Imagine 22 internal communications professionals from a variety of different industries all sitting down together to talk about the things that matter to them. Debating the pros and cons of freelance and in house and how to gain greater influence on the business. What an evening it was! We gathered at the Cavendish Hotel on Jermyn Street. We had a lovely spacious private dining room with windows - not hidden in the basement as most function rooms are! Three round tables; some people moved after each course so we all had new dinner partners and everyone got a chance to discuss the topics put forward by the 3 speakers at the start of each course.

The theme, “Where do we go from here?” led to questions like “How can we influence the business more?” posed by the first speaker. One person gave a wonderful description from his Boy Scout days. That game we played as children - three steps forward and two steps back – the trick to making progress, he explained is to make the forward steps really long and the backward ones as short as possible!

Our second speaker gave us some insight into the world of independent consultancy. Having left the security of a permanent job last year she has, to her surprise been kept very busy working for a variety to clients – so there is work out there. There were a number of differing views on the merits of ‘going it alone’. Another independent said she often missed the buzz of working with others and it can be lonely out there. The third speaker who has recently gone back in house declared that having braved the uncertainty of independent working and proved to herself that it can be done she can now operate with more confidence and less politics – without the ‘fear factor’.

It was generally felt that now is the time to push the limits of the influence of internal communications. Internal communicators need to become more aware of the workings of the business. They also need to make the business recognize the value of protecting its valuable human capital just as it values its other assets.

Robert Baldwin, MD of Alexander Hughes Selection wondered if there was a collective noun for a gathering of internal communicators and offered a bottle of Champagne for the best suggestion. Ken Hunter suggested a ‘befuddlement of internal communicators’ – if you can beat that we will send you a bottle of Champagne.

Post any suggestions on the blog and the best collective noun will be announced by the 10th of May.

There will be a reunion of the ‘Where do we go from here’ crowd in the next few weeks so watch this space and if you would like to attend please do let me know.