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Archived tour of @RyersonDMZ: Soapbox (4:48)
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Last week, Justin Trudeau was described as cultivating a digital-era image in a Maclean’s piece that also talked abut his use of an online platform for sharing ideas called Soapbox.

Part two of CPRS Toronto’s March 12 tour of Ryerson’s DMZ features Warren Tanner, co-founder and CMO at Hitsend Inc., creators of Soapbox.

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Freebies for your family weekend from @RyersonU
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Sheldon Levy, CEO at Ryerson University invited the community to come experience the Ryerson campus at the 20th Annual CEO Awards luncheon.

Here are a couple free things to do while you’re there:

Also be sure to checkout

And if you had any doubt about why today’s Ryerson is so great, check this video out.

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National conference reminder: Save $400 by Feb. 18
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This June, join us in Ottawa to help Change the Conversation! CPRS Members – register by February 18th and save $400 off full conference delegate pricing for Conversations 2013.

More than 20 keynote presentations and workshop sessions over three days will help frame the conversation around communications.

Confirmed speakers include: Heath Applebaum ABC, MCM, Brent Barootes, Ira Basen, Danielle Côté, ARP, Terry Fallis, Richard Fournier, ARP, Daniel Granger ARP, FSCRP, Caroline Kealey, Amelia Kennedy, Trish Krause, APR, Sean Lewis, Fraser Likely APR, FCPRS, Derek Lothian, Kevin McCann, Brenda Sweeney, APR, Evan Solomon, Daniel Tisch APR, FCPRS, Martin Waxman, APR and Howard Williamson.

 

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CEO reshapes downtown core; recognized for leadership
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by Natasha Radlovic

Ryerson University is going through many changes both internally and externally. The CPRS CEO Award ceremony, held on January 30, honoured Sheldon Levy, the president and Vice Chancellor of Ryerson University, as the man leading all these changes.

Gone are the days when the university was referred to as “Ry High.” With new buildings and programs transforming both the academic and visual appearance of the school, Ryerson is becoming both a cultural and educational hub for downtown Toronto.

Through Levy’s leadership, Ryerson was a key player in revitalizing the Maple Leaf Gardens and further advancing the university’s role as a city builder.

Levy described his three fundamental features for the city-building strategy:

  1. Density
  2. People first and public transportation
  3. Design excellence

CPRS TORONTO 20TH ANNUAL CEO AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

Through a “people first and public transportation” fundamental feature, he described that cars might be sacrificed as second priority. Although some people may not agree with this approach, he demonstrated that he is serious about his plan and that he stands by it.

With 23 million people walking past Ryerson every year, the university has taken on the responsibility for improving the Dundas/Yonge community.

In supporting the design excellence fundamental feature Levy said, “If you build ugly on Ryerson, not only will the university and the students suffer, but so will Toronto.”

Levy explained how his involvement in public relations and knowledge of communications helped to successfully deliver the message and solve issues that have come up in regards to the changes concerning the Ryerson neighborhood.

The CEO Award statue is a silhouette of two people conversing – symbolizing the art of communication.

Through an extremely inspiring and engaging speech, Levy demonstrated that he knows how to keep the audience listening by speaking in a tone that is laid-back but also informative and professional.

“We have built a new cultural street for Toronto, a new cultural street for Canada, and an important new destination,” ended Levy.

This year marked the 20th anniversary of the CPRS Toronto CEO Award of the Year award. 

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Melbourne Mandate offers new role and value for PR
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Defining an organization’s value, building a culture of listening and taking responsibility for communications for ourselves and our organizations are things we all do daily.  That’s why I’m looking forward to learning how the Melbourne Mandate will affect my role in organizational communication at Sony Canada.

On Feb. 26, Daniel Tisch, APR, FCPRS, Chair, Global Alliance for Public Relations & Communication Management, will present the new Melbourne Mandate for Public Relations to CPRS Toronto Members. It is the product of a year of consultation and deliberation by the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication 

At the World Public Relations Forum (WPRF) in Melbourne, Australia, 800 delegates from 29 countries endorsed this bold new mandate for the role and value of PR, identifying three emerging areas of value for the profession:

  • The definition of an organization’s character and values;
  • The building of a culture of listening and engagement; and
  • The instilling of responsibility in both organizations and individuals, reconciling our distinct and potentially conflicting duties to our organizations, our profession, our society and our own consciences.

Daniel Tisch is widely known as an international public relations practitioner, speaker, writer and industry leader. He is the Chair of the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management, the confederation of the world’s major communications industry associations, a Fellow of the Canadian Public Relations Society, and CEO of Argyle Communications, one of Canada’s premier independent public relations firms.

