I would call myself a conference connoisseur but you might refer to me as a conference snob and that's fair. Because I’ve been to so many professional development events, my bar is very high.

Now that I have the pleasure and enjoyment of planning conferences for ICology, I've learned so much about what it means to personalize these kinds of events. The lessons from personalization are easily applicable to so many aspects of internal communications.

The very first camp ICology that I ever planned was in Chicago in 2022. And at the time, it was a two-day event which meant I was providing breakfast on both days. I planned a full hot breakfast for both days because I like to give the people what they want (hello mini breakfast burritos!)

Fast forward to 2023.

Last year, our first camp event of the year was in New York City. One of my attendees, who is a native of New York, said to me, “make sure you order breakfast from this particular bagel place.”

Easy peasy, I can make that happen.

For day one, I order the bagels. On day two, I think to myself, surely people will want a full hot breakfast after just having bagels the day before.

Most of our attendees were from New York City, and on day two they are all asking me where the heck the bagels are. I’m standing beside massive trays of hash browns, bacon, eggs, thinking, “you want bagels?!”

I had no idea that bagels were such a hot commodity in New York City. I did not do my research on my audience.

This happens a lot in internal communication. But it's not hard to personalize when you know what people want, and all that takes is asking simple questions. Whether it’s breakfast options or email delivery times, knowing your audience is always worth going the extra mile.

~ Kristin