Ragan Postcard: 06/05/2005

Panic in the Streets - NOT

At the eleventh hour, the Governor of Nevada vetoed the bill that triggered
a planned protest by taxi drivers. All of my angst during the last few
hours has been for naught.

On the one hand, I could have been stranded. On the other, I had a
commitment to blog live.

Such is life. Confusion reigned, and the story changed from person to
person. This is what happens in a crisis - a communication vacuum.

Employees can make problems worse. The voice on the other end of the line
at the bell desk was totally stressed. Shuttles had filled. Good luck
finding a limo. He might as well have said 'all bets are off.'

I cashed out. While I was scrambling, the Gov put his John Hancock on a
veto.

My taxi driver told me that he had planned to strike. Deep breath.

I'll leave the politics in Vegas, and bring the rest of the story to you
once I return to New Orleans.

- posted by cell phone

Pause Button

We were just alerted about a possible strike by taxi drivers here in Vegas. It's all over the local news (more). The hotel can't say if there will be any airport transportation this afternoon; drivers are threatening a work stoppage.

This definitely throws a monkey wrench into our live coverage.

Gonna pack; gotta make the plane. Even the best laid plans... not to worry. Mumble mumble. What would The Wonkette do? We've got lots of content to report on yet - and more comments from attendees.

I'll keep updating throughout the weekend. Stay tuned!

Ana Marie Cox, aka The Wonkette.com, was our special guest this morning. Yours truly moderated, hence the paucity of posts today. Best nugget: (related to corporations blogging) "Control comes from letting go." More to follow - gotta run to sessions.

Dirty Dishes

The B.S. Back Home: “Joan” tells us that execs refuse to share information until they’re in a crisis. “They treat us like we’re dumb. It’s condescending!” Tight-lipped and uptight is not good. Warning: leads to constipated communication.

Drama school: “The Donald” is vexed by execs who can’t talk in front of employees. The topic he wishes we’d cover is how to get front line managers to communicate better with the troops. “We package info, yet they can’t deliver it.” Does this sound familiar? Can they walk and chew gum? Time to call Tom Mucciolo.

Tell me about it: a different “Don” (what were their Mothers thinking?) says he’s intrigued by newfangled podcasts as way to get rich content before younger audiences. “They might actually listen.” He thinks it could help the bottom line. DJ may be on to something here… what kid would be caught dead without an iPod or a pair of earphones dangling from their ears?

Less coffee, more Xanax: self-described “cynic” and 12-year “burned out” veteran on the job wants to know how to convince managers that employees are just as valuable as shareholders? What’s his department’s contribution to the bottom line? Cutting the publication frequency in half - saving roughly “1% of the CEO’s bonus.”

Insider trading: “Cristin” says the real number one question is "Dude, where’s my session.”

You talking to me?: Since she comes out of HR, “Catie” is surprised to hear everyone label HR the bad guy. She just kicked off a makeover of the benefits communication the day before arriving in Vegas. We wonder if she plans to gamble those pension funds (she’d probably do better than the average CFO). Seriously, she’s hot on personalized content arranged with the user’s needs in mind. Instead of having to wade through the deathly medical benefits fine print, employees can just click on simple links like “I just had a baby, what do I do know.” If you’re a man, check your equipment.

Damn Open Comments Dept: “Via Modem” wants to know if I’m gonna blog about “how poorly communicators are using the communications tools, namely the speaker-support slides,” adding this gem, “one thing that strikes me is how awful the slides are… wall-to-wall text.” Oy! Less is more. But we like 8 pt. type!

Crescenzo added that "BB&T Corporation won for two reasons. Design, which is secondary, but the design is really good. All of the stories jump out at the reader. Mostly they won because of a straight journalistic approach. They cover the company from a journalism standpoint, and they're candid - as honest you can possibly be when you're an internal communicator. They don't do a lot of 'rah rah' stuff, they don't do a lot of corporate b.s. There's not a lot of jargon or 'paradigm shifts' and what not. They cover complicated information in a news writing style that makes the publication an easy read, yet a very informative one."

