Une nouvelle aventure s’amorce: j’ai accepté l’invitation de Keith McArthur et me joindrai à la belle équipe médias sociaux de Rogers Communications Inc. dès lundi. Un retour au sources pour moi; j’ai fait mes premiers pas en relations publiques au sein de l’équipe des communications d’entreprise de Microcell Télécom, ancien «maître» de Fido. J’y retrouverai des visages familiers et aurai le grand plaisir de rejoindre d’anciens collègues et amis. Cette fois-ci, je me concentrerai sur l’évolution des médias sociaux à travers l’ensemble des filiales de Rogers, y compris la télécommunication, Rogers Media et les équipes sportives. Rogers est un grand terrain de jeu et j’ai bien hâte d’y avoir accès. Seule Québécoise au sein de mon équipe, je conseillerai principalement les équipes marketing et RP en matière de médias sociaux pour les marchés francophones. Vous pourrez me lire sur FilRouge et me suivre via mon compte Rogers sur Twitter.

La vie est remplie d’opportunités. Il faut savoir les reconnaître et les saisir.

I’m embarking on a new adventure: I’ve accepted Keith McArthur‘s invitation to join the fabulous social media team at Rogers Communications Inc, starting on Monday. You could say I’m circling back to where it all began – Fido is where I  first got my start in corporate communications, back when Fido’s master was Microcell Teleom. Some of the truly sharp people who started off with me then are still there, and it’ll be a real treat to work with them again. This time around, I could be called upon to provide social media strategic counsel to any one of Rogers’ subsidiaries, including telecom, Rogers Media and its sports teams. Rogers is a huge playground and I’m eager to get my hands dirty. The only « Québécoise » on the team, I’ll work closely with PR and marketing groups on initiatives for the francophone market. You’ll be able to read me at  FilRouge, Rogers’ French language blog, as well as follow my Rogers account on Twitter.

Life is filled with opportunities. Recognizing and seizing them is half the battle.

De nouveaux horizons s’ouvrent à moi: on m’a approché pour m’offrir … et j’ai accepté … un poste dans une entreprise d’envergure nationale, dont je divulguerai l’identité dans les prochains jours. Il s’agit d’une très belle opportunité qui me permettra de développer davantage ma passion pour les médias sociaux au sein d’une équipe dynamique et convaincue. Les marchés québécois et canadiens ont pris de la maturité depuis les deux dernières années, et voilà que de plus en plus d’entreprises ajoutent cette corde à leur arc; les médias sociaux s’intègrent maintenant régulièrement dans les stratégies des professionnels en communication, et j’en suis la première ravie. À mon tour maintenant d’en profiter!

Je retourne donc en entreprise, riche de mes expériences chez HKDP/Hill + Knowlton. Mon seul regret est d’avoir à quitter une si belle équipe et les clients que j’ai eu le grand plaisir d’accompagner. Mes nouveaux collègues du bureau de Montréal sont impressionnants, et j’aurais beaucoup aimé travailler davantage avec eux. Les collègues des bureaux de Montréal, de Québec et à travers le Canada (pour ne pas dire le monde) que je côtoie depuis deux ans me manqueront énormément. Le monde des communications étant très petit, je suis certaine que nous nous croiserons souvent à l’avenir.

Pour ce qui en est de mes clients: sachez que je vous laisse entre de très bonnes mains. Marc Snyder prendra ma relève chez HKDP. Si j’ai été la troisième pro des relations publiques à bloguer au Québec, Marc était le premier. Il assumera ce rôle avec brio, j’en suis convaincue.

Je demeure en poste à l’Université de Montréal: les étudiants du cours REP2300 relations avec les médias ne seront pas abandonnés! Je garde aussi les clients de Michelle Sullivan Communications. J’ai toutefois dû annuler ma présentation de fin de mois à la SQPRP, vu mon horaire excessivement chargé ce mois-ci. On se reprendra.

Pour ce qui en est de mon nouvel employeur … j’entre en poste le 23 janvier prochain. Je vous en reparlerai sous peu… À suivre!

New year, new horizons. I was approached, offered … and have decided to accept … a position in a major Canadian company, whose identity I’ll reveal in the coming days. I’m being given a wonderful opportunity to work with a dynamic team already convinced of the value of social media. The Quebec and Canadian markets have matured in the last couple of years, and we’re seeing more and more small, medium and large companies embrace social media, to my great satisfaction. It’s time to reap the rewards!

