It’s a New Program Year! Upcoming Events Focus on Networking and Media

September 6, 2012 By Leave a Comment

On September 19, come out to Finnigan’s Wake in Philadelphia to meet leading communicators from around the region. Registration includes a buffet and open bar.

On October 24, learn how self-publishing has become a valuable tool in a company’s media toolbox, as financial and business media from Forbes to Bloomberg Businessweek are opening their doors to executives, allowing them exposure for their insights and industry know-how as regular contributing columnists.

Learn more and register here: http://philadelphia.iabc.com/upcoming-events/

Filed Under: Featured, President's Message, What's New in the Chapter

IABC Rate Change for 2012

November 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Hello, all:

I hope you’re adjusting to the quick change in seasons. We gone from summer to winter, it seems, in a matter of days!

The next two months I’ll be planning for 2012, and it’s on that note that I wanted to let you know about an upcoming rate change for IABC.

IABC’s International Executive Board (IEB) has approved a 3% increase. For us, that means an increase of $7 per year towards your international dues.

In this economy, any rate increase is a challenge; however, this rate increase allows IABC to continue to offer the same quality of programs, services and member benefits, and to develop new benefits. Some of those benefits include free-to-member web seminars. There are two coming up:

Renew or join early

The rate change takes place at the start of 2012, so I encourage you to consider renewing or joining in the next two months, particularly if you plan to do so in the first quarter next year. By doing so, you’ll take advantage of current rates for as long as possible.

IABC/Philadelphia upcoming events

We’re a week away from a fantastic seminar with Ken O’Quinn: “Influencing Your Audience: Crafting Messages That Motivate People to Say Yes Date.” It’s taking place November 15 from 9 a.m.–noon at the La Salle University campus in Plymouth Meeting.

You can register here. I hope to see you there!

Be sure to also mark your calendars for our IABC/Philadelphia holiday party on December 15 at Spamps in Conshohocken.

All the best,

Chris

Filed Under: IABC Philadelphia News, President's Message, What's New in the Chapter

IABC Philadelphia Discount for Social Media Summit

October 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Hello, IABC Philadelphia friends:

We’re pleased to announce that we have sponsored SocialMediaPlus 2011, the Mid-Atlantic region’s largest business summit for professionals interested in learning about social media and web 2.0 technology. It’s taking place November 15 and 16 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia.

As an IABC member, you can receive 15% off the registration for SocialMediaPlus 2011. Simply enter coupon code “IABC15” when you register.

It’s just another way we try to provide benefits to you as a member of IABC/Philadelphia.

Don’t forget, too, to register for our November 15 morning program, “Influencing Your Audience” with Ken O’Quinn, and save December 8 for our holiday party at Spamps in Conshohocken.

See you soon.

- Chris

Filed Under: President's Message, What's New in the Chapter

We’re Listening …

July 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Well, we’re on the verge of another program year for IABC Philadelphia. As always, we’re working hard to put together some excellent events, starting with our networking meeting scheduled for September. More details on that will follow later this month.

The past few years, we’ve strengthened IABC Philadelphia both locally and nationwide. Our redesigned website, our branding efforts, and some of our programs—like Coffee Connections, an informal networking program, and our newsletter, CLICK—have been recognized by other chapters. We take pride in what we contribute to the communication field, and we’ll continue to focus on developing ideas that fit the changing landscape of the communication field.

At our annual summer meeting, we had spirited conversations about plans for the upcoming year. You will see us more active in social media spaces—both to share our news and also to hear your feedback—and we have some innovative ideas for programs that I think you’ll like. This board of directors has a lot of energy, and I’m excited to see what we can do.

Our dialogue with you is off to a great start. We’ve seen an increase in emails to iabcphilly@gmail.com, whether it’s folks interested in volunteering, sending us suggestions or just saying hi! Please keep it coming.

We’re listening.

Chris LentzChris Lentz, President, IABC Philadelphia

Filed Under: President's Message, What's New in the Chapter Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Back to Business

September 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment

As you settle into the work mode following a long hot summer, you probably have noticed two things haven’t changed.  The first is the demand on business communicators to produce measurable results that enhance organizational value is still a top priority.  The second is that we’re all pressured to do more with less in a still struggling economy.   These two seemingly conflicting themes are not easily reconciled—nor will they go away.

