{"id":545,"date":"2025-11-09T20:47:24","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T20:47:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lisariemers.com\/?p=545"},"modified":"2025-12-16T16:29:59","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T16:29:59","slug":"creativity-connection-and-impactful-communication-what-i-took-from-2025-iabc-turbocharge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lisariemers.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/09\/creativity-connection-and-impactful-communication-what-i-took-from-2025-iabc-turbocharge\/","title":{"rendered":"Creativity, connection and impactful communication: what I took from 2025 IABC Turbocharge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On Thursday 6th November I joined communications professionals from around the world to consider our professional development together in London. Run entirely voluntarily by those good folks at IABC UK & Ireland<\/a> and deftly hosted by Shane Hatton<\/a>, it was a brilliant day packed full of insights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I met new and caught up with existing connections from Germany, Nigeria, Australia, USA, folks from the broader region of EMENA (Europe, Middle East and North Africa, and of course from across the UK and Ireland. I missed my Canadian co-author Matisse Hamel-Nelis<\/a> terribly and I KNOW she had serious FOMO too. In no particular order, here are some things I learned from the day:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. We can only change what we have capability – and capacity for.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I *loved* Eleanor Tweddell’s opening keynote on navigating the messiness and inevitability for change. She brings a magnificent energy to the stage and presented a brilliantly relatable session on how we feel many things at once, and we might not be able to do everything all at the same time, either. She also had some excellent recommendations including David Lynch’s Catching The Big Fish<\/a> and founder of The Nap Ministry<\/a> Trisha Hersey’s Rest Is Resistance<\/a>. I feel like I definitely need a rest, and am looking forward to a few days off next week. Where I might re-investigate the art of napping, because Eleanor said so. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Eleanor on stage, with a recommendation for David Lynch’s Catching The Big Fish<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

2. Know our audience – we need to meet them where they are, today<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The day kicked off with a brilliant salsa workshop from Dee at Salsa Got Soul<\/a> to get us energised and consider the fact communications is a two-way street; the call and response of dances like salsa makes it vital for leaders to lead, and followers to pay attention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I used to go to Ceroc<\/a>, which is a cross between salsa and jive, but without the tricksy footwork. When you start out, you learn a few basic moves, and as your skills develop you can start weaving them all together, though one of the hardest things to learn is to listen to and concede to your partner. I discovered that actual salsa, as I’d expected, is HARD. I’m going to have to dust off the split-sole dancing trainers I bought on a whim on Vinted a few months back and actually go back, as I’ve been very sedentary of late and it reminded me how much I miss it, despite being more wary than I used to be about breathing in strangers’ faces all night. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I forgot just how much I enjoy dancing and started the day off quite sweaty – thanks Edeje Onwude for the pic!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There’s a lesson here for communicators – from breaking complex things down into manageable steps, to building those individual pieces into a glorious campaign, while being clear on the expectations and outcomes you’re trying to achieve. It’s never a one-and-done thing, doing this well takes repetition, multiple touchpoints and practice – as well as knowing the ability of your partner \/ audience. And not forcing people to do things that they’re not ready for – some people will have more experience than others, even if they don’t quite realise it themselves! I wasn’t intending to volunteer up in front of everyone, but I suppose I was already pre-primed, even if it was<\/em> pre-pandemic that I last set foot on the dancefloor. Some folks will be readier than others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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C:suite comms panel with some interesting conversations<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Meeting our leaders where they are is also something I took away from the C:suite panel hosted by Eduvie Martin<\/a>, where one of the talking points was how to work with members of the senior leadership team. Getting to know them is vital, understanding their strengths, weaknesses and preferences, to make sure that everyone gets the outcomes they need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Building relationships reaps dividends<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I first met Alison Arnot<\/a> a few months ago when we got together to share tips and swap advice on writing a book. As a fellow author it’s been brilliant to get to know her and we’ve been sharing tips and asking each other questions online, so it was fabulous to actually meet in person. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Alison and I just before her brilliant talk<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I really enjoyed her keynote on how to stay calm in a crisis, and the importance of preparedness and cultivating relationships with people so that you can work well together in a pinch. When the shit hits the fan, you really need to be able to trust those around you – and her storytelling of how things went down at Glasgow Airport years ago, along with the excellent framework she’s devised, really resonated with lots of folks in the room. Get her book Internal Communication in Times of Crisis<\/a><\/em> for more insights!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. It’s a small world and we’re better, connected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I started chatting to Padraig McKeon<\/a> (who’d been chatting to Alison in the break) and it turned out that not only do we have several mutual connections in common in Ireland but:<\/p>\n\n\n\n