A monthly newsletter for IABC leaders. Take a look inside to learn more about IABC's new membership director, the date and location of the 2019 Leadership Institute, an update on February membership rebates, and more.
IABC staff update
IABC has welcomed George Hamilton as the new membership director, leading the membership team. George joins IABC with an extensive association background and has a deep knowledge of member engagement, recruitment and retention strategies. George most recently served as the marketing and membership manager at CFRE International, where he successfully managed certification campaigns, marketing strategies, and more. When asked what he is most excited for in his new role, George said, " IABC members are at the forefront in all sectors of today's global marketplace, shaping the strategic voices of their organizations. I'm thrilled and honored to be part of this vital community and I look forward to working closely with IABC members, volunteers, and staff to extend the value of IABC membership and grow the global community of IABC members."
 
We’re incredibly excited to have George join our team, and we look forward to the experience and expertise that he will bring to IABC. Please join us in welcoming George to IABC!
February membership rebates
IABC is currently undergoing an annual financial audit, which is taking up most of the time of our finance team. Due to the time-sensitive nature of the audit, there will be a delay in the processing of the February rebates for North American chapters. Chapters can expect to receive their February membership rebates during the week of 9 April. Please contact leader_centre@iabc.com with any questions. 
March Member Month ends tomorrow, but there’s still time to save
Member Month ends tomorrow but there is still plenty of time for new and renewing members to save 10 percent on international dues. All members are eligible to renew at the discounted rate, even if their membership isn’t up for renewal yet. Anyone who would like to renew at the discounted rate but whose membership isn’t up for renewal yet can contact member_relations@iabc.com for assistance.
 
We have plenty of incentives this Member Month, including a US$200 Visa gift card for the small, medium and large chapters with the highest percentage of member growth in March. Members who refer five new members during March will receive a free year of IABC membership! Plus, anyone who joins or renews this month will be entered into a drawing for a US$250 Visa gift card and a VIP World Conference prize package that includes registration, hotel, and more.
 
All this is being offered through 11:59 p.m. PDT on 31 March, so encourage members to renew now to take advantage of the discounted rate. Don’t forget about the Member Month toolkit that is available on Leader Centre to make it easier for your chapter to spread the word. Plus, you can also take a look at the current leaderboard to see which chapters are in the lead.
 
If you have any questions about Member Month, please contact us at member_relations@iabc.com
Save the date for the 2019 Leadership Institute (LI)
We’re still soaking in the energy and excitement surrounding the 2018 Leadership Institute that took place in February, and we’re excited to announce that we have finalized the date and location for the 2019 LI. Next year, we are going back to the Hotel Maya in Long Beach, California, where LI was held in 2016. The event will take place 7–9 February 2019. Be sure to keep an eye out for the call for speakers, which will open in July, and check out Leader Centre for additional LI updates as they become available. You can check out handouts from some of this year’s session on Leader Centre too.
 
We look forward to seeing you next year in Long Beach! 
2018 Leaders’ Reception
Each year, we hold the Leaders’ Reception in conjunction with the IABC World Conference. This is our opportunity to thank you, our leaders, for your volunteerism and commitment to IABC. This year, the Leaders’ Reception will be taking place on Saturday, 2 June, on the rooftop of the Palais des congrès de Montréal, 6–7:30 p.m. EDT. All current IABC leaders are invited to attend this reception, regardless of whether you are attending the World Conference. For those who are attending #IABC18, you may register to attend the reception when you register for the conference. If you are not attending the conference, please contact leader_centre@iabc.com to confirm your attendance. You must RSVP by 24 May if you will be attending.
 
We hope that you’ll join us in Montréal for this celebration of all of our amazing IABC leaders. 
The Global Communication Certification Council (GCCC) is looking for volunteers for exam development
The GCCC is looking for volunteers to support exam development. This is a great opportunity to contribute to the advancement of the communication profession. If you meet the following requirements, volunteering with the GCCC may be a great fit for you.
  • You have 11–15 years of experience as a communicator.
  • You are passionate about certification for communication professionals.
  • You enjoy writing and want to learn how to write high-quality test questions.
  • You would like to contribute to the advancement of the communication profession.
 
