FEBRUARY 2022: REALITY 2.0 (THE NEW ‘NOT-NORMAL’)
Contents
1
THE INDEPENDENT VIEW: LETTING LOVE LEAD THE WAY
It’s Black History Month and two years into the pandemic. PIC chair Arlene Amitirigala advises us to start with love, lean into it, and let it lead the way through Reality 2.0.
2
BUCKLE UP AND GET READY TO CROSS THE AI BRIDGE
Guest speaker Martin Waxman, MCM, APR, says four trends are transforming marketing and PR, summed up by Danièle Dufour.
3
BRANDING WITH AI IN MIND
The rise of Artificial Intelligence means independent communicators should work on strengthening their personal branding. Nathalie Noël shares some ideas.
4
3X3: HOW ARE WE COPING WITH ‘REALITY 2.0’?
PIC members Meline Beach, Austine Fischer and Vanessa Holding answer three questions about the new ‘not-normal’ posed by Sue Horner.
5
PIC PERSONALITY: MEET MAUREEN HOSEIN, ABC
Not all of our members are independent communication professionals. Maureen Hosein, ABC, tells us why she’s part of PIC in a conversation with Gaby Moreno.
1.
The independent view
Letting love lead the way
By Arlene Amitirigala
I rose from my yoga mat in deep reflection after Savasana. My long-time yoga teacher Sharon Feanny had just led us through a blissful sequence about letting go and letting love lead the way.
Although I had a slew of emails to respond to and looming client deadlines, I slowed down to think, really think, about love.
I examined how I was navigating Reality 2.0 and building my solopreneurship remotely through yet another COVID year. Where was my love for my profession, my clients and most importantly, for myself, showing up in my business?
As an independent communications professional, you might be asking, “What’s love got to do with it anyway?”
The short answer is – everything.
Cultivating love and respect for ourselves elevates our work, and our income, too.
Caring for our clients and taking the time to listen deeply to them is an act of love.
Building diverse and inclusive workplaces, where all people have equal opportunities to thrive and feel a deep sense of belonging, starts with love.
We’ve been in survival mode for the last two years, but with February being host to Black History Month here in Canada and the United States, there’s no better time for us to talk about love. Let’s talk about how we as solopreneurs can foster greater inclusion, diversity, equity and belonging in our burgeoning businesses and in the communities and spaces where we operate.
Maybe you’re already well advanced on this journey. Maybe you’re just starting to explore the steps you can take. Wherever you may be, here are a few tips to support you in making a difference:
- Start with self-love. You cannot give what you do not have. Loving yourself also means understanding who you really are. Get under the skin of your unspoken biases; we all have them. Accepting yourself enables you to change.
- Evaluate your knowledge of issues affecting the Black community. Are you aware of and actively seeking information to understand and articulate these issues?
- Do your research and make it a priority to work with companies that are committed to advancing diversity and inclusion. Expand your circle of business and actively seek out new clients to serve. Keep up-to-date on the 50 – 30 Challenge launched by the Canadian government and numerous participating organizations.
- Choose suppliers from the Black community and encourage your clients to implement a supplier diversity strategy. It’s tempting to work with big, traditional suppliers, but selecting ones from marginalized communities and recommending them to your clients supports their growth.
- Foster belonging in your client meetings. Is everyone being listened to? Do you identify your pronouns? Does everyone get heard equally when they share ideas? As an external consultant, you have a big opportunity to address exclusivity in meetings and interrupt bias.
There is much more you can do, and naturally you will make your own list of actions. The key is to start with love, lean into it, and let it lead the way.
On that note, I leave you to read and love this edition of The Buzz. It’s packed with great features on Artificial Intelligence (those robots can’t love the way we do!), a heartwarming 3x3 feature on how some of our PIC members are coping with Reality 2.0, and much more.
As always, I am humbled and delighted to learn so much from our members. I encourage you to reach out to other PIC members online and on social media, build relationships and stay connected with others in our LinkedIn group.
If you have any ideas for professional development topics, possible speakers, or any questions, concerns, or ideas about PIC, please don’t hesitate to reach me at toronto-sig@iabc.to. I would love to hear from you.
2.
