Workshop Leaders
Moderator
Scott Russell – CBC Sports - @SportsWkndScott
Scott Russell has worked at CBC Sports for over 20 years, covering eight Olympics as a reporter and host including the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing. A regular host on CBC Sportsweekend, he began his career at CBC Charlottetown in 1985 before moving to CBMT in Montreal for four years and then on to Toronto. In addition to a long run with Hockey Night in Canada, Scott has also covered triathlon, gymnastics, rugby, cross-country skiing and biathlon at numerous Olympics, Pan Am and Commonwealth Games.
An accomplished author, Scott wrote Ice time: A Canadian Hockey Journey, and Open House: Canada and the Magic of Curling, as well as co-writing The Rink: Stories from Hockey’s Home Towns (with Chris Cuthbert). Scott is also on the on the Education and Outreach Committee of the Canadian Olympic Committee.
Marc Roginsky – Founder and President – Head Start Solutions - @MarcRoginsky
Marc Roginsky is a recruitment strategy consultant and career coach with more than 10 years of experience. A power Linkedin user since 2004, he is a senior recruiter and resourcing specialist who has implemented recruitment strategies for start-up and Fortune 500 companies in the telecom, software development and mobile sectors.
Susan Varty, Director of Digital Strategy – Head Start Solutions - @headstartsol
Susan Varty has been providing communications, digital strategy, and technology advice to corporate clients and small businesses since 2006. She started her consulting career helping job-seekers improve their resume. With a strong background in enterprise software, she is a non-traditional marketer and established social media consultant/blogger.
Richard Pietro, President and founder – CitizenBridge - @richarpietro
Richard definitely thinks on a different wavelength and loves to bring new perspectives to any conversation…so much so that he likes to think of himself as a Conversationalist who specializes in the Art of asking Questions.
…and, one day, he asked himself: “Why do we have Members of Parliament?”
The answer evolved into the CitizenBridge Project, a Gov 2.0 / Democracy 2.0 platform that will enable active, two-way conversations between Canadians and their Government in order to ensure the public’s best interest is being accurately represented.
Brennan Sarich - Practitioner of public relations - @bsarich
Brennan Sarich is a practitioner of public relations and digital strategy in Toronto, Ontario. He is a freelancer with several years experience and specializes in online content, event management and social media. Visit his blog brennanpr.ca or follow him on Twitter.
Ryan Coehlo – DECOSTA Marketing - @ryancjcoelho
Ryan Coelho is a passionate guy creating the possibility of empowering communication and leadership. His mission is to explore different communication techniques that focus on making conversations, ideas, and relationships work. He is a Brand and Marketing Strategist at DECOSTA Marketing where he helps iconic brands communicate their brand promise in an effective way. He is also the Founder of Empwr.Me, a community under development that is dedicated to helping leaders get and stay motivated in making a difference. Connect with him anytime at RyanCoelho.com
Elena Yunosov – Ontario Ombudsman - @communicable
Elena works as a communications officer with the Ontario Ombudsman, spearheading the online communications initiatives of the office. Elena is the founder of Communicable: social media for non-profits, an umbrella for much of fun work outside of work. Through Communicable,
Elena worked on fundraising events, like HoHoTO, a tech geek fundraiser that raised close to $100,000 for the Daily Bread, and HaiHaiTO, a fundraiser for Haiti benefiting Red Cross; helped develop and launch websites for entrepreneurs and small businesses; led workshops on social media strategy and fundraising, and helped manage social media, communications, and media relations for a local candidate in the municipal elections. Elena served on the first advisory board of the Canadian Immigrant Magazine and on the regional board of the Canadian Women in Communications.
Having joined Maytree DiverCity on Board roster, Elena is currently looking for a position on a nonprofit board that would be a good fit for her interests and expertise in social media and online communications. Elena lives in Toronto’s west end, and is happy to take a year off work to raise her daughter Isabella, and help her husband establish a law practice.
Brian Cugelman, PhD @cugelman
Brian Cugelman (@cugelman) has used the Internet for social change campaigns since 1998, working as a campaigner and evaluator for United Nations agencies, non-profit organizations, and private companies. Brian completed his doctorate in online social marketing with the Statistical Cybermetrics Research Group, a world leading team of Internet researchers. His research publications deal with the psychology of persuasive online interventions. He works as a freelance consultant with AlterSpark Consulting.
Matthew Potter @AskMP AlterSpark Consulting
Matthew Potter is a Communication Design Technology Specialist and instructor. Matthew specializes in technology, design workflows and production processes. He is an active member of Toronto’s digital community, including the Toronto InDesign User Group, and key member of several design-oriented start-ups and not-for-profits including the Toronto HTML5 Meet-up Group and CitizenBridge.org. He blogs at askmatthewpotter.com. Both Matthew and Brian are founding members of Toronto’s Social Media Café.
Martin Waxman – Martin Waxman Communications – @martinwaxman
Martin Waxman is the past president of CPRS Toronto, founder of three PR agencies and social media strategist and principal of Martin Waxman Communications. He’s also a senior counselor at Thornley Fallis Communications. Martin is also an accredited professional who has been recognized for his work in PR.
With over 25 years of experience in the field of Public Relations, Martin Waxman continues to educate and serve the community with two published books, his role as social media instructor role at McMaster University and on the board of PRSA’s Counselors Academy.
