As I mentioned, Giovanni Rodriguez, communications practitioner, social media thinker and one of the founders of The Conversation Group was in Toronto last week to talk to my agency’s staff and clients and members of CPRS Toronto and have a chance to social-ize with Joseph Thornley and the folks at Third Tuesday Toronto.

Giovanni presented many thought-provoking ideas. He encouraged PR folks to take a leadership role in social media by going back to our roots and ‘relating to the public’.

He suggested we consider social media (formerly ‘new media’) as an innovative way to reach out to influencers. He contends that this should more than just blogger relations, in the same way that PR is more than media relations (or should be).

And he pointed out that the new tools we’re so excited about have been around for a long time: blogging = publishing; podcasting = broadcasting; tagging = indexing; rss = distribution. What’s different is that they’ve become accessible to the masses, ‘DIY’.

We live in a ‘participatory’ world. The question is: how are we, as communicators, going to take part?

Thanks for the conversation, Giovanni.

About Martin Waxman


Martin Waxman, MCM, is a digital communications strategist. He conducts AI research, leads digital and social media training workshops and speaks at events across North America. He's co-founder of two PR agencies, president of a consultancy and has worked in the industry for nearly 30 years. Martin is a LinkedIn Learning instructor, teaches digital strategy and social media at McMaster University, the Schulich School of Business, University of Toronto SCS and Seneca College. He's a member of the Institute for Public Relations Digital Media Research Center and a past-chair of PRSA Counselors Academy. He has a Master of Communications Management (MCM) from McMaster-Syracuse Universities.