So I’m going back to the client side, taking my experiences at HKDP/Hill + Knowlton with me. My only regret is that I’m leaving behind wonderful colleagues and clients. My new colleagues in HKDP’s Montreal office are an impressive bunch, and I’m sorry that I won’t have the chance to work with them further. I’ll miss the wonderful H+K specialists I’ve had the pleasure of working with for the past two years worldwide, including in Montreal, Quebec City and across Canada. Knowing how small the communications world can be, however, I can only hope our paths will cross again.

As for my clients: know that I’m leaving you in excellent hands. Marc Snyder will be taking over as HKDP’s social media specialist. While I was the third PR blogger in Quebec, Marc was the first. I know that his years of experience and dynamic personality will serve the agency and its clients well.

I continue as professor at the University of Montreal. My student of the  REP2300 relations avec les médias media relations course will not be neglected! I’m also keeping my clients from my consulting days. I have, however, been forced to cancel the conference I was scheduled to give at the end of the month at the SQPRP, given my insane schedule this month. We’ll come back to it at a later date.

As for the identity of my new employer … patience, patience! I start January 23rd, so all will be revealed shortly …

Case in point, the protests which continue in Egypt following the events of this past year’s Arab Spring. Video of the « Girl in the Blue Bra » has ignited reactions from around the world, including comments by US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, as quoted by The Daily Telegraph:

Recent events in Egypt have been particularly shocking. Women are being beaten and humiliated in the same streets where they risked their lives for the revolution only a few short months ago (…) This systematic degradation of Egyptian women dishonours the revolution, disgraces the state and its uniform and is not worthy of a great people.

Shot by an amateur videographer from a rooftop, this footage is only one of the thousands of videos which have emerged from what has been dubbed the Arab Spring. In a country like Egypt, where mobile phone penetration is at 91%, a camera phone is a powerful communications tool which becomes a weapon in the protester’s arsenal.

While, according to YouTube’s own year-end top 10 list, most Canadians were watching videos of cats, babies and Rebecca Black in 2011, hundreds of protesters were documenting events in their cities and sharing them online. While most are viewed only by a small number, lost in the sea of YouTube videos, some, like that of the Girl in the Blue Bra, touch a particular cord and spread, much as the video of the death of Neda Agha-Soltan had during the Iranian protests of 2009.The moving image remains a powerful thing. It’s even more powerful when coupled with a platform like Facebook and its network of « friends ». Simply by clicking on a share button, we can express our outrage on our Facebook profile. And our 130 Facebook friends can hear about it.

Arab spring. The Occupy Movement. Each now with their iconic videos.

The whole world is watching.

When Jack Layton passed away, I decided to postpone publication of this blog post to pay tribute to him. The positive reaction that my 500th blog post garnered reinforced the notion that social media in general and blogs in particular are a wonderful way for me, as an individual, to connect in meaningful ways with other members of my tribe. Thank you for everyone who took the time to write and speak to me about what I’d written.

In that 500th blog post, I alluded to the fact that I was going to change the direction this blog has been taking for the past 4 years. When I first launched this social-media-for-PR blog in January of 2007, there were only 2 other PR bloggers in Quebec. I had been excited about the possibilities social media opened up for our industry and our clients for a few years by then, and was eager to share and discuss my discoveries with my PR tribe.

Mission accomplished. Far from single-handedly, mind you! Along with many other early adopters and social media zealots, I’ve managed to convince a colleague or two to take a look at social media for PR and I’m pleased with the inroads that have been made. We’ve been joined by the industry mainstream and social media is taking root in the Quebec PR landscape. There now are dozens of Quebec-based blogs, Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, Google+ profiles and LinkedIn Groups – not to mention Third Tuesdays, Camps and other events – available to Quebec PR types hungry to stay abreast of the latest developments in social media.

I’ve written hundreds of blog posts presenting social media case studies, tools and best practices for PR professionals. Now, many more voices have joined and there’s a wealth of information out there. It’s fantastic.

And it’s why I’m now able to shift gears.

I’m going to start concentrating less on the tools and innovations, and more on the impact social media and the Internet in general is having on society, on tribes, on individuals. You’ll see less of this and more of this and of this. And you’ll probably hear more about tribes than you ever thought possible. I may just have to rename this blog …

I also intend to focus more on the public affairs side of PR, moving away from where social media seems to have found an easy and natural fit – marketing communications. So no more brand name case studies. There are other great blogs for that kind of thing. I want to take a look at how lobby groups – whether corporate or grassroots – are leveraging social media to effect political and social change.

