Communicator

January – February 2010
Communicator
One on One with IABC
4 President Julie Freeman
New Year’s Resolutions: A New
6 IABC Member’s Perspective
Corporate Citizens Take Lead:
The Evolution of IABC/Toronto’s
7 Social Responsibility Committee
8
In Social Media Era, Content is Still Key
to Successful Employee Communications
Can Communications Make a Major
11 Impact Across Your Organization?
“Yes” Says Impact Contest Winner
Canadian Agency Leaders Speak Out
12 on Client Strengths & Weaknesses
Tips for Working With Former
13 Journalists Turned Communicators

IABC/TORONTO BOARD
2009 – 2010
President
Brent Carey, ABC
toronto-president@iabc.com
Past President
Leslie Hetherington,
APR, MBA
toronto-pastpresident@iabc.com
Executive Vice President
Carrie MacAfee
toronto-execvp@iabc.com
Vice President, Accreditation
& Standards
Linda Andross, ABC
toronto-profstandards@iabc.com
Vice President, Advertising &
Sponsorship
Cyrus Mavalwala, ABC
toronto-adsponsor@iabc.com
Vice President, Association
Management
Julie Wilson, ABC, MEd
toronto-assocmgt@iabc.com
Vice President, Awards
Trell Huether
toronto-awards@iabc.com
Vice President, Finance
Natasha Renaud, MBA,
MS Mass Comm
toronto-finance@iabc.com
Communicator
Diana Degan Robinson,
Executive Editor
Brent Carey, ABC,
President’s Column
Abigail Brown, Writer
Panagiota Bountis, Writer
Emma Huang, Writer
Valeri Hall Little, Columnist
William Smith, Writer
Bonnie Dean, Writer
Neil Hrab, Writer
Please note: Articles in Communicator
reflect the opinions of the writers and
experts invited to comment but not
necessarily those of IABC/Toronto.
Vice President, Marketing
Communications
Christine Andrew, MBA
toronto-marketing@iabc.com
Vice President, Member
Communications
Diana Degan Robinson
toronto-memcomm@iabc.com
Vice President, Membership
Sharon Beattie
toronto-membership@iabc.com
Vice President, Networking &
Special Events
Louise Armstrong
toronto-specialevents@iabc.com
Vice President, Professional
Development
Yasmin Ranade
toronto-pd@iabc.com
Vice President, Volunteer
Services
Marie Fitzpatrick-Hall, ABC
toronto-volunteers@iabc.com
VP at Large, International
Conference Task Force
Anna Relyea, BA, MA
toronto-intl-conference@iabc.com
Advertising:
Richa Vajpeyi
Telephone: 416.777.3742
richavajpeyi@gmail.com
Graphic Design:
Fusion Design Group Inc.
Telephone: 416.516.6657
brent@fusiondg.ca
Printing Services:
Brown Book Company
(BBC) Limited
Telephone: 416.504.9696
bbc@brownbook.ca
IABC/Toronto
296 Jarvis St., Unit 7
Toronto, ON M5B 2C5
416.968.0264
http://toronto.iabc.com
IABC International
601 Montgomery Street, Ste 1900
San Francisco, CA 94111
1.800.776.4222
http://www.iabc.com
from the
Editor
A New Year, A New Look
Welcome to the new Communicator! We thought it would be
fitting to welcome in a new year and a new decade with an
enhanced newsletter, one that celebrated IABC/Toronto’s status
as IABC Large Chapter of the Year.
At the start of this chapter year, we conducted a communications
audit that included gauging how members read and used
Communicator. We identified that there was an opportunity to
build on the success of the newsletter. As a main link to our members
and one of the tangible benefits that all members receive, we
wanted to ensure it was meeting the needs of the membership. We
hope you find the redesign, the addition of colour and the new
columns add to your reading experience. Thanks to Fusion Design
Group for all of their hard work. Our goal is to ensure that our
members are kept abreast of the latest happenings in the chapter,
in the IABC organization and in the communications industry. If
you have any additional suggestions for the type of articles you
would like to see in Communicator, please share those with us.
In this issue, you will find highlights of recent IABC/Toronto events
that offer tangible advice and lessons for communicators. We jumped
at the chance to sit down with IABC President Julie Freeman,
ABC, APR, when she was in town recently and asked her what’s
next for IABC worldwide. And we thought the start of the new
year was a good time to offer insight into what IABC/Toronto’s
Social Responsibility Committee was undertaking.
As we all start the new year off with a clean slate, a fresh approach
and a zest for tackling that massive to do list that all of us
communicators have, we hope that you will find Communicator a
valuable tool for informing, educating and even entertaining you.
Here’s to a productive and fulfilling 2010!
Diana Degan Robinson
VP, Member Communications, IABC/Toronto
In addition to being VP, Member Communications, Diana is President
of her own company, Diana Robinson & Associates, an award-winning
marketing communications company based in Guelph, Ontario. She was
named 2009 Independent-Small Agency of the Year by IABC/Toronto.

President’s
Message
Delivering on an exciting and busy year
In the last issue of Communicator I talked about
the busy and exciting year we have ahead of us
in IABC/Toronto. And I’m happy to say that
we’ve been hard at work, delivering on that in a
big way! It’s no coincidence that the activities
your board has been undertaking are well
aligned to what you, our members, have told us
you value most about your membership:
• Professional development – Our first three
PD events of the year have dealt with such
diverse topics as leveraging one’s strengths to
overcome the challenges of today’s job market,
tapping into the power of photography, and
getting noticed on the internet. These events
have been well attended and are great examples
of how we are targeting our programming to
deliver on members’ feedback, and needs.
• Volunteering – What a turnout to our annual
September volunteer recruitment night! It was
great to see so many members eager to both
give back to their chapter and profession,
and to further their own career and personal
goals at the same time. Clearly we need the
help of volunteers to run the chapter, but it’s
also a key member benefit—a classic winwin
situation!
• Networking – The opportunity to connect
with other members and fellow professionals
is one of the main reasons people join and
stay with IABC. And our first two Munch ‘n’
Mingle events have provided great venues for
reconnecting with old friends and making
new contacts. It was particularly encouraging
to see so many students at our first
event—the future of our profession is
looking bright!
So what’s coming up for IABC/Toronto? Well,
this year’s calendar of PD events is shaping up
to add real value for members, with some highly
relevant topics and top-notch speakers. We’ll
continue to have the chance to socialize and
build our networks through our Munch ‘n’
Mingle events. And planning for the World
Conference in June 2010 is proceeding, with
our chapter doing our part as host. Keep
tuned to our e-Lerts and toronto.iabc.com for
ongoing updates on these activities.
From the board’s perspective, we will keep
ensuring that all our activities are clearly aligned
to providing member value—this drives what
we do and why. We’re also going to continually
seek feedback from our stakeholders, listening for
and acting on opportunities for improvement, to
ensure we provide real and meaningful value.
And of course we are always open to hearing
about what’s working well!
We have finalized our budgets for the board
year. As the largest IABC chapter in the world
we are very fortunate to have resources available
to us that other chapters do not. And while we
are a not-for-profit organization that exists to
provide value to our members, it’s important to
manage our budgets prudently, and we always
have. This is even more important to do this year,
as the economy continues to present challenges
for our members and their organizations, and
consequently our chapter as well. Membership
growth has suffered, and CareerLine is not the
“cash cow” it used to be. As a result, we have been
conservative in our projections and planning.
We are looking forward to the rest of an exciting
year. Thanks, and I hope to connect with as many
of you as possible!
Brent Carey, ABC
President, IABC/Toronto
http://toronto.iabc.com/ Communicator January – February 2010 3

