Client News: On Brink Of 40th Anniversary, CLGA Invites Artist’s Unconventional Take On Gay Text
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – November 7, 2012
TORONTO, ON – Alberta-based artist Matt Gould seeks to challenge the perception of men, art, and gender with his textile exhibition, “words, wit, wisdom and wool” at the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives opening December 7, 2012.
As the last exhibit before their 40th anniversary in 2013, CLGA board member Karen Stanworth hopes to attract new members of the community to Gould’s exhibit. “The media and messages that Matt Gould conveys in his exhibit are both thought-provoking and relevant. We’re looking forward to seeing the reactions of those that come to our opening, and encourage the public to take part in a truly innovative form of LGBT history.”
Gould has been using textiles for over 15 years after being inspired by the button blankets of the West Coast Tribes of Alaska. His use of rough wool, fine silks and linens provides a unique platform to convey his messaging. “I am interested in words. Being a playwright and visual artist, using language has deep meaning for me. Finding words and images that inspire is the main thrust of this exhibition.” Gould comments.
The CLGA has a long history of ‘pushing buttons’ by exhibiting thought provoking and controversial exhibits that question gender, identity and LGBT histories. Most recently, the CLGA exhibited their first-ever live stream installation in accompaniment to their online and physical exhibit, PinButtons.ca.
“Words, Wit, Wisdom and Wool” opens for public wine and cheese viewing at the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives on December 7, 2012 at 7:30pm. Gould’s exhibit will run until January 21, 2013.
About Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives:
Established in 1973, The Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives aids in the recovery and preservation of LGBT histories. Its mission: to acquire, preserve, organize, and give public access to information and materials in any medium, by and about LGBT people, primarily produced in or concerning Canada. To support this function, the Archives also maintain significant non-archival collections, which include a research library, international subject files, and an international collection of queer periodicals. It is the CLGA’s mandate to make this information available to the public for education and research. Over the years, the CLGA has helped hundreds of people – students, artists, journalists, lawyers, filmmakers complete numerous projects inside and outside of the LGBT community.
Website: http://www.clga.ca
Twitter: @CLGArchives
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CLGArchives
About the Artist:
Multi-faceted award-winning artist Matt Gould was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The impulse to create has always been a motivating force in his life and he has found expression through painting, drawing, singing, acting, writing, stage directing, design and fibre art. Gould has lived in Toronto, France, Vancouver, Mayerthorpe, as well as cruise ships in Alaska, the Caribbean, New York and Bermuda. Gould currently resides in Red Deer, Alberta. His visual art is found in a numerous corporate and private collections across Canada and Europe as well as in the United States. Gould has also had the privilege of illustrating Joy Kogawa’s book “Naomi’s Road”, Kipling’s “Rikki Tikki Tavi” as well as Cora Weber-Pillwax’s “Billy’s World” which appears in both English and Cree.
For interview requests or high-res photography, please contact:
Cory Stewart
Embrace Disruption PR
78% Of People Check Email In The Bathroom & 94% Check It…
Let’s face it – we’re a VERY connected society. We’ve all been guilty of checking our email, social streams, and the likes at inappropriate times. The shocking truth? 78% of us are checking email while in the washroom, and 94% of us are checking work email at night. We found this INFOGRAPHIC that demonstrates some more of the shocking statistics (the average corporate user sends 112 emails a day?!) of our email-ridden society, and had to share it with our readers. Enjoy!
How to Tell Whether Your Startup Needs a PR Firm
We often get inquiries from start ups across the nation. Just a couple days ago, we stumbled upon a fantastic article about PR for tech startups, and wanted to share it with all of you! This article is written by Ben Pavlovic and Edited by: David Wolinsky and originally appeared on nbcchicago.com.
Chicago entrepreneurs — I am one of you. In October, 2010, I co-founded VineSprout, a Chicago public relations firm. Two extremely fulfilling years later, our firm has represented more than 25 startups, many of which were built in Chicago. Some are as far away as Atlanta, Miami and London. We have worked with you in all shapes, sizes and stages. We have watched this amazing startup ecosystem in our city continue to blossom and impress. This is my first post for NBC Chicago’s Inc. Well blog. My aim is to share my experiences and PR expertise with fellow startups and to help you make smarter PR decisions as you grow.
