The comms cupboard has been opened…

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?

commscupboard

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:

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.

 

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