Some voices have been calling for the elimination of Internal Communications as a discrete organizational function, given the fact that — thanks to digital media — employees have access to all the same information their employers are sharing with other stakeholder audiences. On the September edition of Circle of Fellows, four of IABC’s thought leaders will tackle the question of whether an employee communication function is still valid and, if it is, how its role has changed since the days when the department’s output was focused mainly on publications for employees.

You can watch the live broadcast at 11 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, September 23 on FIR’s YouTube channel or at the bottom of this page. After the live broadcast, you will be able to watch the panel as a YouTube video or listen to the audio as a Circle of Fellows podcast.

Participating on the panel are…

• John G. Clemons, senior manager of Global Associate Communications for Walmart — John has held senior executive and consultant roles over the course of his career in corporate and organizational communications. He has special expertise providing strategic counsel and support for top executives and corporate offices of Fortune 500 companies. John has served as chair of IABC, and holds accreditations from both IABC and PRSA. In addition to his current position with Walmart, John has worked with Raytheon and Marriott (among others).
• John Gerstner is a nationally recognized strategic communications expert and consultant who has focused on assessing an organization’s business needs and executing communications strategies to effect positive change. John was most recently a senior consultant of Enterprise Communications for Florida Blue. He spent most of his career as manager of Internal Communications for John Deere, where he also took on an assignment to produce a history of the company. John also founded and served as CEO of Communitelligence, an online peer learning network covering a broad range of communication disciplines.
• Dr. Amanda Hamilton-Attwell is accredited by both IABC and PRSA. She is managing Director of Business DNA, based on South Africa, which provides strategic research and consulting, including communication audits, customer service and other focused research and training in communication skills. Her career has also included a 15-year stint as a research manager for the National Productivity Institute.
• Sheri Rosen is vice president of Employee Communication at Frost Bank in San Antonio, Texas. Before assuming that role, Sheri spent 14 years as president of Rosen Communication Group. For 10 years before that, she was assistant vice president of Employee Communications for USAA, the financial services company. She is accredited by IABC.

About Shel Holtz

Shel Holtz, ABC (Accredited Business Communicator), is director of Internal Communications at Webcor, a commercial general contractor headquartered in San Francisco. Before joining Webcor, Shel spent 21 years as principal of Holtz Communication + Technology. In addition to integrating technology into communications strategies, his expertise includes strategic communications planning, change management, organizational culture, business initiatives and communications research. Full bio