Why is Leduc different from any other small city? How should our region market our competitive advantages? What should cities and regions do to attract visiotrs and investment? Come see Roger Brooks, author of Your Town: A Destination – The 25 Immutable Rules of Successful Tourism at an exclusive presentation, co-sponsored by the City of Leduc and the Leduc-Nisku Economic Development Authority.

Roger Brooks is one of the most sought-after keynote speakers in the world for community development organizations, business and trade associations, and non-profit and government organizations. This is a must attend event for municipal leaders and anyone involved in marketing, communications or economic development.

Date: Thursday, May 24, 2012

Time: 7 p.m.

Location: Telford House – 4907 46 Street, Leduc AB

To register: click here

Join IABC Edmonton as we wrap the 2012 Capital Awards Gala in the grace and glamour of Old Hollywood. It will be a summer night of magic. Mix and mingle, and see the very best work of Edmonton’s professional communications community.

Imagine a night of peers, prospects, clients, and potential future employers. Is it a dream? No, it’s the Capital Awards Gala, hosted by IABC Edmonton — the fifth largest chapter in the world, with more than 430 active (and exceptionally attractive) members! That’s a room full of new Facebook friends to forward cute puppy pictures to… and network with. What are you waiting for?

Visit capitalawardsgala2012.eventbrite.com to register.

The proposed IABC Edmonton board of directors slate for 2012-2013 is as follows:

President: Justin Archer
Executive Vice President: Vania Asenova
Past President: Kate Lister
Administration: Carmen Bara
Communications/Marketing: Karen Lamminen and Erika Madsen
Finance: Chris Henderson
Membership: Natalie Brykman
Professional Development: Andrea MacDonald and Celine Brassard-Richter
Special Events & Capital Awards: Kristen Herman and Maya Filipovic
Sponsorships: James Murgatroyd and Ashley Warnock
Student Development: Fraser Logan
Volunteers: Marcie Richardson
Website Special Project: James Smith

The 2012 IABC Edmonton Annual General Meeting will be held next month as part of our Capital Awards Gala. A quorum of 20 members is required to attend the AGM.

Date: June 5, 2012
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: TransAlta Arts Barns (10330 84 Avenue)

To view last year’s AGM minutes, click here. To view the 2012 AGM agenda, click here.

Registration for the Gala/AGM will be available shortly, so please check back for more details.

Join IABC Edmonton for our upcoming PD session with Todd Todd Babiak, co-founder of Story Engine, Edmonton Journal columnist and bestselling author! Attend this session to learn more about the role of narrative in the communications industry, including the characteristics of a good story and the importance of corporate storytelling.

A Story About Stories with Todd Babiak
Date: May 3, 2012
Time: 12:00 p.m. to 1:15 p.m.
Location: Royal Glenora Club, 11160 River Valley Road NW
To register: click here

Want to lead instead of follow? Want to be better at leading the pack?

Get ideas on what makes for great leadership at the 12^th annual 2012 Chick-Fil-A (CFA) Leadercast, hosted by University of Alberta’s Faculty of Extension May 4, 2012.

Twelve years ago, best-selling author and leadership expert John Maxwell envisioned a leadership forum that people from every background could attend. The vision birthed Leadercast, a simulcast held every May that connects some of North America’s most successful leaders in Atlanta, Georgia to 125,000 leaders at 600 sites around the world.

Some of the 2012 Leadercast speakers include:

• John Maxwell, author of The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership
• Tim Tebow, NFL quarterback and author of Through My Eyes
• Angela Ahrendts, CEO of Burberry
• Urban Meyer, head football coach of Ohio State University
• Soledad O’Brien, CNN anchor and special correspondent
• Patrick Lencioni, president of The Table Group and author of Getting Naked
• Andy Stanley, author of The Next Generation Leader

Edmonton’s Leadercast guests will enjoy a catered breakfast and lunch at the Westin Hotel (10135 100 Street). IABC members get a 10% discount by reserving their seat through 780-492-3027.

