This gives me a bit of pause to reflect on my involvement developing the campaign branding and marketing during my time working as United Way’s communications coordinator. The work I was proud to develop for this past campaign will always be a career highlight.

Actually, proud isn’t the right word at all. The personal significance of my involvement with the campaign branding wasn’t the work itself; but rather the experience of discovering the marketing stories and the people behind them. I was inspired by the three story subjects, and deeply touched as I worked with them to nurture their stories into powerful messages to share with the public.

In the posters above are Colton, Bernardine and John. You can learn more about them through the campaign brochure (462kb .pdf download) or meet them through the campaign video.

Each of them are individuals from the community whose lives have literally been transformed from periods of challenge to great success. But none had previous experience being in the public spotlight… so in working with them I was actually able to be a part of another transformation.

I worked over several months to learn and write the stories of how each of these three amazing individuals’ lives changed for the better. Each of them was also developed into confident public personalities: I arranged their first-ever studio photo and video shoot and coached them in public speaking. Soon, they were ready to stand in front of their community as the public faces of United Way.

Not only was I very touched to see their stories develop into messaging that inspired the public… but we were all moved to witness how much Colton, Bernardine and John also gained from the experience. John sent me several emails over the course of the campaign telling me of the thrilling experiences he had speaking to the public on behalf of United Way. The audience was gaining inspiration by hearing his personal story… and yet John kept on saying: “thank you for this opportunity… this has changed my life… this is really my passion.” John is going on to a clear path of public speaking: his employer TD Canada Trust has invited him to speak to national audiences and profiled to his journey as the public face of United Way.

The three story subjects gave a lot to United Way to create a powerful and inspiring branding campaign… but the transformation they all experienced as we worked together on building the campaign has touched my life forever. It’s really the finest type of branding: truly inspiring stories of people’s lives who have changed. And the fact that their lives changed again through their involvement in the marketing project is the finest legacy I could ever wish for any communications work.

This project was hugely supported by the creative agency I worked with, Vivid Communications who developed the visual identity and campaign video, Jackie Nobel who took the beautiful portraits, and my former colleagues Nathalie and Johanna who continued telling these amazing stories to the public after I moved on to my current employment.

As a result, they approached me this year to put together some “tips for a successful award entry.” I was a little uncomfortable being called upon to offer advice, so I responded with some humour. At least I’m not afraid to make a fool of myself. Watch the video below:

As in: it was a display of Canadian pride… past tense, now over, what next?
Talk and thoughts like this alarm me. All that we achieved in building something so special for our country cannot stop here… and, frankly, I don’t think it will stop here.

Because this is our moment to be proud of ourselves!

*****A golden conclusion to a golden Olympics for Canada

Yes, the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games have now come and gone - and concluded in a way that was truly breathtakingly triumphant, euphoric… GOLDEN. It was entirely appropriate that the final gold medal and closing ceremonies would be filled with such suspense and excitement, for the games themselves were filled with all the most extreme human dramas, from grief to jubilation:

as The Globe and Mail’s Christie Blatchford perfectly explained, “These Games were everything a human can feel.”

Or as IOC President Dr. Jacques Rogge said at the closing ceremony, “Together, we have experienced many strong emotions. We have shared the grief of an Olympic dream cut short… we have shared the joys of dreams fulfilled. We have been moved by tears of elation and tears of disappointment.”

The final day of the Olympics was personally quite an exciting afternoon: after competing in an indoor rowing championship, my teammates and I rushed home down the highway back to London… eagerly listening to the live coverage of the final men’s hockey game on the radio. I returned in the nick of time to join my friends at a downtown bar, just before the start of the overtime period where Canada scored an epic overtime goal. Immediately, the bar began a spontaneous chorus of O Canada. A golden moment indeed; just look at the excitement in this clip I shot with my phone:

The crowd started spilling out onto the streets with thousands of other revelers; and in so doing we became a part of millions of revelers across Canada and many more people around the world… all of us connected with this moment.

*****The sum of a million golden moments

… but not just this gold medal hockey moment. The magnitude of what we’re all feeling in our hearts (the joy, the relief, the countless other emotions we can’t really put our finger on), can’t possibly all be tied up in that gold medal hockey shot or the public euphoria. No, what we’re feeling now is the culmination of many very special moments over these last 17 days:

• Like the pitstop that my rowing team took on our drive back to London, at the highway rest stop in Woodstock. With Tim Horton’s sign in the background, a hundred highway drivers were glued to the televisions silently watching the hockey game.

