Communications Audit Bouquet from Vancouver

As you may know, I worked with Linhart Public Relations in Denver to do a communications audit of the United States Ski and Snowboard Association. These are the folks who fund and train the U.S. athletes that become the U.S. Olympic Ski and Snowboard teams.

So, I felt a certain amount of pride by association as our skiers and snowboarders did so well at the Vancouver Olympics this year. After the Olympics had closed, I sent a congratulatory note to the CEO, COO and head of communications, and got this wonderful note back from Tom Kelly, the head of communications:

Thanks, Forrest. There hasn't been a day the past three years that we didn't draw on [the Linhart PR] comm audit. Our approach to messaging this time around was incredibly effective. If you ever need anyone to be a spokesperson for the value you bring to clients, please let me know. We were real leaders in this area thanks to your work. It helped us navigate the challenges you are bound to find in this environment. Our athletes have clearly seen the benefit and have become great spokespersons.

I try not to toot my own horn, but since Tom offered to ....

Speed Networking -- An Easy Way To Network

I was at an IABC speed networking event last night. Cool format.

The way they do it is they have a set number of tables with a set number of chairs. Each table has a sign with a topic and a moderator/facilitator. When the session begins, everyone goes to the table of their choice until all the chairs are filled at a given table. The rules are no chairs can be added to a table.

The session begins with the moderator introducing herself or himself and saying a little bit about the topic. Then we went around the table introducing ourselves to the rest of the table and putting our two cents in on the topic. After 20 minutes the person running the event blows a whistle, and everyone, except the moderators, has to go to a new table.

I found it to be a very stress free way to network. Moreover, I really felt I got to know some of the folks I met, and I went home with more cards than I do at standard networking events in bars and so on.

If you are involved in arranging events for an association, I recommend you give this a try. I think your members will like it.