One on One with
IABC President
Julie Freeman
IABC President Julie Freeman, ABC, APR,
was in Toronto recently, and Diana Robinson,
VP, Member Communications invited Julie
to sit down and update IABC/Toronto
members on what’s happening in the
world of IABC.
Q: Can you share your impressions
of the Toronto chapter?
A: You are the largest chapter in the world and
you have to admire the success of the chapter.
It’s been my experience with chapters that when
they sustain success, it’s because there are very
deep traditions, great succession planning and
very successful programs. Not only the monthly
programs, but the awards program and Career-
Line. The chapter is obviously meeting the needs
of its members. And there is a strong commitment
to IABC as a whole. And a lot of smarts
about how you do things, how you make the
chapter successful and how you involve
members and communicate with them.
Q: How would you like to see
IABC/Toronto further develop?
A: Well, I think it’s really important for everybody
to constantly evaluate what we are doing,
and what our members need us to be doing.
A quote I think is important in business that I
heard once is that companies always hang onto
a successful strategy one year too long, and I think
that’s always important for us to remember in
whatever we are doing or planning. It’s always
good to be doing that checkup… we’re offering
that kind of programming, or format or producing
this kind of newsletter and it’s worked,
but are we being relevant, are we delivering on
the content? It’s a challenge for every chapter to
ensure you are meeting the needs of junior
members right up to very senior members. I
think the most challenging group to serve is the
most senior members, because frankly they
don’t need always need IABC; the chapters need
them more. But in my discussions with senior
members, there seems to be a hunger to have a
place to network and connect; it’s important
for them to have a safe place to discuss the
problems and the issues they are facing. And we
want to keep senior people involved.
Q: How would you like to see
IABC as a whole further develop?
A: We, as well, have to determine how to
remain relevant. The big challenge that we are
figuring out is that for the most part, our model
is based on face-to-face interaction—meetings,
conferences, workshops, events. We invest a lot
of time and energy in face-to-face. People are
energized not just by the content, but by the
face-to-face contact, because of the people they
meet and the conversations that develop, but
there are budget and accessibility constraints.
For example, it’s difficult to have a world
conference that is accessible to every member
throughout the world, due to time constraints.
So one of our challenges is: how do we deliver
the professional development that people are
seeking and extend it internationally in a way
that is meaningful? How can we develop new,
relevant channels to connect members and
enhance the face-to-face experience? Also,
how do we become the definitive source for
communications professionals to go to for
information and resources? And how do we
help members understand the importance of
being international, which is one of IABC’s
key points of differentiation.
Q: What do you think having the
international conference in
Toronto will mean for the chapter?
A: It seems that everyone here is so enthused
about the upcoming conference. It’s a chance to
showcase your wonderful city, which has so
much to offer. What people don’t always appreciate
about Toronto if they haven’t been here is
how international it is. It’s always wonderful for
visiting IABC members to feel the warmth and
hospitality extended by local members, the kind
you would feel at your own chapter.
Q: What is coming next for IABC?
A: We have a very ambitious board this year.
We’re looking to uncover the ways we can
expand our services and connect people. This
year’s board under our Chair Mark Schumann,
ABC, started the year by talking about these big
strategic questions, and every board member
was assigned a question to think about and
research over the summer months, which we
then brainstormed about in September. One of
the things the board is working on is when
launching a new initiative, it needs to be based
on research: what do members want, what are
our capabilities, what is the competitive landscape?
The ideas were put into an incubator
and we then did more research through a
study and focus groups, to find out if the big
thinking is really what members want. We are
also working on projects to help make
members’ experiences more effective and
helpful. For example, we are currently working
to improve the search capabilities of our online
library, with full implementation by May. We
have a lot of excellent content, but our search
capability is clunky. It will be easier to find what
you need and also allow you to get more precise
information that is relevant to what you need.
Another thing we are working on is to do some
infrastructure enhancements to make participating
in the accreditation process more
streamlined. For example, making the portfolio
submission electronic. Ultimately, it will get to
the point where you will be able to take the
exam online. In some countries, the way to
expand IABC is through our accreditation
program, which they see value in.
Q: What challenges do you think
IABC members are facing?
A: Unfortunately there is the fundamental
challenge of simply having a job. Which results
in a combination of things—we have more
4
January – February 2010 Communicator http://toronto.iabc.com/

