The Warren Weeks Show

Bob Pickard is a public relations and communications pro with more than three decades of experience under his belt. We talked about crisis communications, why so many leaders are poor communicators, advice for young people starting out in the communications business and much more.

Dianne Martin is the CEO of WeRPN, a provincial nursing association in Ontario Canada. We chatted about the handling of the pandemic so far, whether people should wear masks, the state of the economy, challenges facing nurses at this point in the COVID-19 situation and much more.

Dr. Terry Flynn is a veteran communications pro who has worked for many years on the front lines of communications and crisis management and who now has a leadership role teaching others the fine art of communications. We talked about leadership in a time of crisis, communications strategy and a crisis that we both worked on in the year 2000 - the Walkerton E. coli crisis. Lots of great insights here for communicators and leaders alike.

Jay Robb is the Manager of Communications at the faculty of Science at McMaster University. He's also the business book reviewer for the Hamilton Spectator - a role he's had for more than 20 years and 500 books. Jay is also a big fan of walking, logging 20,000 to 25,000 steps a day. We talked about what makes a great business book, thoughts on entrepreneurship in light of the pandemic and how the simple, consistent act of walking can have a profound, positive impact on your physical and mental health.

Gary Direnfeld is a veteran social worker with decades of experience under his belt helping people from all walks of life. He's also been a columnist, author, conference speaker and more. I spoke to Gary about how people can manage the stress or anxiety around the current pandemic as well as how they can help their children better manage anxiety during these trying times.

This episode is for the professionals out there who are tasked with communicating on behalf of their organizations in this time of global crisis. You will hear back-to-back conversations with two veteran communicators and long-time friends of mine - Heather Spidell, the Principal of Heather Spidell Consulting in Halifax and John Perenack, a Principal with StrategyCorp in Toronto. Thanks to both of these consummate professionals for their time and their expertise. Hopefully there are a few ideas you can use to help your organization communicate more effectively in these trying times.

Dr. Roberta Bondar is one of the most accomplished Canadians ever to walk the Earth or the travel above it. She was the first Canadian woman and the first neurologist in space when she flew aboard the Shuttle Discovery in 1992. She's had a fascinating career and we got to chat about her early days in the Soo, the career challenges she faced as a woman, her advice for young people, the important work she's currently doing regarding the study of birds and much more. You can follow and support her work via the Roberta Bondar Foundation.

Dianne Martin is the CEO of WeRPN, a provincial association representing about 50,000 Registered Practical Nurses in the province of Ontario, Canada. We talked about leadership, what CEOs should and shouldn't be tweeting, media relations, the state of healthcare and much more.

Jamie Ross is the Assistant Sports Editor at the Globe and Mail in Toronto. We chatted about a range of topics including the state of sports journalism in Canada. There's also some great career advice for anyone who's trying to break into their dream job but doesn't know where to start or who's thinking of giving up.

Javed Khan is an entrepreneur, keynote speaker and the founder of EMpression, a marketing services company in Aurora, Ontario. In this episode, we chat about his marketing tips for the coming year, advice for anyone who aspires to speak at conferences, how he decided to start his own business and more. We also touched on his 23+ year career in the Canadian Armed Forces. I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation and I hope you do as well.