A wake up call to end 2018

I had a powerful experience this morning in a Starbucks in Niagara Falls, Canada. I sat in my car enjoying the overnight oats that I made the day before, in front of the Starbucks where I intended to set up to prepare for a meeting later in the morning. My mind was full of concerns: …

What makes the McMaster-Syracuse MCM program so special?

Last week, I was happy to host my 17th residency as director of the Master of Communications Management program, offered in partnership McMaster University and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. It was, as they all have been, a beautiful, warm, exciting and fascinating experience. The MCM program and community is …

New Year’s Resolutions 2018

2017 - A year of resolutions met The last few years, I have focused my New Year's Resolutions on well-being, and I have made progress - in 2017, I built my fitness by doing more cardio, going vegan. I wrote a draft of a book on social media and management, which I hope to get …

The first snow – a moment of regret? or an invitation to contemplate?

We spend so much time in the waiting room of life, anticipating a future in which the conditions will be right for us to take action. The first snow fell today, in silent sprinkles. I am watching its flakes drift and glide in a zig-zag as they fall, in a manner similar to leaves. I …

On a chill night (and a warm heart)

Sometimes, in the dead of summer, we forget that in a few short months, the heat will be replaced by icy winter paths - shivers, tingling faces and a chill wind blowing around the ears. What does this changeable environment mean? Being cold reminds me that I am alive. Today I was in Ottawa, walking along …

On illness, loss and identity

We begin life fresh and surprised at the sensory assault of even the limited confines of the birthing room. After that initiation into chaos, followed by the first reassuring embrace from our mother, we linger through the slow days of childhood, looking forward with anticipation to our adult years, which we think may signal freedom …

Digital and physical life?!

So I was thinking about social media and social networking and how difficult it is to get a handle on the different ways people understand them. It's a big mashup of old school and personality and metrics that don't mean anything and bots and fake news and broadcasters and networkers. What's a social media strategist …