members unemployed, and the ones that are employed are often
juggling more than one job and are therefore overloaded, which is never
a good thing, not only from an energy standpoint, but often results in
us being more tactical and not strategic. The ultimate challenge for
communicators is to think strategically and be able to demonstrate their
value, their contribution to the organization, and when you are just
doing tactics, it can be difficult to step back and be strategic. It’s always
about proving your worth.
Q: What challenges is IABC facing?
A: Well, right now our membership is down, about seven per cent,
which has been our rate of growth for the last number of years. We’d like
to start growing again, but there is no doubt the economy has had an
impact and many people are choosing to not renew because they’ve lost
their jobs or times are tight. In fact, many times when people are out of
work they spend money to get jobs. For instance, they hire a resume
writer or recruiter. There was an article in The Wall Street Journal
recently that talked about how being part of an industry association
gives you credibility and that when you volunteer it demonstrates
another level of skills to current and prospective employers. In reality,
IABC offers the opportunity to network, and develop the connections
they need to get a job. Another huge challenge is for IABC to have
influence. Ideally, we want to be seen as a voice in the profession and in
the business world. We want to be seen as a source regarding business
communications issues and ultimately, to be influencing how business
communications is done. We’d like IABC to become more of a “household”
name in the communications and business worlds, because we
know that communications does make a difference. CEOs often pay lip
service in interviews about the importance of good communications
and we’d like to see more of them walk the walk.
Q: What do you enjoy most about your role?
A: I truly enjoy the people. I have loved the travelling and meeting the
nice, smart and hospitable people that make up our membership around
the world. The cultural diversity even within the chapters in the
U.S. and Canada is incredible.
Q: What is the one thing that no members
know about you that you’d like to share?
A: I would love to speak more than one language really well. I‘ve studied
French for years and I’m trying to learn Spanish. In July of 2008, I did
a Spanish immersion program in Guatemala. I read pretty well, but I
would truly love to speak another language fluently.
Q: If there was one message you could get out
to IABC/Toronto members, what would that be?
A: Congratulations on all your success! Thank you for building a strong
and vital chapter. Thanks in advance for all you will do to make the world
conference a success. We truly appreciate what the Toronto chapter does
in sharing their experiences with other IABC members and chapters.
And I would like them to be proud of their organization, IABC. I see a
wisdom and a wealth of experience amongst our members, all our members,
and I don’t think that is true of all professional associations, so I think
they should be proud of their involvement and their association.
http://toronto.iabc.com/ Communicator January – February 2010 5

New Year’s
Resolutions:
A new IABC Member’s
Perspective
At a time of reflection and
planning, of assessing
what resources and tools to
continue using and renew and
which ones to move on from,
and to identify the economics
involved with these choices,
I cannot speak highly enough
about the value and return on
investment of being involved
in a professional association
like IABC. Last year, I made
a commitment to attend as
many IABC seminars and
presentations as I could,
to get to know other chapter
members, and to offer my
support as a volunteer to assist
in the work of IABC/Toronto,
in particular, its 2009
IABC/Toronto OVATION
Awards Gala Event.
I have experienced the rewards and benefits of this
commitment on both personal and professional
levels and this year, my resolution is to be even
more involved. Here’s why:
• Now I know (more) – I have learned from the
presentations and seminars on relevant and
timely communications issues and trends,
particularly social media. It was great to hear
from ‘social media gurus’ at these events. Now
I’m more ‘in the know’ about the social media
phenomenon, its power, potential (and dangers)
and the implications for us as communicators
in this ever-changing media landscape.
• Good for me and my organization too – An
obvious benefit of IABC membership is
learning and professional development. This is
learning you can take with you wherever
you go in your career as a communications
professional. In every presentation I attended
last year, I found something useful about
business communications that can be applied
in my current role, and thus, benefit the work
of my organization. For example, the social
media presentations have been useful to us in
developing a new social media strategy in our
organization and in our thinking about an
organizational communications strategy that
incorporates social media.
• A place to go to get it – The IABC online
library featuring research, books, manuals, and
other publications is a useful resource for the
communications professional and I look
forward to using and exploring this resource
further. It’s great to have a place to go that holds
such vast information on communications
topics including, of particular interest to me,
effective media relations strategies.
• Being heard – I’ve discovered that IABC’s
‘Be Heard’ motto/tagline isn’t just a direction or
rallying call for your work as a Communicator.
It means ‘being heard’ as a member too. I
appreciate that IABC is pretty diligent about
gathering feedback about events and other
issues from members through quick ‘n’ easy
online surveys.
• Go on, flex that communications muscle
(or build new muscle)! – The benefits of
volunteering on IABC committees or projects
are immense, especially having the opportunity
to learn and develop skills by trying something
new or some element of work that’s just
not part of your ‘day job’.
• As a community, we business communicators
sure are a friendly bunch – I think what I’ve
most enjoyed is the networking and getting to
know other IABC members at seminars and
social events, or by working together on special
projects like the Awards Gala. IABC/Toronto
folks are friendly, welcoming, energetic, and
smart! People are supportive of one another and
appreciative of individual efforts that contribute
to the success of the entire team. People say
‘thank you’ and they do this often—that’s nice!
There is a sense of belonging and community
here and, in my opinion, that is most
important and the main reason why I have
chosen to stay involved with this association.
Value, knowledge, and community. Three words
that best sum up my membership experience so
far. I’m looking forward to more of it in 2010.
Abigail Brown is a Communications Specialist with
Community Living Ontario.
6
January – February 2010 Communicator http://toronto.iabc.com/

Corporate Citizens
Take The Lead:
The Evolution of
IABC/Toronto’s
Social Responsibility
Committee
Organizations embark on their own social responsibility
journey for varied reasons. While stronger financial
returns, brand value and market differentiation are
potential benefits, “giving back” to the community
in which a business operates accounts for the
“corporate citizenship” that embodies the spirit
of social responsibility.
The seed of the Social Responsibility
Committee was planted in the fall
of 2008 when IABC/Toronto
President Brent Carey, ABC, held
a Social Responsibility Think
Tank at which participating
IABC/Toronto members set the
foundation for the chapter’s first
social responsibility policy. The policy
(available online at https://toronto.
iabc.com/pdf/IABCToronto
ChapterSRPolicy.doc) focuses on
three areas: community betterment,
environment and governance.
The move to a full-fledged Social
Responsibility Committee followed
the June 2009 joint IABC/Toronto
-AIP event Boosting People, Planet
and Profit panel presentation that
featured best practices from One
Million Acts of Green and RBC’s
Blue Water Project and was organized
by Mary-Ellen Hynd, Bernard Helen,
Anne Ptasiuk and Frances Roberts.
The event achieved such a high
approval rating—100 per cent of
event attendees surveyed said that
they would recommend future
events of this nature—that Mary-
Ellen Hynd agreed to chair IABC/
Toronto’s first Social Responsibility
Committee for the 2009/2010
board year. Mary-Ellen is also
representing IABC International
in the development of the ISO
26000 International Standard for
Social Responsibility.
The Social Responsibility Committee’s
evolution forecasts a vibrant
future for the role of communicators
as community leaders support the
role of ethics, responsibility and
compassion as true business values.
By identifying themselves with the
role of corporate citizens, volunteers
can create an environment that
reflects “community conscience”.
This year’s volunteer recruitment
evening saw an upsurge in interest
for the committee. At our first
meeting in November, we committed
to five action areas:
• A virtual team of communicators
that will provide support to
our charity partner, Volunteer
Canada, led by Leila Fenc and
Gillian Welsh;
• A February 11 Munch ‘n Mingle
event that will also launch the
new Green Guide for Communicators
created by Bernard
Helen and Frances Roberts;
• A Generation Y initiative to
reach and engage students
through social media led by
Kate Heron;
• An IABC International 2010
Conference community volunteer
initiative at Evergreen Brickworks;
• And the creation of an overall
communications plan to build
awareness, educate and engage
through a variety of communication
vehicles and initiatives
led by Lucas Hancock, Pana
Bountis, Anne Ptasznik, Carrie
MacAfee and Gillian Welsh.
One such vehicle is IABC International’s
SR LINK, an interactive
online community offering a platform
for developing creative content, learning
about communication resources
and roles and networking with other
communicators.
IABC/Toronto’s Social Responsibility
Committee is committed to
making a difference by advancing
the role of communicators in this
vital field and fostering the “community
conscience” that defines
our very ethic. We make it a practice
to have members share social
responsibility tips at each meeting;
recently we learned that an audience
poll at Canadian Business for
Responsibility’s Annual Summit
last fall revealed that more than
80 per cent saw an increase in
internal and external CSR communications
within the next 12 months.
Employee needs are indeed changing
to reflect a unified approach to
implementing social responsibility
and building a strong future for the
corporate citizen. And we are excited
that IABC/Toronto and the Social
Responsibility Committee is actively
working to make this happen.
As a first-year volunteer on IABC/
Toronto’s Social Responsibility Committee,
Panagiota Bountis was immediately
attracted to the committee because of its
dedication to “giving back”, the very
essence of what it means to be a corporate
citizen. Panagiota is currently a MA
student at York University in the Interdisciplinary
Studies program. Her thesis
work examines the ways design supports
Web 2.0 communication to determine
target audiences.
http://toronto.iabc.com/ Communicator January – February 2010 7