"Novozymes won because of the innovative way that it covered complicated, big picture topics... things like the production of their products, how they market the products, what the competition is doing, how the competition is shaping up... they cover all those topics in every issue in such a creative way, using graphics and strong writing so that every employee - no matter what level they're at - will be able to understand the copy," said Steve Crescenzo.

Two grand prizes winners represent the best in employee magazines and newsletters. They win $10,000 in products and training from Ragan - subscriptions, conference registrations, teleseminars, workshops, and an exclusive consultation to support the continued growth of their publications. Grand prize winners also won a fully-paid trip to Las Vegas - in one case, all the way from Denmark.

Tonight, we announced the winners of the Ragan Recognition Awards for employee publications. 600 entries, 40 categories, and 73 winners.

Integrating print and online communication continues to be a hot topic. It probably helps that Ragan's resident expert is one olive short of a martini, or so it would seem. Steve Crescenzo shared this example of a short and sweet, twice-daily e-mail that goes to 160,000 employees and links back to the intranet newsroom. News is customized and localized. It features straight newspaper style writing, something which I heard mentioned in another session too. That builds credibility; spin is such a load of manure. The e-mail to intranet mechanism ensures immediacy; Boeing saves big picture stories for print.

Grab Employees by the Ears

One measure of a speaker's reputation is how many other speakers show up to hear them. That certainly was the case for the session on podcasting led by Shel Holtz. The room was a who's who, and as usual, the man delivered every minute detail of this cutting-edge topic with exacting precision. He is a Geek's Geek, yet totally accessible.

Enough back slapping. At the cocktail party, "Kristen" said that podcasting is new and kinda weird because of all the renegade content on the Net. "Now I see there's a use for it in business," she said, adding "that was informative." She credited Shel for breaking down everything that the technology could be used for in a corporate setting, and for sparking ideas she will carry back to the office.

Really and truly, there are so many open source and low cost options out there that there's no reason not to play with this technology. You can issue regular audio business updates to employees, give the CEO a weekly forum, or even cheaply produce an in-house radio show. The benefits are numerous, since the listener can listen whenever and wherever they want. There's no tuning in... files are delivered to a computer and sync with most music players.

Shel has posted detail online, and even has related topics up about blogging on intranets. But by far the best way to "get it" is to listen to his podcast, co-hosted by Neville Hobson. Trust me when I say you will be astounded. Or dare I say, all ears.

Making Sense of Enormous Change

Saw an interesting print piece from MolsonCoors, designed to communicate to employees about the newly merged company. Jennifer Blaeser said that "Our Story" spelled out the history of the two companies - to put employees on equal footing and increase their understanding. It explained the legacy, success and geographic reach of each firm so that people could put two and two together regarding the new entity. It also profiled new senior leadership.

This the kind of living history people crave. You can take it home, show it to family and friends, read it on the bus, and keep it around to help make sense of the enormous change.

A theme that keeps emerging here in Vegas is "what types of vehicles are right for what types of messages." You don't want layoffs announced in an e-mail, motivational stuff is best for face to face, and change often requires a print piece that people can retain and absorb.

I think I knew this, but I never really thought about it. Confabs like this bring things to an analytical level that helps one sort out what's working, and what's not.

Promote Yourself

Break out and escape your job title. Look for, and create, opportunities for advancement on your own. Negativity is poison; don't kill good ideas.

Sage advice from John Gerstner. If your dreaming of being discovered at Schwab's, well then, you're just dreaming. Get off your duff and do something. It's tiring to listen to communicators whine that they're not getting ahead - get some new skills and show them off.

Be bold. Gerstner makes the point that we sometime display habits and attitudes that keep us down. Sounds like a great theme for a new reality TV show, Promote Yourself! Diana Ross could reprise Up the Ladder for the theme song, and losers would have to revert to the mail room.

