I just wrapped up my first day at the 2012 Canadian Marketing Association Summit in Toronto, and let me tell you, it was refreshing! The theme this year, “Connections: Listen, Engage, Measure” is a change of pace from the marketing conferences that are always touting the Next Big Thing.

Our obsession with the Next Big Thing isn’t surprising though. We live in a revolutionary time; where the shiny object constantly changes, the consumer ecosystem looks like a Tokyo su...

How often do you hear buzz words “social web”? On a daily basis, I bet. Depending on your interests, and preferred online interactions it could be as much as hourly. In either case social platforms, whether online, offline, or both, have combined to become a great launching point for some highly effective social health campaigns. The refreshing thing is that when it comes to health campaigns they aren’t based on selling merchandise for profit. At the core these campaigns are...