Happy Third Birthday, Third Tuesday Montreal

Three years ago, on February 19, 2008, 3e Mardi | Third Tuesday Montreal launched. At the time, I wrote:

3e Mardi / Third Tuesday MontréalFor the past two years, people interested in exploring the potential of social media have gathered at Third Tuesday meetups in Toronto and Ottawa. Last autumn, Third Tuesday Vancouver and Third Tuesday New Brunswick groups joined the discussion.

Tonight, 3e Mardi / Third Tuesday Montréal launches.

The discussion at tonight’s inaugural 3e Mardi / Third Tuesday Montréal will be led by two of Montréal’s social media pioneers, Mitch Joel and Mylene Forget. The topic: “Why you need to care about the new media channels.” A good starting place for a discussion of social media.

Montréal is a bilingual city, bringing together both French and English speaking communities. So, 3e Mardi / Third Tuesday Montréal will be a bilingual event, providing a perfect opportunity to enrich the discussion with insights about how social media is being adopted and used in different languages.

Three years later 3e Mardi | Third Tuesday Montreal has indeed developed into something unique. I’ve attended several of these events over the past three years and I can say that they are a unique reflection of Quebec’s culture and bilingualism.

Congratulations Michelle Sullivan, who launched 3e Mardi | Third Tuesday Montreal and has kept it going and growing. I’ll leave it to Michelle to write a post about the people who keep 3e Mardi | Third Tuesday Montreal alive and well. (Michelle, please leave a comment pointing to your post and I’ll place a link in the text of my main post.)

Happy birthday 3e Mardi | Third Tuesday Montreal. Together with Third Tuesday Toronto, Third Tuesday Ottawa, Third Tuesday Calgary and Third Tuesday Vancouver, you provide a cross-country forum for Canadians interested in social media, online communications, and their impact on our relationships with one another and institutions.

Mitch Joel on your Personal Brand at Third Tuesday Toronto

We have a special Third Tuesday Toronto on Feb. 23. It’s special because we’re holding it in conjunction with Personal Brand Camp – a project being undertaken by Michael Cayley for the Humber College social media students.

During the afternoon, the Humber students will meet with volunteer mentors to discuss the importance of their online personnas, the issues involved and how they can develop an online brand that will be consistent with the people they are.

Then, in the evening, Mitch Joel will be our featured speaker at Third Tuesday. Mitch has built a remarkable personal brand. He is well known and widely respected as a marketing thought leader. This year, he published Six Pixels of Separation, a handbook to digital marketing and social media.  He’s often referred to as “Canada’s Seth Godin.” That’s no small feat.

Mitch will offer us his perspective on the concept of personal brand. Does he build his brand consciously? Are there rules, implicit or explicit, that he applies in doing this? Is personal brand building something that we all should be engaged in? What advice would he offer to anyone concerned about the image they project online and in the real world.

Interested? Register online to attend Third Tuesday Toronto with Mitch Joel.

As always, I want to thank our Third Tuesday sponsors – CNW Group, Molson Coors Canada, Rogers Communications, Radian6 and Fairmont Hotels and Resorts. Their support make it possible to bring great speakers like Mitch, and others including Katie Paine, Julien Smith and Shel Israel not just to Toronto but also to Third Tuesdays in Ottawa, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver. (Speaking of Vancouver, stay tuned for the announcement of a Third Tuesday Vancouver with Mitch Joel.)

Thank you to our sponsors – and thank you to our speakers.