Entries tagged as ‘communication’
I always think that size does matter, especially when a company appears to be larger than it actually is, and just because you can list 23 subsidiaries on 5 continents, for e.g.. Anyway, as a communication professional I feel strongly about selecting the right external providers for your internal and external communication activities. Not the biggest, fanciest with the most luxurious, but someone that understands my communication needs, be it for a simple recording of a statement from the CEO to organizing the entire communication of a live broadcast of an extraordinary annual general meeting which is viewed by hundreds of people across the globe.
Bringing the world together
Truly I’d start with a small communication project, see how it goes and see how you like it. Do a video on demand, as you are less under pressure in case the speakers mess up or the weather is bad (if you are doing the shooting outside) or some technical emergency pops up. Over the years I did a lot of testing with different scenarios, and depending on the bandwidth, employees in a small office would gather in front of one screen to watch the video. They’d tell me many times that they enjoyed coming together and through the video felt more closely connected to the headquarter thousands of miles away.
Creating a big bang
Compared with traditional communication (print) tools, and don’t get me wrong, I have had great experiences working with ad agencies and producing plenty of print material, the cost of webcasts on average is often lower and the impact so much greater. Assume you are using a webcast for a message from the CEO, an update on the business strategy and your are introducing a new Executive Team member, that is three in one right there. Don’t have to bother writing individual pieces including a speech, a presentation, an internal announcement etc. No need trying to copy all different user groups into the ‘To:’ field of your E-mail. As soon as you have the video up on the Internet a broad audience can view it as much and as long as they want. And, you can even track the traffic.
Categories: corporate communication · employee relations · internal communication · strategic communication
Tagged: bandwidth, broadcast, communication, external provider, Internet, message from the CEO, proposal, recording, Solutionpark, webcast
I grew up being exposed to new technologies and computers from an early age onwards. Then at university in the USA we were required to e-mail our research papers or hand them in on a disk, which seemed quite revolutionary at the time. Later on, in my professional communication career, somehow, I got stuck with different sorts of web projects mostly from an internal communications perspective. Colleagues say I inspire them and as I enjoy working in interdisciplinary teams and on technical topics, communication and PR on the one hand and IT-related activities on the other, make up an ideal mix for me.
Taking on the responsibility and seeing the big picture
Of course I was the one carrying the responsibility for introducing webcasts for internal communications and there was always the chance something out of my reach would go horribly wrong, but I couldn’t let fear get in the way. It’s my job to bring people together, provide the most suitable communications channel for distributing relevant information to a wide audience and collecting feedback to make it even better next time.
Take it from me, I had my doubts if our employees wouldn’t get tired of watching videos say, on a monthly basis, but to them it was so important to see the company’s executives’ and senior staff members’ faces regularly. Colleagues in Tokyo feel more connected and part of the company, staffers in Argentina see the big picture and understand the overall business strategy and the employees at the Cologne hub hear what questions their counterparts in Zurich are raising towards the Global Executive Team. That really helps and at the end of the day makes my live easier too.
Categories: corporate communication · employee relations · event communication · internal communication · strategic communication
Tagged: channel, communication, computer, PR, technology, web project, webcast
In communication we talk about two-way communication, sender and receiver, interactive and dialogue, viral and e-communication, as well as integrated communication plans and concepts. With webcasts, I am sending out very specific information, portioned into digestible news blocks or categories on average to a very broad audience. Therefore my role was to brief and coach the CEO and Executive Team members as to their performance in front of the camera as well as the messages we wanted them to bring across to employees, clients, shareholders etc. I made sure any scripts and presentation print-outs were available, the microphones working, the speakers desk set up and any and Q&As prepared. Often times during an employee information event, I’d sit in the front row close to the speaker’s desk, just in case something went wrong. From there I also had eye contact with the cameraman recording the webcast who could give me hand signs should any technical issues arise.
Reading the non-verbal communication signs
Be aware of who you are broadcasting to. Depending on your receivers, you need to prepare your content accordingly. As this is an honest and sometimes non-forgiving format, where people pick up on non-verbal signs as much as what is actually said, interpretations may vary depending on cultures, religions, gender and hierarchical level. 
