I’m honoured to be part of the “team” that’s bringing HAPPO to Toronto, along with PR guy supreme Dave Fleet, of Thornley Fallis. Below you’ll find some current job listings in the Toronto and GTA area – please retweet on Twitter (there’s a dedicated #happo and #happoTO hashtag), share on Facebook and anywhere else you can (especially if you’re in the Toronto and GTA area), and let’s help connect everyone together!

- Note: If you’re an agency or PR company, or have a PR position open at your business, I have details of some great people for you – please feel free to email me for more information, or leave your details in the comments below. Same if you’re a jobseeker – feel free to leave your details in the comments and let’s see if we can help.

Thanks!

Listings (so far):

• PR Event Intern (Toronto – Remote Stylist)
• Corporate Comms Consultant (Mississauga – Purolator))
• Comms Specialist (Toronto – Lang Michener LLP)
• Manager, Corporate Comms (Toronto, one-year contract – Toronto Public Library)
• PR Manager (Burlington, one-year contract – IKEA Canada)
• PR Co-Ordinator (Toronto – Hays)
• PR Rep  (Toronto, one year-contract – Toyota Canada)
• PR Assistant (Toronto – Stivers)
• Media and Comms Co-Ordinator (Toronto – Cancer Care Ontario)
• Business Communications Associate (Toronto – Google Canada)
• Vice President, Consumer Comms (Toronto – Apex PR)
• Head of External Comms, Global Advisory (Toronto – KPMG)
• Senior Manager, Corporate and Public Affairs (Toronto – TD Bank)
• Communications Specialist (Toronto – Bombardier)
• Senior Corporate Comms Specialist (Mississauga – FedEx)
• Corporate Comms Manager (Brampton – DynaCare)
• Comms Manager – (Brampton – Loblaws)

Help a PR Pro Out Toronto – Job Listings #happo #happoTO originally appeared on Danny Brown - under a Creative Commons license.

However, solid PR folks like David Mullen suggest it should be People Relations, as does online marketer and social media guy Ari Herzog in a post from earlier this year. Often it’s called Press Relations or Print Relations. I had a little look at the topic last year and there are plenty more views out there.

But you know what?

Who really cares? Let’s take the emphasis off the P, and concentrate on what’s left – the R, or relations, because this is surely the one constant out of all the PR acronyms. For, without relations (and the conversations that spring from these relations), is there any point left to any of the P, whether it’s public, press, people or similar?

S. Neil Vineberg, President of Vineberg Communications, offers his take in a series of excellent little video snippets. What’s yours?

Never Mind the P, Just Get the Relations Part Right originally appeared on Danny Brown - under a Creative Commons license.

I was watching a conversation unfold on Twitter the other evening about public relations, and why a lot of the PR industry is in disarray.

While the “bloggers and journalists don’t like us” line was shared a few times, one of the points that came up a lot was that the industry is still seen by many as being one full of shillers.

Heck, the only industry that seems to get less favorable attention is that of social media consultants…

But to be fair, much of PR only has itself to blame (and I say this as someone with a PR background). I’ve come across way too many agency and corporate PR owners who think the sun shines out their arse. If something goes wrong, it’s often a case of blaming the intern or junior account executive. Then there are the senior executives that take the great ideas of the juniors, or interns, and pass it off as their own so they can climb the corporate ladder.

And don’t even get me started on the PR folk that still think spam is a cold meat for sandwiches, and it’s okay to throw regular regurgitated dross into your Inbox and try and pass it off as a pitch or contact. Seriously guys, I’m tempted to gather a month’s worth of junk mail and stuff it through your letterbox – it’s a similar effect.

Of course, not everyone is like this. You have great folks like Dave Fleet, Rachel Kay, Dave Mullen, Heather Whaling, Matt Batt , Arik Hanson and many more doing brilliant stuff for the PR industry. And then you have a generation-in-waiting with Sasha Muradali, Ryan Stephens, Lauren Fernandez, Stuart Foster and others leading the way for Gen Y.

But still the great work that these guys do is being diluted by the craptastic approach of others. So here’s an idea.

The next time you see a crappy PR pitch or email, challenge the sender. Ask why they sent it, and do they really think that passes as good PR. Same goes for a tweet, or blog post – question people. Don’t be aggressive about it; simply ask why they feel that approach works. Have alternative suggestions as well (nothing worse than criticizing and not having some kind of alternative).

