President’s Column – June 2014

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President’s Column
By Angela Byers, IABC Tulsa President

I just returned from IABC world conference in Toronto, Ontario where communications professionals gathered to learn from the best and brightest in our industry. There were over 2,000 registered attendees with representation from as far away as Africa, South America and Europe. Before the opening session, I joined a walking tour of beautiful downtown Toronto, and explored China Town, Kensington and Dundas districts. Toronto is a beautiful, clean and friendly city that reminded me of NYC in many ways. It was energizing to be around so many communications professionals. Those that I met are articulate, confident, and great thought leaders within their organizations. They are the voice of their companies and often the voice of their leadership. While we were in Toronto we went to sessions that taught us how to enhance our skills, create an authentic culture, generate employee engagement, and apply science to use our brain in new ways.

The keynote speakers included Lesley Jane Seymour from MORE Magazine, Gregg Lederman from Brand Integrity Group, Hayley Wickenheiser from the Canadian Women’s Olympic Hockey Team, and many more.

Shannon Frederick and Ginger Homan were officially slated into the regional and international board. Joe Williams and John Clemons were a raving success in their circle of fellows presentations. Ginger Homan accepted an Award of Excellence.

One of my favorite keynote speakers Mike Walsh. He is a leading authority on the digital future, the bestselling author of Futuretainment and the CEO of Tomorrow, a global innovation lab in Berkeley, Calif. His opening general session provided the excitement of scanning the near future for the next communication trends. He introduced a fresh, symbiotic way of looking at the relationships we have with our clients and customers. His opening keynote session on Sunday showed us that shifts in human behavior in relation to emerging technologies must inform our business transformations if we’re to truly serve our stakeholders.


 
Be sure and register for next year’s conference, which will be in San Francisco. You won’t want to miss it.

Proud to represent our great chapter,
Angela

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