Would anyone like to explain the point of the IABC eXchange?

I stumbled into the IABC eXchange (that's how they spell it) today. Had a look around, came out and walked around some, then went back in. Wasn't any better.

Is there a point I am missing?

Here's the gush from the first page (which features a really tacky blue background and weird fonts):

IABC eXchange is an online tool for networking and collaboration. Developed based on member feedback, the IABC eXchange allows you to create member-only discussion groups, private working groups, and blogs that the whole world can view and comment on.

You have the power to designate who can join your conversation: Grant co-author access to fellow members, allow others to submit entries that require your approval to be posted, or make it a personal platform for sharing your ideas and opinions. The IABC eXchange also lets you create a personal profile, including a photo and information about your areas of interest to help you connect with your fellow members.

Stripped up of the really bad copywriting, I think it says "You can create an open, moderated or closed blog. You can put your photo and personal information on it, too."

Yeah, and I can do that in Facebook, Twitter and the blog you are reading, too.

But since I like playing with social media and trust IABC to guide me to communication nirvana, I jumped straight to the next page (which reverts to the standard IABC layout and fonts), where I was told:

The IABC eXchange is an online tool for networking and collaboration created exclusively for IABC members. Create your own blog, form private work groups or special interest groups with other members and share best practices. Make your pages visible to the world or only to selected members. Whether it's work related, IABC-related or purely personal, the IABC eXchange gives you the power to express yourself. Be Heard®

What the fuck? They just said that. But let's push on... The next page flips to stripped down, Times NewRoman font, in black and white. My choices are: 1) start a public blog or 2) start an IABC only blog. Since I already have a public blog, it would seem pointless to start a new one. On the other hand, creating a private blog for 13000 people in 70 countries seems even more pointless. So let's go with public.

A few steps later, I had an official, certified, IABC blog. How far IABC has come!

Technorati : iabc, iabc exchange, international association of business communicators

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 11:31pm in IABC, Social Media, Social Tools | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (16) | TrackBack (0)

IABC to work with Habitat for Humanity before 2007 New Orleans conference

This just in on an all-member IABC email:

New Orleans, Louisiana is the site of IABC’s 2007 International Conference on 24-27 June, where IABCers will take part in restoring New Orleans after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. In March 2007, IABC will recruit a healthy (and heat-resistant) team of volunteers and staff to partner with Habitat for Humanity on Friday, 22 June and Saturday, 23 June to rebuild homes in a recovering New Orleans neighborhood.

I think that is splendid. I was critical of IABC last year when it failed to respond vigorously to the disaster. While the organization (actually, the affected region) raised some money, it ignored ideas such as restocking the professional libraries of displaced professionals (which it could have easily done from inventory). And since IABC leaders actually had to evacuate New Orleans in front of Katrina, I've always wondered why five bright communicators, at the top of the profession, stuck in a 20-hour car ride to Baton Rouge, could not have come up with some ideas.

Now IABC is going up on the scoreboard. And I'm happy. Get ready to sign up.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 07:00pm in IABC, Katrina | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (5)

Responding to bloggers: "not our job" say IABC Dallas members?

[Update: I left out a crucial not in my original post. It is inserted below. Ok, who said proofreading was a part of the job?]

46% of IABC Dallas communicators say "ignore" angry bloggers, or fob them off on the customer relations department. Only 42% realize it might be a good idea for the media relations department to respond.

So reports The Bulldog Reporter on July 7:

"The results are surprising, especially since bloggers are gaining prominence as valid media outlets and/or story sources for mainstream media, said Roy Miller, president of Dallas/IABC. "Corporate communicators must accept and acknowledge a blogger's ability to spread information––the good, bad and the ugly. Ignoring them and not responding quickly just sets up an organization to be, best case, inaccurately represented—worst case, to be demonized. Treat bloggers with the same respect and responsiveness you'd have for any member of the media.

The online poll, which ran June 1 to July 1, asked more than 300 communicators to choose one response to the question, "Who should respond to angry external bloggers—media relations or customer service?" The results:

• 46 percent of respondents believe bloggers should be ignored, or managed by customer relations departments
• 42 percent say bloggers should be handled by media relations representatives
• 6 percent say neither of these departments should handle angry bloggers
• 6 percent say they don't know"

While my first reaction was "this is disturbing," a second glance tells me the results may not
be all that scandalous. First, in most companies, customer relations is the best place to address angry customers (whether they blog or not). Second, the correct answer -- which wasn't offered -- is "media relations should be monitoring the situation, and media relations and customer relations should jointly decide the who, how, and what of the response."

However, I would like to see the original poll. If "ignore" was an option alone, and any communicators voted for that -- well, they'd better wake up while they still have a job. And the 6% who say "I don't know," had better start forming an opinion PDQ.

