I value reasoned debate, and I enjoy many of the witty comments thrown in – they often serve to break the tension. Unfortunately, one usually has to sift through a lot of vitriol and rhetoric to get to any comments that promote understanding or advance an argument.
 
Is it because most commenters are able to hide behind their noms-de-plume? Is it because it is easy to slag someone if you don’t really know them? Or is it just because the Internet has relieved us of some of the common decency that used to be expected when one was engaged in public debate? 
 
I’m not sure.  But at the risk of attracting a flame war, I’d be interested to read any comments YOU may have about whether publications should end the practice of publishing comments on their articles.

I won’t bore you with the list of names we came up with that failed on one or both of these basic requirements – except to say you would be amazed at how many supposedly “unique” and “imaginative” names are already registered. (In a moment of desperation, we even tried “WTF Communications” – but thanks to the World Taekwondo Federation, that was taken, too.) Omar El Akkad, the Toronto Globe & Mail’s technology reporter, lamented the problem recently in a story headlined “When all the good names are taken.” 

So, what is the meaning of The Lanes, you may ask? When all else fails, look out your window for inspiration. Our offices in Toronto’s historic St. Lawrence Market district are surrounded by numerous narrow lanes, and two of them intersect nearby: Colborne Lane and Leader Lane. Colborne Lane runs behind a beautiful row of Victorian storefronts, including five brick and cut-stone structures known as the Milburn building, which were designed by Edward James Lennox – more famously known as the architect of Toronto’s Old City Hall and Casa Loma. This row of buildings is pictured in the banner on The Lanes’ website.

Thus was born The Lanes Strategic Communications, Inc. 

And, in case you were wondering, “the-lanes.com” (sigh) wasn’t available…

Thomas, who is a member of The Lanes Network, was in Toronto to meet with Canadian mining clients who have operations in Mexico. PDAC is, without a doubt, the best one-stop-shop for anyone who has an interest in the mining industry, anywhere in the world – as attested by the large number of foreign delegates who visited Toronto for the five-day conference; foreign delegates represented about 25% of the total in attendance.

Among the delegations from 125 countries, there were mines ministers in attendance from 20 countries around the world, and, for the first time, the conference had a "country sponsor," which happened to be Peru. (Canadian investment in Peru's extractive sector is reported to be roughly $8 billion.) Recognizing the importance of the event, Prime Minister Harper paid a surprise visit on Tuesday morning.

Mexico was well represented by the Economy Minister, Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal, who also addressed delegates on Tuesday as part of "Mexico Mining Day" at the mining conference. Mr. Guajardo underlined the competitiveness of the Mexican mining industry and attributed its success not only to the tax regime, but also to the country's political stability, its developed legal system and Mexico's positive economic performance of late.

My own background as corporate spokesperson for Bank of Montreal (now BMO Financial Group) brought me in touch with David Moorcroft who ran corporate communications for BMO's biggest competitor (and one of the world's biggest banks), Royal Bank of Canada. David rose to be Senior Vice-President of RBC and gained a reputation as one of the top PR practitioners on the continent – and we became good friends.

David and I both dealt regularly with Bernard Simon, a no-nonsense journalist who was, for a time, Managing Editor of The Financial Post and, subsequently, the Toronto-based correspondent for the Financial Times of London. (Bernard has also worked for The New York Times, The Economist and U.S. News & World Report, and he was Deputy Editor of Business Day, the leading business daily in his native South Africa,) As PR people, David and I often cringed when Bernard was asking the questions, and we had deep respect for his intellect and journalism skills. Over the years, we, too, became friends.

Among us, we have now brought together communications pros from around the world to ensure that we can meet the needs of our clients in all the major financial markets. They are all people we have known for years, and in whom we have great confidence. Indeed, everyone at The Lanes is a known quantity, a proven performer – all having worked at the top of their chosen profession, whether as journalist, corporate communicator, brand expert, or any of the other skills we bring to the table.

We invite you to get to know us better and let us work with you to fufill whatever communications goals you have.