• And at the same pitstop a beautiful display of how our country is a special blend of vibrant multiculturalism and national pride: the father and two young daughters in line in front of me… he clearly a recent immigrant from India with Hindu attire, ordering a double double with a thick Indian accent while his tiny daughter (with an event thicker accent) suddenly asked, “daddy, are we winning the hockey game?” [we... OUR country; where else can newcomers feel this sense of belonging?]

These are just two richly patriotic moments that I observed in the span of a minute on the final day of the Olympics. Every one of us felt, saw and heard many more profound moments that touched us over these 17 days.

So many intense memories… though probably the greatest moment of all was not so much a moment; but, rather, a groundswell. I’m talking about the most beautiful turnaround story a country has ever pulled in front of an international audience.

*****Canada stands up to show just what we’re made of

You know what I’m talking about: our Olympics were basically sputtering. The organizers and volunteers did everything and more to “save” the games (the continuous online dialogue I shared with my friends working at the Olympics made me so proud of their Adam vs. Goliath spirit! Way to go guys!!); but that was only half of the story.

Without even realizing there was this desire within ourselves, we discovered that we needed these games to be a truly great Canadian moment. So we did something about it… all of us did.

VANOC CEO John Furlong nailed it (as he always did… he’s probably the most eloquent spokesperson I’ve ever heard!) when he described what exactly took a good Olympics and made it unforgettably great: it was every Canadian making it a personal mission to show the world that we are incredible. Screaming our anthem at the top of our lungs, turning curling into a loud spectator sport. Showing we’re confident, cool, proud and happy. We’ve always been proud to be Canadian, but perhaps we took it for granted; now we needed the floodgates to open for the world to see… and out poured more pride than we probably even knew was built up inside us!

“A beautiful kind of patriotism has broken out across the country,” Furlong said. [from The Globe and Mail]

Or: “The swagger was already there… we were just looking for the opportunity to show it!” [from Stephen Brunt's beautiful video montage of the Olympic's dramatic turnaround CTVOlympics.ca]

*****My generation’s time to be proud Canadians

With the games’ conclusion, I said I was alarmed by people asking, “Where do we go from here, Canada?” I’ve also been perplexed by so much media coverage saying that Canada is prouder than ever before, coming out of its shell, showing a new confidence.

I think we clearly know where we’re going from here… and it’s where we’ve been before! Canada has been proud before in its short history: I’ve heard about the national spirit behind the centennial in 1967 and Expo 67, the Montreal Olympics in 1976 (financial mess aside), Expo 86 and of course the beloved Calgary Olympics in 1988. Canada has, indeed, displayed this modern and young excitement several times before.

The thing is, my generation and I don’t really remember much about any of these previous international-scale national celebrations. And that’s why the 2010 Vancouver Olympics are so important to us. My generation of Canadians is showing that we’re talented, engaged, eager, friendly, energetic, creative and open-minded.

And now we’ve finally had our major international chance to shine. In so doing, not only did we pull off a stunning achievement of a truly magnificent Olympic games… we grew a sensational level of national pride.

We’ve seen what we’re capable of. And we’re truly made of gold!

I watched the State of the Union last night online. As would be expected, whitehouse.gov was streaming it through their website… but they went one step beyond that in the realm of online engagement:

They set up a Facebook live app where Facebook users could log in and watch the live video. Then, beside the video was a live chat area where anyone watching could post their thoughts about the speech as it was happening! It was unfiltered and live; so you got a lot of interesting opinions back and forth [interestingly, there was a disclaimer on the page that read "all messages are subject to the presidential archive legislation!"]

*****

Reflect on this. What we’re seeing these days (and which this live event executed incredibly well) is pretty dramatic in terms of history: our experience of events is transforming due to social media.

Now even events that you’re not literally *at* are social events: you don’t just react to events anymore; you interact with them. For years people would just watch an event on tv or read about it; now we actually become a part of the event because we’re inserting our thoughts and reading other people’s thoughts on the event.

Concerts, conferences, speeches, and in particular worldwide news events are not just things you react to any more. Now you react, share your thoughts and read others’ thoughts. The dialogue and shared experience defines the event as much as the subject of the event itself.

******

The limit of this was pushed even further when the actual State of the Union speech was over. Immediately after, four White House staffers went on camera responding directly to a selection of questions and comments that were posted on facebook during the speech or that came up on twitter related to the speech.

It’s not just watching an event any more… it’s engaging in the event. We’re a part of the event.

*****

P.S. The online audience was 1 million people!

