New Content, New Research: Working Together With ContactMonkey and Happeo
BY mikekleinAfter returning to consultancy following a in-house detour that led me to an industrial park in Germany, I came back home and had a thought. Most of the dynamism in the internal communication field of late has been coming from tech companies bringing apps and diagnostic tools to the IC market. It has become a competitive field, and a few smart companies have hooked up with leading IC personalities to help navigate the IC community and differentiate from the crowd. It was time to make myself available. But I wanted partners who are committed to the growth of our profession as well as being committed to the growth of their own sales.
I am pleased to report that two vendors and I have connected in powerful and exciting ways. One vendor is Canada's ContactMonkey.
I approached them about running an essay competition.
For a profession that has writing at it's core, the lack of a recognized essay competition struck me as odd, but easily fixable. But more than interested in running a competition, ContactMonkey has been interested in running with it. The result: a challenge to IC folk to take the gloves off and swing from the trees.
In the spirit of Guerrilla Marketing and ContactMonkey's simian DNA, we've proudly and jointly launched The Gorilla Games. I am delighted to be joined on the judging panel by five communicators who unabashedly call themselves IC Pros and embody the Guerrilla spirit of our profession. They cover all the bases: in-house, consulting and academia; and are getting the job done on both sides of the Atlantic. They are Jason Anthoine, Priya Bates, Silke Brittain, Ashli Davis and Neil Jenkins.
Together, we'll be looking for next practice over best practice, and for entrants who, rather than simply thinking out of the box, will be willing to tell us what they could do once they rip the box apart with their bare hands. In doing so, we will make available an abundance of fresh content about what IC folk could do when the constraints are lifted off of us.
New research with Happeo
I am also thrilled to announce a second alliance, one with Finland’s Happeo, another ambitious vendor with a current focus on delivering integrated IC solutions for the Google G-Suite. Â
Some weeks ago, I posted on the subject of "what I would do with a research budget." Happeo is putting its money where my mouth is, by commissioning me to generate a series of six research reports looking at “The Present and Future of Internal Communication†to address and write about questions of mutual interest. I am proud and delighted to be working both with Happeo and ContactMonkey. They both have excellent products. And, most importantly, they are both committed to supporting and strengthening the IC pros and the IC community that make up their market. The content and research both will unleash through our co-operation has the potential to change the terms.
