IABC Q4 2015 Report Highlights Progress

October -
December
2015
Quarterly
Report
Driving communication as a force
for good in business and society

IABC OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2015 QUARTERLY REPORT 2 HOME
A Global Organization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Update from our Chair. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Update from our Executive Director . . . . . . . . 7
How IABC Can Effect Change. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Our Strategy for Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Strategic Progress. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Content Update. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Year at a Glance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Coming Events and Contributors. . . . . . . . . . 17
Stay Connected. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
In Brief:
• Balanced budget for 2016
• Regional Conferences took place across
North America
• World Conference 2016 speaker roster
announced
• Gold Quill Awards early-bird deadline
closed
• IABC Leadership Forum calls continued
• Leadership Institute held in Sydney,
Australia
• New Communication Management
Professional (CMP) recipients announced
• Membership Month held in October and
extended through November
• IABC HQ relocation in January
On the cover: Cody Bromley,
from our Tulsa Chapter, was
named IABC Southern Region
Rising Star at the regional
conference in Denver.
Tweet photos of your members
using #createconnection for a
chance to be on the next cover.

A Global Organization
IABC has 124 chapters in 44 countries — our newest in Fiji. In addition, we have over 400 members-at-large in 42
countries. So if you haven’t already, #createconnection.

Taking stock
At the core of the board’s work is ensuring delivery
of organizational purpose, and with that open,
accountable — and well-informed — decision
making.
We’re now halfway through the board term. It is an
opportune moment to briefly take stock—and look at
what is still to come.
It has been an intensive six months. Much has been
achieved. Tough decisions and strategic investments
are beginning to pay off. A new stability has been
reached, along with a platform for growth in both
reach and impact for the association.
I am grateful for the hard work our staff and our
1,000-plus leaders around the world have put in. I’m
also grateful to the thousands of members who have
turned out for the hundreds of chapter events held
around the world — events that help raise the bar for
communication, and increase connection.
From across the globe, those striving for excellence
have put their work in for Gold Quill Awards
Update from our Chair
evaluation. Many have also achieved the new
Communication Management Professional
certification.
Big conferences have also taken place. In the most
recent quarter alone, regional conferences were held
in Baltimore, Calgary and Denver. Online, we continue
to see strong engagement around the weekly
#CommChat, and the IABC LinkedIn group is now
43,000 strong.
At the halfway point, I’ve taken the opportunity to
revisit my inaugural comments at the Annual General
Meeting in June, and spent some time reflecting on
reports received by the board.
While much progress has been made against what
was set out, plenty more remains to be done,
including, of course, the upcoming Leadership
Institute in Los Angeles and World Conference in New
Orleans.
Strategic progress in brief
We have 21 committees and task forces. Yes, 21 — 22
if we count the Executive Committee as well, which
meets fortnightly to cover in-flight issues around
technology, website, HQ relocation, etc.
You’ll find the most recent updates from committees
where relevant in the following pages. Before that, let
me briefly update on our broader strategy work.
The 2014–2017 strategy says, in a paragraph:
“Financial recovery and sustainability is primary, as
is the loyalty and development of our members and
leaders and consolidating gains from the 2011–14
strategy. Increased reputation in the profession;
better brand positioning; and greater interaction
with business as a revenue generator are then the big
opportunity to be grasped.”
Dear IABC leaders and members around the world,

