New Year’s Resolutions 2021

This year was a strange year. COVID-19 kept us at home and made many of us sick – I had extended family members who caught COVID-19 and survived, thankfully. As many of you know, my life revolves around my work as a professor of communication studies and communications management at McMaster University and my work …

Endings and beginnings

The gathering of students, faculty and alumni who came together for my last Residency Gala Dinner as MCM Director, at Trius Winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake. A lovely night. I was very grateful. Sometimes we immerse ourselves so completely in something, that we don’t see the years roll by, focused as we are on the exciting task …

New Year’s Resolutions 2019

In 2018, I pretty much kept my resolultions (except for those concerning fitness – that was a sad failure.). I established plant-based living as my permanent lifestyle, banishing all animal products from my pantry, and experimented with many vegan cooking styles. I also made progress towards a liberal, progressive Roman Catholic lifestyle. I refreshed my knowledge …

Alternative facts, social media bubbles, assortative mating/friendships and diversity

We all like to think we have a handle on what’s real — it’s natural. However, with the pervasive nature of opinion media broadcasting 24/7 on television and now on the internet, it can sometimes be hard to get a handle on the situation. This is compounded by the echo chambers of our social media …

What made Facebook successful?

I remember, in 2006, when I first started to notice Facebook. At that point, it was a basic service, allowing users to connect to one another and share updates and information. It had competitors – myspace and Orkut, amongst many others. Why did Facebook grow to be so dominant? Facebook’s simple visual identity and early …

Measurement in #PR – Social network analysis

At the heart of public relations practice is the relationship. Whether they are internal or external, relationships are the currency that we deal in. One metric that we don’t pay enough attention to is how networks of affinity build around a brand. A network analysis can help with this. The challenge is that network analysis …

7 Tips for succeeding at conferences

Conferences are microcosms of human society. They are opportunities to observe people of all ages interacting, performing, charming and arguing. Everyone is a little nervous before they arrive and then they reveal themselves in the few appointed days of concentrated interaction. Conferences are a great way of focusing and honing your communication skills and your …

Community building in the emerging oral culture

Everyone seems to be talking about building and managing community these days. But what does it really mean? I think some of the answers lie in awareness of what culture is and how it works. We used to be a print and language based culture. Things were only deemed to be “official” or legally or …

Just published: New issue of the Journal of Professional Communication!

The new issue of the Journal of Professional Communication (volume 3, issue 1) is published. You can read it here. It is almost had dot believe that we have now been publishing for three years. During that time, we have  showcased Canadian professional communication research in both official languages. We have also had research reported …

The future of communications is interpersonal

I began teaching communication studies in 2001, when I was hired out of my post-doctoral fellowship to be the first professor in the new communication studies program at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. My first week was marked by the first great tragedy of the 21st Century, when the World Trade Centre was bombed and …