But then, something happened to me. On the red-eye to New York a couple of weeks ago (I can’t really sleep on planes, so I watched movies), I watched said new Muppet movie. And it was good.

One of the best things about the movie (other than discovering from my said friend that Bret McKenzie of Flight of the Conchords wrote the score for the movie and won an Oscar for the Jason Segal/Walter duet, “Man or Muppet” – seriously), was another little ditty from McKenzie called, “Life’s a Happy Song.”

Dig these lyrics:

• Life's a happy song when there’s someone by my side to sing along
• Life’s like a piece of cake with someone to pedal, someone to brake
• Life is full of glee with someone to saw and someone to see

Awkward narrative transition as Lesli relates a Muppet song to her business

Life is all of these things – when you have someone to help you. And over the past few months, I finally put my money where my mouth is and got a lot more help with my business.

I brought on a kick-ass senior associate to help me with business strategy, client relations and business development. I handed a ton of business administration duties to my marketing associate. 

And – the biggest change of all – I handed about a third of the responsibility for the business – everything from proposals, to contracts, to contractor and project management – to my operations and business manager. And, I got myself a business coach to help me stay focused on the big picture, too. Together, these steps are changing my life. 

My team, however, will tell you that the most important change I made was to get them these multi-coloured business cards. Whatever.

Making the decision to make the business bigger than you

When you run a small business – especially when you’ve been doing it by yourself all along – it’s really hard to let go and delegate some of your responsibilities to other people. After all, you used to do it all yourself. Once you delegate, your people get to find out how much you bring in each month. They see the dark underbelly of your “innovative” bookkeeping style. They see you have stress-fuelled meltdowns you used to have in the privacy of your own home office.

But now, with a small-but-growing team of internal and project-based consultants, I’m getting my life back. No longer a slave to 12-hour workdays, I actually have trusted lieutenants to manage accounts while I do more of the work I enjoy doing. I actually have someone else besides me making sure that cash flow is trending in the right direction. I actually have time to take French classes and go to matinees! 

How much growth is enough for your business?

The critical thing you need to decide when thinking about growing your small business is how much you want to grow. While growth means bigger accounts and more money, it also means more stress, more headaches, and more overhead. For us, the ‘boutique agency’ label fits us quite nicely. Other considerations before making the move the grow:

• How’s your quality of life? Are you working too much, or not enough? I needed help because I was working far too much and “real life” was becoming a distant memory. Now, I’m working to reclaim some of that time for all the other things I want to do with my life besides billing hours.

• Can you afford the help? My neurosis over the much more dramatic fluctuations in my bank account that come along with having more people on the payroll is offset by increased revenue. But when revenue dips, expect the neuroris to return (which is why it's always smart to keep a cash reserve as your rainy day fund).

• Is there enough business in your field? The marketing communications and PR business is doing well at the moment (or so I hear), and our limitations were based on my inability to do all the work myself. Getting more hands to help has increased our capacity to take on more business – while still having time for our personal lives.

I’m sure I’ll be posting more on the ups and downs of business growth in the future, but I'm interested in your thoughts, too. Feel free to comment.

I don’t really define myself as a “woman entrepreneur” – I’m just an entrepreneur. But I'm also proudly aware of how the fact that I am a woman helps me to approach the business of business differently. I lead with relationships, not money. I get the cool clients and the cool jobs without selling out to “the man” (not that “the man” would want to work with me, anyhow). I’m working to create a collaborative work environment for my associates and contractors where shared glory comes above individual achievement, and the “Golden Rule” is number one.

On this day, I salute the women who are helping me to find my path and create the kind of business I’ve always wanted – where kick-ass communicators (male and female) can work on cool projects with cool clients (and make some cool dollars) and still have time and energy and passion for fun, laughter, family, travel and adventure in their lives. Because that’s the kind of life I’m creating for myself too.

I also salute the women teachers, chefs, bakers, change makers, techies, community leaders, entrepreneurs…and even premiers out there who have set such a remarkable example for the rest of us. While 20th Century thinkers fight to keep the world the way it was, we’re standing on your shoulders to tell the world the way it is now (snap!)

And thanks to our mothers (and my mum) for setting the best example of all. We love you!

In order to bring it all back to what I do for a living - marketing communications - I thought I'd use this project as an example of how a great idea - which "Made in Vancouver" undoubtedly is - can be undermined by flawed execution.

Issue #1: Only tech start-ups need apply

When I first looked at this site this morning, I got excited. I thought, "I'm going to get this badge, I'm a Vancouver startup that's doing pretty well and I don't mind showing off a bit." And the iconic image - of the art deco-style tower at Vancouver City Hall - was as inclusive as can be. 

However, when you read the fine print on the site, you discover that this badge isn't for any Vancouver startup - it's for "tech" startups. They don't say that outright, but it's implied by the second requirement: "Be a company that is run from Vancouver, has staff in the city and is designed, coded and or supported in the city." Or this other requirement: "Have over 5,000 people that use your site every month."

Business run from the city: check. Has staff in the city: check. Is "designed, coded or supported in the city". Not so much. I don't "code" anything (I have people for that....). As for website traffic, while I understand why the list has criteria requiring businesses to be of a certain size - a "growing concern" if you will - I'm not a web-based business. I may have tripled my company's business over the past two years, but a good month's worth of hits on my website wouldn't even crest 2000 hits a month.

I'm not saying the designers of the "Made in Vancouver" project intended this - perhaps they just didn't think about the possibilities of their project, and built a limited audience (tech startups) into the project model, thereby also limiting the potential reach. But that makes no sense if the goal is to show off Vancouver. At least, this marketer doesn't think so.

Issue #2: Pink and blue badges. Really?

Now, this little chestnut really chapped my hide. Check out the badges - they come in white, baby blue and baby pink. Really? Were the people behind these colour selections really thinking "blue badges for boy companies" and "pink badges for girl companies"? I'll give the designers the benefit of the doubt and assume that my conclusions are an unintended consequence of their colour selection (unless, goodness forbid, this was actually what they were going for). 

My point is, when you're in marketing communications, it's your job to anticipate how people will respond to your language and design choices - and adjust your choices accordingly. Maybe primary colours would have been the way to go....

Rebel, rebel...

I applied for a "Made in Vancouver" designation, because I am. And their logo is now on my blog. I'll tell you what happens when I hear back from them.

Number Five: Christy Clark becomes Premier of BC

Love her or hate her, the return of political powerhouse Christy Clark to elected office was big news in BC this year. Gen-Xer Clark went from her successful gig as a CKNW radio host to Premier of BC in less than three months, blowing away her competition for the BC Liberal leadership even though she had no seat in the Legislature and the support of only one sitting MLA, Harry Bloy.

Clark has travelled a rocky road ever since. Many anticipated a speedy general election was on its way in the fall of 2011, given Clark’s series of upbeat campaign-style announcements over the summer. But then Bill Vander Zalm, John Cummins and the HST referendum came along. If they weren’t enough (and they are), Clark has been saddled with other baggage from her predecessor Gordon Campbell, too – all of which have been a drag on her administration and threaten to sink it yet.

While Clark’s personal popularity remains strong, the Premier and her team must craft an agenda and brand that is uniquely hers – all while facing major challenges from the BC NDP’s formidable Adrian Dix in the centre-left, and the BC Conservatives’ John Cummins on the right. Time will tell whether she can turn things around for the next general election in 2013.

Number Four: Stanley Cup Riot

After the Canucks made it all the way to the finals, Vancouver made a fateful decision to host Olympic-style street events – complete with jumbotron TVs for the public to watch the hockey together – in downtown Vancouver. And for the first few evenings, we all loved reliving a bit of our 2010 Winter Games experience downtown.

However, many reported a different mood on the June evening of Game 7, as thousands of young people poured off public transit already intoxicated in the early afternoon. After the game ended, things quickly got out of control. Cars were set on fire, young men and women cheering and posing for cameras in front of the flames. Next came skirmishes with police, smashing of store windows and looting well into the night. Incredibly, much of this was caught on camera and documented – even by the rioters themselves – on Twitter and Facebook.

The riot shamed a city so proud of what we’d accomplished when we hosted the world for the 2010 Winter Games just a year earlier. Reviews, blame and accusations followed, but collectively as a city, we all take responsibility for what happened that night – and for making it right.

Number Three: Orange Wave and the late Jack Layton

Late NDP leader Jack Layton’s incredible ride on the “Orange Wave” of federal NDP support in the May 2011 election was unquestionably one of the biggest stories of the year. Jack’s infectious optimism and dynamic personality had always been a favourite of Canadians, but in this election, he translated that popularity into a historic breakthrough for the NDP in Quebec, bumping the Liberals for Official Opposition status in the House of Commons.

When news broke that Jack’s cancer had come back with a vengeance later that summer, many of us hoped that, like the last time, Jack would recover and bounce back. But it wasn’t to be. Jack Layton passed away on August 22, 2011. Canada took Jack’s death personally, with an outpouring of grief, love and community not seen since the passing of Pierre Elliott Trudeau a decade earlier. In Layton’s own words, written just days before he died:

Love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we'll change the world.

We miss you, Jack.

Number Two: The Japanese Earthquake and tsunami

The pictures that came out of Japan during and following the enormous Tohuku Earthquake – measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale – were terrifying. The courageous Japanese people are no strangers to earthquakes, and more prepared for tsunamis than any other nation on earth. In fact, the word ‘tsunami’ is Japanese for “harbour wave” or tidal wave.

And yet, no one could be prepared for the terrifying, massive black waves, collecting ships and debris as they went along, that crashed into Japan’s northeast coast with devastating force, and destroyed homes, factories, and farmland in its wake.

Over 16,000 Japanese died and nearly 6,000 were injured in the earthquake and tsunami, with nuclear reactor damage and resulting radiation putting countless more people at risk in the weeks and months that followed. Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said that "[…i]n the 65 years after the end of World War II, this is the toughest and the most difficult crisis for Japan."

