John Morley for Corporate Communications

Adventures in Corporate Communications

For communicating within the corporation, I deliver the same energy and professionalism required for customer-targeted communications. For everything from a newsletter article to a live event, I start with the WIIFM (what's in it for me) then move to shaping the behaviors that support achieving corporate goals.

A Full Quiver
The best tool for a communications job may be print media, a video, Web page , CD or a job aid. Often, it's a combination thereof that's best. My full quiver of skills has been developed from significant experience in all of these media. I can help you decide which mix is best, provide the information architecting needed to get the most from that mix, then do the hands-on word smithing and design to ensure the excellence of every component.

Live Events
Especially in this era of email and the Internet, when we may never have looked into the eyes of our closest colleagues, bringing people together for a shared event can be the quickest and most powerful way to move your organization toward achieving its goals.

New second edition published in 2008.

From small sales meetings to corporate product launches, I have designed and implemented both specific components and entire events. The energy and imagination I've applied has included placing the executives of a major toy company on the bridge of a star cruiser, building a locker room on stage for the management of California Hardware to provide a "chalk talk" for their sales team and scripting a wild west stage play to demonstrate the corporate values that had shaped Home Savings.

Completed Projects
Depending on perspective, marketing communications and training may be integral to corporate communications. They both have their own page on this site. The following list includes projects (some of which are duplicated on other pages) that had specific requirements for sharing information or motivating action within a business. They are in reverse chronological order.

Southern California Edison --Develop high-level customer strategy document for realignment with the government market. Edit monthly Q&A sessions conducted by executives, for distribution throughout the organization. And develop documentation and the official report for a workshop on third-party financing of energy conservation projects. 8/04--present.
Performance Strategies, Inc. -A critical component of the sales training program I helped develop here was management-integrated training. This meant leaving behind customized training, including facilitator guides, that let our clients continue reinforcing on the sales floor what had been taught in the classroom.
Communications instruments were developed to coordinate and manage a structured flow of information and ideas among all three levels of an organization: executives, sales management and sales professionals. 8/03-8/04.
Multacom -So they had this really nice, visually rich book, How the Internet Works , that was provided to all new non-technical employees. The problem was that they learned about the Internet without understanding where their company fits in.
The study guide I developed was interactive, in that it introduced each chapter of the book, provided study questions to answer while reading that chapter and then a follow-up to drive home how to help customers understand how Multacom provides value at every level of the Internet. 7/00-1/01.

Toyota Web Projects -Writer and manager for the launch of the "Dealer Daily" Business-to-business private network. This meant developing a big job aid to support presentations to dealership owners and principals (largely self-made millionaires with patience measured in microseconds).
It had to explain why they were spending $1 million plus on a LAN to attach to the WAN and what all of those acronyms mean. A Web site about the Web site was part of the package and all the tech stuff had to be explained in terms that your grandmother could absorb.
Toyota Domain Name Policies -Also through Maritz, this was working with TMS management to think through and document a comprehensive set of policies on naming Web sites, which was quite a challenge when you consider every variation on every Toyota and Lexus vehicle model name, dealership Web sites, what detractors might do with toyotosucks.com and such, and how well-meaning enthusiasts can misuse logos and trademarks on line. 10/99-5/00.
Hughes Aircraft -Information architect on a video series promoting the use of internal resources. Millions of dollars were being spent to purchase goods and services from outside vendors, while divisions within the company--providing those same goods and services--were failing for lack of business. We helped them to get together and to better understand that the job you save may be your own. 1988.

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