Ask if they have any idea why you weren’t taken with the pitch. If they say, “Wrong subject matter” or similar, at least you know they’ve done their job a little bit when it comes to researching the target (you). If they have no idea why you’re disappointed, explain why and see if they can understand why your way might be better.

If it’s a junior or intern that’s sending out the various pieces of communication, find out who’s above them and challenge them – let’s not attach blame to innocent targets.

It might not change the PR industry immediately – heck, it might not change it at all. After all, like the post title mentions, shit is still shit no matter how you dress it up. And some folk just don’t take to new dress codes.

But if we can collectively change just one mindset and then work from there… Well, that’s got to be worth our time, no?

photo credit: Christopher Chan

Shit is Still Shit No Matter How You Dress It originally appeared on Danny Brown - under a Creative Commons license.

You are actually monitoring, right?

I ask on the back of an interesting story regarding Michigan-based PR firm Tanner Friedman and their current lawsuit regarding a fake Twitter account.

Back in January this year, an account was set up on Twitter that used the name @TannerFriedman. For anyone seeing the tweets from the account, you might expect them to be the latest company or client news from the PR firm.

Not so.

The account had nothing to do with Tanner Friedman. Instead, it was set up by someone who then went on to post a defamatory tweet as the account’s introduction to Twitter, and then subsequently posted negative tweets about the firm.

To keep things interesting, though, the account also took tweets from the Twitter accounts of actual Tanner Friedman employees to make it look more authentic.

Jump forward to March 27, when Tanner Friedman complained to Twitter about the fake account.

That’s more than two months later.

Despite the fake Twitter account posting about the company. Despite the fact that the tweets are said to be damaging and embarrassing to Tanner Friedman. Despite the company being active on Twitter through its employees.

So why so long? Weren’t Tanner Friedman monitoring their own brand as well as that of their clients?

There are numerous tools available to track what’s being said about you. Some are free, like Social Mention, Google Alerts, Filtrbox, BackType and, of course, Twitter.

There are also premium solutions available as well, like Radian6, Nielsen BuzzMetrics, Cision Social Media and Trackur to name just a few.

So it’s not as if the tools aren’t there.

Indeed, Tanner Friedman’s own blurb describes them as, “…an innovative and imaginative communication resource…” with a “…commitment to new technologies…”.

So what happened?

I sent an email to Tanner Friedman to ask their views on the current situation. Kudos to Don Tanner, who was pretty prompt at getting back to me. Here’s what Don had to say about the time lapse:

“We dealt with the problem once we became aware that there was a problem. The problematic tweets did not occur immediately. Once they did and we became aware of them, we acted immediately.”

With regards not having the Tanner Friedman account registered to the company to start with:

“We each had our own Twitter pages along with our own Facebook and Tanner Friedman Facebook pages. Further, as with most professional service firms, we tend to put our clients first. Further (and maybe it is a Midwest thing), Twitter has only emerged here in the past few months.”

It’s never pleasant to be at the centre of negativity when you’re looking after a PR client. It’s even less so when the negativity is about you. Yet one thing you can’t do is let it run.

While it’s clear that Tanner Friedman acted once aware of the account, there still seems to be a time lapse between the first tweet and the complaint, considering more tweets were sent throughout February and March.This is where the obvious problem lies.

Two hours can be a long time when it comes to bad news spreading on social media; two months is a lifetime in comparison.

What this lawsuit shows is the need to be proactive at every turn when it comes to hearing the conversations that are taking place as well as securing your brand early on. Otherwise, you might just find that someone’s been proactive for you.

Of course, Twitter needs to take responsibility as well. Account authorization has to be stepped up (which they are currently looking at) and their customer service currently leaves a lot to be desired. If they really want to take the service to the next level, they need to actually offer a service that looks after its users.

How about you? Do you know what’s being said about you online? How do you monitor the conversations and what advice do you give your clients and employees?

photo credit: Dude Crush

How Long Do You Let Your Brand’s Reputation Suffer? originally appeared on Danny Brown - under a Creative Commons license.

As someone on both sides of the fence, I can understand each side’s views.

Yet I can also see where both sides could improve. So, with no bias to either the PR industry or bloggers, here are some suggestions to help both PR and bloggers help each other.