Number One: Global protests and the Occupy Movement

Well, Time Magazine didn’t dub “The Protester” Person of the Year for nothing. Whether one is referring to the Arab Spring, protests against Putin in Russia or Occupy Wall Street, here’s no question that protesting – after being ‘so 1960s’ for a good two decades – is cool again. We were not always clear whose side we were on – Wall Street financiers or the people who lost their homes in the credit crisis...or dictators in "stable" Arab regimes or their citizens demanding democracy and freedom from oppression. Ironically, many wealthy and powerful rushed to count themselves among the “99 per cent," seeing the the writing on the wall.

“Something’s happening here. What it is ain’t exactly clear.” In North America, the Occupy movement (and Occupy Vancouver here at home) forced us all to think and talk about income equality, and the dramatic gap between the 1 per cent – those who hold most of the wealth in our society – and the rest of us.

This kind of protest against inequality is not new – the American and French revolutions were precipitated by just these kinds of disparities in income and power between a small, privileged minority and the struggling majority. The people of your democracy are mad as hell, and they’re not going to take it anymore. 

While there are some important principles at issue here, the Occupy movement also challenged us to truly consider how an encampment of people, without a plan or a goal or focus, could make meaningful change over the long term. I hope the activist spark that has now been lit by the Occupy movement in hundreds of thousands of people around the world keeps the their passion for change alive, and that they continue to make their voices heard.

I started writing this blog several weeks ago, while I had a moment or two between some Sunday-morning writing for a client, a workout and a non-negotiable two hours on the couch to watch the rebroadcast of Pearl Jam 20 (the new Cameron Crowe film on PBS about one of the great bands of the 90s…that’s still going strong), and before I had another a meeting with another client that afternoon (whew!)

Needless to say, the blog didn’t get finished - that was over a month ago. The truth is, I’ve been busy growing my business and working like a mad woman ever since I got back from my incredible European vacation three months ago. It’s only now – three months, three new clients, an “away” conference, and two new associates later – that I’ve got some time (well, sort of) to catch my breath (and for Pete’s sake, get some fresh content on the blog).

I’m pushing tin (as the air traffic controllers call it) with my business and personal life, and the harried and varied lifestyle I’m leading right now is a perfect example of the life of someone who’s growing her business.

Being a business titan not all it’s cracked up to be

Sure, my associates and I have our sights on worldwide domination (well, we’ll probably start with the West Coast and maybe some collaborative projects in Toronto….), but getting ramped up – with the cash flow, collaborators, systems, processes and project management in place – is unbelievably hard and exhausting. To be honest, I can’t keep up this pace for more than a few more months (which is one of the reasons I’m hiring...mamma needs some down time).

As a small business owner, I’m coming to a crossroads in my business development – no longer a freelancer, not quite a corporate titan. The way I put it to anyone who’ll listen: “It’s not that I don’t do windows. It’s that I need people to help me with the windows.” I know, I know – great management means not doing anything and just managing. But I’m not quite there yet. I still bring home the bacon…and fry it up in a pan.

So why grow?

As I’ve been taking this next step, many people have counseled me: “You don’t have to grow, you know.” I know that. But my true rationale for growing the business is to create some space in my life that doesn’t exist right now. I want to go away for a few days and actually be secure in the knowledge that work is being done – and money is being made – while I'm away. I also want to delegate the work that’s less interesting and important to me, to free myself up for the work I'm really passionate about. But that takes time – my time - and money (my money…).

I’m very fortunate – business development is going really well right now. We’re lucky enough to get repeat business from our existing clients, and get new inquiries and referrals every week – and that’s keeping us busy. But I’m well aware that I’ll need to kick it up a notch to keep up with my growing expenses.

Tips for my fellow travellers

For those of you out there who are thinking of growing your own business, here are a few pointers (some of them passed along to me by others):

• Know that you want it. “Why do you get out of bed in the morning, and why should anyone care?” You have to be passionate about what you’re doing, and about building something greater than you. Most of all, you need to be clear on the ‘why’ – why you’re in business, why you do what you do. As Simon Sinek put it in his TED talk on how great leaders inspire action, start with why. As Sinek puts it, “…people hire you because they believe what you believe. People don't buy what you do – they buy why you do it.” Credit for giving me this tip (and sending me the Sinek video) goes to real-deal business titan @CoryLePage.

• Make sure you’ve got a cash reserve. @acrossthewater (my business manager, Hillary Samson) made this clear to me way before I even started growing. She got me to figure out how much I wanted to make, and how much I wanted to spend on subcontractors and expenses. Then she made me set aside 3 to 6 months of it – so just in case worst case scenario becomes the scenario…I’m covered. Knowing that money is there made me way more secure about the risks I was about to take in growing my business.

• Lead with the relationship, not the money. As I mentioned in a previous blog, the “magic” key to business development (related to Sinek’s point – people hire you because they believe what you believe) is to lead with the relationship with your clients, not with the money (or your desire to make it). Understand what makes your clients tick. Know that they will want to hire you because you are a reflection of their own values – so find the clients who share your values, who believe what you believe. If you do this business this way, the work – and the money – will come. If you do not do business this way, that boulder you’re rolling up the hill to grow your business will keep rolling back to the bottom. You’ll be preoccupied with a continuous need to create new relationships to grow your business – because you haven’t nurtured the ones you have (or more to the point…had). This tip is my own – with a little external validation from my office mate (and successful entrepreneur) @idealever.

Share your experience and advice about growing your business, too – perhaps I can get some tips from you too, and we can both share them.

To be honest, the plane had been duly considered, but when the offer to carpool (with three amazing colleagues) came up, I gratefully accepted - and it will be door-to-door service and a lower carbon footprint, to boot. However, my friend did make a good point - I do not have much time this week (or this month for that matter), after the luxurious three-week vacation I told you all about last month. 

The formidable Alexandra Samuel took on this notion of "respecting the billable hour" in her blog last week (sparking much debate). She challenges those who ask for an hour of our time to pick our brains don't always appreciate that we're losing precious billable hours in the process. And if we don't value our time, our friends and associates won't either. 

Time is money

For those of us who sell our ideas and creativity for a living, as consultants, time is literally money. Every hour that we're waiting in a ferry line-up, chewing the fat with a friend or family member, or allowing an associate to "pick our brains," is an hour that we're not making money. And let's be clear, this isn't about greed - it's about paying my office rent, my subcontractors, my utilities...and let's not forget, my own salary. 

Some commenters on Alex's blog post were uncomfortable with putting a price on their time. Frankly, I think that's a bit of a 'starving artist' mentality - the notion that we do not belong to the market. And I agree to an extent. I don't belong to the market - and I'm more than happy to donate my time to a worthy cause, project or peer - but my services do belong to the market, and I depend on them - and the reputation they help me build - for my living. Simple as that. 

As I mentioned on Alex's blog, consultants who give away their time are like country doctors during the Depression who took payment in chickens and corn - while it may have been the right and honourable thing to do at the time, in the end the bank still got the house. 

So next time you ask a consultant to give you some of their time, just be aware of what you're asking - and if you can't pay them, at least ask for and thank them for the donation.

Anyone who knows me well knows I’ve been talking about this trip for years – I’d originally planned to go as a reward for my punishing two-year stint working on prep for the 2010 Winter Games. But after the Games were over, I was preoccupied with…um…making some money – any money - so vacation took a back seat to getting Boldt Communications back off the ground.

After a great year, I decided to cash in some of those points I’d been saving for a bazillion years on my credit card – after all, mamma’s earned a vaycay.

La musique de la langue francaise (et les autres langues, aussi)

I am admitting it, right here, right now – I am a language geek. Studying languages has accompanied most of my major trips over the past few years – Bandol (Provence) in France in 1997, Quebec in 2001, Heidelberg (where I studied German) in 2007. 

I love learning the language of the places I visit – not only does it give me more to do to frame my trip than sightseeing, but I meet amazing people from around the world and learn more about the places I visit than I ever would if I’d just been your typical Anglo tourist.

I will admit, it is a bit intimidating – going to a different country where they speak a different language and…well...do things differently. But I’m ready to embrace that. In Toronto earlier this year, I became a Torontonian. In New York, I was a temporary New Yorker. And I’m going to do my best to embrace my inner Frenchwoman (no smartass jokes, now).

Taking a break

One thing I also learned from recent trips to Montreal, San Francisco, Toronto and New York was the importance of getting out of your home base and comfort zone for awhile – really embracing a new city or culture and immersing yourself in the experience. On the most recent jaunt to Toronto and New York, I arrived with few expectations (and a few meetings), and ended up having one of the most energizing - and fun - trips of my life. Paris and Provence will take the challenge to a whole new level – not only will I be having a new adventure but I’ll (attempt to) have it in a different language!

It doesn’t really matter where you go or what you do – it’s really important to get away. At home, I get so in it – meeting the needs of my clients, dealing with subcontractor issues, making money and making sure other people get paid – that I lose the energy and inspiration that made the work fun - and my work good - in the first place. I get burned out, dragged out, grumpy and just plain tired. Needless to say, the electrifying creative ideas are hardly flowing when I feel this way...and I've been feeling this way for awhile. Time for a break.

But leaving one’s small business – especially when you’re the alpha dog on a team you're working to expand in the fall – is incredibly difficult to do. I think I’ve spent more time preparing for this vacation than I’ll actually be on it. And I don’t mean studying the guidebooks, either - who has time for that (I’ll be leaving most of that for the plane…). I mean wrapping up files, putting potential new clients on hold for a few weeks, madly finishing up work for current clients, arranging for coverage (and making sure Sara – my marketing associate – has everything she needs while I'm away), paying subcontractors, depositing cheques, etc.

The Zone of Acceptance

There’s no going back now. I did the French placement test a couple of weeks ago (I can only pray I’ve been placed at a level that corresponds with my current set of Alliance Francaise textbooks...I'm not buying new books for a week). My Eurail pass has arrived (even if I’m not quite sure how to use it). Planes, trains, and most hotels and automobiles are booked. The rest I’ll figure out when I get there.

Now, it’s time to pack my bags, get things wrapped up at home, water my plants…and finish this blog post. More when I return from France in a few weeks.

