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!