ABOUT ME
Democracy Monument, Bangkok 

​In Thailand to participate in spicy noodles (and  emergency communications training, with UNICEF's Southeast Asia regional office). 
Department of Foreign Affairs (now GAC) headquarters, Ottawa, Canada
​
At the podium, speaking to about 500 participants at an international UN-themed conference. ​ ​(In attendance: Canadian diplomats, Global Affairs Canada personnel with the Afghanistan Task Force, and international and Canadian university students.
​
​On the dais with me: Afghanistan's Ambassador to Canada, and my boss - Kate White, Director of the UN Association of Canada). 
White-water rafting with family
​​One of my favourite days, ever. ​ ​(Thank you, Sister).

​​​I'm in the purple wetsuit, ​crying (mostly) from laughter.
Lviv, Ukraine - Briefing teams of short-term election observers on the political and media landscape in western Ukraine. Shortly after my presentation, my LTO partner and I  teamed them up with their interpreters and drivers and sent them out into the field. ​
Ha Noi, Viet Nam -  Putting together a report for the Canadian International Development Agency, (using RBM tools to measure results), with a multi-year democracy-development and gender-equity project with the Vietnamese National Assembly.​
West Vancouver, BC, Canada
With Ferrous, a very good boy.
Canada Day in Hanoi
I had just arrived to begin a 12-month assignment when the Canadian embassy hosted a July 1st "Canada-Vietnam friendship” reception at the Hanoi Opera House. The friends (and work connections) I made with embassy staffers that night were invaluable, and helped me to better navigate and understand the workings of the country's National Assembly, (basically my job). ​​​
​
​Sometimes 'work' happily means shutting-off the laptop and picking-up a glass of wine. (I worked particularly hard during Beaujolais Nouveau season that year).
Outside the Lviv courthouse, next to a memorial to a Ukrainian artist murdered by Russian extremists. 

With my very efficient Election Observation partner, (always travel in pairs), just before attending a court-action regarding irregularities with the electoral process. (VIDEO).

​​(The Ukrainian​ singer was killed simply for performing in his native language).​​ My very deep love for Ukraine is equal to what I feel ​for my own country. 
Salt Lake City, Utah

As part of the official Canadian Olympic delegation, with my boss, Canada's Minister for Sport, (Hon. Paul deVillers) and Deputy Prime Minister, Hon. John Manley. 

​Photo was taken moments after the Canadian men's hockey team won Olympic gold, for the first time in 50 years. An estimated one-third of all Canadians watched the game on tv.

(The "Lucky Loonie" they display on the floor at all the Tim Horton's...that game). ​​
​Inspecting ballot boxes prior to presidential elections, in a small, rural schoolhouse between Kharkiv and the Russian border.
​
As an election observer with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, I was assigned to a remote area in the north-eastern part of the country near the border with Russia. As in Canada, ​​voting generally takes place in schools and community centers. Here, in a small schoolhouse in February (with no heating on that chilly day), local election officials brought us steaming-hot bowls of borscht to keep us warm.
Tibilisi, Georgia - With staff from the Presidential Press Office​
Following the historic Rose Revolution, ​I was contracted by the United Nations Development Programme to ​evaluate the newly-elected President's media operations, and to make (and implement) recommendations towards improving transparency and accountability.
Kharkiv, Ukraine
 Photos taken years before modern Russian tanks returned to attack Ukraine. It's embarrassing that I'm smiling like a foolish tourist here, not imagining what was to come, just two years later.
I learned at a young age that a rising tide can lift all boats, (provided that they're not irrevocably anchored-down in the first place). My (mostly) privileged life, my actions, my words, my manner of being and my work are all governed by the same ideals of equality, discretion, dignity and privacy​ - and at its core - basic fairness and justice for those who can't speak-up or protect themselves.
​From 1999 to 2006, I served the Canadian government as a political communications and parliamentary affairs advisor to three cabinet ministers in the advancement of federal legislation, programs and policies deigned to improve people's lives, working to create a fairer, more balanced playing field for the more vulnerable among us. ​​

Using what I learned in politics and government, I re-focused and extended my reach internationally. 
​I'm listed on the United Nations 'quick-deployment roster' as a pre-cleared spokesperson for service in public information and special political missions with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, Field Personnel Division. I've completed two levels of the UN's "Advanced Security in the Field" requirements, and participated in emergency communications training with UNICEF's Southeast Asia regional office in Bangkok. I've authored UNDP-commissioned reports on media management and restructuring the operations of a presidential press office in a former Soviet republic.​​
​​Since 2006, I've performed several SSA Specialized Service Agreement contracts within the United Nations system and with overseas projects funded by the Canadian International Development Agency, Canada's Department of Foreign/Global Affairs, and for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
                 
                    ​ ____________​​

​​I've advised on parliamentary development projects, gender-equity programs, electoral-fairness, and democratic-strengthening missions in post-conflict zones and emerging democracies (in South East Asia and in Eastern Europe). I've performed several assignments for Canadian-based NGOs, involving advocacy and government relations.

