Like tea? Like comms? Well listen up for details of a regular event that will be right up your street. Ann Kempster works at the Cabinet Office and she’s written for Diary of an internal communicator to tell you all about it. Over to you Ann…
Do you work in internal communications or employee engagement? Then you should consider coming along to the next internal comms teacamp.
What’s a teacamp?
It’s an informal get-together of internal comms and engagement specialists. We meet bi-monthly (every other month) at a cafe in Westminster, London, to share ideas, solve problems, learn something new, drink some tea and eat some cake.
Usually someone volunteers to do a ten-minute talk on something cool they’re doing, or to gather feedback on a specific topic or project, and then it opens up to the group to ask questions. People say what they think or seek solutions to their own work challenges. We ran several of these internal comms teacamps last year – you read a report from one of the past events to get a flavour.
Why do it?
It’s a fantastic model for professional networking and knowledge-sharing. One which it would be a shame to resign to the digital sector alone. If there’s one thing Internal Communicators are good at, it’s nicking good ideas from elsewhere and applying them in our own work contexts!
Anyone who works in internal comms and/or employee engagement is welcome to attend. It doesn’t matter what sector you are in – public, private, voluntary, freelance – all are welcome.
When and where is it?
The next one is on 5 December 2012, 4-6pm. Café Zest, House of Fraser, Victoria Street, London and it is being organised by myself, Ann, and Sharon O’Dea of Standard Chartered Bank.
Anything else I should know?
You can follow the #iceteacamp hashtag on Twitter. You can also find dates of this and other teacamps at www.teacamp.co.uk or email ann.kempster@co.gsi.gov.uk for more information, Ann.
Thanks very much for sharing Ann, I think this is a great idea. Have you been to teacamp? If you’re not based in London, why not consider setting something similar up where you are – location should be no barrier to conversation!
Have you heard about Commscamp13? It is taking place in February 2013 in Birmingham, UK and is being organised by Ann Kempster and Dan Slee. CommsCamp13 is an unconference, or a free-to-attend conference without a predefined agenda, where the sessions are proposed and agreed at the start of the day. They’re posted as a big grid on the wall for the participants to choose from, and there’s plenty of time for the informal hallway chats which, let’s face it, are the best bit of any conference. Check out their website for full information.
Heard about an event you think other comms pros should be aware of? Tweet me @AllthingsIC or contact me to share the news. I’ve collated a list of upcoming events here so do take a look so you know what’s around, and if you’re coming to the CIPR Internal Comms conference tomorrow, do say hi, Rachel.
Post author: Ann Kempster
