IABC Toronto’s Student Networking Event

This past Wednesday I attended IABC Toronto’s Student Networking Event: Get face time with communicators in the know held at University of Toronto’s Hart House.

This was an opportunity to speak with experienced communicators and learn about their career paths, educational backgrounds; stand out experiences, tips and more.

 

The event featured 13 savvy communication professionals, including:

• Christine Andrew, MBA, National Marketing Director, KPMG
• Daina Astwood-George, Account Manager, APEX Public Relations
• Emilie Baille, Content Marketing Specialist, Kensington Tours
• Yvonne Catty, ABC, Managing Director, Vitamin-3 Communications Inc.
• Roxanne Cramer, Partner, CCI Search and CCC Academy
• Katy Francis, ABC, Director, Strategic Communications, Division of Human Resources & Equity, University of Toronto
• Mary-Ellen Hynd, MBA, Social Responsibility Strategist / Educator / Co-Active Coach
• Neil Hrab, Manager, Public Relations, OMERS
• Elena Iacono, Professional Communication Expert, Bell Internal Communication
• Anne Locke, ABC, Senior Consultant, Environics Communications
• Rob McMahon, ABC, Director of Communications, Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner
• Sonia Prashar, Founder & Principal, spPR Inc.
• Shirley Smith, Freelance Writer, Business Communications

For those of you who didn’t take advantage of the opportunity, here’s what you missed:

• Roxanne, partner at a leading national recruitment firm provided insight into what employers are looking for and encouraged emerging professionals to start at an agency.
• “Be hungry! Know the industry, business and what you bring to it.” – Daina Astwood-George
• Katy Francis advised students and young professionals to contribute everything as learning. This mean exploit your experience and transfer your skills from previous work/studies.
• Most important thing you can do as emerging professionals is to network, attend events and read the newspaper according to Neil Hrab.
• Christine provided insight into what makes a candidate stand out: related experience; demonstrated success; and demonstrated ability to work effectively in a team.
• Anne Locke from Environics Communications stressed lateral thinking – solving problems through an indirect and creative approach.
• Mary-Ellen Hynd provided insight into what she believes young professionals should do:
  • Join/volunteer;
  • Be one-step ahead;
  • Connect via social media;
  • Leave something for someone to remember you by;
  • Say thank you.
• Elena contributes her personal success to consistency. “Be consistent. Continue to develop your value and always deliver.”
• “It’s a buyers’ market so what makes you stand out? Remember it’s a small industry with hundreds of applicants.” – Rob McMahon
• “Tell the employer how you can make an immediate impact on their business. It not only articulates why they should hire you but that you understand the business.” – Sonia Prashar
• Insights from Yvonne Catty, ABC, Managing Director, Vitamin-3 Communications:
  • Always have a mentor. This may change over time but it’s important to have someone who will provide honest advice, sometimes harsh yet your biggest supporter;
  • Know your craft and what you can bring to the table;
  • If you’re deciding corporate vs. agency, whatever you do you’ll end up wanting to do the other.
• AND a lucky student from Humber College won a Cramer Company International Career Academy Package, courtesy of Roxanne Cramer. Valued at $500, the package includes a two-year career plan, resume tailoring and interview package to be used in the first two years of your career. I wish I won!

About IABC
Learning from experienced communicators is a major benefit of IABC student membership. The International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) is the premier international knowledge network for practitioners engaged in strategic business communication management. Toronto is the largest IABC chapter in the world, with more than 1,700 members. To become a member or for more information, visit the website.

Building Media Relationships: How to develop and maintain relationships with journalists and media professionals

Last Monday, I attended the fourth annual Building Media Relationships, an event hosted by The Canadian Public Relations Society Student Steering Committee. Through a panel discussion with industry professionals, I learned first-hand how the media relations industry works and how to develop and maintain working relationships with journalists and media relations professionals.

The panel, led by David Hicks, Director of Sales at CNW Group was comprised of PR professionals and journalists (see photo). Starting from the left, Kelly Baita from Strategic Objectives, Katia Ostapets from FAJO Magazine, Robin Smith from National PR, Carly Weeks from The Globe and Mail, and Nina Kalos from Veritas Communications Inc. 

Here are some of the highlights from the event:

1. Best ways to create relationships with journalists:

• be open and honest;
• transparency is key;
• it takes time – day-to-day interaction;
• use social media – go beyond day-to-day;
• face-to-face interaction is important;
• consistency – be polite, respond quickly;
• do your research – know who your talking to and tailor your pitch to them;
• don’t spread your net too far – NEVER send a mass email blitz;
• break the ice – “I’m new to the industry. I will be working on these accounts. What is the best way to reach you?”