Eden Spodek – Digital Social Media Strategist and Founder of Bargainista – @EdenSpodek
Eden Spodek is a digital communications strategist with a unique perspective on emerging media. Client-side, agency-side, and high-profile blogger, she’s looked at content, marketing, brand-building and PR from all angles during her career. Her social media involvement spans into multiple areas of the digital world and highlights her passion for relationship building and online communication.
She launched Bargainista, her shopping and lifestyle blog in 2006; co-hosted CommunityDivas’ podcast; and perhaps today is best known as a lead organizing team member of PodCamp Toronto. Eden co-developed a course for Humber’s Public Relations BA program and is a frequent guest lecturer at colleges and universities.
Jennifer Buchalter – Account director of Strategic Objectives
Jennifer is an Account Director at Strategic Objectives, a leading Toronto-based PR firm focused on brand building Marketing Public Relations. With more than 18 years experience in the industry and 12 years with Strategic Objectives, Jennifer has conceived and implemented numerous national and international award-winning PR programs.
Jennifer’s expertise ranges from strategy development, writing and client counsel to consumer and corporate public relations, branding and social media communications programming.
John Slighte - Account Executive at North Strategic - @jslighte
John Slighte graduated from Centennial CCPR in 2010. He has spent some time working for the Ontario Government before moving on to public relations social media marketing. The majority of his experience is in consumer products and sports PR, social media strategy, community building, community management and social media training.
Her public relations and communications strategy development experience at Strategic Objectives includes: Build-A-Bear Workshop; Transat Holidays; Oxford Learning; Cadbury; Kraft Canada; Kruger Products and Hallmark to name just a few.
Patti Cieniewicz – Digital Communications Coordinator, City of Toronto’s Museum Services - @pcieniewicz
Patti Cieniewicz works in digital communications at the City of Toronto’s Museum Services. She manages social media accounts for the City’s 10 historic museums and cultivates their online presence. She is a history buff and is passionate about Toronto’s cultural identity.
Louise Armstrong, Communications Specialist, Louise Armstrong Communications
Louise Armstrong has more than two decades of agency, corporate and government communications experience. As a co-founder of Palette Public Relations, a mid-sized consumer PR agency, she managed national product launches and influencer campaigns for some of North America’s largest consumer goods companies. Prior to that, Louise served as a public relations officer for Canada’s largest public school board and a speechwriter for the Ontario Government.
Currently, Louise is a principal at Louise Armstrong Communications where she provides freelance writing, communications and event management for clients. A veteran volunteer with IABC/Toronto, Louise previously served as director of the ethics committee as the VP of Networking and Special Events. She is a professional etiquette consultant and is certified by the Protocol School of Washington to teach corporate business etiquette. Louise’s views on communications ethics and etiquette can be found on her blog, acallforclass.com. She can be found on Twitter @torontolouise. Louise graduated from Humber College in Toronto with an Honours Diploma in Public Relations.
Panelists
Sunny Pathak – Sports Marketer - @SunnyOnSports
Sunny Pathak founded S.O.S. Media in the spring of 2011 and has established a niche in the sports industry focusing on athlete and brand integration working with clients Kevin Weekes, Colby Armstrong, Tim Brent among others.
Prior to S.O.S. Media, Sunny worked at Baycrest Hospital in the events department fundraising for the Gordie & Colleen Howe Fund for Alzheimer’s.
Sunny has also worked on the media side, where he managed the marketing and sales team. He developed the first print campaign for Under Armour Canada, and concurrently put Tyler Seguin on the cover of his first magazine. He also worked with BioSteel Sports to create the once in a lifetime opportunity to train with Mike Cammalleri. An industry first, Sunny also created a year-long sports fashion segment, Fashion Forward with Kevin Weekes.
With close to 5 years of event marketing experience, Sunny has also managed over 100 events ranging from the 95th Grey Cup in Toronto, the inaugural Buffalo Bills Series in Toronto and has travelled with the Stanley Cup across the country for a league sponsor.
He has worked with notable clients such as Activision: Call of Duty, Collingwood Whiskey, Microsoft Xbox, Nike, Strellson and UnderArmour.
Visit sos-media.ca to read his views on a wide-variety of marketing topics, sports, sponsorship and off the wall ideas and follow him on twitter @SunnyOnSports.
Steve “Dangle” Glynn – Sports Blogger - @Steve_Dangle
Steve “Dangle” Glynn is a video blogger and journalist covering hockey and has been bridging the gap between mainstream and social media through his creative platform.
Steve has created a niche in a marketplace that six years ago did not exist. He began a YouTube video series in October 2007 while he attended Ryerson University for Radio and Television Arts. The series and Steve’s “Dangle” persona have lead to over 2.1 million YouTube views, a Nike sponsorship that resulted in him covering the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Game.
Steve has also worked for Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, moderating in-game chats and has also done pre and post game interviews. The fall of 2011, Steve made the decision to leave MLSE and join the CBC, working on their online video team for CBC Sports.
Having only graduated in April 2010, Steve has interviewed the biggest names in hockey and covered the Men’s Gold Medal Final hockey game. His most memorable experience during the 2010 Olympic Games was sharing a hotdog with Canada’s first Olympic Gold Medalist Alexander Bilodeau in a gold Cadillac…don’t believe it? Check the video!