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| Greetings! |
2010 IABC World Conference Highlights |
| PIC HELPS INCREASE AWARENESS OF IABC INDEPENDENTS |
Elizabeth Trew,
PIC Director of Communications The 2010 IABC World Conference was one of the most well-attended IABC conferences ever, with more than 1,500 people from 40 countries gathering together to learn from communicators throughout the world. More than 100 IABC/Toronto members,including many PIC members, volunteered at the conference. Volunteers registered delegates, answered questions at the hospitality table, hosted "dine-arounds" at Toronto restaurants and undertook whatever it takes to make a large conference run smoothly and to help people from other IABC chapters feel at home in Toronto. Showing the power of independents The conference was a wonderful opportunity for PIC to show the greater IABC community the power of independents. PIC used the conference to launch marketing materials for independents from around the world to promote themselves. Thanks to PIC's Marketing Committee who developed the card and easel (see the easel background below). A special thanks goes to committee member Cathy Ledden, who arranged to have the cards printed at no cost to PIC, thanks to the generosity of Darryl Brockie at the The Lowe-Martin Group. Independents were encouraged to take home a supply of cards to promote themselves to local corporate communicators. Look for these new marketing materials at IABC and PIC events starting this fall.
Independents promotional easel |
PIC members wore ribbons "Ask About IABC Independents" on their conference identification badges, generating some buzz among out-of-town independents who also wanted ribbons for their badges. Thanks to Sue Horner for having these ribbons made for us.
Most IABC chapters don't have formalized sub-groups for independents and certainly none of the chapters are as large and as active as PIC. By having our promotional materials front and centre and by meeting other independents, I'm sure PIC spurred some independents to start their own sub-groups when they go home.
Conference Highlights
Many of the delegates agreed their conference highlight was hearing keynote speaker Craig Kielburger, co-founder of Free the Children and Me to We. Craig shared his insights to help employees find meaning in a material world.
PIC members attending the conference were pleased to see one of our own - Annette Martell, ABC, MC - being officially named an IABC fellow at the opening session. Being named a fellow is the highest award IABC can confer upon a communicator.
Taking a summer hiatus
PIC is lining up another group of great speakers for the fall. If you've heard someone who has made a lasting impression on you and who you think PIC members would benefit from hearing, contact Paulina Callaghan, PIC's programming director.
Hope everyone has a great summer!
Director of Communications |
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Tidbits of knowledge
| Check out our Independents Toronto blog for content shared by your peers, event podcasts and our wiki. Non-members can visit our podcasts here.
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Writers needed
| | 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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| BEST OF THE 2010 IABC WORLD CONFERENCE |
For those of you who couldn't get to the 2010 IABC World Conference and want to know more about it, PIC members Sue Horner and Barb Sawyers and Chair Donna Papacosta posted
conference highlights on their blogs. Here's a few tidbits:
Sue Horner provided valuable takeaways from individual sessions, summarizing key points from sessions she attended.
I felt the closing session with Guy Kawasaki, an engaging venture capitalist and columnist for Entrepreneur Magazine, was just as entertaining as it was helpful. Anyone who gives
presentations would benefit from learning Guy's 10-20-30 rule of pitching, which Sue has provided on her blog.
The best bits from Barb
Barb's best bits include insights into Gen Y from KPMG (very helpful for baby boomer independents), Craig Kielburger's keynote speech and an employee engagement study by Towers Watson. It was interesting to see findings from the Towers Watson study dispute the fallacy that money does not engage employees!
Donna Papacosta's excellent IABC World Conference adventures
Donna was very excited to be a first-time presenter at the IABC World Conference. She talked about Integrating multimedia into your social media campaign.
For highlights of Donna's presentation, visit Barb Sawyer's blog and go to Donna's slide show.
Other independents presenting at the world conference include Mary-Ellen Hynd, who talked about Pitching sustainability to your organization and Cyrus Mavalwala, ABC, who covered Act like an agency, from within.
IABC Independents at the conference
Donna Papacosta interviewed independent communicators across Canada and the world to find out why they came to the conference and what they learned. IABC members can go to the podcast here; non-members can listen here. |
| PIC'S CONFERENCE SHOPPING GUIDE |
Help for the shopping-challenged
Looking for interesting places to shop in downtown Toronto?
The shopping guide developed for the conference by PIC was such a success that IABC has decided to share it with members. Of the 350 copies printed for the conference, only 50 copies were left at the end of the conference. Let's hope everyone who took the guide visited a few stores and pumped some money into Toronto's economy.
In addition to the standard touristy-type places like the Eaton Centre, the shopping guide includes funky boutiques in Kensington Market, the Distillery District and Queen Street West.
It includes places to buy everything from clothing, shoes and accessories to books and toys, and was particularly helpful for out-of-towners looking for a place to buy gifts for loved ones back home.
Thanks to PIC members Sue Horner who edited the guide, Teri McMahon who did the layout and to IABC/Toronto member Christina Scicluna, who provided her shopping expertise.
You can download a copy of the shopping guide by going to IABC/Toronto Chapter President Brent Carey's thank you letter to conference volunteers and clicking "shopping guide" at the bottom. |
| DINE-AROUND TORONTO | |
Having out-of-town guests this summer?
- Get restaurant recommendations from IABC's Dine-Around Manual
"Dine-arounds" have become a mainstay at IABC World Conferences, giving out-of-towners the opportunity to go to "peer-reviewed" restaurants hosted by local IABC members and meet with other conference-goers on a more personal basis.
Several IABC/Toronto volunteers spent the past few months sampling Toronto restaurants for a "dine-around" at the conference. The 28 recommended restaurants include a variety of different ethnic cuisines in several price ranges, and are all within a short subway ride or cab ride from the Sheraton. IABC/Toronto members hosted groups of 8 to 10 people from different parts of the world at each restaurant, getting to know each other over a good meal.
IABC members also requested copies of the Dine-Around Manual, so the board decided to share it with its members. For a copy of the manual, just go to IABC/President Brent Carey's letter and click "Dine-Around Manual." |
| PIC PROGRAM DIRECTOR RECEIVES FIRST IABC/TORONTO MENTOR OF THE YEAR AWARD |
Congratulations to IABC/Toronto's first ever Mentor of the Year, PIC Program Director Paulina Callaghan, ABC.
At the volunteer recognition event on June 16, Paulina accepted the first-ever IABC/Toronto Mentor of the Year Award. Several mentors were nominated for this award by their mentees, but the nomination by mentee, Melissa Gibson, was the winning submission. Melissa noted it was Paulina's ongoing professional support, enthusiasm and new friendship that created such a strong tie between them. |
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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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