It is a truth universally acknowledged, that an organisation in possession of a communications team must have a comms cupboard.
These Narnia-like places are full of values posters from yesteryear, cables that don’t fit any of your current devices and at least one FlipCam. Yours may be a box under your desk, or a drawer, but I guarantee you have one.
What’s in your comms cupboard? I declare an amnesty…
This week the ace Helen Reynolds @HelReynolds shared the following doodle with me via Twitter. She kindly sent me a draft version with some empty spaces, and I suggested adding the fluffy bugs and box of old mouse mats.
Does this look familiar?
It’s a tongue in cheek representation of the phenomenon of the comms cupboard.
In my glossary I describe it as:
Often a mythical place, but there’s usually an expectation that comms teams have a cupboard somewhere that has a stash of ‘stuff’ – mugs, t-shirts and the like.
Since Helen shared it via Twitter late on Monday night, it’s sparked a global conversation that has stretched from London to Australia.
Here’s what comms pros have been saying:
@AllthingsIC @HelReynolds Love it. Makes me feel less insane for this https://t.co/BbORQniLbA (only about 10% of collection on display)
— Jonathan Champ (@meaningbusiness) May 10, 2016
@HelReynolds the @NewyddHousing #comms cupboard. Look familiar? pic.twitter.com/6cuSm6i1ou
— Paul Roberts (@Tregolwyn) May 11, 2016
@Emma_Leigh_MBE @HelReynolds We have had two big clear outs of our comms cupboard & there are still things we just don’t know what to with!
— Maria Soleil (@MariaSoleil) May 10, 2016
@HelReynolds Tee hee, the item in your comms cupboard you keep, just in case… Like those lovely wires in your doodled!! #why?!
— Emma Leigh (@Emma_Leigh_MBE) May 10, 2016
@HelReynolds @AllthingsIC @Louise_MHA Extremely worried: our Comms cupboard is missing the emergency biscuits. Must rectify.
— Emma Assender (@emmajoannewales) May 10, 2016
So accurate! We even found 3 boxes of out-of-date branded fortune cookies during a clear out once… #commscupboard https://t.co/sU3vHX6F9H
— frankie fallowes (@frankiefallo) May 10, 2016
Shurely shome mishtake – what is missing from this super drawing of a comms department cupboard? #PRforpublicgood https://t.co/LNT8fKja74
— Karen Triggs (@karentriggs) May 10, 2016
Haha this is amazing, though I wish our comms cupboard looked this tidy! @HelReynolds https://t.co/BCnECgikjT
— Advita (@Advita_p) May 10, 2016
@michaelambjorn #commscupboard pic.twitter.com/WUhrlibpkC
— Jonathan Champ (@meaningbusiness) March 9, 2016
@AllthingsIC@HelReynolds I wish this wasn’t a thing, but this doodle doodles the #commscupboard perfectly!
— Michelle Cant (@Chelle_PR) May 11, 2016
I wonder what’s the oldest/strangest thing languishing in a comms cupboard somewhere?
In an age where communicators are striving to let their advice do the talking and shift from tactical to strategic, the one element that seems exempt from evolution is the cupboard.
It’s been sparser in recent years when the recession hit, but I’m wondering if the golden age of collateral is returning.
I’d love to know your thoughts. Do Tweet me @AllthingsIC or comment below.
I’ll leave you with Sydney-based comms pro Jonathan Champ’s Pinterest board of comms cupboards.
Rachel
Post author: Rachel Miller
First published on the All Things IC blog 12 May 2016.