On September 24, IABC/Calgary kicked off the 2026/2027 program year with a panel discussion on Communication Across Industries. The panel was made up of Calgary communicators, Jennifer Chatman, Director of Communications for CDN, Stephen Doolan, Head of Canada Media Relations for Shell, Amy Myer, a Communication Consultant for Collective Culture + Communications, and Julia Perkins, the Internal Communications Manager for ENMAX. Each panelist brought their unique perspective and expertise from their respective fields, giving a broad perspective on the field of communications.
In bringing their different experiences and perspectives to the discussion, whether crisis communications, stakeholder relations, or preparing an executive to deliver a speech, the speakers connected on one theme: no matter the industry, communications always comes back to people.
“It’s so rewarding for communicators to be able to take a step back and say, how is this gonna land for employees? What are employees feeling, and then to have the research to back it up,” said Myer.
With the focus on people, the panelists agreed on the importance of internal communications and the often overlooked employee audience. Building trust with the employees can turn them into some of the company’s greatest advocates; when that relationship is built, the employee will feel confident in positively relaying that messaging to others.
“If you can communicate well, if you can do the skills great. But you really have to be able to connect with people. You have to see them. You have to understand the problem they are trying to solve,” said Perkins.
Internally, communicators must know their audience. Being someone that listens, understands, and identifies what issues are facing employees will build a strong trust-based relationship and create greater team cohesion.
Another common theme that was brought to light through audience questions was that communications work is often misunderstood by colleagues, and the public as being easy to do.
The reality is that the field of communications is complex with practitioners bringing a broader depth of experience to their teams, helping them solve specific issues.
As Doolan puts it, “The work that we do matters, we understand the external world more than most people in the organization that we work at. And that is huge. It’s bringing that outside perspective, inside a company.”
And it’s more than bringing that perspective to the company or being able to write good copy.
“Communicators shape language, we shape experiences, we shape how people come to understand the world around them, and make sense of it, and make decisions based on them, and that is a huge responsibility,” said Chatman.
While every industry presents its own challenges and areas of expertise what unites the field of communications is a practitioners understanding of their audience, the ability to bring fresh perspectives, and finding ways to connect with their audience.
Across industries, the different challenges and opportunities may differ, but that importance of putting the people first remains constant.
AI Assisted-Human Reviewed
AI was used to transcribe and summarize interview notes, used by the human author as well as ideation and proofing before final publication review.
