Rick Mercer has called him the funniest live comedian in Canada. Ron James is a must see when it comes to his live comedy acts, his DVDs and his television specials. However, he is also very much in demand in the corporate world. He has performed for some of the most prominent businesses and organizations in the country including the Bank of Nova Scotia, Department of National Defence, the Globe & Mail, Microsoft, Sobeys, and Xerox to name just a few. On Sunday, June 8, 2008, Ron James will open the CPRS National Conference in Halifax. This is a "don't miss event!"

Max Valiquette is Canada's foremost expert on youth culture and marketing. He is founder and President of Youthography, Canada's leading youth marketing consultancy.

Youthography is Canada's leading youth-focused communications agency, managing market research and marketing programmes for all variety of clients and organizations, be they fortune 500 companies, governmental organizations, or not-for-profit.

Valiquette's varied expertise makes him one of the most sought after speakers on youth and pop culture in Canada today. He has been featured in virtually every national media outlet in Canada, including MuchMusic, CBC Television, ROB-TV and TSN, as well as in various newspapers, periodicals and trade publications, from The Wall Street Journal to Canadian Business, and everything in between. He is the author of numerous industry related articles, and was the three-time Chairperson of Strategy Magazine's Understanding Youth Conference. Valiquette has a B.A. from the University of Ottawa, is a former Central Canadian Debating Champion, and has performed, as a sketch comedian, at Second City. He was recently named one of Canada's most influential marketers by Marketing Magazine.

Audio tapes of the keynote and plenary
sessions are available for purchase here

Beyond media clips and special events lie the strategic pillars of the Public Relations profession. Business and organizational leaders turn to PR professionals to develop, enhance and sometimes repair the strategic relationships that form the basis of their own goals and objectives.

For this stimulating and interactive session, we welcome Dr. Terry Flynn, APR, of McMaster University, who will put forth a clear and provocative argument that our profession and our professionals are the core of an organization’s “balance zone,” and as a result, create the necessary “reputation capital” that produces ongoing value and results for the enterprise.

Dr. Flynn will define and discuss the very core of strategic public relations management, drawing from more than two decades’ experience working in the industry. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from one of Canada’s thought leaders in the PR profession.

Dr. Terence (Terry) Flynn, APR is Assistant Professor and Director of McMaster University’s Master of Communications Management Program. Over the last twenty years, Terry has practiced and taught corporate reputation management, public relations management, crisis communications and environmental risk communication. In 1993 he started his own public relations agency, Frontline Corporate Communications, and has had the pleasure of providing counsel to countless clients in Canada and the United States. He has created and implemented professional training programs that have been used by multi-national corporations, governmental agencies, and not-for-profit organizations, throughout the world. He is a much sought-after trainer and speaker and continues to present his research findings at academic and professional conferences across North America.

Audio tapes of the keynote and plenary
sessions are available for purchase here

Tisdall Foundation Lecture

Leonard Brody is Co-Founder and CEO of NowPublic. NowPublic is one of the pioneers in citizen-generated news and is quickly becoming one of the largest news agencies in the world, with more than 130,000 contributing reporters in 140 countries and 4,500 cities. In the last year, The Guardian in London ranked NowPublic as one of the top five news sites in the world and Time Magazine named it as one of the top 50 websites of the year.

He is a highly respected entrepreneur and venture capitalist who has helped in raising millions of dollars for startup companies, been through one of the largest internet IPOs in history and has been involved in the building, financing and/or sale of five companies to date.

Much critical acclaim has followed him in his endeavours. At Onvia (where he was part of the initial executive) the company was voted Canada’s number one startup in 2000 and subsequently closed a $240 Million IPO on NASDAQ. He is also an advisor to several companies including, the Associated Press, Red Herring and Sonic Foundry. Leonard is currently a Senior Advisor to the Canadian Minister of International Trade and a Director of Canada’s largest technology association, CATA.

A highly sought-after public speaker, Leonard has lectured at universities such as Stanford, the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai and the Gordon Business School in Johannesburg. He has spoken at conferences throughout the world such as NASSCOM, the World Newspaper Congress, CEBIT and the Monaco Media Forum. His work has been featured in such publications as USA Today, Fortune, the Wall Street Journal, the BBC, El Mundo and Der Spiegel. He is co-author of the best selling books, Innovation Nation: Canadian Leadership from Jurassic Park to Java and Everything I Needed to Know About Business...I Learned from a Canadian both published by John Wiley and Sons.