Content
In this Social Media Era,
is Still Key to Successful
Employee Communications
With the start of a new year and in fact, a new decade upon us, it’s natural to evaluate what communication
tools and vehicles have been working successfully and what technologies have enhanced our ability to
provide value to our stakeholders. Yet, one of the industry’s leading employee communications gurus says
communicators need to take the “corporate” out of corporate communications, and replace it with “creative.”
Focusing on people
According to Crescenzo, employee communications
typically talks about the three Ps: Policies, Programs,
and Procedures, including necessary but usually dry
topics like corporate initiatives, wellness, and safety.
The way to make employee communications more
engaging is to find the fourth P, which is “people.”
Corporate communicators need to see themselves
as storytellers. Crescenzo believes any organization
in the world, no matter how small, has interesting
people doing interesting things. Communicators
should harness these stories to create more
interesting content.
“Content is more important now than ever,”
says Steve Crescenzo, a veteran corporate
communicator with 20 years of experience,
“however, communicators are just taking the
same corporate content—boring press releases,
bad photos, and poorly written stories and
they’re pushing them out through new social
media vehicles.”
Based in Chicago, IL, Steve is one of the U.S.’s
leading experts in employee communications.
Voted the number one seminar leader at
IABC’s International Conference in 2008 and
2009, he believes that social media demands a
different way of communicating. “It needs to
be more conversational, more real, and more
focused on people—there needs to be more
storytelling,” says Crescenzo.
Replace “corporate”
with “creative”
Creating valuable, engaging content is one of
the biggest challenges communicators face—
no matter what vehicle they use.
Audiences have many online choices: interactive
sites like The New York Times, podcasts on
every subject under the sun, not to mention
the multitude of social media sites such as
YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. And then
the audience has our stuff: dry, dull, safe
and boring corporate content. It doesn’t stand
a chance when it comes to grabbing our
audience’s attention.
And this is where communicators make one
of the biggest mistakes. Instead of using these
new tools to move away from the same old
boring corporate boilerplate language and
cookie-cutter copy, we simply repurpose the
dry corporate content and push it out using
new social media tools. The result? No one
pays attention to it.
Crescenzo believes it’s because we focus on
fighting the wrong battles. “Communicators
fight the battle of the deadline and the battle of
the approval process—what will get through
with the least amount of edits in the least
amount of time. In the meantime, we lose our
biggest battle—readership—and that’s a high
price to pay these days.”
How to sell it to executives
Some people have argued that it is hard to convince
corporate executives to use social media as a
communication vehicle.
“Communicators make the mistake of falling in
love with the new tools,” says Crescenzo. “They try
to sell their tools to their leaders, instead of
approaching them from the business point of view.”
The way to sell social media to executives, Crescenzo
suggests, is to demonstrate how social media can
help the organization achieve its business and communications
goals, and solve problems. This requires
communicators to look at things from a business
perspective, instead of from a social media
enthusiast angle.
Crescenzo will be in Toronto to present his one-day
seminar, “Creative Communications: Taking the
Next Step,” on February 26, 2010. Loaded with
dozens of case studies and best practices in creative
communications from small and large organizations
throughout Canada and the U.S., Crescenzo is
hosting a sneak peek professional development
event exclusively for IABC/Toronto members the
day before on February 25. Stay tuned to e-Lerts
and the website for registration details.
Emma Huang is a Toronto-based public relations
professional with a decade of experience as an
international journalist.
8
January – February 2010 Communicator http://toronto.iabc.com/

