My favourite gifts not wrapped in a blue box with a white ribbon.

In the spirit of Mother’s Day, here are 5 gifts I received from my Mom over the years.

1. My grasp on the English language.  My Mom has always been a stickler for grammar which has in turn made me into the grammar police I am today.  “She did so good!” – or well, either/or.  Irregardless of that fact – hmm… not a word.  The there’s and the yours, the it’s and its and everything in between.  My Mother is the reason why I publicly correct people, and attack Blackberry messages with a fictitious red pen.  Blame her, not me.

2. My love for cooking but not cleaning. We both love cooking and wearing chic aprons. She learned from her Dad and in turn taught me how to work the stove, however, it is also due to my mom that I have never cleaned a bathtub. Spoiled, I know, but my Mom has passed down the most important value of all to me – hire a cleaning service. Thanks Mommy!

3. My overstocked book shelf. Reading is a huge passion of my Mom’s. I never see her without a book and she can read at the speed of light. In turn, I started reading from a young age which translated into my adoration of everything paperback. Bookstores are like a gateway to heaven and I can thank my Mom for one of my favourite hobbies.

4. The fact that I am a homebody. I go out often, we all know that. However, my favourite thing to do is curl up on the couch and watch a great movie or TV show. My favourite nights have been sitting with my Mom on opposing sides of the living room having a laugh over how into a reality show we both get. Home is truly where the heart is.

5. My ability to blow bubbles off my tongue. Yes it is saliva, and yes if it lands on you it is slightly gross. But what a great trick! One person in every generation of my family can do it and I happened to be the lucky girl in mine. It landed me my spot on the Argos Cheerleading team my first year (I guess I can thank my Mom for my looks that probably assisted with that), as well as the admiration of many onlookers who are perplexed as to where the bubble machine is.

So thank you Mom.

We Are Family

The boys club. I remember when that simply meant no girls allowed. Now, it means a multitude of things, however the boys clubs that resonates closest with me – is a football club.

The Toronto Argonauts have taken a lot of heat in the media recently as they have released numerous players with very little regard for the personal side of business. From Khalil Carter’s public tearing down of the organizations loyalty to those without an NFL title attached to their name, to the recent publicly debated hot topic on Off the Record -July 10th, 2008- of Michael Bishop being put on Waivers – it isn’t looking so pretty. But does it have to? After all this is a business, and how many times while growing up did the boys club oust its members. Problem is, this boys club has branded itself as a “family friendly” club, and living up to that has proven to be a tough task during the start of the 2008 season.

Over the past few years, the Toronto Argonauts Football Club have stated over and over again that they are a family… right. Now in light of my current situation with the organization, I am merely going to prove that brand loyalty is essential in building a relationship with fans – those are the people that pay the boys salaries by the way.

Here is the simple breakdown. You tell fans that the team is one big family. They, resonate with this idea and in turn buy into the brand. From here, they purchase season tickets, team merchandise and even show up to team events. What does this mean? Cash for the owners, and pay cheques for the players. Now here is the problem with this equation. When you do this, you create a relationship with these fans, this is called brand loyalty. When fans start hearing that you are not living up to this brand, they no longer trust you. Not trusting your brand means not buying into the brand and so on and so forth. This means no money.

Not a smart move. Brand loyalty is organization survival. Especially for the Toronto Argonauts who have struggled with establishing and maintaining a good brand, the last thing they want is the public questioning their intentions. I would love to say this is just a game, but it isn’t, it is a business – and a personal one at that. The flipside to this is that you have a lot of voice boxes – players and in the CFL, cheerleaders – who don’t buy into verbal diarrhea. Releasing a player from a team who claims to be a business is one thing, releasing one from a family – whole other ball game.

Family – a group of people who are related that treat each other with a special intimacy or loyalty. (Does related by double blue blood count?)

Last time I checked, releasing players means releasing families or trading them off to another part of the country. That isn’t business, that’s personal. As one family to another, wouldn’t it be appropriate to sit down your player and let them know why they are leaving your family? Maybe too much to ask, but hey you were the one who brought everyone to the Sunday dinner table.

Currently this boys club mentality has leaked into the girls club. “It’s business, it’s not personal,” tends to be the mind frame running consistent within their head office. Maybe they missed the class on the Golden Rule, “treat others as you want to be treated,” but treating those who represent your brand with anything less than respect doesn’t cut it. Your brand can lose loyalty from within and in turn that projects outwards losing loyalty from fans.

This post is not to discredit the organization as a whole. I believed in this brand for two years. However, the intention is to be a slight wake-up call for whoever may stumble upon it. Brand loyalty is important, that’s why the real boys clubs do so well.

