Now that my journey in formal education has (seemingly) concluded, I have time to reflect on my journey at length as my days are now committed to finding my first career in the Public Relations industry.
Upcoming on this blog will be further updates on how I have spent the past eight months, what I have learned and my currently preoccupation with finding employment, outlining the strategies I am using along the way.
A Time to Reflect
Welcome New Canadian Citizens
Today I reflected on cultural identity and what it means to be Canadian.
This topic has come up many times in my life, especially in academia when I took specific courses that looked at Canadian identity including the Canadian Television course and Canadian Popular Culture.
The reason this topic is front of mind today is because I was asked to host a round table discussion for Citizenship Day, hosted by the Art Gallery of Hamilton (www.artgalleryofhamilton.com/, @TheAGH).
When I arrived I set up at table #9 around 9:30 a.m., and sitting to the table next to mine was a family of 3 from Russia. They were taking photo’s with their Android phone and I volunteered to take a family photo. I was sitting alone at this point, preparing to invite participants to sit at the table when they asked if I would like to join them. Little did I know I would be hosting their table after all because their host, as it turns out, was M.I.A.
Prior to my move, I sat with AGH employee Judy who was co-host at our table, along with a woman from the United States and her Canadian born husband, and a family predominantly from Trinidad. The woman next to me was the mother of two grown children, her daughter being born in Trinidad and her son being born in Canada. Next to her son was her son-in-law who is Jamaican born, holding her year old grandson who was born in Canada.
There were two Citizenship Ceremony’s happening at the AGH today, featured here are two photo’s illustrating the number of participants in the 1st ceremony. I learned that 40 new Canadians took the oath today, from a total of 24 different countries.
Joining our group was Shady Stasi, RBC Royal Bank representative, whom I met briefly prior to the discussion, who is an immigrant to Canada himself. As a recent public relations graduate, I see events completely differently prior to my year. What an excellent opportunity for both the Art Gallery of Hamilton and for the RBC Royal Bank to get involved with the community through hosting and/or promoting their organizations. The RBC Royal Bank was the primary sponsor for this event and provided gift donations for each new Canadian Citizen, a pass to visit museums and galleries free of charge in Ontario.
The second table I sat at and hosted was made of of the Russian family, a woman from New Zealand, supported by her niece and two friends, and a man and his son from Sri Lanka. Together we discussed education abroad, languages between generations, experiences in Canada and there was an overall sense of kinship within the group as we cheered our representative on to introduce our group to the rest of the room.
Greeting the group from the Institute for Canadian Citizenship was Abidah Lalani, and the organizer of the event was Gloria Pilot, Manager of Membership Services with whom I first began volunteering with at the AGH.
Following the introductions and discussions, we were ushered into the Pavilion room at the AGH where the Citizenship Ceremony took place. From left to right we have Korea War veteran Ken Griffiths and HMCS veteran Andy Barber. Standing next to our veteran representatives is Constable Matthew Knox of the RCMP. Next to our Royal Canadian Mounted Police Constable is Louise Dompierre, President and C.E.O. of the Art Gallery of Hamilton. Representing Hamilton’s local Member of Parliament David Christopherson is Simon Granat. Next to Mr. Granat is Presiding Official Judge Ted Salci, and the New Citizen Orientation representative and speaker is to the far right, Judy Lee-Wu.
The new citizens for which this event is hosted for pledged allegiance to the Crown, Queen Elizabeth ||, and recited the oath presented in both English and French, before collecting their certificate of citizenship.
A message I took away from the facilitators of the event was to participate, get involved and volunteer. To make the most of their citizenship in their chosen country and to honor the rights and privileges that go along with becoming a citizen. Overall from the new citizens, I gained a sense of pride: to be Canadian is to be part of one of the greatest countries in the world.
I am of English, Irish and Scottish decent. My parents, grandparents, and great grandparents were all born in Canada. I am firmly immersed in Canadian culture, and I was happy to gain the perspective of new Canadians, by sharing this milestone occasion with them as they begin their lives as Canadian citizens.
