November 2020
Contents
1. A byte of foresight: The future is faster than you think
In this new section dedicated to identifying the emerging trends in communications, Judy Irwin and Nancy Miller share foresights from famous futurists.
2. PIC Personality: Meet Vanessa Holding
Executive producer and co-owner of Arc + Crown Media Vanessa Holding offers tips to professionals going into business for themselves. Interview by Kathy Lim.
3. Only connect: Three tips to social networking
PIC's director of communications Nancy Miller gleans three tips from social media gurus on how to apply the archetypes of storytelling to connect with an audience.
4. The independent view: The future needs you
Our chair Nkiru Asika reassures readers that, despite fears of bots taking over in the not-too-distant future, the human work of professional communication will survive.
PIC and IABC/Toronto stand firmly against racism.
In our online and in-person activities, we aim to provide an inclusive space that is welcoming to all and fully representative of the diversity in Toronto. We see you, we hear you, and we are with you. We also welcome your comments and suggestions on how we can do better. Please email our chair, Nkiru Asika, at toronto-sig@iabc.to.
1.
A byte of foresight
The future is faster than you think
By Nancy Miller and Judy Irwin
As a communications specialist, staying on top of language and culture is part of your job.
Every time you develop a digital communications plan, you make decisions based on what trends are emerging and what is culturally relevant. You process information and translate its complexity, so your audience can understand and apply it.
"A byte of foresight," a new section in The Buzz, is dedicated to sharing insights into the patterns shaping the culture of communications. Here, we'll showcase curated links, graphics, listicles and recommended reads, so you can thrive and survive now and in the future.
“Although it has been almost totally ignored by psychology, the rising rate of change in the world around us disturbs our inner equilibrium, altering the very way in which we experience life.”
–Alvin Toffler
Alvin Toffler died in 2016. But if he had lived today, he might have seen 2020 as the year that we fell—not into the grips of a viral pandemic—but to an affliction far more debilitating.
Future Shock is the title of his 1970 bestseller. But it’s also the name Toffler gives to a widespread malaise: “the shattering stress and disorientation that we induce in individuals by subjecting them to too much change in too short a time.”
For all he got wrong about the future—disposable paper clothing never quite caught on—he got a heck of a lot right. We might not be dressing ourselves in cardstock, but we are speeding towards environmental disaster with our fondness for fast fashion. We might not be living in underwater cities, but we are working in an economy that values knowledge and networks over labour and raw materials.
Toffler predicts the rise of the home office, the Internet and the gig economy. He forecasts the death of permanence and the ascent of transience. You can see those predictions manifesting in tweens’ love of SnapChat and in commuters’ love of Uber.
...you don’t have to be a futurist to imagine intelligently what patterns might be shaping the future.
A thought leader in a fast-growing area of expertise—futurology—Toffler holds rank with writers of speculative fiction like William Gibson and foresight consultants like Amy Zalman, who use strategic narrative to help executives face uncertainty.
But you don’t have to be a futurist to imagine intelligently what patterns might be shaping the future.
This month, Judy Irwin contributes a byte of foresight with her recommended read: The Future Is Faster Than You Think: How Converging Technologies Are Transforming Business, Industries and Our Lives by Peter H. Diamandis and Steven Kotler.
Ready to book a flight on Uber Elevate to travel across your city? Thanks to a host of technological advancements—AI, 3D printing, machine learning and more—Uber is aiming to launch its air service in 2023.
In The Future Is Faster Than You Think, authors Diamandis and Kotler explore how the convergence of new technologies is having an exponential impact that’s going to shake everything up, from medicine to new home construction.
And the blue-chip companies that dominate the business landscape today—built to be stable and secure—might not be adaptable enough to compete against innovative new companies that do business differently. Whether you want to ride the wave or just be ready for it, this book offers an interesting look at some really big changes that are coming our way, and what the impact will be on our work and personal lives.
