CPRS Toronto: State of PR 2025 Roadshow Event Recap
By Sanjeev Wignarajah
Ethics, trust, AI, and the Toronto Blue Jays were the topics of the CPRS Toronto: State of PR 2025 Roadshow. As guests were mingling on a moody Thursday morning, talking about work and the Toronto Blue Jays World Series run, the presentation began with acknowledging the Toronto Blue Jays World Series matchup and digging deep into brand identity, trust and artificial intelligence.
Peter Mathewson, a consultant at pressrelations, says that there are two takeaways from the State of PR.
“One is that the CPRS is really concerned with AI and figuring out how to integrate AI usage in a way that’s strategically useful,” Mathewson said.
Colleen Killingsworth, founder of CKCommunications Strategy Inc., says AI can be used to aid in content development, deep research and data analytics.
“Some practitioners are really using it to analyze their data analysis from a measurement perspective. It’s also being used to look at workflows,” Killingsworth said. “We can bring efficiency to the work that we’re doing but the real opportunity that is coming out of the report is how do we become even more strategic with the use of AI and bring the guardrails that need to be in place to help organizations use it ethically and manage their reputation.”
While AI has been useful in the industry, it does share its criticism in the film industry. Killingsworth says humans bring the human element to AI.
“We bring it in a matter of deliver the prompts, review and validate the information that it provides, understanding potential bias that AI can develop its content from,” she said.
The second takeaway Mathewson pointed out was brand identity.
“As a writer, I’m just curious to unpack how those words are resonating differently for the respondents of the survey who are quoting in the research,” he said.
While misinformation runs amok in the United States and in Canada. Killingsworth says the public expects communication professionals to combat misinformation.
“79% of Canadians believe part of a professional communications role is to help combat misinformation and we can do that through fact-checking, getting the right information out there and just being proactive in validating information,” she said.
Kim Blanchette, Executive Vice-President of Castlemain, says each of us can make a difference to combat misinformation.
“Helping our audience understand what’s real, by helping leaders speak to audiences in a meaningful way. Not relying only on AI tools to form our communication,” Blanchette said. “Really get back to listening to our audiences, really good engagement, and ultimately trust is something awarded to you as you constantly do or say you’re going to do. You do all the right things and your audience will trust you.”
Lisa Covens, Senior Vice-President at Leger, says the AI formula should be 20-60-20 rule.
“Do 20 percent of the work upfront making sure you’re asking the right questions and giving it the right prompts. Let ChatGPT or AI do 60 percent of the middle work. You need to finesse it, read it, and fact-check it yourself and make sure it has your own voice before you start sending it to clients or media.” Covens said.
When asked about the Toronto Blue Jays chances to win the World Series. Mathewson said that they’ll win.
“I’m extremely confident. I’m certain that we are going to win at least one of the next two but I have a feeling something good will happen in the next game,” he said. “I don’t want to say the words out loud. I am a little superstitious.”
Sanjeev Wignarajah is a freelance writer and photographer working with select clients and publications. He has a background in journalism and public relations from Centennial College.