Talking Internal Communication...

Leadership comms - a date for your diary

The next CIPR Inside event (London, 17 September) is focused on leadership communication, a subject that's close to the hearts of many internal communicators. Whether you're already working closely with your CEO, or you've recently started out in iC, it promises to be an insightful seminar.

This afternoon session (1500-1730) features two excellent speakers -Dr Anton Obholzer, an accomplished and high profile leader, and Darren Briggs, a consultant who has recently undertaken research into what CEOs need and want from internal communicators. 

If you can spare the time and you're in London that day, it's well worth going along. To reserve your place, simply click on the listing in my calendar (you can access it at the top of this blog). 

Hope to see you there!

Should internal comms be part of the World PR Festival?

Next year sees the UK’s Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) host the World PR Festival in London. Part of its 60^th anniversary celebrations, the event takes place on 23-24 June 2008 and is expected to attract senior communicators and academics from across the globe. The theme is ‘developing society through effective communication”.

As is so often the case with these big ticket PR events, there is a real risk that internal communication will be sidelined, with speakers paying little more than lip service to what is now arguably the fastest growing and most highly valued PR specialism. That’s the worst case scenario for me.

The good news is that, with almost a year to go, we have an opportunity to influence the agenda and make sure our voice is heard. CIPR Inside, the Institute’s specialist group for internal communications, has been asked for input- and we’d like your help.

Our aim is for IC to be fully incorporated into the agenda and given the focus and attention it deserves. IC is increasingly regarded as a central component of effective reputation management and we believe it should form a core part of the agenda for one of the PR profession’s flagship events.

Do you agree? Do you see IC as part and parcel of public relations or something separate and distinct?  Do you like to be associated with PR, or does the link worry you? As a practitioner who entered internal comms via the PR route (I spent about a decade doing media relations before focusing on IC) I’m quite comfortable with this, but I know many people feel differently. I’d love to hear your views.

Assuming you share our view that IC and reputation management are natural bedfellows, what do you think we could or should do as part of the Festival? There are lots of options - from a fullscale IC 'fringe festival' to receptions, round table events and so on. Again, we'd really appreciate your thoughts and ideas...