PR NEWS didn't skip a beat at last week's IABC conference in Vancouver, B.C. Of all the choice comments we digested, our favorite was US West CEO Sol Trujillo's
explanation of why his company still suffers from a less-than-sterling reputation in the product/service arena, despite the recognition it has received for its diversity and
communication initiatives.
"Competitors have new forums to attack you," he replied. And "mischief, if you will [on the part of competitors]. Reporters like having stories like that to write about."
Ok, it's true...we like mischief. So in our continuing efforts to stir the pot, we asked participants to tell us about the issues they're losing sleep over these days. For
Jill Cohn, sales and marketing manager for National Video Center in New York, the answer was internal communications. "The message gets outside before it hits inside. That's the
worst feeling," she said.
Mariann Lawrie, communications manager with AGFA, Toronto, had other concerns. "There's a lot of consolidation going on - our competitors, ourselves, but also our customers.
Now some of them are bigger than us. It's the speed, the pace of change [that's killer]."
Why did most attendees make the trip to Vancouver (aside from the view)? The number one response, hands-down, was "to get my batteries recharged." It seems many business
communicators feel isolated within their organizations and saw the conference as a chance to connect with their peers and gain fresh perspectives.
(IABC, http://www.iabc.com)