Digital
Dialogue
Sticking to those resolutions takes determination,
focus and sheer will. For the online communicator,
the same holds true.
After meeting with a group of my online communicator-type
pals at the gym yesterday, over celery sticks
and chocolate bars, we came up with a list of seven
resolutions to which we believe every communicator
involved in the World Wide Web should pay heed.
1. Develop a strategy – This should come as no
surprise. As professional communicators, this is
where we always start. The web is no exception.
Whether it’s old-school online initiatives (such
as your website or e-mail newsletter) or a social
media campaign on Facebook or Twitter, all
digital communications efforts must be mapped
to your organization’s mission and support the
overall business plan. Otherwise, it may be a
cool idea, but what’s the point?
2. Prioritize communication channels – As communicators
we’ve hit the jackpot. There have
never been more communication channels from
which to choose. While we revel in abundance,
Resolutions of
Highly Effective
Online
Communicators
7If you’re like me, the New Year is a time to shed those
bad habits of yesteryear, and look ahead with optimism:
I will eat more veggies… I will exercise more than once
a month… I will stop eating chocolate.
sometimes it can be daunting and downright
confusing. The key is to look to where your
audience goes for information and focus your
efforts there. If your audience is job seekers, focus
on building an amazing online recruitment area
within your website, post job openings to online
job boards and use social media sites (such as Twitter,
Facebook and LinkedIn) to spread the word.
3. Connect all communication channels – Build
your online community and increase traffic to
all other channels by using the cross-promotion
trick. For example, if you’re building subscribers
for your e-mail campaign, include a sign-up form
on your website and promote it on Facebook
and Twitter. If you’re using social media sites to
spread your message, provide a link to your
website and re-use the content on your blog,
your website and Twitter.
4. Write web-friendly content – Content is king.
Period. Unfortunately, even the most dedicated
communications professionals can get caught
up in the technology or sidetracked by design.
Stay focused on your message and write your
copy in a way people can easily scan
online. By treating your content
as an asset, you’ll be well on your
way to building a meaningful and
successful online presence.
5. Evaluate. Evaluate. Evaluate. – If you
can’t measure it, you can’t manage
it. Establish benchmarks. Set goals.
Track results. Make adjustments.
Evaluate by monitoring web traffic
(i.e. number of visitors and pages
most visited), tracking the number
of e-mail subscribers or measuring
the size of your communities on
Facebook, Twitter and elsewhere.
Report these findings to internal
stakeholders to keep them engaged
in your online communications initiatives.
Such measurements prove
that your strategies are working
and it’s money well spent.
6. Remember your user – The digital
area can be a very lonely place.
Unless you develop a clear picture
of your target audience and build
your online initiatives around
their needs, they’ll be gone (if they
ever came in the first place). If it’s
a website, figure out what tasks
they want to achieve or the information
they truly need. If it’s a
blog, find out what topics are
timely and relevant. If it’s a tweet,
provide your followers with links
to information of particular use.
Stay focused on your user and
they’ll come back for more.
7. Participate – Join the online
conversation that’s going on with
other digital communications
professionals. Comment on blogs.
Follow on Twitter. Connect through
social media communities. To keep
pace, you have to keep talking.
Putting these online resolutions to
work will pay off in the long run. Now
all you have to do is eat right and go
to the gym.
Valeri Hall Little is an online communications
specialist with more than 15 years in
the digital arena. As president and founder
of intandem communications, she has
helped hundreds of companies implement
strategies to make their websites more
effective and easier to use.
http://toronto.iabc.com/ Communicator January – February 2010 9

Human beings are a visually wired
species, and next to the moving
image, photographs can evoke a
powerful, visceral reaction in each
of us. Since the advent of the
portable camera, we document,
communicate and experience
through photographs. Visual images
in your printed or web-based communications
cut through the clutter
of text and immediately draw the
viewer’s eye. But a photograph will
capture a person’s attention for only
two seconds so make sure your
photos accurately convey what you
want them to.
Winner of the IABC 2007 Chairman’s
Award and one half of the
award-winning Salvo Photography
studio with bases in the U.S. and
Italy, Salvo shared some trends in
photography that can make a great
They Will Always See the Photograph –
Secrets of
Suzanne Salvo,
the Photo Whisperer
On November 3, more than 50 seminar attendees were
treated to Suzanne Salvo’s comprehensive and creative
presentation on visual imagery, and how the right photo
can enhance the impact of your message and brand.
photo: curves and organic shapes;
using orange and blue; de-saturating
colour; incorporating action; and,
most importantly, capturing the
human element. It’s all about
capturing the moment and avoiding
the too-perfect photo. Look to social
networking sites, such as Flickr and
Facebook, for inspiration.
Salvo described two types of
photography—photojournalism,
which documents reality, and photo
illustration, which is used for
creative ends (e.g. advertising). Few
professionals can do both well; the
photographer that can expertly
document your company’s business
facilities for the annual report may
not be suitable for taking photos
at your events, or your executive’s
head shot.
If you don’t have relationships with
a photographer, ask your personal
and business networks for referrals.
Choose your photographer based
on the type of image you want.
When evaluating a photographer’s
portfolio, look for interesting images
that have a story to tell. Because when
it comes to corporate photography,
Salvo says, “interesting trumps pretty.”
Salvo urges communicators to look
at photographs as a photo editor:
• What’s the first thing you
noticed? Is it what YOU
want noticed?
• Does the subject support
the message?
• Is it a quick read (the message
in the photo)?
• Does it contain a human element?
• Is the lighting appropriate?
• Does the background support
the subject?
• Are there any distractions?
During the course of your career,
you will be involved in managing
at least once the head shot of a
manager or senior executive. How
to get your subject’s best side?
“Photogenic is in your head,” Salvo
says. “Anyone can look good with the
right pose and the right attitude.”
Subjects should avoid looking
straight into the camera and should
not be posed in the middle of the
frame. Great portraits incorporate
the rule-of-thirds in composition.
Sitting on a stool works best because
it improves the subject’s posture.
Have the subject pose with their
best foot slightly forward and the
other foot slightly back and relaxed
—this exposes their best side by
default. Hands are great indicators
of tenseness or rigidity in the face,
so try to keep them relaxed. Most
people don’t know what to do with
their hands, so use a pen or a book as
a prop.
Salvo concluded her presentation
with the subject of photo manipulation.
Retouching a photograph
once required hours of intensive
work in the darkroom; now, it can
be accomplished in minutes using
Photoshop. But does ease of use
mean the ethics of photo manipulation
have changed?
Photos can be modified to remove
red-eye or dust. They can be cropped
and resized. But when you remove
people from a photo or give your
CEO a digital facelift, the ethics
become blurred. Salvo warns, “If you
are going to manipulate a photojournalism
image, you better bury the
body, because people will find out.”
The best way to navigate this
fine ethical line is to assess your
motives: are you trying to deceive
your audience?
“They might read the whole article,
perhaps glance at the cutline, but they
will always see the photograph,”
says Salvo.
For more information on ethics in
communications, refer to the IABC
Code of Ethics for Professional
Communicators.
For more information on Suzanne
Salvo, go to http://salvophoto.com/ or
visit Suzanne’s blog, Salvo At Large:
http://salvoatlarge.blogspot.com.
William Smith is a recent graduate of
Ryerson’s PR Certificate program and is
active on IABC/Toronto’s PD event
team and on the marketing communications
team as partnership manager.
Bonnie Dean is responsible for Membership,
Marketing & Communications
at the Ontario Dental Association.
10
January – February 2010 Communicator http://toronto.iabc.com/