Vanessa Holding is co-owner and executive producer at Arc + Crown Media, a video production agency that helps clients amplify their message with the power of video. From animated explainer videos to scripted scenes for scenario-based training, Vanessa manages a team of talented professionals who help organizations communicate their important information in a way that gets attention and compels action. Learn more about Vanessa on her website and on LinkedIn. She can also be reached by email at vanessa@arcandcrown.com or by phone at 416-451-9573.
When did you launch your independent business and how did it come about?
I launched Arc + Crown Media in October 2015. I’ve always been a fairly independent person, and I was lucky enough to work at a small, independent video production company right out of school. I was able to see how a small company operates. I then took a hiatus from that company and worked for a tech startup doing their marketing.
But I missed working with different clients on a regular basis. So I went back into production. When I met my business partner, a video editor by trade, we recognized that we could run a small shop, just the two of us. But I don't come from a sales background. I come from a producing background. So, I had to learn how to be a salesperson, how to sell myself. I think that was the greatest lesson for me when starting my business.
What do you enjoy most about being an indie?
I think what’s most exciting to me is the autonomy and the diversity of what I do. I like having the ability to choose what we do, and work with clients we enjoy working with. I get to meet so many different business owners and business professionals and learn what they do.
What don’t you like about being an indie?
There’s the weight of feeling like everything is on your shoulders. When leading a business, if you win, it feels great. If you lose—when an independent contractor lets you down or someone shows up late—you're ultimately responsible for everything that happens.
What advice would you give someone new to independent life?
One thing I did not do enough before I became an independent communicator was build my network. Just put yourself out there. For me, IABC is part of that. Keep in touch with people. With LinkedIn, you might not have talked to someone you know in a few years, but you can track their journey, stay in touch and update them on what you're up to. And reach out for help. Don't try to do everything yourself. People are so willing to help you when you reach out in an authentic way.
How long have you been an IABC and PIC member, and what value do you get from your membership?
I joined in the summer of 2019. I dove in with both feet. I started going to as many events as I could, connecting with others and volunteering my time. You get out of it what you put into it. In the year ahead, I look forward to continuing with my role as VP of Membership at IABC/Toronto and seeing how I can contribute. I’ve made great connections and some good friends and have found work colleagues here.
Within the larger IABC community, there is something special about PIC because everyone here is in a similar place. We understand what each of us is struggling with. I think some of PIC’s events, especially the professional development (PD) events, are such a valuable resource for independent communicators. I like how they're targeted to us. We might not have access to as many resources as our peers do at a large company. So, we need to get scrappy and innovative in how we promote ourselves and run our businesses.
Perhaps like a lot of you, I have a love-hate relationship with social media. Instagram opens a window into the antics of my friend’s labradoodle—too cute! Then it pushes me down a rabbit hole with Maru, the Shiba and his tens of thousands of followers, who can’t get enough of watching a dog somewhere in Japan tossing his bowl on a tatami.
I love that on TikTok, my niece dances like nobody’s business. I hate that a company in China may one day own the rights to those moves.
Like it or loathe it, if you’re a communications professional, there’s no escaping social media. Twitter shapes the way we communicate. Facebook influences how we stay connected. LinkedIn reinvents the way we network. Where advertisers once forked out millions for prime time commercials, now they’re padding the pockets of influencers, including those with paws.
If you’re an indie—and hiring a social media manager didn’t make this year’s budget—choosing how and on what platforms to engage may keep you up at night.
So, here are a few tips, gleaned from some of the Internet’s savviest social media experts.
1. Tell stories
To convey wisdom, preserve history and educate the young, stories appear in every tradition, in every culture. Storytelling predates language. A story on social media may not read like a Hawaiian mo’olelo, a Greek myth or a Gaelic legend. But as part of a wider strategic initiative, those fleeting collages of images, text and video—both choreographed and spontaneous—can strike a chord, convey a journey and draw an audience in.
In The End of Marketing: Humanizing Your Brand in the Age of Social Media and AI, Carlos Gil argues that the question steering any successful social strategy is not “How do I engage people?” but “How do I stay relevant?” The most engaging stories online are those that stay closely connected to our most pressing human concerns.
So, when it comes to your social strategy, ask:
- What story am I inviting my audience into?
