Trafcom News

Crowdsourcing my Podcamp Toronto session

When I mentioned on Twitter that I was planning to speak at Podcamp Toronto, Twitter buddy Wendy Woods asked if I was looking for ideas regarding my session on “Podcasting and social media inside the organization.” Of course I responded with a resounding “YES.” So Wendy offered up these questions:

• How are they doing it? Are they buying the technology, using it online or outsourcing?
• What purpose are they using it for (town-halls, sales)?
• What are the next waves of uses?
• What are the opportunities for entrepreneurs?

Wendy’s initiative prompts me to ask you, my blog readers: What territory would you like this presentation to cover? Please share your ideas in the comments. And thanks!

Learning from the independent pros

On Wednesday night, January 27, 2010, the IABC/Toronto chapter’s Alliance of Independent Practitioners (AIP) presented a panel discussion with successful communicators, who shared their insights and tips on setting and achieving business goals.  We were really lucky to snag this panel (pictured left to right after me in the red jacket):

Diana Degan Robinson, president of Diana Robinson & Associates and winner of IABC/Toronto's 2009 Award of Distinction for Independent and Small Agency of the Year;
Paul Lima, freelance writer, trainer and author of Six-Figure Freelancer: How to Find, Price and Manage Corporate Writing Assignments, among other books;
Ken Cherney, ABC, APR, MC, an award-winning senior communications practitioner at Ken Cherney and Associates Inc.;
Annette Martell, ABC, MC, an award-winning management consultant and independent consulting associate at TWI Surveys Inc. She has been a guest speaker at IABC international conferences.

I plan to produce a podcast interview next week with Annette, who was not only one of the panelists, but also a skilled moderator at the meeting. In the meantime, my key take-aways?

• You need a business plan. Paul Lima made this abundantly clear. As an independent communicator, you must know who you are, what kind of work you want to do, and which clients you want to work with. Sounds simple, right? But many of us don’t take the time to write down our business vision.
• You must network. Smartly. Annette Martell talked about strategic networking, and volunteering with groups that can help you to learn and to move you toward your goals.
• You must be adaptable. Ken Cherney told us how he relocated to a smaller town for family reasons, and then had to adjust his business and his client base, in the face of a new location and a global recession.
• You must be willing to take risks. Diane Degan Robinson spoke candidly about her experiences at big agencies, and her commitment to sticking with the independent life, despite the challenges. (In my own experience, I’ve turned down offers of full-time employment more than a few times, with no regrets.)

By the way, the next AIP meeting will be held jointly with IABC/Toronto on February 11, 2010. It’s a “munch and mingle” to launch a new green communications guide.  Details and registration are here.

Photo credit: Alan McKenzie of Alan McKenzie Photography.

More event photos here.

Will this video help Adam Giambrone?

Toronto City Councillor and TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) chair Adam Giambrone is being touted as a candidate for Toronto mayor. What do you think of this video? Will it help or hinder his chances? Reading the comments, I'd have to say that he isn't off to a very strong start. Who's advising him on his communications, I wonder? He comes across as pretty lame. And of course the TTC itself has been taking a beating lately, thanks to the snoozing fare collector.

An intranet that works. Really.

Close your eyes and imagine an intranet that works. An intranet that boosts employee productivity and encourages the sharing of knowledge and experiences. An intranet that employees enjoy using every day. No, you’re not dreaming. You’re listening to William Amurgis talk about the intranet at American Electric Power.

Click here to go to the Trafcom News Podcast page, where you can hear the podcast and read the extensive show notes.

Note: You can meet William Amurgis in person at the IABC world conference in Toronto in June.

Turning a cold call into a warm one

I admit that I’m no expert at cold calling. I don’t make cold calls and I don’t know many people who use them as a marketing or sales technique. But I do know about warm calls: phoning people with whom you have some kind of connection or common ground.

The other day I received a cold call. As always, I listened patiently. When someone phones my office line, they’re not usually selling carpet cleaning, lawn care or alarm systems, so I generally give them a few minutes. This time the person launched into what sounded like a script. I’m not a big fan of sounding scripted, even if you are scripted, but ok. (See this post for tips on not sounding scripted.)

The caller stated that he was interested in a position as a communications advisor, which puzzled me. I have no need for such a person, and have never advertised for such a person. After his pitch, we chatted and discovered a few things:

• We both belong to the same professional association.
• He had read my blog post about the IABC Employee Communication conference, and liked it.

I answered “yes” when he asked if he could send me his CV. It arrived today, which prompted me to write this post.

For some reason, I have been thinking of this fellow the past few days, and musing about what he could have done differently. Let’s try this on for size:

• Comment on a blog post that you like.
• If you decide to phone the person who wrote the blog post, you can start by saying, “You don’t know me, but I commented on your post about…” That will get his or her attention.
• If you know that the person belongs to the same association as you (and it’s listed on her Web site, LinkedIn profile, etc., so it’s no secret), say so up front. That’s common ground.
• Don’t apply for a position that doesn’t exist. Rather, ask the person if she knows of any opportunities.

I hope he finds a job soon. If you know of a position in the Greater Toronto Area, I can pass along the name of this communicator, who has a decade of experience in external and internal communication in the not-for-profit, manufacturing, financial, accounting and management consulting sectors. He has an Honours B.A. too.

What do you think? What would you have said to this person?
   

Toronto communications events in January 2010

Gee, I was planning to blog about several events happening this month, then saw that my friend Sue Horner was faster at the gate.

You can read Sue’s nice post here, and get all the juicy details about:

Wednesday, January 20, 6:30-9 p.m.
Halton-Peel Communications Association (HPCA)
“What’s your behaviour style?”
Location: Glen Abbey Library, 1415 Third Line, Oakville, ON

Thursday, January 21, 6-8:15 p.m.
International Association of Business Communicators (IABC)
“The secret to engaging employees: How to bridge the great divide and get your employees’ buy-in”
Location: Sutton Place Hotel, 955 Bay Street, Toronto, ON

Wednesday, January 27, 6-8:55 p.m.
IABC/Toronto’s Alliance of Independent Practitioners (AIP)
“Successful independent practitioners 101: How they got where they are now”
Location: The Assembly Hall, 1 Colonel Samuel Smith Park Drive (Kipling/Lakeshore), Toronto, ON

I hope to see you at both IABC events. As a long-time member of HPCA, I’ll do my best to be at their meeting, too, but that week is jam-packed for me. My calendar looks like planes stacked over LaGuardia.

Happy January!