This year’s IABC World Conference took place in Washington, DC against a backdrop of fake news, polarisation and many questions about ethical communication.

More than 1,000 delegates, including our Associate Director – Strategy Paul Jones, attended the event to catch up on the latest thinking in the world of comms, share their experiences, and come up with some fresh strategies to apply in this new era of communication.

We’ll be discussing our findings in the next issue of our AQ magazine but, for now, here are three things that surprised us during what was another fascinating conference.

• Artificial Intelligence isn’t science fiction from the future – the technology is here now, helping people to do everything from negotiating detailed and extensive legal paperwork to diagnosing serious illnesses. Its capacity to read and comprehend data will help communicators tailor their comms to individuals.
• Neuroscience findings continue to amaze: did you know, for instance, that brain scans have shown differences between children who receive praise and those who don’t? Supporting a positive and rewarding workplace really does make a tangible difference.
• People are more likely to get to the end of a podcast than a video, so think about how audio and visual comms can work together in your channel plans – especially for those employees who aren’t based in an office.

Watch out for the next AQ, which will be published in late July.