A while back I posted about how ePost had got together with Canada’s banks and credit unions to make bills received through ePost available within online banking.  I commented how it was unfortunate, from a convenience and waste perspective, that many of companies I receive bills from (e.g. Home Depot, Hydro Ottawa, Enbridge, Sears, Best Buy, Future Shop) don’t give me the option to stop receiving paper bills.

This morning I signed on to online banking and got another pleasant, paperless surprise.

I can now view images of my cleared cheques online.

Not that I use cheques that often anymore.  In fact, with being able to email money around (which incidentally is what I signed on to do), I use cheques very rarely, and had opted out of receiving cleared cheques in the mail some time ago.  However, there have been a few occaisions in the last couple of years where I had used a cheque (small amounts) and when it cleared my account I didn’t know / couldn’t remember what it was for.  It would have been nice to have been able to see it online.  Now I can!

In terms of convenience and waste reduction, this is a good move by CIBC.

There are a few events coming up next week that may be of interest to you and/or your colleagues.

EVENT 1

On Monday, December 3^rd from 11:45am to 1:30pm at the Lord Elgin Hotel (100 Elgin Street, between Laurier and Slater), CPRS Ottawa/Gatineau and IABC Ottawa with Dell and Thornley Fallis Communications are pleased to present:

An hour with Richard Binhammer, Dell’s Director of Corporate Communications

Richard is visiting Ottawa from Dell’s corporate headquarters in Round Rock, Texas. Dell is Fortune 500 leader in social media and online networking / communication. Richard will discuss Dell’s experience in the ever-evolving space and why his company thinks it is important to be there.

The cost is $45 for CPRS / IABC Members, $30 for student members and $60 for non-members.  To register, visit CPRS Ottawa or IABC Ottawa.

EVENT 2

If you can’t make the lunchtime event or would like to learn more about Dell’s adoption of social media from someone who has been at the center of it since the beginning, Richard Binhammer, is also speaking at the Third Tuesday Ottawa on Monday, December 3^rd at 6:00pm at Fresco Cielo (354 Elgin Street, 2nd Floor, between Frank and Waverly).

There is no cost to attend this event, but you will need to join Third Tuesday Ottawa to view the event notice and RSVP. 

EVENT 3

Lastly, CPRS Ottawa’s annual Holiday Reception is taking place on Tuesday, December 4^th from 5:00pm to 7:00pm at Metropolitan Restaurant (700 Sussex Drive, at Wellington/Rideau).

This event is open to CPRS members and non-members at no charge, but donations for the Salvation Army’s Christmas Kettle Campaign will be welcomed.

Cash bar with hors d’oeuvres provided by Thornley Fallis & 76design.

Note: I am on the CPRS Ottawa Board and Dell Ottawa is a client of mine at Thornley Fallis.

Our firm, Thornley Fallis Communications, which is one of Ottawa’s leading public relations firms, is recruiting Senior Public Relations & Communications Professionals for our growing Ottawa office.

Candidates should have a consulting, agency or journalism background and/or significant experience in conceptualizing, planning and executing public relations programs and activities for government organizations, private sector companies and/or national associations.

Successful candidates will demonstrate the ability to:

• Build and lead teams, allocate resources, and manage multiple projects and budgets simultaneously.
• Deploy a broad range of leading-edge communications methodologies and tactics.
• Manage relationships and provide clients with effective strategic advice.
• Integrate new media, web and social media tools into communications programs.
• Develop and close new business opportunities, including proposal development and presenting to clients/prospects.

Candidates must be highly-motivated and thrive in a fast-paced team environment, possess superior communications and exceptional writing skills, and deliver outstanding client service.  Bilingualism is a definite asset.

The Thornley Fallis team prides itself on working collaboratively, and we are looking for consultants interested in joining a group of fun, dynamic professionals who are committed to providing clients with the best possible counsel, service and results.