Meet: Ashleigh (a.k.a. inspiration for the Go-Go lifestyle)
During the winter break I contracted a mysterious illness, mysteriously! Initially I thought I had a cold, which was unusual because I have an impressive history of rarely falling ill. By the end of the week I finally made it to my doctor’s office, where I was told it was pneumonia. Earlier the following week, I received a message from the receptionist saying that in fact, it was bronchitis.
As a result, I may have contracted a reputation for being a hypochondriac!
Sickness cannot slow me down! I was far too motivated during the break from school to be caught dead recovering at home.
On Tuesday, February 26 I traveled to Toronto to an agency called Media Profile to meet a Social Media & Communications Consultant.
I started researching agencies on Twitter and on Linkedin. I sent a message to Ashleigh expressing interest in conducting an informational interview. She invited to Media Profile where she currently works, so I was on my way to meeting a beneficial contact.
I like to ask my interviewees their opinions and affiliations with the Canadian Public Relations Society and the International Association of Business Communications. As a student member of both, I like to know how others utilized their memberships.
Ashleigh expressed she was a member of professional associations when she first got started, and shared that Media Profile encourages professional development, providing IABC webinar access.
I also learned that Media Profile is employee owned (excluding ownership from the President and VP). This information makes me think that those who work at Media Profile find more meaning in their work, because they are more than just employees, but also owners of the company with decision-making power. I found this especially appealing.
The environment is an open, spacious office with a ton of plants–earning major green points with me. I love surrounding myself with plants. They have the dual purpose of cleaning the air around us and, I believe, help to stimulate creative thought.
I asked about the agency life, and the hierarchy. I learned that joining the team at Media Profile, you may begin as an intern or as a coordinator. From there, you can move up, like Ashleigh did, to become a consultant, and from there, there is a senior consultant position, account director, and President(s) position. Ashleigh, having previously worked at an at Weber Shandwick PR firm, says structures differ. At Weber Shandwick the hierarchy goes: Account Coordinator/Account Executive/Senior Account Executive/Account Supervisor.
Ashleigh went to Western in London Ontario, and studied Biology and Kinesiology and did her post-graduate studies of Corporate Communications at Seneca. Her eight month post-graduate program was followed by a four-month co-op program. It goes to show the educational diversity found at agencies today, and that excellent communicators can be found almost anywhere!
Ashleigh provided me with great advice and perhaps the most valuable part is when I got the courage to ask if she knew anyone else who would be a good interviewee. She was very forthcoming with her network and event set up my next interview (back in Toronto) two days later, along with one I recently conducted over the phone.
Agency life moves fast. I am looking forward to the go-go lifestyle in the near future.
CPRS Second Student Meet & Greet
The weather was calling for a snowstorm Thursday February 7, but the Bean Bar kept busy as career minded individuals gathered to meet and share their experiences and goals for the future. Attending were students from Mohawk College, McMaster University, two graduates and an individual all the way from Niagara College. The majority of attendees were interested in engaging more with CPRS and a couple more made the trip to network with other professionals.
Whatever the reason, we each participated in an icebreaker event that had us visualize our goals and create a timeline for how to achieve them. The exercise was shared aloud and it was interesting to discover the different areas of communication each person at the table that night was headed. There was an exchange of business cards and an incentive draw. I was lucky enough to have won! It was a gift card to Staples and a lovely card. Perhaps now that two out of the three organizers of the event have won at each event, it may be time to let another have a chance.
We had special guest Margaret Lintott attend the event as an additional benefit to our learning experience. She shared her experience as a recent graduate, how she went from intern to employee at a local agency and has since moved on to another company. Six out seven attendees participated in the evaluation follow up to provide feedback and each said they connected with one new person for their network. Information for evaluation was gathered through the Fluid Survey web site and the invitation to participate sent to each attendee via Linkedin.
When Zombies Attack!
These zombies kept coming by our bake sale, I suggested we had ‘brain-flavored baked goods’ but they still didn’t bite! I think they were vegan.
Meet: Meg
My very first public relations informational interview was done locally, in Hamilton, for an assignment. Jay Rob, Director of Communications at Mohawk College had come to our class prior to the winter break to share with the class about informational interviews and what they were all about. Immediately I could see their value and went online to find the perfect post-interview thank you notes I could find. All during winter break I had been planning on doing oodles before this assignment due date had even entered my field of vision, however nothing materialized until this assignment, and I couldn’t be happier for the way things turned out.