Technorati Tags: IABC Dallas, Bulldog Reporter, social media polls, customer relations, media relations

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 09:36am in IABC, Public Relations | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (5)

Heads up, friends: IABC handouts, AAF videos online

The International Association of Business Communicators recently held its conference in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Speaker handouts are online.

The next weekend, the American Advertising Federation held its conference in San Francisco. It filmed some of its presenters, and has published an archive.

I've been browsing both, comparing the social media/live web presentations, and am concluding that IABC was streets ahead of AAF this year (a turn-around from 1995, where AAF had a firm handle on "Web/Internet" when IABC attendees were walking out on John Perry Barlow).

It's an hour, but here is one of the AAF presentations. For info purposes only, PR practitioners might want to have a look at how some of our ad comrades are approaching social media.

Hat tip to my dad.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 07:52pm in Advertising, Communication Skills, Conferences, IABC | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (5)

Chat #4 at Better Desirable Roasted Communication Café Podcast

In today's chat, Allan and Lee talk about some of the running themes of the IABC International Conference.

• Social Media & Web 2.0: Communicators know about it, but want to know a lot more.
• "Can I have a seat at the table?": the perennial plea of communicators gets cold water thrown on it.
• IABC leadership wants 20,000 members, but is rather silent about how to achieve that.
• Allan and Lee hope to be in New Orleans at the next conference.

People, organizations and places mentioned in today's convo: IABC, IABC International Conference, Neville Hobson, Shel Holtz, Joseph Thornley, Rodney Gray, Shelley Bird, Vancouver, New Orleans.

The conference was extensively live-blogged by Joseph Thornley.

Download [8mb] and listen right now, and don’t forget to subscribe to the RSS feed to catch every sparkling discussion as Allan and Lee pass the coffee pot around. And if you are an iTunes user, you can find our podcast on the iTunes Music Store (for free, of course!).
Agree with us? Disagree? Drop your comments on this post, or send a Waxmail to ‘comments at commscafe dot com’.

Our next chat is planned for Tuesday, June 13. Drop by!

Technorati Tags: IABC, Rodney Gray, shel holtz, neville hobson, shelley bird, joseph thornley, allan jenkins, lee hopkins

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 08:46pm in IABC, Podcasting | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (0)

Hobson/Holtz/Jenkins Social Media Handout

Neville Hobson invited Shel Holtz and me to join him for a panel discussion about social media here at IABC's International Conference.

We weren't sure how many to expect, but wound up with a standing-room only crowd of 100-120 for the 3-hour session.

Here's the handout... feel free to contact any of us about it. Joseph Thornley liveblogged the session in two parts.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 12:37am in Conferences, IABC | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (3)

2nd Idea for IABC Scandinavia: get local

Two weeks ago, I pledged to offer IABC Scandinavia 12 suggestions for building membership.

After a first suggestion (Start a blog, which drew attaboys from IABC members and was panned by IABC European leadership) I missed last week, between deadlines and a national holiday. But I'll throw out two this week, and then we are back on track next week.

Suggestion No. 2 Be far more local.

IABC, like Rotary, like scouting, like most political parties, operates at several different levels.

1) International: policy, strategy, budgets, global professional development. Boring (except for global PD), but necessary.

2) Regional: membership, chapter support, opening new markets, regional professional development. More fun! And necessary!

3) Local chapter: networking, local professional development, mentoring and being mentored, comraderie, smart thinking on local communication issues. Real value for IABC dues, and lots of fun.

The most important, for building membership, is the local level. We all know this. Members, living or working in a small geographic area, most of whom know each other (or of each other), who have a common purpose "on the ground," are the members who a) enjoy the benefits of membership most, and b) evangelize so much that they attract other members.

Who of us joined Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts or whatever to get the national magazine? You joined because you were in a troop and it was fun.

IABC Scandinavia misses this point, which is why the "chapter" is failing. It should look for instruction to successful chapters in the US and Canada.

First, the geographic catchment area of IABC Scandinavia is enormous, covering an area the size of the Eastern United States. It contains, at last count, 35 members -- to put this in perspective, some office buildings in Toronto contain more than 35 IABC members. This is not a group that can come together regularly or on any sort of short notice.

Second, most members do not know one another, and never will. And why should they? They don't share a common culture, don't speak the same language except in the broadest of terms, and don't move in the same business circles. Hell, they don't even read the same newspapers.

The result? None of the criteria for a successful local chapter are met: small geographic area, members knowing or knowing of each other, common ground from which to work. The results speak for themselves: IABC Scandinavia has had three sparsely attended meetings in 18 months, three all-member emails and... well, that's it.

