Just in time for the school bell chime, High Road worked with TELUS to invite media to a Back to School preview event showcasing the company’s exciting line-up of devices and services. From Facebook-centric phones like the HTC Status, to social-networking based music service Rdio, media were invited to see the many ways TELUS is curating the Internet to offer customers the services they know and love on smartphones built around social trends.

To kick-off the Back to School theme, media were sent invites in the form of college admission letters, encouraging one and all to take part in a freshman orientation at TELUS. 19 media spanning technology, lifestyle and online publications attended the Back to School preview event held at the TELUS tower in Toronto.

Technology reporters and bloggers were invited to an afternoon briefing at the TELUS Innovation Centre with VP of Mobility Solutions, Brent Johnston, who discussed TELUS’ smartphone and services strategy. A few hours later, a slew of lifestyle reporters and bloggers joined for the second half of the event, complete with fun and interactive demos from TELUS spokespeople. Media enjoyed a live DJ, bar service, appetizers and a “Glee”ful performance from the Etobicoke School of Arts club, SPLASH, who charmed the audience with foot-stompin’ renditions of classics like “Don’t Stop Believing” and “Lean on Me.”

Jen McNeeley, editor of SheDoestheCity, echoed everyone’s feelings about the Glee club performance, going so far as to tweet that the TELUS event was the highlight of her life: And the glee club did Journey. Who knew the @telus event would be the highlight of my life? Several others commented that the event’s look and feel creatively captured the “Back to School” theme.

Class may be dismissed, but one thing’s for sure: media are hard at work because the coverage is rolling in at record speed. From blog posts to tweets, this class is on their A game!

Last week Vancouverites were devastated by the senseless violence and destruction that ensued after the loss of the Stanley Cup.

More than a decade after the 1994 playoff riots, Vancouverites experienced a sense of déjà vu with downtown businesses looted, property destroyed and a number of people injured just blocks from our offices. A few good Samaritans tried to fend off mobs only to have the violence directed towards them.

Although eerily similar to the riot nearly two decades ago, this time around social media played a key role in several different ways. In some cases social media helped “fuel the fire” for rioters who realized they had a real-time audience following their every move—and who were clearly not thinking about the repercussions of these photo and video trails now captured for the world to see. In just a few hours, blogs and Facebook groups emerged encouraging people to save their photos from the night so they could be used as evidence. 

More importantly however, in the aftermath of destruction, social media created a positive channel and a vehicle for Vancouverites to unite, take action and clean up the mess.

Less than 12 hours after the riot, more than 1,000 Vancouverites headed downtown armed with brooms, garbage bags and their determination to reclaim the city. The event, completely organized through Facebook and Twitter, picked Vancouver back up on its feet.

Today, the Hudson’s Bay and other store windows are bandaged with well wishes, expressing disappointment in the few that ruined it for many; still questioning how something like this could happen not once, but a second time.

So, before you move on with only the photos of burning cars and ravaged streets in your mind, remember there’s another side to our city: a community that can respond on a dime to give back in spirit so much more than what was taken in the riots. This is the real Vancouver and the one the world also needs to see.

At High Road Communications, we are known for having an incredibly talented team, and this week our very own Ian Buck was featured in the Globe and Mail talking about how we harness the power of social media to recruit the very best in the business.

The article, written by Lynn Greiner, rightly explores how recruiting quality staff is “no longer a matter of placing an ad in the newspaper and then wading through a mountain of (horror of horrors) paper resumés. Today’s tech-savvy candidates expect to find jobs the same way they do much of their social interacting – online.”

For us, using social media to recruit is a no-brainer, says Buck.

“Everything we do in our work life – for our clients and for our own company – goes through the social media filter and recruitment is a natural fit,” he says.

“We’ve found that social media actually gets a much higher quality of applicant versus job boards and career websites,” says Buck, adding that we also use social media and search engines to scan for extra information about candidates and check for existing connections to our team. “By starting with our own network and that of our employees, it’s a quick way of attracting candidates with the right skills, experience and background. Even a three- or four-times removed connection on a social network is already a better qualified lead in general.”

High Road’s stealthy Office Ninja even received a bit of attention in the article, for his creative face-to-face recruiting methods.

“High Road also puts its own playful spin on good old fashioned person-to-person networking,” writes Greiner. “At the 2010 Mesh Marketing conference, the company sent in a recruiting ninja, who somersaulted around the halls stealthily setting his sights on Digital Ninja recruits and handing them High Road branded Ninja Stars. It worked, according to Mr. Buck, resulting in what he calls ‘an amazing hire we never would have achieved via career websites.’”

Please visit the Globe and Mail to read the full piece: “How to use social media as a recruiting tool”.

Ian Buck’s top tips for job-seekers

Looking for a new job and want to make sure you put your best foot forward?

Here is a bit of advice from Ian:

1. Check your online footprint: Search your own name to see what comes up, and do your best to fix it if there’s something that’s not appropriate! It’s pretty much guaranteed that employers will be doing the same search.
2. Build your personal brand online: Do more than just clean up your social networking profiles before you start applying for jobs, engage in the field that you’re interested in joining. Share your expertise. Connect with key players in the business.
3. Market yourself: Don’t be afraid to feature links to your social profiles on your CV, it gives potential employers a lot more insight into you than what goes into a one- or two-page application.
4. Be proactive: Shooting, uploading and sharing a video CV or “about me” to YouTube shows initiative and creativity; following the company on Twitter and LinkedIn shows you’re interested in the job.

You can find High Road online on our LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. See you there!