Financial recovery and sustainability
We’ll be kicking off 2016 with a balanced budget
— which includes saving US$350,000 this year
achieved by moving our headquarters office. This is
an important milestone as we continue to execute
on the board’s strategy to make IABC a more modern
and dynamic organization, one that is less tied to one
physical location, and better able to serve our 10,000-
plus members around the world.
In 2016 we will also be making additional strategic
investments in technology. This is essential as we
continue to make up for 10 years of underinvestment
in this area.
Better brand positioning
We’ve tightened our focus in order to advance our
strategy, through these board decisions:
1. The approval of the Strategic Advisor career
level focus as IABC’s primary audience and we
are moving to align accordingly. This has been
warmly welcomed by leaders across the world.
2. The approval for introducing a limited“paywall”
on IABC’s website, again warmly welcomed by
leaders who see this as a way of emphasizing the
value of our content.
Both are in the process of being rolled out.
I’m also very excited about the Editorial Committee
getting off the ground. This promises the beginning
of a new global conversation. Which leads us to…
Greater interaction, greater connection
We continued the regular Leadership Forum, cutting
across the organization, breaking down silos and
increasing collaboration. One practical example is the
useful Q&A on the IABC brand rollout. If you haven’t
already, check out the brand toolkit — and use it as
well. It contains useful key messaging, tone-of-voice
guidance and more. After all, a brand is not just a logo.
In October, Executive Director Carlos Fulcher, IABC
Vice Chair Dianne Chase and I participated and
presented at the regional conferences in Baltimore
(Heritage region), Calgary (Canada West region) and
Denver (Southern region). We took away insights
from incredibly smart professional members making
great contributions to the profession. There is real
value in regional conferences in bringing practitioners
A new stability has been reached, along with a platform for growth in
both reach and impact for the association.
together face to face. I look forward to the Europe,
Middle East and North Africa conference coming up
in Rotterdam this 18–19 April.
Also, as Chair I was honored to join 32 IABC leaders
from across Asia-Pacific who met for the first
Leadership Institute in the APAC region since 2012.
The event was hugely successful and offered a
balanced mix of workshops, educational sessions,
networking opportunities and social events.
On that trip I did a further 40-plus engagements in
seven cities during 14 back-to-back days on the road.
Our leaders in APAC are nothing if not ambitious on
behalf of IABC’s leadership. This included advocacy
opportunities with:
• Five government departments, a major police
force and other public service bodies.
• Australia and New Zealand’s biggest banks, a
cellular operator, an insurer, a financial institution,
a major engineering firm, and more.

The strategic purpose for this was advocacy of
the Global Standard, raising the profile of the
new Communication Management Professional
certification and the IABC Academy, and more
broadly an opportunity to connect with strategic
communicators working in some of our core markets.
It was also an opportunity for encouragement and
recognition of regional and chapter leaders as part of
our commitment to our Theory of Change, which puts
leadership at the center of the delivery of our vision,
mission and purpose, and validation of our focus on
Strategic Advisors. You can read Field Notes from this
and other trips on the board blog if you want to learn
more.
Loyalty and development of our members and
leaders
Leadership Institute is approaching fast. Whether
you’re attending LI or not, please continue to take the
time to encourage the leaders in your network. A little
thanks goes a long way. They work hard for all of us.
You are making a difference.
Thanks for all you do for IABC and to advance the
profession.
Let’s #createconnection like never before.
Michael Ambjorn
IABC Chair
... saving of $350,000 this year achieved by moving our headquarters
office.

Update from our Executive Director
Dear IABC members,
In reflecting on the fourth quarter of 2015, I can’t
help but review the entire year behind us. The
past few months have brought the culmination of
many activities that have been a year (or more) in
development. I believe that we will look back on 2015
as a year that brought a new sense of stability for the
organization, and during which we further refined
and developed many of our traditional offerings, as
well as brought new initiatives to the table.
Following the announcement of our first-ever
Communication Management Professional (CMP)
certification recipients, we saw another two
communicators achieve certification during the
fourth quarter, as well as a growing list of locations for
applicants to sit for the exam around the world. The
Global Communication Certification Council is now
focused on growing the number of CMPs as well as
on the continuing professional education for those
already certified. This sets the stage for 2016 to bring
the CMP certification to maturity and continue its
global spread.
The IABC Academy assisted IABC in bringing to
market a substantial calendar of professional
development online workshops throughout the
quarter. The workshops have been able to provide
a range of topics throughout the year, enabling
members (and non-members) to access expert advice
and instruction from highly qualified and experienced
presenters. It has also provided excellent insights into
the needs and preferences of the marketplace, to help
us refine our offerings in 2016.
In the latter half of the quarter, the program
for the 2016 World Conference in New Orleans
was announced following a successful call-for-
presentations process. The conference’s Program
Advisory Committee worked tirelessly to review
more than 200 speaker proposals and create a well-
rounded program that balances expertise, experience,
innovation and fresh content. Registration for the New
Orleans event opened during the quarter, including
the offer of a super-saver deadline registration
package on December 31, which proved popular.
We were also able to announce our first secured
keynote, Geoff Colvin, with more announcements
to come in early 2016. The conference is already
looking extremely strong and I feel confident it will
be well worth the investment from communication
professionals and their organizations to attend.
The early-bird deadline for the 2016 Gold Quill Awards
closed in mid-November, with an encouraging
number of entries. The Gold Quill Committee has
been working on various improvements to the
program, including new rubrics and tools to assist

