cprs toronto

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Open doors with a CPRS Toronto Leadership Award
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By Miranda Germani

A Beatles’ top award was accidentally used as a doorstop for 30 years* (intrigued? See footnote below), but in a not-so-literal sense, awards can truly open many doors to a young PR professional.

Matt Juniper, winner of the CPRS Toronto Young Public Relations Professional of the Year Award in 2012, realized the impact of the recognition almost immediately.

“Receiving my ACE Award was an extremely rewarding experience,” Matt said. “To be honoured for my work in front of some of the most successful public relations practitioners in Toronto was a memorable and rewarding experience.”

In just a year, the award has made a difference to Matt’s career.

“The award has been not only an excellent addition to my resume, it’s given me stronger name recognition in the Toronto public relations industry. I’ve been invited to multiple conferences as a panelist, I’m frequently asked to contribute as a guest writer on public relations blogs and my colleagues in the industry have greater awareness of who I am. In an industry where networking is so crucial, this added name recognition has been invaluable.”

Matt encourages all PR professionals to consider nominating a young PR professional that they know for this award. “Not only will the award open doors for that individual, nominators will be helping pay tribute to younger professionals in the field. In an industry that moves and changes so quickly, young public relations professionals are a valuable asset and I believe it is important to recognize them.”

Tempted to apply and not sure what to include?

Matt thinks a diverse submission made him stand out, giving these tips:

  • A successful award submission shows balance between work and other experience, like volunteering
  • Highlight many areas of experience – Matt has been involved in corporate, political and not-for-profit communications campaigns through his volunteer work
  • Staying informed and involved in industry trends like social media, and other emerging communications trends

But that’s just Matt’s experience – the judges are looking for you to put your personal stamp on your submission.

The CPRS Toronto Leadership Awards recognizes individuals who have achieved excellence in their careers or made significant contributions to the field of public relations. In addition to the CPRS Toronto Young Public Relations Professional of the Year Award, there are also award categories for Public Relations Student of the Year Leadership Award, Public Relations Professional of the Year, Mentor of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.

More information is available on the CPRS Toronto Leadership Awards page.

The nominations deadline has been EXTENDED to Thursday, March 7, 2013. This is your last chance to nominate yourself or someone else.

The Leadership Awards will be presented at the ACE Awards Gala on Wednesday, April 24, 2013.

* The Beatles’ top gong, a prestigious Ivor Novello award, was given to them after Yellow Submarine sold 1.2 million copies. A woman found it in a derelict London office building in the early 1980s, took it home, and used it to prop open a door for three decades. The now-elderly woman apparently didn’t realize what she had found for 30 years, but found out and sold the award last year at auction.

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Call for submissions for CPRS Toronto 2013 ACE Awards
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By: Natasha Nitsopoulos

ATTENTION PR mavens!

Would you like to be the star of the hottest PR event of the year, while gaining industry recognition, raising your organization’s profile and being noticed by Toronto’s top public relations gurus?

Well, this is your chance to ‘shine bright like a diamond’ (as Rihanna would say) with a 2013 CPRS ACE Award!

Every year, CPRS Toronto recognizes communications excellence in public relations with the ACE Awards. Winning an Award is a great way to give you and your company a competitive edge in the industry and strengthen your strategic planning skills. Not to mention, you’ll be able to celebrate your success with all of your peers and colleagues at the chicest PR event in Toronto!

More information on eligibility, submission requirements and campaign entry categories is available on the CPRS Toronto website. So if this sounds like the opportunity you have been waiting for, then get ready to submit your campaign!

Save the date! Make sure you clear your schedules for this premier event that you don’t want to miss. The Gala will be held on April 24. More details to come.

Important Dates and Deadlines:

Early Bird Entry Deadline: enter at a discounted rate by January 9, 2013

Entry Deadline: January 23, 2013

Leadership Awards Deadline: February 24, 2013

 

Enter at www.cprstoronto.com!

 

Questions? Tweet #CPRSACE or e-mail ace@cprstoronto.com

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A new global mandate for the public relations profession
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At the recent World Public Relations Forum in Melbourne, Australia, public relations leaders from 29 countries identified three emerging areas of value for public relations and have issued a new ‘mandate’ for the profession.

The Melbourne Mandate speaks to the role of public relations in defining organizational character, building a culture of listening and engagement, and instilling responsibility in organizations and individuals.

Are you practising to the full scope of the mandate? Can the mandate be used to guide your professional development, enhance your practice, or inform your clients?

To help CPRS Toronto members grapple with these and other professional ideals, we’ll be bringing you the idea guy behind the Melbourne Mandate in the New Year.