So kiss me and smile for me, tell me that you'll wait for me...hold me like you'll never let me go...

To that end, I thought I'd blog about it and help make some connections.

Do you have a desk or two to rent in your office in Vancouver - or are you looking to share an office?

 Comment here and check back often for leads.

I spent two years working with the City of Vancouver to prepare us for the world's biggest event - the Olympic Winter Games - and, whether the job deserved it or not, I put my heart and soul into it. 

I was so proud to represent my city and to show us off to the world. It was only that belief in our city and our province - along with a blind sense of professionalism - that kept me going long after the long hours and crushing workload made me wonder if it was all worth it.

It was worth it - and we showed the world the very best side of Vancouver - both as a beautiful place and as beautiful people. Last night's riot has tarnished that reputation. The story of the hideous rioting and hooligans was carried on networks, in newspapers and online around the globe. 

Local political partisans are already looking at ways to use the behaviour of a group of teenaged thugs as an opportunity to score some political points in the lead-up to fall municipal elections. Before the broken glass was swept off the ground or we knew how many people had been injured, calls were also being made for the resignations of Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu and Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson - from the same people who danced on the plazas and sported the jerseys for weeks beforehand. 

The blame should be placed where it belongs - with the drunken, poorly raised young men who shamed us in front of our country and the world. I hope in the days and weeks ahead these young men - and the thousands more who cheered them on - will share that shame, be it the result of a sudden discovery of a conscience...or the shunning of their families and communities as they see pictures of their sons and daughters online and in the media, revelling in the destruction. 

Premier Christy Clark said it best today:"We are going to do everything we can to make sure the public understands who you were. Your family, your friends, your employer will know you were a part of it."

Instead of dwelling on this, I'm going to try to think of the thousands of Vancouverites who came out this morning to help our incredible City staff - along with City councillors like Andrea Reimer - to clean up downtown Vancouver, sing 'Oh Canada' with their kids and remind each other what Vancouver is really about. 

But I think I might have to feel bad just a little bit longer, first.

post script

"Even if all the recommendations in this report are followed, we cannot guarantee that riots will not occur in the future in this city. Crowd behaviour is wildly unpredictable in the best of circumstances and the hype that follows major sporting events in this country, combined with a multimillion dollar marketing interest in linking alcohol and sports, is beyond the control of any local jurisdiction, no matter how well co-ordinated. This means that both luck and constant vigilance and coordination on the part of local authorities (including but not limited to police) will be necessary if we are to avoid such events in the future."

-- BC Police Commission Report on the Riot that occurred in Vancouver on June 14-15, 1994

The great myth: most things "fall into place" like "magic"

While I pride myself on being a competent project manager and have always valued those skills in others, it's only in the last few months that I've noticed how criticial good project management is to making sure my client work moves along smoothly and on time and budget.

Okay, that must sound like a no-brainer, but you'd be surprised - there is a whole world of people out there who don't put a premium on sound project management, assuming that all they have to do is great work, and everything else will just magically "fall into place". 

Well, I've got news for you if you're one of those people. 

The reason everything "magically falls into place" is that there's a good project manager (or spouse or parent or boss or associate or assistant...) keeping an eye on every moving piece - maintaining quality control, sending something back if it's not good enough, minding (and enforcing) deadlines, feeding you and running errands for you, quietly fixing your mistakes and smoothing over ruffled feathers, and holding suppliers accountable when they don't keep up their side of the contract.

Why project management is critical for small businesses

As small businesspeople, a lot of us tend to do things by the seat of our pants. We need to be natural multi-taskers - moving nimbly between client meetings, press conferences, office administration and organizing the catering for a meeting. As we grow, it becomes ever more difficult to keep on top of contracts, timesheets, subcontractors and employees (remember, we're supposed to be managing them, too), paperwork, bookkeeping - the list goes on and on...and on. And the better we're doing, the longer the list gets.

Nothing is more frustrating - or more of a time suck - than having to chase after your suppliers to keep them on top of their deliverables. Even worse, as your business takes on more and more work, the job becomes even more difficult - and the risk of dropping the ball on something important becomes even higher.

That's why I've had to call in the reinforcements, getting assistance from my operations associate to help track some of the bigger moving pieces, so that I can focus getting more billable work done. But I also know that - as I bring new associates on board with my company - solid project management skills are going to be among the main skills I look for, in addition to communications and business development chops. I need someone who can bring home the bacon and fry it up in a pan!

As a small business person, I've discovered how truly rare strong project management skills are to find - and how much they need to be coveted when you do find them. It doesn't mean I want a Gant chart of complex technological solutions - I just need people with attention to detail who sweat the small stuff. Hey, somebody's got to.

A note on project management tools and software

I've looked into various types of project management options for my business - like Basecamp - but most that I've found are only as good as the project managers who manage and maintain the content therein (and gets right back to the core problem for many of us - not having time to manage those details). These systems also aren't much good if key tasks and tactics aren't entered in the first place, or if changes in accountabilities and deadlines aren't included. 

I also find that many online project management systems can add hours of precious time to administration as you constantly input, update and consult your project management information. Don't get me wrong - I can see the benefit of project and contact management systems to keep track of all your data as your business grows - and especially if you have contractors and consultants in multiple job sites or in different cities - but I don't think I need it right now, not if I can hire an actual human to track tasks for me (which right now, is a more efficient use of my time).

Post script: The best personal techie tool I've found for managing my own tasks so far is Todo for my iPad. It appeals completely to my AR list-making tendencies and, unlike the little slips of paper I was using before, once it's in there, it's in there (staring at me like the eye of Sauron...).

But let’s take a step back – are any of the federal parties (including the NDP) really offering anything new or different for a new millennium, or a new approach to reach a new generation of voters? Are they bringing new ideas and a new approach to politics to the table? Not really. 

What’s new and different in this election is the electorate, and that dynamic energy is driven by three factors, in my opinion:

• The youth vote. In an era where declining voter turnout seems to be the norm, something is happening in Canada, thanks for vote mobs, Leadnow and the support of hundreds of thousands of Canadians like me who are stoked that people under the age of 40 are finally taking an interest in their social, environmental and economic future.

• Anger. Voters are tired of being taken for granted. This goes for all parties, who assume that voters in their riding will vote for them because…well, they’ve always voted that way. Quebeckers are tired of being expected to vote for the separatist party that just celebrated its 20th anniversary in Canada's Parliament. British Columbians are tired of the Tories assuming they’ll always vote Conservative. So people are mixing up – NDP voters are going Liberal, Bloc Quebecois voters are going NDP, Liberal voters are going Conservative – and all of a sudden, political parties and candidates are actually having to work for their votes. Just showing up isn't enough.

• The Harper factor. I’m sorry, but most Canadians don’t like Harper.

My prediction: the NDP will make historic gains (maybe not 100 seats, but major gains), particularly in Quebec. The Liberals will be strong in Ontario and traditional areas of support, and will pick up a handful of seats in other parts of the country. The Tories will weaken in the last week of the campaign (if you don't believe me, check out their desperate attack ads that go after Iggy, Duceppe and Jack in equal measure), and either Ignatieff or Layton will become prime minister and lead a minority or coalition government.

And then it will really get interesting – because old-fashioned partisans will have to work together by necessity. Our democracy will need to function differently. And politicians may actually represent the people who elected them.

As a political junkie, I can’t wait for the results.

Troubles in the world

Japan's crisis in the wake of a massive earthquake and tsunami remains a continuing drama that - remarkably - is starting to slip off the front pages at the world's attention is drawn back to the Middle East and a UN-sponsored decision to intervene in the civil conflict in Libya. A week after the largest earthquake on record and the resulting tsunami hit the east coast of Japan, the true cost of this epic (if there was ever an appropriate event to use this word, this is it) tragedy is still being assessed. 

Bodies are still trapped under rubble. Children are suddenly without parents. Elderly do not have access to the medications and health care they need and are getting sick. People are huddled together without shelter, food or water - making my concerns over whether or not I should have that extra cookie absurd, to say the least. 

What's been most moving for me - and I think for many observers of this tragedy from afar - is the incredible strength and resilience of the Japanese people and culture. They are holding it together in a time of unimaginable stress. As the CBC's Chris Brown (@CBCChrisBrown) tweeted this morning (Brown is based in Japan at the moment), even in the tsunami zone, the trains are still running on time.

On the other side of the world, I find myself confused and bewildered by the rapidly changing political and domestic landscape in Libya. I'm not sure what my opinion is on all of this.

I read today in the Globe and Mail that the Arab League is against the military response (read: bombing with cruise missiles) implemented by France, the UK, the U.S., Canada and others in Libya this weekend.

While the Arab League says it supported the implementation of a no-fly zone in Libya (which - by the way - would have included bombing Qadhafi's air force to ensure they 'no-fly'), they, along with other critics around the world, are now suggesting that the UN resolution to intervene went too far, putting more civilian lives at risk. Protecting civilians was the intent of the no-fly zone in the first place. And so I ask myself whether I approve of this intervention. I don't have an answer yet.

This is tough, tough stuff to wrap our heads around, people.

So what can we do?

There are many other human and environmental tragedies being played out all over the world, including people living in extreme poverty in South America, Africa, Asia and even here in Canada, but we don't pay attention to them because they aren't making headlines today. So what can we do? 

A few suggestions:

• Get involved in the political process closer to home. Start expressing your concerns and questions to your elected officials about child poverty, homelessness, climate change or the changing resource sector. Join a political party, if you see an alignment of beliefs and values. Make donations to non-profit organizations that are fighting for the change you'd like to see. Or, just start speaking out and speaking up - online, in your community, in a blog. Make your voice heard.

• Donate to help internationally. There are many credible and reputable organizations around the world which make it their mission to improve the lives of people in suffering and to reduce that suffering. I donate regularly to - and have signed up to volunteer domestically with - the Canadian Red Cross (which is sending money directly to the Japanese Red Cross to help with relief efforts - your help is still desperately needed). Other agencies that are doing amazing work that I have confidence in include Oxfam Canada and the Mennonite Central Committee.

