Rather than believe the (rather biased) opinions of long-time Connect attendees, we thought it would be best to check in with some first timers to see what they wanted to get out of the annual employee communications conference and whether or not it met their professional development goals.
Kristen Foster, Community Medical Centers
With limited funds for professional development, what made you pick the Connect conference?
My office of 13 communicators (3 of us internal) is PRSA heavy. PRSA is a trusted source and so among the 10 or so possible IC conferences I could have attended this spring/summer, this was the natural fit.
What were you hoping to learn at Connect?
Hoping to learn lots of things but top of the office list included engagement of non-desk-bound employees, improvement in intranet design and capabilities, and measurement best practices.
Did Connect meet your expectations? Come up short? Exceed them?
Exceeded, based on past conference history in a different industry.
Can you share one key learning from your favorite session? How will you use this in your work?
Hard to choose, but the fastest learning I sent back to my team was from #1GreatIdea, about different badge-pulls for 1st year employees.
Would you recommend Connect to other communicators? If so, what one thing would you say to convince them to attend?
Yes. You’ll bring back tons of practical, actionable info and the contacts you make – both speakers and attendees – are approachable and will stay in touch.