Mitch Joel, freelance journalist

The Montreal Gazette has a new freelancer on the payroll - at least I presume they're paying him ..

Montreal's English language daily is has begun publishing excerpts from Mitch's Six Pixels of Separation blog, starting with 'The seven highly effective corporate blogs', originally published online on April 19th.

Congrats, Mitch!

Blogging : Making the world a small place

Ironic, really, that it would be Facebook that would put me in touch with Minter Dial, Managing Director, International Professional Development & Communication at L'Oreal Coiffure. Particularly, since the first post which caught my eye in his blog's archives is entitled Human Touch and the anti-Facebook trend.

Minter found my blog through a degree of separation, appropriately named Mitch Joel (of Six Pixels of Separation fame). He sent me a quick note through Facebook, remarking on the fact that we were two of a rare breed of blogger to pass from French to English and back again. I agree with him that it can be challenging for some of our readers, and can only hope that you find it more intriguing than frustrating.

In his March 9th post, Minter writes about the backlash to our heightened connectivity through platforms like Facebook and the accompanying cry for the 'human touch'. I can certainly empathize. As in many things, I am of two minds. On one hand, I'm thrilled to be able to communicate with people around the world, and draw knowledge from an exponentially larger number of sources than was possible even two or three years ago. On the other hand, like some of the people Minter describes in his post, I dread globalization, with its impact on culture and small-market economies.

This is probably why I try to walk the thin line that separates the two worlds. 3e mardi Third Tuesday Montreal is probably the best example of this. I was drawn to the concept of Third Tuesday and sought to introduce it to Montreal because of the very fact that it drew professionals interested in social media out from behind their keyboards and into a relaxed, convivial ambiance that encourages exchange, debate and face-to-face communication. It essentially does what Minter suggests in his post :

Create or participate in old-fashioned “Salons” (in the 18th century sense) to discuss and debate face-to-face on topics other than your children's school, or your work trials and tribulations...

Who knows what's next for me. A Lettres d'amour fragranced pen, perhaps.

Podcasters Across Borders : programmation maintenant en ligne

Podcasters Across Borders est devenu un incontournable au calendrier des baladodiffuseurs canadiens, attirant également un bon nombre d'américains. Pour y avoir assisté l'an dernier, je suis en mesure d'affirmer que le contenu est riche, l'ambiance sympa, les activités de réseautage en soirée divertissantes et le tarif plus que raisonnable.

La programmation 2008 est en ligne depuis cet après-midi ... et j'y suis. Je présenterai les résultats archi-préliminaires d'un blog qui ne sera même pas lancé avant le mois d'avril. Le projet est trop beau pour ne pas en parler.

À suivre.

Regrettable de ne pas voir ni Mitch Joel ni Julien Smith au programme cette année, mais je suis heureuse de remarquer le retour de Tod Maffin et de Neil Gorman, qui étaient tous les deux très mémorables l'an dernier, ainsi que la présence de Jay Moonah, Marko Kulik, Dan Misener et notre ami Sylvain Grand'maison. Et comment oublier nos hôtes, Bob Goyetche et Mark Blevis?

Facile de se lier d'amitié avec ces passionnés. Je vous invite à vous joindre à nous en vous inscrivant à PAB2008 ici.

Podcamp Toronto : ooVoo

Mitch Joel conferenced in to this ooVoo event using ... well .. ooVoo.

We tried to conference in a couple of other people, from Finland, Nashville and elsewhere, but there were some technical problems that, at times, made it sound like the speakers were underwater. For some reason, the video wasn't always available, so ooVoo simply posted the user's profile photo.

What does a service like ooVoo mean to things like personal brands? Mitch Joel shares that he has embraced the fact that he is a media channel. He tries to be respectful of 'the relationship' and tries to keep it engaging and compelling. Mitch Canter talks about how this technology makes the world smaller and grants us access to people we'd never reach otherwise. He notes that his network has literally exploded. 'Pistachio' talks her initial wariness to Twitter, leading her to choose a pseudonym. She notes that her pistachio brand also seems to be quite memorable. Seismic taught her about the value of casual, off the cuff video that has immediacy.

It's too bad the technology wasn't totally on, because the conversation was definitely interesting. Time to brush up my under-water interpretation skills.

La SQPRP dévoile son calendrier d'activités 2007-2008

Lors de son cocktail de la rentrée hier soir, la SQPRP a dévoilé son calendrier d'activités de formation pour l'année à venir. Il y en a pour tous les goûts.

Des nouveaux partenariats avec l'UQAM et McGill

Un grand nombre de formations en administration

Médias sociaux avec Charles-Henri Guillaume (TP1) et Mitch Joel (Twist Image)

La recherche marketing avec Christian Bourque (Léger)

La communication au carrefour du marketing et des RP avec Louise Desjardins (Guidaction)

L'évaluation avec Guy L'Italien

Relations de presse avec Stéphane Prud'homme

L'étude de marché avec Sylvie Laferté

En j'en passe.

Félicitations à Abdellah El Mzem et à son équipe : ayant oeuvré au sein de ce même comité pendant 2 ans, j'apprécie le temps et l'énergie qu'ils y mettent. Bravo!