There are many misconceptions about the public relations industry. I will address some of these myths now and in future posts. What does a PR person not do? They do not write articles for newspapers, nor buy advertising. What does a PR professional do? They work with the media to get products and brands featured editorially in the news. The PR job description then is to build brands, reputation and credibility for clients.
Does my startup need a PR firm?
Want people to know your company name or product? Do you need to attract more users or customers to demonstrate traction to the investment community? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you probably want a PR firm on your side. Many startups realize they must get the word out about their product or business to grow. A PR firm can help startups grow by securing media coverage that will garner attention of users, investors and customers. Solid and consistent media coverage in newspapers, blogs, radio and TV lends credibility to your brand.
Can I do it myself?
Aside from coming up with that innovative idea, a successful entrepreneur must delegate and delegate well. Can you lead your startup’s public relations efforts by yourself? Perhaps. But how effective will you be, and should you be spending your limited time on PR rather than focusing on fundraising or product development? Only you can answer that. Surely some startups can successfully manage PR internally. It doesn’t take a Daniel Edelman to pick up the phone and call Crain’s Chicago Business or The Wall Street Journal. But are you comfortable tooting your own horn? Do you know how to approach relevant contacts with unique, compelling newsworthy angles and trends? Do you have time to research each journalist and customize your pitches? Can you explain your company in a concise and simple way without jargon?
How do I find the right PR firm?
Ask around. Get opinions from entrepreneurs and mentors you trust and respect. Connect with them on Built in Chicago and on your other social networks. Do you see a local startup in the news repeatedly? Ask them who is working the press on their behalf. Find a small firm that will be hands on with your startup. Find a company that believes in you and what you’re selling.
How much does PR cost?
Many in the industry, VineSprout included, work on a retainer fee system. A realistic budget for an early stage startup should fall somewhere between $2,000-$3,000 per month. Determine and set your goals during consultations with your PR firm to ensure you are getting the return that is important to you. Not every PR firm or client determines success or ROI in the same way. If circulation or impressions mean little to you, ask for a metric that better fits your definition of success.
When should I start working with a PR firm?
Do you have paying customers? Is your product accessible and in a decent enough beta form? If you are a bootstrapped startup with no revenue in site, consider holding off on launching a PR campaign until you have secured several customers.
Once you have a date set for the launch of your startup, be sure to allow some cushion for development issues. Sit down and get to know the partners. Engage at least 30 days in advance of your announcement. This gives your new team ample time to familiarize with your messaging, brand and products.
Have confidence. A strong, reliable PR team will be able to communicate about your brand extremely well. You are hiring them because they should do this better than you.
Ben Pavlovic is the co-founder of VineSprout, Inc., the Chicago public relations firm that specializes in growing startups by getting them in the news. VineSprout has worked with graduates of Excelerate Labs, Healthbox and Incubate Miami. Follow @VineSprout on Twitter.
The Right Pitch, And Why It Matters
A big part of Public Relations is media outreach. PR pros are constantly emailing ideas and opportunities to different media outlets, bloggers and journalists. When doing this, it’s extremely important that the pitches sent are targeted and personalized to each individual recipient. After all, people who work in the media are extremely busy, and receive hundreds of pitches each week. Here’s some things your PR firm (if they’re worth their salt) will incorporate into their pitch.
PERSONALIZATION
Knowing the reporter, blogger, etc. and having a good understanding of the topics they write about along with their history of work is paramount. PR pros effectively evaluate whether the individual will find their pitch interesting, and offer targeted information suited to the reporter’s outlet.
KEY INFORMATION
PR pros have a knack for assembling key points into a brief summary for the reporter/blogger. As we said before, these people are very busy – so being able to convey the big ideas in a couple sentences is of upmost importance.
AVOID MASS EMAILS
As tempting as it is to send a mass email out to a variety of sources, PR pros know that’s a big no-no. When there’s no context for the reporter/blogger/journalist – it becomes irrelevant information (if they even bother to open the email).
PHONE FOLLOW-UPS
Again, because media is often so busy – it’s important to conduct follow ups. Phone is the most effective method, so you can humanize your messaging, and connect with the reporter. However, PR pros are persistent (it’s in our nature) – so if a phone call isn’t in the cards, a follow up email certainly will be!
7/10 People Answer Their Doors On Halloween & Honey Boo Boo Tops Costume List In 2012
As a change of pace, we wanted to share with you a fun INFOGRAPHIC that exposes all the useless information about this year’s Halloween celebrations. From the ratio of people answering their doors (7/10, by the way) to the top costumes of the year – here’s what is making 2012′s Halloween such a sensational celebration.