Keep your communication bits relevant, significant and to the point. It all depends on how it is delivered. You have surely heard that a million times, but take note, with webcast this holds true even more.
Connecting with the audience
I see so much wasted content, that I wonder what really sticks with the people. One of the best examples I experienced was the introductory speech of a new CEO, early in the morning on a cold winter day in February where employees at first seemed half asleep sitting in the auditorium where they suddenly got captivated by the company’s new leader through her clarity and direction, charisma and personal engagement. Wow, that was an experience. We webcast it to all our local offices around the globe and received instant feedback on our new CEO from the far corners of the world.
Categories: corporate communication · internal communication · investor relations · marketing communication · shareholder communication
Tagged: auditorium, broadcasting, camera, cameraman, CEO, clients, communication, employee information event, employees, Executive Team, interactive, microphones, presentation, script, shareholders, speech, webcast
Let me make one thing clear: There is tremendous value in introducing streaming products to your organization, if you believe it or not. Why? Because you are communicating directly, practically face-to-face and in a transparent and uncensored manner with your audiences. Getting feedback is easy and people will tell you quite honestly what they think of content you just published. In addition, hundreds of companies in Switzerland alone have produced webcasts over the past 10 years.
Bridging the gap between IT and communication
When I first started using webcasts, that was for employee information events in internal communication, I was a little bit skeptical because I did not fully understand what broadcasting on the Internet was all about or how it really worked, and that I as a communication professional would be able to reap such benefits from it in my work during many years. Prior, I had experienced the old-fashioned business TV in all its glory, but couldn’t quite imagine that webcasting would be so easy – and less costly!
After a couple of tests together with one of our IT guys and the people from Solutionpark, I slowly got the hang of it and figured that this would work for a geographically highly spread out audience on multiple continents on the one hand and even more importantly, that our CEO would go for it and actively participate as well as other members of the Executive Team. I must say that they had already been doing live investor calls with presentation webcasts (slides only) and were used to the set-up, though without a camera or live audience in front of them. It turned out to be a success with employees eager to see and hear the CEO’s presentations on quarterly results, strategy, significant personnel announcements etc. Since then I have produced many webcasts for various occasions and communication situations and have become a firm believer in the benefits of streaming technology.
Speaking out
NZZ Online
I have been talking primarily from a communication perspective but want to point out the value for CEOs, Executive Team and/or Board members as well. Through this communication channel a CEO gains significant visibility throughout the organization, even without traveling around and thus saving time and travel costs. Plus, a leader’s credibility can be strengthened on a broad scale and key messages reinforced across entities and organizational structures. Independent of time zone, hierarchy, function, corporate culture or location, everyone with access to the web can see and hear a company’s messages.
What do you think? Send me your thoughts and comments.
Categories: corporate communication · internal communication · investor relations · marketing communication
Tagged: audience, broadcasting, business TV, camera, CEO, channel, communication, company message, employee information event, Executive Team, internal communication, Internet, investor calls, live audience, presentation webcast, Solutionpark, streaming, technology, webcast
I have been working in communication departments for many years for demanding bosses and evenmore demanding CEOs. The orders are passed down the line and we tend to, at least sometimes, pass on those tasks to outside parties. Some communications people may say: “You just do it, I don’t want to have anything to do with it. And, it’s not allowed to cost too much.” Or “I want to know this and that and every detail. And why is it this way and why that way and why why why…..” That is not how it is going to work. You got to learn a little bit about webcasts and trust in the experts. Don’t forget, it’s about team work and collaboration. The goal is to have things run smoothly and look good. So how can you make it happen?
Test, check, test, check…
Set realistic expectations, allow yourself enough time for the preparation and testing phase. Take the lead in organizing the location and briefing the speakers. It helps to clarify the logistical details in advance, to make sure you have things in place before you get started. Once the camera is rolling it’s much harder to fix something that isn’t already working.
