Right. ‘Summer’ is here. Time to dispense with the formalities and just get social for the coming months. Although our next event will be one of our now legendary Barbeques, this one will be more than a bit different. It involves three locations, along a route that takes precisely 8 minutes, 39 seconds to walk.

Start location: ‘The Lord Clyde’ pub (back room), 27 Clennan Street, London SE1 1ER

Closest tube: Southwark / Borough

Map: http://bit.ly/meetup-start

Time: Arrive between 5.30pm – 6.30pm, Friday 11^th June.

(We leave for the SECRET second location at exactly 6.30pm. You will need to call on 07815 876 904 to find out where to go if you’re late. Bring a street map of some sort- you’ll need it!)

Event preparation:

Please take 60 seconds to answer the anonymous online survey. It will shape the outcome of the evening in a most unusual way! (Don’t worry. No one will be asked to perform in bizarre team building games)!

LINK: http://www.eventextra.net/poll.html

What about the third location? Well, you’ll just have to come along to find out!

There is a cost to participating in our summer social events. For this event, it includes a private BBQ space, food and two drinks. It also covers the ‘secret entertainment’ as well.

COST: £22.00 cash on the day. (No credit cards).. ;o)

Just drop me a line if you want to come along. Alternatively join the ‘London Communicators and Engagement Group’ on Facebook or LinkedIn.

To some, the word ‘Unconference’ is a regular part of your events related lexicon. To others, it’s probably a bit strange! Very simply, ‘Unconferencing’ is one variant of what’s known as ‘Open Space’ approaches to events. Those of you who are long serving members may remember an early foray into this area though an earlier ‘Pecha Kucha’ trial.

The time has come for another experiment!

Traditional approaches to conferencing often include multiple and lengthy plenary sessions, making the ‘audience’ quite passive. ‘Open Space Technologies’ generally work on the principle that ideas, knowledge and solutions are best created by groups working together, thus producing more active participants.

It will be run by David Paul Cordovan Branding and myself ModComms.

Special thanks to Jess Koslow of Smith and Williamson, for hosting the last ‘official’ meetup before the summer season.

Location: Smith and Williamson, 25 Moorgate, EC2R 6AY
Closest tube: Moorgate / Liverpool Street
Map: http://bit.ly/9gej1B
Time: Arrive at 6:30pm, Tuesday 25^th May. 7.00pm – 8.00pm main session.

Event synopsis:

LCEG: The Unconference!

There is no subject. There is no speaker. There is no PowerPoint. (There is food and booze)!

Apart from a brief introduction, this will be an entirely participant driven meetup based loosely around ‘Professional Communication’. What’s on your mind at the moment? Got an idea you want to explore? Maybe something’s challenging you? Maybe something’s exciting you? This is all about making up the event as we go along.

It’s not as chaotic as it may sound.

On arrival, people will have the opportunity to nominate topics for discussion in breakout groups. Those who wish to start a session will need to come armed with an idea, and simply write that idea on one of the large sheets of paper that’ll be displayed on the wall. Those participants who like an idea will sign up and join the discussion. This is real ‘vote with your feet’ stuff. At the end, discussion leaders will be asked to summarise findings in not more than one minute per breakout.

For example, I plan on running a breakout entitled ‘What could a 21^st century conference look like’?

Finally. I’d re-iterate this is experimental. There’s no right or wrong. Only that you come out having tried something you may not have done before!

http://www.modcommslimited.com will be organiser and sponsor for this month.

Drop me a line if you’d like to come along.

This month is a bit of a treat for us. We are being joined by a soap star from New Zealand’s ‘Shortland Street’. Actually, that’s just a fraction of her experience. In her current guise, Maggie Eyre will be addressing the subject of presentation skills. Maggie spent seven years working closely with New Zealand’s Former Prime Minister, Helen Clark.

Maggie has agreed to run a short, sharp version of her one-day presentation skills course for us. You will walk away feeling a little more skilful and most certainly energised!

I really came up against a brick wall this month, trying to find a suitable venue. Special thanks to Deenita Patni of Xchangeteam for hosting us again so soon after the last one.

Location: Xchangeteam Group Limited, 20/22 Stukeley Street, London WC2B 5LR (Do use a map. It’s tricky to find)

Closest tube: Holborn

Map: http://bit.ly/a5iyeB

Time: Tuesday 20th April. Arrive at 6:30pm. 7.00pm – 8.00pm main session.