evaluators in their important tasks. As in previous
years, a dedicated group of volunteers—the Blue
Ribbon Panel Chairs in each region—will invest
significant time in January and February of 2016
to ensure IABC enjoys another year of excellent
evaluation of entries.
Membership Month in October proved to be a
successful initiative for chapters, regions and IABC as
a whole. As a result the promotion was extended into
November. Significant effort was put into providing
responsive customer service by the member relations
team, and I know that many volunteers in regions
and chapters put in hours of time to ensure the
promotional messages were disseminated widely. As
a result, 2015 closed out with IABC seeing a significant
increase in membership numbers globally.
During the quarter we saw the first meeting of the
Editorial Committee, which has been established
to help guide the annual editorial calendar. The
committee, working with our content team, will
provide invaluable advice as we continue to provide
high-quality content to our members through
Communication World and CW Observer.
The IABC website project continues to gain ground.
We were able to release improved online join
functionality in time for Membership Month and
restore vital access to MMA, the tool our chapter
and regional leaders rely on in their work for the
association. Work continues to keep improving some
back-end processes related to credit card transactions.
We are now in a more stable position to be able to
take stock and conduct an analysis that will allow us
to better assess our needs for the future.
As previously advised, the beginning of 2016 will
bring change for IABC in the form of relocation: The
headquarters office will move to a new location in San
Francisco in late January. This move is the culmination
of work throughout 2015 to create a more
contemporary, virtual operation—and in developing
the associated organization culture.
In summary, the October to December quarter has
been an exceptionally positive close out to the year.
Once again we’ve seen fantastic commitment and
contribution from the various IABC committees. The
We were able to release improved online join functionality in time for
Membership Month and restore vital access to MMA, the tool our chapter and
regional leaders rely on in their work for the association.
hard work of our volunteers and the staff supporting
them has created significant achievements for IABC,
and has set us up for success in 2016.
Sincerely,
Carlos Fulcher, MBA, CAE
Executive Director

How IABC Can Effect Change
This is the Theory of Change and shows, in line with our bylaws, why IABC exists. This is how as an organization we
have influence and impact on our profession, the business world and society at large.
Business & Society
Profession
Members
Local Leaders
Global Leaders
Input — Leadership development
Philosophy: IABC is a practitioner-driven organization whose strength is
derived from the dedication of its members to the advancement of their
profession.
Purpose: IABC serves its organizational subdivisions and leadership by
providing services, management support, leadership development,
conferences and awards programs encouraging and recognizing
innovation, creativity and best practices.
Output — our influence
Mission: Provide lifelong learning opportunities that give IABC members
the tools and information they need to be the best in their chosen
disciplines.
Mission: Share among our membership best global communication
practices, ideas and experiences that will enable the development of
highly ethical and effective performance standards for our profession.
Outcome — our impact
Mission: Champion the communication profession to business leaders.
Mission: Shape the future of the profession through ground-breaking
research.