From my experience I can tell you that it is invaluable to be well organized, have your scripts, presentations, Q&As etc. ready, to stay calm and let the streaming engineers and web TV producers do their job! Do a sound and light check, make sure the air condition is working if you expect a large crowd and try to make your speakers as comfortable as possible. Accompany them to the start of the webcast and reassure them of the benefits of its use and cost effectiveness.
Tracking your viewers’ behavior
Following the production of a webcast and its publication on the respective Internet page, you will have the opportunity to get instant feedback from users e.g. via e-mail and get hard facts in the form of statistics from the respective Internet page usage. This way you get a track record immediately. I’d have so many people call or e-mail me on the latest video stream and they’d tell me right away if for some reason something wasn’t working.
The good news is that you can rely on an external partner like Solutionpark who takes care of and looks after the entire technical side. I produced many many webcasts and videos for the intra- and Internet over years for a variety of internal and external audiences and scenarios, even in crisis situations. Every time the video was completed and uploaded in time for all to watch. We also did a lot live streaming and as far as I can remember there were no major glitches that the viewers would have noticed. On that note I can only say: it’s worth it, giving it a try.
Categories: corporate communication · internal communication · investor relations · strategic communication
Tagged: audience, camera, communication, crisis situation, engineer, Internet, intranet, live streaming, presentation, script, Solutionpark, statistics, streaming, testing, video stream, web TV producer, webcast
When one of your communication goals is to deliver accurate, fast and timely information to a specific target audience, who wouldn’t want a tool that makes reaching such an objective relatively easy. And why not try to actually bundle some of the communication activities using new media technologies, distributing relevant information via Inter- and intranet and interacting with your target audiences in a quick and uncomplicated way. So, point your communication strategy into a new direction, incorporate and adapt your communication plans, making your activities more user-friendly and ultimately more successful. That is the way I ultimately did it.
Finding a focused communication strategy approach
I found that focusing my communication activities and defining a more targeted approach really helped me get the message across in a clear, direct and understandable way. For example, the CEO and Executive Team would deliver their speeches to employees live in the auditorium at a convenient time in the morning, i.e. European time in this case, while we’d record them and have it on the intranet one hour following the event including Q&A. As a result, the US could watch the session as soon as they got to work in the morning and Asia saw the presentations before they left the office in the evening. That was great. Nobody felt left out. The way we used the webcasts had a strategic focus too because one of the most important communication principles was to inform employees first, fast and straight forward – always.
Setting priorities
As a communication professional I know what it’s like struggling for attention and budget as well as the Executives’ time to get involved in communication activities. Therefore you need to drive for an effective approach with new technologies that makes them easy to use widely and distribute your communication message to a broad audience quickly: E-mail, intranet, Internet with all its reader-/viewer-friendly news-oriented features available at their fingertips.
Make it a strategic priority to get your target audiences hooked on these new channels of information distribution. You won’t regret it!
Categories: corporate communication · employee relations · event communication · internal communication · strategic communication
Tagged: audience, CEO, channel, communication, communication plan, Communication principles, E-mail, Executive Team, Internet, intranet, new media, news-oriented, strategy, technology
First of all I would like to set the stage for introducing a piece of sophisticated technology to you. As a great fan and believer of streaming products, I want to start by explaining some basics and getting a couple facts and possible misconceptions straight. To tell you the truth, I was pretty confused at the beginning myself. So here we go.
What is a webcast?
A webcast is a video and/or presentation that is produced and published on the Internet using so-called streaming technology. The webcast is either done ‘live’ or ‘on demand.’ Webcasting is a type of “broadcasting” over the Internet. It can be shown on an Inter-, intra or extranet. Webcasts use streaming technology to publish content on an Internet page and distribute it to many listeners and/or viewers simultaneously. There are many possibilities for using webcasts as I learned working with Solutionpark over the years.
How are webcasts used?
Webcasts are typically used for investor relations presentations to the financial community, for the transmission of annual general meetings to shareholders and the public, for recording employee events and presentations for the intranet, for broadcasting medical conferences and offering further education to doctors and scientists. These are just a couple of examples.
