Circle of Fellows

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Circle of Fellows episodes

February 26, 2016 Circle of Fellows #6: Communicating difficult (or impossible) messages
Organizations frequently find themselves needing to communicate difficult messages. Consider layoffs, never a positive message but easy to make worse than they need to be. (Consider the message delivered by a Carrier Corp. executive informing employees at an Indianapolis plant that their facility would be closing and their 1,400 jobs relocating to Mexico.) And sometimes companies inflict damage on themselves, deciding to communicate messages that audiences won't take well, even though leaders are enthusiastic. (Many companies have gone down that road with the announcement of a Shareholder Value Enhancement initiative.) In this month's Circle of Fellows, four IABC Fellows tackle the issue of difficult messages, covering strategy and tactics.
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1 hr
February 26, 2016 Circle of Fellows #6: Communicating difficult (or impossible) messages

Organizations frequently find themselves needing to communicate difficult messages. Consider layoffs, never a positive message but easy to make worse than they need to be. (Consider the message delivered by a Carrier Corp. executive informing employees at an Indianapolis plant that their facility would be closing and their 1,400 jobs relocating to Mexico.) And sometimes companies inflict damage on themselves, deciding to communicate messages that audiences won’t take well, even though leaders are enthusiastic. (Many companies have gone down that road with the announcement of a Shareholder Value Enhancement initiative.)
In this month’s Circle of Fellows, four IABC Fellows tackle the issue of difficult messages, covering strategy and tactics.

These links were mentioned in the episode:

* Employees would rather hear bad news than no news
* Companies aren’t planning communication for high-profile lawsuits
* LinkedIn’s CEO talks with employees after stock dropped 40%

Today’s panel includes…
Kellie Garrett, MC — Based in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, Kellie is a speaker, coach, and strategist, as well as an associate professor at Royal Roads Univesity. Before launching her own business, Kellie was Senior VP of Strategy, Knowledge and Reputation for Farm Credit Canada. See Kellie’s LinkedIn profile.
John Gerstner — John is a strategic communications leader whose work has spanned 30 years and 30 countries on five continents. He has career experience as an internal communications and intranet manager, consultant, marketer, website developer, video producer, book author, magazine editor, photo-journalist, conference producer, radio announcer and public speaker. He is CEO and founder of Communitelligence, an online learning community for corporate communicators. Previously he managed diverse communication assignments at John Deere. These included launching John Deere’s internal communication program and intranet, serving as the company’s first manager of environmental and safety communications and authoring an award-winning coffee-table history book, Genuine Value: The John Deere Journey. See John’s LinkedIn profile.
George McGrath — Founder and managing pincipal of McGrath Business Communications, which helps clients build winning corporate reputations, promote their products and services, and advance their views on key issues. George brings more than 25 years in PR and public affairs to his firm. Over the course of his career, he has held senior management positions at leading strategic communications and integrated marketing agencies including Hill and Knowlton, Carl Byoir & Associats, and Brouillard Communications. See George’s LinkedIn profile.
Jim Shaffer — Jim is a business advisor, leadership coach, author, speaker. As leader of the Jim Shaffer Group, he helps organizations accelerate results through superior strategy execution. The Jim Shaffer Group creates hard business results by translating the business strategy to the people who need to implement it, aligning systems, processes, and culture to make the gains sustainable. See Jim’s LInkedIn profile.
1 hr
January 29, 2016 Circle of Fellows #5: Certification, Accreditation, and Education
Call them the "shuns:" communicators are routinely offered opportunities for certification, accreditation, and education (including everything from advanced degrees to continuing education credits). Which should you consider? What value can they add to your job and career? Four IABC Fellows explore the "shuns" and discuss IABC's new certification program.
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1 hr
January 29, 2016 Circle of Fellows #5: Certification, Accreditation, and Education

Call them the “shuns:” communicators are routinely offered opportunities for certification, accreditation, and education (including everything from advanced degrees to continuing education credits). Which should you consider? What value can they add to your job and career? Four IABC Fellows explore the “shuns” and discuss IABC’s new certification program.

Panel participants include:

* Barbara Puffer, MA, ABC — Barbara owns Puffer Public Relations Strategies. Previously, she was Corporate Communications Manager at Barnes Group for 13 years; her communications management career spans 25 years, including work in banking, insurance, and telecommunications organizations. She is an Associate Professor at the University of Maryland University College.

* Mark Schumann, ABC — Mark is the founder and principal of re-communicate. Most recently, he was VP of marketing and communications for Western Connecticut Health Network. He served as IABC’s chair in 2009-2010 and is currently IABC’s liaison to the Global Alliance. He was a managing principal and global communication practice leader at Towers Perrin for 26 years.