Got questions? Want to volunteer? Call Jason Mills at 780-492-5600 or e-mail jason.mills@ualberta.ca.

Enthusiastic communicators attended IABC Edmonton’s professional development session on creating an award-winning Capital Awards entry on Wednesday, April 4. It was an invaluable opportunity to hear submission tips from four Capital Awards judges and past winners.

Capital Awards judges Terese Brasen, President, Brasen Communications, and Jayne Buryn, Manager, Client Relations, Tax and Revenue Administration, have decades of combined communications experience and a wealth of practical advice, including:

• Ensure communication plan elements are clear. This is especially true for goals versus objectives, and strategies versus tactics. Judges are surprised how commonly foggy these elements are.
• Did your work achieve a behavioural change? Judges want to see that you asked good questions and concentrated on outcomes versus outputs. You can create beautiful tactics (outputs), but if it didn’t achieve results (outcomes) than your plan wasn’t a success.
• Measurement – As an extension of the two previous bullets, ensure you include a way to gauge your success. Reminder: “The client was happy” isn’t a measurement.
• Give the judges a good sense of your challenge. You know your audience, but the judges don’t. Tell the judges about your demographics, or other background that helps to show why you did what you did. However, ensure it is concise. Judges can’t spend hours trying to distill your challenge or understand your jargon.
• Follow the submission requirements of each category. Requirements are different so ensure you read carefully. Submissions that don’t meet requirements (including if you answered all the questions) will be disqualified. Judges also notice when you push boundaries (e.g., modify paragraph spacing and margins to make your text fit) and this can leave an unfavourable impression on your submission as a whole. However, judges equally notice when you have an attractive submission.
• Create work year-round that you would want to submit for the Capital Awards. You should constantly push yourself to create award-winning work. Following some of the tips above will help make future submissions a breeze.
• Ensure you have permission to make a submission. This is a reminder especially for agencies who want to submit client work.

Margaret Ward-Jack, Director of Communications, College & Association of Registered Nurses (CARNA) of Alberta, and Megan Thorburn, Communications Advisor, WCB-Alberta, walked through their award-winning submissions from last year, and included many of the elements mentioned by Terese and Jayne.

What impressed the judges with these submissions:

CARNA: Expert caring campaign

• A clear need was identified and addressed
• A  thorough workplan addressed all the questions a judge would have
• Evaluation was rigorous and showed results – a baseline survey and focus groups were included
• They used a variety of media for different audiences
• They put themselves to the test with the success of the program, and they succeeded

WCB-Alberta: Case Manager Professional Enrichment Symposium

• The submission was clearly written and presented, with strong, measureable objectives
• Objectives addressed how people think, and helping them think differently
• Budget was included – judges look at whether or not you met your budget, no matter the size of your plan
• Both the work plan and work samples were crisp and well-executed

There were also a few important reminders at the end of the session, including:

• The online awards submission system – Last year IABC Edmonton created the first online system in Canada. You don’t have to fiddle with binders, page protectors and handwritten forms. You can put everything together at the comfort of your desk.
• Win or not, submitters receive valuable feedback from the judges – Your submission is reviewed by two judges who will tell you what (if anything) was missing, and how to make your work stronger in the future. This will also help you take your work to the next awards level, such as the Silver Leaf (national) and Gold Quill (international).

Submissions are accepted until 11:59 p.m. on April 27. For complete details, including categories and submission requirements, visit our Capital Awards section on the website. Questions on submitting a Capital Award entry? Contact us at edmonton-info@iabc.com.

Finally, time to celebrate your work! Don’t forget to dry clean your evening wear for the Gala on Tuesday, June 5, 2012.

Despite Mother Nature’s best efforts, the April 5th IABC Edmonton Professional Development session was a full house. Eager communicators from various sectors braved the roads and sloppy conditions to see Ryan Williams and Tyrell Mara from Tekara Inc. talk about Driving Impact Through Great Research.