Who (typically) organizes the webcasts?
Mostly, investor relations and corporate communications responsibles are assigned the task of planning and organizing webcasts. Event managers, media relations people, internal communications specialists or other communication professionals might also be in charge of producing a webcast.
Why is it an indispensible communications tool? 
Once you start working with webcasts, you won’t want to go back to some of the traditional, time- and cost consuming communications tools. The preparation and production is quick, the feedback is immediate. You are flexible and fast. It’s independent of time and location, can be watched by audiences around the globe where and whenever they want to: the perfect tool for businesses on the move. I love it. And who doesn’t like moving pictures these days?!
Categories: corporate communication · employee relations · event communication · internal communication
Tagged: annual general meeting, audience, broadcast, communication, conference, corporate communications, employee event, event manager, extranet, internal communications, Internet, intranet, investor relations, listeners, live, media relations, on demand, presentation, public, shareholder, Solutionpark, streaming, technology, video, viewers, webcast
Let me introduce myself: I am a communication and PR professional with more than 10 years of experience in the field. As a half Swiss, half American I have worked in corporate communication departments of international companies listed on the stock exchange and based in Zurich, Switzerland. In my work I was always involved in and fascinated by new media projects, i.e. Inter- and intranet and more. A couple of jobs allowed me to develop and implement a whole series of web-based communication tools throughout a period of multiple years. Now the time has come to take it all one step further and write my own communications blog with a focus on a particular aspect of new media technologies: streaming and video on the Internet.
Driven by internal communication
Why did I do it? While working in internal communication at an international company based in Zurich, I was confronted with the evaluation and integration of various internal communications tools: employee events, internal newsletters, internal announcements, message from the CEO, news articles on the intranet, staff presentations, communicating quarterly financial results, business strategies, high-level personnel changes, corporate values, vision and mission etc. A number of tools were time-consuming and ineffective and simply too costly. Through the use of webcasts I was able to bundle those channels into one and cover various types of communication with a single medium. No more printed internal newsletter, no more complicated written personnel announcements, no more separate CEO message or sending around video tapes by post across the ocean. By publishing webcasts visibly on the intranet, for example, distribution was already done and the exposure and attention automatically much greater.
Sharing insights and connecting with other communication professionals
Why am I writing a blog? I want to share my experiences in setting up, planning and producing webcasts and videos for the web with a wide audience. So many people keep asking me ‘how did you do it?’, ‘what did you do exactly?’, ‘what were your experiences?’, that it would really be a shame to let these insights go to waste. Plus it is something I couldn’t live without anymore for my communications work since I have become a huge fan of video on the Internet used for all sorts of communication activities. Believe me, if you’re not using this technology by now, you are missing out on something.
It is important to me to post my insights to a worldwide audience and connect with others who want to learn or already feel passionate about this topic. Therefore I am writing this blog in English in order to reach as many of you as possible. Although, please feel free to post any of your comments in German, French, Spanish or your mother tongue and I will do my best to answer you.
Leading through the process
What can you expect from this blog? I want to tell you about my experiences in communication with streaming technology and show you the possibilities and benefits of video on the Internet for internal and external communication. I’ll introduce some of the many solutions and products I applied for different types of communication including change management and crisis communication. Step by step I’ll take you through the process of preparing, getting started, producing your own webcast with the help of an external streaming provider such as Solutionpark and evaluating the results, in addition to giving you the arguments you need to convince your top management of this ingenious communication tool. Any questions?
Come join me on this journey through the wonder worlds of new technology.
Categories: corporate communication · employee relations · event communication · internal communication · investor relations · marketing communication · shareholder communication
Tagged: business strategies, change management, channel, communication, corporate communication, corporate values, crisis communication, employee event, exposure, internal announcement, internal newsletter, Internet, intranet, message from the CEO, mission, new media, PR, Solutionpark, staff presentation, streaming, technology, video on the Internet, vision, webcasts