Fifth gear: Lowest power, highest speed. Used for high speed cruising on dual carriageways, motorways and other such open roads.

Third gear: Used for driving uphill, through a hazard at speed and where a greater degree of power is needed than fourth will allow.

This blog is shifting into third gear. The hazards are greater in number, the stakes are higher. We’re talking about people’s lives and how they use social media to change the world around them.

It’s going to be a fascinating ride. And yes, I pick up hitchhikers.

Dear Photograph is an absolute gem. I love visiting it for its poignancy and sense of history.

With a google reader filled with social media marketing and PR blogs, it’s nice to take a breather and remember that the social web is as beautifully diverse and complex as the individuals who occupy the space.

When’s the last time you visited a blog for pleasure? Or blogged your passion (and I’m not talking about your passion for social media)

In Japan, the term aware (pron. a-wa-ray) speaks to a reverence for the « transient beauty and mortality of all things ». Mono no aware is often translated as « the ‘ahh-ness’ of things », life, and love. Awareness of the transience of all things heightens appreciation of their beauty, and evokes a gentle sadness at their passing.

And so it is for me, with Jack. A time to reflect upon the contribution of a great Canadian. «Ce bon Jack» as we say in Quebec, when talking about Jack Layton. And he carried his name well.

In the hours following news of his passing, my mother compared Jack Layton to my father. That’s the highest of compliments .. to Mr. Layton. But she was right. Both were honest, compassionate men of integrity whose true « religion » was love for their fellow man. The outpouring of affection for Jack from Canadians and the urge felt from coast to coast to mourn collectively is deeply touching. When we mourned my father, we were comforted by words of kindness and shared memories from family, friends and acquaintances about the man we’d loved and had lost.  Eleven years later, the passing of a much more public figure shows how far technology and the Internet have brought us in our ability to grieve collectively.

• Facebook allowed me to hear about and participate in a candelight vigil in Montreal
  
• Facebook told me about a movement to inspire Canadians to light a candle in their windows in his memory
• Facebook was used to organize The People’s Procession
• Twitter told me that the CN Tower and Niagara Falls would be lit up in orange lights to honour him
• Flickr brought me stunning photos of the chalk messages at Nathan Philips Square
• Websites allowed me to sign a book of condolences and donate to the Canadian Cancer Society .. and social networks allowed me to encourage my networks to do the same.
• The online sites of traditional media allowed me to follow live streaming of the vigil on Parliament Hill and of the funeral procession and ceremony at Roy Thompson Hall.

And all these online spaces and social networking sites allowed me and thousands of others to share our thoughts about Jack’s passing and legacy with one another in real time.

My father passed away in September of 2000 and friends and family from across Canada and as far away as Ireland gathered for the interment of his ashes a month later. Not being there to receive the condolences of our community in the days following his death was a difficult thing for those who were far away in those first weeks. It is a key stage in the grieving process. Eleven years later, it is clear that developments in technology in general, and of social networking in particular, make physical distance almost inconsequential. We can come together to comfort one another in our grief, and we can collectively share in those all important rituals that accompany death, as they happen.

The social media space is composed of tribes. Tribes with common interests, overcoming physical distances to come together in sharing. Since Jack Layton left us on Monday, Canadians have been gathering online as a tribe of millions, to pay tribute to one of their own, and to comfort one another in their collective grief.

Who said technology alienates us from one another?

Now if you’ll excuse me, now that Jack’s funeral is over I’m going to turn off my laptop and grab my bike for a ride through the Laurentian woods. Time to reflect and quietly pay tribute to this great Canadian.

RIP Jack. You will be sorely missed.

And give my love to my Dad for me. He’ll be the guy welcoming you to the eternal-club-of-good-guys with a golf bag on his shoulder and a warm smile, hand outstretched.

Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day I can hear her breathing.
— Arundhati Roy as quoted by Stephen Lewis, during his eulogy for Jack Layton

KD Lang sings Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah.

Van Morrison’s Into the Mystic

Croire de Martin Deschamps

Lorraine Segato sings Rise Up

The Youngbloods – Get Together

MAJ: Footage from the various ceremonies, including musical tributes, have been circulating online since Jack Layton’s death. Below, I’ve updated the musical list presented above with footage from the funeral ceremony, hosted on YouTube.