PR People – Think Like Bloggers

Consider starting a blog if you don’t already have one. Unless you blog yourself, you probably won’t understand the mindset of a blogger. It can be a lonely and time-consuming business – the last thing we want is added workloads through misunderstanding or laziness. If you blog, you’ll have a better appreciation of how we work and how our time can best be used.

Treat us as a bona-fide media source in both your pitching and follow-ups. True, we may not have the name of a New York Times or CBS journalist or reporter. But we often are more visible, thanks to Google and search engine awareness, which means our story could potentially have a much wider audience. Doesn’t that deserve some respect?

Find out who we are and what we do. You have a gardening tool to promote for a client. So why would you send your news release to a tech or music blogger? Don’t just grab a bunch of names from a blogger list – do a little homework, find out what we write about, our style, etc. Trust me, show me you know about me and my readers and you’re almost home dry with me.

Invite us to participate in what your clients are up to. Bloggers love to be involved early on – after doing your homework on who would fit you client base, invite bloggers into your inner circle as your official blog partners. Let us tell your story (without any major interference) and you’ll have a primed marketing team of bloggers ready to go.

Bloggers – PR is Not Your Enemy

Bloggers are wary of PR people. Lazy pitches, poor communication and being treated as second-class citizens are just some of the complaints. Yet there are ways to help yourself be more appreciated by the PR industry.

Have either an About Me page or an area that describes what your blog is about. This may seem like common sense but the amount of reviewer blogs I’ve seen without this simple addition is mind-boggling. How can you expect a proper pitch when you don’t advise on what you write about?

Display a PR-friendly badge to let us know that you’re open to pitching. Todd Defren and the folks over at Shift Communications have come up with some badge designs you can use. Clean and clear, they save both PR people and bloggers a lot of time.

Be ethical at all times and true to your beliefs. This works both ways. Your blog is your voice and your readers should trust that voice. Keep your views honest and untainted by PR pressure. And if someone in PR is pressuring you into a positive spin when their client doesn’t deserve one, don’t be afraid to call them out via your blog.

Contact us and offer your services as part of a PR agency’s blogger outreach program. Many PR firms and professionals are still far behind on the benefits of a blogger outreach program. Use Google, Twitter, O’Dwyer’s blog and other resources to find agencies in your niche. Then send them an email about your expertise and how they could benefit from it. Pro-activity never hurt anyone.

These are just some examples of how the PR industry and bloggers can help each other. I’m sure there are countless more, but it’s a start.

How about you? Are you a blogger? If so, how can PR professionals improve? Or are you in the PR industry? Where would you like to see bloggers improve? Feel free to share your views and let’s get the conversation going.

photo credit: lepiaf.geo

How PR and Bloggers Can Help Each Other originally appeared on Danny Brown - under a Creative Commons license.

This is a guest post from PR professional David Mullen, whose insights into the industry always intrigue me. I read his blog often and ask why many of his suggestions on how PR can evolve aren’t standard practice yet, and I’m delighted he’s sharing his views here today.

You remember those days. You would run straight to your favorite diversion and play with reckless abandon until the bell rang. Or you’d start there and then visit two or three other amusements before heading back inside.

What drove you and others to the merry-go-round or the slides? The thrill? The butterflies in your tummy? Whatever it was, you were there because you genuinely enjoyed yourself. If your friends were there, too, great! If not, it was no big deal. You’d make new friends with kids who shared your love affair for the monkey bars.

Social media is like the playground. It has a ridiculous supply of platforms and applications and tools to enjoy. You gravitate to one or a few of those because they play to your interests and allow you to meet other fine folks who are as passionate about those same things as you are.

This is why a thoughtful communications strategy is imperative for brands to engage with others on the playground. Don’t start a Facebook page because everyone else is doing it. Don’t create a YouTube channel because you read an article in Adweek.

Take a step back from the temptation of knee-jerk reactions, identify the interests you share with your customers, find out where they go to talk about those interests together and contribute meaningfully to the “play” going on there. Participating regularly on a niche message board may reap far more rewards for your brand than an under-used Facebook page among millions.

How do you strategically target where your brand shows up on the playground? As importantly, how do you connect with your customers once you’re there?