The assignment had some rules: we had to send some form of thank you in order to earn 5 marks which to me detracts from the sincerity of sending one (or two, in my case) but I get it was to emphasize the importance of acknowledging the time the interviewee shared with us. The assignment also indicated that each interviewee could only be contacted by one student. After a few attempts that actually led to one rejection, I finally made contact!
Cue Meg Coppolino: Brand Communications Strategist. The interview happened on March 30th, 2012 and in spite of my nervousness towards meeting a real-live industry professional, I think I played it cool and confident and ended up with a lot of great information.
For some reason I thought success meant there would be this huge gap between myself and this person, so when she mentioned R.A.C.E formula I’m pretty sure the figurative light bulb lit up my face because I realized we were speaking the same language.
I had come into the situation as prepared as possible (using the R in said formula to gather as much information so I could try to avoid embarrassing myself). I was so happy to be led into to the boardroom and see it decorated with symbols from their previous campaigns. For example, I saw the Learning Post VQA wine I had read about on their website, not surprisingly, this sticks with me because I am a huge fan of wine (preferably red, in case you were wondering).
I was not waiting long before Meg entered, we shook hands and I explained my reasoning for contacting her. She was so personable!
I learned that she went to McMaster here in Hamilton for Cultural Studies and found that she was not fully prepared for the real world. As far as I have learned from current college colleagues, Cultural Studies is extremely similar to my own University education at Brock, only I assume it is taken more seriously than my degree in Popular Culture. Let me be clear, my grandmother keeps up with the Kardashians far better than I do, which I find both shocking, and hilarious…and I blame television.
I learned Meg took initiative and got involved in extra curricular opportunities at McMaster like writing for the the school newspaper and blogging, and after graduating she headed to Sheridan College for the post graduate program that taught her how to apply her knowledge and skills.
Meg has a passion for brands, she loves developing concepts, understanding globalization and consumer studies, and analyzing how a brand’s image can reflect its reputation. The thing I took away most from our meeting is her incredible work ethic and her use of flipping any problem to find an opportunity. She is a solution-oriented career woman. Meg went to kitestring and helped fashion her own job with the help of founders Chris Farias and Jenn Hudder, by identifying what kitestring needed, and how she could provide it.
Meg is such an inspiration and model of ideal work ethic sporting a can’t-quit attitude of determination. She provided me with such great advice about how to approach employers with solutions and to have an introspective understanding of what I can offer as a public relations practitioner. She advised me to handle criticism of work and ideas with grace, as brainstorms are always works in progress. She advised me if considering agency life to look for a mid-size agency and that sometimes a tough mentor can be just what you need to hone your craft.
I am so pleased Meg was willing to take the time to meet with me and she has inspired me to continually work hard and make contacts. kitestring is a unique studio that produces amazing results and I keep up with them on Twitter because I never know what they are going to do next.
A brief post script…
I had an alternative motive when meeting Meg which I revealed during our interview. I wanted to meet Ben! Ben the intern is the brainchild of co-founding kitestring member Chris Farias and is brought to life by creative cowboy Josh Gordon. We spoke about Ben’s role at kitestring and how really, its time Ben move on and get a job in his field–making room for other interns! Unfortunately, Ben was out of the office during our interview and I was unable to get his autograph. Fortunately, during a CPRS student networking event (coming to this blog soon!) I was able to meet real live former kitestring intern Margaret Lintott, but that is a story for another post.
You can keep up with kitestring too at http://www.kitestring.ca/
I MADE THE FRONT PAGE!
(click here ^ to find out where/why/what?)
Oh hey you, no big deal, just made THE FRONT PAGE of the INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS Golden Horseshoe Newsletter.
In case you couldn’t tell by my enthusiastic capital letters, I’m kind of proud of this. A special thanks to Krista Murray for coming to speak to our class at Mohawk, sharing her portfolio and for giving me the opportunity to be published in the newsletter.