So, on to my suggestion. Maintain the pretence of a "Scandinavian" chapter if you must, but concentrate on building lots of activity in the local centers of membership: Greater Copenhagen/Malmö, Greater Stockholm, Greater Oslo. Let the locals organize meetings and seminars amongst themselves -- encourage them to do so. By being actively involved in IABC -- and active involvement means more than 2 meetings a year in some city 500 miles away -- they become IABC evangelists. Which builds membership.

In fact, take it a step further: declare an ambition to split IABC Scandinavia, the "on-paper" chapter, into three or more real chapters by the end of 2007. Let the Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Oslo groups build themselves up to 20-25 members -- not a difficult goal -- and form chapters of their own. The result for IABC: three active chapters, instead of one that never got off the ground. The result for local members: a much more interesting and rewarding way to be a part of IABC.

Readers, friends, IABC members, PRSA members, Little League coaches... please offer your suggestions and criticisms.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 11:24am in Communication, IABC, IABC Scandinavia | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (7)

1st Idea for IABC Scandinavia: start a blog

"Booo"... I can hear to the rafters already, as you all say "too easy..."

But hear me out a minute.

Most blogs are personal. Most blogs deliver the highly opinionated view of one person. In fact, blog "purists" would prefer it that way.

But I look back on the many organizations I've been a part of. Scout troop, fraternity, community group, IABC committees and boards, political party groups -- every single one had a problem with timely communication. In most cases, there was a will to communicate, but poor technical channels. A group blog would have solved a lot of problems,

Bad comms is a killer. In an organization like IABC Scandinavia -- a handful of members spread over tens of thousands of square kilometers -- it is  a killer if you cannot communicate.

A blog could be the answer.

Set up a blog, give all the regional leaders author rights. For that matter, give every member author rights.  Invite and encourage members to write in. Make it loose and unofficial. Sure, that's where you announce the next meeting. But it's also where you critique the meeting. Or announce a job opening.

Let me answer some of the obvious questions:

1) What if we don't have much to say? If you open authorship to all the members, you will find that other people have a lot to say.

2) We will need to monitor the conversation. No, we elected you as leaders. We monitor you, not the other way around.

3) Sounds like a lot of IT expense? Can be set up in an hour. And I, Allan Jenkins, will pay for the first two years of hosting. Free gift.

4) We already use email... shouldn't we keep that? Anything posted can be reformed to email, so that's not an issue. At any rate, within a year or two, all savvy communicators will prefer RSS.

5) No other chapter does this? Fine.... for once, be in front.

Price? Peanuts. Time to set up? About an hour.

Readers... Pile in with your views.

Suggestion No. 2? One week from today,.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 11:13pm in Communication, IABC, IABC Scandinavia | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (8)

12 ideas for IABC Scandinavia, in 12 weeks

Recently I poked fun at the idea of an IABC Scandinavia chapter. It was just a poke:  While I still think it a poor idea, it's a done deal, and the only thing is to try to make it work.  In the best case, it could maybe work; in the worst case, it could prompt a couple of cohesive chapters.

Poking, though, rubbed a lot of folks the wrong way. One IABC Scandinavia officer sent me a mash note indicating that being an American was in bad taste, and that being a blogger was in bad taste, and being both was in exceedingly bad taste.

More recently, I tweaked my chapter president and regional director about providing more information about IABC's Annual General Meeting & the issues to be discussed there.  By the time they got around to replying to me -- I'll get back to you in "due time" was one response -- my patience had run out, so I approached Chairman Bickford and Vice-Chairwoman Holmes. Both responded in hours, and now you can all see the IABC Annual General Meeting agenda here if you are a member.

But here's the rub.

Both my chapter president and regional director implied my criticism of IABC Scandinavia is insufficiently constructive.  Now, I know many of you are thinking, "What? Not a chance!" But let us accept for the moment that Allan Jenkins may not have been sufficiently constructive enough. What then?

Well, once a week, for 12 weeks, starting tomorrow, I will offer a suggestion to IABC Europe and IABC Scandinavia leadership  about how they can better engage, communicate with, and attract members like me.

I invite my readers to sail in on these suggestions -- praise, roasts, and helpful modifications are all welcomed. You don't need to be an IABC member.  You don't need to be Scandinavian.

At the end of 12 weeks, IABC Scandinavia will have 12 heavily edited suggestions for building membership and a bunch of us will have thought a lot about non-profit communication.

This is, of course, not about IABC Scandinavia... they are just a catalyst. We all have organizations, associations, Little League clubs -- you name it -- that need to think through how to attract, seduce, keep and serve members.

Will you join me?