Ryan began the session with an in depth look on measurement strategy, getting the attendees involved by asking them questions and engaging conversation. He discussed social media measurement tools and ensured those who were intimidated by the lengthy list of websites that it isn’t necessary to know or use them all. “Know what you are trying to measure first. Then search for the tool.”

He went on to discuss the importance of listening. How companies fail with their communication strategies because they insist on constantly selling to their community through social channels instead of listening or engaging them.

Most companies view measurement as the final step to a campaign process. Ryan recommend doing it first. It will allow you to fully understand what your market is saying, doing, and how they are connecting. This will then help shape all strategies moving forward.

Tyrell concluded the luncheon with a brief, but poignant discussion more focused on social media. He shared lessons on raising engagement and stressed the difference between the quantity and the quality of social followers. He shared a case study from his own company where he helped build the engagement of his colleagues to post and share more thought leadership which resulted in developing a strong and highly engaged community for Tekara Inc.

Based on the past IABC survey, we’ve learned that our members love summarized “Top 5” lists. So Ryan and Tyrell were kind enough to give us one.

The top five research tips to impact your communications:
1. Aim to see the world through the eyes of your audience
2. The research process changes those who participate
3. The research process will focus your thinking
4. Use multiple sources of information to increase the strength of your evidence
5. Research involves people in your communications and predisposes them to change in attitude or behaviour

It was a fantastic presentation on a topic every communicator is hungry for. I recommend following Ryan (@Willy26) and Tyrell (@TyrellMara) on Twitter to gain further insights and to ask them questions as you build your own strategic measurement plans.

The final Professional Development session is May 3 and will focus on “Storytelling.” Make sure to watch your inboxes for information.

The Association of Canadian Advertisers are conducting three courses at Grant MacEwan University. IABC Edmonton members receive a discounted rate.

Course: Fundamentals of Advertising
Date and Time: May 15-16, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Description: This practical and interactive course is designed to enhance the marketers’ understanding of the essential role marketing communication plays in the marketing mix.
Cost for IABC Edmonton members: $880 + GST
For more information, click here.

Course: Brand Leadership
Date and Time: June 7, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Description: This interactive, one-day course will use examples and case studies, group discussion and exercises, as well as presentation of material, to discuss what makes a strong brand and some important considerations when building a brand.
Cost for IABC Edmonton members: $560 + GST
For more information, click here.

Course: Building a Marketing Plan
Date and Time: May 31, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Description: This unique, interactive ACA course offers the fundamentals of an effective marketing plan, with insight from case studies and examples of market success.
Cost for IABC Edmonton members: $560 + GST
For more information, click here.

Traditional doesn’t cut it anymore.  Amidst plans, deadlines and meetings, you can’t help but wonder: “How relevant is the employee newsletter? What do execs really think we do?  What do front-line managers need to serve customers?”

This hands-on, case-based workshop, guides you through the new internal communication measurement.  You’ll walk away knowing how to pitch, position, plan and promote using research best practices.

How to Audit Communication Programs – Driving Impact through Great Research
Date: April 5, 2012
Time: 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Location: Royal Glenora Club, 11160 River Valley Road NW
To register: click here

About the Presenters:
Ryan Williams, M.A., ABC
Ryan specializes in organizational communications, research and leadership development. He has won three IABC Gold Quills and was recognized by IPR with their Golden Ruler. His experience has involved strategy development, communication audits, change management, and employee engagement. This experience has been working with a variety of clients including some of the Fortune 500 and Vancouver based non-profits. Ryan is currently the communications practice leader with Tekara Organizational Effectiveness and is president of TWI Surveys. This past year, Ryan has chaired the Research Committee for the IABC Research Foundation.

Tyrell Mara, M.A.
Tyrell Mara is a social media marketing strategist who helps professionals and organizations work through the process of building, implementing, and integrating social media and digital marketing strategies. Currently, Tyrell is the communications and marketing manager at Tekara Organizational Effectiveness in Vancouver, BC. Tyrell has an undergraduate degree in business management from Portland State University and an MBA in entrepreneurship from Trinity Western University.