Communications is an industry that’s constantly evolving. In the past decade we’ve experienced a sea change in how we talk to each other, how brands interact with customers and how the media communicates with everyone. With all of this change, communications as a profession has also evolved, opening up new strategies, tactics and possibilities we [...]

A few years have passed since I had a go at faddish words that have already worn out their welcome. As we’re communicators, speaking in understandable language is the thing. But using clichés and hackneyed expressions and words may seem like an effective use of language, but, in truth, it grates on the ear. Using [...]

Oliver’s Twist
Published by Viking Canada
352 pages
Oliver’s Twist, the recently published autobiography by CTV News chief parliamentary correspondent, Craig Oliver, pans an extraordinary professional and personal life. Raised on the remote northern shores of British Columbia by divorced alcoholic parents, Oliver unexpectedly lands a summer job with the local CBC Prince Rupert Radio and the rest [...]

With the New Year comes all manner of “year in review” lists, articles and coverage across the media spectrum. Some of these will simply summarize the previous year’s highlights, while others will take a more nuanced and critical approach, attempting to learn from the year past and consider the lesson’s we can all take forward.
Amongst [...]

I am very proud of the numerous long-term client relationships we have at Environics Communications. Considering it has been less than 18 years since we opened our doors, we have several clients with 10-years-plus relationships. In most of these cases, one of the original Environics people who pitched and won the account is still involved [...]

I recently purchased new shoes online. I like to support local companies, and I always look for things distinct, so I returned to shop at John Fluevog. I don’t often buy shoes, but always enjoy checking out the unique styles – flamboyant or relatively conservative – that this Canadian shoemaker offers.
Shopping online is generally an [...]

I was raised a Habs fan. My parents are both Montrealers and so the red, blue and white c-shaped logo was the definitive symbol of sport in our household. When we couldn’t get hockey games in English, they were watched in French (this was back when Radio-Canada still held the broadcast rights).
My father would share stories [...]

I keep an eye on what’s going on in government as every PR person should, but I’ll admit I’ve never been a political junkie. What I am, however, is a key message junkie. And these days I’m getting a great fix.
Here in Canada, signals are that the government will be brought down by a vote [...]

I was chatting with a colleague recently about the ways that social media sites – and the internet in general – help us connect with people from our past. 
Last year I was reading the Torontoist, and one of the writers had the same name as a kid I used to play with when I was young [...]

Surely living healthily must be among the top New Year’s resolutions every January 1st, and it seems Canada’s national broadcaster Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) is taking that to heart with its massive, cross-platform initiative called Live Right Now. Live Right Now leverages all of the CBC’s formidable news assets including TV, radio and online. There [...]