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 11:24pm in IABC, IABC Scandinavia | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (5)

Suzanne Salvo, IABC award-winning photographer, launches blog

One of the pleasant outcomes of the recent DRC+Ragan diplomatic problem was running across Suzanne Salvo, a former colleague from the IABC International Executive Board, and a Gold Quill award winner (several times, I believe). Suzanne blogs now -- with photos the rest of us would take if we had the right eye and the right lenses --- and it's a pleasure to read.

Technorati Tags: suzanne salvo, iabc

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 08:41pm in Bloggers, IABC | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (3)

IABC Scandinavia to feature Arla communicator at presentation

[Update: Neville Hobson, former IABC Europe Director, in a comment to this post (see below) points out two websites for IABC Scandinavia:

http://europe.iabc.com/scandinavia/
http://www.iabc.com/about/leaders/index.cfm?vch=CH-12-773

neither of which are mentioned in the invitation or cover email, which is just as well, since neither is the paragon of information. He goes on to note that the VP of Communication could use some help -- hey, Neville, I've offered three times.

By zooming the .pdf document to 125%, I discover another link, this time to www.iabcscandinavia.com! But don't bother clicking... it comes up 404.

I've just checked the prices for a flight... US$ 210, plus transport to and from the venue, plus a whole day's downtime? For an hour's speech? Not bloody likely.]

This just in...

IABC Scandinavia, a chapter whose existence I was beginning to doubt (it has no website, no visible leadership, no dues, no newsletter, no meeting schedule, 25 putative members, most of whom have never met, and a catchment area the size of the entire US east of the Mississippi River) is stirring itself. At least for a day.

An email arrived today with this news: On April 28, in Stockholm, IABC (I assume the chapter and not the entire organization), is holding a meeting/presentation.

Keynote is Arla's besieged communcation head Astra Gade Nielsen, who will discuss what it's like to have her job when Arla is having the worst three months of its history. She's going to be discussing the backlash against Arla in the Middle East (because of the Mohammed cartoon affair), but I hope someone grills her on Arla being convicted of criminal unfair trade practices. Her masterful glossing of that off the front page would be worth hearing about.

What's unfortunate is the invitation includes zero information about IABC the international association.

None at all. No numbers to call, no email addresses, no website to visit. As a communication about our association, it is appalling.

Moreover, the "cover" email (the invitation itself is .pdf; go figure) features a broken link to IABC, calls IABC an "interesting network" -- surely we are more than that, despite our many faults -- makes no mention of IABC's global presence, offers no information on how (or why) to join, never mentions IABC Europe's conference Eurocomm or IABC's International Conference.

In short, if one purpose of a chapter is to make members enthusiastic and to attract new members... this chapter is not on the rails, yet, by a long shot.

And... I will just say this one more time. With a catchment area the size of the US eastern seaboard, it's simply unrealistic to expect this chapter to work. I ask my US readers: Would your employer -- say you live in Atlanta -- relish the idea of your spending a day flying to and from Chicago to attend a 2-hour IABC chapter meeting? My Netherlands readers: will you be taking a day off from consulting to fly to Berlin for a 2-hour meeting? And Lee in Adelaide... what are the chances of you flying to Melbourne for an IABC lunch meeting?

No, IABC Scandinavia is largely the result of a collision of ego and unbounded optimism.

What IABC should do is work hard to create chapters in Oslo, Stockholm, and Copenhagen -- and this is doable over a couple of years, if IABC wants to put its heart into it.

But trying to get 25 members to fly 500 miles for lunch meetings is not going to walk.

Technorati Tags: IABC, IABC Scandinavia, Arla Foods

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 07:42am in IABC, IABC Scandinavia | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (3)

IABC wipes out deficit

IABC, the International Association of Business Communicators, now has a surplus.

Excellent news.

If you aren't familiar with IABC, you may be scratching your head. A few years ago, the association's leadership discovered serious problems in the association's finances. The association was running at a loss and, believe it or not, the association's chairman and finance director just sort of stumbled over this salient fact by accident -- they asked questions no one had thought to ask before ("Uhm... how much money do we have in the bank?").

Since then, IABC has struggled to survive. 500 members injected $1000 each to keep IABC afloat*. International conference has been shortened. IABC staff have gone without raises and have had to cover work they didn't sign on for. IABC president Julie Freeman has had the thankless -- and one hopes she gets a lot of thanks now -- task of managing the demands of critical officers** while providing services to members and keeping her staff from abandoning the boat.

And, now, the deficit is retired.

IABC Chairman Warren Bickford, IABC Treasurer Scott Cytron, and IABC President Julie Freeman have done good work. Thank you.

*but we did get membership for life.

**I was IABC's first elected Treasurer.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 01:05pm in IABC | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (3)

There's a new blog in town: NevilleHobson.com

Friend Neville Hobson -- oh, you don't know Neville? The guy, the guru, the mentor who has pretty much created whatever awareness European biz has for social media? Yes, that guy -- has a new blog at NevilleHobson.com.