• Make better purchasing decisions. Money talks, so vote with your buying power. Buy products and services that are easier on the earth and are "fair trade" - that is, provide fair compensation to the men and women to make the items you buy, or provide the services you require. Shops like Ten Thousand Villages or WorldofGood.com by eBay (one of my clients) are a great place to start.

• Commit to community. One of the things I really don't like about Vancouver is the cool stand-offishness of many of its people. I'll let anthropologists and sociologists tell me the reasons for that, but we've got to take some responsibility for taking care of eachother. So say hello to strangers, strike up conversations, get to know your neighbours, smile at people you don't know and let's create communities for ourselves that we actually want to live in...and can fee safer in.

Some reporters (like @jdkvcr and @thesunnydhillon) are laugh-out-loud funny. Not only do they tweet their own pieces (like the rest of us), but they're great wits who tweet on the funny, the stupid and the absurd in the world.

Other reporters (@garymasonglobe) are more "all business" (with the exception of his running commentary on Canucks' games). @CBCSmart and @jonathanfowlie keep me up to date on what's happening at the Ledge, while @ctvbc and @cknw do the best job of keeping me up-to-date on breaking local news. 

Other faves: @thatclaudiakwan and @rodmickleburgh. And of course @nytimes.

Follow them...and let me know your favourites for getting the news, locally and around the world.

On Saturday night, Christy Clark was elected premier of B.C. by members of the B.C. Liberal Party. 

I'm listening to CBC Early Edition right now. The CBC hit the streets of Vancouver yesterday to find out what the public thinks of her selection. A major theme of the comments - real cynicism that Clark actually represents the "change" that was the centrepiece of her campaign's message, along with her "families first" message (one that doesn't exactly resonate with a lot of people who remember Clark's tenure as education minister in Gordon Campbell's first administration.) 

It's a cynicism I share - I want change in politics in B.C., but I am not sure Christy can actually deliver. 

Here's my Monday morning assessment of the premier-elect:

• I am woman, hear me roar. When many male commentators and politicos talk about it being good there's a woman in the Premier's Office, they're usually talking about demographics and polling - you know, "Christy's popular with 18-44 year-olds". It's all about winnability. Quite frankly, while it may be true, to reduce her to a statistical advantage is an insult to Clark and women everywhere. Christy Clark is an extraordinary woman - with political smarts, strength and a tenacity few people (male or female) in politics can boast. She's the Joy MacPhail of the B.C. Liberal Party...and that's a compliment.

• Gonna make a change.  I don't know if she represents the change I'm looking for, but there's no question that she ran against the Campbell government's record. For this reason, only one MLA endorsed her (though I'm sure this morning many more wish they had...). However, with so much money, power and influence on the line - not to mention the need to keep a fractious coalition together - I'm not sure how long this commitment to change will last. She'll need to hang onto it if she wants to defeat the NDP, however. I don't think it can be done, but I'm ready to be proven wrong.

• Powerhouse. She is a powerhouse candidate and will be very tough for the NDP to beat. I think defeating the B.C. Liberals in the next election just got a whole lot harder.

Political watchers like me are looking forward to seeing what happens next.

I have a serious case of imposter syndrome.

In the past two or three years, I've had a number of great new experiences and opportunities come my way. I'd like to take at least some credit for that - hard work, good luck and great relationships all conspiring together to open up new options and opportunities that have been hitherto (can you believe I used that word in a sentence?) beyond my grasp. While it's great, it's a bit like Alice falling down the rabbit hole - I can't quite believe I'm here.

Baby boomers will tell you that it's been ever thus - that people born in the 1940s had to wait 40 years before they got a shot at the brass ring, too. Perhaps. But the shrinking job opportunities and increasing real estate costs of the past twenty years have meant that we're staying home longer, depending on our parents longer and - yes, I'll say it - putting off growing up longer. Financial independence has been a higher hill to climb.

Props to the boomers

The boomers are a magnificent and accomplished generation, born in tough times in post-Depression Canada and yet also benefiting from the post-war prosperity. They entered the real estate market at a time when a schoolteacher could raise a family of four in North Vancouver on a single income. Can you imagine someone being able to do today (at least, without help from their parents)? 

To this day, boomers continue to play a dominant role in the worlds of business, labour and politics, remaining in jobs they've held for 20, 30...even 40 years. This lack of turnover in the job market has been a source of frustration to those of us who've been pressing our faces against the glass, wondering when we're going to get our shot (even as we contemplate the merits of Botox and look at ways to reduce our bad cholesterol). 

Generation X makes headway

It is only in the last year or two that I've begun to see a significant departure of boomers from the workforce, taking their high property values with them, but freeing up their networks and positions to a younger generation. And as they do that, Generation X - after many years of waiting in the wings - is finally getting a shot at those jobs, those clients and those opportunities that our parents held onto for such a long time. We're also packing with us things our parents' generation don't have - new ideas, a different approach to work, social media savvy and a hard-earned knowledge that sometimes, the way to move up is to move on.

Having said that, the boomers haven't completely moved on. And as many GenXers know, there are lots of people our age who have adopted the Ways of the Boomer as a way to get access to the halls of power. 

Just look at the two leadership contests for B.C. political parties. While a number of the candidates represent a younger generation, few of the candidates propose a different approach or style to the generation that came immediately before. I believe that is, in part, why people have disengaged from the political process in such large numbers - because the parties and politicians who aspire to lead them are not relevant to young(er) voters.

A word on Generation Y

No blog post on the experiences of my generation could be complete without a word on the generation that followed us - one raised by the baby boomers. Never have we seen such an entitled generation - one that expects to skip the bottom of the ladder and go straight to the top, that expects prosperity without the burden of having to earn it. One that sees life as a smorgasbord from which they can take what they want (whether they can afford it or not).

And then...it occurs to me: perhaps this is precisely what the Boomers believed about Generation X - and what kept us away from opportunity for so long. 

According to the Globe and Mail, a veterinarian was called but refused to euthanise healthy animals - and so they were shot or their throats were cut. According to the company, the mutilation of the animals was undertaken by another company called Howling Dogs. The man charged with killing the dogs was compensated for post-traumatic stress disorder.

The incident has become a public relations nightmare for Outdoor Adventures Whister - and rightly so. What's worse - at least for me - is how the company attempts to evade responsibility and accountability for the deaths.

For starters, Outdoor Adventures Whistler - owned by Joey Houssain, son of Intrawest founder Joe Houssain - continues to refer to the deaths as a "euthanization," implying that their deaths were humane when all evidence suggests otherwise. The company admitted that they were aware that the dogs were killed, but blamed the company's previous owner for the callous decision. Outdoor Adventures went on to say that the killing of the dogs was "regrettable and tragic," almost as if they were not responsible themselves for the action.

Is anyone responsible or accountable for anything?

Over the past few weeks, I've had the opportunity to reflect on accountability, and how many people in my world - and the world around us - go to great pains to avoid taking responsibility for their actions, errors or mistakes - or those of the people they are responsible for. 

I was raised with a sense of responsibility, accountability and honesty, and I'm grateful for what my parents and grandparents taught me. When I make a mistake - personally or professionally - I own up to it, take responsibility and then take action to correct the error or make things right as soon as possible. Not only is that the right thing to do, it also helps me to sleep better at night. Being responsible seems so quaint these days, a time when people will only take responsibility for their actions if they are caught or called on it (and even then, sometimes they don't 'fess up). They say to themselves: "If no one knows I what I did, then it's like I didn't do it."

I provide this advice to my clients when it comes to public relations: when you make a mistake or are accountable for a decision, own up to it, take steps to make it right...and then move on as quickly as possible. Sometimes, you've just got to take your lumps. You do not, however, do the following:

• Sweep it under the rug
• Blame your mistakes on someone else (e.g. your staff, your client, your mother or the person calling you on your shit)
• Obfuscate or spin your way out of taking responsibility (clarification: you can and should distract and change the subject in public relations, but only after you acknowledge the truth)
• Fire back as you leave the building (the classic B.C. politics response: "I may suck, but you suck worse!")
• Shut down (the legendary "no comment" response) - you'll always regret this one.

When bad things happen, acknowledge a mistake was made and that, even if you didn't make the mistake personally, you are responsible and accountable for it as the person in charge. 

Case in point: the resignation of former premier Mike Harcourt in 1996. Mr. Harcourt resigned to take responsibility for a bingo gaming scandal that happened 20 years prior, that he had no role in. Why? Because as leader of the BC NDP, he was accountable for those mistakes.

We could use a bit more accountability like that these days. Not just in politics, but in life.

I’ve had a lot of luck when it comes to business development this year, with most new clients coming through referrals from contacts, former colleagues and previous clients. But if you want to gain or grow your business, you can’t be passive and wait for organic growth. It’s like looking for a job by waiting for the phone to ring – sure, maybe there are some people who want to hire you, but you can’t just expect it to fall in your lap – life rarely works that way. Want to get business? Then go out there and get it – and don’t stop working until you have what you need and have gained some sales momentum.

I’m not going to reveal all my trade secrets here – that’d be giving up my competitive edge, now, wouldn’t it? - but I would like to share at least a few tips that have seemed to work for me. Not enough entrepreneurs share this stuff with each other – but you know what? Cream rises to the top, no matter what. For all those fantastic consultants out there, these tips will just give your trip to the top a little nudge.

Tip #1 – Network

This sounds obvious, and yet there are so many consultants who don’t do this, or do it enough, and that blows my mind, especially if they’re in the marketing business. Consultants will often land a lucrative contract and then let their network wither on the vine while they focus on that one contract. And when the contract ends…crickets. Nothing doing for at least two or three months while they re-activate their network, with lots of stress inbetween.

Don’t leave it until it’s too late – networking (that is, meeting new people, reconnecting with people you already know, and getting introduced to people you don’t know but want to meet) is a critical part of keeping your business vibrant, and the referrals coming in.

