Vanessa Morcom is the PR person’s PR agent, and she is part of the new bread of agents out there: young, ambi- tious, but completely connected to their hearts. KA Magazine is pleased to have Vanessa as Best of Canada, and will definitely do our part to “PR her” as the best in her field.
KA — What is for you, an act of kindness that makes you feel good and warm inside?
VM — There is no substitute for a handwritten letter. A handwritten note is one of the most powerful forms of communication; and the fact that they are becoming increasingly rare makes them even more valuable.
KA — Where are you most at ease?
VM — Someone once said that dancing is the vertical expression of a horizontal desire. The way you dance, it’s not an expression, it is foreplay. There is a rhythm that runs through life, and it affects everyone and lac- es people together with an amoral, prehistoric, sweaty, rain-forest beat: excitable, dangerous, irresistible, and best of all, most attractively, the DANCE of life – it’s free of guilt.
KA — What is a pr agent, and why do we need one?
VM — Somewhere along the way, we as an industry lost our way. We got caught up in hype, spin, hyperbole and buzzwords. We forgot that PR was about Public Relations. A true publicist transcends monologue in order to give way to an exchange versed in dialogue. PR is a dual frame of com- municating the client’s message and listening to the audience in return.
KA — Everything about you seems to be the opposite of what we think the pr. guy agent is; how do you keep so clear in an industry known for being what it is?
VM — I call my family daily. They are wild, spiritual and loving people. My father, Doug, and mother, Irene, are my role models.
KA — What would be your dream event?
VM — The key to being a great host is to make your party a natural exten- sion of you. Imagine, Jasmine and lush pink May roses from the medieval Provencal town of Grasse, creamy yellow ylangylang blossoms from the Comoro Islands off the east coast of Africa, rum-scented tonka beans from South America, vanilla and sandalwood accents. The location would be in a house, or a modern version of a castle with a moat, where you raise the drawbridge every evening. I would invite the neighboring village over for dinner.
KA — When you arrive back to Canada after a long trip abroad what about this country gets your smile on?
VM — Montreal is a weird and wonderful place for weird and wonderful people. Today, there is an emerging set of social leaders under the age of 30 who are making their homes here, succeeding at business, helping in- vigorate the charity scene, it is the rise of a veritable youthquake.
KA — Who is Vanessa?
VM — A quiet and private person who wishes her eulogy to read: ac- claimed Canadian novelist and critic best known for her trilogy, Le Di- vorce, Le Marriage, and L’Affaire.