Watch this space for details of our February professional development event with Daniel Tisch, APR, FCPRS, Chair of the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management. You can also read Daniel’s reflections on the release of the mandate.

Is the Melbourne Mandate relevant to your practice? 

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Case study: Broad Reach Communications award for media relations over $50K
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By Liza Butcher

On April 26, 2012, the Canadian Public Relations Society Toronto (CPRS Toronto) congratulated the PR industry’s elite at the annual Achieving Communications Excellence (ACE) Awards gala.

The gala celebrated all of the winning campaigns, including Broad Reach Communications’ “Creating Eminence for Deloitte Canada by Leveraging its 2011 Technology, Media & Telecommunications Predictions” campaign, which won a prestigious ACE Award in the Best Use of Media Relations over $50K category.

I had the pleasure of talking with Andrea Lekushoff, President of Broad Reach, about the success of this campaign and the widespread eminence Broad Reach created for it.

Can you tell me about your winning campaign? What was the objective and why was it so successful?

In late 2010, Deloitte Canada (Deloitte) asked Broad Reach to develop and implement an English-language media relations campaign to secure widespread national, regional and trade/industry media coverage for its 2011 Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT) Predictions report. We were also asked to generate a second wave of media coverage over a two-week period, during which TMT Predictions events were held across the country in St. John’s, Halifax, Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Saskatoon and Edmonton.

The overarching goal of this campaign was to showcase the knowledge and expertise of Deloitte TMT leaders across the country by generating widespread media coverage for TMT Predictions among target audiences in national, regional and online stories. In doing so, Broad Reach ensured that all aspects of the communications plan positioned Deloitte’s TMT Predictions and spokespeople as the leaders in global and Canadian TMT Predictions.

The launch of this media relations campaign exceeded all goals, objectives and client expectations. An unprecedented volume and quality of media coverage was generated: over 128.5 million audience impressions were generated in 210 on-message stories, 95 per cent of which appeared in top-tier media. It wasn’t easy to improve on last year’s campaign, which was very successful at 92 million impressions, but we committed to delivering even better results this year. And we did.

In addition, at least five top-tier media stories were generated in each region (with most regions receiving between two to six times as many stories). All stories mentioned Deloitte in a very positive tone; 92 per cent of stories focused exclusively on TMT Predictions; the term TMT Predictions was included in 80 per cent of stories; the report’s co-author, Duncan Stewart, was featured in 60 per cent of stories; all 10 regional spokespeople participated in high-profile media interviews; and 26 media outlets attended road show events across the country.

How did winning an award contribute to the agency’s brand?

This campaign was among Broad Reach’s most successful media relations campaigns to date. A prestigious ACE Award positions us as a leading Toronto PR agency that produces outstanding work and delivers exceptional results. It is also rewarding to have some of our best work recognized by our peers.

What inspired you to submit this campaign for an award?

We knew that this campaign was among our most successful and, as a result, we wanted to honour the team that worked on it by submitting it for an award. We were also fortunate enough to win a CPRS National Award of Excellence and IABC/Toronto OVATION Award for this same campaign.

What were the challenges associated with submitting the campaign?

The only challenge was that it was time consuming, which is to be expected. However, the Broad Reach team rose to the occasion and it paid off in the end.

What were you sure to include in your binder?

We included a wide range of materials including: the research and rationale for our recommended approach; a series of quantifiable goals and objectives; our strategy, a list of target audiences; a description of the campaign theme; our media relations tactic; a wide range of media materials; spokesperson briefing documents; an MRP (Media Relations Rating Points) report of all media coverage generated; a high-level results report; and clips of both TV and radio coverage.

How did it feel to receive your award at the gala?

I’m thrilled that our team has won yet another prestigious PR award for Deloitte’s TMT Predictions. This award is a testament to our unique business model of only working with seasoned senior practitioners. It also demonstrates that when talented and experienced practitioners have the opportunity to work in a flexible and family-friendly work environment, they can produce outstanding results together.

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Social media advice from a bro
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Now that it’s Movember, you might be wondering how to weave some social media magic of your own.

For the strategy behind the success of the Movember social movement in Canada, check out CPRS Toronto’s archived PD event.

More PD on file.

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Member appreciation event nets largest turnout in recent memory
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How to capture the energy of the 160 CPRS Toronto members who attended our season opener at the historic Enoch Turner Schoolhouse on September 27? Perhaps a few of your stories will do the trick.

CPRS Toronto hosted 160 Members at the Enoch Turner Schoolhouse for it’s season opener on September 27, 2012.

