By Kim Larsen

Dear members and friends of the EACD,

As for many businesses, communities and other associations, 2021 was a challenging year for the EACD. Our purpose was, is and will remain to bring communications professionals from across Europe, industries, roles and levels of experience together to explore new ideas and to inspire and learn from each other and to drive our profession forward. Historically we have done so by bringing people together physically, but the pandemic has of course forced us to rethink how we serve our purpose in a radically changed and digital world.

The virtual way of working has many advantages: it enables greater participation and more inclusivity as everyone can participate regardless of resources and location. It also has disadvantages, the main one being that it is much more difficult to form trusting, lasting and meaningful relations with a face on a screen than with a person with whom you share physical space.

For the EACD the transition to a digital operation has been challenging, not because of a lack of commitment to go virtual or lack of appreciation of the potential it holds, but simply because it has involved and continues to require a lot of change to the way we do things also on a very practical level, which for a small association primarily run by volunteers can be quite demanding.

Given the challenging operating environment, we are very proud of what we achieved last year. A few highlights include:

  • We launched and built out a new interactive member engagement platform (powered by Mighty Networks)
  • Continued to grow the member content including curated thought pieces, senior video interviews, podcast and more
  • Online topic-specific conversations with senior peers
  • Local lead events by our most active local country chapters
  • Digital webinars, Q&As, research results
  • Our first ever fully digital Pan-European Summit showcasing global thought-leadership in Communications and beyond.
  • Continued support of our members, country groups and sponsorship support from trusted partners including VIM Group and our new partner FourTold
  • Established and reaffirmed content driven partnerships with AMEC, Nordic Alliance for Communication & Management, IPRA and others.

But we are also aware that we still have some work to do to become a truly digital association where members not only get a lot of value from the events that are organised but are also empowered to easily build networks, develop ideas, take action and their drive own initiatives with other members. For 2022 we are planning a series of events and initiatives to help us progress on our quest to become a truly digital platform for existing and future leaders of our profession. We are grateful for the support we have gotten from partners and members because we cannot do it alone and we look forward to partner with you on the future of our association and our profession.

Will you join us in making 2022 a success?

Join the discussion on the member platform and reach out to our team with any ideas or tips for the year ahead.

To a prosperous 2022!

Best wishes,

Kim Larsen

EACD President