Leonard holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts from Queens University, a law degree from Osgoode Hall and is a graduate of the Private Equity Course at the Harvard Business School.

Audio tapes of the keynote and plenary
sessions are available for purchase here

Download the presentation.

Sponsored by The Communications and Public Relations Foundation

Andrea Mandel-Campbell is a veteran journalist and author of the book, Why Mexicans Don't Drink Molson: Rescuing Canadian Companies From the Suds of Global Obscurity. A foreign correspondent in Latin America for close to a decade, Ms. Mandel-Campbell's multi-faceted career has taken her from the southern tip of Tierra del Fuego to meet Nelson Mandela to the Canadian diamond mines 200 km south of the Arctic Circle.

A business and financial journalist specializing in international markets and global competitiveness, Ms. Mandel-Campbell has, through her travels to the cool valleys of Chinese Manchuria and Argentina's pink presidential palace, been afforded a unique glimpse into the inner workings of globalization.

Why Mexicans Don't Drink Molson is the accumulation of her international experience and of three years spent interviewing Canadian business leaders, government officials, academics, and industry consultants across the country and abroad. It is the most comprehensive picture to date of why Canadian companies have failed to embrace international markets and why they must.

Ms. Mandel-Campbell was Bureau Chief for London's Financial Times in Mexico and correspondent for Business Week magazine in Argentina. She also reported from Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Honduras and Cuba for The Miami Herald, The Christian Science Monitor, The Dallas Morning News, The San Francisco Examiner and The Globe and Mail, among others.

Audio tapes of the keynote and plenary
sessions are available for purchase here

When seeking out business or government leaders, organizations traditionally opted for lawyers, engineers or career professionals. In recent years, professionals with a background or training in public relations are increasingly being asked to assume broader leadership roles beyond public relations.

Listen to some of Canada's leading corporate, non-profit and government decision-makers discuss the importance of their public relations background to reaching the top of their organizations.

Moderated by: Janet MacMillan, APR, FCPRS, Principal, MT&L

Panelists: Kelliann Dean, BPR, MBA, Deputy Minister of Nova Scotia Department of Tourism, Culture and Heritage and former Vice President, Business Development, Bank of Canada; Judy Steele, BPR, CA, FCA, Vice President, Emera Energy (former partner Ernest and Young, past national chair, Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation); Simon Kennedy, BPR, Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet (Operations), Privy Council Office; Catherine Woodman, CEO, United Way and former Vice President, Human Resources, Maritime Life.

Audio tapes of the keynote and plenary
sessions are available for purchase here

Born in Newfoundland and Labrador, General Rick Hillier joined the Canadian Forces as soon as he could. Having enrolled in the Canadian Forces in 1973 through the Regular Officer Training Plan program, he graduated from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1975 with a Bachelor of Science Degree. After completing his armour officer classification training, he joined his first regiment, the 8th Canadian Hussars (Princess Louise's) in Petawawa, Ontario. Subsequently, he served with, and later commanded, the Royal Canadian Dragoons in Canada and Germany.

Throughout his career, General Hillier has had the privilege and pleasure of commanding troops from the platoon to multi-national formation level within Canada, Europe, Asia and the United States. He has worked as a staff officer in several headquarters, first at the Army level in Montreal and later at the strategic level in Ottawa.

In 1998 General Hillier was appointed as the first Canadian Deputy Commanding General of III Corps, US Army in Fort Hood, Texas. In 2000 he took command of NATO's Stabilization Force's (SFOR) Multinational Division (Southwest) in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

In May 2003 General Hillier was appointed as Commander of the Army and subsequently, in October 2003, he was selected as the Commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kabul, Afghanistan.

General Hillier was promoted to his present rank and assumed duties as the Chief of the Defence Staff on 4 February 2005.

General Hillier and his wife, Joyce, have two sons, Chris and Steven, a daughter-in-law, Chris' wife, Caroline, and a grandson, Jack, who has already learned to salute his grandfather.

General Hillier enjoys most recreational pursuits but, in particular, runs slowly, plays hockey poorly and golfs not well at all.

Audio tapes of the keynote and plenary
sessions are available for purchase here