With the increasing adoption of social media by organisations especially in relation to brand engagement with customers and clients, we are now starting to see some case studies for how social media can be used to enhance employee engagement through internal communications.

The recent announcement by the company I was on the board of before establishing my own brand engagement and social media practice about the impending significant organisational change they are about to go through made me think back to my time as HR Director where I also had responsibility for internal communications.

At a time of significant change, one of the key challenges was always to ensure that we had pathways for communication open. We were always keen to understand how effectively our line managers had been in translating and engaging their people in the key messages and making sure the communication was relevant for their teams.

We also wanted to respond quickly and effectively to questions raised from our employees as a result of the organisation announcements. No matter how our extensive lists of frequently asked questions were that we created to support all major communications, you could be sure that some questions were never addressed so we needed to respond to these queries quickly.

If only I had had at my disposal the social media platforms now easily available which would have enabled us to add additional platforms that we could have used to support our communications plan.

But where can you turn if you are a leader with responsibility for Internal Communications and employee engagement and want to learn about what your peers are implementing and current best practice?

A conference I will be attending which will showcase some leading case studies in intenal communications in the next few weeks is the International Employee Communications Summit co-hosted by Ragan and Simply Communicate.

Some of the company’s presenting include IBM, Ebay, BT and Microsoft. The agenda for the International Employee Communications Summit includes:

• Building your brand and values through collaboration and content
• Social media inside the enterprise
• Video Podcasting: How to stream key messages to a mobile audience
• How to beat the policymakers, lawyers and IT to get your social media channel up and running 
• How to use social media to energise and motivate the work force.

You can book online to attend the conference which is taking place on the 5 and 6 June 2008 in London (there is also a pre conference workshop).

I’ll be attending with my notebook and recorder in hand and hope that I’ll get the chance to capture some great insights to share with you. and if you are considering attending, let me know as it will be great to connect with you at the International Employee Communications Summit.

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If you are an HR professional, talent manager or business coach, you night be interested in joining us for the next Association for Coaching in Ireland masterclass, ‘The Benefits Of Developing A Coaching Culture‘.

The event will tak place on Tuesday 20 May, 2008 in Dublin and on Wednesday 21 May 2008 in Belfast.

It will feature a case study of how Irish call centre Gem is using coaching to enhance organisational performance and is being led by Andrea Close Quality Manager for Gem, and Carole Pemberton, of Coaching to Solutions.

At this event we will explore a case study of how Gem is creating a coaching culture. Gem was established in 2000 and is a privately owned outsource contact centre based in Belfast delivering innovative services for market leading organisations across a wide range of geographic regions, sectors and channels.

Employing over 1000 people, Gem is dedicated to delivering outstanding results for our clients and our performance has been recognised through the many industry awards for recruitment, training, innovative use of technology and business development. 

Gem faces the challenges of every call centre - how to engage, motivate and retain a young, educated and mobile workforce, so that its level of service delivery meets client needs.  Their answer has been to develop an approach to coaching that aligns with their culture and values, an approach that makes coaching a part of how people work together.

Details of how to book to attend the Association for Coaching in Ireland masterclass can be found online.

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Did you miss the conversation in the blogosphere last year about The Age of Conversation - the collaborative book project that brought together some of the leading names in blogging and social media?

One of the fantastic things about the book project is that all the monies raised from the sale of  ‘The Age Of Conversation‘ go to Variety, the Children’s charity.

Well this year, ‘The Age Of Conversation: Why Don’t People Get It’ has almost 300 authors contributing who will be covering the following subjects:

• Manifestos - Declarations, up front, on the Age of  Conversation and why don’t people ‘get it’
• Keeping Secrets in the Age of Conversation - With  everyone talking so much, why do we need secrets and what is the role of privacy?
• Moving from Conversation to Action - The practical steps that businesses and brands can take  to move from conversation to something more valuable to their business
• The Accidental Marketer - What is the attraction of marketing and are there company’s or brands that happen into marketing success? 
• A New Brand of Creative - With the changes in the way  that people communicate and collaborate online, marketing and advertising  companies are needing to reach out and work with a new type of creative team.  What do these “creatives” look like and what are the challenges that they face?  
• My Marketing Tragedy - covering projects that have failed and what was learnt from the failure?
• Business Model Evolution - Just as the markets and  people are changing, so too are the business models around both clients and  agencies - this chapter will explore the implications of the new business model 
• Life in the Conversation Lane - Bringing it all back to  the individual and  how is life in a digitally connected, social world impacting us all?

