Every Saturday morning, I have long debates with myself on whether to go to the gym or not.

I was doing just that last week when the bell rang. I opened the door and found a big parcel containing my copies of International Communications Strategy.

I sat down on the couch, still in my night gown and hugged the big Jiffy bag. I thought of all the times I would sit on that same spot reading reports and articles for my research…. The book had all been in our minds at that stage… and now, I can hug them…my six copies. I love each one of them!

The day before, my co-author Yang-May and I got a great endorsement from Dr Jagdish Sheth, Charles H. Kellstadt Professor of Marketing at Goizueta Business School - Emory University and author of the household title Chindia Rising: How China and India Will Benefit Your Business:

 “A thought provoking and exceptionally well written book on the future of Public Relations with the emergence of social media, globalization of Corporate Social Responsibility, and growth of emerging markets.  The book reads like a suspense novel!”

Just in case you were wondering, I did make it to the gym in the end… still dreaming of my six copies.

We communicators often end up upsetting somebody.

Whom  do you upset?

In my current job, I upset those people who think that using Web 2.0 to talk with employees and journalists is the equivalent of turning the comms function into the online version of Animal House (…. I would still like the Toga Party though).

In a job I had years ago, it happened when I was trying to convince management of the importance of treating CSR  as a core component of their message and not like a pet project.

Hearing Seth Godin speak at TED about the importance of challenging the status quo was immensely refreshing.

I wrote a while ago in this blog about my attempts to explain the virtues of communication to a US immigration officer. My profession does tend to be misunderstood.

But it’s not always that bad.

Actually, to quote Austin Powers (I know it’s childish, but I love him), these are very groovy times to be in communications.

Top management is finally waking up to the idea that corporate communication is important. They know that what they need from us is strategic advice, not colourful brochures. And the reasons why they are waking up are

Intangible assets (customer loyalty, brand equity, reputation, etc.) are becoming more and more important. They are difficult to imitate by competitors and investors look at them before deciding whether or not to put money into a company. Communicators are the masterminds behind reputation and brand recognition.

Publics are becoming increasingly difficult to convince. According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, 44% of the people interviewed in nine EU countries trust conversations with friends and peers while only 33% (!) trust articles in newspapers.

Gen Y. Seventy-five million young people born between 1977 and 1998 are slowly appearing on the corporate radar screen. They might be working as interns at the moment, but they are definitely the board faces of 2020. They have grown up on participatory sites like YouTube and MySpace. They are not as loyal to a company as their parents used to be. They will not accept sanitized corporate speak. In order to recruit and retain them, corporations will need top-notch internal communications

New channels of global communications are being opened up by social media tools, bringing different cultures across the world together instantaneously. Culture is no longer about the culture of nations, it is created by networks of people coming together in new groupings and tribes. In this new environment, it is essential to pay attention to communication.

At the conference I will be chairing in Barcelona in February, we will be discussing these topics and more. Click here to find out about IABC’s EuroComm 2008.

This is a cross-post from a contribution to The EuroComm Blog 2008.