Corporate leaders line up to mark agency's coming of age

Internal communications agency theblueballroom marks 10th anniversary with 'Learning from Leaders' event

theblueballroom, the internal communications agency, is marking its 10^th anniversary today with a unique event entitled Learning from Leaders. With a high profile line up of leading lights from easyJet, Mars Drinks, DHL and Roche, the agency is celebrating its achievements and expertise gained in the last decade, as well as announcing a new service.

The speakers will give unique insights into strengthening employee engagement and the link between this and creating a strong business, marking a maturity of the internal communications profession. The panel incorporates:

• Christina Fee, Head of Internal Communications, easyJet
• Dean Capon, Head of Corporate Affairs, Roche Products
• Christopher Wade, Team Lead Internal Communications, Deutsche Post DHL
• Friedrich-Georg Lischke, CEO Mars Drinks Europe

The event, to be held in theblueballroom’s home town of Farnham in Surrey this afternoon, celebrates the company’s achievements, including strategy, publications, digital and individual awards and numerous business wins – the agency works with major global companies such as Deutsche Post DHL, Mars Drinks, Roche, and Vistaprint.

Building on its expertise, achievements and experience, theblueballroom has developed its latest offering – Learning and Development – which will provide bespoke coaching for businesses to improve their communications capabilities from within. The service provides an alternative to the more typical ‘off the shelf’ offering.

Sheila Parry, founder and MD of theblueballroom, says that “being ten certainly feels like a milestone, and many people are asking us how we’ve done it, and what the future holds. I’m very excited about today, both in terms of the future for theblueballroom, and for the internal communications industry as a whole.”

She continues: “Internal communications can make the difference between high productivity and low, between a happy workforce and a miserable one, between a loyal team member and a loose canon. It’s great to be in a position to work with companies to establish great ways of working. We want people to say ‘I love my job’ – that’s when we’ve done ours.”

- Ends -

For further information about theblueballroom or the event, contact: Rebecca Pain, thebluedoor, 01252 899969, rpain@thebluedoor.com, or on Twitter @rebeccapain

Editor’s notes:

Today’s event, ‘Learning from Leaders’, is to be held at Farnham Castle from 3pm until 7pm, by invitation only, but press are welcome to contact us regarding attendance.

More information about the company can be found at www.theblueballroom.com

theblueballroom Learning and Development will provide a range of services, from one-to-one leadership coaching through to group facilitation and train the trainer sessions to develop communication skills that are critical for business success.

Sheila Parry, Founder and Managing Director

With more than 20 years' experience, Sheila has a comprehensive view of the internal communications market. She spots trends, looks for new solutions and makes business communications really mean something to company leaders. Sheila is an active member on the IOIC Board.

Another award!

13th Oct 2010

DHL Express' innovative online 40th anniversary celebration scoops a Digi Award

In 2009, a year of recession, DHL Express celebrated its 40th anniversary. To recognise this milestone and employees' input with a splash yet without extravagance, DHL launched a global online employee photo competition, designed and built by theblueballroom with social technology company redcatco. The competition and campaign has won CorpComms magazine's Digi Award in the 'Best use of digital media in internal communications' category. And that follows hot on the heels of winning Communicate magazine's Digital Impact Award for the 'Best digital employee communication award'.

The photo competition generated a staggering 5.6 million hits and 2,800 photo uploads. The inexpensive, globally accessible online solution reached out to all 500,000 worldwide employees of DHL and parent company Deutsche Post DHL and sparked a truly cross-border, cross-level conversation: this user-generated 'by the people, for the people' platform saw 3,400 comments being made on the photos. Page views spanned the full three months of the competition, demonstrating ongoing engagement.

The competition showcased DHL Express' amazing legacy and supported the company's 'One DHL' brand positioning, which celebrates a diverse workforce, global expertise and uniqueness, and joint capabilities. theblueballroom's expertise on inspiring communications for internal audiences, coupled with redcatco's specialist knowledge on social technology, made DHL Express' 40th anniversary a celebration to remember.

You can hear the full case study from our colleague Cara Jenkins and client Kathleen Goh of DHL at the next Social Media in a Corporate Context Conference in Manchester on 19th October.