Category Archives: Communications

The Selfie Generation

Posted in Communications by

Selfies have been getting a lot of attention these days. So much so that the term was named word of the year for 2013 by the Oxford Dictionary, defined as “a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website.”

Last week US President Obama made headlines as he was photographed taking a selfie with British Prime Minister David Cameron and Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt during Nelson Mandela’s memorial service. And earlier this month, a women posted a selfie with a suicidal man being talked out of jumping off a bridge in Brooklyn.

Have we become a self-obsessed country? It seems that we love to snap quick photos of ourselves and share them with our friends – because there is no way they’re tired of looking at us right? Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have contributed to the growing narcissism that has taken over the Internet. These social sharing sites are now infamous for being hubs of egotism and self-promotion, acting as the perfect means for advertising ourselves to those around us.

I’m certainly not suggesting that I have never shared a selfie. But in a time where selfies are seemingly getting out of control, I’d say it’s time for a little selfie etiquette:

  • If you get the sudden urge to snap a selfie, don’t be oblivious to your surroundings because everything in your photo is being scrutinized.
  • It is not acceptable to snap a selfie in the midst of another person’s tragedy. Not. Ever.
    This means funerals, car accidents, suicides or anything else that has devastated another person’s life.
  • Do snap a selfie to mock yourself… we’d all love to laugh at, er I mean with, you.
  • Do take a selfie to share you happiest moments with your friends who live far away.
  • Only post the best one out of the bunch.  Nobody wants to imagine you posing a million times to get that one shot.  Let us believe that you got it effortlessly on the first try.

Company Christmas Party Etiquette

Posted in christmas, Communications, pr by

office-party-buttAhhh the company Christmas party. Once upon a time, the company Christmas party was an office party with staff in Santa hats and Christmas sweaters guzzling spiked eggnog and behaving inappropriately in the photocopy room.

While most of us know the obvious things NOT to do at a company Christmas party, like lip-locking with our coworkers and photocopy our butts to give out as ‘presents’, the very nature of the company Christmas party has changed. Contrary to popular belief, your company Christmas party is NOT the time to let loose and party with your coworkers.

Here’s the thing. No matter how festive the occasion, a company Christmas party is still about business. And if you make an ass out of yourself, you could easily ruin your hard-earned professional reputation.

Barbie photocopies butt.I don’t mean to sound like a Grinch here, you can still eat drink, be merry and all that jazz, just in moderation. (Save the cutting loose for the after-party.) While it might seem like a good idea to saddle up to the bar a few times, you don’t want to say or do anything stupid that you’ll need to apologize for later.

Seems pretty obvious, yes?

For women, the eternal question of what to wear is more important than ever. Here’s a solid piece of advice from most career experts: A company Christmas party is NOT the place to strut your stuff. Do yourself a favour and leave anything short, tight, sexy and/or revealing in your closet. Ho Ho Ho! Don’t dress like a ho! Keep ‘the girls’ under wraps. Not saying that you have to dress like a nun, but think about what your wardrobe choice is saying. You’ve worked hard to create a professional image, and revealing clothes can alter your coworkers’ and manager’s perception of you as a competent professional.

So now you are dressed festively, but professionally. You had one cocktail and are ready to… MINGLE. Even though it’s a party, it’s a company party, so work the room. Chat with people you don’t typically interact with daily. Making conversation is the key to shining like a Christmas star at the office party. In fact, this is a great time to introduce yourself to the CEO and/or VPs. How often do you get the opportunity to chat with these people? You may be surprised to learn how much you have in common.

It should also go without saying to make sure to thank the people who organized the party. Not only is saying thank you the nice thing to do, but it also makes you stand out from the many employees who don’t.  And finally, don’t leave without saying “goodbye”. It’s not only polite but necessary.

I leave you with a survey about company Christmas parties:

workplace-behavior

Picture Perfect Tuesday: Abstract

Posted in Communications, Gallery, Lifestyle, Lifestyles, photography, Picture Perfect Tuesdays by

Many (too many!) years ago in college we had a photography assignment with one word for instruction: Abstract.

I was excited as ‘abstract’ could be anything I wanted it to be. A close-up on a wall, a blurry reflection in water or a smattering of colourful elements – wherever my imagination took me.

The great thing about abstract art is that it doesn’t reflect any form of conventional reality, all you see are shapes, colors, lines, patterns, and so on. Sometimes it just looks pretty. Sometimes it doesn’t. Regardless, when you see a piece of abstract art, the first response is to ask the creator what it is in order to create context for what you are looking at. However, with abstract art, there is usually a lot more than what initially meets the eye.

Abstract art is about energy; the energy that makes a piece ‘speak to you’. So really it’s not about asking what the piece is, but about acknowledging what the piece is to you… (is your mind blown?)

