Table Discussion

Themes from Table Discussion Question #1

What do you identify to be the biggest challenge in communicating your mission today?

Capacity for agile and robust communications and data analysis operation, particularly social media

Difficulty conveying response to delicate pastoral situation (like a terrorist attack) or complex teaching in 140 characters or less

Articulating mission and vision: Vision needs to be simple, as does the message about vision

Devising a communications strategy that doesn’t just reach millennials but older generations as well

Not getting lost in the noise

Creating atmosphere of welcome in communications

Speed with which Church leaders are expected to respond to crises

Internal control - who oversees/approves messages?

Geography: the expanding nature of some dioceses and providing a coherent message to all constituencies

Recommendations from Table Discussion Question #1

Assume that everything can come to light, including business dealings, planning and even pastoral relationships

Meet people where they are, and on the social platforms they are on

Movement to new media doesn’t necessarily mean sunsetting of old media (eg parish bulletins). We need a strategy, not just a new technique.

Pope has great tweets and internal controls around social media communications. Why reinvent something when you can retweet him?

Themes/Recommendations from Table Discussion Question #2

What strategies have you found effective in your organization for institutionalizing best practices?

Engage those around us, do not wait for them to come to you

Fostering communities of trust and empathy, including online, are what encourage the building up of the Church

Invest in better systems of management

Involve communications team in discussion/decision-making process and on core leadership team.

Promote the candidate (Jesus) and they will join the party (Church)

Creative destruction helps create an ecosystem where venture capital is used for the emergence of good ideas

June 29–30, 2016

Inn at Penn, Philadelphia, PA leadershiproundtable.org