In Session

It’s Monday 5 June and the IABC conference is in full swing (particularly with memories of the dancing Mounties at the Canada party last night) but that’s not the only rock that’s struck me here in Vancouver. I’m more convinced than ever about the power of authenticity and story-telling in global corporate communications. And that is learnt from conference sessions such as Carol Kinsey Goman’s ‘I heard it through the grapevine’ and Marianne Allison’s ‘communicating innovation: driving the adoption of new ideas’, plus stories of the Vancouver Siwash Rock on the Seawall Promenade. To quote the plaque on the shore of Stanley Park, “Indian legend tells us that this 50 foot high pinacle of rock stands out as an imperishable monument to Skalsh the Unselfish who was turned into stone by Q’uas the Transformer as a reward for his unselfishness.” A second plaque tells a sad tale of Robert Dennis Tribe who aged 17 dived into the waters at Siwash Rock exactly 40 years ago on June 5 1966. Robert failed to notice that it was low tide and he dived to his death. The plaque was put up by Robert’s friends as a reminder of the danger of diving from Siwash Rock.

The messages to me are the enduring power of concern for others, truthfulness and the need to learn to make improvements. In the words of Marianne from Waggener Edstrom “everything we do in communications is about trust building and now that everyone is contributing to communications through every kind of media -every company should have a Chief Listening Officer and be deciding how it should communicate its innovations and communicate with innovation.”

Change management is now the constant and we as professionals need to be more knowledgeable as to what our companies really are and what they want to be, what our communication strategy is and how we put people at the centre of this strategy.

As a write this my mind is still buzzing with today’s outstanding lunchtime presentation by Tod Maffin and his powerfully honest insight into the power of the Geek when avenging poor customer treatment. Next time you see this guy turning up at a conference make a point of being there and learning from him.