Wait, wasn't this a movie already? Not quite, but close enough.

See what you're missing! (TIP: If you're using a newsreader, and you're not seeing images, reset your subscription to include attachments and enclosures).

"Are You Hiring?"

That was the first question asked of Arunas Chesonis, CEO of PaeTec Communications, following the luncheon keynote. And you know what, I was thinking the same thing!

This is a CEO who gets it... who lives, breathes and exudes communication. Speaking from the heart with no script, and no podium, he is a communicator's dream. He opened by running around, laughing and smiling like a game show host; the words formal, stodgy and anal did not come to mind.

"You cannot over appreciate your employees," he told the crowd. And I cannot believe my ears. We're not a commodity? An expense? I've just been charmed.

Arunas makes so much sense, and is so refreshing, that we should bottle his essence and pour it over salads in corporate boardrooms all across the land. His message is absolutely palatable.

Give employees ownership. Show fairness is wages, perks, and parking. Keep balance: work is not the most important thing in people's lives. Flexibility counts: people have family and friends, birthdays and Little League. The culture is the the company: create a sense of family. Support the community: encourage employees to develop pride while chasing their passions.

Folks, is he good or what? If I was a cynic... I am... I checked... he's the real deal.

"Trust employees... empower them." Did he just say that? He's not parental or authoritarian? Expect people to do good work and encourage them to help one another. OMG, he's talking culture and collaboration! Allow people to make mistakes without severe penalties. Reward and recognize them as often as you can.

Leaders have a responsibility to mentor, not criticize, less-experienced co-workers. The list of pearls goes on and on - he even cites communication and understands the various vehicles and channels. He's open, transparent, walks the talk and has a vision.

The son of Lithuanian immigrants, he's living proof of the American Dream. No wonder Arunas is featured in a book, Managing in Turbulent Times. (chapter PDF, page 10).

Spoon feed, people, spoon feed this stuff to your organization. I'm gushing.

What happens in Vegas... attendee "T" lost $120 but "intends to win it back." This is a fool's paradise! "T" also went to RA, the club at The Luxor, in search of a little "people watching," but instead only saw "poseurs trying to look cool, and badly at that."

The Numbers Lie

Writing drew a huge crowd, but the emerging topic on the use of wikis in internal comms was sparsely attended. That's a shame. It reminds me of the days when people glazed over at the prospect of an intranet (back when they were still trying to figure out the Internet). And I really show my age when I admit that I remember when people asked "is that the bleeping Internet" while looking at PowerPoint of the old Compuserve discussion forums.

Matthew Podboy (son of iPod?) seemed to take it in stride, noting that wiki adoption by employees will be organic. Expect sporadic growth for now.

In other words, the topic people missed today will be hot tomorrow. Attendance doesn't tell the whole story. This topic is important, and the numbers lie.

Unconvinced? Check out this article. Or this, from Dan Forbush.

P.S. there was a typo is the last post, ironically, on the topic of writing! Such is the humiliation of a live blogger.

Good Stories, Well Written

Nearly standing-room only in the session on corporate stories that build long term credibility with employees, led by Mike Bares (click here for more). Writing is always a hot topic, and no matter how much communication execs exhort that they are managers, writing is at the heart of our profession.

One example really resonated with me: Mike talked about business managers penning pieces to explain the competitive environment - the why that drives the business. I remember an example, years ago, from Molson: in their employee newsletter, they did a center spread on competitors. Lots of execs would shy away from that, yet employees drank it up (yes, a pun). If you don't know who's gunning for your business or your job, how are you going to feel anything - much less passion or engaged?

Back to Mike: he says corporate storytelling is like a zoom lens for employees, to give them a peek inside the business. Some stories are wide-angle, and others are close-up.

And personal. Employee need to know what's in it for them via good stories, well written.

What more to say? Lunch is next, and I've never missed a free meal in my life.

