Niall Cook, the worldwide director of marketing technology at Hill & Knowlton, discusses the impact, now and in the near future, of social software on internal and external communications.

VANCOUVER: The Ethical Funds Company, Canada's leading manager of sustainable investments, has hired Vancouver PR firm Hoggan & Associates as its AOR.

TORONTO: Stephanie Lu is the new head of media and public relations for RBC, the country's largest financial institution.

TORONTO: It's not often that a company publicly analyzes its own media coverage, particularly when the news is bad. But that's exactly what Nortel did, a day after it announced a big quarter loss and job cuts totalling 1,300 staff.

OTTAWA: During the Canadian federal election, opposing parties went to considerable lengths to tie Prime Minister Stephen Harper to US President George W. Bush, one of the most least-liked presidents among Canadians in recent memory.

TORONTO: So far, the widespread content and job cuts by US media outlets hasn't spread north of the border, but the Canadian magazine industry is hurting.

MONTREAL : Tourisme Montréal is promoting itself as an "anything goes" destination to gay travellers, with a viral video that suggests two male calèche drivers getting it on in broad daylight.

VANCOUVER: The Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia (AME BC) has hired PR Associates to execute on a three-year communication and strategic PR plan. PR Associates won the account following a competitive RFP.

BURNABY, BC: Future Shop quickly reacted with a media outreach campaign to news that Ontario would introduce legislation to ban the use of handheld communication devices such as cell phones while driving.

Rula Sharkawi, Ontario Lottery Corporation and Gaming Corporation's executive director of communications and PR, revealed to PRWeek how the organization is changing its communications moving forward.