Ditching class and supporting local businesses
I’ll admit it – I ditched out on the first talk this morning, day 2 of the IABC Canada West conference. My apologies to the speaker, but I can’t come to Whistler and not see the sights.
Olympic rings in Whistler Village
So, I went for a walk around the village and got breakfast at a local coffee shop (despite the 2 Starbucks’ in town).
I didn’t skip the whole day, because there were 2 talks I really wanted to see today: social media in crisis communications and best practices for content curation, 2 hot topics for many communicators these days. And both were very worthwhile.
As I head back down the Sea to Sky highway and reflect back on my first IABC conference experience, I am really glad I had the opportunity to come. I am taking away many useful things that I can immediately apply to my work and share with my colleagues. And I met some great communicators from Western Canada, even some new colleagues from Calgary.
Thanks IABC for a great first conference experience. I’m no longer a conference freshman, and my desire to hide in the corner and avoid networking is slowly dissipating.
Truth in PR, Social Media, and beer
I would like to start off by saying that I am a little bit tipsy after 4 sampler beers at the Whistler Brewing Company tour and 2 glasses of wine at dinner. So if there’s a typo in this post, or something doesn’t make sense, I blame it on that. That, and the fact that I am again in my pjs…this time watching Intervention. Classy, I know.
The first day of the IABC Canada West conference was great. From the opening talk on talking good corporate photographs to the importance of telling the truth, every talk I attended today was informative and useful for my career. I learned how to take better photos at our corporate events and how to incorporate our vision and values into our corporate photography. I learned how a company can properly apply a huge transformational change to the entire company (unlike the way a former employer was doing it). I learned new ideas on how to make our corporate intranet more vibrant and fresh – something employees want to visit every day, more than once a day. I learned that our leaders have to be willing to listen to the truth, as well as speak it.
I met some fellow communicators from Edmonton, Calgary, Regina, and Vancouver. I even met a fellow electrical utility employee from Capital Power. And while I was shy, I did come out of my shell and talk to strangers…without “stranger danger” echoing in my head. 
I also learned how beer is made, and that the Whistler Brewing Company has some great, locally made beer, and some equally great employees. I got some neat photos at the brewery, but unfortunately, I don’t have my USB cable here, so you won’t be able to see any of them until probably Wednesday. Sorry about that.
enjoying a beverage at the Whistler Brewing Company
I learned that by commenting on someone’s neat looking notebook, I can easily start a conversation. I learned that if I go back to the same table I sat at for the morning talk for the afternoon talk, I will probably be sitting next to at least one person I introduced myself to that morning, so at least we can compare notes from the day, and don’t have to start a conversation with the awkward introduction.
So, as the snow continues to lightly fall over Whistler (I thought that was pretty appropriate for my first visit here), I look forward to conference day 2. I’m going to go for a walk around Whistler Village in the morning, and to rejoin the conference later in the morning, before getting on the bus for the drive back down the Sea to Sky Highway and back on the plane to Calgary. I’ve enjoyed my time so far at my first real conference, and I’m looking forward to the next one when I am no longer the conference freshman.
Uninspired
courtesy www.deviantart.com
How can I tell I’m very uninspired lately and don’t have anything great to write about?As I was taking my lunch break today, I thought to myself “hey, I should write a
blog post about how you shouldn’t live by an editorial calendar for social media, that it should be organic and you should only post when it feels right and you have something today…”
Then I remembered I already did a blog post like that.
See, that’s how uninspired I am lately…or how uninspiring the world is right now…
If you have ideas on something you would like me to write about, let me know!
Strategic or Tactical?
courtesy digitalstrategist.ca
While in an interview the other day, I was asked the question about whether my communication style was strategic or tactical. I immediately thought it was an odd question, because I believe that if someone is truly a good communicator/public relations professional, their style should encompass both.
You should be able to develop an outstanding strategy for your client or employer, which will outline and support your amazing tactics. And your amazing tactics should be in line with your outstanding strategy. I’m not too sure how you can have one without the other. I realize you could skip the strategy and planning all together and just focus on tactics, but how do you measure your success if that is your approach? How do you prove your worth to your boss or your client, if you only focus on tactics? And, if you are simply a strategic person, how do you execute?
So, you’re probably wondering how I answered the question. Well, I replied with “a good communicator should excel at both, which I do. You can’t have one without the other.” Heads were nodding around the table, so I think I gave the right answer…
Nobody likes fake meat
courtesy chrunchgear.com
Over the past few weeks, I have noticed something a little weird in the background of this blog…spam. No, not the fake meat alternative, but the annoying emails of gobbledygook and junk in my Comments section. Seriously? Is nothing sacred anymore? I ignore you in my email, and now you are going to go through the trouble of posting a fake comment with nothing but garbage and gibberish in it? Thankfully, the good people at WordPress have great filters and all comments (spam or not) go into a Spam folder eagerly waiting my approval. But the fact that I have a least 2 spam comments every day just bugs me.
For Hire
photo courtesy techcocktail.com
I’m on the job hunt again. This isn’t a post about how awesome I am or that your company would be better for hiring me (although it probably would). This post is about a frustrating observation I have encountered in my last 4 weeks of job hunting.
I graduated with my BA in Communications in 2003, and completed my Extension Certificate in Public Relations in 2006. I didn’t start working in PR/communications until 2007, although some of the work I was doing while at the U of C was PR and marketing related. So, if it is 2011 now, I’ve only had 4″ real” years of experience in PR and communications.
For some reason, a lot of the companies and agencies out there think that 5 years experience is the magic number, and I’m not sure why. Who is to say that someone’s 5+ years of experience is better than my 4+ years? Isn’t it supposed to be quality over quantity? And who decided that after 5 years, you are no longer a “junior”? My current employer certainly didn’t. I think they were asking for 5 years when I applied, which I obviously didn’t have. (And no, that is not why I’m job hunting, I was one of the victims of a 550+ layoff that recently happened in the company).
I think that working for an agency for 3+ years allowed me to gain much more experience than someone who worked in a big organization, focusing on only one kind of communication or project. Being able to do work for a wide variety of clients for all areas of business was a great experience, and allowed me gain so much experience in a short amount of time. Shouldn’t that count for an extra year of experience at least?
Anyway, I’m trying to stay positive on this job hunt, and I know that something amazing will come along soon enough (hopefully sooner rather than later!). It’s just a bit frustrating to have to deal with these silly “restrictions” and hope that you make it past the first screening and have the HR representative actually look at your qualifications and experience.
Communications teams are a necessity for organizations
I feel like I’ve been in this industry long enough now to see the pattern. An organization needs to make cuts, and more often that not, one of the first departments to go is the Communications department.
It makes me laugh to think that every random Joe Schmoe can do this type of work. That he can create messaging that strikes a chord with employees or customers. He can write a communications plan or develop an advertising strategy that is effective and can actually be implemented. That he can speak to the media without causing harm to the company he’s representing.
It’s not an easy job. And not everyone can (or should) do it. There is a reason you can study it in university, why you can get accredited by professional associations.
And it makes me angry that after the communications department is cut…four months later, that same company is looking for communications people, or going to an agency for communications services.
Communications, and the people who are the experts in it, is a vital part of a successful organization. I just wish the suits who make the decisions would finally realize that…
