Do we take too much for granted?

Today is election day in Canada and an opportunity for us to exercise a basic democratic right. And regardless of what we may think of our leaders or the number of times we’ve visited polling stations in recent years, it’s important for all of us to make the effort and vote.

I mean, think about how lucky we are to be Canadian. We have the ability to do something that millions of people all over the world are willing to risk their lives and fight for.   (more…)

What’s a book publisher to do?

I read about the bankruptcy of H.B. Fenn and Company, a venerable Canadian distributor and publisher, with a good deal of disappointment.  I love books and used to work in the industry and can’t help but feel saddened by the loss.

In part, the problem stems from Canadian distributors losing the rights to distribute titles from the big American houses because they are now going direct.  As a result, Canadian companies can no longer use the revenue from U.S. bestsellers to help defray costs for high-quality-lower-sales Canadian books.

So along with many other industries, the Canadian publishing and bookselling model is broken.   (more…)

More energi… on Inside PR

It was a funny feeling – announcing our merger, creating a whole new energi, so to speak, and then having to rush off to Hamilton for two days; 15 hours of lectures/instruction at McMaster to a group of smart, local business people who wanted to learn about social media.

And while I enjoyed the sessions, I felt a bit dislocated being away from the action after the initial burst of merger excitement.  This week, neither Gini Dietrich nor I were able to record Inside PR. (Gini was injured on her bike but is OK; and you know about me.)

So I want to thank Joe Thornley, the other member of our triumvirate, for zooming solo and interviewing my new partners, Esther Buchsbaum and Carol Levine and giving them a chance to talk about our new venture and plans!

You can read Joe’s post or listen to Inside PR.

You’ll hear my take in podcast 2.07.

A brand new PR energi…

Are you ready? I’ve got some really exciting Palette news.

On July 1 Palette PR, the agency I co-founded with Louise Armstrong, is merging with Communications MECA to form a brand new agency – energi PR – we’re calling it Canada’s PR and digital/social media powerhouse.

And we are jumping up and down thrilled!

Today we told staff and clients. We’re posting a news release on our respective sites and on our new site – which really is ‘under construction’ till early July.  And tomorrow morning, we’re live on the wire.

So what does this mean?  All Palette and MECA staff is coming to the new company and everyone will have more opportunities to work on new projects and take on fresh challenges.  We’ll be an independent, national and bilingual agency with offices in Toronto and Montreal.  Palette will be move into MECA’s Toronto office. And I’m really looking forward to getting to know and working with all my new colleagues.

We’re specializing in PR, social media/digital and corporate communications and building traditional and new PR/social media into our agency right from the start so we’ll be able to seamlessly integrate the two.  I’m going to be the Toronto managing partner and will lead the firm’s digital practice.

I’ve known my other two managing partners, Esther Buchsbaum and Carol Levine, a long time through Counselors Academy, CCPRF and from working together on projects.  I have long admired Communications MECA, the firm they created, their approach and industry leadership. They’re smart, talented and have a lot of business savvy and most important, the fit is right!

I have one other piece of news and that is Louise is stepping away from the business to spend more time with her kids and on her writing. This is something Louise has been thinking about for a long time. We built Palette together and I want to wish her all the best. I’m going to miss working with her! And, if she wants, there will always be a place for Louise at energi.

To everyone who helped and supported Palette over the years, including staff, all our wonderful clients, our industry partners and friends I want to thank you! I hope you’ll all come along for our energi-filled ride (OK, I’ll try to keep the puns to a minimum).  We’ve got lots of amazing plans!

Watch for more news leading up to July 1 and beyond.

I’d love to hear from you, but may be a bit difficult to reach on Wed and Thu – I’m teaching a two-day social media for business course at McMaster from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

And please bear with me as I update all my social network profiles. That may take a little time…

Are Canadian media responsible for spreading viral news?

You can’t pick up a Canadian newspaper, listen to radio or watch TV without hearing about H1N1, the vaccination process, supply issues, lineups…

But the story doesn’t seem to have the same intensity in the U.S. It wasn’t even mentioned in Conan O’Brien’s monologue a couple of days ago (when it was the lead on CBC) – and talk show openings are often a good barometer of big news stories (as silly as that sounds).

I did a search of ‘H1N1 vaccine’ on Google this morning* and in the first 30 results, there were 25 Canadian stories; four U.S. stories; and one international story. That’s over 80 per cent of today’s coverage emanating from Canada.

Now, we all know a pandemic is a very serious situation. And I’m not saying we shouldn’t do everything we can to prevent the spread of the virus. It’s important to be informed and educated.

But I wonder if Canadian media are making H1N1 a bigger story than it needs to be right at the moment.

What do you think?

*Search results as of 9:30 a.m., November 4, 2009