I just skimmed through several years of IABC’s Communications World and CW Bulletin archives, and was struck by what communicators have found fundamental, relevant, or cutting-edge year from year. It was like rummaging through a time capsule.

The fundamentals of good communications strategy may not have changed, but the tools we’re using to achieve our goals certainly have evolved. A few years ago we were focused on e-mail marketing, Intranets, and teleconferencing, and we seemed to spend a lot of time strategizing how to push out information.

Now the conversation is about conversation: dialogue, collaboration, social networking. Instead of telling people what we want them to know about our brand, our product, or ourselves, we’re engaging them in shaping who we are and how we present ourselves. It’s a far more interesting place.

Photo by Cliff1066 (Flickr).