CVs can be submitted to me:

Keelan Green
Vice-President & General Manager
Thornley Fallis Communications
55 Metcalfe Street, Suite 730
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 6L5
green@thornleyfallis.com

… as much as it worries other experts whose opinions I care about.

I had a good chat with the new national editor of Maclean’s about this issue when I was at an event in Toronto to celebrate new linkages between TO and Atlantic Canada last week (might have been two weeks ago — October and November have been flying by!)  I suggested to him, in essence, that I think the notion of people saying they are disengaging from citizenship, i.e. abandoning the political process because “it’s not for them,” is OK with me as long as I know that I, and most of the people I know on a daily basis, still participate.

Citizenship is active, and requires work.  It also, however, gives you a chance to voice your concerns about the approximately 1/3 of your salary that levels of government take off your weekly earnings, and if that doesn’t motivate someone to participate, then unfortunately I don’t think anything will.

I teach part-time at a local community college, and the problem isn’t young people.  It’s that people have decided it’s too hard, it’s too removed from their daily lives, and that it doesn’t matter.  Asking people to care about things they don’t care about is an uphill battle, and I — for one – am skeptical that it’s as important to change their behaviour as people say.

That’s why I like people who have engaged in a partisan way, no matter what their affiliation — I respect that they care, and I respect that their commitment has led them to public service in that way.

Not caring, to my mind, is the easy way, so instead of proportional representation, or some other solution, let me propose this concept: we should offer voters a tax credit for voting, a receipt for a $100 tax credit for the next year’s income tax.  We could promote similar initiatves at the provincial and municipal level.  That way, there’s a further financial incentive to get people out to the polls when they get the chance.

Some don’t need the incentive, of course, because they think the opportunity to cast a ballot is simply too valuable to pass up.  But if we don’t go this route, all the tallking about reengaging people will not lead to increases in voter turnout on election day.

My two cents (or 2.1 cents US) …

In my role on the Board of CPRS Ottawa, I have organized a panel discussion on how social media and online networking are changing the communications landscape for next Tuesday, November 13th (all board members organize professional development events for our members throughout the year).

This event sold out a couple of days ago and unfortunately we’ve had to turn several people away, granted the venue can only accomodate 50 people.  However, we’re always in rooms about this size for our professional development events and this is the first time we’ve sold one out, and well in advance, since I’ve been on the board (2 years).  And its a first for several years according to colleagues that have been on the board longer than I.

This is a testiment to the growing interest in the area amongst PR and communications professionals in the national capital region and also to the great moderator and panellists I was able to line up for this session – thanks again gentlemen for agreeing to participate.

Rob Henderson, President of CNW, will moderate panellists John Blackmore, Joe Thornley and Colin McKay in free-ranging discussion on blogs, podcasts, wikis, Facebook, online communities, etc and the impact they are having on traditional media, public policy and communications with customers and citizens.

John Blackmore is leader of the Internet Marketing and Content team at Cognos, Canada’s largest software company. His team’s responsibilities include content creation and navigation, search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising, eNewsletters, a regular iTunes podcast Radio Cognos, and a non-media blog outreach.  John and his team have directed the evolution of cognos.com from educational “brochure-ware” to its current role as demand-generation engine that delivers tens of millions of dollars in marketing pipeline.

Joe Thornley is President and CEO of Thornley Fallis & 76design, the company he established in 1995 to provide senior executives with communications counsel and programs aimed at achieving business and organizational objectives.  Mr. Thornley developed the company’s blog strategy to establish thought leadership through active participation in the blogosphere and early adoption of new methodologies and technologies. His blog, ProPR.ca, is dedicated to best business practices, practitioners and building the ideal PR firm.

Colin McKay, aka CanuckFlack, is Director of Public Education and Communications at the Office of the Privacy Commissioner. In addition to his two personal blogs, he is responsible for the recently launched Office of the Privacy Commissioner blog. He has been dabbling in social media and online communications for more than four years.