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.

We’ve got a real corker of a meetup planned for January. This month, we’re taking a look into the future of organisations and communication. Not another ‘social media’ event, for sure! This one is for those with curious minds and will get the synapses firing in ways you never thought possible!

Some of you will remember this venue from the ‘Carry on up the Network’ meetup last October! Special thanks again to Roland Allen of Big Wheel Theatre!

Location: The Clerkenwell Theatre (next to the Holy Redeemer Church) 26 Exmouth Market, Clerkenwell, London EC1R 4QE

Closest tube: Farringdon, Chancery Lane and Angel
Buses: 38 and 19

Map link.

Time: Arrive at 6:30pm prompt, Wednesday 27th January <– Note this date. Originally was scheduled for 26th.

Event synopsis:

‘Organisational communication in 2020: A view into the future’

Social Media for organisational communication is much talked about topic of the moment. Much of the discussion and debate is around tools and what they can do for organisations / individuals now. However, what does it all mean for the future? Is this just the start of an emerging pattern that will fundamentally change the way organisations talk internally and externally? What might the future hold for employee engagement?

Join David Galipeau, from eighty20.org / United Nations / Academia for a mini exposition into the future of Communications. In the futuristic spirit, he’ll be joining us from Geneva over a live video link to deliver a short overview of where he sees communications of the future heading.

Example topics will include:

- How everyone will have their own ‘Facebook’
- A world with multiple parallel internets.
- What will corporate espionage look like? Examples from today.
- Organisations of the future - what will become of corporations, NGOs and government.
- Is the Matrix on its way?
- Virtual Worlds of the future?

Following a short introduction, we’ll move into a facilitated discussion where London members can ask questions of David directly.

This month’s food and drink will be sponsored by YooDoo – LACG regular Nick Saalfeld’s new venture. Nick and his colleagues have been working on this new e-learning and knowledge distribution system for two years – and will be giving LCEG members a sneak pre-release demonstration!

http://www.modcommslimited.com will be organiser as usual.

If you’d like to come along, drop me a note via the contact form. For future updates, follow this blog or join the group on either LinkedIn or Facebook.

This post relates to a mailer sent to ModComms contacts. It outlines a few points for consideration when devising a marketing strategy.

What’s the current situation?

- What is working for you right now?
- Who are your best clients in the target space? - The one’s you’d like to replicate?
- How do they see your services / understand your value?

What are your goals and targets?

- What (exactly) is the desired result? Is it clear, single minded, worthwhile? Perhaps brand awareness, whitepaper downloads, or inbound (new) prospect contact?
- What is the goal worth? Can you measure projected profit, or turnover, and by when?
- What are the consequences of going for it? Both positive and negative!

Who are your target audience(s)?

- Who are they? Think end users, influencers, decision makers?
- What do they currently think (if you know at all) about your competitors or substitutes?
- What do you want them to think and do? Raise hands as interested, buy something small, build a relationship?
- Where do they congregate? On and Offline.

What’s the story?

- How will you segment products and services according to ‘audience’? Can you make any or all of the following: Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotional - And should you? - Perhaps different values according to market?
- What’s the ‘big thing’? - The 10 second sell or ‘elevator pitch’? Can it be tested (at a trade show perhaps)?
- What’s the benefit of the story/big thing? Is it actually of REAL benefit to your customer?

Communication?

- Know yourself! Tone of voice in all content (on and offline) must be consistent. Be consistent through all collaterals and front facing personnel.
- How should you reach your audience? Methods and mediums.
- How will your prospects find you? Channels/methods.
- How much communication is required? Money, time, repetition?
- What can you give away that proves value and builds trust? Education, samples, tools, whitepapers?
- What can partners / affiliates sell of yours for a cut?

Control and measurement?

- What resources are truly needed? Time, budget, skills?
- How do you measure progress / success? Establish tangible and intangible metrics upfront!
- Put in place a plan to measure, monitor, review, update and modify things according to need.
- What’s next? Make a plan and act on it!

Are there logistical issues to consider if developing a new market?

- Are there any issues when dealing with overseas currencies?
- What channels / partners could you use to deliver your product / service?
- How do you handle delivering the service / product once a sale is made?
- Any legal ramifications about your products / services in your intended markets?

The above points aren’t definitive, but represent a good checklist when creating a marketing plan. In marketing, there’s no ‘silver bullet’. Success comes from how your activities link together!