Happy 2nd Birthday to Goldcorp’s Blog!

By Valerie Pascale, Manager of Corporate Social Responsibility

As today marks the second anniversary of Goldcorp’s blog, Above Ground Online, it seems like a good time to celebrate three key and necessary elements of corporate citizenship: transparency, listening and responding. These elements drive the importance of the blog as an interactive forum for discussion between Goldcorp, their global communities and stakeholder groups.

The creation of the Above Ground blog came from a very grassroots movement from within Goldcorp. The idea for the blog arose in a leadership training seminar, in which a small team of Goldcorp employees proposed the blog as a strategy for improving community engagement and transparency.

From that tiny seed, Goldcorp's blog community has grown to almost 1,000 participants today, who in turn share some of these ideas with their respective communities, and so the conversations continue. While printed newsletters and magazines are informative and valuable, Above Ground Online provides a two-way communication forum and a voice for anyone who is interested in connecting with Goldcorp directly on a variety of topics. And—because these communities don’t only speak English—the blog is simultaneously published in Spanish and French. It’s also linked to Facebook and Twitter for increased accessibility.

Over the past two years Goldcorp's blog has covered many topics. Some are good news stories, such as the discussion of Goldcorp’s health and educational initiatives across the Americas, and some stories have been posted in response to serious issues of community concern. In November, 2012, Goldcorp provided a timely update on the Guatemalan earthquake. The post on Understanding Mine Closure sparked intense discussion on various social media channels. As a vehicle for forthright disclosure of the companies actual practices, Goldcorp provided instant reaction and responses to questions as they arose.

Goldcorp has been pleased with level of engagement received through the blog, and hopes that interested stakeholder groups and communities will increasingly use the blog and other channels for meaningful dialogue in the years to come.  As a company, Goldcorp's goal is to mine responsibly and live out their vision of Together, Creating Sustainable Value. To do this well, they need your feedback. Goldcorp will continue to demonstrate their commitment to transparency, listening and to responding in a timely and open way and hopes that stakeholders will use this space, and other channels, to continue to engage in active and open dialogue.