NEW PERSPECTIVES

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April Co-President’s Message
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We wanted to start this note off with the news that spring has finally sprung. But, based on this past weekend, we clearly know that is not the case!

We may be getting unusually cold April showers, but here at CPRS Toronto we are focused on all that Spring has to bring for our society.

People put a spring in our step and smile on our faces. This email newsletter is timed for distribution for the beginning of Canadian Volunteer Week (April 15-21, 2018). We can’t thank our volunteers enough, our organization couldn’t function without your dedication to the profession. Do you enjoy volunteering for CPRS Toronto? Tell us why in a tweet!

Another reason to smile is that the Ace Awards Gala is just around the corner. We have a new location this year, the Carlu, and the team has been hard at work organizing a fresh, new, event.

Spring also heralds a time of renewal, and, in a few weeks’ time you will be receiving formal notification of CPRS Board of Director nominations.  We have some great returning Board members, but we are always looking folks to join the Board. If you ever have any questions, please contact any of your Board members for further details.

We have a few great events rounding out the PD calendar before our summer break. Check the website and our social media feeds for more details.

Unit then,

Danielle Kelly, APR and Erica Silver MA, APR

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The Art of Building Your Network
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I’m not an expert at building a professional network or even have the largest, but I’ve had the chance to meet amazing practitioners in the communications/public relations industry, who are part of mine.

Since my first year as a public relations student I’ve taken advantage of every perk my membership with the Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS) provided. From event discounts, mentorships to volunteer opportunities, you would find me at every event that CPRS hosted. I have contributed blogs for the CPRS website, volunteered at the Achieving Communications Excellence Awards four years in a row and was also part of the Student Steering Committee’s executive team. As an Associate member I’ve been able to honour my contributions and look forward to enhancing the network for the industry’s next generation.

In some ways, I owe my professional growth to the people I’ve met through CPRS’ Toronto Chapter, and my career path also reflects that. In my journey from student to professional there was one reoccurring theme: the public relations industry is very small, which in my perspective is a great thing. Once you meet a colleague or mentor they in turn could introduce you to your next manager or client. Maintaining my membership past student through to Associate membership, allowed me to preserve and enhance these valuable connections. This is what I love about the industry and what I appreciate the most from my experience with CPRS.

How you make career decisions depends on your evolving interests and skills, so why not take the same approach with your network. I believe the same effort you put in building your network amounts to the rewards you receive. What I mean by rewards is the people you meet, the knowledge you gain and the opportunities that materialize.

Take it from a practitioner who is still early on in her career and has a lot more people to meet and learn from in the industry. My career has just begun but I believe it’s vital to extend your networking efforts no matter what stage you are in your career – whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been in the industry for 20+ years.

Written by: Charzie Abendanio, Public Relations Specialist at Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment

https://www.linkedin.com/in/charzieabendanio/

 

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President’s Message
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In 2017, the headlines highlighted some of this year’s most important PR lessons:

  1. Journalism is Evolving: Through social media, every individual has the potential to voice their opinion on the world’s stage. Practitioners must be attuned to the issues and feedback from their audiences.
  2. Demand for Transparency: It’s been a year of revelations with secrets being exposed and an increase in demand for transparency.
  3. Ethics in Public Relations:  In an era of “fake news” and accusations, practitioners need to ensure truthful and accurate reporting.
  4. Reputation management: Do your research and your SWOT analysis to prepare all sides of the issues to direct the conversation and mitigate crises.

We reflect on our past year of activities and achievements and are proud and honoured to represent our local society’s members, who continue to lead the industry in experience, strategy and innovation.

In 2018, it’s your voice that we would like to hear. We encourage your programming suggestions and hope to highlight your achievements and insights on industry best practices by welcoming your written submissions for our website and involvement in society initiatives.

We would like to thank the Board and our volunteers for all their hard work this year and wish all CPRS Toronto members and your families, a very happy holiday season.

Danielle Kelly, APR and Erica Silver MA, APR
Co-Presidents, CPRS Toronto

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Marketing Through Influencing: What You Need To Know To Make it Work
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I remember the first time I saw a paid partnership post in my Instagram feed. My first reaction was confusion: this is fair to the consumers, this is how it is supposed to be, but this will likely ruin everything for the brands and influencers. Who would want to buy this, now that they know it is paid for? Then I looked closer at the “product” – it was a new collection of a famous fashion brand – and I realized I liked the way the blogger styled the brand’s clothes. She wrote about the brand’s quality, their corporate social responsibility and even the creative way they attracted her into business partnership. I was still trying to stick to my initial cynical position while scrolling through the blogger’s feed.

