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| Greetings! |
Introducing Professional Independent Communicators
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| PIC - HELPING POSITION INDEPENDENTS AS "TOP OF MIND" |
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Elizabeth Trew,
PIC Director of Communications
Professional Independent Communicators. Doesn't it have a good ring to it?
We've rebranded ourselves! The Alliance of Independent Practitioners (AIP) is now known as Professional Independent Communicators (PIC). The former AIP Branding Committee chose Professional Independent Communicators as our new name it tells the world who we are and what we do. Thanks to the AIP Branding Committee - led by Teri McMahon and Barb Sawyers - who developed this new brand with our members' input. By strengthening our brand, PIC has a headstart in positioning ourselves as "top of mind" among IABC/Toronto corporate members looking for communications help.
PIC's Marketing Committee, led by Cathy Ledden, is developing initiatives to attract new members and to raise awareness of PIC among IABC/Toronto and other corporate communicators who need communications help. If you are interested in joining PIC's Marketing Committee, please contact Cathy Ledden at info@leddendesign.com.
Have you seen the new IABC/Toronto website? The designers, with input from IABC members, did a bang-up job in creating an attractive, contemporary user-friendly website. If you have any comments on IABC/Toronto's website, email them at toronto-info@iabc.com. And, it's much easier for people looking to hire independents to find us on IABC/Toronto's site - all they need to do is click the PIC logo on the home page. PIC now has a new, easy-to-remember website address - http://pictoronto.com.
How can PIC help you?
PIC wants to meet the needs of our members and give them the tools to help them with their businesses. That's why PIC wants to find out what you need from us to grow professionally and to save you money. Take a moment of your time to complete our member survey and IABC/Toronto's member discount benefits survey below.
The June 2010 IABC World Conference that Toronto will host is less than three months away. Sue Horner is the go-to person for showcasing PIC and our talented members at the conference. We're also looking for conference volunteers. Sue's article Why You Should Attend the 2010 IABC World Conference tells you how to get involved.
Let's help PIC become a role model for independents coming from around the world to attend the 2010 IABC World Conference. Get involved. Be heard.
Director of Communications | |
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Tidbits of Knowledge
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Check out our Independents Toronto blog for content shared by your peers, event podcasts and our wiki. Non-members can visit here our podcasts.
Upcoming events:
Personal Branding for Independents |
Writers needed
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| We'd love to hear from you if you're interested in becoming a volunteer writer for PIC or IABC's Communicator. |
PIC's MISSION & The Buzz
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PIC's mission is to support independent IABC/Toronto communicators through professional development, networking and marketing.
The Buzz is PIC's e-newsletter, intended to keep independent communicators informed about our activities, share professional development tips from past meetings and keep us aware of what's going on. | |
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| SAVE THE DATE! |
Person Branding for Independents with Paul Copcutt
Time & Date: Wednesday, April 14 from 6:00 pm to 8:55 pm
Place: The Assembly Hall, 1 Colonel Samuel Smith Park Drive
Social Media Marketing Practices
with Rob Campbell, aka SmoJoe - May 12th
2010 IABC World Conference - June 6 to 9 |
| VOLUNTEERS WANTED |
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PIC thanks the many members who have volunteered to join the executive, work on projects and write up events. We still require volunteers for:
Associate Director & Director Programming
With input from PIC Executive, the associate director and programming director will work together to:
- Co-ordinate speaker information, equipment, needs, gift and handouts
- Assist in contacting and securing speakers as required
The time commitment is about three hours a month, plus one evening a month to assist with our events. This includes participation in team teleconference calls. Interested candidates should email PIC Chair Donna Papacosta. |
| PIC PROGRAM REPORT |
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Business Planning for Independents
Not identifying the steps they need to take to get where they want to go is a downfall of many small business owners, noted Judi Hughes, co-owner of Your Planning Partners in her March 10, 2010 workshop, Business Planning for Independents. It's not enough to say how much money you want to make. You must set goals and objectives around activities that will generate revenue. How many proposals do you need to write? How many phone calls do you need to make?
Here's a few tips Judi provided to help you focus on your business:
- Work on getting clients who value your work enough to pay for it.
- Recognize the things you must do (Judi calls these your "Critical Success Factors") that would prevent your from achieving your goal if they weren't done.
- Put your ideas in "parking lot," so you don't lose focus and you can continue with essential activities to reach your goals. If the idea is as good in 90 days from when you parked it, then start working on it.
