Organizational Communications

For those who haven't read this blog before, I am a huge fan of the power social media gives businesses and users. But what I am not a fan of are people who believe social media will change everything. . . including digital signage. (Exhibit A)

However, there are a lot of great lessons to be learned from social media that can be applied to digital signage. 

Get to the point!

Many people who "don't get" Twitter a lot of times just don't know when to shut up. They can't get a complete thought into 140 characters or less. For me, I view this is a...

Employee engagement often falls (albeit unfairly) on the shoulders of internal communicators. And we all know that know that so much goes into engagement beyond information that comes out of the corporate communication office. 

I came across this video from the Harvard Business Review. It features Doug Conant, former CEO of the Campbell Soup Company. Now I will warn you that it's not the most exciting video on the planet, but I believe this is a good message to share with your company's leadership. Not only does it discuss employee engagement...

We are committed to providing valuable internal communication advice and tips, whether or not they directly to digital signage. This post originally appeared on the Mich-communication blog and has been reposted with permission. 

By Michelle Walkden

It doesn’t matter if you are formulating an email or producing a web page, white paper or brochure, you can’t go wrong if you write as you speak.

Once again, I will be moderating a panel at Digital Signage Expo on digital signage for corporate communication. We've got a slightly new structure for this year's session based on feedback from last year's attendees. 

At industry event like this one, internal signage doesn't have the same "sex appeal" as signage for retail and other external means. But I know we are grateful that the DSE organizers continue to give us a platform to highlight these "hidden" networks. 

If you're attending this year's Expo out in Vegas, I'd love to see you come to...

This post originally appeared on Paul Barton's "Just My Type" blog and we received full permission to re-run the content on this blog. 

Over the years, Paul Barton has become a great friend of mine. We originally "met" via Twitter, but have since reconnected several times at IABC World Conferences.

In this post, he pulled together 20 objectives for employee communicators that I thought were simply brilliant. I'd like to see if anybody can put up an argument against any of them. Check out Paul's 20 guiding principles for employee communications....

This content originally appeared on JTPR's Spread the Word and has been reposted with permission. 

It happens over and over. We ask new clients about the audiences they need to reach in order to achieve their objectives, and they quickly zero in on potential clients and customers. Then they talk about collaborators and marketplace influencers. Then, as an afterthought, they might mention employees.

Usually, this isn’t because there is some desire NOT to communicate with employees. It’s just that, when these clients focus on making sales and...

I rarely read fiction books. And when I say "rarely," I mean never. (Unless of course I'm reading to my kids at night.)

As it turns out, people are better off for reading fiction. I've always held the belief that there are so many great non-fiction (real life) stories out there that I shouldn't waste my time reading "made up stories." (Those are my words.)

But a new study in Scientific American discusses how fiction can hone social skills. But they aren't talking about Twitter, Facebook and so forth. It's about relating and interacting with...

If you thought Las Vegas couldn’t jam more blinking lights into its city limits, the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) has news for you – Vegas can and did.

In arguably its biggest show ever, CES allowed consumers and companies alike to see what the future holds in the consumer technology marketplace. From Ultra-flat panel 3D TVs to Justin Beiber, CES delivered the goods.

MediaTile was prominently featured in both the Verizon Wireless and Alcatel Lucent booths in the form of The GameTime Media Table. After winning the 2012 DIGI Award for "Best New...

I'm not.

I've admitted that here on this blog. But in a lot of large corporations, employee engagement surveys can be a necessary evil for employee communication professionals. You can only fight them for so long. 

So if your company is bound and determined to conduct an engagement survey, here are some tips from CustomInsight to improve the response rate. 

1. Ensure anonymity. 
2. Secure an endorsement from senior management. 
3. Keep the survey brief. 
4. Explain the benefits to all employees. 
5. Explain the next steps. 
6. Follow through on your promises. 
7. Offer...

I'll be the first to admit that I do not make New Year's resolutions. But people making promises and commitments to themselves is a good thing. Melcrum published a piece about 8 New Year's resolutions for internal communication pros. 

Some are weak, but some also have a lot of value. I added my two cents in italics. Here we go...

1. Think of outcome, not output

   Focus on business outcomes, not simply on producing communication collateral. Use communication as a means to an end, not an end in itself. There’s a big difference between saying “who’s got...