Now, I am hard to please. I spend way too much time mentally out there the edge, so when I come home, I want the books on the shelves to be where they were yesterday. I want easy. I want safe.

With Neville shifting from Nevon to NevilleHobson, a small but significant part of my world is turned on its head.

And I don't like it.

But that's just my own selfishness and... here's the thing... whatever shingle Neville puts out in front of the shop, it's worth my while -- it's worth your while -- to get in there and listen. You won't come out stupider, as we say down in the sticks, and you will probably learn something.

Neville! Keep on keeping on!

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 12:09pm in Communication, Communication Skills, Corporate Communication, IABC, Writing I Enjoy | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (2)

It's time for Warren Bickford to assess IABC

Straight out: Warren Bickford has done a good job of blogging as IABC chairman. He turned the effort around when it was reeling on its feet, and he's thrown out topics that are worth chewing on.

But.... it's not right, yet. The IABC Chairman's Blog, or Café, or whatever, is still not there.

He  recruited co-bloggers. That was a good move, but a decided failure. Keefe has contributed. So did Pizzo, until Katrina put him out of house and town. Barbara Gibson remains as invisible to the world as she is to IABC's European members.

Worse, IABC incoming-Chairman Glenda Holmes apparently has little to say informally to communicators. I expect a big speech in Vancouver, and fear that we will next hear from her at her farewell speech a year later.

And we still have no public declaration of how IABC is meeting its strategic plan. The plan -- which Warren wrote -- is specific in its goals and detailed in its execution. 20 thousand members, revenue surpluses,  year by year goals.  Naturally, much of it is confidential, although IABC members can access it on the site.

No word of that on the blog, or anywhere else on IABC's site. N0t g0od. Warren, Glenda: you can get this right. You can speak out freely, now, with your weblog. No need to "cascade" and "manage" the message down through the IABC org chart.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 04:08am in IABC, IABC Scandinavia | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (8)

Will you read your newspaper -- or Communication World -- in three years?

Update: this post bothered Steve Crescenzo, so he trashed it here. I gently lead him on the path of righteousness here.

John Wagner writes:

The other day, I found myself in the middle of a fairly enthusiastic discussion about the future of communication.

I could sense that my conversation partners didn't exactly agree with my take that the world is changing. Not that they disagreed ... they'd just never thought about the topic before.

There's much more.

John hits several points, but one that caught my eye was this:  Will [young people] ever read a newspaper? Wait three months for a newsletter to arrive in the mail? Spend a second of time -- or a dime of money -- on content they aren't passionate about?

John, I'll go you one better: will I read a newspaper? Wait three months for a newsletter? Spend time or money on content I'm not passionate about?

No!

1) Newspapers: I read two, Berlingske Tidende and Børsen -- two Danish dailies -- because they are so hopless in digital form. But as soon as they wake up and provide RSS feeds to subscribers, I won't touch their paper form.

2) Wait for a newsletter: emphatically no. In fact, I find myself furious and disgusted every time IABC's Communication World comes through the door, or its monthly e-edition hits my inbox -- since I have written for CW, I know the article appears weeks or months after the blogosphere has thoroughly dissected the issue.  Any day of the week, any IABC member can go into the blogosphere and find 50 better articles than CW publishes in a quarter.

Note to IABC: Communication World is a member benefit only for those who don't use the Internet.

3) Spend money on generic content? No, never, why should I? Why should anyone? Again,  turning to IABC: its  Communication World magazine, a thin thing with lots of irrelevant graphics, is free to members (who pay $200+ a year), but costs $150 a year otherwise.  In other words, IABC members wouldn't be out of place asking IABC to lower their dues and skip the CW -- why pay for content that would otherwise be free?

Links:

John's article: On Message from Wagner Communications: More Examples Of How The World Is Changing For Marketers.

IABC: IABC

Technorati tags:
IABC Communication World

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 12:01am in Communication, IABC, Society | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (3) | TrackBack (0)

Charles Pizzo to speak to IABC Scandinavia

IABC Scandinavia is hosting Charles Pizzo at a speaking engagement next month. The idea of a lot of Norweigian business communicators encountering Charles in the cold of an Oslo December is... well... different.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 11:38pm in IABC, IABC Scandinavia | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (0) | TrackBack (0)

Lee Hopkins: Now Also Blogging IT

Professor Lee Hopkins  has a new place to wreak havoc: The IT Toolbox stable of blogs, aimed at IT professionals. Now, you'd think they'd be making him pay rent, what with his attitude, but you know what? They're paying the man!

His first post: Want to communicate better with non-techies? Try this.... is a fine start.

