stat?

Oh and the final big one. This is for only those of us who are fortunate or unfortunate (it’s all about perspective) to be in a relationship. Psst.. what are you doing for Valentine’s day? The other half always expects something, and that something is almost never what you get them.