Last week, I had the pleasure of speaking with communications students at York University about creating an online personal brand and becoming a valuable digital citizen.
As digital becomes increasingly important, a strong online brand is no longer a ‘nice-to-have’ – it’s a need. Creating a brand for yourself is the first step in online reputation management and personal SEO, allowing you to control what comes up first when you’re inevitably Googled.
For a quick but comprehensive overview about personal branding and how you can start building yours today, check out the …

It’s rare to see a company’s Facebook page blowing up for a good reason, but that’s exactly what’s happened to Mark’s Work Wearhouse.
In a move that’s elicited a hugely positive response from consumers, Mark’s Work Wearhouse decided to pull all Caterpillar brand boots from its London, Ont. stores, showing solidarity with local workers after the company shut down a plant in the city.

Impressively, this is only a small sample of the posts that have plastered the company’s Facebook page. Even more impressive is the individual response to each and every …

Since last year’s PR fiasco wasn’t enough, PayPal decided to start 2012 off with a bang.
Once again sticking valiantly to their policies, PayPayl has purportedly ordered the destruction of an antique violin valued at $2,500 after the buyer decided it was fake upon receiving it. While PayPal policies do state that they may ask that items are destroyed (with photographic proof, of course), there are also provisions to ship the offending item back to the seller.

Obviously PayPal went with the more divisive option. While it’s obvious that these measures are …

If you’ve never seen a social media showdown, head over to www.facebook.com/paypal.
In the wee hours of Tuesday morning, PayPal’s Facebook page was taken over by droves of angry Regretsy users. Best known for showcasing Etsy DIY gone wrong, the Regretsy community had been focusing on a Secret Santa drive when PayPal refused to accept it as a charitable measure.
I won’t get into the nitty gritty here – it’s hard to tell right from wrong at this point – but you can see more on the story here, here  and here.

While …

It’s been a year, but o.b. tampons is reaching out to thousands of women who were left high & dry when their favourite tampons were abruptly pulled from the shelves. Yes, it’s true – this time last year, there was a tampon-induced uproar in Canada.
In September 2010, o.b. tampons began going missing from the shelves. At first, it was only extra-absorbent o.b. Ultra, but soon women were turning to hoarding as all varieties of o.b. tampons began to disappear. In a show of true brand loyalty, the women who rely …

When news broke this afternoon that Jack Layton would be holding an afternoon press conference, hearts dropped across the country. Not a word had been said, but we could all imagine that this presser could only bring bad news.
Ever brave and optimistic, an obviously gaunt Layton explained that he would be stepping aside, temporarily, as leader of Her Majesty’s Official Opposition. His cancer was back in a new form. Layton’s speech was eloquent, honest and humbling [read it here]. This sort of announcement could have been disastrous for a newly-emboldened …

I’ve got a confession to make. I think Twitter and I are in the midst of the terrible twos. I’ve been active on social media for just over two years now; just enough time for certain things to start getting on my nerves. I began getting little twinges about a year ago, when Klout and Virgin teamed up to offer Toronto “influencers” a trip to San Francisco or LA. People were clamouring for invites, being a little nasty and feeling quite a bit self-important if they’d received a trip. (Yes, …

…a huge success for Spy in July 2011.

The annual party, held at Spy Films headquarters at Spadina & Front, is hotly anticipated each year. Having never been, I was really excited when my boyfriend, a seasoned Spy in July attendee, asked if I wanted to go. I wasn’t disappointed.
Think you haven’t heard of the Spy team? Trust me, you have. They’re behind these (& so much more):

Stars – Changes (nsfw) from Spy Films on Vimeo.

Batelco – Infinity from Spy Films on Vimeo.
When we arrived around 9 p.m., the party was …

There’s been much ado about nothing today.

Who knew a little punctuation could cause so much grief?
The University of Oxford styleguide (PR edition) no longer supports the use of the Oxford Comma (street name: serial comma).
Big whoop.
For those of you feeling much maligned about the superfluous punctuation’s untimely end, allow me to remind you that we live in Canada. Up here in the True North Strong And Free, the media (for the most part) abides by this little thing called CP Style. In CP Style, the Oxford Comma is banned. Thus, …

By now, you’ve heard the story of U.S. Democratic Representative Weiner, he of Twitpic fame.
[missing out? see the end of this post for The Anatomy of a Scandal]
It sounds like a bad joke: Representative Weiner tweets a photo of his wiener. Unfortunately for the Representative, this situation was no joke. Today, nearly two weeks since the scandal broke, Weiner resigned.

In today’s society, philandering and public embarrassment are no longer political death sentences. Sure, they can severely damage your reputation or lead to whispers, but if correctly handled they’re manageable.
Here’s how …