This first ran on Dec. 29, but we’re re-running because most of us didn’t work much that week!

Guest post by Andy Donovan, founder and president of Donovan Group Inc. and a proud Canadian.

I consider myself a bit of a story teller. And conversely, I enjoy other story tellers. This is why, as a communicator, I enjoy what I do for my clients, as I see every opportunity to tell their story a chance to capture the attention and imagination of a new or existing audience.

With the advances in technology now available to us, being able to tell a story has never been easier, or more challenging to sift through the amount of noise online. Second, it would give me a chance to share details on a tool that I absolutely adore in terms of telling stories – social media releases. And third, for purely selfish reasons, I also get to share details on how I use social media releases for professional as well as personal reasons.

A social media release can help bring your standard press release (or overall message, for that matter) to life by incorporating print, audio, video, and interactive assets into one dynamic and engaging web page. For more than three years, I have enjoyed the privilege of creating these pages for my clients that have helped to enhance their traditional and online footprint with media and the general public.

With this in mind, I find it appropriate to be blogging about the social media release, seeing as I use them for clients, my own announcements, and recently in sharing details on others who have had an impact on the way I look at and use social media – namely the authors of Spin Sucks.

In an attempt to further share the daily musings of Gini Dietrich and her team, which I feel are educational, entertaining, and definitely “share-worthy,” I thought I might entice other “Canucks” to check out and “like” the Arment Dietrich fan page on Facebook with the launch of “Canada Likes Arment Dietrich.” The goal: To introduce 1,000 more story lovers this side of the border to engage and become fans of Arment Dietrich – their posts and information, of course, but, moreover, the people.

Purely motivated to share why I like Gini and the crew in a fun and engaging manner, the use of the social media release to launch the initiative seemed to provide a natural platform to do so from one story teller to another. In my mind, much more appropriate than a simple Tweet, Facebook share, or even blog post alone could ever do.

Andy Donovan, founder and president of Donovan Group Inc., is a logistical and planning specialist, providing a wealth of experience in media services, promotion, marketing, audio-visual production, and distribution, as well as event and corporate strategic planning and implementation strategies. With a communications career that spans more than a decade, Andy is a husband and father of 2-year-old triplets living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.