How-To is Important

I sat in the video newsletter case study by FedEx (click here to see a slide). Informative, yet what really struck me was the Q&A. People are really stuck on budgets, surveys and measurement. Granted, those things are important, but - are we wearing ourselves down as a profession by constantly trying to prove our worth... our raison d'etre?

Lawyers don't face this lunacy. Communication needs an advocacy campaign. We need to target accountants to get intangible assets onto the balance sheet. If you don't have a good reputation, it's unlikely you'll have customers... or attract employees. But I digress.

People ask a lot of how-to questions... tactics... logistics, etc. Now, I happen to think that's fine, in fact, wonderful. When do you get a chance to pick the brain of someone in a multi-national corporation? Conferences are great for that. I guess what I'm alluding to is all the fuss about strategy and high-level thinking. Conference planners and professionals go on and on about how they're strategic. Get them in a closed room and they ask about tactics.

People still need to know how-to. Few companies offer training anymore.

When the session broke, I cornered "Kris." She attended this session to get ideas about emerging trends for global companies, to help keep in touch with employees. She said the best take-away was hearing the benefits of this vehicle (video newsletters delivered on CD-ROM). To her, it seems like a a way for executives to stay in front of employees.

"It can't replace face-to-face, but at least they get to hear and see management."

Anything that makes execs more human and less toady is fine by us.

Learn the business, damn it!

Now that the conference is in full swing, look for more live reports and less preview. First on deck today was Laurie Meyer of Walgreen Co.

She's a smart cookie (Flag Day is coming - that means sales), and outlined her rules for doing more with less. Afterward, I spoke with "Mike" who said he really connected with her talk.

Laurie considers herself a retailer first, and a communicator second. Now, that's one way (mentally) to connect communication to the business plan and bottom line.

She told a story about a marketing employee who spends about two days a month working in stores to gain a better understanding of what's really going on - what customers and employees say. Now that's a reality check! How many professionals consider themselves above the hourlies? Too many, from some of the snooty types I've met.

It dawned on "Mike" that he's sitting there at corporate when he should be spending more time learning the business! Hand to him, this guy's got insight.

TO DO: put a field trip on your calendar now, because you know if you don't actually make time for it, it ain't gonna happen.

Speaking of which, "Mike" lamented that his travel budget is shot. Hmm, it's a false economy not to send staff out into the trenches to learn the business.

Got some ideas to sell your manager on it? Share 'em here. And if your manager says no, it's apparent they need to learn the business too!

Vegas has a long tradition of entertainers gracing the stage, and today will be no different courtesy of our emcee, Steve Crescenzo.

Delivering communication services from a consulting perspective inside your organization is a very different approach than most communicators are used to. It involves a different way of thinking, different skills and some different tools. Taken together, these combine to position you in a more strategic role - getting you to and keeping you at the table. (Source: Stacy Wilson, Eloquor Consulting)

Intranet Strategy & Measurement

At the party for speakers, we sat down with Tudor Williams and Peter Roaf of Vancouver Coastal Health (over a Heineken and red wine, of course!) to discuss the development of an intranet strategy.

“Number one – you need a vision,” said Tudor, adding “there has to be a very clear definition of what the intranet is going to do for the organization and the people in it.”

Developing a strategy means defining four essentials:

1. Access to technology
2. Collaboration between users (knowledge sharing)
3. Integration of existing technologies
4. Immediacy of information (demanded today)

Peter says you have to address the needs of users. Start with an audit, and form cross-functional teams to ensure all viewpoints are encompassed. “End users want access to information that helps them perform better – and easy navigation,” he adds. “There is explicit knowledge from reference sources and databases, but equally important is the tacit knowledge that comes from one another.”

This can foster a cultural shift. When people have access to information that they create, it builds community. Tied to the corporate strategy, it increases engagement.

Tudor and Peter say you need a sound measurement strategy:

1. Outputs
2. Outcomes
3. Impact

While user experiences and stats define the outputs, the outcomes reflect the attitudes and behaviors that change as a result of access to knowledge. “To define the impact, you have to ask how the intranet is really adding to the business strategy,” they said.

