Might As Well Go For a Soda

• You can listed to your local radio half-way around the world. On the 14 bus even. And I now think I may finally know why some Canadian rock and roll never found a larger audience. April Wine? Tom Cochrane?  Kim Mitchell? Yea.

Google Translate Won’t Do

• Speaking other languages is still important. But business is business. I worked in another language this year for the first time in… 10 years? And it was great. But our recommendations and processes were largely unchanged because of it.

Your Eyes Will Go Square

• Small screens are in. This year everyone was staring at one. From small kids playing games to grown-ups reading books. No one will tolerate ignorance anymore — we feel we must know who the 4th string actor is in this TV show and why we recognise them. (Knowledge?  Well that’s still in short supply.)

Men in Plaid

• Golf can be exciting. When the Ryder Cup went to an extra day, the Welsh golf course hosting the match was still packed and the TV cameras returned. Maybe golf isn’t just something middle aged men watch to avoid household chores.

Like Sand Through The Hourglass

• Business cycles are unavoidable. And as you get older they get more violent. I’ve already heard people talk about the “crash of 2008“. But is it history already? It still feels real. And the crash of 2001-02? I think I missed it…

The  Revolution has been Postponed

• The Social Media revolution has been downgraded.  Maybe it’s just a “skirmish in a coffee shop”.  Yes, more and more people are using Facebook.  BBM and Skype are powerful enough that edgy governments are taking a second look.  But it’s not replaced email, phone calls, actual human contact…  There are people who use it every day, but they’re fewer and more radical than last week.

Change is Good

• It’s been a good year for Able and How.  Lots of changes.  New offices, plenty of new employees.  Some brilliant new clients (who ever dreamed of a client in Fort Lauderdale?  Really?)  And another year where helping people through change was not only good business to be in, but one where it was rewarding work to do.  Not everyone can say that.

So, thanks 2010.  We will not forget you.

/df

P.S. On that Canadian rockers bit: maybe it was the hair?

SOUTHWEST LONDON — We have been entering the lottery for Wimbledon for 10 years. And we got our first tickets this year. I just opened to see we are about 7 rows back, near the net. So it should be even better than I had hoped.

I’ll take my phone along and update Twitter on odd observations as we go. See you there.

/df

ANOTHER TAXI IN KL — I am on my way to the airport. The circus is leaving town. In another 24 hours of lounges and airplanes I will be home.

It’s been a hugely rewarding experience. I have spent the last two days locked in a room with internal communications people from Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, and Indonesia. They came from different parts of their organisation: HR, Marketing, Brand, Corporate Comms. Some were PR people, some external affairs. One represented a bank that had just been through a 5-way merger. (No sense making things simple!)

There was a fellow from Brunei with amazing stories — but I’ll have to keep those to myself.

I threw everything I had at them. Before the course I took Paul through the materials and he said “that’s pretty much everything we know.” But my south-east Asian friends were unbowed. They are a force to be reckoned with.

I pointed them towards Melcrum and Simply and Ragan. I urged them to join IABC and even CIPR and CiB. I suggested some books and blogs and social media channels and I am sure they will get involved in all of them.

Today, on the morning of the second day we talked about multicultural communications and I was certain that I was unworthy. These were people who have been through more in their lives than I could do if I live three more times.

At one point I put up a chart from 2001 that mentioned some of their countries, and they said “2001! That’s old news. It’s totally changed since then.” And they are right.

Personally, I haven’t changed that much since 2001.

There’s more to come from this session. But these are first impressions.

I want to go back. I want to work in these countries more. Soon!

/df

TCR — We are confirming attendees for the Able Round Table tomorrow night. It’s happening at an undisclosed location, but we have a great panel and some excellent people coming.

We have been planning this for a while and as I send our reminders today I realise that some of our readers may be planning to come but haven’t told us. We do want you to come… but we’d like to hear from you beforehand as well. So drop us a line!

/df

DISTRICT LINE — We already have some dates in diaries. Four speaking engagements, to be precise. Two are in the UK and in the next few weeks and two are overseas. I’ll tell you about those later.

This organisation used to be called something else. Not just the IPR becoming “Chartered” but the organisational communications part…? Someone will know. It is now run by a good, active group of volunteers, including Lee Smith and my old colleague Scott McKenzie

Monday 29 September 2008
About Internal Communications — Inside story conference
A one-day conference
Inmarsat Conference Centre
Some great speakers — and mates of ours

This second one is our friends at Melcrum. The Strategic Communication Management Summit is one of the biggest all year in EMEA.

Tuesday 14 October 2008
Strategic Communication Management Summit
One-day of workshops and a two day conference
Millennium Gloucester Hotel

I am now doing the first half-day workshop “Managing engagement in a changing economic environment”
I am looking forward to it.

Sign up here

I like these kind of events because they are like a gathering of the tribe. There are always new ideas and new people and a chance to put some names to faces.

/df