Buckle up and get ready to cross the AI bridge
By Danièle Dufour
Have you ever wondered what artificial intelligence (AI) looks like, how it affects our daily lives today or how far it could evolve?
Martin Waxman, MCM, APR, had PIC members and friends glued to their screens on February 10 as he offered an overview of the state of AI and how communicators can play a role in its fast deployment.
Martin is a man of many talents, which include digital communications strategies, social media workshops and AI research. Martin also teaches social media and digital marketing at the Schulich School of Business, McMaster University, University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies and Seneca College.
He started by offering a view of where AI stands today and how it might evolve. Who uses AI? You may be surprised that we all do. AI is embedded in everything we do, like the technology in our cellphones, our social media platforms and our cars.
This first stage of AI, narrow artificial intelligence, uses predictions based on statistical models. This allows presenting you with specific content according to your interests, like your social media feeds, or customizing your environment to meet your preferences, the way smart homes or cars do.
The second stage, general AI, is already in motion, when machines can transfer knowledge between tasks, similar to humans. We’re not there yet, but companies like Google, OpenAI, Meta and Microsoft are spending vast amounts of research and money to achieve that.
The third stage of AI is superintelligence, where machines become smarter than humans. No one can predict when or if we will ever reach that third stage, but we can imagine a future where it exists.
Martin sees four trends having a profound impact on the role of communicators:
- Human-sounding voice AI, which is the ability to replicate a human voice. This is used for automated calls or virtual assistants. If it uses recorded voices, do the humans have rights to the sound of their voice?
- Deepfake videos and images, in which people and what they say appear real but are actually fake. It will get harder for us to differentiate between real and fake.
- Natural language generation, in which AI analyzes patterns to produce content such as copywriting. This is not bad at “low-attention” writing, like how-tos and package contents, but it doesn’t filter for truth. How will this affect trust? The workforce?
- Relational AI, which is the ability to create human interactions with fake beings. A real-life example shared by Martin is a “Virtual Beings” event in which avatars of real high-profile people interacted with an audience.
What does this mean for communicators?
AI can help optimize lives and jobs with lighter and faster processes. However, there is currently no framework to provide clear rules of engagement and prevent ethical breaches.
As we journey towards a more sophisticated AI, we need to establish guidelines to manage its impact on our data, workflows, privacy and ethics, to name a few areas. Communicators can play an important role by developing criteria for procurement and how AI would be used. Communicators can also act as connectors between communities of creators, academics, marketers and investors to facilitate proper governance.
Martin’s last recommendation was to start building relationships with data scientists and educating ourselves about AI. Then we can contribute to establishing objective parameters to ensure the potential liabilities of AI do not outweigh its benefits.
Thank you, Martin, for an incredible presentation. Our minds were blown!
Recommended reading:
- Ethics Guide to Artificial Intelligence in PR – CIPR
- Naked Statistics: Stripping the Dread from the Data – Charles Wheelan
- You Look Like a Thing and I Love You – Janelle Shane
- AI for Marketers – Christopher S. Penn
3.
Branding with AI in mind
By Nathalie Noël
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is ubiquitous in marketing and communications, even if we don’t fully understand how it works.
Disclaimer: I don’t fully understand. But I do know that AI is revolutionizing the way people find and interact with brands. This means a strong brand is more important than ever for independent communicators.
Strong brands have three fundamental characteristics. They are authentic, intentional and emotive. Let’s look at each characteristic, keeping AI in mind.
1. Strong brands are Authentic
They come from a genuine place and have a true origin story. Authentic brands know who they are and don’t try to be someone else. They embrace their unique personality, which is what makes them relatable and memorable. The things we remember about brands – and people – are the things distinct to them.
AI is in the content creation game. Apps can write copy, build websites, design and place ads, and more – but they can’t (yet) mimic our creativity. As communicators, we can use AI copywriting tools to save time and spark ideas, but it’s our distinct imagination and voice that makes the writing stand out.
To build an authentic brand:
- Recognize exactly what drives you to do the work you do.
- Know the core values you will never compromise on.
- Describe the top three personality traits that make you, you.
2. Strong brands are Intentional
They’ve done the work to know who they are, where they’re going and why. Their decisions and actions are strategic and deliberate. Strong brands pick a lane. They aren’t rigid, they’re focused; and focus builds confidence and trust.
