On Friday, October 4, the day after the Analyst Relations Forum, we have scheduled a half-day workshop for AR leaders, from 9am to 1pm in Somerset House, London’s outstanding 18th century building. This intimate event is for full-time AR professionals who direct and manage AR programmes on both the in-house and agency sides. We’re looking for participants  who are responsible for AR strategy development, implementation and process inside their organisation. Perhaps most important, we are looking for people who will contribute actively to the interactive process of solving new or deepening challenges for analyst relations.

The workshop will also launch an ongoing “community” that will continue to interact towards the continuous improvement of our programs

Our plan for the workshop is to build on the topics that are discussed in the prior day AR Forum  In small groups, we will explore the topics and focus on concrete changes that we can make. The structure of the day is this:

1. We’ll review topics from the day before, and consider our prior experience, to identify the key issues the group wants to focus on. Participants are invited to bring along other issues and opportunities that might benefit from collective effort.
2. Agree on three key topics for focus;  break into working groups to focus on the topics that matter the most.. Each group will be facilitated by an experienced AR professional involved in the planning of the day, who will also write up the key points from the discussions. Time will be structured to allow each group to define the problem, identify possible solutions and tactics, and  prioritise three action items to test in practise.
3. Each group  will present their problem(s) and actions  to the whole, allowing time for cross fertilisation.
4. Outline next steps and commitments, including quarterly conference calls during which the “community” will check in and share  accomplishments. We’ll also be keen to share those experiences over the next year.

We’re inviting Efrem Mallach PhD to be the mentor for the community, to open the workshop and each of the quarterly calls with some opening thoughts about the challenges that the group is focusing on. To make sure that we feed lessons back into the 2014 forum, we’ll also be joined by Ulrike Droeschel, a senior HP AR manager who servers on the AR Forum’s international advisory council.

The planning group is delighted to speak with anyone interested in the workshop. Feel free to call any one of us to  understand what the benefit of the new community can be for you. Every one of us in the AR profession faces challenges.  Let’s come together to share experiences, ideas, and solutions. Please register online for the event though Eventbrite. To find out more, just pick up the phone and ask one of us.

We look forward to seeing you there,

Duncan Chapple, Kea Company: +44 20 7993 8655

Pamela Sankey, Sprint Corporation: +1 913 315 3276

Robin Schaffer, NICE:  +1 201 964 2676