Twitter Interview With Doreen Iannuzzi

Twitter Interviews – #CKinterview

Today’s Cross-Cultural Interview is with Doreen Iannuzzi. It is a real pleasure for me to interview Doreen here.

Doreen is the person I turn to when looking for “wise” cross-cultural tweets. Of course, this is partly due to her professional background as you will read below.

Something else to remember is that Canada has been working through their cross-cultural issues longer than many countries; with the challenges of having both French and English speaking regions, as well as Canada’s long standing immigration policies. So a Canadian perspective on cross-cultural issues is always worth listening to.

Doreen is simply one of the best people to follow on Twitter for cross-cultural insights.  Besides it’s easy to see she has fun on Twitter and she is fun to be around.  You can find her @DoreenatDMS .

This is a 2 part interview:

• Part 1 – The Blog Interview
• Part 2 – The Twitter Interview for 10 Cross-Cultural & International Questions

The transcript of the Cross-Cultural Twitter Interview with @DoreenatDMS is now below.

Doreen Iannuzzi – Part 1

Here is the first part of the interview with Doreen.

Hi Doreen, For those who don’t know you, can you please tell us something about yourself?

Doreen Iannuzzi: I was born, raised, educated and currently live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I’m Vice President of New Media at Multimedia Nova Corporation, Canada’s leading diversity publisher and printer; our publishing, multicultural marketing and printing/distribution subsidiaries represent a domestic reach of over 4 million unique households; our 500+ multicultural media partners represent a local, regional, national or international reach across 5 platforms. The company’s beginnings go back 55 years ago, when my father founded Corriere Canadese, Canada’s only daily Italian-language newspaper.

Although I haven’t lived abroad, over the years, I have traveled throughout parts of England, Italy, Mexico, the Caribbean, the United States, and Canada. As a proud Canadian, I’m hesitant to say I haven’t visited every province, but it’s close … New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and the 3 territories are still on my list. My mother’s parents were originally from Liverpool, England, my father’s grandparents were born in Italy, and I live in Toronto; so you could say my cultural affinity is for “fish & chips” on Friday’s, pasta any time at all, and genuinely enthusiastic for everything else.

How did you pick up your cross-cultural skills?

Doreen Iannuzzi: Through my past travels, I feel lucky and privileged to have seen and experienced first-hand many different people and places. I’m sure many would agree that it’s always best to get off the beaten track and immerse yourself into the day-to-day reality of others’ lives. To experience not only different customs and aspects of local cultures, but to feel the different rhythm and pace of life that goes along with it.

Way back, I studied piano through the Royal Conservatory system in Toronto; so I’d like to believe that that experience and training has also played a role in having an open, big picture, cultural perspective.

How do you use your cross-cultural skills in your job?

Doreen Iannuzzi: Our workplace is incredibly diverse and has about 140 employees that represent countries and nations from all over the world – Italy, Somalia, Colombia, Mexico, Portugal, China, Ukraine, and more. As well, practically on a daily basis, we welcome and meet with international dignitaries, business partners, clients and partner publishers who are from all over the world. As well, the nature of our DMS work, in particular, often involves the planning and execution of multicultural, and culturally competent advertising and marketing campaigns.

So in comparison to my own personal experience, I would definitely say that any cross-cultural competence I possess is a direct result of both the day-to-day experience of working with my co-workers and colleagues, and the specific nature of our work with clients.

Can you tell us about your blog?

Doreen Iannuzzi: Our corporate blog is specifically “attached” to our multicultural marketing subsidiary, Diversity Media Services; however, The New Mainstream™ reflects our overall corporate philosophy. We see The New Mainstream™ as a demographic group of Canadians who maintain ties to their cultural background and continue to consume cultural media. They are 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation Canadians with a cosmopolitan or “citizen of the world” attitude that cross markets every day; they enjoy the dynamics that are a result of cultural interaction.

We believe it’s an approach that is under-appreciated — in mainstream media and advertising — yet it speaks to the widest possible Canadian audience…diversity is the mainstream, I guess you could say. I consider the blog organic.

