October 2016 Leader Letter

A monthly newsletter for IABC leaders

The 2017 Chapter Management Awards are open!

The 2017 Chapter Management Awards (CMAs) have launched and will remain open through 5 December 2016. This year we are introducing two new CMA categories: Event Management and Web Management. Additionally, we have changed the qualifications for Chapter of the Year, and the minimum entry requirement to be considered is now based on chapter size. All winners will be recognized at the 2017 CMA ceremony that will take place on 23 February 2017 in Dallas, Texas, during the Leadership Institute. The submissions will be evaluated by the 2016 International Chapter of the Year, IABC Kansas City. CMA winners will receive:

Entries that score between 5.25 and 5.74 will receive a Merit Award. Merit Award winners receive a commemorative award.
Entries that score between 5.75 and 7.0 will receive an Excellence Award and will receive a commemorative award and one discounted registration to the 2017 World Conference in Washington, D.C.
The Chapter of the Year in the small, medium, and large chapter divisions will each receive a commemorative award and one free IABC membership to be given to one chapter member.
The International Chapter of the Year will receive a commemorative award and one free registration to the 2017 World Conference in Washington, D.C.

Check out Leader Centre to view the CMA Manual, which includes everything you need to know about preparing your entries, as well as additional resources and past winning samples. Keep a look out for the chapter and region leader of the year nomination forms; nominations will open on 4 November 2016.

Member Month

There is still time to promote Member Month and encourage members and non-members to renew or join with the Member Month rates. During Member Month, new and lapsed members will receive a 10% discount on their international IABC dues, and the US$40 application fee is waived for new members. Renewing members and new members will be eligible to win one of two US$500 Amazon gift cards, and members who refer new members to join will receive a US$10 Amazon gift card. Additionally, the small, medium, and large chapters with the highest percentage of growth will receive one complimentary registration to the 2017 Leadership Institute in Dallas, Texas. Member Month will continue to run until 31 October, and there is a toolkit available to assist chapters with promotion.

Leadership Forum

The October Leadership Forum took place on 26 October 2016. The forum included updates from IABC Chair Dianne Chase, IABC Vice Chair Sharon Hunter, #IABC17 Program Advisory Committee Chair Sarah McLaughlin, and Acting Executive Director Stephanie Doute. The forum included updates on Member Month, 2017 World Conference, members-only content, 2017-2020 strategy work, IABC Foundation, news from the Council of Regions, 2017 Leadership Institute, and more. You can view the recorded forum here. Mark your calendars for the upcoming Leadership Forums that will take place on 16 November at 1 p.m. EST and 14 December at 5 p.m. EST.

Share, Lead, Succeed: 2017 Leadership Institute

We are looking forward to seeing chapter and region leaders in Dallas, Texas, from 23–25 February 2017, for the Leadership Institute. Registration for LI will open on 16 November and we'll be posting more information on Leader Centre soon. The theme of this year's event is Share, Lead, Succeed, and we are looking forward to bringing IABC leaders together for three days of sharing ideas and success strategies that can lead your chapter to success.

In the coming days we will be sending out a pre-LI survey. The survey will take about 20 minutes to complete and should only be completed by one leader per chapter. The information collected from the survey will provide us with important information about your chapter so that we can determine how we can best support chapters at LI and beyond. We appreciate you taking the time to complete the survey!

Basecamp groups for leaders

After receiving feedback that leaders would like to have a way to connect with leaders in similar roles for idea sharing, IABC has created Basecamp groups for Chapter Presidents, VPs of Membership, and VP's of Programs. Leaders in each of those roles or similar roles will be automatically subscribed to the group, but can opt to unsubscribe at any time. We encourage leaders to use these groups to network with leaders within other chapters and to share ideas and tools that other chapters may find useful.

