Toronto and Ottawa PR meetups to discuss social media
Posted by Joseph Thornley on August 25th, 2006
Public relations practitioners in Toronto and Ottawa have a new monthly forum to discuss social media from a PR perspective.
The Ottawa meetup is called Third Monday. The Toronto group is called Third Tuesday. And, you guessed it, they’ll generally be held on Mondays or Tuesdays.
A great group of bloggers and social media enthusiasts have come together to get these meetups going. Joining me in organizing the groups are David Jones, Terry Fallis, Ed Lee and Chris Clarke in Toronto and Colin McKay, Brendan Hodgson and Ian Ketcheson in Ottawa.
We believe that public relations practitioners have a unique perspective on social media. We look at social media as an extension of the conversations we have always had with journalists and stakeholders to now include a much larger group of citizen journalists and interested people whose online conversations lead to the formation of communities of interest.
Others groups have different starting points and different perspectives on social media. Advertisers, for example, start from the perspective of disaggregating mass media and the need to find new advertising vehicles and strategies that will replace failing mass media campaigns.
Because we have this unique perspective, public relations folks have different conversations than do those people who are grounded in other disciplines. First Monday and First Tuesday will provide us with the opportunity to talk about social media framed as a public relations challenge. We will be able to focus on its potential for and impact on our profession. How we can extend our capablities by embracing social media. How we can enhance our careers. How we can better serve our clients. And how we can then take our best thoughts forward into the broader discussion with others. Ensuring that public relations is well represented. Ensuring that public relations is in a leadership position in exploring and applying social media.
We have a great first speaker to launch our meetups. Shel Israel, co-author of Naked Conversations, will kick off the gatherings with back to back sessions on September 25 in Ottawa and September 26 in Toronto. I can’t think of a better way to kick off the discussion than with a man who hails from PR and who wrote THE book on blogging.
So, if you are a public relations practitioner who wants to meet other PR folks to talk about practical applications of social media, join the conversation. Sign up for Third Monday (Ottawa) or Third Tuesday (Toronto).
And, for those who’ve spotted a similarity to the SF Bay Area Third Thursday group organized by Mike Manuel, Jeremy Pepper, Giovanni Rodriguez, and Phil Gomes, you’re right. In looking for a model, we thought that Third Thursday was exactly what we wanted to replicate in Canada. Mike gave us the go ahead to borrow from the Third Thursday and that’s what we’ve done. Thank you Mike!
August 25th, 2006 » 1:18 pm
‘Third Monday’ Social Media Meetup in Ottawa featuring Shel Israel…
To all National Capital and Eastern Ontario-based PR and public affairs practitioners, communications……
August 25th, 2006 » 5:59 pm
Joe, Thanks so much for inviting me to do this for you. I’m very much looking forward to these events. If anyone planning to attend either of these gatherings has questions about blogging, PR and the social media, I would love to hear the questions. Ping me at shel@itseemstome.net. It will be nice to be back in Ontario.
August 25th, 2006 » 8:56 pm
Thanks for taking the initiative, Joe. Glad to be a part of this. Look forward to meeting Shel and everyone else who comes out.
Ian Ketcheson
ian at ketcheson.com
August 25th, 2006 » 10:47 pm
Good post and amazing work getting this going in two cities at once. I’m looking forward to working with you to get it all going. Shel I is a helluva way to kick it off.
August 26th, 2006 » 2:06 am
Great work, Joseph! And I agree with David — Shel is a great choice. Smart, engaging and funny.
August 28th, 2006 » 12:30 am
Welcome Back – Everything from anniversaries to blog fights to Canada to Retirements…
Phil’s Blog: Edelman, Year One: “The Hires”
A nice post from the first PR blogger, Phil Gomes, and his past year at Edelman and its latest hire, Michael Wiley. Congrats to Wiley, and congrats to Gomes – two of the best out there, and…
June 1st, 2007 » 10:23 am
while it’s always a pleasure coming to Ottawa for your events, we should talk about opening a Montreal chapter. Maybe something for the fall? I sense the Quebec PR community is finally starting to turn its attention to social media and the timing might be great.
February 19th, 2008 » 4:46 pm
[...] Le premier Third Tuesday a eu lieu à San Francisco en 2006. Le concept a été repris au Canada anglais par Joseph Thornley, de la firme de relations publiques Thornley Fallis. Montréal se joint donc à Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver et Fredericton. Joe explique les origines et la mission de Third Tuesday dans son propre blogue, Pro PR. [...]
June 11th, 2008 » 12:10 am
[...] Terry talks about Third Tuesday’s in June across Canada. He asks listeners to check out Joseph Thornley’s Blog at [...]
April 5th, 2009 » 3:16 pm
[...] Canadian PR meetups to discuss social media (Joseph Thornley) [...]