Skill Set

Over my years in public relations, some of the skills I have developed include:

Communications Planning
In all of my positions I have established corporate communications plans that identified key stakeholders, established messaging strategies, and defined the goals of the department in relation to both the marketing mix and senior management's expectations. As part of any communications plan, I include an extensive analysis of competitors, market trends, SWOT analysis, and clearly outline for management phases of growth upon which performance should be measured against on a quarterly or semi-annual basis.

Written Communications
My written experience has spanned the spectrum of communications writing and has included: news releases, newsletters, multimedia presentations, marketing materials, speeches, internal memos and all staff announcements.

Strategic Messaging
To often people recycle marketing messages and call this strategic messaging when it's not. Strategic messaging can only be accomplished through a blend of understanding the messages being disseminated by competitors, the needs and concerns of customers / publics, the current and existing trends within the market place, and the views of existing opinion leaders. A thorough understanding of these variables allows an organization to enter into the public arena in an intelligent and thoughtful manner, dramatically increasing its capacity to successfully reach its key stakeholders with a message that resonates.

Relationship Management
One of the key differentiators to how successful an organization is in communicating is how it manages its relationships with key stakeholders. I pride myself on having an exemplary track record of managing relationships with reporters, analysts, customers, and resellers that has ensured that the organization I represent is seen as being thoughtful, respectable and concerned with its stakeholders' needs.

Logistics
From news wire services to media lists I am a strong proponent of PR services and processes being optimized at all times so that communications departments consistently run smoothly and efficiently. Knowing how to streamline operations so that people's time and energy is spent on the things that really matter has been a key element of my success to date. Being efficient, as well as cost effective, depends on having finely tuned operations.

Event Management
From trade shows to analyst summits, I have managed a variety of corporate events and their associated communications activities. Events are either first impressions or last impressions and always provide PR with an opportunity to deepen existing relationships or set the stage for positive new relationships.

Agency Management
Maximizing the return-on-investment from agency contracts is essential in the decision to use out-of-house resources. Many organizations use agencies but fail to manage the resource appropriately, and often see little or no return. My past management of agency resources has shown a consistent ability to maximize returns and justify expenses. 

Marketing
In all of my positions I have worked closely with marketing and assisted in a wide variety of marketing tasks, including: product placement, product testing, message formulation, customer testimonials, Web site design, and branding exercises.

Soft Skills

In addition to my PR skills, my past success has also been in large part a function of my soft skills, which include:

- being a consensus builder
- Being results and deadline oriented
- Focused under pressure
- Extremely comfortable working with a diverse range of executives
- Ethical, honest and reliable
- Highly efficient at digesting and summarizing large amounts of information

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Fireside Chat

Q: So why did you become a professional communicator?

A: After graduating with a degree in psychology I began thinking about how my knowledge of how people process the world around them could be applied in a practical sense.

At the same time, I had two other interests outside of psychology. The first was writing and the second was a long-time fascination with the process by which White House press secretaries would interact with the media in communicating with the public. While I was never particularly interested in politics, what I did find interesting was how different press secretaries had different styles of communicating and how those styles could literally change the perspective of a nation (and even the world).

It was around this time that I realized that my interest in human psychology, cross functional writing abilities and fascination with how people and institutions communicate really made Public Relations the perfect career for my skill set and professional interests.


Q:What areas of PR are you most interested in?

A: I've worked in the tech sector so far and have enjoyed that environment. I genuinely believe that companies that fail to build brand equity in the market fail to achieve their full potential. When you think of the brands that have lasted - Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Cisco, Nike, etc. - they were all organizations that were committed to their brand from inception. Brand equity is the greatest competitive differentiator in the market and is a huge factor behind preventing competitive encroachment on a company's existing market. So corporate communications is a fascinating and challenging environment to do communications - and highly rewarding because of its long-term impact on the growth capacity a company has within the market.

Outside of the private sector I find myself most interested in communications as it applies to organizations that are seeking to have a social impact on the world we live in. So much of the hard work that organizations do goes unrecognized because they don't aggressively pursue relationships with key stakeholders - adopting almost an overly humble attitude towards their social importance. One experience I hope to have some day is to take the communications philosophies that I found so successful in the private sector and apply them to the public sector. In many ways, I see this model as having been a big part of President Obama's success - applying corporate models of stakeholder communications to a public sector organization (whether that was his campaign or current White House policies).

Q: What has been your biggest PR achievement to date?

A: I think getting the cover of Canadian Business Magazine for NewHeights Software has been the accomplishment I'm most proud of. Although perhaps tied for first would also be Mitel's appearance on CNBC's Kudlow & Cramer. In terms of channel and internal communications, The Butcher Report remains one of the communications vehicles I'm most proud to have established.

Q: How do you see PR evolving in the future?

A:  I think PR, whether it be in the private or public sector, is only going to grow in importance. Two-way communications - whether that be through direct social media or traditional methods of using opinion leaders as intermediaries with key publics - is gaining prominence in relation to tradition one-way marketing.

While marketing remains the backbone of defining an organization's value proposition, publics and customers are increasingly expecting a conversational tone when being engaged. The old model of 'This will make your life better so buy it' is being replaced with 'Let me explain how what we are doing relates to your needs, views and concerns.'

While seeming similar - a pitch versus a conversation have very different effects on audiences. I think PR is more frequently going to be used to draw audiences in to taking an interest in the marketing value propositions - so a model in which the first step is to build trust with key publics then present the offering. Whereas traditionally publics bought in to an organization's offering and then based on their result formed a view on whether they could be trusted in the future. Today's publics wants to feel like they can trust an organization before they commit themselves to their offering. Or in the public sector, publics want to trust an organization before they incorporate information or programs in to their life and personal views.

Q: Do you consider yourself a Spin-master?

A: Any form of communication, whether it be with customers, partners, colleagues, or even in your personal life, depends on trust. Short term 'spin' ultimately will erode long-term trust from key stakeholders. I firmly believe that 50% of a PR person's job is to be an advocate for external stakeholders and to ensure that external and internal communications standards are built upon honesty - even when it may be painful to do so.

Now, does this mean that PR folks shouldn't champion their organization? Not at all, in fact the opposite. It's not 'spin' to express pride and confidence in your organization's achievements and ambitions - it only becomes 'spin' when you actively hide facts which would provide stakeholders with all the information required to have a truly realistic perspective on your organization. Too many organizations try to appear perfect and in doing so arouse suspicion that they are in fact 'spinning'. Being proud of your organization, both its strengths and flaws, will get your message across with greater success than putting on a fake persona of perfection.

Q: So what are your future plans in PR?

A: Over the next few years I'd like to continue gaining experience in the field of PR and helping organizations break out of having a limited sphere of influence with their publics. I still get a kick out of increasing an organization's relevance and market / public impact by ensuring their message and story is being heard.

In the long run I could see myself starting an agency. I believe we have only scratched the surface on the impact communications can have on the world around us and an agency founded on strong, success-oriented principles of communications would be an exciting endeavor to undertake.