Can
Communications
Make a
Major Impact
Across Your Organization?
“Yes” says Impact
Contest Winner
We all know the impact that a well-executed communications
strategy can make toward achieving a
business mandate. Sometimes the results are so
significant that other departments, divisions or
even competitors take notice. In May and June 2009,
IABC/Toronto invited members to enter a contest to
win a one-year membership renewal by telling us
“When did a communications initiative have a
measurable impact on your organization’s bottom
line and ideally go beyond meeting communications/
marketing mandates?”
Of the entries received, IABC/Toronto member Patricia Burton was
selected as the winner for a multi-faceted communications campaign
implemented by communications in collaboration with the finance and
labour relations departments at The Toronto Star to handle a switch from
weekly to bi-weekly pay. Her entry is an example of how effective and
efficient communications can have a real dollar savings effect on a company.
The Toronto Star and its unions agreed to move to bi-weekly
pay (paid every two weeks, rather than weekly) during the
collective bargaining process in early 2008. The change took
place with the first pay period of 2009.
The Employee Communications Department, in collaboration
with Finance and Labour Relations, created a multi-faceted
communications campaign, beginning in October 2008 and
ending in December 2008. The strategy was to prepare
employees for the change and encourage them to take action
to address any financial concerns and make adjustments to
their pre-authorized payment schedule, if necessary.
Questions and concerns from employees began to surface
following the initial communications regarding the change to
bi-weekly pay. There were two concerns: Why were we doing
this?; and, Why did the change have to take place at beginning
of the new year, when staff would be facing Christmas bills?
Accordingly, we adjusted our communications program, based
on this feedback, to create a friendly and informational poster
campaign, utilizing our much-loved and long-time serving payroll
manager as the focus of the creative. With headlines such as
“Carlos asks: Will you be ready for bi-weekly pay?” and “Carlos
answers your bi-weekly pay questions,” we were able to calm
employees and effectively usher in the change without incident.
We estimate that the communications campaign saved the
company approximately $14,000 in lost time by frontline
payroll and HR staff, who would otherwise spend time
answering questions and dealing with unhappy employees,
had we not done the communications.
http://toronto.iabc.com/ Communicator January – February 2010 11

Canadian Agency Leaders
Speak Out on Client
Strengths & Weaknesses
Study shows that the success of a project depends just as much on the quality
of a communicator’s pre-project homework as the quality of the agency work.
Whether you work at a corporation,
organization or agency, you
have clients. C-level executives and
corporate clients often play the
dominant role in the business
relationship with their PR teams
and agencies. In fact, they strongly
influence the overall output of
most public relations campaigns.
AgencyLink Inc., in partnership with
SCAN International, examined client
performance with the study, A Global
Voice for Marketing Agency Leaders;
620 agency leaders, including 106
from Canadian public relations
and marketing agencies, completed
the 2009 survey.
Many of our clients admit they’re
often the cause of problems with
their agency or PR department
relationships. However, the industry
tends to focus on the perceived
quality of agencies, whereas client
performance is equally important
to achieve effective marketing
communications success.
The results demonstrate that
Canadian communicators need to
invest more in market research,
improve their integration efforts,
and provide clearer agency briefs.
Our national marketers, however,
score higher than their counterparts
in the U.S. and Europe in
their ability to motivate and
financially reward their agencies.
Agency leaders rank Canadian client
attitude and willingness to invest
in market and communications
research scores poorly compared to
other nations. In Canada, 38 per
cent of agencies classify Canadian
marketers as weak, while only
16 per cent say they are excellent
or good investors in research.
Comparatively, in the U.S. and
U.K., 24 per cent of clients are rated
weak, while another 24 per cent
are rated excellent/good.
For integration, it was suggested
that many companies are not
structured to leverage integrated
marketing communications. In an
effort to become more customercentric,
many companies have
decentralized marketing to align
with geographic business units or
product sales. That works if you are
in a multi-brand company, but
firms that speak with one voice
to multiple stakeholders need an
integrated process.
If a client is highly decentralized,
they are going to have integration
issues. In this instance, a multidisciplinary
agency could act as
the integrator. Conversely, if the
business is highly integrated, it
may benefit from best-of-breed
agencies in multiple disciplines
with the client acting as the integrator.
Almost 30 per cent of
Canadian marketing professionals
were ranked as weak in integration.
When asked to select the three most
important areas for improvement
of client performance in relation
to their agencies, Canadian agency
leaders rated:
• Strategic direction and briefings
(71 per cent and the highest of
all participating countries);
• Quality of decision-making
process and streamlining
approval levels (38 per cent);
• Quality of judgement and ability
to understand agency’s recommendations
(34 per cent).
Government and consumer products
did not fare well when agency
leaders selected client performance
by sector in Canada. Outshining
the field in Canada are B2B and
financial services.
Client sectors in Canada that are
better than average in quality of
performance are in business-tobusiness
(66 per cent); services
(65 per cent); and financial services
(60 per cent). Client sectors rating
highest in quality in the U.S. are
consumer products (78 per cent);
services (58 per cent); and consumer
durables (52 per cent).
Canadian client marketers rank
the best among all the countries
surveyed in their ability to inspire
and motivate agencies. The survey
showed that 27 per cent of
Canadian agency leaders say their
clients are excellent motivators.
Only nine per cent of Canadian
agency leaders say their clients are
weak in motivating them, while in
the U.S. (29 per cent) and France
(34.5 per cent) agencies responded
that their clients are weak motivators.
Agency leaders participating
in the survey are based in Canada,
France, The Netherlands, Portugal,
Spain, United Kingdom and the
United States.
What do you think about clientagency
relationships? Join the
conversation on client-agency
relationships at www.client-agencyrelationships.com.
It is important
to continue productive relationship
discussions to maximize budgets and,
of course, results.
Sheila Corriveau, Partner, AgencyLink
Inc., (www.agencylink.ca). To request
a full analysis report of the survey
results, you can contact Sheila at
sheila@agencylink.ca.
12
January – February 2010 Communicator http://toronto.iabc.com/