Daniel’s presentation will shed light on ideas raised during the WPRF, for example:

  1. Benchmark your organization: PR and communication professionals can use the concepts in the Mandate – and tools such as the ‘integrity index,’ which measures an organization’s adherence to its own stated values – to benchmark PR practices within their own organizations
  2. Talk with managers: The Mandate can be the basis for a discussion about the role of PR with senior executives and managers from other disciplines. The core question for exploration is whether the organization is using PR in a truly strategic way
  3. Plan professional development: PR and communication professionals can consider the individual skills and organizational capacities needed to implement the Mandate in their organizations – and incorporate them into professional and organizational development plans
  4. Advocate: The conference urged the world’s professional associations to officially endorse the Mandate and use it as an advocacy tool to make the case for public relations at the local, national and international levels

The Argyle Communications blog shares how other well-known PR thinkers have responded to the Melbourne Mandate, beyond 800 delegates who participated in the WPRF in November 2012.

Join us on Feb. 26 to discuss how the Melbourne Mandate can enhance your PR practice with CPRS Toronto Members – register here.

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Terry Fallis rings in the New Year with CPRS Toronto
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By Robin Smith, Coordinator at NATIONAL Public Relations

 

Members can also listen to the full presentation in the members’ blog. (27:27)

Terry Fallis is a jack-of-all-trades. After 25 years in the business, he is the consummate communicator. He is co-founder of the Thornley Fallis consulting agency, former co-host of the popular Inside PR podcast, and a three-times published award-winning author. He joined the CPRS Toronto community on January 15 at the Albany Club to talk about his new book, Up and Down and to field questions about his experience in communications.

In a lighthearted and humourous presentation that showed off the articulate communication skills that have brought him so much success, Fallis opened up about his childhood love of aviation and space travel, a subject that he recently brought to life in his new comedic novel, Up and Down.

Up and Down follows the tumultuous tumble of a former politico into the world of public relations consulting. Thrown into the fire, David Stewart has to learn fast as he joins the ranks of Turner King, a fictional consulting firm located in the heart of Toronto. His task: revitalize the waning public interest in NASA and space travel. If that’s not hard enough, throw in cross-border tiffs, office politics, and a dash of bold personalities and the job just keeps getting harder.

In Up and Down Fallis gives vivid detail to the quirks of agency life that many of us are familiar with, and shines a light on a business that is often misunderstood by members of the public. As he explained the craft of his writing, it became very clear how influential his experience in public relations is on the rest of his work.

Like any good practitioner would, Fallis injects elements of his own experience into his work as a novelist. He likes to make it clear, though, that while characters in his previous novels have dipped a toe into S&M, it’s tough to be in the agency business and not get whipped once or twice. Also, as a firm believer in planning, Fallis outlines his plot months before putting pen to paper. He credits having a clear and well-thought-out plan as being the key to a successful novel.

After explaining his methodical approach to writing, the conversation turned to Fallis’ experience as a practitioner, and he ended his time with very clear guidance for those looking to succeed.

“Pace, challenge and working with people smarter than myself. There lies the path to success.”

Terry reading  Terry and Vince

 

 

 

 

 

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#Volunteering
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Fantastic news everyone, it looks like volunteering is trending! Over the past five years volunteer rates among Canadians have increased. But after digging a little deeper, I discovered that it is the 19-24 year-olds who are doing the majority of the work. On average, they are donating 20 per cent more of their time versus the 25-34 year-old demographic. We have all been made aware of the benefits of volunteering, so why is it that the numbers start to drop as we age?

It could be argued that the benefits of volunteering are far greater for the individuals aged 19-24; these are the people trying to gain experience, enhance their skills and develop their professional network. This is all very true, and I couldn’t agree more. But I also think I would be hard-pressed to find a career-oriented individual, between the ages of 25-34 who isn’t chasing after the exact same things.

If you are looking to advance your career, develop your personal and professional connections and help out the community, why not make time in your calendar to volunteer. The sense of accomplishment coupled with the fact you are helping out others will help you move your career forward and will most definitely make you feel better than sucking up to the boss, or taking on a ridiculous work load. (Not to say that being polite and offering to help out when it is busy should be ruled out)

Let’s take a look at few scenarios…

Scenario #1

Meet Erin, she is 26, has a degree in English and a certificate in PR. Erin has worked in a few different intern roles and is now doing media monitoring full time for her company. As much as Erin likes her job she really wants to be writing, but unfortunately there is a team of writers on staff and not much of an opportunity for her to get involved.

