A Message from IABC Greater Cincinnati Chapter President

November 2021

Dear Members,

It’s hard to believe we’re already in the closing months of the 2021. For many of us, the last two years have been a whirlwind of personal and professional adaptation. It’s been exciting and encouraging to see the communications field evolving and elevating our profession during this time, further demonstrating how important our roles are to all types of businesses—and never more so than during times of uncertainty and crisis.

Your chapter leaders have spent the last couple of months evaluating how IABC can best be a resource for our colleagues in the Cincinnati and Dayton areas--and beyond. The shift to virtual work has also forced our chapter to change how we do things, the types of topics we cover, and the resources we offer. It felt like the right time to take a close look at the chapter can best serve our members. 

As a result of this planning, our chapter will focus this year on:

• advocacy
• community service
• career development

All three of these are pillars of IABC’s international strategic plan. You’ll see these themes repeated throughout everything we do this year, from programs to content on our website. Here’s a preview of how we’ll be bringing these to life over the next year or so:

Career Development

• Virtual program: We’ll continue to offer programs virtually at least through the end of this year, after which we’re hoping to be able to do hybrid events.
• Increased collaboration: You’ll also notice more collaboration, both with other professional organizations and with colleagues from other cities. This is one of the silver linings of doing things with a virtual component!
• Redefine networking: We’re going to redefine “networking” to fit the current times by introducing new ways to make meaningful connections and learn from leaders in our field.
• Global Communication Certification: Have you ever considered being professionally certified? Well, 2022 will be a great time to do that. Greater Cincinnati will host a certification work group and exam.
• Fuel the Future: Our chapter will pilot a new mentoring and scholarship program for young professionals called “Fuel the Future.” Look for more information about this soon.
• Career assessment tool: Don’t forget to check out the new Career Assessment available through IABC. It’s a great tool to identify your strengths and opportunities as a communicator and can also serve as a career development conversation starter.

Community Service and Advocacy

• Chapter DEI: Jackiedra Wilson, the chapter’s immediate past president, will continue her leadership of a Declaration on the importance of communications in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives.
• Share your expertise: One of our programs will be a Gift of Communications event to support a local nonprofit group.

As always, this chapter is nothing without all of you.

We look forward to involving all of you in these exciting new initiatives.

You can contact us if something here piques your interest, or if you have an idea for a program. The entire board is excited to see where our chapter goes next, and we hope you are too!

Connie Feick
Chapter President