Being intentional also means being consistent. If your messaging starts to feel repetitive to you, good. That’s probably the time people are starting to notice. Do you think the marketing folks at Nike are sick of “Just do it”? Of course. Are they going to change it? Of course not. When you build a solid brand, you honour and trust it.
As independents, we want to make sure people looking to hire us can find us. AI drives searches. Staying consistent with the services we offer, and the words and images we use to describe them, will help. Features like voice-activated search and visual recognition are now commonplace. Think about the way we search now: “Hey Google, find a healthcare writer in Toronto.” Is this you? Could a bot discern this from your website? If not, get editing.
To build an intentional brand:
- Deeply understand the unique skills and experiences that set you apart from your competitors. If you don’t know, ask your clients.
- Stick to one to three core services and describe them consistently across your marketing platforms.
- Define your ideal client and the value you offer them.
3. Strong brands are Emotive
They aren’t afraid of feelings. They express emotion and compel us to feel emotions, too. It can be excitement or pride or even anger, but it’s all feeling. If you have a passive relationship with a brand, it’s not a strong brand. Think about how people feel about something as routine as coffee. Being Team Tim’s or Team Starbucks can evoke love or hate! Strong, emotive brands build relationships, not just transactions with their customers.
Our ability to express emotions is AI’s kryptonite. Our humanity is our superpower and this has never been more clear than living through a pandemic. People crave personal connection. The walls between our home and work lives have come down and our vulnerability has been on full display.
As communicators, we’re experts at understanding what our audiences need and combining strategy and heart. We see chat bots on websites, but it’s clear most are missing a communicator behind the programming to make the customer service customer-focused. This is a gap freelance communicators can fill.
To build an emotive brand:
- Market as yourself, with your own voice. Don’t hide behind clichéd corporate language.
- Profile your relationships through testimonials and case studies.
- Let your personality and vulnerability show. We’re drawn to realness.
Strong brands are authentic, intentional and emotive. Build a brand where you know yourself deeply, act consistently, and express yourself openly. Whether interacting with (hu)man or machine, this will bring trust, credibility and connections to you and your business.
4.
3x3: How are we coping with ‘Reality 2.0’?
By Sue Horner
If 2020 and 2021 were years like no other, how did we change? How are we managing? We asked 3 questions of 3 PIC members: Meline Beach, a strategic communication and public relations professional; Austine Fischer, a communication consultant recently hired full-time by the City of Mississauga; and Vanessa Holding, a video coach and production expert at arc + crown media.
Have your experiences over the pandemic changed how you work?
Mel: I worked from home as an independent way before the pandemic, but now it’s a different experience. There are more people – my husband works from home, my two kids (12 and 15) study, and my father-in-law lives with us. Everyone has household responsibilities; in fact, the kids may have picked up more during the pandemic, like doing their own laundry and vacuuming. But I find a different kind of mental weight, of hunkering down and always being on duty. Balance is a constant and conscious effort, and if anything, this pandemic has taught us to be adaptable to change, flexible to new routines, and open to the positives around us.
Austine: The pandemic made employers realize employees could work remotely and still be productive. For me, working from home saves time, increases productivity and enhances work-life balance. Having no commute gave me more time to spend with family and do things I love to do, like cook, exercise or binge on a TV series or movie. Also, while I enjoyed chatting with colleagues in an office, those chats took away time I could have used to get some work done.
Vanessa: I already had a “work from home” strategy where I was active on Zoom or Slack with my team. The biggest change is that now clients are using it too. That makes it easier to screen share and show videos on a call, and saves time I used to spend physically visiting clients. I miss networking in person, but people are getting comfortable making connections on video chats.
Did you have to change your workspace?
Mel: My husband has the home office and the kids each have a computer and desk in their bedrooms. I now work at the dining room table – which has great natural light, but staggered snacks and lunches can interrupt my train of thought. The kids know not to interrupt when I’m on the phone or online meeting, but I sometimes have to go to my bedroom, the backyard or even the garage to temporarily get away from chaos. Being respectful and flexible have been crucial during this challenging time.