I'll just whet your appetite with his opening lines:

"You probably know this already, but there are generally held to be four main personality types, which I call: Extrovert, Amiable, Analytical and Pragmatic.

"Let's take a moment to consider each of them in the workplace."

If you know Lee, you are already chuckling in anticipation. If you don't, go over and read it.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 07:35pm in Bloggers, IABC, Technology | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (0) | TrackBack (0)

Lesson for Communicators: Grassroots Tsunami Team Remobilizes For Katrina

What can ordinary people do in the face of catastrophe?

Jeremy Pepper and Richard Edelman believe natural disasters are events that leave bloggers and wiki-builders powerless.  Warren Bickford believes there's little that IABC can do. (Addendum: Jeff Jarvis is hard at work with a coterie to solve the next disaster -- Jeff, why don't you and your group help solve this one first: Keep reading for how you can volunteer.)

Nothing could be further from the truth: bloggers can make a difference. While I agree with Pepper that few bloggers seem to be doing more than complaining about government efforts,  I'd like to point out a huge exception.

I've written earlier about the incredible South East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami blog/wiki effort that went into action hours after the tsunami. Grassroots- organized using blogs, wikis, IM, and Skype. And effective at a time with most governments and relief organizations were in shock.

The same team has swung into action with the Katrina Help blog and wiki. The team, spanning three continents, including professional communicators, has used the blog, the wike, IM, and Skype to set up:

• A comprehensive blog, operating since August 29th.
• A wiki, updated seemingly hourly, with job offers, transportation offers, housing offers, updated emergency management information, info about conditions on the ground. Comunicators: PR-blogger Constantin Basturea is one of the moderators.
• A PeopleFinder effort to help locate missing persons and reunite them with families. They need volunteers, including communicators!
• A ShelterFinder effort: ditto above, you can volunteer.
• A KatrinaHelpLine, staffed 24/7 by volunteers. This is Skype-based, with a New Orleans area Skype-in number (+1 504 208 1564).

So what can IABC and its members, PRSA and its members, any communicator -- or any one of us, for that matter, do to help this effort?

• Well, we can donate your time. Plenty of information about that on the Wiki.
• We can also donate money or services to keep the effort going. It's a volunteer effort, and they are using free software (Blogger, Skype, etc) but there are some hosting costs. You can read more about their needs here. Microcontributions or contributions-in-kind appear welcome.

The lesson here for communicators? Bloggers and micro-media users -- real communicators -- can make a difference. It's a question of rapid organization and will. We don't have the tools is no longer an excuse for us.

Via Conversations with Dina and other sources.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 11:32am in Blogging for the Sheer Hell of It, Citizen Journalism, Communication, Current Affairs, IABC, Katrina, PRSA, Social Tools, South, Tsunami | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (5) | TrackBack (2)

PRblogs.org: Free Blogs for Practitioners, Educators, and Students

Robert French, who teaches PR at Auburn University in Alabama, USA,  has enough ideas for two people. His latest is PRblogs.org, a free ..  I love that word  .. free .. blog hosting setup for PR students, educators and practitioners.

How inspired is that?

After we spoke earlier today, Robert sent me some background on the idea.

"It is a free blog hosting service aimed at PR practitioners, educators and students.  Free blogs.  Non-profit.  Ad free.  Very niche. 

"This project now allows anyone to sign up with ease.  Just fill in three simple boxes and click one button. Automatic blog.  It uses WordPress Multiuser 1.6 (version 1.6-ALPHA-2).  That is, by the way, the same thing recently launched at WordPress.com

"I am very grateful to James Farmer of Melbourne, Australia. James, through BlogSavvy.net, is our partner in this  project.  James is an innovative advocate for CMS in education.  Please visit his site and blog at:  http://blogsavvy.net  and http://edublogs.org"

I love the idea, and I hope it blossoms and booms (note to IABC/ PRSA/ AAF members: take notes; your new hires are going to know all about social media, and they are going to eat old  media, cold media.. and old agencies for  lunch. It'll take awhile -- You haven't hit the iceberg, yet.)

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 07:03pm in Advertising, Blogging, Communication, Education, IABC, Marketing, Online Media, PRSA, Public Relations | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (1) | TrackBack (1)

Lee Hopkins Revamps his Better Communication Results Blog

Lee Hopkins (Australian communication thought-leader, blogger, podcaster (he also contributes to For Immediate Release), and IABC member) has redesigned his blog.

To great effect!

Lee's using photos with his blog posts; images that effectively reinforce his messages. I'll make a note of that, Lee. Because it works.

Most, if not all, of the PR blogging community, have nary an image on their blogs. I don't think it's conscious; it's just because we are naturally word people when we produce.

But Lee knows we are all, at some level, visual people when our attention is for rent. And makes nice use of it.