* Jennifer Wah, MC, ABC — Since founding her storytelling and communications firm Forwords Communication Inc. in 1997, Jennifer has worked with clients to deliver ideas, plans, words and results. The company operates as a strategic alliance of hand-picked professionals; all renowned for work in their areas of specialization. This approach means the right team is assembled for each project; no more, no less. With more than two dozen awards for strategic communications, writing and consulting, Jennifer is recognized as a storyteller and strategist. She has worked in industries from healthcare to financial services to academia, and is passionate about the opportunity for stories to inspire actions and reactions within organizations.In 2013, Jennifer was named Associate Faculty of Royal Roads University, and in this capacity, continues to teach, coach and mentor others with an interest in business communication.

* Brad Whitworth, ABC — Brad is a senior communication and marketing manager at Cisco Systems as well as a communication coach at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Brad joined Cisco in 2007, before which he ran enterprise communication for the California State Auto Association and internal communication for PeopleSoft. He spent several years in various communciation roles at Hewlett-Packard, and was IABC’s 1989-1990 chair.

1 hr
October 24, 2015 Circle of Fellows #4: Crisis Communications
Crisis communications is as relevant and important a comms topic today as it ever has been. While the fundamentals of crisis communications remain unchanged from the pre-Internet days, the tactics have undergone dramatic upheaval thanks to digital and social media. In this hour-long discussion, four IABC Fellows with deep experience in crisis communications join host Shel Holtz (also an IABC Fellow) to discuss these changes, along with other crisis topics, such as the role of investor relations in crisis communications.
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1 hr 3 min
October 24, 2015 Circle of Fellows #4: Crisis Communications

Crisis communications is as relevant and important a comms topic today as it ever has been. While the fundamentals of crisis communications remain unchanged from the pre-Internet days, the tactics have undergone dramatic upheaval thanks to digital and social media. In this hour-long discussion, four IABC Fellows with deep experience in crisis communications join host Shel Holtz (also an IABC Fellow) to discuss these changes, along with other crisis topics, such as the role of investor relations in crisis communications.

Panel participants include:
John Deveney — In 1996, while on the fast track to a partnership in a growing PR agency, John opted to strike out on his own and form Deveney, a process and a practice that embraces the soundest principles, the newest media, and the most innovative technologies. Based in New Orleans, Deveney is particularly strong in the areas of crisis, healthcare, tourism, and hospitality. (After hurricanes Katrina and Rita, John led the only on-site communication operation and media center for both the City of New Orleans and the Louisiana Office of Tourism.) See John’s LinkedIn profile.
Mary Ann McCauley — Mary Ann is committed to ensuring people communicate more effectively about their organizations’ products and services. With a specialty practice in crisis management, Mary Ann addresses sensitive issues with timeliness, dignity, and minimal backlash. “Managing communication during a crisis requires common sense folded into a structured process,” she says. See Mary Ann’s LinkedIn profile.
George McGrath — Founder and managing pincipal of McGrath Business Communications, which helps clients build winning corporate reputations, promote their products and services, and advance their views on key issues. George brings more than 25 years in PR and public affairs to his firm. Over the course of his career, he has held senior management positions at leading strategic communications and integrated marketing agencies including Hill and Knowlton, Carl Byoir & Associats, and Brouillard Communications. See George’s LinkedIn profile.
Bob Berzok — Bob’s career in corporate communications spanned nearly 30 years, beginning as a publications manager at Uniroyal in 1969 and ending with his retirement from Union Carbide, where was director of Corporate Communications. His stint at Union Carbide included crisis communications leadership during the tragic Bophal chemical leak. Bob currently serves as secretary to the board of trustees of the Berkshire Theatre Group and as a board member of the Southwwest Folklife Alliance. See Bob’s LinkedIn profile.
1 hr 3 min
September 23, 2015 Circle of Fellows #3: The value of employee communications
Four IABC Fellows with extensive backgrounds in internal communication leadership join host Shel Holtz for an hourlong discussion about the need for a discrete employee comms function in today's interconnected world in which employees have access to everything the company communicates. The panel also looks at the evolving role of internal communications in supporting change, the adoption of new technologies, and communicating to define internal audiences (ranging from demographics -- like Millennials and boomers -- to executives and supervisors).
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1 hr 4 min
August 27, 2015 Circle of Fellows #2: ROI and Measurement
September's panel of IABC Fellows explored Return on Investment (ROI) and measurement, critical elements of communication that are frequently overlooked, shrugged off, or implemented poorly. Panelists include Leticia Narvaez, Angela Sinickas, Jim Shaffer, and Jennifer Wah.
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1 hr
July 28, 2015 Circle of Fellows #1: The Value of Communicators
The inaugural episode of Circle of Fellows -- a monthly panel featuring a selection of IABC Fellows taking a deep dive into a single timely communication topic-- looks at the value communicators bring to an organization, whether that value has risen or fallen in recent years, and what communicators can do to improve their value in the eyes of organizational leaders.
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1 hr