A lot of consultants say they don’t know how to network, which also blows my mind (especially when they work in PR and communications – hello, it’s what we do – our entire business is based on reputation and networks). Please allow me to clarify – networking is not a schlocky, random working of the room with business cards. It’s about making an authentic connection with a new acquaintance – telling them about what you’re doing and taking a sincere interest in what they’re doing, too. It’s about representing yourself and your business well to a new potential contact or client.

If you need practice networking, go to some professional events and introduce yourself to people you don’t know, or start going to a few Toastmasters or similar events. Join a service club or chamber of commerce. Shy? Get over it. This is business. And hey, you might actually meet some new friends (or new potential dates, for that matter) in the process.

Tip #2 – Market yourself

This is another apparent no-brainer that is beyond the ken of many a consultant. (To be honest, all of the tips are about marketing yourself, but in this case I mean it quite literally.) Now, when I talk about self-promotion, I’m not talking about cheesy Twitter spam selling your services, or the business card wacka-wacka I’ve referred to above.

It’s about making sure that you create opportunities to give yourself profile in your own right. A lot of PR, branding, marketing and communications consultants spend all of their energy promoting their clients, and don’t use any of their magical and creative marketing jujitsu to promote themselves. Content (and often preferring) to stay in the background, they shun the limelight and in doing so, don’t find opportunities to articulate and support their own brands.

Tell me then, why would clients want to hire you to market them? If you can’t find innovative, elegant ways to promote yourself – through personal networking, professional associations, speeches and talks, websites, public relations and the “brand evangelists” who will promote you free of charge to their network – then you really should find another line of work. Or get off the proverbial couch and start marketing yourselves. How? Blog, tweet, speak, network, schmooze, listen and share.

This brings me to a related point – have an elevator speech in the can: key messages on who you are, what you do, what you want to do, what you care about and what makes you special. Don’t give me some open-ended “I really love to write, please give me a chance” request. Tell me what you write about, why you’re passionate about it, what you’re good at (and what you’re not good at), examples of when you’ve been good at it before, and what makes you special (although on that last bit, it should be radiating from you anyhow).

Tip #3 – Be the best

I know, I know – these tips all sound obvious, but remarkably, they’re not. Number 3 is a zinger. There are consultants who don’t understand the fundamental truth that repeat business isn’t about who you know, or who your friends are, or how long you’ve been working with them. It’s about being good at what you do.

Be the best at what you do. Care about your clients. Always strive for excellence, even when you just want to go to bed (or to the bar). Read, learn, improve, practice, and ask questions of people who know more than you do.

Don’t submit mediocre work to a client and then be shocked that you don’t get a call back for more work. Don’t do a half-assed job and expect a client to recommend you to other clients for similar work. Don’t ignore clients for months on end and then wonder why they didn’t call you for a project that would’ve been perfect for you. Don’t bump your boring-but-loyal client to bottom of the priority list just because you have landed a fancy schmancy client who’s made no commitments to you. Don’t bill the heck out of a client without making sure they believe like you were worth every penny (and a few more).

Be the best supplier, with the best attitude and the best final product, and the business will come.

So be the best. If you build it, they will come.

Honourable Mention: Basi and Virk plead guilty to corruption

Nobody saw this one coming. After a contentious decision to sell B.C. Rail (a one-time Crown corporation) on what was arguably ideological grounds earlier in the decade, British Columbians were shocked to learn in 2003 of the corruption charges against David Basi and Bob Virk, former political aides to B.C. government ministers. Ten years and millions of dollars later, Basi and Virk plead guilty to the charges - walking away with house arrest and all of their legal bills paid for, with a confidentiality agreement to ensure that we'd never know what really went on in this trial or behind the scenes. I don't think this story is over (though many a B.C. Liberal would like it to be...)

Go ahead, roll your eyes, but there's no denying this is one of the biggest stories of 2010 (squeaking in near the end of the year). After a courtship that's lasted most of the past decade, Prince William and his longtime girlfriend, "commoner" Kate Middleton, just announced that they're tying the knot. 

As someone without British heritage, I'm hardly a monarchist, but I have to say I've always had a soft spot of the Hanovers/Windsors. They're a fascinating lot with a lot of great stories (the latest featured in the new film, The King's Speech, about the late King George VI's efforts to conquer his stammer after unexpectedly ascending the throne.) The media wants this story to be a reprise of the failed romance of William's parents, Charles and Diana (albeit with a happy ending). Here's hoping.

Number Four: Chilean Miners' Rescue

This was an unbelievable story - from the tragedy itself, to the survival of the miners underground, to the gripping rescue effort carried live around the world on television. As I chronicled in a previous blog post, this story was also a triumph of public relations management, showing how great PR and communications management can improve - rather than get in the way of - a great story.

Number Three: WikiLeaks

The ultimate story of the implications of information managment in the digital age, this still-unfolding story is about the release of thousands of classified cables from the U.S. government and other governments around the world. WikiLeaks has been leaking otherwise-unavailable information at wikileaks.org (no longer available...this is the mirrored site on Wikipedia), but the most recent release has turned WikiLeaks' award-winning director (and formerly, journalism's folk hero) Julian Assange into Public Enemy Number One. There is no way to manage this issue, really - there's no information left to withhold. All those that have been "exposed" by WikiLeaks' release of information have no choice but to eat endless helpings of humble pie with the foreign governments and dignitaries they've disrespected or talked about in less-than-flattering terms. Of course, there's more than just embarassment involved here. Who knows what the ultimate implications of this release will be, especially for online security, privacy and - most frighteningly - freedom of speech.

Number Two: Political Meltdown, British Columbia Edition

Some people might suggest that WikiLeaks was a much bigger story...but not for me. Really, the mind boggles at the public relations buffoonery exhibited by players on both sides of the B.C. Legislature this fall. It all started with Gordon Campbell's $240,000 province-wide address that looked like exactly what it was - a desperate, last ditch attempt to save his political career. He had just shuffled his cabinet and was clearly digging in for a fight. Within a week, he had announced his resignation under rumours that several members of caucus had signed a letter asking for resignation. A leadership campaign is currently underway to elect his replacement.

On the other side of the House, history repeated itself in the BCNDP Caucus. It all began with a couple of mildly critical lines about party leader Carole James in a regional column by then-NDP (and now independent) MLA Bob Simpson, for which Mr. Simpson was booted from his caucus. Those two lines seems tame and respectful compared to what followed. A series of aggressive escalating gauntlet throw-downs and awkwardly played public relations moves by both NDP Leader Carole James' supporters and the dissidents (the so-called Baker's Dozen) - culminating in a scathing denunciation by NDP MLA Jenny Kwan - resulted in Ms. James' resignation last week. Now, the very individuals who supported James and her leadership over the years are now considering a run for her job. And so it goes.

After weeks of breathtakingly bad public relations moves, I have to hand it to former deputy Premier and more recently CKNW talk show host Christy Clark for the PR coup she pulled off last Wednesday in announcing her run for the B.C. Liberal leadership, after weeks of "considering her options" and building anticipation to a fever pitch (backed with a stack of polls assuring us all she'll win). Her victory is hardly a foregone conclusion but she's definitely won the PR contest for the moment (which - to be honest - wasn't that hard to pull off, given the gong show that came before). 

Unfortunately, Christy's entry to the race meant an end to my budding political commentating career that began on her show just a few weeks earlier (*sniffle*). With Clark's contentious position on the HST (scrap the referendum and send it to a free vote in the B.C. Legislature), her reluctance to reopen the conversation on what really happened in the Basi-Virk case, and the determination of one Kevin Falcon (fellow B.C. Liberal leadership contender) to make sure she doesn't win what he considers to be his, Christy's certainly got her work cut out for her. But as we know, anything can happen in B.C. politics.

And the Number One Story of 2010: The 2010 Winter Games

Okay, so I'm a little biased on this one. I worked on the Games with the City of Vancouver and continue to work as a consultant on one of its legacy projects. But even if that wasn't the case, as far as I'm concerned the Games were still the biggest story of 2010 for Vancouver, dominating the headlines (in both good and bad ways).

Robson Square. Pedestrian corridors. Canada Line. The Olympic Line Streetcar. The Olympic Village project. The tragic death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili on a training run before the Games had even begun. The heartbreaking death of Canadian figure skater Joannie Rochette's mother here in Vancouver to see her daughter compete, and Rochette's triumphant bronze medal won just days later. Virtue and Moir. Alexandre Bilodeau.These and so many stories dominated the headlines before and during the 2010 Winter Games. And, for a few short weeks, our city was transformed. 

These are my top stories of 2010. What are your picks?

What does loyalty mean?

What's perhaps most disturbing is how weak the ties of loyalty can actually be. 

I've asked myself what my loyalties - to my friends, family, clients and community - are based on. Are they based on whomever carries the biggest stick, has the most money or wields the most power? I don't think so. All of those things are always considerations when one is choosing sides, but it can never be only about that. 

True loyalty - in business, politics and relationships - is about looking out for eachother and standing beside eachother through both the good times and the bad times. It's about sticking around. It's about having love and compassion for the people in your life, even when they really mess up. It's about holding someone up when they're not always strong enough to stand on their own. It's about protecting your clients and colleagues from harm - even if it means having a "come to Jesus" conversation with them to set them straight when they've gone off the path. And perhaps most of all, it's about not jumping ship just because it looks like your friend might not win this one.

Having said all that, loyalty must be earned. It's not an abstract concept, or something that can be expected without reciprocity. And it should never be blind. Loyalty cannot be required through threats - at least, not for long - but rather, it must be earned through example. True loyalty is something that is constantly tested and can be broken when betrayed.

For me, loyalty comes down to relationships. I'm loyal to the people in my life whom I've been able to count on. The people whom I've chosen to be close to - in business or in life - are those I trust the most. Those ties are strong and they can get you through all sorts of hard times and tricky situations. They say it's when the going gets tough that you know who your real friends are. And right now, there's a lot of people learning some really hard lessons about how weak the ties that bound really were.

