Well, we raised a lot of interest and met some great people this week at the Corporate Communicators Conference in Chicago. The event ended this afternoon, so Nova and I hopped on the L and headed to Wrigley Field for a Cubs game. My first game at Wrigley — it’s a great place. The Cubs lost, but it was a beautiful day, and we had a good time.
I also learned that it was a polish sausage that lured The Wife out of her vegetarian lifestyle a few years back, on her first visit to Wrigley Field. She’s a purist, and couldn’t stand the idea of going to Cubs game without having one.
Baseball does weird things to people.
Corporate environments kind of freak me out. The stereotypes are awful — working in a company with thousands of other people is a soul sucking, beige on beige, cubical farmland of mediocrity.
Coming to the Corporate Communicators Conference has changed my opinion a little bit. There’s almost 500 people here, representing some of the biggest corporations in the United States, and it’s pretty much a non-stop rally for making work environments more open, more communicative, and more human. At the moment, there’s an executive on stage from one of the biggest insurance companies in the world, talking about how uncomfortable it can be to open up on a weekly blog, but how important it is to be genuine, and to respond honestly to critical feedback.
I don’t expect the universe to suddenly reorient itself, but it’s good to see some cracks in the “nameless, faceless” corporate facade.
Well, I’m kickin’ it at the Hyatt in Chicago, pimping “Chatter Mill” (our internal communication tool for large businesses). We have a booth and everything. It’s all very official looking.
First impressions — Chicago is a great place. Friendly people, clean, good food. Awesome bridges and architecture. We’re staying at Hotel 71, which has been nice so far. We flew in on the red eye this morning, so everything has been a bit of a whirlwind.
If you’re in town, come by and say hi. We’re in the Hyatt West building — follow the CCC signs and tell the friendly people at the registration desk that you’re a friend of Blue Hill Solutions. Or give me a ring at (503) 701-4135.
We’ve drummed up a lot of interest around Chatter Mill (our internal communication tool for large businesses), so Nova and I are headed to Chicago next month for the Corporate Communicators Conference. It should be a good time — I haven’t spent much time in the Windy City, and on the off chance that I have a spare evening to drink beer and hang out, it would be great to meet up with some fellow geeks.
I’ll be there from May 8th through the 10th, and we’re staying somewhere near the Hyatt Regency Chicago.
Any takers?
