Blog Line

On Friday I spoke at the annual convention for the Canadian Society of Professional Event Planners (CanSPEP). They had asked me to speak about developing measurable media relations programs. As I was preparing for the presentation it occurred to me - really what was an event today? Did it take place in a physical environment, a virtual world or within an online community? At the same time that the public relations world has been transformed by the advent of social media so has the event management sector. I challenged the delegates to ask the question of any project is this “an event without borders?” - meaning it could happen in a virtual world or the physical event could be expanded into the online world by podcastings, having bloggers attend, twittering etc….

The delegates questions were great and at times the discussion was provocative. Thank you for inviting me.

This week GCI, along with KPMG and the Ontario Media Development Corporation, sponsored a lunch hosted by Interactive Ontario “The Knowledge-based Economy of Tomorrow?”. Industry Panelists Mark Bishop, Jody Shapiro and Trevor Fencott, led by moderator Charles Zamaria, provided an interesting discussion. Two points that really stayed with me. The digital media industry offers highly skilled, good paying jobs to Canadians and allows seriously talented individuals to stay in-country. Second, good content is universal and leading Canadian digital companies are selling their products around the world. Charles opened the session repeating the statement “Canadian is a world content leader”. As Canada, and particularly Ontario, assess its economic future, particularly the opportunities, this is a sector that requires serious consideration and support by governments, educators and industry.