Dan Zaiontz, Special Projects Co-ordinator, Seneca College

Zaiontz is part of the communications and strategic planning team at Seneca College, serving previously as the college’s Sports Information and Promotions Coordinator and currently as Special Projects Coordinator and Professor.

Dan Zaiontz, MCM is a Toronto-based professional communicator with more than eight years of diverse experience representing some of Canada’s largest media brands. Including stints at Rogers Sportsnet and Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium, Dan has helped to share the stories of a number of major events and properties from the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games to the Toronto Blue Jays.

Specializing in social media strategy, speechwriting, and public relations, he completed a Master of Communications Management (MCM) from McMaster University-Syracuse University in 2014. In spring-summer 2013, Zaiontz conducted a major research study entitled #FollowTheLeader. The study was the culminating capstone project of the researcher’s tenure in the MCM program. The findings of the study served as the foundation for Zaiontz’s new book #FollowTheLeader: Best Practices in Social Media for Higher Education CEOs to be published in December 2014.

Dan loves to talk leadership, politics, the frustrations of being a Toronto sports fan, health foods, running, motivation, great TV and film (see: Aaron Sorkin), rock music (see: Foo Fighters) and ethical shopping (see: bleeding heart). Dan resides just north of Toronto with his wife, Rebecca, and their daughter, Samantha. He can be reached on Twitter: @danzaiontz.