After working the 2010 Winter Games, it's not easy to come up with an encore that can really measure up to the biggest show in the world. As I wrote in my inaugural blog post a few months ago, for a few months Vancouver grew into the city I always wished it could have been. And then - almost as fast as it grew...no, faster - it contracted to a reasonable facsimile of what it was before. What was a girl to do?

I decided that if my city wasn't going to give me what I was looking for, I was going to reinvent Vancouver and add a few other cities to the mix to grow my business and my life beyond its pre-Olympic confines. Next thing you know, I'd left my heart in San Francisco.

Rice a Roni, the San Francisco treat

Ever since I visited New York City for the first time, back in April of this year, I've been cooking up a networking and business development trip there. New York, in the words of Alicia Keys, is a "...concrete jungle where dreams are made of, there's nothing you can't do...." Over the past few months, I've decided to add Toronto to that list, as it's home to many friends old and new and (hopefully) some new business opportunities for me in Canada's largest city.

Strangely enough, I hadn't considered the West Coast until my running friend Stewart brought it up when he and Eva and I hit the trails at Pacific Spirit Park (which we often do together). I was telling Eva and Stewart about my plans for worldwide public relations domination (that is, the Toronto-New York business trip scheme), and Stewart said, "why not the West Coast?" And I was, like - why not? 

I started with San Francisco, where one of my clients, WorldofGood.com by eBay - think Ten Thousand Villages online, is based. They're actually about an hour and a half away by train in San Jose, California. I took this trip in early November, and it was the first time I'd gone on a business trip as a consultant (and I've been in business for nine years), unless you count Campbell River to visit my friends at Marine Harvest Canada.

In addition to my first in-person meeting with clients I've been working with for months, it was a chance to make some new connections south of the border, and have some great social time with friends from home, too.

A cable car, two streetcars and a suntan later (it was a balmy 24 degrees Celsius when I was there), I had a great time - and managed to work in a couple of lovely dinners with friends living in the Bay area. I also returned home with something I affectionately refer to as "San Francisco hip," a condition precipitated by extensive walking on San Fran's famous hills (often in pumps).  

Bonjour Montreal

I wrote most of this post from the hotel on Sherbrooke in lovely Montreal, where I combined a weekend holiday with a my good friend Mira from New York with lunch with a friend from the Vancouver Olympic organizing committee and a visit to his Montreal-based public relations agency, Octane Strategies. I love this city - the architecture, the people, the food, the culture, the many languages spoken. We started our weekend with a nighttime walk up Rue St. Laurent to browse shops, get a hot tea and stop at Fairmount Bagels (open 24 hours a day). The next morning, a snowfall couldn't stop these two Vancouver girls from trudging out for a run along Sherbooke up through the McGill campus and back to Boulevard St. Laurent for an espresso allonge (a coffee option unique to Quebec...and thanks goodness for it). 

Saturday night, we ventured out for a walk in le Vieux Montreal, past the famous Notre Dame Basillica and along the old cobblestone streets, before making our way to the Hotel St. James (a former bank building - pretty dishy for a bank) for a couple of ridiculously expensive cocktails and conversation on the challenges of being a happening career woman in the 20th century.

My friend Sebastien took me to Le Local in Old Montreal for lunch - I think he was a bit surprised I ordered the filling lamb risotto for lunch, but it was perfect for a cold November day. It was fun to catch up with some "where are they now" gossip about our colleagues and potential business opportunities we could create for eachother's businesses across Canada. 

Obama faces a setback

Earlier this week, the U.S. mid-term elections delivered a devastating blow to the still-young administration of U.S. President Barack Obama (of whom - for the record - I am a fan). Just two years ago, Obama - the USA's first African-American president - swept to power on a message of hope and change. Two years later, a beleagered Obama administration got a stiff rebuke from the electorate with the election of a Republican majority in the House of Representatives, including - gulp - members of the so-called Tea Party, the ultra-right wing, "segregation wasn't such a bad thing" wing of the GOP. Personally, I think the US electorate needs to give Mr. Obama more of a chance to prove that he's change they can believe in. But it's not clear the electorate is up to that challenge.

Strangely enough, that didn't end up being the biggest political story of the week (at least, not in B.C.)....

Premier Gordon Campbell resigns

When I joined a new political panel called The Word on the Christy Clark Show on local radio station CKNW (shameless plug alert: every Wednesday at 1 pm) a few weeks ago, little did I know that my third week on the mic would have me and co-panelists Mike McDonald of Innovative Strategies and Langley Township Councillor Jordan Bateman dissecting the Premier's decision to step down as Premier of BC and leader of the BC Liberal Party with our formidable hostess, Christy Clark.

Hate him or love him, there's no denying that Mr. Campbell has had one heck of a successful career - from Vancouver mayor to Leader of the Opposition to Premier of BC. The man has led a charmed life and, one could say - if one was feeling charitable towards the Premier - it's rather sad that it's come to this and that he's had to be forced out. I agree with critics like Blair Lekstrom, a former Liberal MLA who suggested that Campbell should have resigned on a high after the spectacularly successful 2010 Winter Games, and left the fallout over the poorly explained HST to someone else. 

As Christy rightly pointed out yesterday, Mr. Campbell distinctly gave off the impression that he was one guy who didn't really want to go. And she's got a point - who would spend $240,000 of public money on a province-wide televised address to bolster one's image, explain the HST and apologize with a 15% income tax cut, if he was planning on resigning the following week?

I don't pretend to know enough about the inner workings of the BC Liberal Party to provide further analysis on what's happened, but I can tell you that I'm keen to see just what happens next.

And our next resignation is...Jim Prentice

Just when you didn't think the week in politics could get any more exciting, we hear today that federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice has resigned - just two days after boldly putting the kibash on the proposed Prosperity Mine in B.C.'s Cariboo region - to take a new job as CIBC's new vice-chairman and senior vice-president. What cabinet minister leaves government mid-term when his government is sitting pretty in the polls? I don't get it.

And yet, I can't wait to see and hear what happens next. There's still a day left in the week.

Much has been said – and written – about the role that the Chilean government played in managing the media tsunami that descended upon this remote community to document this incredible human drama. And in my view, this level of management was both justified and necessary.

I was keenly aware that everything I was seeing – the weary president Sebastian Pinera waiting for the last miner come up, the son waiting for his father, the Chilean flag around the father’s neck as he emerged from the capsule, the speeches and the singing of the Chilean national anthem – was carefully orchestrated for maximum impact. Heck, some of the images I’m including in this story were taken by Chilean state photographers (find the best of the best here on the Boston Globe’s website). And I don’t care.

If the floodgates had been opened and every photo and TV journalist was given unrestricted access, not only would the rescue site have been a crazy mess of chaos, but nobody – be it families of the miners, the Chilean people or the billions of international viewers – would have been able to witness what we were able to.

Reinaldo Sepulveda, the Chilean presidential media director - an experienced broadcast journalist and producer who has worked on several Olympic Games and World Cups - ably created the structure of this story. It sure shows.

Check your cynicism about PR at the door

There were very good – very noble – reasons for Mr. Sepulveda to structure the reportage on the rescue the way he did. As he told Nathan Vanderklippe in this superb piece in the October 15 issue of the Globe and Mail:

“There were many discussions with respect to this having live images," Mr. Sepulveda said. “But if it was recorded, or if we had used a delay, people could think that the images were being manipulated.” They decided to send out every single moment. “You need to remember that all the family, who were hundreds of people, were watching our transmissions of their family," he said. “So if I put on one and not another, that mother, that grandmother could think something had happened to them. So the decision of the President was to do it live."

Even in our tiny little neck of the woods here in Canada, it is often necessary to create a level of structure and production around an otherwise routine media event. Otherwise, it would be a messy free-for-all that would benefit no one.

That’s where risers, media feed boxes, sight lines, structured site tours, free professional-quality photos, lighting and backdrops come into play – creating a context for an event or announcement that provides a good experience for various in-person audiences, while also providing good conditions for journalists to tell their story in a way that will have quality and profound impact for those at home.

And make no mistake, unsuspecting public – the media will complain if these conditions aren’t created for them. They don’t want raw audio at a media event while jackhammers are running in the background. They don’t like dimly lit rooms and sight lines blocked by heads and hats.

If you make the news media experience pleasant and orderly, they’ll be much more likely to report on the story you’ve given them – instead of reporting on the chaos before them. I remember vividly a news conference where a radio reporter begged me - at a free-for-all scrum with international media where it was virtually impossible for her to get her voice recorder within audio distance of the speaker amidst the crush of cameras and journalists – to create a better scrum structure when it was time for my client to be interviewed. (And I did my best to do just that, by putting a physical barrier – a stanchion rope – between my client and the eager press.)

So when you see those bills for public news conferences that governments put on from time to time, know that those bills aren't always for canapés and entertainment – they’re often for staging, sound and lighting designed to maximize the experience for the media, and increase the chances of that story being told fairly in the reportage that follows.

Was that “just PR”?

Are we manufacturing a spectacle with this kind of production of what is supposed to be a news event? Most of the time, no – it’s just reality with good sound and pictures – but sometimes, for the less-than-scrupulous, the answer is yes. As both an audience and as communications professionals, we have to ask ourselves some hard questions about where reality ends and spectacle begins.

For me – as a member of the Canadian Public Relations Society – I’m bound by my personal and professional code of ethics to always tell the truth and represent that truth well on behalf of my clients - and I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s how I’m built, it’s how I was raised, and I believe it elevates the profession.

But I also won’t apologize – and neither should Reinaldo Sepulveda - for creating the conditions under which the truth can be represented in the most powerful and compelling light.

However, one thing I'm very thankful for is an end to the daily adrenaline rush that accompanied my two years working for the City of Vancouver on their Olympic- and Paralympic-related communications. My friend (and former co-worker) and I were reminiscing over lunch yesterday about how the Wonder Twins (that's us) spent two solid years lunging from deadline to deadline and crisis to crisis. We also talked about how our Generation X-vintage bodies still haven't quite recovered from the ordeal.