The primary goal for IABC is financial recovery and sustainability, along with increasing member loyalty through
development and retention programs. The opportunity facing IABC is to increase its reputation in the profession
through better brand positioning and greater interaction with the broader communication profession — as a
revenue generator and reputationally.
There are two key focus areas: business as usual and changing the business.
Business as usual priorities
1. A program to focus on retaining members.
2. Completing functionality of the new website to include chapter management tools and member
enrollment.
3. Ensuring our mature products (e.g. World Conference and the Gold Quill Awards) remain successful, both for
members and in creating net revenue.
4. Significantly uprating our external communications.
Changing the business priorities
1. Getting the Global Communications Certification Council and IABC Academy fully functional, delivering the
first Certification exam, and launching a suite of training products.
2. Creating a new plan for engaging with communication practitioners worldwide, who are not, and who may
not choose to become, IABC members (but who may benefit from the Association’s products and services
while contributing to advance our mission).
3. Consulting on, then bringing into alignment, the different roles of the international, regional and chapter
levels.
Our Strategy
for Change
Primary goal: financial recovery
and sustainability, along with
increasing member loyalty through
development and retention
programs.
Opportunity: to increase our
reputation within the profession
through better brand positioning and
greater interaction with the broader
communication profession — as a
revenue generator and reputationally.
The architects of the 2014-2017 strategy.

Strategic Progress: Reports from IABC Committees
You can find out more about IABC’s committees on the website. Open calls for nominations for new members occur
periodically through the year.
Council of Regions (CoR)
Dianne Chase, IABC Vice Chair
The Council of Regions, as the
Leadership Institute (LI) Program
Advisory Council, and the IABC Chair, have approved
the final program for the 2016 LI. The session topics,
speakers and discussions will serve the theme
“Inspiring the Leader in You.” The Leader of the Year
Awards judging panel has selected Region and
Chapter Leaders of the Year, who will be announced
and honored at LI. The chapter winners of the
extended Membership Month campaign were
announced during the December Leader Forum
and will also be recognized at LI. Final tallies show
significantly improved participation in the Chapter
Management Awards, as well as in the Region and
Chapter Leader of the Year entries, over last year.
Region chairs are tracking brand adoption across
their chapters, with the majority reporting significant
progress toward meeting the June 2016 deadline.
Chapter leaders are encouraged to reach out for any
needed support in their re-branding and to make
use of the resources available on the Leader Centre.
A study committee from the CoR has launched an
initiative aimed at adding value to the Leader Centre
in the areas of content, awareness and access.
Leader Centre
Visit the Leader Centre for the brand
guidelines and other tools, tips and
templates to help run your chapter.
If you are a chapter leader join the
IABC Chapter Leaders Group on
LinkedIn to connect with other
chapter, regional and international
IABC leaders.
Finance Committee
Ginger D. Homan, IABC Treasurer
This past quarter, we worked with
staff to create a balanced budget
for 2016 and to ensure we are spending and investing
our dollars wisely.
Serving on the finance committee is not always
the first choice of communicators, but this group
has been tireless in their efforts to achieve financial
recovery and set guidelines to make that recovery
sustainable for years to come. A big thanks to the
committee members listed below and Brook Yciano,
financial consultant, and Carlos Fulcher, Executive
Director.
• Michael Ambjorn, IABC Chair
• Dianne Chase, IABC Vice Chair
• Victoria Dew
• Ron Fuchs, APR, Director IEB
• Alain Legault, Director IEB
This next quarter, the committee will focus on
establishing best practices for the budgeting process
and managing the funds to grow our financial base.

