Building a Community for Internal Communicators - the incredible backstory

Internal Comms Pro is a culmination of my many passions - leadership, helping my peers grow in their careers, and bringing a voice to those who often go unheard in their companies.  

When I was working on Cerkl, I uncovered the following regarding internal communicators:

• IC Pros at times are isolated
• No one is thinking of this group as the focus
• IC Pros are undervalued
• IC Pros are often an afterthought with professional organizations

300 Interviews

After conducting over 300 interviews with these IC professionals, I learned they were hungry for programming that was tailored to them and not just a session or two thrown into a massive general comms or HR conference.  I felt like there was an opportunity and, thankfully, I worked in a culture which supports new ideas. I was given the green light to pursue building Internal Comms Pro, and Cerkl offered to be my first sponsor.

Also, we’re lucky in Cincinnati to have a fantastic IABC Chapter with leaders like Pat Frey and Teresa Zumwald, so we decided to partner with them to host an event specifically designed for internal communicators. We thought 10-12 people would show.  80 internal communicators attended, and that was the beginning of Internal Comms Pro.

We’re on a mission to raise this profession shine light on their value.

As you know, internal communicators are involved with so much more than just communications. They’re in leadership, IT, HR, finance, and sales.  The modern workplace demands the internal communicator to hone all of these skills to move their company into 21st-century engagement. This takes skill, passion, and the latest tools, technology, and know-how.  Facilitating inspiring experiences to pamper, teach, and inspire this group is why I get out of bed in the morning, it’s all I think about.  And I love that I get to dip into my pixie dust closet to make our attendees feel special.

Positioning these professionals in a light that shows their true value inspired me and others to help create Internal Comms Pro because, at the end of the day, internal communicators are in the unique position to do the most important thing:  make employees feel valued, heard, and empowered. So we make the internal communicator feel the same way: valued, heard, and empowered.  

This group is no longer forgotten or viewed as the order taker, they’re the most important member of your team because they are connecting the head and heart of your employees to your company’s mission. There’s nothing more important for a company, organization, or society.

Who’s doing the work behind ICPro and why this matters:  

1. Rachel Folz - Rachel is a wonderful working mother with an extensive background in broadcasting, digital marketing, and software product design.  These 3 skills make her a major IC Pro badass. She uses her experience and empathy for internal communicators to empower them with communication wizardry that propels them as leaders in their company.  Her wit and humor keeps things light and makes our audience feel heard and valued. Bottom line - she loves IC Pros and has an insatiable desire to make them the “comeback kid” of the communication age. Rachel produces the ICProcast, the fastest growing podcast for internal communications.  Her passion for telling the story of the internal communicator is what makes this podcast ranked at #1.
2. Barry Williams - Barry is a digital marketing genius whose desire to learn how to help internal communicators is never-ending. As the current host of the ICProcast, Barry hears what makes IC Pros tick and leads projects that help address their pains.   His desire to see the internal communicator underdog win big fosters incredible storytelling that inspires our audience to keep moving forward. Also, the giveaways he comes up with, our audience loves (Rocketbooks, planners, etc.) - yeah we’ve got you.  
3. Emma Hundley - Emma keeps our brand fun and flirty.  Her social media savvy keeps us connected with IC Pros everywhere, which helps her develop content that meets their needs. Emma’s humor keeps the ICPro brand authentic, fun, and engaging. Sometimes, internal communicators are thought of like the Black Widow on their own Avengers team. They are an essential part of their team, but they’re considered a side character and have yet to get their own movie. Because of this, Emma is always trying to create content that will empower communicators to speak up and show the enormous impact they have on their organizations.   
4. Kick-ass interns - We hire interns to scour the biggest cities in the USA for the best venues, food, giveaways, exercises for our events, etc. Lots of details are poured into an IC Pro Rise & Shine event, and this team helps to keep it all straight.  We want our attendees to leave feeling empowered, inspired, and ready to take the next step. With events, details are crucial, and this team impeccably keeps our events running smoothly.
5. Speakers, Experts, Panelists - Internal Comms Pro is so fortunate to have top experts and featured speakers like Jason Anthoine, Shel Holtz, Chuck Gose, Douglas Spencer, and Sharon McIntosh to name a few. We’ve had so many great podcasts guests as well, check them out here.
6. Partners - we’ve have forged incredible partnerships with several businesses, content providers, nonprofit organizations, professional organizations, etc.  Title sponsors like Cerkl are strategically picked based on the company’s authentic passion for internal communicators.

So there you have it - our origin story, our why, our love, our passion for internal communicators.  Internal Comms Pro is on a mission to bring together the best in the business to share ideas, tools, and tactics that move the needle on engagement...oh and also to inspire and pamper you while having a ton of fun along the way.  

To learn more and gain access to free resources, visit internalcommspro.com today.