Well, another busy month has gone. I hope you all had a happy Easter.
When people ask me what I enjoy most about my involvement in IABC Victoria, a single word always comes to mind – events.
That’s where we explore your professional development needs, network with you and discuss what really matters for the future of our profession.
Diversity in focus
We were privileged to host an event on diversity in Australian workplaces recently. Thanks to the contribution from a group of leading minds on this topic (Norah Breekvelt, Lauren Jauncey, Belinda Gaskell and Leo D’Angelo Fisher), we enjoyed one of the most thoroughly interesting and unique IABC events in recent memory.
Although we have a long way to go to build greater diversity in the communications profession, it’s reassuring to know we can reach our goals and learn from those who have already made a difference.
If you’d like to read more about diversity, this month’s newsletter contains a re-cap of our event and some excellent insights from Telstra on their approach to diversity and inclusion.
Something for everyone
Having diversity in IABC Victoria events is important too and I’m looking forward to spending time with you on these occasions:
talk55: Monday, 4 May, 6:00 – 8:00pm – For something completely different we’re opening the floor for you to tell us your story. talk55 gives participants five slides and five minutes to talk about something they’re personally or professionally passionate about in the field of communications and it’s open to all. I can’t wait to see how that goes!
Annual Gala Dinner: Wednesday, 3 June, 7:00 – 10:00pm – We’ve secured our venue – the iconic Arts Centre Melbourne – and we’re ready to celebrate our Bronze Quill winners and all that’s great about life in communications. This year it is a sit-down dinner so it will be even more memorable. There’s also a special twist to our awards this year that we look forward to revealing more in coming weeks. Watch this space.
Strategy planning workshop and social media master class: Wednesday, 24 June 12 noon – 5:30pm For a more immersive experience we’re delivering a half day workshop on these specialist topics featuring some great speakers.
We work hard to deliver events that offer relevant learning and professional development for all, and I’m pleased that these ones further demonstrate our commitment to innovating for members and followers.
CAS2015
Speaking of events, the Corporate Affairs Summit – CAS2015 – is coming up on 26 and 27 May. If you’re looking to register, why not take advantage of the 20% registration fee discount currently offered by IABC Victoria?
You can read more about it (together with a preview of the event from Connect Event’s Joseph McKenzie) here.
Your education station
IABC also provides resources for you to learn at your own pace including webinars produced by our global team at the IABC Academy. Right now you’ll find one on Strategic Communication in a digital age and more in the archive. There’s bound to be something there suited to your needs so take a moment to see what’s in store. Webinars are free for members and $100 for non-members. Best of all, they can be viewed at a time convenient for you, so you needn’t set the alarm.
Whilst you’re in the IABC Academy section of iabc.com, you’ll also find a series of fee-based online professional development workshops, including Leading Intranets for Communicators (from Australia's own James Robertson) and From the Inside Out – Engaging Employees To Deliver Your Strategy and Your Brand from late April. Again, if you can’t make one of these live, you can view the web recordings and access the handouts at your leisure.
Should you be interested in getting involved as a trainer in your area of expertise for either online workshops or webinars, then please contact Ron Hansen, Education Director at IABC.
World Conference is coming
Mark 14-17 June in your diary. That’s when you need to find a way to be in San Francisco for the IABC World Conference. Australians will certainly be among the 100 speakers across 70 sessions covering essential issues for our profession. You can find out more at http://wc.iabc.com.
IABC global site outage
Globally, IABC is currently finalizing a major systems transformation. As a result, many IABC back-end functions, such as member registration and renewal, will be unavailable for a four day period from 11/4/15 to 15/4/15 (Australian time). This transformation began a few months ago with the launch of the new iabc.com web site design. Now, the all-important migration to a new back-end system is taking place and the down-time is required to complete this.
Until next time,
db