I started following her a long time ago when she wasn’t paid for wearing a fashion piece… or maybe she was, and I just never got a chance to confirm it. So I asked myself one question: has her Instagram page changed, apart from that paid partnership label? The answer is “no”. I still liked her online persona. I clicked on the link in her bio and looked up the brand’s new collection.

Authenticity and honesty. That is what you are looking for in a modern influencer marketing approach. Even taking a legal aspect of disclosure policies aside, any influencer marketing professional should take into consideration an increased consumer skepticism and a shift to user generated content which gives more power to the consumer. A new digital era demands transparency. In a way it is a more honest, genuine version of advertising. However, it is such only if you follow the rule: treat your influencers as long-term partners, not one-time participants in a business transaction.

Making friends and building a network. You may be tired of hearing the word “network” again, but yes, networking is vital in any business, communications especially. This may come as a surprise, but influencers are also people and like to be treated as such. You should start by engaging with an influencer: like their posts, comment on them and share them. Spend some time on your research: find out what your influencer’s interests are, read up on his/her work and look up posts about them. Focus on finding a thing you share, and then pitch your influencer by mentioning your common interests. Just as any other pitch, it should be catching, intriguing − it should stand out. Remember, your ultimate goal is possibly converting your influencer into loyal brand ambassador. Only if you customize your approach and build meaningful relationships, will you get an authentic representation of your brand by an influencer. And their audience will instantly feel that.

Speaking about the audience. The single biggest mistake many brands make is considering only the influencers with big following, often ignoring the proven fact that a smaller but dedicated audience is more valuable for your brand’s goals. Fake followers issue aside, it is a matter of reaching out to your potential clients, not the general public.

To do that, identify influencers who are relevant specifically to your industry: think about your brand’s target audience and compare it to the audience of the influencers in your field.

One more tip would be considering the right channel to reach out to your target audience. Usually, influencers are present on the majority of digital media platforms to increase their online presence. However, there is always one platform which they prefer, which works best for them, and which gained them the popularity your brand needs. What you should do is evaluate which platform aligns more with your industry and best displays your content – then search for the right platform influencer. Typically, business influencers prefer Twitter, LinkedIn and blogs, while consumer, lifestyle and fashion influencers stick to Instagram, YouTube or Pinterest.

Influencer marketing is not as easy as it may seem at first. It requires a lot of preparation, monitoring and tracking, evaluation and measuring. Is it worth the hustle? Well, if you do it right, you end up increasing your brand awareness, building trust with your customers, growing your social media following and ultimately, increasing revenue and making more profit. Yes, it is very much worth the hustle!

By Iryna Zheliasko

Twitter: https://twitter.com/IrynaZheliasko
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justcurious.blog/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iryna-zheliasko-279041134/

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AGM Recap
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On Wednesday September 27 members of CPRS Toronto gathered at the Mill Street Brewery for the 2017 Annual General Meeting.  In addition to a presentation by political commentator Scott Reid, CPRS Toronto Co-Presidents Erica Silver, MA, APR and Danielle Kelly, APR presented a year-end report.

Highlights of the report include:

  • Incredible member achievements from new APR, PRK exam participants and award winners
  • An overview of our financial position and our strategy to meet our financial obligations going forward
  • A review of our membership demographics
  • A recap of our PD, Education and Research activities from 2016-17

You can read the AGM Presidents Report 2017.

We look forward to serving you again next year.  If you ever have any questions or comments, please reach out to us at president@cprstoronto.com

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Where Are They Now? Kyleigh Benninger
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Featuring Kyleigh Benninger, CPRS Toronto Student Steering Committee VP External 2016/2017.

  1. What did you enjoy most about being on the SSC? 

I got to meet and work with fantastic people on the Executive team, to share my experiences with students across the GTA, and hear about the experiences of others in many different stages of their careers. All of this helped me to get to where I am today.