Phishing scams

Please be cautious of chapter finance requests made via email. Some chapters have received communications from direct email addresses of other chapter leaders requesting a wire transfer of funds.This is a part of a phishing scam that can target specific outlets. Transfer requests should never be made via email. We advise all chapters to only make financial requests via phone or in person.

IABC Fellows nominations

The IABC Fellows Committee is now seeking nominations for the 2017 class of Fellows. The IABC Fellow designation is awarded each year to individuals who are recognized by their peers as outstanding leaders in the profession. If you know someone who fits the description of a Fellow, please complete the online nomination form by 3 December 2016 at 5 p.m. EST.

Affiliation Agreement reminder

Please remember to submit the updated Affiliation Agreement to leader_centre@iabc.com by 31

December 2016. The purpose of the Affiliation Agreement is to provide chapters and IABC

headquarters with a common understanding of mutual expectations and obligations, since many

processes have changed since chapters submitted their original agreement. Chapters are

encouraged to reach out to region leaders to discuss questions or concerns, and can also contact

IABC staff at leader_centre@iabc.com.

Chapters must review, sign, and submit the new agreement by 31 December 2016. In addition to

submitting the new agreement, we also encourage chapters to submit the most recent version of thei r

chapter bylaws so that there is a copy on file at headquarters. Additional information can be found

on Leader Centre .

Chapter spotlight: IABC Calgary

IABC/Calgary celebrates 50 years of communication!

In 2017, IABC/Calgary will celebrate 50 years of communication in the Calgary region. The chapter was established in 1966 as a different organization, then changed its name to IABC and became part of the international network we all know and love. As you may guess, a whole lot has changed in that time. Learn more about some of the initiatives and activities IABC/Calgary has on offer to commemorate this milestone.

Why was it important to celebrate 50 years of IABC in Calgary?

Fifty years is a huge milestone for a relatively young profession. Communicators in Calgary have played an important role in our city over the last five decades, and we recognize just how much our profession has changed. To celebrate in a way that honours and provides some extra special benefit to our 530 members was extremely important to our chapter board.

What are some of the activities you have planned that will provide extra benefit to members?

We are looking at this year as an opportunity to engage members, not only current, but our past members as well as potential future members. While we will continue to offer our regular amazing professional development program that we offer each year, we have added three special events to commemorate the 50th.

We began the board year in September with a launch event which featured a panel of communicators that spanned five decades of IABC membership. We discussed topics such as how the profession has changed, what has remained, and what learnings we can bring into the future.

Next up is our January gala, which is a black tie affair celebrating 50 years of IABC in Calgary. We are being intentionally secretive about the themes and features of this event as we want to surprise and delight our members. It goes a long way with our reputation to know we already have many ticket sales for this huge event based on our reputation for throwing an amazing party! (By the way, tickets are currently on sale and we encourage any IABC member to attend if you’re in the area or would like to visit Calgary—contact us and we’ll get you the member deal!)

Our last special event will end the year just right, with an inspiring multi-speaker mini conference.

And weaved in, we will be providing extra pop-up events with special deals for members. For example, 1 December, we are hosting a very low cost event for members focusing on strategic leadership, all in celebration of the 50th.

We aren’t stopping with just special events, it’s worth noting. We also have a social media campaign, YYC Communicates that just launched made possible by a partnership with a local video agency, V Strategies. In this series we interview communicators from our chapter about various topics related to IABC and our profession.

We have many more member benefits planned for this year, and we encourage you to stay connected with us on Twitter, Facebook, and most recently, Instagram!

Important dates

1–22 November 2016

Coaching to Develop a Leadership Mind-Set

9 a.m. PDT

7–28 November 2016

Delivering Meaning in a Digital World

9 a.m. PDT

17 November–15 December 2016

A Practical Approach to Automating Corporate Communications

9 a.m. PDT

23–25 February 2017

2017 Leadership Institute

Dallas, Texas

11–14 June 2017

2017 IABC World Conference

Washington, D.C.

Dianne Chase
International Executive Board Chair