AGENDA
6:00PM- 6:30PM
REGISTRATION
6:30PM - 7:15PM
PANEL: Humber PR Student Career Development
For every student, career development is a process throughout your educational journey of self-assessment and career exploration, making life changing decisions that you hope prepare you for life after college. This interactive panel will discuss the tried and true ways in which you can pave your way to success after your PR program at Humber. Panelists will provide insights on topics ranging from life as a Humber PR student, to understanding personal branding, to creating your portfolio and landing an internship.
7:20PM - 8:05PM
PANEL: Life After Humber PR
Once you’ve completed the writing labs, the communication plans and gone out on your internship, you will be eager to build your resume and put your skills to good use. The field of PR encompasses an incredibly broad spectrum of sectors. It can often be hard to know where to start. This interactive panel will discuss the sectors Humber’s PR students are most interested in learning about, like corporate versus agency life and social and digital media. Panelists will provide valuable insights into their careers in various industry sectors.
8:10PM - 8:40PM
KEYNOTE: Colin MacDonald
8:45PM - 9:30PM
NETWORKING RECEPTION
SPEAKERS
Drew Harper
Drew is the marketing, public relations and communications account executive for CNW Group. He is a University of Ottawa alumni, a judo enthusiast and speaks three languages — English, French and Mandarin. Working as an external consultant, he specializes in understanding individual client needs and channeling them into exciting media and influencer campaigns. His skill set combines aspects of traditional public relations with a wide variety of technological abilities including photography, video production and web development. He was also previously a program coordinator for Fo Guang University in Taiwan, where he worked to foster new English language programs and developed his Mandarin language abilities.
Brandon Wallace
Brandon graduated from the Humber BPR program in 2016. Throughout his time at Humber, he balanced several internships while working as a promotions assistant for the Humber Student Federation. In his second year, he served as a section representative on the Humber PR Committee. He spent his summer internship at Sony Music Entertainment as their digital media and marketing intern. In his final year, he worked as a junior PR Coordinator for Humber, before landing an exciting position as the marketing and communications coordinator for the Movember Foundation. Before studying at Humber, Brandon founded Style & Flair Media. In his free time, he coaches soccer at Bloor Collegiate Institute.
Kim Banjac
Kim is the public relations and social media specialist at Sunwing Travel Group. After completing her undergraduate in communications and sociology at York University, she completed a certificate program in public relations at Centennial College. In 2013, she was the recipient of the CPRS Student PR Campaign of the Year award for her work on BraveArt, a charity event hosted by the Toronto-based grassroots organization Art Starts. She went on to intern at Jesson + Company, where she was soon hired on as an account director. Banjac has a strong passion for fitness and works as a certified personal trainer in her spare time.
Bryan Sparks
Bryan is the communications coordinator for the Air Canada Pilot’s Association. A Humber alumni, he completed the public relations postgraduate certificate with honours. He went on to work long-term for SEARCH Associates and CPRS, before joining the Air Canada team. Bryan completed his undergraduate at St. Thomas University. He juggled a double major in media studies and communications with a minor in journalism and was a member of the varsity cross country team and the intramural basketball league.
Patricia Pytel
Patricia Pytel is a passionate and dynamic public relations leader with twelve years’ experience managing corporate branding and communications programs in both the public and private sectors. She is a respected media and crisis communications coach for senior executives, and is dedicated to supporting future communications leaders through mentorship.
Patricia currently manages the global public relations program for Canada’s largest province to build Ontario’s brand awareness among business executives in ten international markets, generate business leads, and increase inward investment. She previously worked at Canada’s largest retailer developing strategic communications plans to promote brand values and managed company public relations campaigns for multiple product teams.
From her base in Toronto, Patricia loves to travel and is an avid reader.
Riannon John
Riannon is a senior account manager at Edelman Canada, where she has both interned and worked in various positions throughout her career. She specializes in media relations, strategic communications and corporate communications. She has previously worked as a Senior Specialist in Mount Sinai’s Media Relations and Communications department and as a Communications Specialist for WWF Canada. She is an alumni from the Humber PR Certificate program. Riannon is passionate about a number of social issues including health, animal welfare and the environment.