Global Communication
Certification Council (GCCC)
Sue Heuman, ABC, Chair
Since launching the CMP
certification level, 15 professionals have received their
CMP designations. The GCCC began a comprehensive
marketing program to encourage more applicants to
the CMP certification program.
At the same time, the council spent time reviewing
and researching the next level of certification to be
developed. After some debate and consideration,
the council has determined that the Senior
Communication Management Professional (SCMP)
level will be created next. The first step is to engage
a consultant to develop the Job Task Analysis for
this career level, after which exam questions will be
developed.
The council welcomed a new member and is still
seeking a non-IABC member to join.
Membership Task Force
Claudia Vaccarone, Chair
The Membership Task Force was
named in mid-2015 following
consultation with CoR members and the IABC Chair,
Vice Chair and Executive Director. A total of 17
members were appointed, covering all the regions.
During this quarter, the task force met monthly
and worked on creating personas for the“Strategic
Adviser”audience group, which will be presented in
February to the IEB.
Task force members also started conducting
membership focus groups. So far, two have been
completed with the leadership teams of IABC France
and IABC Netherlands, who kindly provided valuable
insights on their current strengths and struggles
when it comes to membership.
The task force invites chapter leaders to run this
exercise and it has developed a set of focus group
guidelines to facilitate the task. You can find more on
Leader Centre.
IABC Policy Committee
Zora Artis, Chair
It’s been a busy quarter for the
IABC Policy Committee, as we are
well underway in our systematic review of the IABC
Policy Manual with the goal of having the finalized
version to the IEB for approval at the Leadership
Institute in February. This involves evaluating all
sections of the Policy Manual to ensure that they are
relevant, consistent, clear and up-to-date, and making
appropriate recommendations for change to the IEB.
Our remit also includes reviewing governance
documents, processes and policies. With this in
mind, the Policy Committee has completed reviews
of the Council of Regions Manual, and the Terms of
Reference for the Ethics Committee and the Audit
and Risk Committee.
Aside from successfully managing the workload,
another highlight has been the addition of a talented
member to the Policy Committee. Victor Zalakos
(from Australia) joined the committee as Vice-Chair
and has been an invaluable contributor to our team.

Communication Committee
Katie Macaulay, Chair
The committee presented a new
two-year communication strategy
for non-members in October 2015. This was approved
by the board, which requested it be implemented
swiftly.
An action plan has been created consisting of five
work streams relating to the five core elements of
strategy:
• Objectives
• Audiences
• Global communication themes
• Resources, roles and processes
• Activities and channels
Discussions are now underway on how to best
implement the strategy.
Editorial Committee
John G. Clemons, ABC, APR, IABC
Fellow, Chair
The first meeting of the new IABC
Editorial Committee was held on 15 December
2015—and we have not slowed down since! The
committee members (Ruth Kinzey, vice chair, and
members Cheryl Carr, Melyssa Prince, Stephen Welch,
Christine Elmer and Paul Ladd) embraced the charge
to take a closer look at our online publications (CW
and CW Observer), their content, and processes
associated with monthly preparation and global
distribution.
Three editorial areas are currently under review:
• Completion of the 2016 editorial calendar.
• Differentiating CW and CW Observer.
• Access to CW information by members and non-
members.
The Editorial Committee and the editorial team at
IABC headquarters have already agreed that CW
and CW Observer would no longer be distributed
the first week of each month to eliminate potential
confusion about the two online publications. CW is
now distributed the first week of each month and
CW Observer is now sent the second, third and fourth
weeks of the month to capture timely news, trends
and issues.
Additionally, we are reviewing CW topics for the
calendar year as well as writers, and providing input to
make the proposed articles even more global, useful
and aligned with the interests of our members. We
are excited about the work ahead. Thank you for your
support!
Follow updates
from the 2016
IABC International
Leadership Institute:
#IABCLI

Ethics Committee
Barbara Puffer, MA, ABC, IABC
Fellow, Chair
Since the reforming of IABC’s Ethics
Committee in late 2014 and up through this past
quarter, a stellar committee has been drafting and
evangelizing a“rebirth”of the IABC Code of Ethics
that has been endorsed annually by members for
decades. Our top priority was to write a shorter,
easier-to-read draft that is more focused and sensitive
to IABC’s global reach. This quarter, the draft is being
tested with leaders and experts in and outside of
IABC membership. So far, we’ve heard only positive
feedback. We heard reinforcement that IABC’s Code
of Ethics has been a“true north”for many and a
reference framework that has been helpful in both
professional and volunteer decisions.
The new Code is expected to come to a full vote
of the membership at the Annual General Meeting
in June. You can expect the topic of ethics to be
integrated into many IABC channels and discussed
widely through cases and examples in forums and
programs at all levels of our association.
In addition to updating the Code of Ethics, we
formalized and/or modified necessary policies and
procedures around such issues as confidentially
documenting and handling reported violations,
recruiting and seating the Ethics Committee with
staggered terms and more.
2016 World Conference Program
Advisory Committee (PAC)
Stacy Wilson, Chair
Conference content planning and
logistics are going well. PAC members successfully
reviewed nearly 200 speaker proposals and invited
a full slate of breakout speakers. Two keynotes
have already been announced, with more to come
in the next two months. The team also submitted
accepted recommendations for the Foundation
event and Circles of Wisdom and is collaborating on
implementation. In addition, the team is working to
finalize the last two keynote sessions. Finally, the PAC
leadership is collaborating with the Ethics Committee
to produce an ethics panel for the conference.
The team is actively involved in promoting the
conference, having promoted the first keynote
announcement and the December super-saver
deadline (the super-saver registration goal was met).
Shortly, the team will begin working to prepare a
strategic plan for the World Conference under the
direction and guidance of the IEB.
Are you registered for the IABC World Conference? Check out
the keynote speakers for June 5-8 in New Orleans. Meet you
at Cafe Du Monde!

