Visit from The Forte Institute

In only our second IMC class, we had our first guest speaker. We were fortunate enough to get a presentation from Hoop Morgan and Sue Gardner from The Forte Institute.  Since 1978, the company has produced self tests that help judge the interpersonal communication levels in both individuals and businesses.  These tests can be extremely helpful when organizing teams or groups in order to benefit individuals within the workplace. 

During their visit they discussed the services they provide and the wide range of clients that use their product.  With clients across the globe, The Forte Institute has mastered online systems in order to communicate and market to several different publics. 

In his presentation, Morgan discussed the ways that Forte hopes to expand their marketing plan in the future.  Dealing with multiple demographics, Forte must design a program or programs that can be quickly adapted and changed to meet the group they are trying to appeal to at that time.  Because a part of IMC is recognizing the different roles people play in a group, we realized that we could help create a successful plan for the company through our knowledge of markets by expanding Forte onto social networking sites.

After, Morgan allowed our class to ask him questions in order to better understand his needs from our class.  Throughout his presentation, he relied on the word “adapt” rather than “change.” With Forte already being a successful company, they do not need to change, but they must adapt to the changing technology and the benefits of using IMC. We hope to assist them in this new marketing approach to their product.

-Chad Graves