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Dani Gagnon

Speaker

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Digital Marketing, PR & the Impact of Technology on our Psychology - Before Anything Else Communications

Currently completing her Masters in Counselling Psychology, digital media advisor and “creative tornado”, Dani Gagnon is on a mission to help organizations and consumers understand the psychology behind the impact technology is having on our bodies, brains, relationships and culture. Whether you need Dani’s insights on using internet-based algorithms to leverage your organization’s digital marketing tactics or improve your digital literacy in more intentional and productive ways, she will bring the latest in pop culture references and uplifting personal anecdotes people of all generations can connect with.

Keynote Speeches

“TURN DOWN THE WHITE NOISE”: Workplace Edition

Zoom, Slack, follow up, circle back. Break the burnout cycle and transform your corporate culture! 

Currently completing her Masters in Psychotherapy, digital media advisor and “creative tornado” Dani Gagnon will employ a psychological approach: biopsychosocial framework to examine how the day-to-day technology that we have come to depend on to effectively do our jobs is impacting our minds and bodies from a biological, psychological, societal, and cultural standpoints. An example of this is how staring at screens is impacting our circadian rhythms and how watching dating reality shows is changing our perspectives on love and relationships. 

The keynote will begin with a brief overview of tech and how it’s been designed to hook users, and how Dani has effectively used them in marketing tactics. From there, Dani will share key learnings from her Masters education that will help both corporate leaders and employees combat burnout and turn down the white noise in the workplace for a healthier and more dynamic work environment.

Highlights:

  • Dynamic, engaging, high-energy, practical, cutting-edge, culturally relevant, food for thought, best practices
  • Insights are highly practical, tangible, and accessible – participants learn what biopsychosocial impacts technology is having on us and how to create healthier and more productive work environments to optimize mental health
  • Relevant to almost all work functions, ages, positions, industries, categories
  • 1-hr timeslot (optional Q&A included)
  • Perfect for kicking off a full-day/full-conference of programming – helps participants absorb subsequent session learnings more effectively
“TURN DOWN THE WHITE NOISE”: Consumer Edition

“He thinks he’s happy but it’s just a nerve cell in his brain that’s getting too much stimulation or too little stimulation.” ― Don DeLillo, White Noise 

Picture it – you get home from a day of virtual meetings (or classes), emails and texts, and turn on the TV. A new season of Love is Blind just dropped. After a couple of hours of watching people try to fall in love sight unseen, you aimlessly scroll TikTok and get back to the 15 text messages you didn’t have time to get to earlier that day before throwing on your favourite true crime podcast as you drift off to sleep. What’s wrong with this day? 

Currently completing her Masters in Psychotherapy, digital media advisor and “creative tornado” Dani Gagnon will employ the psychological approach: the biopsychosocial framework, to examine how technology – ie. social media, smartphones, VR worlds, and all of the tech that we don’t even know is coming yet – is impacting our minds and bodies in this era of distraction. An example of this is how staring at screens is impacting our circadian rhythms and how watching dating reality shows is changing our perspectives on love and relationships. 

The keynote will begin with a brief overview of tech and how it’s been designed to hook users, and how Dani has effectively used them in marketing tactics. From there, Dani will share key learnings from her Masters education that will help every day users and consumers combat burnout, turn down the white noise, and prioritize community and connection for optimal mental health.

Highlights:

  • Dynamic, engaging, high-energy, practical, cutting-edge, culturally relevant, food for thought, best practices
  • Insights are highly practical, tangible, and accessible – participants learn what biopsychosocial impacts technology is having on us and how to effectively use it to their advantage without burning out
  • Relevant to almost all groups, organizations, ages, positions, industries, categories
  • 1-hr timeslot (optional Q&A included)
  • Perfect for kicking off a full-day/full-conference of programming – helps participants absorb subsequent session learnings more effectively
The Internet is Mine - Business and Algorithms

Algorithms impact us all. From online shopping, to communicating with friends, to marketing on social media, most of what we see online is organized by algorithms. This shift has resulted in most content getting lost in the endless feeds of information. ‘Trending news’, may not actually be trending.‘Viral videos’ may not be organically viral. How do you adjust your social media feeds & marketing strategies to connect with audiences in this algorithmic era?

Pairing historical aspects of propaganda along with hilarious examples of her baby boomer parents’ usage of social media, Dani Gagnon outlines the rules to play by (and play against) to understand how information is presented online. She explores the pros and cons of creating online disruption, how to control the information being presented to you, while providing strategies to align messaging with trending topics without seeming tacky. This fun-filled presentation will have audiences laughing as they learn how to use the web to better serve themselves, their clients and their teams.

