IABC’s 2007-08 Chair Todd Hattori, ABC and President Julie Freeman, ABC, APR, wrap up the conference and take a look at the year ahead.

 

 Interview with 07-08 Chair Todd Hattori and President Julie Freeman [4:50m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Mark Schumann, ABC, from Towers Perrin, covers key points from his session on how communicators can cut through communications noise.

 

 Interview with Mark Schumann, ABC [7:39m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Panel members included Anne Forrest, moderator, Hong Kong; Tengku Marina Badlishah, Malaysia; Darren Burns, China; Ruri Tomioka, Japan; Peter Yorke, India.

 

 Interview, Panel Members, [10:52m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Christopher Barger, who recently left a similar position at IBM, is director of global communications technology at General Motors. He discusses key points from his session, a primer on why companies should embrace social media.

 

 ConferenceCast: GM's Christopher Barger [11:37m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Alan Scott, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Dow Jones’ Enterprise Media Group, discusses the role of blogs in organizational communication, with examples from his own staff.

 

 ConferenceCast: Dow Jones' Alan Jones [7:20m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Reed is Executive Vice President of Supply Chain for Motorola. He discussed the role of communications in his work the night before the presentation of his aware.

 

 ConferenceCast: Excel Winner Stu Reed [4:13m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

As a follow-up to an item we ran in the April issue of “Countdown to New Orleans,” here are a few additional places to check out during your stay in New Orleans. For more details, stop by the IABC Hospitality Desk.

House of Blues
255 Decatur Street, French Quarter
If you’re looking for great live-music performances of rock and alternative rock, here’s your place. This popular nightspot also features a year-round line-up of headliner acts.

The Cabildo
701 Chartres Street, French Quarter
The Cabildo was the site of the signing of the Louisiana Purchase transfer, and it is now one of the state’s most popular museums. If you want to immerse yourself in the history of Louisiana, then don’t miss this informative and entertaining attraction.

Johnny’s Po-Boys
511 St. Louis Street, French Quarter
It’s the only authentic po’boy (hollowed-out bread packed with anything edible) spot in the French Quarter. Stop by and you can order a po’boy filled with fried shrimp, roast beef, roast pork, crawfish, soft-shell crab. Need I say more?

What’s missing from the list? Please share your favorite New Orleans’ restaurants, nightclubs, food joints, etc.

A recent study conducted by the Economist found evidence that the corporate world is beginning to get starry-eyed about social media. (Thanks to Shel Holtz’s blog for uncovering this research gem.) The study reported that 80% of companies believe that social media tools can deliver significant improvements to its business operations. This is great news for communicators, but I would advise caution. Before you dive into the virtual waters of Web 2.0, make sure that you can show management the payoff. To help with this task, here is a useful blog post, which offers excerpts from a Forrester Research report on the ROI of blogging.

This “new ROI” issue for communicators will also get some attention during IABC’s 2007 International Conference, 24-27 June. Several sessions in the PR Track will discuss how to go about measuring the business impact of the latest Web 2.0 tools, which is good news. As more CEO blogs, company podcasts and customer networking sites hit the Web, I suspect that communicators will be asked to quantify the real business value that lie beneath the hype and dazzle of Web 2.0.

This issue reminds me of something that came up in a recent conference chat I was having with a colleague, who was bemoaning why so many technology requests get shot down by CFOs and CEOs. He made a great point, which captured the issue and the challenge perfectly: “CEOs will continue to view this Web 2.0 stuff as toys, until you can show them a genuine ROI. Show them how a blog can save money or improve productivity, and they’ll start to see it as a necessary line item in next year’s budget.” Happy number crunching.

What other print and/or online resources are out there that can help us measure the business impact of Web 2.0? Fell free to share links to relevant articles, podcasts, web sites, blogs, etc.

I’m a big fan of the conference session that attempts to predict the future. Also known as the “trend sessions,” these meetings can be a great way to map out future programs or career goals –if they’re done right. I’ve been to many of these sessions, where after about 10 minutes into the presentation, it dawns on me that I actually read an article about “Trend #1″ on the speaker’s PowerPoint slide…three years ago in The New York Times.

However, I’m proud to report that this sad coincidence has never occurred during the many IABC conferences that I’ve attended. In fact, thanks to its annual “Business trends and communicators” session, I always leave a bit wiser, ready to apply what I’ve learned to my next project. The reason is the unique format– which allows the moderator and attendees to engage each other in a lively discussion about the future issues that will re-shape the communicator’s role. I’ve always liked this approach, because it relies upon the collective wisdom of the group–and not just the presenter—to chart the future course of the profession.

If no one minds, I thought I’d kick this session off to an early start by contributing two trends that are generating a great deal of buzz in the field:

1. Corporate social responsibility. Lately, I’ve been seeing this issue reported in many of the niche publications, blogs, e-zines that cover workplace trends. What’s interesting is that CEOs are now asking their management teams to incorporate environment-friendly policies, fair labor practices, community-supported initiatives, etc. into the organization’s overall business strategy. This presents a huge opportunity for communicators. First, it gives us a chance to help management communicate a new CSR policy in such a way that employees don’t view it as another PR stunt by the C-Suite. This trend also allows us to play a big role in shaping our organization’s reputation by communicating the latest CSR programs to customers, media, financial analysts and other key players who can move a stock price up or down.

2. Workplace innovation and creativity. Call it “The Google Effect,” but it seems every company today wants to be just like the search engine giant, where employees come to work each day ready to create dazzling new products and develop the next big idea. This potential trend presents another chance for communicators to flex their muscles by helping our CEOs bring imagination and relevance to their ideas and strategies for leading the organization. That means we must help the boss deliver company messages that inspire employees to use their creative talents for the good of the company. To do so, we need to help our senior managers kick their addiction to corporate jargon. This takes courage, because they’re hooked on the stuff, but we need to show them how honesty and straight talk can do more to fire up morale and innovation than anything else.

What’s missing from my list? Are these two trends in line with what you’re seeing out in the field?

ROI Communications CEO Barbara Fagan Smith will co-present with The Gap’s Chris Adams at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, June 25 as part of the Change Management track. In this interview, Barbara previews the session, “Gaining Employee Trust and Buy-In During Times of Turbulent Change” and discusses what it means to be a conference sponsor (ROI Communications sponsors the Employee Communications track).

 

 ConferenceCast: Barbara Fagan Smith on communicating major change [12:26m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download