Browsing Tag

meet and greet

Perez Hilton Will Star In Full House The Musical!

Hot On The Street - Perez Hilton - Full House The Musical

After catching up on G-rated entertainment on Netflix by watching old episodes of Full House, it’s exciting to announce that celebrity blogger Perez Hilton will star in Full House The Musical!

The show will debut in Toronto at the Randolph Theatre in August. Perez loves spending time in Toronto and he especially admires how we celebrate theatre as a city. In a phone interview, Perez noted that Toronto’s passion for theatre makes our culture distinctly different from Los Angeles, where people see more movies than stage shows.

Considering how much time he spends online, it’s unsurprising that Perez landed this opportunity through social media. When he saw a friend in the entertainment industry post about the show, he immediately commented that he wanted to get involved. “I even joked that I would be Mary-Kate and Ashley,” he recalled. “Then Tobly, one of the creators, saw my comment and asked my friend if I was serious and I said, ‘Yes, I’m very serious,’ so then we set up a meeting.” Perez sent the creators footage of him singing to convince them that the Tisch School of the Arts graduate was talented enough to play Danny Tanner.

Continue Reading

Ten Thousand Coffees Chat With Lisa Kimmel

Lisa Kimmel - Edelman

From early morning meetings to late night client dinners, Edelman Canada’s President Lisa Kimmel is a busy woman. Thankfully she took time out of her schedule to talk to young professionals for a Ten Thousand Coffees group chat.

Here are some takeaways from our conversation:

  1. No matter how hectic your job, it’s important to make time for yourself so you can stay healthy. Lisa exercises 3-4 times/week and appreciates the alone time.
  2. In an agency environment like Edelman, a good PR professional is highly adaptable, reflexive, flexible, solution-oriented, collaborative, curious and able to deal with overwhelming client responsibilities.
  3. A few of the most important skills for a PR professional are sales, public speaking and critical thinking.
  4. Effective internal communication, something I was particularly interested in learning about, involves honesty, transparency and frequent discussions. An account executive should understand the strategic plan for the entire agency and open communication makes this possible.
  5. Employment engagement is an essential priority. Lisa advises employers to recognize that employees are your best advocates, so equip them with the right tools to talk about your company at a party.
  6. An effective employee engagement program invites contributions from employees at junior and senior levels so management can gather insights for operations.
  7. Media companies like Facebook and Twitter sometimes eliminate clients’ agencies as the middleman and go straight to presenting solutions to clients. This is an obvious threat to agencies who want to be involved in all campaigns, so some agencies like Edelman are starting to partner with media companies like The Globe and Mail to present solutions to clients based on joint capabilities.
  8. Lisa understands the value of information interviews, but young people should realize that she’s inundated with requests. Tell a story in your email invitation to capture her attention because too many people say, “I’m passionate about public relations and want to meet with you over coffee.” If and when you are awarded an information interview, make sure you come prepared. Know your elevator pitch and research the senior employee’s company.
  9. For job interviews, ensure that you can articulate your point of view on the industry. Do enough research so that you can confidently predict future trends and think about your portfolio so you can describe the work you’re most proud of doing.
  10. Young professionals without a family should take advantage of opportunities to work abroad, such as landing a job within your agency’s international network.

Meeting Margaret

Hot On The Street - Margaret Trudeau and Sarah Prince - IMG_8531

After hearing the mental health advocate speak at Western, I was keen to see Margaret Trudeau again at Indigo. Every seat was taken on the first floor at Indigo Manulife and even though she came to promote a self-help book for women, there were quite a few men present.

In her first bestselling book, Changing My Mind, she documented her bouts of depression, but showed no signs of unhappiness last night. Margaret was very giddy on stage, smiling as she spoke about every subject.

Continue Reading

As Seen On TV: The Social

Hot On The Street - The Social Stage

I don’t need an excuse to apply for tickets for a live taping of The Social. Now that they’re in season two, I decided to go back. On my way to the taping, I stopped at Starbucks across the street from the studio. I was delighted to see Jess Allen in line. I spotted her immediately and she was very friendly.

Chloe Bent, The Social’s audience coordinator was as friendly as I remembered. She ensured that everyone was excited to join the live audience and encouraged us to cheer by telling us that the biggest fans would receive gift bags with makeup products. One fan was visiting from San Francisco, so she took home a special prize. According to Chloe, the easiest way to look good on TV is to simply nod and smile, without looking like a cheerleader.

Continue Reading

Canada’s Smartest Person

Hot On The Street - CBC Canada's Smartest Person

CBC just proved that Facebook ads work.

When a few sponsored posts popped up in my feed about their upcoming game show series Canada’s Smartest Person, I quickly signed up to join the studio audience. It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of co-host Jessi Cruickshank and Canadian entertainment, so attending a live taping was a no-brainer.

Canada’s Smartest Person tests participants’ knowledge and skills in a unique way that makes it like a hybrid of The Apprentice, Survivor and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. All of the participants are challenged to prove they deserve to earn the coveted title through tasks that range from ordinary to geeky.

Continue Reading