5 things for PR pros to know about Hurricane Sandy
This article originally appears on PRDaily.com
Hurricane Sandy blasted across the East Coast on Monday night, leaving devastation, flooding, and 33 people dead in its path. More than seven million people in the nation’s eastern section are without power.
The storm socked the world’s media capital—not to mention its PR epicenter—so most news outlets (particularly those east of the Mississippi) are focusing the bulk of their coverage on the storm, which means you should mostly avoid pitching the media this week (some exceptions to that rule here).
Meanwhile, here are five things PR pros (wherever you are) should know about the storm’s aftermath:
Twitter mentions of Sandy topped 4 million one day. Citing data from monitoring firm Radian6,USA Today reports that more than four million mentions about the hurricane appeared on Twitter in the last day. “Hurricane Sandy” was the top phrase on Facebook in the U.S., followed by several other storm-related words. Instagram was equally alight with images from the hurricane. Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom told USA Today that there are 10 pictures per second appearing on the photo-sharing site with the hashtag “Sandy.” The Wall Street Journal highlighted several of the pictures, one of which was retweeted more than 5,000 times. Storify has been another busy place online for people and media outlets to tell stories via social media about the storm. Conversations about the storm will likely continue to dominate social media today and throughout the week.
Sandy took down some of the most heavily trafficked news websites. BuzzFeed, Gawker, The Huffington Post, Daily Kos, and Bloomberg News fell silent over night, as the storm knocked out power to the sites’ data centers. (The Atlantic’s newly launched business site Quartz has more on why the data centers went down, as does Poynter.) Most of the sites were available on the West Coast, and every site except for Gawker (as of 10:30 a.m. ET) had restored power to some extent. During the down time, the sites turned to social media—namely Twitter and Tumblr—to deliver updates on the storm as well as their own outages.
Employees of PR and ad firms are staying home today. PR agencies large and small along the Eastern Seaboard—from Washington, D.C., through New York and New Jersey, up to Boston—are telling their employees to stay safe and work remotely. Ad firms are doing the same, according toAdvertising Age.
New York’s Mass Transit issues powerful statement. This is no time for mealy-mouthed statements packed with jargon. The National Weather Service understands that, as does New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). With its subway tunnels flooded with salt water thanks to Sandy, MTA Chairman Joseph J. Lhota issued a statement saying:
“The New York City subway system is 108 years old, but it has never faced a disaster as devastating as what we experienced last night. Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc on our entire transportation system, in every borough and county of the region. It has brought down trees, ripped out power and inundated tunnels, rail yards and bus depots. … Our employees have shown remarkable dedication over the past few days, and I thank them on behalf of every New Yorker. In 108 years, our employees have never faced a challenge like the one that confronts us now. All of us at the MTA are committed to restoring the system as quickly as we can to help bring New York back to normal.”
Kudos to whomever wrote that statement, which minces no words.
American Apparel slammed for email promo referencing hurricane. The edgy retailer launched a 36-hour online sale for shoppers effected by Sandy, promoting it through an email blast that began: “In case you’re bored during the storm …” The promo drew almost universal derision on Twitter—Mashable collected many of the negative tweets—but the company has yet to weigh in. It seems likely that American Apparel meant to be overly provocative. You needn’t be. Careful what you tweet or blog in the wake of the storm.
Time Out With Torstar Digital’s Manager of Strategy & New Ventures, Seema Lakhani
Simply put, Seema Lakhani is one of the reasons that Embrace Disruption Public Relations exists today. I’ve had the pleasure of working with Seema at Torstar Digital for quite some time, and can’t express how much she’s meant to me as a mentor, leader and friend. Seema’s ability to empower and encourage her co-workers, combined with her undeniable passion make her a invaluable person to know and work with. After reading her interview below, I’m sure you’ll agree that Seema is a fantastic addition to the EDPR profile series.
- Cory, EDPR Founder
What’s your ‘official’ job title, and what do you do at Torstar Digital?
My title is Manager, Strategy & New Ventures for Torstar Digital. I do a variety of things for Torstar Digital including staying on top of the latest changes in the digital media space, identifying new opportunities for us to play in and working with entrepreneurs to either invest or acquire their businesses in order to help them scale. I also work closely with the senior leaders across all the business units to help them develop and hone their strategy. It’s definitely busy, but always exciting.