 

  1. Where do you work now and what do you do? 

I am currently Public Communications Coordinator for Stantec Consulting Ltd., supporting the City of Ottawa on a multi-million-dollar construction project funded by the municipal, provincial, and federal governments. My main responsibility is to provide strategic advice and assistance to the stakeholder relations portion of the project. Many of you will learn (as I am still learning) that as a consultant, it’s difficult to pinpoint your sole responsibilities.

 

Being a communications consultant in an engineer’s world has it challenges. But, that’s where my networking skills, largely learned through SSC, have come in handy. If I don’t know the answer to something, or if I am looking for some professional expertise, I tap into that network and get in touch with someone who does. If I’m stuck and need some advice, I’ll run it by someone in my network who will shut down my idea immediately, offer some new suggestions, or give me their stamp of approval. Moral of the story, NETWORK PEOPLE!

 

  1. How do you think CPRS Toronto helped advance your career or get you ready for your current position?

Getting the opportunity to network with individuals in the real world of PR, helped me not only to develop my skills, but to also get a sense of what it was that I wanted to do. I was able to get advice from many professionals through CPRS Toronto and SSC events, that I would never have been able to get on my own. It opened a lot of doors for me as someone starting out in the field, helped me to get a better grasp on where I wanted to be in the future, and ultimately, supported my skill development and awareness of life in the professional world.

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Connect with Kyleigh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyleigh-benninger/

 

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National Volunteer Week – April 23-29, 2017
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Next week is National Volunteer Week, and we want to acknowledge our enthusiastic and skilled volunteers who together, help us accomplish our objectives and grow our community.  As a non-profit professional society, CPRS Toronto appreciates the donation of time and effort from our Board of Directors and volunteers, who help to enhance our knowledge, skill and competence and advance the professional stature of public relations.

As members of CPRS, we are committed to striving for the betterment of the ethics, standards and principles that govern our society.  Our volunteers are encouraged to grow, learn and seek fulfillment as they help our organization accomplish our goals.

We thank you for your dedication, continued energy, passion and insight which make our community and organization stronger.

For future volunteer opportunities, please visit the CPRS Toronto website and fill in this survey.

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Where Are They Now? CPRS ACE Award Winner Student Public Relations Plan of the Year
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Stephanie Murphy was a member of the dedicated student team from Centennial College that won the #CPRSACE Student Public Relations Communications Plan of the Year. At the 2016 CPRS Toronto ACE Awards Gala, her team won for the Civic Action/Project Fusion campaign titled “Know the Signs” which focused on educating and building awareness around mental health in the workplace.

 

With the upcoming 2017 ACE Awards Gala just around the corner on May, 2nd, PRS interviewed Stephanie one year later to reflect on her CPRS achievements and see what she’s been up to since her big win.

 

  1. What’s been the most rewarding part of winning the CPRS ACE Student Public Relations Plan of the Year?

Overall, it was very humbling and nice to get recognition. My team and I worked hard all year for the campaign so it felt wonderful to be invited to the gala and to be included within the PR community. The Canadian Red Cross team was proud I got to be a part of it too.

 

  1. Where are you working now?

I was a Canadian Red Cross intern from April to May 2016 and after that I was hired on as a coordinator. I’ve been working on the communications and public engagement team ever since. I love it!

 

  1. What’s your day-to-day role?

Part of my time is spent supporting the Ontario communications team on a variety of tasks including media monitoring, design, research and writing, among other things. I also work on a partnership the Canadian Red Cross has with Global Affairs Canada to raise awareness about humanitarian work we do internationally. This involves organizing speaker events, finding opportunities for public engagement, and working on our annual Faces of Humanity campaign.. It’s a great learning environment because no two days are alike.

 

  1. Has your path in PR changed from what you wanted when you were a student or freshly graduated?

I originally thought an agency would be a good place to start, as I thought it would offer a variety of learning opportunities, but I’ve always been more passionate about non-profit organizations. When I was a student, the Canadian Red Cross internship opportunity came my way and it seemed like a great chance to dive into the non-profit sphere.

  1. What’s your advice to current PR students aspiring to win the award?

I suggest that if you’re interested you should push yourself to apply. It’s a great chance to receive more exposure in the PR community and to network with other PR professionals at the awards ceremony. Ask yourself, ‘Why not?’ You have nothing to lose!

 

  1. Looking back what is one takeaway from the award you would like current students to know? Is there one piece of advice you would like to give them?