Photos from my first visit to France as I backpacked Europe in spring 2008
Photos 1
Photos 2

My blog entry on France from my first “where is Andrew now” travel adventure
Blog 1
Blog 2

*****

And I’m currently going through the steps of setting up my new travel blog, “where is Andrew now 2.0″ launching next week. I’ll include some of my written reflections on the trip then… stay tuned!

I had the very unique experience of volunteering though the City of London as a member of the media crew. The highlight was that my position afforded me the best vantage point in the crowd of thousands to view the flame as it passed through the park.

If I was any closer, I’d have burned myself!

View more photos from the Torch relay in my Flickr photo stream!

“one great example is“

These words are the magic key to getting people to read your online writing. Personal stories, experiences… EXAMPLES!

Writing for the web, especially the social/engaging/personal web 2.0… is about immersing the reader in the message. Letting them be a part of it, and letting them contribute to the story too (with their own examples even!)

Corporate communicators are used to “corporate speak.” Instead, we should be “corporate storytelling.”

Corporate message is important, but how you tell it on the web is different. Online, it’s like a conversation. Consider the contrast here if you were writing for an employee recruitment website:

1. “Our company is one of the best employers in the country with a reputation for excellent work-life balance.”
2. “I look forward to this one customer who brings me a cookie every Monday. It’s a great way to start my week. Connecting with the people I serve is the best part of my job.”

Which one makes you feel more engaged? I hope you said example two. Personal stories, told by real people are gold in online writing. Oh, and they’re easier to get too - just ask people to share their stories with you!

‘Thing’ number five really caught my eye because it relates so much to the art of first impressions; and how to make a lasting impression: You are your own business card.

I was fortunate to be taught just before I left university about how crucial networking is… not just for the job search, but for everything. The more effort you make to connect with people on a deep level, the more opportunity you have to go in the direction of your dreams. And not only do these connections help you get where you want to go, but deep connections can also open up new doors and new ideas you didn’t even know existed before - opening your life to new possibilities.

Quote from the article:

All of the opportunities I�ve had post-college haven�t been because of where I went to school, or what it said on my resume. It was because of the human connections I made post-graduation. Whatever you are looking for in life, you have to make your intent known through everyday interaction.

Okay, go read >>

If you’re not using social media in your communications, you absolutely should be. That’s half of what I learned last week.

Last Wednesday, I had the opportunity to attend CaseCamp, a conference and gathering in Toronto about and for experts in social media.

I’m not an expert in social media. But I am becoming much more knowledgeable about e-communication in my job as a web producer, and I certainly see the value of social media in my work and life. I think my perspective on social media from a strategic communications background is a useful and sometimes unique one… and through that lens I learned a lot about social media’s importance and how to employ it effectively.

Key learnings from the conference

• A cat can have 1.2 million followers on twitter! (because the person authoring the messages writes what his followers find entertaining and WISH to follow)
• It’s easy with social media to get caught up with popularity (# of followers, facebook fans, site visits)
• Getting obsessed with popularity (gaining more followers/wider audience) always has a negative effect on the quality of the message you share through social media
• If your content fades because you’re obsessed with popularity, your popularity will fade because your content is no longer worth following
• Having a good message will attract your audience
• Remember why you are using social media: to connect with your audience. Make it authentic, make it a reflection of your inner brand message, and make it what your audience wants.
• Social media content is now defining everything on the Internet: it’s no longer that people go to the Internet for information posted on websites; rather people use the internet to read what social media is saying about what is on the Internet.
• Traditional media more and more covers what is popular in social media discussions. A lot of times traditional media will be trying to catch up with a story that is being told through social media.
• Social media should be a part of your marketing/media program if you wish to get the message out to your audience: they’re getting it less through traditional media, and traditional media is getting its info more from social media discussions.
• Your active social circle (those who you actually influence) is 40 people directly. When you communicate to them, they act… and if your message is good those 40 people will spread it to their circle of 40. That is how messages spread in social media.

You’ll notice that a lot of these points that I learned, coming from experts in social media, repeat a core message. They were all talking about how their social media sites became popular and how they gained many followers. 100% of the popular social media sites were popular because their message was interesting to their audience. This quote really sums it up:

Social media works when you can connect with your audience in a manner that compels them to spread your message on their own

You’ll be popular in social media if your message is really strong.

So, I learned:

1. You should be using social media to share your message
2. in order to be successful in social media, your message has to be strong.

Social media needs a good message/A good message needs social media.

Follow me @ImpressionOne or www.twitter.com/ImpressionOne

What am I writing about? Simple… “things worth communicating about.”
Because I enjoy communicating.
And social media plays a part in leaving a lasting impression.