Michelle Lomack
Michelle is the communications executive for Rogers Communications. She has held multiple positions within the company and has handled media relations for several Rogers brands including CityTV and Omni Television. She also specializes in a number of other skills including publicity, press releases and broadcast. She has also previously worked as a publicist for Bell Media. Michelle is a Humber PR alumni from the post-graduate certificate program. She has also worked as a professor at Humber, spending one semester sharing her wealth of knowledge about media relations.
Kayla Brendle
Kayla is the account coordinator at AOL Canada. She specializes in social media, traditional print and online writing, public speaking and media relations. She has also previously worked with Sony Music Canada, Spark Sessions and Charming Media. She recently graduated with honours from the Humber BPR program and was previously the president of the 2012/2013 Humber PR Committee. She was previously awarded the CNW BPR Scholarship and the CPRS Silver ACE Award for the Student PR Campaign of the Year.
Ashley Haraburda
Ashley is a media officer at The National Ballet of Canada, a position that channels her inner passion for the arts. Aside from her work in public relations, she has extensive experience in acting, dancing and singing professionally. Ashley graduated with honours from the Humber BPR program. She received numerous awards and scholarships during her academic career including the Humber Community Scholarship and the Humber BPR Academic Award of Excellence. She is a former vice president of the Humber PR Committee, a position she held for three consecutive years.
Natalie Walsh
Natalie is the corporate manager of public relations and social media at Blue Diamond Resorts. She began her PR career in strategic communications under former Mayor Rob Ford, working under tight deadlines and juggling multiple projects at a time. She then went on to work in consumer and brand management for FleishmanHillard. She has experience working abroad, spending four months as In-Acuity’s event operations lead in Sao Paulo, Brazil. She is a Humber alumni, completing a post-graduate certificate and earning a spot on the dean’s list in 2013. Natalie is also fluent in Spanish, practices bikram yoga and enjoys reading novels.
Zachary Fairbrother
Zachary is the communications coordinator for TSN. He also works as a consultant under his eponymous agency Zak Fairbrother Consulting. His skills range from social media content creation to internal and external communications. He graduated from the Humber BPR program with honours and was a section representative on the Humber PR Committee in 2012. He worked as a student disability services notetaker in his first year. He spent his summer internship working for Bell Media as a corporate communications intern.
Erica Mailloux
Erica Mailloux loves the digital and social media worlds, and loves combining this passion with creative storytelling. In 2012, Erica began her studies at Humber College, working towards a Bachelor of Public Relations. Opportunities arose and soon, Erica was working with local radio station Indie 88 as part of the digital team, where she wrote music and lifestyle articles. Erica also joined Sysomos, a social media data analysis company. Here, Erica learned that her passion for storytelling could be combined with insightful data to better reach audiences and communicate messaging effectively. Today Erica is a digital consultant at Hill + Knowlton Strategies, Canada’s top-rated communications agency, working to develop and implement social media strategies and digital advertising campaigns.
Colin MacDonald
Colin brings expertise in public policy development and campaign execution to his work with Navigator’s clients.
Prior to joining Navigator, Colin served as a senior policy advisor to several Ontario cabinet ministers across a variety of ministries. During his time in portfolios as diverse as Natural Resources, Labour, Citizenship & Immigration and Finance Colin developed a broad-based understanding of government decision-making processes and the political imperatives that guide these decisions. Colin also served as director of policy for one of the candidates for leader of the Ontario Liberal Party during that party’s 2012-13 leadership contest.
A frequent media commentator on Canadian and American politics, Colin has a master’s degree in political science from the University of Western Ontario and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Guelph.
Humber’s inaugural public relations conference will be held on Monday, November 21, 2016.
This free event is open to all current Humber PR students and will be an opportunity to learn from and network with industry professionals. The Humber Public Relations Conference (HPRC) will feature two moderated panels followed by a networking session. Panel sessions will discuss internships, life after Humber and working in the sectors students are most interested in, like international PR, corporate and agency life.
Humber is the premier institution for an education in public relations.