Last night I attended the ACE Awards by the Toronto chapter of the Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS). I was definitely jaded going in, thinking it would be another night of high fives and back slapping with a room full of PR flacks, putting a powerful spin on their latest campaign. But I have to say, I was wrong.

Not only was I amazed at the high caliber campaigns and breakthrough thinking in our industry, but I was blown away by the professionalism and accomplishments of the young PR professionals entering our field. And CPRS deserves huge kudos for putting so much emphasis on our future leaders. For the first time, they added the Student PR Campaign of the Year and the winner gave the best speech of the night. I am sure all the agencies were frantically writing down her contact information, in an attempt to recruit her first thing this morning.

And they also gave out two awards for Young PR Professional of the Year. One went to Rachelle Khalaf of Torchia Communications and the other to our own, Cortney Anderson (see photo). Congratulations!

We need to do more in the industry to recognize the work of our future leaders and the young professionals that work so tirelessly and often behind the scenes to drive the outstanding results for our campaigns. CPRS took a great step in the right direction and I hope more professional organizations follow suit.

Mia

As an agency focused on tech and digital lifestyle, we see a lot of companies trying to tap into MTV-cool trends. At the same time, many product marketers are focused on “personalization” and empowering their customers to make the product their own.

It is hard to argue with the success of this strategy. Check out Xbox (client) and their faceplates on Xbox 360 and of course Apple’s ipod customization of colors and engraving.

But sometimes it seems like worlds colliding.

Check out this press release from today, describing www.pimpmylift.ca. It is an online marketing promotion from forklift company MasterLift encouraging people to Join the Forklift Revolution. I don’t have a warehouse or any particular use for a forklift myself. And that is too bad because my pimped out lift is sick. Very sick.

High Road Vancouver’s Jo-Anne Stayner will discuss public relations strategy for product launches in the upcoming Go2Market roundtable by the British Columbia Technology Industry Association. The event is held on March 22 at 7:30 PM in the BCTIA boardroom (1188 W. Georgia, Suite 900). More information and registration on the BCTIA website.