I can’t wait to read what the contributing authors of ‘The Age Of Conversation: Why Don’t People Get It’ will be sharing - I’ll keep you posted on the progress of the book as I’m one of the contributing authors along side these tremendous people:

Adam Crowe, Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob Carlton, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Bradley Spitzer, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Clay Parker Jones, Chris Brown, Colin McKay, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Cord Silverstein, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Goldstein, Dan Schawbel, Dana VanDen Heuvel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Darryl Patterson, Dave Davison, Dave Origano, David Armano, David Bausola, David Berkowitz, David Brazeal, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Emily Reed, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, G. Kofi Annan, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Graham Hill, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, J.C. Hutchins, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeremy Middleton, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, Joe Talbott, John Herrington, John Jantsch, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Flowers, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kris Hoet, Krishna De, Kristin Gorski, Laura Fitton, Laurence Helene Borei, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Barnes-Johnston, Louise Mangan, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Marcus Brown, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Mark McSpadden, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Hawkins, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Monica Wright, Nathan Gilliatt, Nathan Snell, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul Marobella, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Beeker Northam, Rob Mortimer, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Cribbett, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tiffany Kenyon, Tim Brunelle, Tim Buesing, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Longhurst, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem.

And here is a thought for Drew and Gavin who are leading the book project - why don’t we create an audio version of the book, with each author recording their contribution over at Utterz and then posting them to ‘The Age of Conversation Website’ - they would have enough podcasts for almost a year!

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Next week is an exciting week in the world of the web for Ireland with the inaugural Irish Web Technology Conference 2008 (IWTC 2008) organised by IrishDev.com in association with the Python Ireland, Ruby Ireland, Microsoft Technology, Dublin Java & PHP User Groups and First Port Jobs.

IWTC 2008 is an event by the Irish web community for the Irish web community and will brings nearly 50 experts and internationally renowned speakers together to discuss latest trends and emerging technologies.

There is an extensive agenda as the event takes place over 4 days starting on Tuesday 26 February 2008.

I’ll be speaking on Friday 29 February at 9.15 am on “the New Rules Of Brand Engagement”, discussing how to leverage the potential of the Internet to build our reputation and create communities of loyal fans and brand advocates.

I will share case studies of how smart companies are using “word of mouse” marketing, nurturing relationships online with customers and challenging the old traditions of marketing.

Be sure to take advantage of booking online as you will save €56.00 by pre-registering online (on the day entrance to IWTC is €245.00).

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One of the key stages that I guide my clients through as we are developing their corporate brand, their employer brand their personal brand is to identify, connect and nurture the relationships with their brand ambassadors or you might call them brand evangelists.

These could be partners of your business, your clients or your employees. Your ambassadors are people who connect with other key influencers and potential clients and are strong advocates for your business.

Developing relationships with your brand evangelists is one of the subjects that we covered at the recent Personal Branding Summit. If you missed the event you can download the audio of the session that Guy Kawasaki facilitated and that Tim Demello, John Jantsch, Andy Sernovitz and I participated in.

Do take a listen and watch out for the debate where Guy and I disagree! I hope he will be speaking to me when he is over in Ireland in the New Year so that he will still let me buy him a coffee!
Oh and remember that all the speakers and organisers of the Personal Branding Summit gifted their time with the hope that listeners might make a donation to Kiva, our social cause partner, whose goal is to eliminate global poverty through providing microfinance to entrepreneurs in developing countries.

So if you valued the insights shares on this podcast consider making a contribution to Kiva - you might even like to consider providing a Kiva gift certificate to friends and business colleagues. You give them the certificate and they can then select the entreprenuer they want to support. How much better for the soul is that than the usual Christmas hamper or bottle of wine?!

And don’t forget to leave a comment here if you have ideas for how you have been successful in nurturing great relationships with your brand evangelists and brand ambassadors.

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