Each year, PR and IC professionals take Slovenia by storm. Steve Doswell reports from Bledcom 2013 

 "We need to be the violin players on the hockey team" 

Working at weekends – millions do it, though millions more probably prefer not to. But when ‘work’ is a conference on the warm shores of wonderful Lake Bled and the ‘commute’ is a train journey along an Alpine river valley, it’s hardly a chore. In its 20th year, Bledcom 2013 brought some of the world’s most thoughtful communication academics together on the theme of ‘trust and the new realities.’ Here’s my kaleidoscope of the quotes, insights and moments I found noteworthy enough to capture.

The Edelman Trust Barometer has long been a highly respected yardstick of trust in institutions and in what they say to their publics. A clear highlight of Bledcom 2013, Edelman’s regional chief Björn Edlund offered valuable insights relevant to communication practitioners. Here’s a glimpse: Edelman’s findings show that CEOs are most trusted to deliver credible information on bottom line company performance but other spokespeople have more credibility for just about every other corporate activity. Edlund also noted PR’s evolutionary rise in influence, from merely being consulted on post-decision tactics to more strategic roles. But the right to share in the strategic discussion has to be earned. Practitioners still have some way to travel, not least in thoroughly acquiring business language and acumen.

Illustrating this need for business smarts in order to be most effective in our own specialism, Edlund coined Bledcom 2013’s most memorable metaphor, “We need to be the violin players in the hockey team – we need to play hockey but we need to bring something else to the team.”

A later discussion about trust in information via traditional channels compared to social media ended in laughter when it provoked the observation that, “Facebook is not the BBC. It’s a place where people post

pictures of their cats and tell others what they had for dinner. It’s an online postcard.” Research from Sweden presented in

role-play invoked Bledcom’s biggest laugh when a dubious figure in shades (actually an academic from Lund University) stormed the stage. Challenging a description of the traditional ‘perfect’ theory of PR excellence upheld by upright professional bodies, he said that PR (whisper it gently to some of my peers, that includes IC in this context), was about gamesmanship, pushing the boundaries of truth for various national or corporate purposes. Clearly this would never be acknowledged, “We’re not going to see: ‘the Association of American Spin Doctors, Proudly Serving the Nation’s Need for Comfortable Lies...’”

Ralph Tench from Leeds Met University revealed a startling ‘say one thing, do another’ mismatch between perception and practice regarding cultural sensitivity among corporate communication managers working with multi- national workforces. Research respondents said that cross-cultural competence was ‘crucial’ but that it was ‘not a current concern’ for them.

Another delegate put bluntly, “Practitioners do not want to learn. They are reluctant to engage with and debate ideas.” If that set a slightly sombre tone, the mood quickly lifted when another proclaimed the virtue of, “a deeply superficial study of PR using just three books – we ignore the surface at our peril!”

 There were nine communication conferences across Europe in June so, scenery aside, why go to Slovenia? Easy. Bledcom was an event about ideas. No shiny case studies showcased as if nothing ever went wrong. Just highly informed people sharing their insights on the basis of solid research, and who challenged, argued and listened generously. Work at the weekend? You bet. Bledcom 2014’s in my diary.

Steve Doswell is chief executive of the Institute of Internal Communication You can find him on Twitter @stevedoswell