If you are interested in joining the GCCC and being a part of the work it is doing to ensure that examinations for the Communication Management Professional (CMP) certification and Strategic Communication Management Professional (SCMP) certification programs remain current and accurately reflect the skills of communication professionals, please contact info@gcccouncil.org
IABC’s new corporate membership model
We will be rolling out the new corporate membership model in April 2018, and we encourage chapters to start becoming familiar with the new program structure, as it will apply to all new corporate memberships going forward from April. Under this new structure, the cost for IABC corporate membership will be a flat rate of US$8,499 for up to 25 members, US$14,999 for up to 50 members, and US$34,999 for up to 100 members. Complete details about the new model and what will be included in the corporate membership package can be found here .
 
While we encourage current corporate members to consider the value offered by the new corporate membership structure, we understand that some corporate members may not be ready to make this transition right away, To ease the transition, IABC will allow current corporate members to renew under the old model for up to one year after the new model launches. We’ll continue to share details about the new corporate membership structure in the coming weeks, but please contact corporate_membership@iabc.com with any questions in the meantime.
Final deadline extension: Finance reports are due by 6 April
IABC chapters and regions are required to submit a finance report, end of year bank statement, and a consent form to IABC by 15 February of each year. This allows IABC to include your chapter in the group tax return. Finance reports for the 2017 calendar year must be submitted to leader_centre@iabc.com by the final extended deadline, 6 April. Please be sure to include:
 
  • Your financial statement. We provide a template that is easy to follow. Submit your income and expenses for the year.
  • Your ending balance statement. Please include a PDF of your 31 December 2017 bank statement for all accounts.
  • A consent form. There are two versions of this simple authorization form: one for regions and chapters in the U.S. and one for all other countries.
 
Please be advised that any chapter that does not submit a finance report by the deadline will be required to file directly with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
New off-site experiences added to World Conference
The World Conference will be taking place in Montréal 3–6 June 2018 at the Palais des congrès de Montréal. By now you have probably heard that Seth Godin will be giving the opening keynote and futurist Anab Jain has been added as a keynote as well.
 
Most recently, we announced a new off-site experience to raise money for the IABC Foundation, in partnership with IABC Montréal. Proceeds go to support the Foundation’s work to ensure that the communication profession is relevant, vibrant and moving forward through leadership, resources and philanthropy. Learn more about the off-site experiences: A/Maze, PR Without Borders hosted by National Public Relations, and Ubisoft. You can log into your conference account to add the off-site experience to your registration.
 
IABC appreciates your chapter’s support in promoting World Conference. You can find a promotional toolkit on the World Conference website to make it easy for your chapter to spread the word. We hope to see you there in June!
Congratulations to the 2018 class of Fellows
The Fellows committee is pleased to announce the selection of John Finney, Todd Hattori, ABC, and Stacy Wilson, ABC, as the 2018 class of Fellows. The IABC Fellow designation is the highest honor bestowed on an IABC member. Only 88 of the world’s top communication leaders have earned this superlative designation. It is considered by IABC to be the lifetime achievement award for the industry. The Fellows Award will be conferred on the three recipients during the IABC World Conference, taking place 3–6 June 2018 in Montréal.
Chapter spotlight: Engagement at IABC Edmonton
IABC Edmonton took home seven Chapter Management Awards (CMAs) this year, making the chapter both the Large Chapter of the Year and International Chapter of the Year. We asked the current chapter president, Maya Filipovic, to share more about what the chapter is doing to engage chapter members and board members.

With 24 board members, roughly 100 volunteers and more than 500 members, IABC Edmonton deals a lot with people. However, it’s not enough to just have a strong showing within our membership; we need to engage with each of our audiences to keep them around and committed to IABC. We have been able to continue to grow as a chapter due to a combination of solid programming, a focus on quality engagement and being able to provide opportunities for growth.
 
