When I think of this man, I think …creativity, education, inspiration, change, passion, hope, leadership. He is aptly described as an innovator, advisor, entertainer and advocate. And we were lucky enough to have him giving our closing address. His sincerity and humour, his accomplishments and ideologies inspired, entertained and moved us through this final hour of the IABC World Conference 2009.
Sir Ken Robinson, it was an true honour to sit in the front row and absorb your words, experiencing your wisdom and your well timed wit, but it was a spectacular milestone moment for me to exchange words, shake your hand and have the opportunity to meet a true innovator in arts and education and an authentic advocate for passion.
For more inspirational words from Sir Ken, have a peek on YouTube. Here’s one of my favourites, his TED talk…
The session led by Gerard Braud of Braud Communications – it was fun and interactive and served up some powerful messages (a longer post on this later – hint it contains silly string!)
After ages of tweeting, finally meeting Archana Verma, IABC’s Director, Marketing and Communication
A chance to video interview Bryan Person, social media evangelist and a person I’m now proud to call “friend” (not that the tim tams had anything to do with that!)
Heaps of goodbye hugs, well wishes and promises to “see you next year”
A wonderful Toronto video that reminded me what a great city I grew up in and while I don’t live there now, I’ll be happy to anticipate next year’s conference
A photo op with my new Aussie buddy and fellow communicator, Lee Hopkins
A brief but lovely chat with Barbara Fagan-Smith of Founder and CEO ROI Communications
Hearing, meeting and having my photo taken with my long time hero of inpiration – Sir Ken Robinson
It was a fabulous final official day at the 2009 World Conference.
Gerard Braud Session –AS10 / New frontiers in media training in the age of social media
When it hits the fan – you’d better be ready (and covered in protective clothing as Gerard demonstrated live).
Picture it – a room full of delegates, Gerard donning full protective gear, a protective tarp taped over the wall and carpet, cameras at the ready, two audience volunteers brimming with childlike exuberance because they get to spray an entire can of silly string at their presenter. This entertaining example showing the point of just how quickly a representative from your organization (Gerard), can be made to look horribly foolish, it can be captured on film or video or both and uploaded to the world almost instantly.
As media coaches, we need to ensure those who rely on our expertise, know this and are prepared to avoid this scenario, and, at the very least, can find out about any such embarrassing situation and react to it swiftly. We just don’t have the luxury of long response time anymore.
Gems from Gerard
Ask questions to diffuse conflict
Seek and stand on noble high ground
We live in a world of immediacy
When crafting messages, it’s advisable to run them through the “cynic filter”
Don’t subscribe to the 3 key message theory, but embrace the key message tree instead
He urges us to develop “poster child” examples of who we serve and how we make a difference
Some Direct Quotes:
“Reporters like to write compare and contrast statements, beat them to the punch and craft them yourself”
“When developing key messages, it’s important to lay a sold path forward because this also lays a path for retreat”
A lively, engaging session that was packed with great insight (and some great photo ops!)
What a day! It’s a bit of a blur, but I know it included:
A heaping helping of inspiration for breakfast from our speaker Robert Swan, OBE (see post)
Spending time spent with old friends, making new contacts and connecting F2F for the first time with many others at Starbucks, the Exhibit Hall and the bar.
I was interviewed for an audioboo podcast by Bryan Person (man, I need to get me an iphone!)
I, in turn, recorded a video greeting with our incoming Chair (again, see post)
Found new uses for twitter, while in session
I got to share a “chardy” with some fellow Aussies
Saw my twitter buddy @jschultz present
Took an interesting tour of Second Life, guided by Anders Gronstedt of Gronstedt Group – truly the most visually appealing presentation of the conference — kudos to you Anders!
While I missed out on the dine around (in the battle between sleep, eating, and outtathegate reporting, eating lost out) I did have the chance to mingle and the networking reception though
Robert Swan, OBE is a polar explorer, environmental leader and the first person ever to have walked to the North and South poles. He is an exceptionally gifted communicator and is regarded as one of the world’s top motivational speakers. And…today he shared his story and himself with us at the IABC World Conference 2009.
While recounting his adventures, he dolled out leadership lessons with a seasoned communicator’s theatrical style. He suggested that diversity is strength – saying, “don’t choose easy people for your teams”, remember to laugh, trust and commitment will take you far, negativity will not, sometimes you have to go on in spite of the odds, always be proud and celebrate your successes no matter how small, and remember in teams problems are “ours” not “theirs”.
I think the audience was inspired by his fortitude, entertained and motivated by his words and awed by his achievements thus far. But, he’s not stopping. He also announced his Antarctica 2041 initiative which will see him going back to the South Pole in 2012 – at 50+ years of age this is his next quest to save the earth’s last wilderness and he’s looking for people to join him.