• David Mullen is a PR and communications consultant with Mullen (no relation), a full-service marketing agency and an independent brand within the Interpublic Group of Companies. He has worked with brands such as The Home Depot, Coldwell Banker, Intercall and Healthtex. To learn more about David, please visit his Communications Catalyst blog or connect with David on Twitter.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment and subscribe to my RSS feed or via email to ensure you can enjoy the latest post(s).

Social Media is the Playground at Recess originally appeared on Danny Brown - under a Creative Commons license.

I had the good (?) fortune to sit down with the CEO of a PR agency in Toronto recently. He had been at a seminar I attended regarding converging technologies and mediums and how they fit into the role of the PR professional. We got chatting and decided to have lunch together.

Now, I’m a pretty open guy to how businesses run themselves, but this lunch was an eye-opener.

The conversation turned naturally to the economy and the effect it’s having on agencies and clients alike. My lunch partner said he was finding it tough as his clients just weren’t spending, yet he was sure both would start needing his agency’s services again soon. I asked if he’d lost a lot of clients to the credit crunch – after all, being reduced to two clients must be extra tough.

His response floored me.

“Oh, no, we never have more than two clients at any time – we just concentrate on finding the biggest and most profitable ones and stick with them.” So, no small businesses or entrepreneurs, I asked. The answer: “Why would I want to deal with the little guy? How would that enhance my reputation?”

The lunch ended, we exchanged business cards and went our separate ways. I wondered if I should have probed him more on his views about clients, but the way he emphasized the “my reputation” part made me think he was only in business for one reason – his glory. Which normally means any arguments falling on deaf ears.

Yet perhaps I shouldn’t have been too surprised. Too many businesses in too many industries have forgotten about the little guy. Too many businesses think dollars over development. Too many businesses think pre-built over building.

Just when this mindset happened escapes me – what doesn’t escape me is the narrow-minded tunnel vision behind it.

Did the CEO of the Toronto PR agency start off as a ready-made success story? Did Richard Branson jump into the business world with Virgin already a huge success? Does being a large corporation guarantee success levels?

Of course not. Yet still the belief remains in many businesses that small is a necessary evil, to tolerate while the big boys gather to put small in its place.

These are dangerous thoughts.

True success comes from the building of relationships. Of loyalties being forged. Of give and take and the combining of good ideas and openness to encourage greatness.

Aim high – there’s nothing wrong with that. But just take a minute to think what’s going to get you higher – two giants 100 feet tall who control you, or hundreds of normal sized people who respect you.

The choice is yours – I know whose company I’d prefer to keep. How about you?

Acorns And Oak Trees originally appeared on Danny Brown - under a Creative Commons license.

A conversation with one of my Twitter friends Lizz Harmon raised the question of which public relations-type Twitter users would make an equally good list for people to follow. Sources of great information for both PR professionals and interns alike. So, in no particular order, here is the list of 10 PR People to Follow for anyone interested in PR.

1. Beth Harte. One of the earliest adopters of Web 2.0 and social media benefits, Beth offers an excellent voice in PR and currently teaches public relations, marketing and more at Immaculata University.
2. Todd Defren. The Principal of Shift Communications, Todd is also the founder of the social media press release and an influential voice in Web 2.0 public relations.
3. Lisa Hoffmann. Lisa is the Chief Copywriter at PRstore and is vocal in her support of combining social media, PR and communications.
4. Lizz Harmon. Far from inclusion just because of her suggestion of this list, Lizz would make any PR list on Twitter. President of HarmonTampa Public Relations and another key social media proponent.
5. Dave Fleet. Dave is a Senior Consultant for Thornley Fallis Communications and has an extensive background in PR and communications. Always an interesting conversation.
6. Dana Willhoit. With a background in news journalism and lead press release writer for The Press Release Site, Dana offers an invaluable view from both sides of PR.
7. Joan Stewart. Otherwise known as The Publicity Hound, Joan is one of the foremost voices in PR on Twitter and an excellent source of useful Tweets and opinions.
8. Brian Solis. Principal of FutureWorks PR agency and owner of the industry-respected PR 2.0 blog, Brian is one of the key voices when it comes to social media and PR.
9. Sarah Evans. Director of Communications at Elgin Community College, Sarah has recently begun guest authoring at respected website Mashable.
10. Jason Kintzler. Founder of PitchEngine, a social media newsroom that’s fast becoming one of the go-to resources for social media press releases.