Peter and Tudor agree that measurement has to be aligned with top executives’ desire – and need – for results. “Performance, satisfaction and financial factors all contribute to ROI,” they report, adding “executives really zero in on the hard numbers.”

Coping with Survey Overload

If survey overload is an issue in your organization, Leslie Crist of Washington Mutual suggests that you "do everything you can to get people to think twice before they survey!"

"Implement a self-evaluation to help people think through whether or not another survey is needed," she says. Questions to ask:

Do you have management support to act on the results?
Do you have cross-divisional support to act on the results? (if needed)
Will your work potentially have a significant positive impact on customer service?
Will it have a positive impact on the bottom line?
Is there a commitment to communicate survey results and the actions being taken based on employee input?
What happens if you DON'T survey? Can you proceed?

These tips are well-grounded. I've run into far too many communicators who operate in "CYA" mode. Sure, you need solid data, but I hate taking surveys that aren't followed up by meaningful action. That's just b.s. - somebody is playing games or can't handle the truth.

Quit wasting people's time!

Chris Coye shares findings from his company. Part of the excitement about blogs and wikis stems from the accessibility of open source and low cost software. Do It Yourself (DIY) publishing has arrived.

Disney upgraded its intranet with blogs and wikis to foster employee collaboration. Step one: evaluate the options.

Here's a sneak preview from Chris Coye at Disney. You have to love their branded PowerPoint template - these folks are masters of visual identity!

Size matters.

Road Map: Blogging for Internal Communications

Speakers are offering lessons learned and best practices in several emerging areas. Blogs are everywhere, and it was only a matter of time before people figured out how they could be used in corporate settings.

Sure, we have CEO blogs, and marketing-based character blogs (Captain Morgan, the Mama Ragu of the next generation), but now I'm seeing new players stand up - attesting to success and failure deploying blogs, wikis, and RSS for internal communication.

Jochen Specht of Siemens Corporation shows us How to Turn Employee Blogs into Powerful Business Tools Using RSS.

Educate Employees:

Develop a website that serves as a central entry point for all RSS (Real Simple Syndication), and blog-related topics
-- Explain new technologies and provide step-by-step guides for use
-- Demonstrate business-related benefits
-- List blogs and RSS feeds of interest

Get Management, Legal and IT on Board

Implement the back end technologies:

Create a central platform for employee blogs
Create RSS feeds out of existing information sources, such as:
-- News
-- Press Releases
-- Newsletters
-- Blogs
-- Employee Communications
Create easy-to-use admin interfaces

Integrate RSS feeds into existing infrastructure, including:

Employee portals
Sub-division Intranets
External news sources

Aon Consulting - Making the case for employee research #3

Aon Consulting - Making the case for employee research #2

Aon Consulting - Making the case for employee research #1

Print is Worth the Money

Pearls of wisdom from Steve Crescenzo, co-editor of the Ragan Report and author of the often insane blog, Corporate Hallucinations:

The integration of print and online communication "The crux of the problem is that people confuse integration with killing off print and moving exclusively to online communication. The world's not ready for an all online communication strategy. We need a combination of both vehicles. "

"There's too many people who don't have access, who won't access news on the intranet, that don't read their e-mail, that won't read a corporate e-mail... we need to give them a different variety of appropriate vehicles - real options."

Killing off print for cost savings "Absolutely a problem! I'm not so sure there are any cost savings. We've lost effectiveness. We still have to pour that time and effort into creating online vehicles. Print is worth the money."

Tips from Merger Boot Camp

"Two of the most important things when you're involved in a merger and/or acquisition as a communicator is understanding your role... cause it might be at a high-level... it might be at a middle-level (there are usually a lot of people involved). "

"The second thing is to have a plan. It might not be your plan, but there a should be a plan that can be followed by all the be people who are going to walk through (execute) the process."