I was moved to tears today – perhaps because of delicate nature of our planet and our ignorance around it, perhaps because I felt guilty for some of my own indulgent behaviours (especially in response to the carbon footprint questions he asked all of us), or perhaps because I wasn’t doing something, anything to be part of the solution.
So, I decided I would do something. I don’t know quite what yet, but I started with taking the stairs not the escalator, using the coffee mugs and not paper cups, offering communication, PR and social media support to Robert remotely or when he’s in Australia and writing this blog post to share his message with others.
I urge you to support his cause in whatever way you can, share his message and do what you can to preserve Antartica and our planet as a whole. Do something. And do it now – not tomorrow, not next week…today…now. Then please share your actions and ideas with others to continue the chain of sustainable inspiration!
Robert continues the conversation with conference delegates
Wow. I want one. Or, I want to become one. Brian Dunn’s address was truly inspirational.
At Best Buy, it seems that irreverance, humour and a passion for technology walk the aisles alongside savvy strategy, sound business principles and solid growth. According to President and COO, Brian Dunn, they, as a company, engage in the dialogue with all their stakeholders – “it’s there whether you are or not”, so you’d better be.
IABC’s Excel Award Winner for 2009 urges communicators to hone their core story, embrace passion and, by all means, have some fun while you’re doing it.
This engaging and authentic man entertained us with his first top 10 list, then gave us valuable guidelines through every entry on his “top 10 REAL things I’ve learned about communications” list. In the spirit of transparency, I’m sharing some of those that most resonated with me. My top three picks from his list are “meet people where they are”, “don’t be afraid to have some fun” and “know when to admit when you’re wrong”. These are the three practices that, personally, I just don’t see enough of in the organizations of today.
I hope that they will help us to encourage us to raise our game and go for greatness. I hope we can follow Brian and Best Buy’s lead and that we can create more leaders who share a similar approach and vision and more organizations creating an engaging employee experience like we see at Best Buy.
Brian really connected with the crowd. Sue Horner said it best, “He had us at #10!”
Thank you Brian and Best Buy for sharing your story – Brian, you’re one dynamic character!
And thanks for the new context around the phrase “tweet me”.
This was the first full day of the conference. I looked forward to a full day of sessions. Today’s highlights included:
An inspirational start to the day through the words, examples and contagious enthusiasm shared with us by Brian Dunn of Best Buy – IABC’s Excel Award Winner. Why aren’t there more like him? and more companies demonstrating innovation in communications
Hearing that cheaper iphones and apple computers are on their way (the Moscone Center is just across the street)
Meeting Sue Horner in person, for the first time, and seeing some old Toronto friends
Learning that, even given our behavioural differences, there are enough common wants to build upon when creating generation specific communications
Learning tips and tools to help dispel the fears that CEOs have around social media
A big glass of buttery Cali chardonnay
Finding time for a long chat with Chris
Capturing some great photos
Having so many people contribute to the outtathegate conversation today – collaboration rocks!
Presenters: Leah A. Reynolds / Michigan, USA, is national lead for generational strategies and rewards communication with Deloitte Consulting LLP Anna Whitlow / Louisiana, USA, is senior communication strategist at Deveney Communication.
Session description:
With more generations than ever sharing the planet, communicators must refine messages to resonate with distinct and diverse targets. This discussion explores the differing modes and communication styles preferred by the Millenial, Generation X and baby boomer generations—and how generational groups can collaborate and communicate more productively.
This session will discuss:
• News and information habits of each generational group
• Tips for communicating in an authentic and generation-friendly way
• Ways each generation can “close the gap” in the workplace
In bridging the generation gaps, session leaders Leah and Anna urged us to accept that there are differences, embrace them and focus on the commonality that exists within all age groups. They used their unique (and generationally influenced) delivery styles to lead an entertaining and insightful discussion.
So what are those shared desires? What do we all want?
1. Work life balance – although it probably means different things to different people at different ages
2. To be authentic – we want to be able to be ourselves, not act out some expectation that is insincere
3. To be recognized – for our efforts, our successes, our skills
4. To be respected – for our lifestyle, our views, our opinions even if they’re different
5. To be heard – to know that we have a voice in our jobs, our departments, our organizations
6. Interesting work – we want to know the context of our duties, jobs, and have interesting work to look forward to
7. To be secure in our marketability – to know that we are continuing to develop new and marketable skills
8. To have fun at work –
9. Be drama free – to have to deal with a minimum of politics and focus on doing our jobs
10. To be compensated fairly
I also found some related and timely reading on this topic:
Motivating Gen Ys in a Downturn. Penelope Trunk, founder of Gen Y online community, The Brazen Careerist, shares tips on managing millennials
outtathegate...news, highlights and ideas from the IABC World Conference 2009 