Well Erin, instead of getting frustrated and letting those writing skills go to waste, consider volunteering. There are numerous opportunities out there for you to get involved in, and the CPRS would be an excellent place to start your hunt! There are opportunities to write copy for marketing material, blog posts and member communications, all of which are excellent ways to keep your writing skills up to date and expand the reach of your work. Erin, before you know it you will be SWAMPED with requests because of your newly-found writing expertise!

Scenario #2

Meet James, he is 31 and has a business background with a focus on strategy development. James has recently been promoted to national PR Manager. Congratulations James! In his new role he will be managing a team of seven and of those seven two make up the national events team. James has worked for his company for five years, has been to many of the events but has never planned one. Needless to say, he is a little nervous about overseeing all national events.

Volunteer suggestion; get involved with one of the planning committees for a CPRS event such as the CEO Awards or the ACE Awards. The only credentials needed here are a positive attitude and the willingness to learn. James, this will give you the opportunity to brush up on your event management skills and leverage some of your past strategy work. You are going to be a superstar before you know it!

You can greatly benefit from volunteering with CPRS Toronto, no matter the stage of your career. By taking the time to give back you also have the opportunity to develop strong networks, work portfolios and discover new employment opportunities.

In closing may I suggest, the next time you are feeling a little restless in your job, or would like to learn a new skill, consider volunteering as a viable option. To find out how to get involved with CPRS Toronto e-mail Parm Chohan or read more online.

“Not everything that counts can be counted. And not everything that can be counted, counts.” Albert Einstein

Geoffrey MacNeil is a marketing and communications professional with a background in financial sales, currently studying public relations at Ryerson University.

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CPRS Toronto members support Dress for Success Toronto
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Sadies Profile Picture

By Sadie Wolfe, CPRS Hamilton student member, Mohawk College

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Tuesday December 4th CPRS Toronto Members were invited for an Exclusive Shopping and Networking event hosted at Tique on Yonge Street.  Women of varying ages and styles showed up to enjoy retail goods accompanied by red wine, bubbles, and shopping advice from Jones New York stylists.

CPRS Members were encouraged to invite their friends and together we enjoyed browsing, which led to discovering and trying on the latest fashions, which led to further discovery.  Who can blame us? We enjoyed a 60% off discount that evening plus anything that was previously on sale was buy one get one free – they were practically giving clothing away!

Speaking of giving away clothes, the event invitation suggested participants bring new and gently used professional clothing for the Dress for Success Toronto charity that Tique proudly supports.  The mission of Dress for Success Toronto is “to promote the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support, and career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life.”  This CPRS Toronto event not only served as a networking opportunity, but also as a way to proactively revive our wardrobes by sharing the old and strategically buying some new key pieces.

The warm fuzzy feeling of giving to a good cause was doubled by an added holiday bonus! Attendees were invited to give their business cards to a draw for the potential to win 1 of 3 prizes.  The first two were gift bags filled with lovely goodies and the third was exclusive to those who donated goods to the Dress for Success drive: a $200 shopping spree at Tique and the guidance of a personal shopper for the day of spending.

I would like to thank the wonderful Tique staff members with special acknowledgement to Sandra Steward, store manager and impromptu model extraordinaire! I would also like to recognize Tique’s vivacious personal stylist Shealah for her tireless efforts in helping me tie a stylish bow, her informative and professional Seasonal Dressing Trends and How to Build a Wardrobe on a Budget presentations, and continuous help and tips during the event.

Promoting Dress for Success Toronto while showcasing the latest fashions from Jones New York was done in style. I look forward to attending future CPRS Toronto Networking events in the New Year.

For more information about Dress for Success Toronto, visit dressforsuccess.org

   

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Heard about the member benefit that pays?
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Our member referral program pays $100 for new Full members that join CPRS Toronto on the strength of recommendations from members like you.

Here’s how it works:

Tell a colleague about how CPRS membership has helped you professionally and suggest that they check out the benefits of belonging.

If you are named on this application form as our referring member, you’ll be informed by the CPRS National office that you’ve earned a $100 credit, as soon as the new Full member is confirmed, up to a maximum of $800 per year.

Need to know more? Drop us a line.

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Tweet highlights from Passport to PR
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Wonder what happens at the yearly CPRS Toronto students Passport to PR event? Wonder no longer. See 28 highlight tweets from today’s event in this Storify. CPRS Toronto would like to thank all of the students and our gracious hosts for today’s event!

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