The ACE Awards offered me a great networking opportunity right at the beginning of my career. I valued the experience of submitting for the award as well because it helped me build my professional portfolio.

 

  1. What skills did you harness when you worked on the campaign that you use everyday at work?

Team work is an essential PR skill that is a part of almost everything I’ve worked on so far in my career. It’s so important to learn how to be a respectful, accountable and helpful team player.

 

JOIN US AT THE 2017 CPRS ACE AWARDS GALA ON MAY 2nd AT THE ARCADIAN COURT. TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE.

 

Written by Alessandra Manieri, Ryerson University graduate and public relations postgraduate from Humber College. Currently working as a PR Coordinator at Strategic Objectives.

 

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Passport to PR with Strut Entertainment, Citizen Relations and Liquid Communications
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About Passport to PR

Organized by the CPRS Toronto Student Steering Committee, this event offers students the opportunity to visit PR offices, speak to members of their team and get answers to all the burning questions they have about the industry.

In groups of 15, students visit three public relations offices throughout downtown Toronto. As part of Group G, students visited Strut Entertainment, Citizen Relations and Liquid Communications. Here is attendee Samiha Fariha’s recap of the day.

Location #1: Strut Entertainment

After battling the morning rush on the TTC, I arrived unscathed at the trendy office of Strut Entertainment. Strut was kind enough to provide us with a morning breakfast of water, coffee, muffins and cakes.

The morning session at Strut started off with Samantha, the founder of the agency, telling us about her day-to-day responsibilities and a history of how Strut came to be. Three pieces of Samantha’s advice that really resonated with me were:

1. Pay attention to office culture, it’s more important than you think.

  1. Watch your social footprint.
  2. Never stop learning.

Location #2: Citizen Relations  

After our morning session with Strut, few of us in Group G with our group leader Mary took the streetcar to our second session at Citizen Relations.

The team gave us a brief introduction about the corporate culture and philosophy of Citizen Relations followed by an in-depth look at how the agency approaches public relations and their work. It was interesting to learn that Citizen does not have a core area of focus, they aim to be a full-service agency that serves clients from a wide variety of industries.
Location #3: Liquid Communications

At Liquid Communications the team spoke to us about some of the clients the agency worked with, their experiences in the PR industry, advice on how to get invaluable hands on PR experience as well as some of the key differences between working in boutique agencies vs. large agencies. Time flew by and before we knew it, it was time to leave.

I really enjoyed my Passport to PR experience. The event provided me with the opportunity to learn about how PR agency life is like in both large and boutique agencies and make new contacts in the industry.

UntitledGroup G having a ball at Strut Entertainment

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Written by Samiha Fariha, a student in Humber College’s Post-graduate Public Relations Program.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samihafariha/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FarihaSamiha

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Passport to PR Winter Edition: A Post-Event Recap
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Having recently completed a successful event, Building Media Relations, at the upper deck of the Pilot Tavern, CPRS Toronto Students’ continued its journey across the PR industry.

On Thursday, Mar. 9, 2017, students travelled from schools across the area, including Centennial, Humber, Ryerson, Seneca and Sheridan, to attend the winter edition of Passport to PR.

These students were given the opportunity to go behind-the-scenes of PR practice, meeting top communications professionals from a diverse range of industries and organizations.

Students listened to in-depth presentations from these pros, getting to ask questions and learn the inside scoop on the PR world.

Some of the topics covered included transitioning from student to work life, the differences between agency and in-house, and the changing face of PR.

The students got the opportunity to select from one of seven groups. Some locations that opened their doors were Coca-Cola, Craft PR, Cohn & Wolfe, Ripley’s Aquarium, Edelman and Citizen Relations, among many more.

The group I led traversed Front Street, starting our morning at National PR before stopping by Metrolinx and ending our day at MLSE. The students had a blast and gained a great deal of insight from the communication teams at these three organizations.

We re-assembled as a big group, celebrating a great day in true student style, with a trip to Jack Astor’s. Students enjoyed food and drinks, making new friends and swapping stories from the day.

We’d love to hear about your experience at Passport to PR: Winter Edition!

What was one insight you gained from the event that you will take with you towards your future career?

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Written by: Maxim Naylor, a 1st year student in Humber College’s Bachelor of Public Relations program and student representative of the CPRS Toronto Student Steering Committee.

Twitter: @maximnaylor

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/maximnaylor/

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