- Set goals for the week and be accountable to someone, ideally a peer, for your goals.
- Identify your ideal client by determining the characteristics of people (people buy from people, organizations don't buy from people) who buy from you.
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| TELL US WHAT YOU THINK! |
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Are you getting what you need from PIC? Is there something we can do better to help you grow your business?
Tell is what you think by taking a few minutes of your time to complete our member survey. |
| IABC/TORONTO WANTS TO SAVE INDEPENDENTS MONEY! |
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Member Discount Survey
Take this short survey now to tell us what kind of member discounts would be most valuable to you. IABC/Toronto is developing a member discount program for all our members that will offer significant savings on a variety of products and services. We really want to hear from PIC members, because independents' needs can be quite different from those of other members. By completing our survey, you'll tell us what kind of discounts are most important to you-discounts on travel, publications or insurance? How about office supplies, computers or professional development? We'll take what you tell us and look for organizations willing to offer discounts on the products and services you're most interested in. If you remember this survey, it's not d�j� vu -- IABC/Toronto ran it in spring 2009 but the response rate was too low to draw meaningful conclusions. So please take the survey now, even if it's for the second time. It's very short, anonymous, and it will soon bring great benefit to you and other independent IABC/Toronto members. TAKE THE SURVEY NOW! |
| 2010 IABC WORLD CONFERENCE |
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by Sue Horner
Indies have a big opportunity to get out and strut our stuff at the IABC World Conference in Toronto on June 6-9.
Why should you attend? I've been to a number of these conferences, and they always offer inspiring speakers on a wide range of topics of interest to communicators. The professional development is great, the people are warm and welcoming, the social events are terrific.
The conference is also a great networking experience for indies, even if you're shy. Huge badges clearly identify us as communicators, so when we encounter others in the halls and elevators, it's an invitation to start a conversation. So it's great practice meeting people in a supportive environment.
If you've got a network of connections on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and elsewhere online, you'll also find the conference is a great place to meet face to face.
What about costs?
Because the conference is in Toronto means you can attend without having to pay travel expenses. You could pay for just one day rather than the whole conference. In fact, if you can put in some serious volunteer hours, you might even get to attend for free. And remember, although you have to pay conference expenses up front, you can claim them at income tax time.
How about volunteering?
As the host chapter, Toronto needs enthusiastic volunteers:
- Do you know a lot about the city and the chapter? Then you'd be welcome at the hospitality table, assisting with walking tours on Saturday or Sunday, or helping get people to the Sunday night reception.
- Foodies can help conference goers choose restaurants at the dine-around table, and outgoing hosts are needed to lead dine-around groups on Tuesday evening.
If you can offer five or six hours to work the registration desk, you might even earn a free registration. Check the specifics and fill out a volunteer application. The deadline to apply is 5 p.m. Thursday, April 29, and the volunteer schedule will be posted on Wednesday, May 12. Questions? Contact Katie O'Dell at toronto-volunteers@iabc.com. PIC will be there PIC is also spearheading efforts to gain visibility at the conference. While we don't have a budget to spend, there are plenty of low- or no-costs ways we can get involved by showcasing the things we do well:
- Photographers could take pictures and post them to Flickr, eXchange or your blog or web site.
- Writers could submit articles for The Buzz, Communicator and eXchange.
- Are you a blogger? on Twitter? Then blog and tweet about the conference and your involvement. Find out which of your contacts will be in town and set up a face-to-face "tweetup."
Donna Papacosta will be podcasting and looking for interesting speakers (indies and others) to interview. Sue Horner is helping compile a shopping guide, to point visitors to the "must shop" places they can fit into a lunch hour or a quick cab or subway ride from the conference hotel, the Sheraton Centre on Queen Street West. If you're a shopper with the inside scoop on the hot places to go, e-mail Sue at getwrite@sympatico.ca. Next issue, we'll talk to some indies who plan to attend the conference, and share some tips for making the most of it. If you're attending and want to comment, contact Susan Ritchie at Susan@SusanRitchieCommunications.com. | |
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PIC is a special interest group of IABC Toronto. As the largest chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators, IABC Toronto provides access to products, services, activities and networking opportunities in Toronto and around the world. IABC helps people and organizations achieve excellence in corporate communications, public relations, employee communication, marketing communication, public affairs and other forms of communication. For more information, visit the IABC website.
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| Don't forget to connect with us on the web: pictoronto.com
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