Here we go again

Thankfully - although you do kind of miss it, a bit - I haven't felt that adrenaline rush since...until last week, when events and the convergence of multiple deadlines meant I was crazy busy for two weeks straight. When I wasn't working with one of my clients on media strategy, I was:

• organizing media availabilities and having early morning and late evening update calls
• postponing and rescheduling meetings three or four times a week
• Waking up a 2 am for a glass of warm milk (and to check my BlackBerry and send messages back - apparently a couple of newsrooms admired my dedication)
• Sending in drafts (and only noticing the three or four typos after I'd pressed send)
• Working evenings and weekends on editing and writing for a longtime, loyal client who was on a screamer deadline
• Drafting new client proposals
• Editing press releases, writing quotes, sitting in on conference calls and working on Qs and As.

I think I might have gone for a few runs in there, too. I'm not going to lie - it was kind of fun.

The crash

The downside to all this fun? I've completely crashed. That pace isn't sustainable - not only is it hard on the aging bod, but you really don't have much of a life when you fall down the rabbit hole.

After a long weekend of napping, sleeping, napping and more sleeping, I'm still knackered. To be honest, I'm working from home today in part because of my desk's close proximity to the couch.

What my friend and I couldn't believe yesterday was that we did this for two years straight. Two years of adrenaline rushes, conference-call multi-tasking, project juggling, media availabilities and late-night texting. I don't know how we made it through in one piece. The exhaustion I'm feeling right now shows what a toll stress can take on your body and your mind. 

OK. Time for a nap...and to develop some new strategic partnerships.

As I walked home from the theatre, I couldn't help but think of Ben Affleck's other Boston-based film (and his directorial debut), Gone Baby Gone, starring his younger brother Casey Affleck. Yes, that would be Casey Affleck who - with his brother-in-law, Joaquin Phoenix, perpetrated a big ol' hoax centring around the apparent decent of Phoenix into addiction, weight gain and just plain weirdness for their joint "documentary," I'm Still Here.

(Okay, so the only thing hanging this narrative together is the brother angle, but here goes anyhow...)

However, the true star of this film (I hope he gets nominated for another Oscar for this role) is Pete Postlethwaite as the 60-something Fergus 'Fergie' Colm, one of the few thugs left from Dougie's father's generation in Boston who rules Charlestown behind the counter of his own flower shop. The brilliant British actor - best known for his stand out roles in The Usual Suspects, In the Name of the Father (as Daniel Day Lewis' character's loyal father), and my personal favourite, Brassed Off with Ewan MacGregor - chills with his restrained performance of an Irish immigrant and leaves no doubt who's in charge of these young bank robbers as they plan the heist of their lives.

See. This. Movie.

This week, it was also revealed that Joaquin's bizarre descent into...who knows what (drugs, hip hop, weight gain, delusion) over the past year was all part of a "character" he created and lived 24 hours a day (the ultimate in Method acting, I suppose one could say) for...a movie. 

We all learned of Joaquin's apparent fall into the abyss from this now-legendary bizarre appearance on Letterman, while Phoenix was supposedly promoting his last film, the critically acclaimed Two Lovers. With his strange hair, sunglasses and bizarre speech, Phoenix was a shock. Letterman pulled no punches in the interview, mocking Phoenix mercilessly to the nervous peals of laughter from a delighted audience. (I sat the front row of Letterman this past April - the guest was a much-less exciting Dr. Phil - and can say that the Ed Sullivan Theatre is more intimate than it appears on television...I can't imagine what it would have been like to be part of that audience).

Phoenix returned to David Letterman's show this week, with a clean-shaven appearance, an apology and the admission that the entire performance was a hoax. Phoenix awkwardly explained that the film is a commentary on the celebrity - how it consumes those who have it and leaves no part of their life private or untouched. The filmmakers experimented with what happens when celebrity is lost, or when a celebrity crashes and burns in the public eye (look at Lindsay Lohan's current predicament, or Phoenix's own brother River Phoenix's own tragic death in 1993). 

Letterman (who wasn't in on the joke, though Phoenix implies he should have 'known the difference') pulled even fewer punches in last week's interview, asking Phoenix whether he'd been made a fool of and delivering an ascerbic threat to sue both he and Casey Affleck for using almost five minutes of last year's interview in their film without compensation. Phoenix laughed and awkwardly asked if they could discuss this further in private. I bet Phoenix got on the phone with is lawyer after that interview....

I don't pretend to understand or fully appreciate the merits of performance art like this. However, on a certain level I kind of admire Affleck and Phoenix's commitment to this performance. Art truly imitated life.

And yet, I find myself asking myself, "who cares?" The very business these people are in - the brothers Affleck, Joaquin Phoenix - depends on celebrity for its success. No one would care (including me) if not for their celebrity. It is a necessary pre-condition to financial and critical success in film to be celebrated by your audience. 

Of course, there are the clear examples of where the cult of celebrity goes too far (Lohan, the Pitt-Jolies, Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise (aka TomKat), Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopex (Bennifer) and Princess Diana are well-known examples). But there are also examples of celebrities (including - ironically - Ben Affleck and wife Jennifer Garner) who have succeeded in carving out a life that is not defined by their celebrity alone.

Who cares? Well, I suppose I'm a pop-culture nut enough to care enough to even write this post. But don't expect me to run out and see I'm Still Here (if it's playing anywhere here in Vancouver). 

Definitely a rental.

I consider myself a 'creative professional,' in the sense that my creativity, ideas, improvisation and sense of humour that make me good at developing good communication strategy and, on a tactical level, a great headline or piece of copy. Having said that, I am a writer in the most "practical" sense of the word. 

Philosophically, I don't define myself as "a writer," like many of the people in my field do. Rather, writing is the tool I use to bring my creative ideas to life. It's a mechanism that allows me to express myself and my ideas in a way that makes sense to most people. Thinking about writing this way makes it easy for me to put words in someone else's mouth - to write a speech or a joke or a line of copy that will belong to and be credited to my client. 

Why is it easy for me? Because my attachment is not to the words themselves - or to the credit for writing those words - but to the process of creation and how my words help to form the basis of a narrative and a communications approach that really works. That's where I get my satisfaction. I let my clients be the stars...and they let all their friends know who their star-maker was.

But many other professional writers and creative people - including brilliant advertising and brand strategists, graphic and web designers, artists who produce renderings for architects and futurists, and actors, to name a few - aren't so lucky. These are the true artists, who can come up with turns of phrase I could only dream about creating. Who create a visual landscape that can be stunning, moving and mesmerizing - all at the same time. Who can portray the character that's been created for them for a commercial flawlessly. Who perfectly embody in design what I'm trying to communicate in words and style and approach. And for these artists, the process of letting go of their work - particularly when it's not perfect or as good as it could be - can be difficult, wrenching or even devastating.

In my post, “Why Content and Strategy Will Always Be King”, I weighed in on social media and Vancouver PR leader Mat Wilcox’s decision to call her agency quits last month. I’m flattered to say Ms. Wilcox read my blog post and even retweeted it, but she didn’t formally respond to the rampant speculation about the agency’s closure until this article in BC Business Magazine was published last week.

What’s interesting about the BC Business piece – at least for me – is the 'elephant in the living room' that wasn’t really tackled head on by the writer or any of the local PR big-wigs interviewed for the article (other than Wilcox herself): how the pace of change PR is putting the traditional agency business model into question, and putting sole proprietors and smaller firms on the bleeding edge of the industry. I don’t know, you be the judge, but it’s kind of exciting for people like me to think about the possibilities.

Moving along….

Early adopters, tipping point and all that

It was this article in Wired and a similar blog post from a guy I follow on Twitter that really got the steam coming out of my ears, hot on the heels of the “PR is dead” speculation. While I agree with some of what the authors say, I’m not wild about some of the conclusions they reached about the imminent demise of websites.

One of the things that really rankles me about all this talk about websites being dead is that the surface of the potential of websites hasn’t even been scratched by 99 per cent of humanity. Sure, there are people out there who adopted the web eons before the rest of us, and for those early adopters today’s websites must be ‘so yesterday’. 

To be fair, there are some bad websites out there. I can’t believe there are companies in the communications industry (that’s right – professional communicators) that don’t even have a website, and if they do...it’s not always that good.

Get a website, for Pete’s sake

As an aside, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that it’s essential for anyone who wants to be seen as a competitor in the marketing communications business to have a website. It’s the 21st century version of a business card, except that it’s more versatile and as one of my friends often reminds me, it’s a forgiving medium. I mean, my website isn’t fancy by any stretch, but there are companies out there with websites that look like they were created at the dawn of the internet (and perhaps they were), with typography and design that looks like something from a ShamWow commercial. And more than a few have “latest news" sections that haven't been updated since January 2006. (Meow. Table for one, bowl of cream.)

Many old-school communicators still put far more value on - and time into - print products or collateral. Sure, there will always be a market for that amongst a certain set - depending on what you're communicating - but most of us now go online to get what we need.

The simple reasons I think the web isn’t dead…at least, not yet

While the editorial team at Wired can go ahead and draw the conclusion that the static content of some websites needs to be ditched for the dynamic content of social media, the rest of us continue to rely on the web for just about everything. In fact, even the most frequent users of social media do so to drive users – that’s right...wait for it – to their websites.

Let’s go over just a few things that people use websites for every day, replacing forever their print versions:

• News and current events
• Background on new employees (before there was Facebook, there was Google)
• Phone numbers
• Addresses
• Bus schedules
• Information on products and services
• Photos of public figures and awesome actors like John Cusack
• Music
• Restaurant reviews
• A vast universe of pop culture trivia, science trivia, historical trivia and just about every other kind of trivia

I needn’t go on, but I could. For a long, long time. I agree that being on the web and not also using social media in this day and age – especially if you’re trying to reach an online audience and be relevant – is a little retro. But to take the leap from there that the web is dead is…well…ridiculous.

I could say more, but I need to wrap up this article, borrow images from a website to make this post look pretty, and distribute my latest blog post using social media (unless you’ve signed up for my RSS feed).

Bye.

Roger - like Donald Draper - is a World War II veteran (remember, this is 1964 - many 40- to 50-something men would have fought in the war or had been in the armed forces). For Roger, even considering working for a Japanese company was unthinkable - a betrayal of all that they fought and died for against the Japanese in the Pacific.