2. What elements should you include in a pitch:

• must be newsworthy;
• have all pieces of information – who/what/where/when/why;
• make it easy for journalists – include date, time, place, photo, links;
• relevance

3. When pitching:

• don’t call after 2 p.m. – typically 2 p.m. is the deadline;
• ask if it’s a good time to chat;
• be short and sweet– who/what/where/when/why;
• send a follow-up email – when you call, send the journalist a follow-up email containing all of the information;
• never pitch on email- if you do tell the journalist “I have something of great interest to you. I will send you an email and follow-up tomorrow”

5. Advice from the panel:

• think of Twitter as a living, breathing cover letter – social media should be as professional as possible;
• if we’re going to be involved in creating the news, we should be consuming it;
• know your audience. Pitch the right story to the right people;
• change, controversy and human interest are part of the winning formula for being considered newsworthy;
• if you have anything that should be off the record, don’t say it;
• the PR community is small – don’t burn bridges, build relationships and always stay professional;
• face-to-face meetings are key to developing relationships with media;
• do your research – know which platforms work best for your brand or client;
• transparency is key – the media is going to find out if something is hidden under a rock

What do you think?

Thanks again to the panel and CPRS! As a member of the Canadian Public Relations Society, you will have access to a wide range of opportunities, services and products of professional and personal benefit. If you want to become a member or for more information log on to www.cprs.ca.

Status Update: Connecting the dots

I apologize for my lack of blogging recently. Remember at the beginning of the semester when you asked, “How do you do it?” Well I did it! I made it through the semester, however, I just didn’t find time to update my blog. Work/school 1 – blog 0.

It’s been a couple of months, so here’s a recap:

I’m a Corporate Communications and Public Relations postgrad student at Centennial College. I double as a circus performer, juggling my life as a full-time student and part-time consultant at Desperado Marketing. No two days are alike and its fast paced but I’m up for the challenge. I’ve learned SO much in the past three months so stay tuned.

I can’t believe I’m in my second and final semester! In just one month, I’ll begin my internship in PR!

My perception of public relations (PR) has evolved immensely since September. I started the program focused primarily on corporate communications with no interest in working for an agency. Two months into the program and countless guest speakers later, I found myself torn between the two.

The big question – do I look at opportunities for internship in an agency or in corporate communications?

John Vincic, vice president of investor relations and corporate communications at Hudbay and guest speaker, worked at an investor relations and communications firm before starting at Hudbay.

One of my instructors, awarded Canada’s Top 40 under 40, credits the agency she started at for the tools needed to succeed. She wasn’t only the one.

Four of my instructors also started at an agency before transitioning into corporate communications. Was there a connection?

The more I thought about it, the more I realized a trend. Most corporate PR practitioners began at an agency and transitioned later in their career to a senior position in corporate communications.

What are your thoughts?

What’s your colour?

On Sept. 25, my fellow classmates and I participated in a two-hour Communicate Naturally™  workshop headed by iLearn2 founder and chief learning officer, Doug Bolger. Using colour as a metaphor for different communication styles, we identified our own colour and learned how to build communication and collaboration skills to work with opposing colours.

A week prior, we were asked to complete an assessment that required us to review and rank each word cluster and tally the results.

The results: My brightest colour is blue ocean (scored 19). My brightest colour is shaded with gold mine (17) and green planet (17) with a pale orange sky (13).

I’m sure you’re wondering what the colours represent. So was I.

According to the assessment;

• Gold Mine represents the security and value of the precious metal gold, the need for worth and value, the importance of purity. Gold Mines need to be responsible, to fulfill duties and obligations, to represent organization and structure. Gold Mines reflect practical sensibility, punctuality, and the belief the people should earn their way in life through hard work and service to others. Gold Mines reflect a need to belong and the effort to carry one’s share of the load in all areas of life. A Gold Mine is stability, maintained organizations, efficiency, a strong concept of home and family. A Gold Mine is faithful, loyal, and dependable.
• Green Planet expresses itself as the will in operation, as perseverance and tenacity. Green Planets see the big picture and dislike getting caught up in the details. Green Planets see the connections in nature and projects, they see processes and options to improve. Green Planet is living, growing, developing. It is a striving for perfection, a reaching toward the sky, a developing of one’s own potential, and a reaching toward knowledge and truth. Green Planet represents complexity, fullness of life, and connections in the environment.
• Orange Sky is energetic life. Orange Sky represents activity and vitality; it is vibrant, obvious, and immodest. Orange Sky is action energy, barriers/details frustrate them and slow them down. Orange Sky enjoys being the life of the party and any opportunity to perform. Orange Sky represents a yearning for the next, an aggressive lust for action, and drive for success. Orange Sky commands attention! Orange Sky is now.
• Blue Ocean represents complete calm. The blue of the sky corresponds to serenity and peace, to tranquility and contentment. The blue of the ocean corresponds to cleansing and completeness, to loyalty and depth of feeling. Blue Ocean is balanced, harmonious and tension-free giving a feeling that is settled and secure. Blue Ocean represents completeness, unification and the sense of belonging. Blue Ocean suggests aesthetic sensitivity, empathy, and meditative awareness.