According to USA Today businesses are sitting on nearly $1 trillion of cash and have no expectations to spend it anytime soon.   In these times, where do you turn?   For me, IABC proves more valuable than ever.  The question is what are we doing to demonstrate value in this environment when resources are constrained?

IABC Philadelphia has responded on two fronts.  First, the Heritage Region Conference, taking place October 17–19 in Philadelphia, provides businesses and individuals looking to stretch their dollars with the perfect opportunity to enhance their communications skills with practical, how-to, resources that have become necessary to connect with customers and attract prospects.  With budgets tight, this event is a phenomenal value when you consider the series of world-class speakers and cutting-edge content.

We have arranged a special networking event on September 15 at The Loews Hotel to preview the speakers and seminars sessions at the event.  Heritage Region Director Elvin Montero will be our special guest and speaker.   You can learn more about the conference and the value of the registration in the press release we issued today.

The new programming year also brings fresh opportunities to experience the value of membership.  In July, the IABC Board of Directors met to create a list of goals for the 2010–11 programming year.  We took a different approach than in years past.  We drafted three overarching goals we hope will enhance chapter benefits and membership – and perhaps most importantly, your participation. Here they are:

1) Restore membership levels to pre-recession levels. We plan to do this through aggressive outreach to lapsed members and group membership discounts to the region’s largest employers.   We have already made progress in both areas.

2) Increase engagement with members. We plan to energize volunteer recruitment and strengthen student and college participation.  Taryn Robinson, an at-large board member for three years, has been appointed to a full-time role as Vice President for Volunteering and Student Programs.

3) Foster a more transparent chapter. By opening IABC Philadelphia board meetings to members and increasing the visibility of board members at events, we hope to strengthen the dialogue between the membership and board.

For me, it is comforting to know that when needed, IABC—with its rich resources and international reach—offers the best value for my professional develop dollar.  I and the rest of the Board of Directors of IABC Philadelphia hope that that you too will recognize the value of membership through the events and initiatives in the coming months. Here’s to a successful programming year.

Filed Under: 2010 Heritage Region Conference, IABC Philadelphia News, President's Message, What's New in the Chapter Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

New boss same as the old boss?

May 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment

This week Philadelphia Newspaper LLC, the parent company of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Daily News and Philly.com as well a number of daily newspapers throughout the region, lost its bid to buy back the company. On Thursday, the company’s senior lenders won the bid at auction in New York for $139 million. The price was much more than analysts or media experts had expected. That may reflect the spirited fight that the company’s colorfull chairman and CEO and former ad man Brian Tierney had waged to keep it local.

When I read the news reports, I thought of Michael Sokolove, author of numerous books and former Daily News reporter, who had penned the feature story in New York Times Magazine about Mr. Tierney’s effort to keep the paper not just locally owned, but to establish it as a case that big metro daily newspapers were still viable in the age of digital media. It was Sokolove’s piece after all, that prompted IABC Philly to host The Future of News (of which he was a panelist), a first of its kind seminar in our region dealing with changing face of journalism and media.

I emailed Mr. Sokolove in Washington, DC where he lives to get his perspective on the sale and whether he thought it represented the death knell for big metro dailies as his story a year ago seemed to intone.

“While there may be plenty to criticize about Tierney’s reign, he backed serious journalism of the type the city desperately needs,” said Sokolove. “Against all odds, he established credibility within a skeptical newsroom, so that those journalists never had to wonder if their work, wherever it led, would be supported.”

As to what changes the new ownership may bring, Sokolove offered the following, “They will surely say a lot of the right things, and perhaps ask Bill Marimow to stay on, at least for awhile, if he’ll agree. Beyond that? It’s all a crapshoot. Much depends on the coming labor negotiations.”

For those of us who work in media relations, there is obvious interest in what changes will come. It is hard to imagine a rough and tumble city like Philadelphia without a robust major daily newspaper.  Whether you’re a subscriber who counts on its local reporting to inform and educate on range of issues, or whether you’re a professional publicist like me who maintains key relationships at the papers, new ownership’s next moves will surely be worth watching.

