Social Chorus Hosts FutureComms 2018

April 18, 2018 – On a breezy sunny day in New York City, FutureComms hosted by Social Chorus began bright and early. Upon arrival, I was treated with complimentary Social Chorus accessories and provided the agenda of the day. 


As I walked up the spiral stairs, voices of enthusiasm and constant laughter were heard. Excitement came over me as I saw a diverse crowd of professionals and students with welcoming smiles. One smile can start a new friendship, but the breakfast buffet smiled at me first. I for sure you that plate was full. 

After a tasteful energizing meal, we moved into the conference room where the public speakers of the day go through their brief, yet intriguing presentations. As much as I would love to give you a rundown of every speaker, you just had to be there to feel their emotions and passion for the roles they play within the marketing and communications industry. Purely moving and heartwarming to experience individuals who represent the organizations and companies that care for the people within as much as they care for the people who are aware of the brand and its purpose for the community and the world.

Communication is the key to how we live life and engage with one another. The 2018 FutureComms edition revolved around communicators taking charge and demonstrating shifts in a new way of communicating digitally to employees. 


The discussions that triggered the importance for my growth into the advertising industry as a creative are as follows.

Let’s Talk About Transformation: Our Vision for the Future – Greg Shove, Founder & Executive Chairman of Social Chorus

Greg Shove begins the wave of digital communication by listing steps to follow in transforming internally and externally.

1. Choose a platform (“tech platform”)
2. Get good advice
3. Ask around
4. Choose a line (“a plan”)
5. Drop in (“begin launch with group of people”)
6. Get tubed (“reaching employees in times of crisis”)
7. Get promoted

These steps consist of the reaching a unified workforce communication where every employee is in the loop and the “busy work” is reviewed. With a creative mindset, I see these steps as an approach for spreading the brand’s story on a platform that fits the needs of the client. We are constantly strategizing, finding a feasible plan, begin with the right launch team, stay ahead of conceptual issues, make an impact and frame a fitting title role in the industry. This discussion opened the thought of organizations who work to prioritize the connections internally that employees are servicing those tactics into real world experiences. The leaders to follow are the proof that breaking the traditional boundaries of communications is effective strategy to advance for years to come. As Shove put it, “We have a shared dream – is to connect every [individual] and to catch this wave and thank every [client] to join this movement.”

Mission-Critical Growth Powered by Internal Comms: Andy Cunningham, Author Get to Aha! Discover Your Positioning DNA and Dominate Your Competition and Founder and President of Cunningham Collective

Andy Cunningham strikes me when she states, “Authentic marketing has to come from a place of authenticity – who the company is, you don’t even know what that is until you know what the DNA of the company is.” This day and age, understanding the true essence of a company is what will define its space in the social world. Internally, the goal is to be the voice of sanity and strategy. We become the storyteller, so that we can rise up and make a difference. This approach is to create a narrative for why something or someone matters now. 

Throughout the marketplace, we offer unique information that other people do not have and can form a shift the roles we play, providing a new vision that transforms the perception of an industry by simply redefining it for the purpose of change and impact. Visionaries are rare, but throughout history we have seen it in the culture of Rock n’ Roll with Elvis Presley, Chronicles of Public Relations with Edward Barneys, and of course Think Different Campaign with Steve Jobs. As times change, the public relations philosophy evolves. Today, the philosophy is to build a digital footprint for product or service and then point journalist to the digital footprint to see if it is a good enough story. All we want is to present a story that matters most to our audience.

Inside The New York Times’ Digital Transformation: Cliff Levy, Deputy Managing Director

We are well-aware of The New York Times’ who has gone through issues of the world and still be able to transcend into the market smoothly by catering to the evolving audience. Inside The New York Times’, Cliff Levy shares “nativeness,” the idea of great movies being inspired by great books, which The New York Times’ essentially is doing. With the internet rise, behind the scenes the company adapted vastly, but print audience and digital audience want the news at different times, which is to hit them now rather than the traditional ways of waiting for the paper to print. Once the mobile age came about, the issue was long articles on a small screen, which was not ideal. 

The question Levy asks that triggers my creative outlook is, “What is native to the platform that you want your employees to engage with?” The realization is adapting to the challenges and to overcome that is by being authentic, aware of “who I am” and be rooted in one’s values. Digital change is not easy to get through, but learning to convince consumers to try something new, testing out an experiment, and gaining feedback saves time and effort in launching something new. The creative aspect plays along these lines when bringing a concept into the eyes of our target for the product and service we advertise. 

Most important takeaway is whichever industry we are in whether in public relations, account management, and creative direction – “anything that you do for your audience, you have to be really empathetic and think about how it’s being consumed on what device, what time of day, and under what circumstances – without these considerations we lose in ensuring that the audience is engaging.” In the end, we are narrators of our stories; being the voice of change and building a better future. With an understanding of our audience and their purpose, the platforms and its native structure can be used as an advantage to share the narrative masterfully that influences the way we think, feel, and do in the world.

Enjoy this amazing closing performance Catch the Wave by Jonathan Mann.