Tips
for Working With
Former Journalists
Turned Communicators
“A writer doesn’t want to be told what to do, and he doesn’t want to tell people what to do;
so he tells it to a piece of paper. To make the choice of telling people what to do has real
theological implications, and (if you are me) you must wrestle with that choice…”
– Paddy Chayefsky, novelist and dramatist (1982)
Sitting at your keyboard, telling words what to
do and getting paid for it—a dream come true
for many. Time was when you didn’t need to be
a superstar novelist to make a living as a writer.
Writing-intensive jobs with radio and TV stations,
magazines and newspapers were plentiful and
the money was steady.
But times are changing. People who once
happily wrote columns, features or scripts for a
living see the economic writing on the wall.
They are bolting in large numbers from
media for a less precarious living in the world
of communications.
Plenty has already been written on the exodus
of reporters and others from media to communications.
One aspect of the shift that hasn’t
been explored much is what to do if you are
already in communications and find yourself
working with a former journalist who is new to
the communications field.
Here are three basic points to keep in mind:
1. While nearly all former media people pitch
themselves as expert writers, it’s important
to qualify their experience as writers. Someone
who has freelanced for magazines for
years may be good at producing text for
company collateral, but will need some
time, for example, to learn how to write
strong podcast scripts.
Similarly, someone who wrote for radio can
more than likely produce great podcast scripts,
but may need help writing a news release
that’s geared to trade magazine reporters. So
get to know your new colleague and her
specific areas of experience, so you know
both her strengths and limitations.
2. Whether it is checking over financial data
before sending out a news release, planning
a product launch or revising a draft of your
CEO’s keynote speech, communications
is inherently a collaborative and teamoriented
field.
Your former journalist colleague has left an
environment where collaboration and
teamwork are typically not highly valued.
Newsrooms, for example, can be very
individualistic places. Reporters will try to
keep scoops, sources and other valuable
information to themselves, in order to
land those prestigious front-page stories.
It’s hard to practice collaboration and
teamwork in such a setting.
This individualistic mindset can be hard
to overcome. One of its most noticeable
consequences can be an inability to delegate.
To return to the Paddy Chayefsky line
at the top of this article, if you notice your
new colleague is having trouble delegating
(or “telling people what to do”), talk to them
about it in private. Assure them that from
time to time we all must be comfortable
“telling people what to do” (just as at different
times, we must be ready to receive instruction
from others).
3. What about thinking strategically—how
does your new colleague rank? Well, on one
hand, there’s nothing like the discipline of
regular daily deadlines to give someone an
acute sense of the need to use time strategically.
On the other, it means you can begin
to think only in 24-hour chunks. In a
communications context, that mindset can
be very useful in a crisis situation and you
are in survival mode. It will be helpful if
your colleague can be introduced to the
importance of thinking strategically about
the longer term as well.
Buying your colleague a copy of IABC’s
Inside Organizational Communication and
urging them read the chapter entitled
“Strategic Management and Communication”
is probably a good start.
Neil Hrab worked for newspapers in Canada and
the United Arab Emirates before making the
transition to communications. Please send feedback
to: neil.hrab@gmail.com.
http://toronto.iabc.com/ Communicator January – February 2010 13

Tips &
Trends
Get Google-worthy!
Every communicator knows the expectations: Be #1 online.
But not every communicator knows how to do it.
At the recent IABC/Toronto Professional
Development event—SEO vs. SMO: Are they
the same?—Liz Gray and Alan K’necht showed
us how.
On the surface, Search Engine Marketing
(SEM) and Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
sound similar but they are, in fact, very different
—much like earned media and advertising.
SEM is advertising online; SEO is earned media
online. Both are connected to the Google search
results page, and both can improve an organization’s
online presence. What makes them different
from traditional earned media and advertising
are two vital components: the words you use and
their placement. Choosing your words wisely,
literally, has the power to get your organization’s
website onto page one of Google search results.
SEM is a series of techniques creating online
advertisements with paid links. The objective is to
drive desirable traffic to the appropriate landing
page on your organization’s website. You don’t
think anyone clicks on those paid ads? Think
again. As Liz Gray pointed out, they are worth
billions of dollars to Google because people
actually do click on them.
To optimize SEM, you have to first know how
it works. Paid links are measured by Google
with the following equation:
Quality Score = Relevance + CTR +
landing page quality and more...
A high quality score is achieved by having a
relevant link that generates large click-throughs
to a landing page relevant to the link and, more
importantly, to the potential customer. Poor
quality scores result in higher costs maintaining
the paid link.
Achieving this takes research—lots of it—into
the words that will motivate your audience or
potential customer to click on the paid link and
arrive at your website landing page. The key is
to provide a landing page that is easy to navigate
and content that is relevant to the audience you
want to reach. Google evaluates landing pages
for relevance and that helps determine how
much your organization pays for the link.
Secondly, know what words your target audience
uses to search for your product or service.
Google auctions access to the different words a
marketing and communications professional
would use in writing the link. Research on
keywords can be done on Google Insights and
is what keeps the focus on the target audience
and not on the search engine.
For example, a law firm specializing in asbestos
litigation will pay the going auction rate for the
word mesothelioma because of the potential
high payouts in class-action cases. But first, a
law firm will test the key words with their target
audience to ensure the words they are paying for
are the ones the target audience uses. You don’t
want to waste money on clicks by individuals
who are not serious purchasers.
While SEM is geared toward marketing professionals,
SEO is the tool for public relations
practitioners. The same principles apply—SEO
is the art of getting your website to the top of
the Google search engine. Like SEM, it requires
careful research into words your perspective
audience uses. K’necht stresses that internal
organization jargon and acronyms are the ‘kiss
of death’; the best terminology is industry or
layman terms (safety glasses vs. safety eyewear,
for example).
If everyone is simply searching for what they want
online, what is the value of the news release?
According to K’necht, the news release as PR
practitioners know it is dead. Time-starved
journalists are turning to search engines and
social media platforms such as Twitter to
research story ideas and are moving away from
e-mail and fax story pitches.
However, there are ways to use news releases
effectively online. Craft a news release with the
right language, and place links within the news
release that take the reader directly to the page
of interest, not the home page of your website.
Also, think about delivery. Can your news be
posted on Twitter and industry blogs? Where
do you want to direct the reader? Use links to
take them there.
Finally, take the time to develop a social media
strategy based on the online behaviours of your
target audience.
Not sure if you are doing SEO and SEM right?
Liz Gray offered the assistance of her class at
Fanshawe for help with your next campaign.
They can evaluate your approach and recommend
strategies for success.
The evidence is mounting—if you are not
online effectively, you might as well not be
in business.
Liz Gray is a faculty member with the Lawrence Kinlin
School of Business at Fanshawe College in London,
Ontario where she created and now teaches the only
dedicated Search Engine Marketing course to be
offered in Canada by a Community College.
Liz can be reached at egray@fanshawec.ca.
Alan K’necht is the founder and president of
K’nechtology, Inc. He is recognized as an authority on
search engine optimization, search engine marketing
and web analytics. Alan can be reached at
alan@knechtology.com.
William Smith is a recent graduate of Ryerson’s PR
Certificate program and is active on IABC/Toronto’s
PD event team and on the marketing communications
team as partnership manager.
Bonnie Dean is responsible for Membership, Marketing
& Communications at the Ontario Dental Association.
14
January – February 2010 Communicator http://toronto.iabc.com/