Filed Under: President's Message Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Times They Are A-Changin’

November 10, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Bob Dylan’s famous song The Times They Are A- Changin’ could be the theme for the world we live in.   At every turn, business communicators are faced with new sets of challenges. This month’s issue of Communication World magazine noted that in a recent poll conducted by IABC Research Foundation, 50 percent of respondents said they lack sufficient staff to deliver work in an effective manner. Thirty six percent said budget cutbacks were impacting their ability to achieve department goals. Certainly, communicators are grappling with how to do more with less and get the biggest bang for the buck.

Public relations has traditionally been used as one of the most effective ways to leverage corporate communications. Utilizing the free press to get your story told to the masses has been an important strategic way to enhance brand value.  But in today’s rapidly changing media landscape, how influential will traditional media remain? At the Heritage Region Conference last month in Cleveland, the agenda was full of social media topics of every kind. As I attended Dine Around and other events, I stirred debate about the proper mix of traditional and social media strategies. An interesting discussion emerged about whether traditional media would still be the force it once was. Did it is still have influence? Was it still perceived as credible? Were communicators still finding value in utilizing print, broadcast and cable outlets to get their message out? There was a robust discussion about where it was all headed.

IABC Philadelphia’s December programming event will get into this in a big way.  With the Future of News, a panel of leading traditional and new media experts will discuss where news is headed. What will the role of the professional journalist be? What do reduced reporting staffs and shrinking media outlets mean for communicators who have been accustomed to contacting their beat reporter for a breaking story? Will reporters you’ve built relationships with start migrating online, work independently, self financed or join up with foundations to report on their industry? We expect a robust debate among the panelists will provide IABC members with fresh views of the media industry.

Just like Dylan’s title song of the same name, as communicators we need to come to terms with stark reality of our changing times. The same old ways may not do. Whether it is smaller staffs and budgets or shrinking media outlets, the smart move professionally is for communicators to adjust to the changes at hand and calibrate strategies accordingly to make sure we still reach our target audiences.

Filed Under: President's Message Tagged With: , , , , ,

Off and Running!

September 17, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Hello Communicators,

Tomorrow night we get the program year underway with our first networking event at the fabulous Water Works in Philly. I don’t know about you, but I am excited!  One of our great venues. We have a great speaker too in Mark Schumann, Chair of IABC International. I spoke with Mark just yesterday. He is excited to share with you top news in the industry, what he’s hearing from other chapters, along with 5 ideas you can put to work tomorrow to enhance your value.

Speaking of our programming. I wanted to share the results of our survey in August. First of all thank you to all that participated. The objective was to make sure we are calibrating our content  to your interest areas. It was revealing in some areas and consistent with trends in others. The big takeaway was folks are interested in cost effective ways to enhance business value under shrinking budgets. That sounds like communicators are under pressure to deliver programs that have material impact on operations. Social media, public relations and digital communication strategies were sited as priorities. IABC Philadelphia is on track with our programming. Upcoming seminars will include use of social media for personal branding, case studies in the strategic  implementation of social media.  And in November, a  panel of media experts will discuss the impact of social media on news reporting. We also heard from you on the location of events. While it was fairly even (48.8% satisfied vs. 51.2% less so) we were able to glean that events in the Route 202/476 corridor and North of the city were requested. This is the type of feedback that helps us better meet your needs. So, we’ll look at venues in these areas after the first of the year. There also seemed to be huge demand with 95.7% of respondents indicating interest in case studies from other chapters. As I mentioned in August’s Click newsletter, I am participating in monthly President’s calls with other IABC chapters led by none other than Mark Schumann. I’ll keep an ear open for innovative programs and share them in this blog or through Twitter. With regard to online collaboration, a majority 55.8% of respondents were unaware IABC Philly was engaged in social media. Yes we are!  You can find us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. We’ll post summary of the survey results here.

Lastly, I wanted to encourage everyone to consider attending the upcoming Heritage Region conference next month in Cleveland. Your board will be there. I will be attending Leadership Forum and Jocelyn Canfield will be giving a presentation on “Creativity at Work:  Tips to Get You and Your Team Out of a Rut.” Actually I have an ulterior motive for going … I am Rock n’ Roll music fanatic. So this give me long sought after excuse to visit the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

That’s it for now. See you tomorrow night at the Water Works.

Regards,

Tony

Filed Under: IABC Philadelphia News, Membership Survey, President's Message, What's New in the Chapter Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,