IABC is looking for its next Gold Quill Awards committee vice chair to ultimately lead the program on the volunteer side as chair in 2015. This is an amazing opportunity for any IABC member with relevant volunteer experience to support the organization on the international level, and to continue to build Gold Quill’s storied legacy.

The Gold Quill Awards are one of IABC’s flagship programs, highlighting excellence in strategic communication planning and execution. Winners are honored every year at the Gold Quill Awards Gala at the IABC World Conference.

If you have a passion for strategic communication, demonstrated leadership skills, a special place in your heart for IABC and its members, and can commit to three years on the committee as vice chair, chair, and past chair beginning in July 2014, we’d like to hear from you by 18 September. Check out the job description, and if it sounds like a volunteer opportunity that’s right up your alley, please let us know. You’ll work hard, but you’ll also have tons of fun.

Corporate memberships make up 28% of IABC’s membership and are part of what makes IABC’s worldwide network so strong. We’d like to give special recognition to the following chapters and their leaders for recruiting new corporate memberships since the last newsletter:

IABC/Toronto: Shawna Dennis formed a Bronze corporate membership for her company, Manulife Financial.

IABC/Boston: Jeanne Brady, president of IABC/Boston chapter, recruited The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory as a Bronze corporate member.

IABC/Edmonton: Jacqueline Janelle formed a Silver corporate membership for her team at University of Alberta. 

Find out how easy it is to get a corporate membership started: Email Marie Coppola at mcoppola@iabc.com for a quote. Your team may qualify now.

It’s time to start preparing your Chapter Management Awards (CMA) entries!

The CMAs are a worldwide competition that measures the management skills, leadership qualities and creative abilities of IABC chapter leaders.

The official call for entries will launch on 1 October, and submissions will be accepted until 22 November. All of the entries will be submitted online and will be judged by the IABC/Tulsa chapter, last year’s International Chapter of the Year.

The winning entries will be announced at Leadership Institute in New Orleans, which will be held from 6–8 February 2014.

Contact Claire Watson, ABC, at cwatson@iabc.com if you have any questions.

Don’t forget to promote and encourage your chapter members to attend the following 2013 regional conferences. Let’s support one another!

The 2013 IABC Heritage Region Conference will be held in Indianapolis, Indiana, 13–15 October.

IABC Canada West Region’s biennial conference will take place in Victoria, British Columbia, 20–22 October.

The Southern Region will be hosting four conferences:
20 September: Orlando
27 September: Barbados
18 October: Nashville
25 October: Houston

To learn more about these conferences and other opportunities, please visit http://www.iabc.com/education/.

Special notice: One of the key features of the new IABC website (launching later this year), will be a place to call out chapter news and events. If you would like an item featured on the website, please send the information to news@iabc.com by the 25th of the month.

IABC’s Leadership Institute will be held in New Orleans from 6–8 February 2014. The meetings will take place at the Loews Hotel across the street from Harrah’s Casino, two blocks from the Aquarium of the Americas, IMAX Theater and Riverwalk, and three blocks from the French Quarter.

Cajun and creole cuisine aside, we’re cooking up a sweet deal that makes pralines and beignets look like amateurs. We’re exploring opportunities to deliver high-impact senior leadership training in advance of our meetings to add even more value to your IABC leader experience.

We’d like to make Leadership Institute a highlight of your volunteer experience. If you have ideas to share about the event, please email Claire Watson, ABC, at cwatson@iabc.com.

Mark your calendar, take advantage of the opportunity to find a reasonably priced flight, and start working on those entries for the Chapter Management Awards. Plans are taking shape!

In August, IABC Chair Robin McCasland conducted an informal survey aimed at chapter leaders to gain feedback on a number of chapter needs and concerns. The survey was announced through her blog at http://robinsnest.x.iabc.com/ and was promoted through various social media channels.

More than 160 chapter and regional leaders (and some members) completed the survey and provided excellent open-ended feedback. Survey results will be shared with the international executive board, IABC staff and with the Chapter Support Task Force, chaired by Sue Heuman, ABC.

Survey results will be used to inform future decisions about improvements to better support IABC chapters globally. Sample survey results and trends will also be shared by Robin in one of her future blog posts.

Pictured above: Images from CW

Want to share the new digital CW magazine with your chapter members and prospects? Here’s how.

1. Web edition: For a limited time, the web browser edition of the magazine is available to the public, so feel free to share it with prospects and colleagues. A link to the web edition is emailed to all members the first Wednesday of each month.

2. Apps: In addition to the web edition, IABC members can access the magazine through apps for mobile devices—at no extra cost. The apps allow you to download each issue to read at your convenience, without a Wi-Fi connection, and are tailored for each device.

• iPad: An interactive CW app created especially for the iPad is available in the Apple app store.
• Apps are also available for the iPhone, Kindle Fire, and Android devices.

For detailed instructions on how members can access the apps (as part of their IABC membership), see this FAQ page.

Resource: This informational flyer details how to get CW, and includes links to the app stores.

CW is free to IABC members through the apps. Non-members can purchase individual issues or annual subscriptions. Please contact cwmagazine@iabc.com if you or any chapter members have any difficulty with accessing an app. We are happy to help you get started.

The new CW is gaining popularity fast! Since CW went digital-only in May of this year, it has had had more than 15,000 visits and more than 120,000 page views, with an average of 95 visitors a day. Make sure your chapter knows about this important member benefit.

A task force will be convened before the end of 2013 to conduct research and gain knowledge that will support a future IABC rebranding initiative. Priya Bates, ABC, is chairing the task force. If you have solid experience in organizational branding and are interested in serving on the task force, please contact Priya at priya.bates@loblaw.ca.

It’s been a while since we updated everyone on new staff who have joined IABC over the past several months. You many have already heard from or traded emails with these people, but here is an official list.
Ayele Ajavon – Communication Associate (aajavon@iabc.com)
 
Trace Ronning – Communication Associate (tronning@iabc.com)

Maria Hunt – Web Content Manager (mhunt@iabc.com)

Nilou Derakashan – Career Services Specialist (nderakashan@iabc.com)

Gary Hill – Membership Associate (ghill@iabc.com)

We’ve created a LinkedIn group specifically for chapter and region leaders to communicate with each other, share ideas, ask questions, and collaborate on a centralized platform.
To join the group, please visit http://linkd.in/1499skr. Once you’re in, feel free to take advantage of our new forum to help build great programming and events for your chapter.