October is membership month at IABC and there has never been a better time for me to put into words the value of my IABC membership. Before anyone calls me on a bias (I sit on the board for the Manitoba chapter) I’ll refer you to a LinkedIn post I wrote earlier this year about my struggle with finding the value in my membership.
For anyone who is on the fence about joining, keep reading.
It really is about who you know.
Winnipeg is a small city and the communications industry is a tight-knit field, but I guarantee you don’t know everyone. Meeting people with like mindsets holds huge potential for your personal networking and it might make you look like a hero at work.
What am I talking about?
The organization that I work for has worked with the company our board’s VP works for. Now that Roland and I sit on the board together, we’ve had all kinds of conversations about the cool new technology we could be using at events and for membership engagement. Roland and I were previously only distantly connected through work. Now we have partnership with the potential for huge returns on both sides (also he’s a cool dude with a cool last name.)
Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name.
Isn’t it so much better when you walk into a room full of people and have someone you can talk to? Of course it is. Involvement with IABC opens doors to volunteer opportunities like sitting on the board of directors and helping out at events. This significantly increases your chances of rockstar status.
What am I talking about?
We all have different reasons for joining committees, taking jobs or signing up to help. One of the great things about being involved with IABC is name recognition with employers. To be blunt: it looks darn good on a resume. Since most communicators have career ADD, you know you won’t be in your current role forever. Might as well look as good on paper as you do in your corner office!
You might end up eating tacos in the same room as two human bananas.
If you read this subtitle and thought “that sounds weird but also fun” then you get it. IABC is full of fun people who truly enjoy what they do and want to include others. I have sincerely never met a group of more welcoming individuals than the current IABC Manitoba board of directors. You won’t find any noses up in the air in this group.
What am I talking about?
At our first mixer of the 2016-17 season, our VP crawled on the floor to plug in the projector. Our President handed out crayons. Our marketing guru created a snapchat filter. I wore a banana suit. Do these people sound boring or pretentious? (Did I mention I wore a banana suit?) Our IABC chapter is making FUN happen everywhere we go!
A picture is worth a thousand words…and this is one BIG picture.
The first word in the acronym of IABC says it all: we’re international. The global picture of IABC is something that can’t be understated. Whether or not you’re hoping to move is irrelevant – the worldwide networking resources are invaluable. Got a problem that hasn’t been solved in Winnipeg yet? Maybe someone in Australia has an idea that could work.
What am I talking about?
I was struggling with a few career questions when I attended IABC World Conference this year and Canada’s First Lady of Communications answered the call. I got to sit down with her privately for an hour and learn from the best because, as she told me, “that’s the whole point of IABC!”