So for this week’s Picture Perfect Tuesday, I give you an abstract.

Abstract

You Crack Me Up!

Posted in Communications by

I was reading recently that despite having finally admitting to smoking crack, buying drugs while in office, being regularly “in a drunken stupor” in pubic, and addressing sexual harassment allegations by commenting that he “gets enough to eat at home”, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s approval rating is back on the rise since his confession. Holding steady at 42%, (!!!),  one-third of Toronto voters said they would vote for him again. Which begs the re-examination of the age-old question, is any PR good PR?Rob Ford

How much bad press can one person get before it’s unrecoverable? History tells us that a President can mess around with an intern, lie about it, then come clean about it and still be beloved. We’ve seen heroes fall and celebrities humbled; only to bounce back with even more success. Think Robert Downey Junior, Martha Stewart, Tiger Woods.

Is it the act of ‘coming clean’ that allows us to forgive? Or is it the personal scandal itself that endears these people as it shows that they are not so different from the average person. They screwed up so they appear more human to us. In fact, one Toronto constituent was quoted in the media as saying just that about Rob Ford!

With Ford being plastered in the news, it’s easy to forget that only a year ago Gérald Tremblay resigned as Montreal mayor, following months of besieged with allegations of corruption.  Sadly for Torontonians, and all Canadians, it seems that Rob Ford will not be bowing out gracefully – which will no doubt lead to more dirty laundry being aired, more SNL skits, and more jokes for late-night talk shows.

However, his rising approval rating suggests that Ford may very well recover from this scandal.  But between Ford and the ongoing Pamela Wallin, Mike Duffy and Patrick Brazeau Senate spending scandal, our country’s international reputation is getting caught in the crossfire. These individuals may recover, but Canada is getting a bad rap.

Data for #MentalHealth

Posted in Communications by

Last night at Girl Geek Dinners Ottawa (#GGDottawa), I had the privilege to hear strategic consultant Shelley McKay discuss a pilot project she is leading that will use social media, analytics and predictive models using keywords and phrases associated with known risk factors, to identify youth suicidal behaviours/ideations at the earliest possible point. Shelley launched this project after her daughter tried to take her own life and subsequently experienced first hand how fractured our health care system is when it comes to youth mental health. Image

Suicide, I learned, is the second leading cause of death among Canadian youth; and is influenced by social media as well as social and environmental factors. If you have any social awareness you already know the names of teenagers Jamie Hubley and Rehtaeh Parsons. We should not know the names of these kids. They should still be alive and living their teenage lives. 

What Shelley is proposing with her pilot project is to utilize an existing government software that is used to monitor social media channels for our national safety against terrorist threats and focus it on at-risk youth. (Yes, that’s right! Big Brother IS watching.) The program, she explain can process 85,000 word a minute. A minute!! And it is able to place context to the key words being processed. Meaning the program knows the difference between someone saying they are going to “bomb a city’ and a comment such as “that show was the bomb”. In the context of monitoring our youth, the program can analyze their mood, track mood trends and language patterns so parents, schools and hospital can take a proactive care approach rather than a reactive one. This is the first goal of the project. The second, Shelley explains, is to reduce the pressure on our region’s emergency rooms by proactively identifying youth in crisis and directing them to appropriate treatment. 

Now as a marketer, you might be asking how it is possible to monitor people with our current privacy laws. That is one of the hurdles that Shelley is currently taking on. Partnered with SAS, a leading company is big data, Shelley and her team are working with our government, schools, hospitals, such as The Royal, and health officials to make this project concept a reality.

Big Data for the advancement of Mental Health. If you’d like to learn more about Shelley’s project, give her a tweet: @McKayShelley. 

 

 

 

Introducing Picture Perfect Tuesdays

It’s often been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Being a photographer and former photojournalist, I couldn’t agree more.

We take and share pictures more than ever thanks to our smart phones and sharing apps like Instagram. Every week I’ll be sharing some snippets that will hopefully get you thinking, talking and even laughing. I promise they won’t all be pictures of my dogs… but this one is.

This is what happiness looks like:

FOxy ROxy


Gifting in the Maker Movement

Posted in Communications by

Have you started buying Christmas gifts already? I’ve had a few friends mention to me that they are “almost done their Christmas shopping.” Almost done!? I have barely starting THINKING about it, let alone purchased anything yet. But retailers are signaling us that it is indeed time to get your Kris Kringle on.

Every year I try to find something cool to give my circle of girlfriends as we exchange gifts. This year is going to be fun as are so many new cool things thanks to the rise of the Maker Movement!

