A rare sunny autumn afternoon in London, and newest members to the UK IABC joined some Board members for at a lively welcome lunch last Friday (15 September 2006).
Thanks to the typical London Underground fiasco I arrived late, and didn't get a chance to speak to everyone. Thankfully, I did arrive just in time for the first course!
I had a brief chat with Hillary Scarlett who runs an independent internal communications consultancy, Scarlett Associates, and Val Finch who works for The Writer.
I also met Tamra Rule from Ernst & Young who recently moved to London from Sydney, and joins the UK Chapter as an existing IABC member.
Dan Gray, another new member, has decided to take a career break to pursue an MBA. He is hoping that the added insight into business management and strategy will enhance his abilities as a senior communicator.
Most of our new members cited access to other communication professionals as their main reason for joining.
At my end of the table there was much discussion about Intranets.
It is always a pleasure to see the relief that crosses people's faces when they realise that every Intranet is a mess - not just theirs! Anyone who has worked at the same organisation for a long time will naturally believe that the world has moved on, and it is only their Intranet that is falling apart. Unfortunately, save a few very lucky/progressive or small organisations, the dismal state of digital internal communications is prolific. (Don't even get me started on all-employee e-mails!!)
Now, if you work for the BBC, you probably don't have this perspective since their Intranet is renowned for being one of the best....
Chris Hipwell, another one of the IABC’s new members, has spent most of his career at the Beeb, so he will be shocked to see what the rest of us have had to put up with! Chris currently works as an Internal Communication Partner at White City, but is looking for new career opportunities. Chris's told me his ideal role would be to managing communications for the London Olympics. If any of our members has any Olympic connections, please do let us know.
My apologies to the other new members who I didn’t get a chance to speak to, or who weren’t able to attend:
Debbie Bragger from Beetlenut, Maria Brookes from Grainger Trust, Sarah Robinson from BP, Mike Pounsford from Couravel, Joanne Lilley and Rachel Clarke from Ernest & Young, Andrew Hyde from Siemens, and Jacky Freer from Shell.
Please leave a comment with your interests or motivation for joining the IABC, so we can help raise your profiles as well.
After lunch Ellen Coomber and I had a coffee and chatted about how friendly and interesting IABC members are. We must thank Marc Wright and his volunteers for arranging such an enjoyable event. (Sorry I didn't get a photo of you!)
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