Austine: If I worked from home before the pandemic, it would be on my laptop on my bed or the couch. With the pandemic, I needed to look professional during Zoom meetings and support my posture and health. I invested in a workstation in the basement with a comfortable chair and an extra monitor, which mirrored a typical work environment and aided my productivity.
My wife works from home, too. She’s set up in the bedroom, while the kids are in the living area and dining table to give a feeling of moving from one space to a school space. Everyone helps out. One son (12) makes breakfast for the other (5), and my daughter (14) helps the youngest log into online school. We set boundaries for everyone so we all act as though we’re at school or at work, although saying “Daddy's workspace is out of bounds” doesn’t always work.
Vanessa: The main thing I did is that when the pandemic hit, I started recording weekly videos that I posted on LinkedIn. Before, I would create videos involving a full camera, lights and team. So I had to create a space with a ring light and a clean, branded, professional backdrop that was always ready for both videos and video calls.
Have you done anything to counteract any effects of the pandemic on your mental health?
Mel: The fear and uncertainty around the pandemic can certainly weigh you down. I’ve made a conscious effort to focus on some positives. We took up camping, which I’m not sure we would have tackled if not for the pandemic. Sometimes I bake cookies during the day to entice the kids to leave their screens for a short break; I make up the work time later. And, with extracurricular activities cancelled, we have more time together in the evenings. Sometimes we play a board game like Blokus or Catan, or watch TV (we’ve moved from cooking shows to home improvement and now exotic travel). We’re surrounded by conservation lands – great for hiking and tobogganing – so we always try to incorporate nature in our everyday life. And my husband’s labour of love is a backyard skating rink.
Austine: To take care of my mental health, I change from sleep to work clothes, only work during stipulated work hours, and exercise regularly. These activities have helped me stay the course, remain healthy and deliver on my job.
Vanessa: I took about six weeks off when I had my baby, who’s now seven months old. I was lucky to have help from both my parents and my in-laws for a few hours each day, although it was definitely a challenge to fit work into the time available. My son started daycare in January so I can dedicate time to both family and work and feel that I have the best of both worlds. I also have a business networking group that meets on Zoom every two weeks to talk about challenges and share advice, and that’s been helpful.
Thanks to Mel, Austine and Vanessa for answering our questions! We launched this column to bring the voices of more PIC members into The Buzz. If you’d like to suggest a topic, or want to volunteer yourself as one of the three “voices,” please contact Sue at getwrite@sympatico.ca. Our thanks to Gary Schlee, ABC, MC, for suggesting the name “3x3.”
5.
PIC Personality: Meet Maureen Hosein, ABC
By Gaby Moreno
Maureen Hosein, ABC is a communications leader with the ability to wear both corporate and indie hats according to the occasion. As PIC’s director of membership, she brings value through her outstanding networking skills. As Corporate Communications Manager for Toronto Community Housing, she translates corporate messaging to various audiences: employees, tenants and stakeholders. Her keen abilities to adapt and acclimate are what make her stand out in times when constant transformation has become the new normal.
What inspired you to join IABC?
Joining IABC was always on my bucket list. When the pandemic started, eliminating three hours of daily commute, I gained the luxury of time back in my day. So, I decided to make joining IABC a reality. I attended a virtual coffee chat and was pleasantly surprised by the relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. The people I met gave me such a warm feeling of community.
I talked to the head of volunteering because I didn’t want to simply join the organization, I wanted to be actively involved. And the rest, as they say, is history.
How did you decide to volunteer for PIC?
I admire that indie spirit of taking a chance to move out of the corporate world and create an independent stand in one's career. My hope of joining PIC was to understand more about it so that maybe one day I can also dip my toe in the independent waters. I've met people both from a personal and professional standpoint who run their own companies. I always look at them with awe and think: “It is possible, and I should do more research and maybe one day I will get to that point myself.”
Tell us more about your career in corporate communications.
I discovered my passion for communications at American Express. In the 11 years I spent there, the foundation was laid for me and the benchmark set for standards I look for: a well-run corporate structure, a successful brand and reputation management, a customer-centric culture, and a high emphasis on employee engagement. After American Express, I moved on to manage communications at other big brands in the financial services space: PC Financial, TD and Scotiabank.