Volunteer and board member engagement
Our board members and volunteers are the backbone of our chapter. Their dedication and knowledge are what ensures that we deliver quality services to our local members. As we all know, disengaged or inexperienced board members can bring a board down, and prevent us from executing our strategy to the best of our ability.
 
That’s why IABC Edmonton aims to engage our volunteers through various stages. In the 2016–2017 board year, we restructured our board into two tiers of governance. Our goal was to create a team of senior directors (collectively called the Executive Committee) that would focus on chapter governance, strategy and relationships, and a team of directors (called the Leadership Committee) that would focus on executing that work.
 
This double-tiered board creates various points for volunteers to engage with our chapter, and possibly become board members themselves. Volunteers are brought in to work directly with directors on the Leadership Committee to execute tactical work such as social media posts, event logistics, and more. Because of the increased number of directors at this level, there were also more volunteer roles created to better use as many people as possible. Strong volunteers under directors are then groomed to take over future director roles, and directors under senior directors are groomed to take over subsequent Executive Committee roles.
 
This volunteer and board member engagement has led to successful succession planning and eliminated the sharp learning curve for someone joining the board or entering a position with no prior volunteer experience with IABC Edmonton.
 
Local member engagement
Our membership, programming, and marketing and communication teams focus most heavily on member engagement, which is crucial in our attempt to increase our retention rate.
 
The membership team focuses on actively engaging members and providing personal, meaningful recognition to new and existing members through various touch points, including welcome emails and phone calls to lapsing members and responsive service to member inquiries. Members are engaged through activities like these:
  • 100 percent of new members receive a personal welcome email.
  • Lapsed members receive a call or email from the senior director or designate.
  • A membership representative attends each professional development or networking session and provides information on the value of membership.
  • Executive attendance and engagement with members at events. An analysis of members is conducted in advance of each professional development or networking session and provided to the IABC executive team, so that we can make personal contact with new members, ABCs, CMPs, student members, long-term members and non-members.
 
Our marketing and communication team communicates with members regularly through a number of channels, such as:
  • Social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn are all leveraged to communicate with members on a daily basis. A dedicated team of social media volunteers monitors the accounts. Since placing more of a focus on social media, in one year we grew our following from between 9 percent and 36 percent, depending on the platform.
  • Email: IABC Edmonton has a monthly email newsletter, FYI, which informs members of news from the local, regional and international levels of IABC. The newsletter has a high open rate of 49 percent.
  • Additionally, all events are advertised through emails directly to members.
 
Our programming team also creates opportunities to engage our members through usual events such as networking mixers and professional development sessions. But we also engage members and current/prospective volunteers through a couple of special programs, including our mentorship program and senior communicators monthly events.
  • Now in its second year, IABC Edmonton’s mentorship program has quickly become one of our flagship offerings. In the 2016–2017 board year, the program saw nearly 100 mentors and mentees join and benefit from interacting with one another and learning together. This program has been significant in engaging both senior communicators as well as mid-level and junior practitioners, and we have even been able to convert non-member volunteers into members.
  • A new drop-in coffee session for senior communicators was introduced based on focus group feedback. This program was meant to largely re-engage senior members, and to showcase the value of IABC and the IABC network to non-members.
 
It’s this focus on engagement across our various audiences that has helped IABC Edmonton grow and recruit members and board members. By showing value and positive experience during the most amount of interactions, we hope to create IABC advocates and lifelong members
Important dates
6 April 2018

8 9 April 2018
Copenhagen, Denmark

3 6 June 2018
Montréal

10 11 September 2018
Melbourne, Australia
24 25 October 2018
Johannesburg

11 13 November 2018
Richmond, Virginia

7 9 February 2019
Long Beach, California
Stephanie Doute, CAE
IABC Executive Director