Don and the rest of the firm saw it differently. Don had no reservations about working for a Japanese company - in fact, he went to great pains to understand (and use to his advantage) the nuances fo their culture, so that he might better understand and impress the client. (Rule number one of marketing and communications: know your audience. Know your client.) Most consultants will encounter opportunities to do work for a client that they neither respect nor like. What to do?

I think that one of the reasons PR, marketing and advertising get such a bad name is that there are many firms who will work for anybody that walks through the door with a big enough account. This practice takes values out of our business and makes it all about money. The tricky thing about our business is that the tools we use to communicate are the same, whether we're launching a new environmental organization, or helping to save the reputation of a company whose negligence has permanently damaged a local salmon-spawning stream. 

But for those of us who believe in something greater than ourselves, values do matter in business. We don't take every client that walks through the door, and there are some clients we'd never ask for a meeting with. We check our internal moral compass and ask ourselves some serious questions:

• Does the client believe in what they're doing?
• Is the client - according to my own values - making a positive contribution to the community or world in which I live?
• Can I feel good about working for this client and make a positive contribution to their success?

Sometimes, when you don't have enough information about your client's business activities yet to make an objective assessment, I find it just comes down to gut instinct. Do I like this person? When they say they care about my city or my community, is it authentic - do I believe them? My dad will sometimes counsel me to ask: "Is this someone I'd want break bread with?" The point is: if you wouldn't want to have a meal with them, why would you want to work with them?

This isn't as simple as it sounds, of course. It's hard to turn down business, especially when times are lean and you could use the extra work. Intestinal fortitude is required to turn down any business, particularly without offending the potential client (like Roger did in his xenophobic, racist tirade in front of the executives from Honda).

As a small business person, I've got to be honest - I want to build something I can be proud of and can make a living at. Everyone in business wants that. But for me, it's got to be about more than that. While I agree that racism and old cultural assumptions aren't a good reason to turn down work, I'm pretty sure I'm pickier about who I work with than SCDP would be.

I know consultants who work for clients whom they neither care about nor enjoy doing work for, but they hang on to the business anyhow, for the money. On the flip side, I know consultants who do amazing work with non-profits and cause-based organizations, but struggle to survive because they undervalue their services and discount too deeply, or are forced to deal with the feast-and-famine highs and lows of the non-profit granting cycle.

The key is to find a balance. Find some clients that are doing good, honest work but perhaps aren't setting the world on fire with their activism. Complement those accounts with a few clients that make you feel really excited about getting up in the morning, and feed your need help the people and causes you believe make a difference in the world. While you don't want to go too far down this road, discounting your rates for non-profits or providing some assistance pro bono once in a while makes sense. Just don't sell yourself short. The bottom line is, if you're worried about keeping your doors open or a roof over your head, how can you possibly be able to help others achieve their ambitious goals?

Most importantly, find things that you're passionate about in your own non-work life - through volunteer work, activism or by donating money to the organizations and issues you believe in the most. Feed your need to make a difference in every part of your life, not just for a living.

Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? Something has got to be said. This is getting out of hand.

Either I’m going to sound impossibly retro in what follows, or I will be hailed as the wise voice of experience (who is startlingly insightful for someone of her young age), encouraging everyone to keep calm and carry on.

Social media so did not kill the PR star...
Much has been said in the local PR industry about Mat Wilcox’s recent decision to close her venerable 15-year old Vancouver-based PR firm, Wilcox PR. I’ve never met Mat, but her reputation as one of the best in the business in Canada precedes her, and I’m sure her next entrepreneurial communications venture will be an extraordinarily successful one.

Having said that, Wilcox’s announcement was met with a frisson of excitement, confusion and discussion in the Vancouver communications industry about the state of PR and what this all means for the local market, and for PR practitioners in general. To be fair, the conclusion – as one blogger put it, that “social media killed the PR star” – was based on an interpretation of Wilcox’s statement on her website: “We love working in social media – it’s a new and exciting frontier for communications and business – but the financial model to support this shift simply isn’t here yet.”

Reading this, some PR practioners in the market felt panic. If Mat Wilcox can’t compete in the face of social media (she wasn't saying this, by the way), how could they ever make it? Thankfully, the fuss has also created an opportunity for dialogue, water-cooler debate and self-reflection on the changing nature of the communications business, and how we – as those who market ourselves as experts in the field - need to be nimble and flexible enough to adjust to the changing demands of the industry and needs of our clients.

So what do I think of all of this?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: social media is a tactic, a powerful tool in the overall marketing communications toolbox, but not an end in itself. Social media doesn’t think, it doesn’t feel, and it can’t replace a 20-year relationship with a reporter or the legacy of a powerful brand. Social media can’t kill PR or any other form of communication because it’s only one (influential) stop on a continuum of communication. And who says the old king must die for the new king to live? (Don't answer that...)

Don’t be a dinosaur, people
Social media isn’t the first communication technology that’s threatened to make professional communicators and marketers (and paper, for that matter) obsolete, and it won’t be the last. What gives social media power is not the medium itself. To paraphrase the great Eric Clapton, it's in the way that you use it.

To survive in this industry, it isn’t enough to become fluent in the different means of getting the message out to the right audiences. You need to wait and watch for the signs of change in how people access, use and consume information. Eventually, you need to act on what you see, with an unwavering confidence in your sound judgment about what the best and most effective communications channels are for your client. Choose to ignore the signs, however, and you're choosing to be left behind. Where communicators fail is in settling in to a one-size-fits-all approach to providing service to their clients.

Just because it worked like a charm 20 years ago, doesn't mean it'll work today. And isn’t that one of the oldest stories in the world? Older generations that aren’t willing to change or give way to new ways of thinking and doing things? Bob Dylan said it best.

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

-- The Times They Are a-Changin', Bob Dylan, 1964

Phew, what a rant - and I'm just getting started. In a future post, I’ll weigh why websites are anything but passé.

I got the idea for this post from a former colleague (and talented communications coordinator) who nevertheless had very little experience with media relations, and almost no experience with media sponsorship. She called to ask me for some basic advice on what to offer the media outlet in return for their sponsorship.

Sponsorship is essential for community activities and events where you don't have enough money to produce the event or to advertise extensively. In return, you provide sponsors with recognition - typically, the more they give you in cash or in kind, the more recognition and profile they get. Companies like Bailey's (see add to the left) and Hallmark still sponsor entire television shows today. In many instances, advertising is sponsorship, particularly when it's purchased in association with a specific show (like Sex and the City) or an event (like the SuperBowl or the FIFA World Cup). 

Media sponsorship is a unique - and critical - subset of the overall sponsorship pie. So let's go over the basics of media sponsorship. 

What is media sponsorship?

What is Mad Men? The Coles Notes Summary

For the uninitiated, here’s a quick summary. The show is centred around the character of Don Draper (played to classic handsome perfection by American actor Jon Hamm). Draper is the creative director and founding partner at the fictional New York ad agency, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce (SCDP). It tells the story of Don’s complicated life among the shifting social mores of early 1960s America.

Much has been said of executive producer Matthew Weiner’s meticulous attention to detail, from fashion to props, to well-researched commentary on culture clashes, advertising and gender roles in mid-century America. I also love how the show has single-handedly popularized early 1960s men’s and women’s fashions again, bringing class and modesty back to office and making women who dress well, eat three meals a day and have curves a feminine ideal again (thank goodness).

Obviously, there are many parts of the show I can’t relate to, including:

• Drinking at the office during meetings and at lunch, and then taking afternoon naps at the office to recover
• Having a sofa in my office (though I keep nagging my landlord about this one)
• Humiliating myself for my biggest client, a cigarette manufacturer (um, no and no)

However, the show is delving into some essential truths about the advertising business that make a lot of sense to me, and reflect my own experience as a marketing communications generalist (neither a PR hack nor an “ad woman”). This season, the creators have, for the first time, introduced a branch of the marketing communications business that still remains a vague mystery to many advertising agencies. Yes, that’s right, people – I’m talking about public and media relations.

In the premier episode, the new SCDP took two big steps into the world of PR: the first when Peggy (a ground-breaking copywriter at the agency who worked her way up from the steno pool) came up with the idea for a staged PR stunt for one of the firm's clients – a local grocery store and deli – to sell more hams (it worked); and the second, when Don Draper thrilled viewers and a Wall Street Journal reporter with the dramatic (and true) tale of how their new agency got its start, in order to promote their fledgling agency and get more clients in the door.

For the first time, the great ad men were forced to admit that communications and PR have value, power and credibility with consumers that cannot be accomplished by advertising alone. This is something I’ve known for a long time, having come up in the communications business in government, where there the separation between advertising, creative, web, events and media relations is pretty much non-existent.

It was only when I began working in the private sector (believe it or not...for those of you who think private sector is always better) that I discovered there are entire disciplines in marketing, communications and advertising that operate completely separated from one another, with specialists in advertising that know nothing about communications, and visa versa. This has never made any sense to me (and has also enabled me to move relatively seamlessly from fielding calls on the media line to banging out ad copy in the marketing department).

I wasn’t the only person to pick up this vibe in Mad Men’s first episode. The Wall Street Journal’s Natasha Vargas-Cooper wrote a great blog post last month on what she called “the promiscuous mingling of art and copy,” as the advertising industry came to terms with the fact that creative (to those not in the business, that has traditionally referred to artwork) and copy – communications – had to work together to sell product. Many advertising agencies today still believe that art is king - and do so to their peril. 

There’s so much more I could write about the convergence of communications and advertising, but I’ll have to save it for another post - this week’s Mad Men is going to be on soon.

For more related reading, I highly recommend TBWA Vancouver’s Andrea Southcott’s column in last Monday’s Report on Business Magazine  that – among other things – talks about the role that marketing communications is now playing in supporting winning campaigns for powerful brands like Gatorade and Old Spice.

Comment away, if you’ve got more to add on this. I’ll have more to say…after Mad Men is over….