Jennifer Blaeser told us the three most important elements are:

Formal objectives
Guiding principles
Success metrics

A personal observation: after the lawyers and accountants, how much input do we really have?

Get Engaged in Vegas

Resource list from Robin Andrews, HP

Article: The High Cost of Lost Trust (Harvard Business Review Press)

Article: 12 Questions to Measure Employee Engagement (Gallup Press)

Report: Working Today: Understanding What Drives Employee Engagement (Towers Perrin Press) Free download - large PDF

Free tool: Sample Size Calculator
- Key is to make your sample random

Cheap tool: Zoomerang
- Easy to use survey tool

This quote from a report by Towers Perrin, that Robin Andrews of HP plans to use, caught our eye. The Japanese have long known that bottom-up management is effective. IABC calls this two-way dialogue; geeks call it interactivity. Perhaps the simple secret to employee engagement is to engage hearts and minds. So why the heck is it so hard to convince top executives � do they lack common sense?

Okay, folks, this must be the place... Vegas, baby! We're live now. This place is amazing. It's hot as Hades (in the shade) and crawling with players. The hotel is H-U-G-E. Steve Crescenzo and Jennifer Blaeser chatted with me while setting up their pre-conference workshops - I snagged some good quotes for you (coming soon).

More from Brad regarding intranet communication during the takeover of PeopleSoft by Oracle. If ever there was a time to deliver and measure great employee communication...

A sneak peak from Brad Whitworth - the anatomy of a hostile corporate takeover.

Some lessons learned by Phyllis Fair, FedEx Services, on the topic of video newsletters (not to be confused with video blogs, or vlogs). FedEx presses these onto CD-ROM to connect "face-to-face" with the distant workforce.

Intranet Case Study: Manulife Financial

After Toby Ward posted a comment to an item here, I invited him to tell us more about Intranet personalization and profiling. For readers of the Ragan Postcard, here’s a sneak preview of the case study presentation by Toby and Jane Wong-Ferris.

The announcement that Manulife Financial would merge with two other companies to create North America's second largest insurance company triggered a merger process of another kind - an intranets merger.

In 2004, Manulife announced a merger with John Hancock and Canadian subsidiary Maritime Life to create North America’s second largest insurance company.
Manulife engaged Prescient Digital Media to spearhead the strategy and planning of a combined company intranet portal.
The mandate: to establish a proven, timely, and short-term common intranet platform for employees in all areas at minimal cost.
As mergers are serious deals with many, many issues for communicators to balance, this intranet merger required a serious plan.
The approach included a full understanding of the needs and requirements of all – users, stakeholders and even competitors and leading companies.
To develop a proper plan, goals that aligned with the organization’s goals were developed and committed to writing.
Once the plan and blueprint was complete, then the technology was chosen and the design began.
The end result is a well-used, role-based personalization intranet portal that is quickly evolving and delivering on the needs of users, stakeholders and the business.

During the conference, I'm going to try to find out more about their actual process. If you can’t make it to Vegas, you should check out www.IntranetBlog.com for additional info.

Caesars Palace, home of Celine Dion. If you're gonna throw a party - I mean a conference - this is one swank place.

Communicating Corporate Social Responsibility Internally

Margie Flynn of BrownFlynn tells us "the internal communicator’s role is critical to successfully translating your company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives into smart business."

We like that. CSR seems like the new PR, and it doesn't work well unless your employees are on the bandwagon. It's one of those specialized areas with lots to know, as I learned when Ragan hosted a teleseminar on the topic. And lots of people are doing it.

Here's a smidgen of what you're missing if you don't attend Margie's session:

To build a strong corporate citizenship plan:

Get to know the interests of key stakeholders, including internal executives and employees, as well as the external community and NGO’s.

Create a strategic corporate engagement plan:
1) listen
2) communicate to stakeholders
3) unite cross functional teams like PR and HR.