If you don’t know what the heck the Maker Movement is, it’s essentially the ultimate Do it Yourself (DIY) movement. It’s about people who are starting their own projects, creating their own businesses, making and selling self-made products.  Modern technology, such as 3D printing, has made it easier than ever for a single individual to create and distribute items that are customizable and unique without having middlemen like manufacturers. But the Maker Movement is not just people creating items with a 3D printer, it’s also about someone selling handcrafted items on Etsy. Have you ever made something from scratch? Then you are already part of the movement!

In Ottawa, a company called Artengine hosts an open “hack space” called ModLab every Wednesday night. At ModLab you can use their 3D printers and laser cutters to make some awesome stuff! And if you buy a membership, all you have to pay for is the plastic, the use of the 3D printers is free. How awesome is that!!? And if you visit websites like Thingiverse, you can get tons of open source programs (read: free!) to make stuff.

2_makerbot_mixtape

Here’s my favourite to date: The Makerbot Mixtape! I love making CDs for friends and this allows me to give them something fun and nostalgic. This reinvented Mixtape is a MP3 player encased in a 3D printed cassette housing. You can get the free code from Thingiverse here to make it yourself (with a 3D printer).

Guess my friends now know what they’re getting for Christmas…

Fashion Fun Friday: Halloween Costumes

Posted in Communications by

Did you wear a Halloween costume to work yesterday?

Over the years I have worn many costumes to work. Some of my own choice, some thanks to a decreed departmental theme. What is the most risque costume you worn to work? What’s the ettique about costumes at work? A good rule of thumb is to avoid the “naughty” costumes – obviously… and for women, keep “the girls” covered up. Mark Twain once said, “Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.” Same is true for our influence, even if you aren’t exactly naked, over-exposing yourself in a revealing costume can reduce professional power.

My current office is not a dress up on Halloween kinda place.  Some offices dress up and other just don’t. I think that most of this is determined by the industry you are in and whether or not you’ll be seeing clients that day. At the Ottawa Sun our journalists are not going to be out gathering news stories dressed as Miley Cyrus. You just wouldn’t take them seriously. BUT over all, PR peeps have a playful side and as the “fun department” in the office, the pressure can be high around this time of year.  So in honour of Fashion Fun Friday, here are some of my more memorable Halloween “fashions” over the years!

One year a boss of mine decided that the entire team would dress up as pimps. For the guys it translated into a lime green “suit” and for us gals, it was the “matching” suit of a purple velour mini shirt, lime green halter top and large purple hat. The only one that looked good in it was my boss. She, yes she, looked like the bomb. I looked like hooker. THEN we had to visit our clients in these costumes to give out candy. GA!

Halloween

When I was working in the promotions department at Rogers TV, aka the FUN Department, my cohort Jen and I turned our office into a Geisha House. Fun AND fully covered.

Geisha Girls

Another year I took matters into my own hands and, as my friend Lisa would say, let out my inner goddess as Wonder Woman. (At work I added leggings and a top under the bustier.) This is still my  Favourite. Costume. Ever!

Wonder Woman!

Last year we decided to embrace Día de Muertos, the day of the dead.

Sugar Skull Nyree

Well folks, that’s it. What was your best costume?

Trick or Treat

Posted in Communications by

As you may, or may not know, Halloween originated about 2,000 years ago when people dressed up with masks and costumes to scare off ghosts and other spirits that they believed visited them on October 31st. Spooooooooooky…

Jack O' LanternAs a kid I loved Halloween. I still do. I love the costumes. I love the cheesy decorations. I love the candy corn.  I remember the feeling of joy when finding the house with the ‘good candy’. You know what I mean… The house with the chips and the chocolate bars.

Have you ever wondered why we give out candy on Halloween? A quick Google search will tell you that the tradition stems from the middle ages when food was left out on the front step for the dead who wander the streets trying to return home. People though the spirits would get angry and haunt their loved ones if they didn’t leave an offering. Today it’s not that far off… we give out candy to ward off tricks.

So when it came time to buy candy, my hubby and I immediately decided to be that house with the ‘good candy’. Here’s five things that I’ve learned over the years about being the house with the ‘good candy’:

1. You will eat most of the ‘good candy’ way before Halloween and need to buy more. Sometimes twice over.

2. Even though you have the ‘good candy’ you will still give more per kid than you think because it feels cheap giving out one mini chocolate bar. So buy twice the amount you think you’ll need.

3. When giving out those mini chocolate bars, you will end up prioritizing which ones can go first. You know, so you can save the ones you like. In our house, Kit Kats and Crunchies are saved for last.

4. You will eventually realize it’s pointless to ration out the candy as you’re going to end up giving it all away anyways. Besides, you can buy more tomorrow to gorge on… at half price!

5. You will see some kids five times over. And you’ll have to learn to just roll with it. You are, after all, the house with the ‘good candy’.

As we head into Trick or Treating tonight, there is something else I’ve learned… Sometimes it’s okay to be the house with the mediocre candy.