President’s 6 month commitment reflections

It’s a strange feeling to reflect on the fact that another 6 months have passed; in some ways it seems like it’s passed in a flash, in others it’s like Groundhog Day and I think how is it still 2021!? I know our NSW community are feeling the anguish of facing another prolonged lockdown.

It’s times like this that we all know, appreciate and value the importance of connection and being flexible, so I hope you are all keeping safe and sane.

Your Board and I took the opportunity to reflect on our achievements and ambitions and to ensure we’re on track to continue our commitments to you, our members.

As a board we were incredibly proud that IABC NSW cleared up at the IABC Global Chapter Management Awards for our achievements over the last year.

We won TWO awards of excellence for our chapter innovation and membership marketing, we WON medium chapter of the year award and I was humbled to jointly win the chapter leader of the year award along with Jackiedra Wilson, President IABC Greater Cincinnati; a great honour.

We want to use this experience and accolades to continue to support and advance our membership offering. We’re committed to continuing to boost the credibility, networking and professional development opportunities of our members and our communication profession. 

I’d like to share our 6 month update and showcase our plans and ambitions for the next 6 months of the year. 

So first off let’s celebrate the last 6 months:

• 119 event bookings 

• 71% rate events as excellent

• Launched our member mastermind circles 

• 12% increase in membership to over 175 

• 9 NSW Gold Quill winners

• EY, IAG, Greater Bank, PwC, Optus, Westpac, NSW Healthshare, Aurecon and Cannings Communications as our renewed and dedicated corporate partners

• 112 new LinkedIn followers (total 530) - engagement rate of 7.2% (Global IABC at 1.6%)

We used the time to visit feedback from the board and align on our personal and IABC NSW ambitions. 

The Board all agreed we made good progress on the following activities:   

• Building great governance

• Participating in the Chapter Management Awards 

• Building stronger and ongoing relationships with other chapter leaders

• Hosting another certification exam

• Developing member mastermind circles

Of those still on our list, we agreed that for the next 6 months and into 2022 we will pursue the below:

• Developing board sub committees

• Developing a wider sponsorship outreach

• Lead or assist in a research project

• Create a communication/content schedule for the website and social media

• Play a part in reconciliation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders through an event

• Linking IABC members wanting to do pro bono work with not for profits

Coming up in the next 6 months we have penciled in events around:

• Strategic storytelling

• Gold Quills showcase

• GCCC exams

• Wellbeing

• Revisiting our postponed networking drinks celebration

• Research and 

• Our end of year gala

We also agreed that members will once again receive our feedback survey in relation to forward planning 2022 events. Feedback and listening to our members is so invaluable and part of our core belief around ensuring we are delivering membership value. Members, you will receive this survey by the end of August to help us plan our 2022 event schedule. We would be very grateful for your input. 

At the 6-month strategy session we revisited our key priorities, and remain committed to: 

·       Maintaining excellent events, continuing with our highly regarded event schedule, including virtual events to ensure our regional NSW members can always participate, regardless of Covid-19  

·       Boosting professional credibility, helping our members to become trusted advisors by providing recognition opportunities such as Gold Quill awards and the GCCC accreditation 

·       Caring for one another and ensuring a culture of inclusiveness, supporting a collective IABC voice with a community that cares, empathizes and looks after one another - especially mental health and wellbeing. Continuing to build stronger connections to IABC regional and global opportunities. 

·       Advancing the member experience, ensuring our content pathways and communications are clear, relevant and valuable, and new networking and mentoring opportunities are pursued. 

·       Leveraging global and regional best practice; sharing content with our members, such as thought leadership, podcasts and the opportunity to attend other IABC chapter’s online events so our members get the very best of the IABC locally, regionally and globally. 

All of this work, award wins and ambitions undertaken is possible thanks to our Board past and present for all their support, dedication and drive - we have an incredible team of volunteers doing wonderful things for our membership, I'm so very proud of the team.

This is my second and final year as IABC president, before I transition to past president so the team and I will also be working on succession planning; members if you are interested in an IABC NSW Board role please start thinking about the opportunity. We will do a call out for submissions prior to our end of year AGM in the meantime please reach out to Megan, Patrick and I if you want to have an initial chat about a board submission or the opportunities around subcommittee roles.  

On behalf of the board our sincere thanks to each and every one of our IABC NSW members, for your advocacy, dedication and for the #unityincommunity. Thank you. 

Our thanks as always to the Salt & Shein team for their continued sponsorship and support. 

Keep an eye out on our newsletters, emails from your buddies and our events page. We look forward to delivering another wonderful 6 months for each and everyone of our members and wider comms community.