While the number of municipalities using social media continues to climb, only a small percentage are using these tools to their full potential. For example, the majority of communities have low or stagnant numbers of Twitter or Facebook followers, few or infrequent posts and/or very little two-way dialogue with residents.
Read MoreHiring the right media trainer is kind of a big deal. Think about it...you're asking a group of your most senior people to invest a full day out of their busy schedules to sit in a boardroom -- away from their growing inboxes,
Read MoreThere's nothing like a little controversy leading up to the holidays.
Former journalism professor Nick Russell has lashed out at members of the Winnipeg media for participating in a night of alcohol, food and shopping discounts at a local IKEA...
Read MoreAs a business owner, these are words I never thought I would utter: "Our website is temporarily down. And we're cool with that."
That shows you the power of great communications. Our site is hosted by Squarespace. They're a great company and their operations have been impacted by Hurricane Sandy (more on that below). Operational disruptions happen.
Read MoreAccording to the old adage, there’s no such thing as bad publicity. Well, the people over at Cogeco might disagree after the week they had. The company made headlines for all the wrong reasons this week after a massive email outage left thousands of customers across Ontario unable to send or receive messages. Hundreds of frustrated customers have since taken to Twitter and Facebook...
Read MoreAs human beings, most of us are fortunate enough to possess a finely-tuned survival instinct, honed by millions of years of evolution. You might think these awesome skills are wasted in a world without dinosaurs and sabre-toothed tigers. On the contrary. Even in the corporate world...
Read MoreThe NHL Players' Association presented its 'alternative proposal' to NHL comissioner Gary Bettman & Company on Tuesday. Reading the media coverage about the handover, I was blown away by the brilliance of the photo opp staged...
Read MoreThe title of this video speaks for itself....thanks to @cnetterfield for sending this along!
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In June of 2012, if you visited the City of Elliot Lake's website, you would have seen an icon for the community's Facebook page. Today, that icon - and the Facebook page it led to - are gone.
Read MoreThis latest tweet by @celebboutique actually makes the NRA's tweet earlier today look somewhat tame in comparison. Whether this is ignorance, stupidity or a PR stunt, this is why companies need to have solid social media programs in place...
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Last week, we posted the top 5 risks of using Twitter, one of which was 'tone deafness'. There's a great example of this today. As the public tries to make sense of the horrible shooting in Colorado last night in which 12 people were killed, American Rifleman (the official journal of the National Rifle Association) apparently sent out the following tweet this morning at 9:20 am:
A quick check of the journal's Twitter page shows the tweet has since been removed. Someone at the organization likely deleted the tweet once they started getting inundated with retweets, negative comments from the public and critical news stories. But not before someone got a screen cap of it.
Here's just a sample of the backlash they're currently facing on Twitter:
Update: It appears the NRA has now gone beyond deleting the offensive tweet and has deleted the twitter account in question altogether. Talk about handling the situation the absolute wrong way in a social media world.
Read MoreThere are thousand of media stories generated by reporters around the world every day. And while those stories might cover thousands of different topics, they can ALL be traced back to one or more of the three drivers of news:
Read MoreUsed properly, Twitter can be a powerful tool for connecting with clients, prospects, friends fans and just about every possible stakeholder group. But there's no shortage of cautionary tales about celebrities, politicians, companies and ordinary tweeps who've been publicly embarrassed (or worse) over a stupid tweet...
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It's Canada Day! The greatest country in the world is turning 145. And while Canadians are generally considered to be polite, under-the-radar type folks, Canada has given the world some of its greatest inventions. In honour of Canada Day, here are 50 of Canada's greatest...
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There was a huge response this week to our post about the Top 5 Mistakes PR Pros Make When Pitching Journalists. Among the responses we received was this great one from a PR industry veteran, who highlighted some of the more irritating habits of some journalists...
When news breaks, media organizations race to inform their readers, viewers and listeners. But sometimes, the frantic scramble to report the news can take a toll on the quality and accuracy of the reporting. A cringe-worthy example is unfolding today...
Read MoreGuest post by Carly Weeks, health reporter with The Globe and Mail.
If you were applying for a job and spelled the contact person's name incorrectly, inserted the wrong organization name in the cover letter or didn't have any of the qualifications specified in the job posting, you probably wouldn't be surprised if you didn't get called for an interview...
Read MoreMany companies, large and small, are doing social media wrong. And by far, the biggest mistake most businesses make is using Twitter like a giant fire hose, endlessly blasting out information about themselves and patting themselves on the back. "Click here! Read this!
Read MoreWhether you’re a school teacher or the Commissioner of the National Basketball Association, your approach to media interviews should include a sound strategy for handling loaded and repeat questions. Last week, NBA Commissioner David Stern gave us a not-so-friendly reminder...
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