Cultural Resolution

It’s not a new story for communication budgets to be among the first cut in tough financial times. But this time, it’s personal.

In mandating staff cuts, the government of New Zealand has specifically targeted communication and PR roles as expendable, viewing them as “spin doctors” (see more in this New Zealand Herald article). 

Yesterday, on behalf of IABC, I wrote a letter protesting the action to New Zealand State Services Minister Tony Ryall.  Alone, it probably won’t get his attention, but if we can harness the power of our 16,000 members and other communication professionals around the world, we might just make a difference — not only for our New Zealand colleagues, but for our profession worldwide. 

Join me in advocating for the communication profession. Let’s employ all the tools in our collective communication arsenal.  Let’s take this opportunity to educate the world about the critical role communication plays in organizational success.  Send a letter, blog about it, tweet, send a press release, conduct a poll, discuss it on a podcast. Let your voice be heard.

The job you save (and the organization you save) could be your own.

I’m used to being prepared, being in control, knowing what comes next, where I’m supposed to be.  If I have a meeting scheduled, I’m usually early for it.  And when I travel, I usually book and confirm everything myself, and do online check-in 24 hours in advance.  It’s partly a function of my personality,  but it’s also cultural to a great extent.  Many parts of the world simply aren’t as agenda-focused as the US and UK.  And I recognize that my way isn’t the right way, it’s just what is comfortable for me.

So now, a day before I leave on a 3-week trip, over which I have almost no control, I’m consciously trying to get over myself, go with the flow, make a leap of faith and trust that it will all be fine.  A total of 15 flights have been booked for me by a travel agent, and I haven’t been able to confirm them online.  I’ll be arriving in 12 cities (in 7 countries), and in some destinations, I don’t yet know where I’m going, what time meetings start, what I’ll be speaking about, or where I will sleep.  What I do know — and this is the reason I can make the leap — is that there are IABC members in every destination, and they will take care of me.  And I know it will be an amazing experience.  A distinctly different cultural experience (actually, several different cultures).  I want to embrace those differences.  I want to learn from them.  I want to get outside my comfort zone. 

So I guess I’m off to a good start. 

Anyway, here’s the run-down of where I’m going. 

• Sun, Oct 19: Overnight flight from London to Hong Kong
• Mon, Oct 20: Arrive Hong Kong 5:50pm
• Tue, Oct 21: Speak at IABC Hong Kong Chapter event, overnight flight to Sydney
• Wed, Oct 22: Speak at IABC New South Wales Chapter event
• Thu, Oct 23: early flight to Canberra, informal member networking event in evening
• Fri, Oct 24: early flight to Brisbane, speak at IABC Queensland Chapter event
• Sat, Oct 25: leader development with Queensland board members
• Sun, Oct 26: flight to Melbourne
• Mon, Oct 27: Speak at IABC Victoria chapter event, board training in evening
• Tue, Oct 28: flight to Wellington, New Zealand
• Wed, Oct 29: Speak at IABC Wellington event, plus board development & media interview
• Thu, Oct 30: flight to Christchurch, member event and leader development
• Sat, Nov 1: flight to Aukland, on to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• Sun, Nov 2: dinner with chapter leaders
• Mon, Nov 3: Speak at University, Lead a 1/2-day workshop for IABC Malaysia chapter
• Tue, Nov 4: flight to Singapore, meeting with members-at-large
• Wed, Nov 5: flight to Bangkok, meeting with members, flight to Phuket
• Thu, Nov 6: Speak to Phuket PR Network event, flight to Bangkok, overnight layover
• Fri, Nov 7: flight to Manila, speak to business leaders, speak at IABC Philippines Quill Awards ceremony
• Sat, Nov 8: flight to Hong Kong, overnight flight to London
• Sun, Nov 9: arrive London 5am (and go straight home to bed!)

I just added up the total flying time, and it’s a staggering 69 hours (can that really be right?)!  And I have to do the whole trip limited to one suitcase weighing no more than 20 kgs (which is about what I would normally take on a 3-day trip).  Getting WAY outside my comfort zone now.

I’ll blog and tweet along the way as much as I can, and try to share what I learn and introduce you to members I meet along the way.  Wish me luck and on-time flights!