Steven Page sings Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah.

Richard Underhill plays Van Morrisson’s Into the Mystic

Croire de Martin Deschamps

Lorraine Segato sings Rise Up

Let’s calm down a little. It’s not because one CAN do something that one SHOULD do it. How about hitting pause on this self-centered age we live in, to think about this a minute. Around the world, in Libya, in Egypt, in Iran, in Tunisia, in Irak, in Afghanistan, people are killing one another in pro-democratic movements.

And what do we do? We get indignant when faced with a law that seeks to protect our democracy and we gear up to defy it on Twitter. To what end?

Yes, the law should be changed to better reflect our new communicational reality. No, we should not sacrifice democracy on the altar of Twitter. Let’s respect our democratic institutions and the right of Western Canadians to express themselves through the vote, free of all external influence.

Bottom line? Grow up.

On election day, until the last polls close in all electoral districts, the Canada Elections Act prohibits the dissemination of:

election advertising

results of election opinion surveys not previously released

election results from other electoral districts

Note to my readers: For the first time since launching this blog over 4 years ago, I’m translating a post. The challenge of having a bilingual blog is that you know that no post can be read by 100% of the people who follow you. I chose a bilingual blog format because I wanted to engage with two communities. It happened that those communities were separated by language. A bilingual blog is a truly Canadian compromise to a truly Canadian dilemna. The problem is that, this time, I want to be read by both anglo and franco Canadians. For those of you who master the language of Molière as well as the language of Shakespeare, my apologies for the redundancy.

Du calme. Ce n’est pas parce qu’on PEUT faire quelque chose qu’on DEVRAIT le faire. Cessons un instant ce nombrilisme collectif qui caractérise trop bien notre époque moderne, pour réfléchir un peu. Partout dans le monde, en Libye, en Egypte, en Iran, en Tunisie, en Irak, en Afghanistan, la population s’entretue dans des luttes pro-démocratiques.

Et nous? On s’indigne face à une loi qui vise à protéger la démocratie et on se prépare à la défier sur Twitter. À quelle fin au juste?

Oui, la loi devrait être changée pour mieux refléter notre nouvelle réalité communicationnelle. Non, on ne devrait pas sacrifier la démocratie sur l’autel de Twitter. Respectons nos institutions démocratiques et le droit de nos concitoyens dans l’Ouest de s’exprimer par la voie électorale, libres de toute influence externe.

Comme ils disent en anglais, Grow Up.

Jusqu’à la fermeture des derniers bureaux de scrutin dans toutes les circonscriptions le jour de l’élection, la Loi électorale du Canada y interdit la diffusion :

de publicité électorale;

des résultats de sondages électoraux non publiés auparavant;

des résultats du vote dans d’autres circonscriptions.

Une présentation du regard d’autrui sur la femme d’hier, question de mieux comprendre la femme d’aujourd’hui, car nous sommes tous le résultat de ce qu’ont vécu nos mères et leurs soeurs.

Ceux qui me connaissent bien savent que je suis historienne de formation. J’ai étudié l’histoire des femmes sous Margaret Kellow à l’University of Western Ontario  et Nadia Fahmy-Eid à l’UQAM et l’histoire de femmes ordinaires et le regard que la société porte sur elles m’ont toujours passionnée.

Un avant-goût de ce que vous trouverez dans ce nouveau blogue, cet extrait nous provient de livre La Mère canadienne et son Enfant publié par le Docteur Ernest Couture en 1945:

«La maternité réalise l’ultime destinée de la femme et marque le plein épanouissement de son existence. Il est donc bien naturel que cette sublime vocation lui procure un si vif contentement, une joie aussi profonde. Si vous avez déjà donné le jour à un enfant, vous savez de quelle douce félicité la venue du petit être a enrichi votre vie. Et si vous allez connaître pour la première fois cette noble fonction, vous êtes, croyez-le bien, au seuil d’un incomparable bonheur.

En raison même du caractère sacré de la maternité, vous ne devez voir dans votre grossesse qu’un motif de réjouissance et de légitime fierté. Considérez donc votre état, non comme une maladie, ni même comme une anomalie, mais comme une fonction toute naturelle. En effet, il vous suffira de prendre quelques précautions indispensables pour pouvoir compter sur l’heureuse issue de ce mémorable événement.»

Jacqueline tenant Mireille dans ses bras, Québec 1945