Like any list, this one is by no means exhaustive and I’m sure there are others just as worthy of a place on it. However, as a mix of PR professionals and services for anyone in PR (or interested in it), it’s not a bad starting point, though I’d love to hear who you would have on your list.

Of course, if you feel like following me, please feel free to join me on Twitter.

Ten PR People to Follow on Twitter originally appeared on Danny Brown - under a Creative Commons license.

Image via Wikipedia

The day of the large retainer fee is over. Upfront and ongoing fees charged by PR, advertising and marketing agencies used to be the normal way to conduct business, but this is no longer the case. Truth be told, it hasn’t been the case for a while and more agencies need to realize this.

The massive stock crash and financial mire the economy finds itself in has affected everyone, from huge corporations to micro-businesses and everyone in-between. This has resulted in many companies either reigning in their agency spend or cutting ties altogether. The main reason for this has been the exorbitant retainer fees charged by many.

Smart agencies stopped this practice a long time ago, and changed over to value-based pricing. Instead of expensive monthly retainers and high hourly rates, value-based pricing charges on delivered results. This could be number of new customers, amount of new revenue, amount of press received, etc.

The benefit to the client is obvious – they aren’t shelling out for a monthly cost that may return very little. They also know that their agency is working properly for them – no results, no huge project fee regardless of success.

Many agencies decry value-based pricing, saying that it isn’t manageable and there are too many variants to take into account. I disagree – this is where getting to know your client comes in. You know, the role you’re being paid for?

As more businesses realize that high-cost retainers are becoming a thing of the past, the more they’ll look for agencies offering value-based alternatives. Will your agency be one?

Drop The Retainer If You Want to Retain originally appeared on Danny Brown - under a Creative Commons license.

That’s not to say that I don’t hold my clients in high regard – I most certainly do, and will always go over and above the normal “agreement” on a project and help maximize any promotional needs.

However, there also comes a time when you have to draw the line and make a stand – whether it’s client requests, client invoicing or similar. I’ll give you a couple of examples.

Clients often want something done yesterday. In this business, that’s understandable – after all, in PR the early bird truly does get the worm. Unfortunately, it can be easier said than done – sometimes you have to hold back and let others jump in first, and then come out with a kick-ass strategy that blows everyone else away.

The point is, if you’re not working on a project immediately for a client, there can often be “complaints” that you’re not giving that client’s needs priority. Turn that around a second, though, to when you invoice your client and it can be a different kettle of fish. All of a sudden, the urgency has gone and your invoice isn’t high up on their priorities.

Now I’ll admit that so far, I’ve been pretty lucky with my clients. Most of mine either pay on time or before an invoice due date – yet I’ve still had a couple of instances where I’ve had to chase up an invoice and resort to the threat of legal action. It’s not something I want to do and I’m sure the client doesn’t really want to go down that route either.

Tip: Clients should show their provider the same courtesy and importance as the provider shows the client’s project.

Another example is when the client wants too much say in a project. Now before I go on, I just want to make it clear that I’m not saying a client should have little or no say in their own project – after all, it’s their product or service you’re promoting so their input is most definitely beneficial overall.

However, there’s a reason that a client has come to you in the first place – your expertise. You’ve obviously stood out amongst your contemporaries for a reason – so your advice and recommendations should count, right?

If you offer 5 media outlets that a client should go with, then you’ve recommended them for a reason – results. You haven’t recommended them for cost-effectiveness or amount of possible traffic your client may get – you’ve recommended them because they’re the best outlets for the particular piece of news your client wants to get out.

This works in other mediums as well – any recommendation you make for a client is based on your expertise in that field. Heck, any recommendation you make to business partners or your boss is based on your expertise in a given field – so why should that expertise and knowledge not be taken advantage of?

Tip: Your expertise and knowledge has been requested for a reason. Advise your client/boss/partner of this (politely) and let them know that if they want the best results, to trust your opinion.

As I said in my intro, I respect my clients and their needs and this post is by no means going against that. Most clients realize that while they may feel they know what’s best for their project, in reality their expertise is in the product or service itself.

When it comes to your part in it – whether it’s promotion, reviewing, selling, whatever – then that’s the time for the client to step back, offer their valuable input where it’s most effective, and leave the rest up to you. Trust me, it’s the way to get results.

The Client Isn’t Always Right originally appeared on Danny Brown - under a Creative Commons license.