In her follow-up note to the event, Carol Panasiuk, APR, LM, says that she appreciated the opportunity to get together with the senior practice group at our private reception, which took place just prior to the main event with all CPRS Toronto members. She found the reception to be a great opportunity to catch up with her peers and has suggested that CPRS Toronto get the senior practice group together a couple of times each year. We’re planning on it, Carol!

Bruce Stock, APR, FCPRS, dropped in on Kathleen Garrett, APR, and the APR study group that had hived themselves off for some exam preparations. He told our APR candidates of his experience as an Oral Examiner in the CPRS Accreditation Program several years ago, revealing that he and the other two examiners had given a perfect score to a candidate. Bruce wanted to impress upon our candidates that, a) it could be done, and b) the key was that the successful candidate was concise with her answers. This APR candidate had spoken succinctly and with purpose and when she was done, she was done. It was great to be in on this particular interaction that will hopefully serve as some inspiration for the CPRS Toronto candidates who are now into an extremely intense part of the accreditation process.

The members heard brief updates from their Board members, learning about our current priorities and numerous upcoming events. These Board reports generated great follow-up discussions with our members and sponsors. I spoke with Emmanuel Caisse with CEDROM-SNi on his way out, for example. He had already connected with our Board liaison to sponsors, Laurie Smith, and was deeply engaged in exploring ways to meet our members’ professional needs.

This event has also jump-started our member volunteer network once again, to the delight of Board members Parm Chohan, who is coordinating volunteer placements with the Board’s working committees, and Jenn Heyes, who heads up our student leadership team.

CPRS Toronto President Vincent Power, APR, had a lively chat with a group of student members who were amused when he told them to be sure to pull their weight in group assignments at school. Vincent advised the students that PR school stories travel far and wide and could ultimately affect their employment. Our new student members were shocked and somewhat horrified to hear this but soon realized that they could relate. According to the students, the time spent on group assignments is the hardest time to like your fellow PR students.

We also heard from members who were unable to attend. Perhaps my favourite exchange was with Andrew Clarke who sent his regrets but didn’t forgo his opportunity to network. Andrew asked us for some support to get in touch with members who, like him, are giving leadership to social media and community relations strategies. We have since offered Andrew some contacts to get started.

Judging by what you said, I think we were successful in providing an appropriate and meaningful networking opportunity for our members at this event. I hope we also adequately conveyed our appreciation for your continuing member support of CPRS Toronto.

The final word here goes out to CPRS Toronto members Amie Zimon, Jessica Delaney and Jenn Heyes who answered our call for volunteer support at this event. Given the number of members who attended, they certainly had their hands full in terms of handling the social graces while also helping to ease our new members into the CPRS family. You did a truly admirable job. Thank you.

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How will you stand out from other PR job candidates?
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Looking for answers about Toronto’s job market and want to better understand what local employers are looking read more

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Top 10 reasons to get out and meet more people
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We know you’re busy but did you know that getting away from your desk can solve your problems and re-energize you? Here are 10 good reasons to leave your desk and network with colleagues at the CPRS Toronto season opener on Thursday, September 27:

  1. Discover technical solutions to reduce your volume of work.
  2. Find a mentor to guide you into leadership roles.
  3. Renew professional contacts so they’ll be there for you the next time you need a boost.
  4. Connect with innovators in your practice area.
  5. Find new talent for your team.
  6. Share practice problems with colleagues who understand what you do.
  7. Pick up a lead to a new client, consultant or supplier.
  8. Talk to people who do things differently and get you thinking in new ways.
  9. Speak with an association leader to find out how you can get involved.
  10. The quality of the people is high and the cost is NIL.

See also three networking traps to avoid and join us at the CPRS Toronto season opener. Registration is required.

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Networking tips: Get more out of our events
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Here are three tips to help you get the most out of our season opener on Thursday, September 27:

Know your objective. Would you like to make new contacts in your practice area? Are you looking for business intelligence or leads? On the hunt for an internship or job?

Work the room. Stay in any one group long enough to meet its members and establish the subject in discussion. If the topic is not right up your alley, bow out politely and move along.

Exchange business cards. Offer your card when you find a fit. Or, if you do not have a business card, inquire about the option to take a card from your new contact. Remember to follow-up afterward, too!

Further reading: Networking mistakes you don’t know you’re making, Networking is to easy as shouting is to quiet.

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Introduction to mobile marketing
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Members seeking to learn about communication to mobile platforms will want to take part in MarketingProfs’ free webinar, Mobile Customer Path: From Click to Conversion. Sign up today for this free event scheduled for early August.

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