Besides Canadian content, I’ve had its scope allow for ‘global’ content/focus; with Canada frequently described as “the world in one country”, and with a blog itself on a ‘global’ platform, I believe that works, although I wish I had more hours in the day for it.

I have a number of favorite posts, but two immediately come to mind: “Is multicultural Toronto resting on its laurels?“  and “Multicultural Marketing Myths“; the former, because even in a city like Toronto, old stereotypes can persist …and the latter because its format alone (a list) is blog-friendly, relevant to our business and, ultimately, it’s a ‘give-back’ to the blog’s readers that provides insight into our business and our professional experiences.

Is there anything new about your blog you would like to share?

Doreen Iannuzzi: “The New Mainstream” was launched almost 2 years ago, and some posts have resonated more so than others. I’m not sure if it’s a trend everywhere, but I have noticed, generally speaking, a decrease in the amount of comments I read on blogs. I believed early on that Twitter participation was to go hand-in-hand with our blog … a necessary element of our outreach/conversation strategy.

Some social media purists may not like this, but for me, I consider both my contributions to The New Mainstream™ and my Twitter activity as blogging. Twitter, albeit 140 characters, has proved to be a really positive and engaging experience; and any timely and newsworthy content/conversation with elements of racism do seem to capture the attention of many (whether it’s related to their professional lives or not).

I do maintain accounts on FriendFeed, YouTube, and Delicious; I’m also exploring Mag.ma, but am more active on Twitter.

Can you give us some deeper insights about yourself regarding your cross-cultural background?

Doreen Iannuzzi: Even though my father was 3rd generation Italian-Canadian, I do not speak fluent Italian; but my Italian co-workers and friends are patient, thoughtful … very kind; I know more Italian now than ever before. I’ve been to Italy only 4 times … and I say “only”, because at the end of each trip, I never want to leave, it is never enough.

To be honest, a great deal of this feeling — and I say this with absolutely no hesitation — is because of the history you can see in every view, and the food …incredible, va bene. Italy goes without saying, but I’ve always been intrigued by Egypt, Peru and Australia.

Have you come across any cultural stereotypes that bother you, or you find inappropriate?

Doreen Iannuzzi: All cultural stereotypes are inappropriate and seeing them propagated in media or even celebrated in advertising is frustrating. See above (“Is multicultural Toronto resting on its laurels”) and, in particular “Do you remember the one about…?” — both examples prove that even though Italians have been in Canada for well over 100 years, the Italian stereotype continues.

Do you have a favorite movie that could help people understand cultural issues?

Doreen Iannuzzi: Many! I love “Monsoon Wedding” — a beautiful and honest film chronicling the days leading up to the arranged marriage of a South Asian couple…I found the inclusion of one particular story element heroic (I won’t spoil it here) that I believe transcends South Asian culture.

I remember seeing Deepa Mehta’s “Water” at the Toronto Film Festival a few years back, and it was extraordinary…just extraordinary.

The Oscar-nominated documentary, The Story of the Weeping Camel, is one more I’ll leave you with…it follows a Mongolian family, their life, and in particular, their efforts to have their camel accept the newborn it just gave birth to. Very beautiful.

Doreen, it is great to know a bit more about you… and I have 3 films I have to watch now   I’m looking forward to  going through the the 10 Cross-Cultural Questions on Twitter with you later today.

Doreen Iannuzzi – Part 2 – The Twitter Interview

This is an interview series of the people I recommend you follow on Twitter for the cross-cultural and international business insights in their tweets.

More Twitter Interviews

• Charmayne Paul – @psitutor
• Lucy Chatburn – @pocketcultures
• Donna Jackson – @wisequeen
• Chris Cotter – @CotterHUE
• Jack Yan – @jackyan
• Silvia Cambié – @XCulture
• Bill Ward – @DR4WARD
• Thierry De Baillon – @t_de_baillon
• Seshu – @PicSeshu
• Neil Urquhart – @culturematters
• Klaus & Flavia Westerwelle – @transdomo
• Donagh Kiernan – @dkiernan
• Christian Hoeferle – @hoeferleconsult
• Caroline – @ohh_la_la
• Deborah Swallow – @DeborahSwallow
• Steve Roesler – @steveroesler
• Matthew Bennett – @matthewbennett

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