Key Takeaways:
• The current algorithm structures for key social media platforms and how to optimize your content to work within their systems.
• Be inspired to use the internet more & create a sustainable brand personality online.
• Content marketing techniques that get more reach and engagement organically.

Healthcare | Algorithms for Practitioners

As a healthcare practitioner, social media is a huge part of advocacy and education. Those who don’t embrace it risk being left behind. Whether you want to keep up to date on news for your patients or want to build an audience to make a difference in the world, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter all play huge roles in doing so. Social media pages, groups and profiles are all controlled by algorithms that determine what content we see and don’t. A health practitioner may be following a page wanting important updates, but may not receive them due to these algorithm rules. In this interactive, customized keynote, Dani Gagnon shows healthcare practitioners how the internet’s back-end code rules impact them.

Key Takeaways:
• How to use social media algorithms to ensure you see the information most important to you.
• Techniques to get your online content seen by your target audience.
• Strategies to maximize budgets to create awareness of a certain topic online.

Dani also offers presentations on authentic personal branding in today’s business world and more. View a full list of her presentations here. 

Customized Presentations

Dani also offers presentations on authentic personal branding in today’s business world and more. View a full list of her presentations here. 

Platform Plus Presentations

Unique formats and ways to connect with audiences.
Workshop: Creating buzz for your brand on a budget
This fast-paced workshop will show you how to cut through the clutter of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat by crafting messages that will actually reach your customers. By understanding algorithms and using innovative ideas, you'll be able to create content that will be widely shared. Your next paid social campaign will bring in new business and could cost as little as $30.
Social Influencer
An influencer on Communication & Social Media, Dani can help your organization connect with unique target audiences.

Audience reviews:

  • A creative tornado, Dani powered through the social networks, explaining the strengths and purposes of each, clearly outlining how they'd be useful to my writing career. She had an action plan for how I should get started. Today. Now. Immediately. She was encouraging, insightful and funny. Above all she is knowledgeable but never overwhelming.

    - Aga Khan Museum
  • Dani and her company The Like Button have been managing our Facebook and Twitter feed since 2011. Her work has been creative and done consistently. She has a great knowledge of the space and we are very pleased.

    - Student Works Painting
  • Your session was the highest ranking of the day – rated 6.533 out 7 on average. Likewise 65 out of 75 people in the survey rated you at a 6/7 or higher, which is an amazing score.

    - Globe and Mail Small Business Summit
 

Speaker Biography

The more connected we are, the more forward-thinking the world will become.” – Dani Gagnon

A millennial in a primarily boomer saturated business world, Dani Gagnon is a digital media advisor who helps organizations drive business growth through their online presence and digital marketing. She shares insights on internet-based algorithms and how you can leverage them to better connect with target audiences. Her specialty is making content interactive, clever and truly social; and framing it to reflect the things the Internet is talking about to encourage sharing and engagement. 

Along the way, she’s seen both the positive and negative impacts of social media & digital marketing.  She dives deeper into their impacts to help you discern the signal from the noise, through her insights gained in her quest to earn her Masters in Counselling Psychology as it relates to our use of technology, currently in progress. 

Dani Gagnon finds innovative ways to drive business through digital marketing and ensuring organizations are being genuine throughout that process.  She co-founded the digital marketing + PR agency BAE Communications where she helps organizations create the desired engagement, reputation, and competition that puts their campaigns before anything else.  Her business does publicity and digital marketing mostly for TV and not-for-profits. She’s worked on shows on Netflix (Bad Blood), HGTV, Amazon Prime (American Gods), CTV, CBC, Crave TV, CityTV (Bachelor in Paradise), Disney, TVO, Hulu (Utopia Falls), including 2023’s CTV show Shelved, and CTVs The Amazing Race, and more.

She’s been recognized as a ‘under-30 influencer’ CEO in Toronto with The GNF Group,  and has been making a serious impression in the social media world working with brands like CBC, Under Armour, the NDP and MasterCard already. 

Gagnon’s been a Professor in Digital Marketing at Seneca College and taught at Social Media at Camp Tech, as well as beginner and advanced social media workshops in Toronto, and travelling to various locations for corporate training.

She was one of the keynoters at the Globe and Mail business summit described as a one-day conference of insightful sessions, proven growth strategies and innovative ideas from the country`s brightest business leaders.  She`s also spoken to groups such as: the Canadians Parliament (in Ottawa), the Liberal Party of Canada, Smartserve, Bconnected, Strut, and more. A social strategist with a passion for music, Dani is also lead singer/guitarist of the internationally known punk band KINK. 

Described as a creative tornado, Dani G brings her whole authentic self to each presentation.