When I redesigned Desirable Roasted Coffee, Lee threatened to "tell Matron" on me. I got two words for you, Hopkins: Headmaster's Office. Right now.

Update: But, Lee.... choose those images with care. You don't want me to get Cheesy after your butt.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 06:54pm in Bloggers, IABC | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (1) | TrackBack (0)

IABC Networking

Charles Pizzo, blogging from the IABC International Conference, notes why conference is much more than the sessions: it's the networking:

"After many years on the IABC scene, I had the opportunity to escort a first time conference goer around the opening general reception. It was intriguing to see an IABC newcomer meet like-minded professionals, talk shop, and make new connections. He was excited; the IABC family is both welcoming and hospitable.

"We met another first time attendee from South Africa. As the two talked about Internet issues, and what they’re working on, you could see a connection forming. Jiyan is a specialist at monitoring and mapping the Internet, to help companies identify what it being said about them online by activists, customers, disgruntled employees and others. A light bulb went off for the lady, who said that South African companies need to start doing that - now that more of the population is commenting about everything and anything in online spaces.

"As the two exchanged business cards, I couldn’t help but think… 'aha, IABC is a meeting place where ideas and information flows.'"

Networking is a part of all conferences. But some associations have it in their conference culture to network -- and IABC is one of them (which is fortunate: if the conference program falls flat, you can always go out an meet someone).

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 08:59am in IABC | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (0) | TrackBack (0)

IABC Blogs Conference

Warren Bickford, IABC's incoming Chairman, "gets it".

When he took over the IABC Chairman's Blog a couple of months ago, he immediately renamed it the IABC Café. And let it be known that he was just the barista at this "gathering place for professional communicators".

Since then, a stream of posts about communication and IABC: mostly thoughtful, some quirky, some both.

I'd been wondering how he would handle the upcoming IABC conference. Conference is when incoming chairmen swell up a little. Get formal. Get serious. (Actually, it's worse for incoming vice-chairmen. They really swell-up. They shouldn't; and I refer them to Cactus Jack for insight).

Warren's approach is to gather a blogging team to cover the conference on his behalf. A Press Corps.

And it should be interesting: his team ranges from Blogging-4-Benjamins pseudo-blogger Debbie "it's nifty!" Weil (that Weil is leading a panel discussion on blogging at the conference is frightening) to PR-blogger A-lister Jeremy Pepper. If he's  letting them post whatever they write, it should be a highly entertaining show.

Update: When I screw up here on the blog, I like to do so spectacularly, in a truly big way. Anything else would be the easy way which, as Dick Nixon always liked to point out, is seldom the right way.

So when I mentioned Debbie Weil in my post, I really screwed up. I did so having always ignorantly and wrongly thought she blogged here. In fact, she blogs here, and does so with great aplomb. My deepest apologies to Weil.

And now that I have fully emptied my Karma account for the day, I think I'll go mix a G&T.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 09:12am in Blogging, Blogging for Benjamins, IABC | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (4) | TrackBack (0)

Warren Bickford Asks for Insight on the Top 5 Communication Trends

Warren Bickford, bartender at the IABC Café wants to know what 10 communications trends we face.

He didn't get much response until he belched, but now the ideas are flooding in.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 11:34pm in IABC | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (1) | TrackBack (0)

European IABC Members Take Notice

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 09:46am in IABC, IABC Scandinavia | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (1) | TrackBack (0)

IABC's Warren Bickford: Ragan Interview

Noting the remarkable relaunch of the IABC Café blog (formerly the IABC Chair's Blog), Ragan Report interviews IABC incoming Chairman Warren Bickford.

"In just over a month since taking over and making over the moribund blog of current Chairman Kistle, Bickford has aggressively tackled—and adeptly managed discussions on—tough topics related to IABC’s payment structure, the need for IABC to balance transparency with the need to keep competitive secrets secret and whether or not IABC should take public stands on mainstream business issues relating to communicators.

"Bickford’s new openness has completely transformed the publicly expressed mood about IABC from strident criticism to even more constructive conversation. Longtime member and one-time IABC leader Robert Holland, who recently declared his intention not to renew his membership has re-evaluated his position and told us he is re-upping, thanks in large part to “Warren’s demonstrated commitment to improved communication and his openness to exploring new ideas,” as Holland wrote on Bickford’s blog."

Warren has changed the public mood about IABC; I certainly feel much better about the association.
Link: Lawrence Ragan Communications, Inc. | The Ragan Report | | Publications::Article.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 06:17am in IABC | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (3) | TrackBack (1)

IABC's 55% Loan Business

My favorite professional association, IABC, has launched a new membership plan, whereby a new or renewing member can buy membership today, and spread the payments over the next three months. For a "fee" of US$ 20.