Industry
Focus
The Nuts and
Bolts of Media
Relations:
A review of the
book In the News
Reprinted with permission from
J-Source.ca, The Canadian Journalism
Foundation website
Media relations is an important
aspect of communications
practice, but it is also an area
that is difficult to teach. Students
tend not to think critically about
the media, perhaps because
the media are such a pervasive
feature of their lives. They don’t
really understand what news is
or how the media operate. To
compound the issue, few booklength
treatments of the subject
suitable for use as a textbook
exist. Publications written by
practitioners for practitioners
are not very helpful for students.
They either assume too much
knowledge on the part of the
reader or are too specific. But
enter In the News.
William Wray Carney, an adjunct professor at
Concordia University College of Alberta, has
taken his 30-plus years of experience in media,
communications and teaching, and produced a
highly readable, practical and scholarly work on
media relations—no mean feat.
Carney divides the book into three sections,
beginning with the basics, working through the
nuts and bolts of media relations and ending
with trends in the field. In each section, the
chapters contain practical information illustrated
with real life examples, and the findings from
scholarly research.
In the News begins with a look at the theory and
principles of media relations, starting with who
the media are, what they do and why professional
communicators use them. This section
really sets the groundwork for the rest of the
book. For many readers, it will be the first time
they have thought critically about the news
media. We tend to talk about the media as a
single entity, but it is important for students to
realize and understand the advantages and
disadvantages of each medium in order to make
strategic decisions about which to use.
The bulk of the book is the middle section in
which Carney lays out the steps for developing a
comprehensive media relations plan. What I
appreciate in this section is the emphasis on
planning and strategy. Too often in books on the
subject, media relations is treated as a end unto
itself rather than part of an overall communications
and business strategy. Carney makes it
clear for his readers that they need to know the
why behind their actions and that the why is not
just “to get media coverage,” but rather to further
some organizational objective, be it increasing
awareness, improving image or changing attitudes.
From the media relations plan, Carney moves
into specifics about reaching the media. Again,
most readers will not have thought about where
the media get their content. Carney goes into a
detailed discussion about news releases, how to
write them and how to distribute them. Other
chapters in this section contain a laundry list of
other approaches to media, such as news conferences
and media events and what Carney refers
to as do-it-yourself media.
I found the most valuable chapters in this section
to be the two on interviews. Readers will find
examples of the kinds and format of questions
reporters typically ask enlightening. After reading
these chapters, it is hard not to think about them
as you watch the evening news.
However, as is often the case today with technology
changing faster and faster, the book at times
seems dated. Most of the references are from the
1990s. Even Carney’s use of the term “new media”
in the final section on emerging trends seems out
of touch. Do we really call it that anymore? Do
we really talk about computer-assisted reporting
“gaining in popularity as a research tool” today?
So, while Carney does media relations as well as
anyone, I would like to have seen some discussion
of social media and the impact of media relations.
Blogs, for example, are mentioned briefly in the
chapter on other approaches to media and then
readdressed, again briefly, later in “Emerging
Trends in Media Relations.” In both cases, Carney
approaches the subject with kind of a wait-andsee
attitude. He acknowledges there is “some
early value in blogs as a communications tool
and as a medium.” I would argue that we have
moved beyond the “early value” stage with blogs.
Bloggers can be extremely influential with the
public and organizations today ignore them at
their peril. Just ask Target who take a “we don’t
deal with bloggers” approach with a mommyblogger
to the company’s detriment.
Communicators need to understand how to
develop relationships with those bloggers as much
as they need to know how to reach journalists in
the mainstream media.
With that said, In the News makes a valuable
contribution to the media relations textbook
field. Beyond students, professional communicators
will find it an excellent resource. And
people just interested in the media and their role
in our society will find the book enlightening.
Editor’s Note: In response to Ms. Grower’s
review, the author William Carney posted this
note on j-Source.
Thanks for the review. I appreciate your
thoughtful comments. Yes, the book is dated.
Such are the long deadlines of academic
publishing and the rapidly evolving state of
media that a book like this becomes outdated
almost as soon as it is published. To try to
counter that, I have a blog that I update regularly.
You can take a look at www.mediarelationsincanada.wordpress.com.
Karla K. Grower is an Associate Professor in the
Advertising and Public Relations Department and
Director of the Plank Center for Leadership in Public
Relations at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa,
Alabama. She is the author of Public Relations and
the Press: The Troubled Embrace.
http://toronto.iabc.com/ Communicator January – February 2010 15

Keep in
Mind
Hot
Happenings
Here are important dates to keep in mind:
February 3
February 5
February 11
February 15
February 19
February 12 – 28
February 25
February 26
March 3
March 25
April 27
May 6
June 6 – 9
Gold Quill Final Deadline
OVATION Early Bird Deadline
Show Your Love for the Planet Munch & Mingle
Family Day – IABC/Toronto Office Closed
OVATION On Time Deadline
Olympics
Successful Communications in a 2.0 World;
IABC/Toronto Professional Development Session
with Steve Crescenzo
OVATION Final Entry Deadline
IABC/Toronto Communicator of the
Year Networking Breakfast
IABC/Toronto Professional Development Session
IABC/Toronto Professional Development Session
with former Ontario Premier David Peterson
OVATION Awards Gala
IABC World Conference in Toronto
• IABC/Toronto recently celebrated the winning of IABC Canada Silver
Leaf awards by 11 members.
• Join Rob Devitt, President and CEO of Toronto East General Hospital,
this year’s IABC/Toronto Communicator of the Year at a networking
breakfast on Wednesday, March 3. This year’s honouree is an expert
communicator whose innovative approach helped him become a trusted
leader, influencer and ‘fixer’ in a challenging sector.
• The IABC/Toronto OVATION Awards is celebrating its 25th year of
honouring communications excellence and the Call for Entries is now
available for download on the IABC/Toronto website. This is your best
opportunity to let the communications community know who you are
and get the recognition you deserve for your tremendous work! Entries
will start being accepted on January 11th (enter early for a discounted
rate) and entries will be accepted until Friday, February 26, 2010. The
OVATION Awards program is open to all GTA communication
practitioners, including non-members. Awards will be presented at the
OVATION Awards Gala on May 6, 2010.
• IABC Canada is pleased to announce the launch of its new website,
http://canada.iabc.com/. The IABC Canada website contains information
about conferences, news and events happening across Canada, IABC’s
Silver Leaf and Master Communicator awards programs, and information
about memberships and benefits of joining IABC. IABC Canada
represents more than 4,500 members across Canada, organized into
13 chapters.
• Join us April 27 for PD session speaker David Peterson, former Ontario
Premier and Chair Pan Am Games bid team. Stay tuned for more details.
Final deadline for entries
is Friday, February 26, 2010.
Go to the website for more.
toronto.iabc.com/awards/ovation/
This newsletter was printed on FSC certified paper with 10% post-consumer content.