Where’d you go to school, and what for?
I went to the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western, Ontario.
How did you land in strategy and was this always your plan?
I was never somebody who had it all planned out but I was lucky enough to be very clear from a very early age on knowing what I loved – media & the arts AND entrepreneurship. I went to business school because I believed this would give me lots of options to find my passions in a career.
Unfortunately, I found it disillusioning instead. We were given four career option given our degree choice: accounting, finance/investment banking, management consulting or marketing. The recruiting process was contrived and frustrating so I decided to stay out of it. Besides, I didn’t like being put into any of those boxes. So I decided I was going to go to film school and become a producer.
Then, I happened to be participating in a case competition hosted by the management consulting firm, Monitor, in my final year at business school. After the competition I was approached about applying to the firm, given my aptitude in strategy. I made it clear I was interested in media and I was sold on the promise that strategy consulting was a great way to get into media.
Following my time at Monitor, and after getting a strong discipline in strategy, I followed my entrepreneurial heart and worked for the Toronto innovation centre, MaRS Discovery District. There I worked with early stage digital media entrepreneurs and had fantastic exposure to constant inspiration and learning about building a startup in the digital space.
Starting at Torstar Digital gave me the opportunity to move from consulting and advising on innovation – to really living it.
My path was certainly not linear or planned – but I am truly grateful for it as it’s allowed me to discover my own talents and follow my passions.
What’s the most challenging aspect of your position?
My role is to drive innovation forward in the company – and that isn’t always an easy task. Change is always hard for people and the new and unknown can be scary. I’ve learned a lot about how to influence and how to motivate.
What’s the best part of your job?
I know it’s a cliché, but it has to be the people I work with. Working with a diverse group of intelligent and passionate people has always pushed me to grow and challenge myself. Whether it’s a leader who truly understands me and pushes me to reach my potential or employees who inspire me to ensure they reach their full potential – there’s always something to be learned from everyone.
Who do you look to for mentorship and advice?
I’m a big believer in mentorship so I actually seek out advice from a number of people including my current and former managers, the wonderful network of advisors I met at MaRS, former teachers and inspiring people I’ve met along the way.
What are your 3 favourite industry blogs/sites/news outlets?
What advice would you give for people seeking out a position in a similar field?
Don’t let your fear of failure or what anyone else says prevent you from pursuing your dreams. This could apply to anyone really, but it’s definitely been a life lesson for me. Fear is a perfectly normal thing to feel. Accomplishment and self-satisfaction come from learning and growth. Learning and growth comes from experience and failure. Experience and failure comes from facing your fear and taking action. They say you regret the things you didn’t do, not the things you did. I’ve failed at plenty of things (and I’m sure will fail at plenty more) and I’m proud of it – because I tried, learned, grew and got back up again. I wouldn’t be where I am if it weren’t for that.
30 Ways To Promote Your Next Blog Post
We found this INFOGRAPHIC on ways to promote your blog extremely informative. If you’re already a blogger, chances are you’ve considered a lot of these strategies. However, we found ourselves reminded on a few fantastic techniques. Check out all 30 tips below.
Film Friday: What Are Millennials Like In The Workplace? Exploring Digital Natives vs. Digital Immigrants
A hot topic as of late, people are avidly discussing Millennials in the workplace. We recently attended a screening of Mosaic People Development’s new investigative film: Beyond The Digital Divide. The 7 minute film has just been made available online, and features people from both the Digital Native and Digital Immigrant perspective. Have a watch, and learn a little more about this trending topic below.
For more on this topic, be sure to check out this post on Digital Natives vs. Immigrants.
Youtube Done Right: Brownes Dairy Farm Infographic
We came across this ‘udderly’ fantastic infographic video made by a dairy farm over in Australia. Because this is such a prime example of how to modernize your advertising approach while embracing social media: we couldn’t wait until Film Friday to share it with you!
“Every year millions of litres of milk are trucked into Western Australia (WA) from over east. At a time when WA dairy farmers are struggling to survive. Not a lot of people realise this is happening because much of that imported milk comes in as yoghurt.
Brownes are saying “enough” and making next Saturday November 3rd the official Use Buy Date for all yoghurts imported into WA. From that day on, we invite you to buy locally-made yoghurt instead. It’s fresher for your family and better for all those families who own and run WA dairy farms.” via Brownes.
Job well done Brownes, job well done.
