Recently, I attended a PRSA (Public Relations Society of America) professional development program that featured a panel of well-known D.C. area assignment editors. The editors ranged from broadcast news, to radio and even the good old Washington Post.
Initially, I did not expect much from the panel, other than comments like “never call me” or “do [...]

As communications professionals, we are well aware of Awareness Months / Weeks / Days. This rings especially true if you work in health care. Considerable planning is done around these occasions and ultimately our campaigns depend on being seen during these times. Ironically, communications professionals are constantly fighting for awareness of their awareness. So imagine [...]

As public relations professionals, we like to consider ourselves masters of language. Communication is our bread and butter and the written word is often our choice method of connecting with an audience. From news releases, to speeches, to blog posts, storytelling is among our greatest strengths. But what about story-showing?
I recently watched an interesting TED [...]

I have recently watched with more than casual interest the public relations controversies swirling around News Corporation and, most recently, the Susan G. Komen Foundation. I have former colleagues, now friends, in the top communications jobs at both organizations and have been astonished to hear how similarly the situations evolved. Both scenarios were not dissimilar [...]

In all the noise and commotion of the recent Susan G. Komen debacle, it was not difficult to point out what Komen did wrong.
Within the scandal, something was done so very, very right, that it went almost unnoticed. What Planned Parenthood did, and did not do, in communicating with media and followers of the [...]

I recently read a great book on Abraham Lincoln and it was an excellent illustration of the skills required by leaders in building senior teams for multi-faceted organizations. President Lincoln has been studied in great depth and in this book, Team of Rivals, Doris Kearns Goodwin tells how Lincoln built his first Cabinet in 1861 [...]

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 [...]

Environics Communications sponsored a very successful event a few weeks ago. The panel discussion in downtown Toronto was focused on communicating with social media on a business-to-business level. The event was especially created for those in the technology sector, and the face-to-face approach was, perhaps ironically, appreciated.
Mid-sized technology businesses seem too often to miss the [...]

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 [...]

Until recently I was one of those rare individuals who have spent my entire career in the nonprofit realm. A few weeks ago I made the foray into the for-profit world by joining a communications agency.
It’s a transition I have been enjoying because I am learning new things and realizing that nonprofits and companies have [...]