Now that I knew what the different colours represent, I was looking forward to having a better understanding on how it related to communications. Determining my colour and shades was only the beginning.

That’s when we met Doug Bolger, our presenter and colour guru. We started with an introduction. There wasn’t a moment throughout his presentation that myself and the entire audience wasn’t fully engaged.

Fun fact, did you know that Canada’s Olympic Team participated in the Communicate Naturally™  workshop?

The structure

We started with gold mine, transitioned into blue ocean, moved onto green planet, finishing with orange sky. Bolger described each colours characteristics, how they operate, and how they respond using examples, references, analogies and jokes. Bolger followed each colour with an activity.

For example, to demonstrate green planet, we were asked to join a group of 5-7 people including at least one member from each colour. Closing our eyes with our shoulders touching, we had to shout the alphabet from a-z without repeat. If members shout the same letter at the same time, teams had to start from the beginning. Green planet strives for perfection, they are authoritative and don’t mind shouting out the answer. They also expect you too as well. My team never finished, we had a lot of orange and gold members. To demonstrate blue ocean (me), we were asked to partner up with someone from across the room. We had to ask questions and respond by either complimenting or emphasizing the importance of what the other person is saying. Blue ocean is sensitive and empathetic. They are the people you go to when you have a problem.

The activities were truly valuable and furthered my understanding on how each colour operates and responds. My morning has never gone by so fast!

Conclusion

Looking back at groups that I’ve worked with on various assignments, knowing what I know now about colours, provides a better perspective on the triumphs and challenges. Three years ago, I was working on a business plan with four other members. Three out of five members were orange, causing a lot of conflict. I believe knowing what I know now, I could of handled things a lot differently. Orange might complete their part of the project the night before the due date, and usually late for meetings, but boy do they have creative ideas! They also aren’t afraid to get up in front of the class or workplace to present. Instead of challenging orange to deliver early, understand how are they operate and work within it.

Next time I form a group, whether it’s for school or in my professional career, I will definitely consider including at least one gold mine, orange sky, and green planet. I believe balance is key; each colour has something different to contribute. It’s also very important to understand how each operates and responds.

If Communicate Naturally™  was a movie, critics would rate it as a “must see” five-star film, rated G for general audience.

I highly recommend this workshop to both students and professionals. It provides individuals with a better understanding on how they and others communicate and develops collaboration skills to work with opposing colours.

Social Media Evolution: How dumb we sound when we use hashtags

Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon do it again! A must see video. I encourage everyone to watch it, especially those in the PR industry.

Why PR?

It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.

– Warren Buffet

This time last year, I asked myself how I get to the next level in my career. I went to school, have a background in business, was in the process of building a broad portfolio with four years experience and yet it wasn’t enough! What could I do to make my resume get noticed? What makes a great candidate in such a dog-eat-dog world?

Is it just me or do more and more job postings look for bilingual candidates or consider it to be an enormous asset? Before I knew it, I was sitting in class, beginning my first of six semesters to becoming certified French bilingual.

I learned at a very young age that you couldn’t sit back and wait for things to happen, assignments never finish themselves (much like this blog), you need to make things happen.

Something else I’ve learned, NEVER EVER ask people what they think you should do! I found myself lost in a long list of possibilities, some of which I could never see myself doing. Find out what you love doing, what you’re good at and go from there.

So this brings me to the next step. I did a lot of research and a lot of soul-searching, after all, it’s not a job- it’s my career (or ‘passion’ as my mother calls it). As you can imagine, this resulted in a LONG list of possibilities. I won’t even begin to tell you how long or how silly some of the professions that came to mind. Nevertheless, I narrowed it down to one, PR.

Once I realized the opportunities in front of me, choosing PR was simple! Knowing people who have taken the program before also helped and the reason being their success today.

Finally, what school? That part was pretty easy as so many people recommended Centennial; even those that attended different colleges. However, I applied anyway and attended the information sessions at Centennial, Humber, Seneca and Sheridan because remember NEVER EVER listen to what people tell you to do, it’s important to determine what’s best for you. It just so happened they were right! I knew immediately after my information session where I was meant to be. It’s where I am today and I couldn’t be happier with my decision.

To give you a better understanding, in the first three weeks of school I’ve:

–       Met my teachers, who, by the way are all industry professionals and make me excited to go to school every day.

–       Joined two societies, IABC and CPRS.

–       Been invited to Pacino One Night Only and George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight.

–       Amazing guest speakers such as Nick Patch from The Canadian Press and Joan Melanson, Executive Producer at CBC Radio, Toronto.

–       Met recent graduates who shared their story.

–       Most importantly I’m being challenged.

The rest is history or to be continued.

If you want to be a part of an exciting industry and one of the most highly-regarded in the province than I highly recommend applying to Corporate Communication and Public Relations at Centennial College.

This is my story. What’s yours?