At first glance, that may seem like a sweet deal. Just as so many "buy now, pay later" deals seem sweet. After all,  it's not for nothing that some department store chains make more from lending than from selling.

We'll break this offer down. But first, let's dispel any notion that it's not a loan. Any service received today in exchange for a future stream of payments is a loan. You can call the extra payments interest,, processing costs, billing fees or whatever. The operative thing is: a product is being received today against a stream of future payments.

An easy test is this: Would I pay less by paying in full for the service now than I will by paying for it over time?  If "yes", you're about to take out a loan.

In this case, the member can choose to pay US$209 today or pay $57.25 today, and $57.25 on the first of the next three months.

Now the installment plan has a certain appeal, on its face, but is it a good deal? In this case, the member could go to his or her bank (or to Tony Soprano) and, if able to borrow at less than 55% per annum, would be "in the money" by doing so. Because this deal carries a 55.69% interest rate.

That is, if the member is in one of the countries where IABC charges "full dues". In many countries, including Canada and all of the developing world, IABC charges less in dues but still wants the $20 fee. In Canada, the "interest" on the deal is 70%, and in many of IABC's 60+ member countries, the interest rate is a whopping 131%.

Nice business? Fuggeddabboutit!

Some IABC observers note that the deal might be good for members who have no other way of financing their membership. Fair enough. But the rules state that the membership may only be paid by credit card. I doubt that the interest rate on that credit card exceeds 55%.

I don't care how members choose to enter IABC. Many may have good reason to join on the installment plan.

What I do care about is how the plan is communicated. Right now, it's being presented and defended as a "member service".

Come on! It may be a service to some members, but let's also point out that it's an expensive member service that the member is expected to pay dearly for.

IABC is an association.... 13,000 equals who have voluntarily banded together to promote their profession. It's not in our interest to try to foist an expensive loan -- 131% interest -- on new members while telling them "Hey, this is a benefit for you!".

Offer the deal? Sure! People may have any number of reasons for choosing it. Just be up front about the costs.

Disclosure: I am a former Treasurer of IABC and have chaired or served on all of its financial committees.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 09:50pm in IABC, IABC Scandinavia | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (2) | TrackBack (0)

Reboot: It's Spring and a Young Man's Fancy Turns to.....

At the height of the dot-com frenzy, in 1998, 1999 and 2000, spring in Copenhagen meant Reboot, the annual tech hypefest that drew crowds to its seminars, and even bigger crowds to its awards show and raucous -- the only word for it -- after-party.

We listened raptly to Justin Hall, though no one now quite knows why, and hung on Ann's every word.  And proceeded to be raucous until  the early AM.

If you were a client of web services, you received about a dozen invitations to be the guest of vendors, and if you were in an agency, you were there even if you were an intern hired that morning. The soberest of newspapers gave the event coverage usually reserved for the big events of real industries.

Thank God no one had camera-phones.

The bubble burst, of course, and that was that.

Last Friday,  enjoying conviviality in Copenhagen's Café Europa, either my friend or I asked "What happened to Reboot?" To which the other answered "Dead... gone".

But were we wrong.

Reboot 7.0 has been announced, with a vengeance. With a fine line-up of speakers, a good price, a two-day format, none of the glitz but all of the grit.

I was probably going to hit IABC's International Conference in DC, but I think I will use my conference budget on Reboot.

Posted by Allan Jenkins at 11:31am in Communication, Copenhagen, IABC, Technology | Permalink | Comments Welcome! (2) | TrackBack (0)

Warren Bickford Takes Over IABC Blog

Incoming IABC Chairman Warren Bickford has taken over the IABC Chair's Blog, which has been struggling since its launch last October.

And in doing so, he's redefining "Under New Management".

He's renamed the place the "IABC Café: a gathering place for professional communicators." That name fits well with his vision for the re-launched blog:

"A funky neighborhood spot where locals drop by for lively conversation and friendly argument, to catch up on their reading, or just to hang out and get away for a while", and where host Bickford can "talk about industry-related news and topics I find interesting... about what I am hearing from members (good and bad)... and generate discussion about IABC programs, services and new initiatives."

He also promises guest bloggers, saying he sees building the IABC Café as a team sport.

Skeptical IABC observers can't be faulted for taking a "wait-and-see" attitude, but Bickford shows strong signs of "getting it."

For one thing, his opening post shows he understands the blog needed an entirely new launch (he also had the blog redesigned into a much crisper layout).

Moreover, he's already put 13 blogs -- several of which have been critical of IABC recently, including Desirable Roasted Coffee -- onto his blogroll, and promises more. In other words, he's joining the community, not remaining aloof to it.

Finally, in two days, he's posted three substantial posts, including a