Toronto, how'd you get so lucky with all these smart people? Today, I'm interviewing Andrew Lane. Andrew and I met at a conference in Banff one year and he remains one of my favorite people to run into at any conference. Where ever Andrew is, fun will surely follow. 

Sarah: What do you do?
Andrew: I work at Weber Shandwick Canada.  We're the world's largest PR/Communications firm and I work as a member of our rapidly growing digital communications practice.  In Canada, my role is to provide strategic support for our 5 offices (Toronto, Ottawa, Montréal, Calgary, Vancouver) and I also work with our North American Emerging Media Team keeping our network up to speed on developments in the mobile and tablet markets.  I think it's a pretty great job for a nerd. 

Sarah: How long have you been there and what's the career path that lead you to your current role?
Andrew: I've only been at Weber since March of 2010 so I'm still a relative newbie.  My career started out at Ryerson University, studying television and  writing.  I then got into the industry and quickly shifted my focus to the digital storytelling side of things with a great company called marblemedia.  After a while I moved on to a few tech startups but found myself drifting away from that storytelling aspect of my work that I loved so much (for anyone who's ever met me, that statement should come as no surprise).  That brought me back to the entertainment side of the industry where I ran my own consulting business (shameless plug: http://nitch.ca) before getting the opportunity to work with Weber Shandwick.

Sarah: I think it is pretty reasonable to call you a networking pro, do you think this helps open doors for you?
Andrew: I'm not sure it's possible to be a "networking pro" but I really do like meeting people.  In the age of social media, it seems people consider it novel to meet "IRL".  While online relationships can be great, I'll always prefer knowing someone face to face.  People open doors for people they trust and I think being face to face with someone is the best way to build that trust.

Sarah: Have you always been this comfortable meeting new people, or did you have to work at it?
Andrew: If you've ever met my dad it's obvious that talking to strangers runs in my family.  While it's fairly counter to what you're supposed to teach your kid, I think my dad's natural curiousity in life rubbed off on me.  So I guess the answer is no, but I really think that if you're genuinely interested in learning about other people, there's very little work involved in meeting someone new.

Sarah: What's the most interesting part of your day?
Andrew: The most interesting part of my day is the end of it.  Once everything has finally slowed down, I consistently find interesting to reflect on everything that happened and see if I managed to learn something from it.  I believe in the saying "you learn something new every day" but I think you only retain that learning when you take a few minutes to acknowledge it.  So I try to.

Sarah: Of course, I have to follow that up with what's something you really wish you didn't have to do?
Andrew: Say "no" to people.  Is that vague enough?

Sarah: What advice can you give someone that would be looking to follow your career path?
Andrew: My career path has been a bit of a winding road but I've learned a lot of lessons everywhere it's taken me.  While I wouldn't encourage anyone to replicate it, I'd say that 'go with your gut' has been a saying that's consistently served me well and I'd encourage others to do the same.

If you'd like to find out more about Andrew, you can find him on Twitter, or at his website. To find out more about the company he works for, Weber Shandwick, check their social page. Weber Shandwick was just mentioned in Mashables Top Employers of Social Media Professionals!