​​Always (and only) for programs and policies that advance basic social equities and the rule of law.
If you want to know more about who I am, and what I'm really like as a semi-sentient humanoid life form on this planet reporting from the Malabar Front (or as an occasional fry cook on Venus), please know that I list dozens of  personal and professional references - former colleagues and bosses - including ​​Members of Parliament, federal ministers, directors of national associations, senior officials and communications personnel with the United Nations, the OSCE and with the Canadian government.
I'm a communications
​for development in democracy (C4DiD)​practitioner.​
Brian Karem
​is the former senior White House correspondent for Playboy. He has sued Donald Trump three times successfully to keep his press pass, spent time in jail to protect a confidential source, covered wars in the Middle East and is the author of seven books. His latest is "Free the Press."
Rachel Bitecofer
​Political analyst, one of the sharpest, toughest political minds in America. Election guru and political strategist, reveres democracy and promotes its fundamentals with analytical honesty using populist methods.
In more recent years, I represented a small, private consulting firm in Central America, striving to find (and discreetly deliver) the big solutions to some very complex problems. My role chiefly dealt with bridging gaps​ and bringing stakeholders together under common purpose within three major infrastructure projects.​
“We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”  
​Benjamin Franklin
MY DAILY NEWSPEAK FIX
Michael Bociurkiw
​Host, Global Impact  - Connecting the geopolitical dots ... Michael is a journalist, humanitarian aid worker, and global affairs analyst, Senior Fellow - Atlantic Council. And a personal mentor.
Heather Cox Richardson
​L​etters from an American
Robert Reich  American professor, author, lawyer, and political commentator.
Only in Panama: From the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic in 17 minutes.

​​In a small turbo-prop plane (short video clip) with the world's foremost experts on the Panama Canal, getting a bird's-eye-view from ocean to ocean. A modern 'Wonder of the World', the Canal is running out of water. On contract with a Panamanian-based consulting firm and a large Canadian engineering company, I worked to present our client's innovative solutions, (diversion of water and building a dam on a large river), to the Panama Canal Authority and to  select government officials. 
My work focuses on strategic and results-driven public affairs, the formation and delivery of core messaging, stakeholder engagement and media management.
​
_________________
​​
The very long version​:
​Please keep scrolling for descriptions of my work and life experiences, with photos, links and short humble-brag stories ​from the field.

My professional (and personal) interests extend only to projects with the potential to ​improve people's lives in significant, impactful ways.​
With experience in media management, advocacy and good-governance, I found opportunities to make contributions to some interesting (and personally fulfilling) international development projects in Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia and Latin America.
In western Ukraine, speaking with Russian-aligned protesters  during a pro-democracy march supporting the jailed national opposition leader ​
I'm lucky to have received crisis-communications training and media-relations advice from some real pros  with the Canadian government, UNICEF, UNDP and OSCE.
​​spamurdock​@​gmail.com
+1 (514) 242-7506​
In work, as with day-to-day life, I've learned that true, meaningful communication requires listening, observing, understanding, and above all else - caring about - the human condition and the people struggling to live in an unbalanced world.​​​
Lviv Press Club, Ukraine
 Participating in a roundtable forum on the media landscape and voting irregularities prior to parliamentary elections. (Video clip).
"The news is disquieting and extreme. I've been worrying about it all day". 
​​  - George Orwell​
Paul Wells
Politics and culture as though they mattered.
My reference list also includes a number of (former) political "adversaries" and other nice people who I might have at times rubbed the wrong way over the past 25 years. They will likely all tell you the same thing - that torpedoes be damned, feathers be ruffled, egos be bruised or soothed, (no matter what), I usually get the things that I'm paid to do, done. ("I can make a delicious omelette, but some eggs will likely get broken").
​I'm not everyone's cuppa tea, (and I'm ok with that). 

Now I'm getting hungry, so I'll leave you to roam about here as you please, and to let yourself out when you've had enough of me.

​As you're still here, (thanks), you can see my daily reading list, (below), get a view of what concerns me, and tellingly, see what interests and amuses me.
​​
Thanks for joining me here.​​  
​Peace and good health to you.

- Sean​​