- What part does each post play in that plot?
- At what stage am I engaging my followers in their journey?
- How does this post apply to their current circumstances?
2. Your audience is your leading lady
Casting yourself behind the scenes—and your audience in the leading role—is not a new approach in marketing. In one of the best-selling books of all time—How to Win Friends and Influence People—Dale Carnegie argues in 1936 that winning people over is not about selling yourself but about showing genuine interest in other people’s lives.
That lady on the sofa, doomscrolling on Twitter in her PJs at noon. That guy uploading a gym selfie in line at Walmart, buying a pack of Oreos. That executive on LinkedIn, who isn’t quite sure how to best present herself online. Those people are your heroes. What inspires their curiosity? What lifts them out of confusion? What makes their day?
Surely it’s not you telling them how great you are.
When Martin Conroy wrote a subscription pitch for The Washington Post in 1975, it wasn’t the paper that he prided as the hero of the story. He positioned its reader as the main character and the Post as his trusted advisor. The direct mailing campaign won the Post millions of dollars in subscriptions.
In Social Media Success for Every Brand, Claire Diaz-Ortiz, Twitter’s former social innovation manager—the Millennial who famously got the Pope on Twitter and live-streamed her own birth—advises brands (and the people behind them) to see themselves as “fairy godmothers” with a “plan.” You’re not just cheering your followers on. You’re giving them a map and the tools they need to rise up.
3. If you post, don’t ghost
You’ve turned your followers into heroes and your brand into Obi-Wan Kenobi. The last thing you want to do is abandon them! They’re your little Skywalkers, after all. And you’re only beginning to earn their trust!
Show up. Day after day. Be there to answer their questions. Engage them in conversation. Diversify your posts to include both original and curated content. Use the Force. Get creative!
Whatever story you’re crafting, hero you’re uplifting or platform you’re publishing on, stay relevant to your audience—listen to their concerns—and they may one day come looking for you to help resolve them.
We can’t control the future, folks.
But we can control our response.
The choice is either to keep step with the heady pace of change or to stay resolutely in our comfort zones, wishing it would all go away. But, if you’re running a business, the latter is like signing up for a class on “how to nosedive into the abyss.”
For those of us old enough to remember when “high tech” meant the magic of listening to mixtapes on your Sony Walkman, the wonder of receiving your first fax or learning to use WordPerfect on the word processor, all this talk of AI and Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies might make you queasy.
But while technology will probably change faster than even the most farsighted futurist can imagine, I do believe that these technological shifts will birth an even greater search for meaning, for connection and for community (a theme I wrote about in September’s Buzz).
Consequently, there will be an even greater need for those who have the gift of interpretation, who think and see creatively, who understand the power of design, who can tell stories, who can explain an idea, who can sell a concept and market a message.
There will always be a place for communicators. Even when the bots have finally taken over, they’ll still need us to bring that “human touch.”
So, be open, stay current and keep learning. But rest assured that as a communications expert, you’ve got skills that never go out of style and will never become obsolete.
In the less distant future, if you have any ideas for professional development topics, possible speakers (including yourself) or any questions, concerns or ideas about PIC, please don’t hesitate to reach me at toronto-sig@iabc.toronto.
Onwards and upwards,
Nkiru Asika, Chair, PIC; VP, Special Interest Groups, IABC Toronto
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Professional Independent Communicators (PIC) is a special interest group of IABC/Toronto. PIC's mission is to support independent IABC/Toronto communicators through professional development, networking and marketing. IABC connects communicators from around the world with the insights, resources and people they need to drive their careers and their professions forward.
The Buzz informs members about upcoming events, shares professional development tips from past meetings and keeps us connected.
Editor and designer (this issue): Nancy Miller
Want to recap a meeting or contribute to The Buzz? Contact Nancy Miller at hello@insighted.ca
PIC executive
Chair: Nkiru Asika | Communications: Nancy Miller | Membership: Kathy Lim | Programming: Judy Irwin, Sharon McMillan | Social Media: Sue Horner | Design: Ilan Sivapathasundaram