Back in November, I was invited to participate on a tour called STRUT that featured 3 workshops. One of  the workshops was called: Think You’ve Got What It Takes to Pitch a Leading Producer or Be A Spokesperson?

The panel included Michelle Crespi – Executive Producer, The Social & Marilyn Denis Show , Lis Travers – Executive Producer, Canada AM. Mary Ann Zoellner – Producer, TODAY Show, Alicia Ybaro – Producer, TODAY Show,Sandra Martin – Editor-in-Chief, Walmart Live Better Magazin

After the presentation, there was an opportunity to go up and talk to any of the producers.

I approached Lis Travers (the Executive Producer for Canada AM) and pitched a story!!  I’ve never done this before but thought I had a story that might be of interest. Basically I told her about something called the COFFICE and that there is a growing trend for people to work out of coffee shops.  I told her about Coffice Tweet Ups, and that I know the guy behind The Coffice!!  She listened to me and told me that she liked the idea and then handed me her card. I followed up with Lis and introduced her via email to the guy behind The Coffice!

Months go by  and I hear no news. Then things change!! I received a direct message on Twitter last week…. from the Coffice, that said: “Did you see this link.  //canadaam.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=308390&playlistId=1.1732239&binId=1.811572&playlistPageNum=1 …It’s your doing. I owe you a coffee!!”.

I then clicked on the link (p.s you should too) and saw that The Coffice had a 6 (yes SIX) minute segment on Canada AM!!

Isn’t that cool? I was jumping up and down that my pitch worked!!

Go figger.

Now I’m hoping to pitch a few a few more story ideas. Wish me luck.

A while ago, (Oct 24th to be exact)  I received an invite to attend an event called the Strut Tour.  Here’s what the invite said.

Join us at the inaugural STRUT TOUR driven by BUICK; a unique professional event for leading influencers.

This interactive holiday extravaganza will hit the streets of Toronto on:

Tuesday, November 26th from 1:30pm-5pm

At each stop we promise you access to industry experts and leading brands in the social space.

Cocktail reception, 5-7pm

I checked my schedule and RSVP’ed right away.

Several weeks later I received another email with more details about the event. I was even more excited. Here’s a recap of the Strut Tour.

At 130 pm: I checked in and was super impressed that all sorts of info was on the back my name tag! I was also pretty happy that I was going to be driven around in a RED Buick with 5 other bloggers!!

The first workshop was held at the Jazz Cellar and the topic was: How Well Do You Know Your Brand. The panel included:

Duri Alajrami – VP Social Strategy North America, BlastRadius Andrea Dart – VP Weber Shandwick / GoldinHarris, Rachael Faucett – Founder, Handmade Charlotte Michele Bosc, Director of Marketing, Chateau des Charmes, Jennifer Cruxton – Manager, Business Development, Media Relations Rating Point (MRP)

Sadly we arrived late and missed most of the discussion however I did enjoy 2 glasses of amazing wine!

Workshop #2. Was held on the set of the Marilyn Dennis show. The topic was:

Think you’ve got what it takes to pitch a leading producer or be a spokesperson? 

The panel included Michelle Crespi – Executive Producer, The Social & Marilyn Denis Show , Lis Travers – Executive Producer, Canada AM. Mary Ann Zoellner – Producer, TODAY Show, Alicia Ybaro – Producer, TODAY Show,Sandra Martin – Editor-in-Chief, Walmart Live Better Magazine

P.S. I was pretty proud of myself and pitched a story. Stay tuned. LOL.

Workshop #3: We proceeded to HomeSense for yet one last interesting panel discussion. The topic: How Creative is Your Content. The panel of experts included –

Jen Reynolds – Canadian Living Editor-in-Chief  Nadine Silverthorne – Today’s Parent Managing Editor Tamara Robbins – PR Manager, HomeSense

I had to dash at 5 pm and missed the cocktail reception, but I know I would have enjoyed it! Nothing beats chatting one on one with other bloggers and brand representatives.

Many thanks to ImpressionsPR and WeeWelcome for the invitation!! It was a wonderful day that included a lot of learning and networking. Looking forward to Strut 2014.