I started in PR as an entertainment publicist and was really proud of what I did. I knew – and so did my clients – that I could call a journalist and more often than not, they’d run with my story. And that would sell tickets or books, or get people to an event. Then I became a PR agency professional and had to learn a whole new vocabulary – corporate-speak – and refer to publicity as media relations. These days, I’m just @martinwaxman and, like many of you, I live a lot more of my life in public and my personal and professional worlds collide all the time in ways I would have never imagined. To paraphrase author, professor and digital strategist Clay Shirky, where there was once scarcity (as in few media), we now have abundance (social media), amateurs competing directly with professionals every day. Things have changed. And traditional PR just doesn’t perform the way it used to. I’ve noticed several emerging trends that are reshaping our profession and the way we communicate: 1. Search me – semantic search…is it the end of serendipity? And don't forget social or mobile. 2. New generation gap – 35 is the dividing line and it's time for boomers to listen to millennials and change the way we do things. 3. Mobility means never having to say you can't reach me - our online connections are always with us. The key is to think big for the small screen. 4. Face of new media – we’re the programmers, viewers producers and critics all rolled up into one. 5. We're all in showbiz – media’s adapting. PR can no longer sit idly by. We need to combine publishing and publicity and tell stories visually and not just with words.

1. Social Media Barometer
Martin Waxman, APR
Executive Vice President
Thornley Fallis Communications
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
@martinwaxman
#IABC14

2. Good
to
meet
you
IRL
@mar-nwaxman

3. Search
me…

4. Search
me…

5. Search
me…
Ontogeny
recapitulates
phylogeny
Is
seman5c
search
the
end
of
serendipity?

6. The
new
genera5on
gap

7. Mobility
means
never
having
to
say
you
can’t
reach
me

8. The
face
of
new
media
We
do
the
programming
but
we
don’t
get
paid

9. We’re
all
in
showbiz
Beyond
publicity…
Time
for
PR
to
lead

10. …puFng
things
in
focus

11. How
we
get
there
1. Strategy
2. Training
3. Content

12. Social
Media
Barometer
1. Search
me
–
seman5c
search…is
it
the
end
of
serendipity?
2. Genera6on
gap
–
35
is
the
new
dividing
line
3. I’d
like
that
to
go
–
mobility
means
our
online
connec5ons
are
always
with
us
4. Face
of
new
media
–
we’re
the
programmers
yet
we
don’t
get
paid
5. We’re
all
in
showbiz
–
new
PR
means
ac5ng
like
a
media
outlet

14. Contact: Martin Waxman
waxman@thornleyfallis.com
Thornley Fallis
Blog: myPALETTE
Twitter: @martinwaxman
Inside PR