Event synopsis:

Achieving greater personal presence and great presentation skills!

Maggie will deliver a highly interactive workshop type event distilling her 25 years of hands-on experience into a few bite size chunks.

Outcomes will include:

- Communicating with greater confidence.
- Being able to better identify techniques and skills, which enhance your communication ability.
- Learning how to better win the trust of your peers and clients by being more dynamic and authentic.

http://www.modcommslimited.com and http://www.cordovan.co.uk will be joint organisers and sponsors of the food / drink this month.

If you’d like to come, drop me a note via the contact form of this site.

Some of you may remember a December 2009 news story about how Essex County Council have called in IBM to look at practical ways to save money across its operations. My own interpretation of the story was that it represented the start of a process that could leave councils run as private entities.

With this in mind, it became a part influence for the subject of March’s meetup. This will look at the role of Communication in a Merger / Acquisition situation whether in the private or public sector. The session will be run by Doug Ross and Phoebe Dunn of award winning consultancy, Square Peg International.

Special thanks to Adam Hibbert of Aviva for hosting this event.

Location: Aviva, St. Helens, 1 Undershaft, London EC3P 3DQ - (Enter by the revolving door nearest the Gherkin (North East corner of the Aviva Tower)

Closest tube: Liverpool Street

Map: http://bit.ly/d0OXXc

Time: Arrive at 6:30pm, Tuesday 9th March. 7.00 – 8.00pm main session.

Event synopsis:

Sex and Turkeys - Are you ready to manage a merger, acquisition or joint venture?

Your organisation is for sale. All organisations are for sale – it is just a matter of price. And when it happens it is the communications functions who will feel the pain as they are often faced with managing the issues of transition with respect to often-declining productivity, performance and morale during times of change.

Traditionally, the legal, financial and operational aspects of M&A deals and joint ventures have received the greatest attention, but executives who have been through the merger process recognise that managing the communications, cultural, and human side of change is critical to maximising deal value.

Doug will address this topic by providing participants with theory, research, and best practice examples and will balance these views with real world case studies, and personal insight. He will explore the role of communications in M&A operations by using personal relationships as an analogy and explaining the role that turkeys have played in a number of case examples.

In short, he will bring alive the dynamics of a deal and his energetic style is sure to entertain even the most drained communicator after a day at the office.

http://www.modcommslimited.com will be organiser and sponsor of the food / drink this month.

Drop me a line if you’d like to come along.

Bit of a change to the ‘Spindoctor – Media Management’ session that was planned for February. The presenter isn’t comfortable giving any talks until the general election is over. That said, assurances have been made he’ll do something for us this year.

March is looking like a fun one. We’ve got a couple of award-winning consultants from Square Peg who’ll be running a session about being prepared for M & A activity. 80% fail. You won’t!

On to February’s meetup. This one is about the practicalities of choosing tools and techniques as relating to running large-scale inter/intranet sites. Special thanks to Deenita Pattni at Xchangeteam for use of their venue.

Location: Xchangeteam, 20/22 Stukeley Street, London WC2B 5LR

Closest tube: Holborn

Map: http://bit.ly/bkhqY8

Time: Arrive at 6:30pm, Wednesday 17^th February. 7.00 – 8.00pm main session.

Event synopsis:

If the axe ain’t sharp, it doesn’t matter how hard the wood is’.

Do you have all or some responsibility for growing and maintaining your organisation’s intra/internet site? Ever feel frustrated by legacy tools that just don’t do the job you need them to? You are not alone.

This month, we’re joined by James Hoskins. He’s a Marcoms industry veteran who in more recent times has acted as both buyer and supplier of mid-large scale CMS (Content Management System) solutions.

James will be running a concise session about evaluating and selecting the best solution for your organisation’s needs. He’ll help you understand how to navigate the sheer number of options available and give you a few hard won hints’n'tips about managing online content.

Core topics will include:

- Creating content strategies
- Evaluating technologies (including Open Source vs Proprietary systems)
- Implementation pitfalls
- Measuring and reporting on success

As usual, 2/3 of the session will be allocated to answering your questions. Feel free to bring your challenges to find answers!

ModComms Limited will be organiser and sponsor of the food / drink this month.

Drop me a line if you’d like to come along.