Internal communication is key because employees are ambassadors for corporate engagement.

“People trust family and friends most for information (59% credibility).”
Cone/Roper 2004

Cisco Networking Academy exemplifies the positive relationship that can develop through strong internal communication.

Preview: Bringing Out Your Inner CEO

In the beginning was the word.
Words are the building blocks of language.
Language is the basic building block of leadership.
Communicators are (or should be) masters of language.
Therefore… communicators should be powerful and influential leaders of our organizations.

Are we?

John Gerstner of CommunIntelligence shares his six theories on communicator traits and habits that are slowing us down. Expect this one to be insightful. John is a thoughtful guy, a former chair of the IABC Research Foundation, and runs one of the leading portals for professional information.

Communication During a Hostile Takeover

In his session, Brad Whitworth plans to describe the innovative and cost-effective ways the intranet was put to work to keep people informed and motivated during one of the longest takeovers in U.S. business history. "PeopleSoft used its own technology - its employee portal product - to keep its workforce informed. It was extremely valuable during the 18-month hostile takeover by Oracle," says Brad, an IABC luminary.

Whether it's a takeover, or a friendly merger and acquisition, one report I read says communication plays a vital role. Bean counters overlook intangible assets (PDF) like employee morale and retention. Hmm, we need to know more about this.

We've asked Brad for a slide from his presentation that we can post here for you.

We Go Live Wednesday Afternoon Vegas Time

Word travels fast these days. I got an e-mail in response to the announcement about this blog from Rodney Gray - down under in New South Wales, Australia. Ever the smart-aleck, he wants to know if "sequins (are) at the ready, (and the) pasties in place."

Damn, I'm going to blog, not become a showgirl! Not even a Chippendale!

Well, mate, I have to apologize (apologise!). We said we'd go live on Wednesday afternoon. But it's already Wednesday down under. Oops - we meant local time, in Las Vegas.

Just another challenge of global communication.

What Channel is it On?

For all you intranet junkies, I love this bit of wisdom from James Greathouse, "It takes more than just an intranet to deliver the right information to the right employees at the right time."

People are bombarded with information - overloaded - so that it's hard for them to absorb it all. James goes on to remind us that the workplace is filled with communication channels: the intranet, voice mail, formal and informal meetings, e-mail, newsletters and hard copy, et al.

No wonder employees are often bewildered! Are we fracturing communication? What about employees that don't have access to the latest gizmo's, such as workers in a foodservice establishment? How do you zero in on them? Got knowledge management?

More to follow on this topic.

What Stories are Worth Doing?

Mike Bares from Wells Fargo & Company has this advice for corporate editors, "Our stories need to imbed broad lessons that help our team members do their jobs better, that help them serve their customers better, or give them a career advantage of some kind. If we can’t easily identify and highlight a useful lesson from a story idea, then it’s a story not worth doing."

Give Mike credit for connecting communication to the bottom line. I like his test for relevance, and I want to hear more from him about how to avoid over-quoting top executives.

Who's a Journalist? Don't ask The Wonkette

Ana Marie Cox, aka The Wonkette, says that blogs give voice to people, ideas and positions that have not always been heard. The notion of corporate blogs penned by CEOs intrigues her. "CEOs already have megaphones," she told us.

That might be news to the folks doing employee communications, who would deliver the CEOs missives to employees intravenously - if they could. But maybe the CEO blog is actually for the external audience. What do you think?

By the way, don't ask Ana "who's a journalist?" As the winner of a Bloggie, and a prolific blogger, she's way past the question. Shel Holtz tries to shed some light on this, by distinguishing between journalists and professional journalists.

On the road with Ragan: Las Vegas is celebrating its Centennial (1905-2005), and much of the history is told through over-the-top neon signs for which the city is rightly famous. Apparently nothing is too gaudy, and indeed some of the vintage signs absolutely dazzle. http://www.neonmuseum.org/restored.html

Ragan Postcard

Friday, June 10, 2005