Fast forward to four years ago, when I was ready for a significant change in my career. I took the opportunity to spread my wings and directed my voyage to the public sector and my current role at Toronto Community Housing. Here, I’ve continued to develop internal and external marketing communications campaigns. I learned a couple of important attributes about myself, such as how adaptable I am to different industries. My commitment to continued learning has served me well in successfully transitioning to the public sector.
What is one skill you have identified in yourself as transferable from the corporate to the indie world?
Building and using networks and relationships. If you asked my mom, she would say I was always a chatterbox. However, I just really enjoy meeting new people. I think everyone, regardless of their walk of life, has a story. I find that interesting and part of what makes life exciting. Regardless of whether you're an independent or not, that's definitely a skill that is valuable to anyone in their professional journey.
What would you recommend for others thinking about going independent?
Gather knowledge. I think the education or lack thereof is what can hold many of us back in terms of investing the time to become an independent practitioner. Maybe we just need that launching pad to get started in that new direction.
PIC has historically held social and professional development events that furnish this type of education to those who are thinking about making that move. Our PIC executive committee has exciting plans for 2022, so I encourage you to follow us on social media so you won't miss out on any of our events.
Mark your calendars!
PIC's next professional networking forum, On The Move, happens on Zoom March 22. The event features an all-female panel of PIC professionals in recognition of International Women’s Month. Each will share a short case study highlighting a successful project from her realm of expertise. Attendees will be “on the move,” visiting virtual breakout rooms over five rotations for the opportunity to hear all panelists.
Come experience the in-depth knowledge existing within PIC; hear how PIC members partner together for success; and understand the advantages of being a PIC member. Stay tuned for registration details.
Happy 80th, IABC/Toronto!
It’s IABC/Toronto’s 80th anniversary! To help celebrate, post a photo or video on Twitter or LinkedIn, using #IABCTO80. Tell the world why you joined, what keeps you coming back, what makes you proud to be part of this community. Find more details online. You can also volunteer to be part of IABC/Toronto’s 80th Anniversary Celebration Committee. Email Toronto-volunteers@iabc.to.
Changes to the PIC member list due Feb. 25
As a PIC member, you can gain visibility on the PIC member list on the IABC/Toronto website. Send your updates to PIC’s director of membership, Maureen Hosein, ABC, at maureenhosein@yahoo.com, by Friday, February 25. For new profiles, send your:
- Name
- Company name
- City (to help us know who’s in our neighbourhood)
- Email address
- Telephone number (optional)
- Website and LinkedIn URLs
- Social media accounts, if any
- Business description (up to 80 words).
If you are already on the list, does your listing include your LinkedIn profile? Have you earned an OVATION or Gold Quill award you can brag about?
See you on social media!
Build and strengthen your connections, advance your business and network with other PIC members on social media. In case you missed them, recent posts shared on our social media channels include:
- Enhance your existing skills, build your personal brand and other ways to thrive as a solopreneur as AI disrupts work, via Entrepreneur.
- Look for ways AI technology can make us more effective by freeing us to come up with better ideas, advises Rachel Chittick of CommuniquePR in ‘Embracing AI in Public Relations.’
- Advancements in applied AI see value in using it for “specific narrow tasks” like quick first drafts of news releases or captioning videos, says Christopher S. Penn.
- Many ask, “Will copywriters be replaced by AI?” Better to ask, “How can writers prepare for a world that includes AI-created content?” Content Marketing Institute has 5 ideas, like learn how to use AI tools.
Who we are
Professional Independent Communicators (PIC) is a special interest group of IABC/Toronto. PIC's mission is to support independent IABC/Toronto communicators through professional development, networking and marketing. The Buzz informs members about upcoming events, shares professional development tips from past meetings and keeps us connected.
IABC connects communicators from around the world with the insights, resources and people they need to drive their careers and their professions forward.
Editor: Sue Horner | Designer: Austine Fischer
Executive team
Chair: Arlene Amitirigala | Past Chair: Nkiru Asika | Membership: Maureen Hosein, ABC | Marketing & Sponsorship: Brent Artemchuk | Communications & Social Media: Austine Fischer, Sue Horner | Programming: Gaby Moreno, Christopher Trotman