Free-to-member webinars
IABC offered free-to-member webinars this quarter including:
• Influencing your audience: Crafting messages that motivate people to say yes, with Ken O’Quinn
• What really engages employees? The four things that make a real difference, with Deb Lavoy
• What the media really want from you, with Erin Dick
Communication World
Communication World (CW), IABC’s online monthly magazine, covered the topics of targeted communication,
change management and the communication trends forecast for 2016. New case studies, based on Gold Quill
Award-winning submissions were also added, along with interviews in the form of podcasts and videos.
CW Observer
CW Observer is a weekly supplement to CW magazine. In the last quarter, the most popular topics were:
• How to conduct a communication audit
• Creating a communication plan when there’s no solid business strategy
• Branding and internal communication for millennials
• Avoiding email marketing pitfalls
Content Updates Take a look at what
is coming next to
Communication
World, and find out
how to contribute.

IABCYear at a Glance
There is a reason it always feels like an IABC event is happening somewhere. Here is a time line that shows key events
for chapters, regions, the International Executive Board and headquarters.

Professional Development
28 January
Writing for the Online Reader
4 February
CMP exam at IABC Leadership Institute
4–6 February
IABC Leadership Institute, Long Beach, California
9 February
The Engaging, Strategic Presentation
25 February
The Indispensable Strategic Communication Adviser
7 March
Using Analytics to Drive Social Media Success
9 April 2016
CMP exam, Cincinnati chapter
18–19 April 2016
IABC Eurocomm conference
Diary Dates
27 January 2016
Gold Quill Awards late deadline
5–8 June 2016
IABC World Conference
Do you have a chapter or regional event to share? Use
the Submit Event link on the Member Dashboard to
create a listing on the iabc.com events page.
Coming Events Contributors
Thank you to these IABC members who contributed
to this quarterly report.
Cover photo:
Nathan Harmon
Photography
Phone: 918.269.6284
Map of IABC locations and Year at a Glance
graphic:
Byers Creative
Phone: 918.949.3399
Layout design:
Zia Communications
Phone: 918.619.3756
If you or your firm would like to contribute
photography, graphic design or layout services, please
contact news@iabc.com.
Have you got a chapter
or regional event to
share?
Don’t forget to use the
Submit Event link on the
Member Dashboard.

International Executive Board
The International Executive Board, or IEB, is the governing body of IABC and is accountable to its
members. The IEB develops the strategic plan and direction for the association under the guidance of
the Association Bylaws approved by the IABC membership. The IEB serves as the Board of Trustees for
the IABC Foundation.
Find out more about IABC’s International Executive Board.
Chapters and Regions
IABC operates around the world via eight regions
and more than 80 chapters.
Find out more about IABC’s regions and chapters.
View more photos of IABC people and events on
IABC’s Flickr account.
Stay
Phone: +1 415.544.4700
Toll Free: 800.776.4222
Fax: +1 415.544.4747
Email: member_relations@iabc.com
International Association of Business Communicators
601 Montgomery Street
Suite 1900
San Francisco, Calif. 94111 USA
Join the conversations on Twitter: #createconnection, #IABC, #IABCieb, #IABCLI, #IABC16

IABC Q4 2015 Report Highlights Progress

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