PR, Facebook, and Local Celebrities

I may not know it all, but Facebook I do know.

I was never a MySpace girl. Ever since its introduction a few years ago in the midst of my University career I have been hooked. It is easy to do so, and frankly the looks I received after deactivating it for one week (see puzzled, perplexed, disbelief, mystified in a picture dictionary for reference) made me wonder what’s the deal with Facebook?!

We all complain about it, that means you – creepers! We do. But truth be told everyone is still checking it, posting and tagging pictures, as well as adding the latest and greatest applications. The thought of living without this social network cannot be fathomed by its users, however there has to be a way to get around the complaints. We have to be able to brand ourselves better, just like the pros! PR technicians are using Facebook to brand products, yet figuring out a way to brand ourselves tends to be intricate.

For me and my close comrades, my fearless femme fatales, also known as my fellow professional cheerleaders, we tend to be stuck between a rock and a hard place. Actors, athletes and really any public figure have the same problem. How can we brand ourselves properly, keep our privacy, while maintaining the fun of Facebook?

PR tends to fix crisis’ or issues, so why not use it to “fix” the book.
Let’s start a new chapter, turn a new page and write a story on how to use Facebook to the best of our branding abilities (sorry for the pun-intended book references).

Here are 10 Best Practices for using Facebook in order to brand yourself as a professional cheerleader (actor/public figure/local celebrity/athlete):

1. Decide whether or not you will be using your real name – it isn’t for everyone. If you are in the public eye and want to keep a personal page, use initials. If not, stick with your name and be proud of your content. Privacy settings are there for a reason, so use them, but keep your name clean (XXXShanXXX K-Dawg doesn’t look good).
2. Use an appropriate profile picture – regardless of the other pictures you post, this one is for all to see and attributes certain qualities and statements to your page. First impressions are key in business, well they are also key in Facebook. This is your first opportunity to set a standard for your page!
3. Choose your networks carefully – this says a lot about who you are. Picking a network gives others access to your personal information and dictates what information may be sent your way. If you do not want to add education information, stay away from joining their network. This also gives others who do not have you as a friend, pertinent life information (ie: where you are attending post-graduate studies).
4. Add some personal information – that’s what Facebook is for. It is a social networking tool that allows people to get to know their friends and acquaintances. Education and work information should be current and appropriate. Adding the last job you were fired from is probably not a smart choice… and no it is not common knowledge saying that.
5. Stay away from crazy pictures – by crazy I mean the drunk stammering on the floor pictures. Point blank, keep it classy.
6. Keep your applications to a minimum – once someone is your friend, they can ‘creep’ on whatever you have. It also appears on their news feed. Remember that applications you add says a lot about your interests. Adding the “weed application” may not be such a great thing for your employer to read on their news feed. In a blog post The Top 5 Viral Facebook Technique, it is mentioned that a news feed is a way of viral marketing. If you wouldn’t stand on the street selling weed, don’t sell it on your Facebook news feed.
7. Decide whether or not to have a wall – it may not be a bad idea to get rid of it. I deactivated my wall for two months. Truthfully the reasoning behind it was that the “wall” is the one thing you have 0 control over. Anyone can write anything on your wall – remember that. Until Facebook decides that you need to confirm or deny a wall post, it is a very tricky component that relies on the user to be alert.
8. Keep your groups to a minimum – joining groups determines who you are affiliated with. It is just like writing a good release; keep it clear and concise. Having 10 groups reads commitment, having 100 reads congested.
9. Use your privacy settings and limit friends – there are a million of them so experiment. If you are that worried about having access, you can block users, deny users the ability to search you and of course put certain friends on limited profile. Remember that anyone you add as a friend has the ability to quote you, access your photos and do some damage. Pick friends and privacy settings wisely.
10. If all else fails, create a professional page – numerous well-known individuals (or local celebrities!) have two profiles; one for their friends and family, the other for work. If the above tips seem challenging than this may be your best option. This is still questionable by PR practitioners (read PR Squared: Public Relations and Facebook), yet it is an individual decision and just like the rest of the tips – it is only a suggestion.

For everyone (including those who are celebrities in mind only):
Facebook is a social networking tool and none of these tools should inhibit anyone from getting down and dirty in it. However, just as children, we need to play nice in the sandbox. Facebook is one big playground, but this time you can block the bullies! Use it to make friends, keep friends and even brand yourself – just play nice.

Side Note: Thank you to my former Cheerleading team, coach and our Communications Director for the insight and inspiration to write this blog post.