IABC Africa conference kicks off in CT

Amanda Hamilton-Atwell, outgoing IABC Africa region director and CEO of Business DNA, officially opened proceedings, welcoming delegates to the conference which runs 14-15 October.

"Watershed year for South Africa"

She described 2010 as a "watershed year for South Africa and the communications industry", referring to the successful hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup and breakthroughs for the communications industry worldwide via the King III Report on Corporate Governance, introduced from March 2010, and the Stockholm Records, approved at this year's World Public Relations Forum in Sweden.

"2010 has changed the skyline of South Africa and the communications industry," said Hamilton-Atwell. "This conference is to empower you with the latest knowledge with what is going on in the international industry."

The conference got underway with the first keynote address from Adrian Cropley, the incoming international chair of IABC and director of Cropley Communication in Melbourne, Australia. Cropley's address, titled 'Communicating change - the emotional journey', was directed at all the internal communications strategists present, using some out-of-the-ordinary, yet effective methods in getting his points across.

Internal communications has evolved

He discussed how internal communications has evolved from just putting a newsletter together and distributing it within a company to becoming a communication strategist - putting together a strategic approach to communicate change to an organisation. According to research, 22% of mergers fail due to poor communication, but according to the 2009/2010 Communication ROI Study Report the communication function plays a strategic role in decision-making in 42% of companies.

Cropley emphasised that internal communications strategists should not try to manage people's reaction to change, but rather manage the time in which they go through the different phases of the reaction.

Tania Landsberg, group communication manager at Engen Petroleum in Cape Town, discussed reputation management using the examples of this year's infamous BP oil spill in the Gulf, the rescue of the miners in Chile, and one perhaps not so familiar to South Africans, the 'United Breaks Guitars' saga that saw Canadian country singer David Caroll let his frustration with United Airlines out on YouTube - which soon after became a viral hit.

"It's everyone's responsibility"

"Businesses don't take reputation management deep enough into the organisation," said Landsberg, "Everyone should be involved at all levels... It's everyone's responsibility."

Other speakers on day one included Gary Dobkins, Towerstone Organisational and Leadership Development; Daniel Munslow, chief communications officer at Talk2Us; Salome Brown, corporate communications executive, The Altron Group; and Catherine Constandinides, national director, Miss Earth South Africa.

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