New or lapsed members who join or re-join IABC during February will get the $40 application fee waived. The deadline to qualify is Feb. 28.

This promotion does not apply to renewing members, students or transitional members who are not required to pay the application fee.

BONUS – Get a Free Month or More
New/lapsed members who enroll in February will also receive one free month of membership for each new member that they recruit (up to one year of free membership). Recruited member(s) must enroll in February. Lapsed members who rejoin and recruit new members must be lapsed six months or more to qualify for the free month(s).

MEMBERSHIP DRIVE WINNER
Thank you to everyone who participated in the December IABC Tulsa Membership Drive! Of course, there could only be one winner for the iPad . . . Congratulations to Ashley Lorence, a new member!

Communicating Change: The Vital Role of the Business Communicator
Online sessions: Feb. 5 – Mar. 19
On-site session: Mar. 26, Atlanta

Experienced business communicators play a key role in major change projects in their companies or their clients. They benefit from having a deep and full exposure to the role of communication in change and the positioning of communication within a proven change management model.

This course is based on Managed Change™, a change management model that has been proven effective in all parts of the world. It will lay out the foundational principles and process of a well-managed change and position the communication element as a key component.

This foundation will be achieved through a set of six one hour e-learning modules reinforced with weekly real-time online web sessions. Upon completion of the Managed Change e-lesson participants will attend a one-day facilitated workshop focusing specifically on the tools and techniques of change communication and call upon the experience and expertise of the participants to apply those learning to their own situations.

As a result of attending this course you will be able to:

• Identify the core change communication principles based on a proven change management model: Managed Change;
• Position change communication in the change management process as a tool to prevent or reduce the risk of resistance;
• Demonstrate the use of change communication tools and templates to build a comprehensive communication strategy for changes of all size and impact.

Register at: http://www.iabc.com/education/ws/cc/program.htm

Wed., December 12, from 6 – 8 p.m.
Girouard Vines Winery
817 E. 3rd St., Downtown Tulsa

Join your friends and celebrate the season at the IABC Tulsa Holiday Party!

Come enjoy great wine and conversation at Girouard Vines, Tulsa’s only urban winery and creator of Tulsa Deco wines. The party is free for IABC Tulsa members, who may each bring one guest. Additional guests are $10.

Please be sure to RSVP. We’ll see you there!

We’ll also be collecting used communications-related books of all kinds to donate to students at a local university. This is a great way to clear off your bookshelves for a good cause!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year; and IABC Tulsa wants to help you be of good cheer!

Recruit a new member from Nov. 14 to Dec. 14 and both you and your new member will be entered into a drawing to win an iPad. In fact, your name will be entered for each new Tulsa chapter member you recruit. In addition, the Tulsa chapter will waive the $40 application fee.

To qualify, applications must be received at IABC’s San Francisco Headquarters office during the campaign dates. This promotion does not apply to renewing members.

To get your application, visit www.iabc.com/join. Once you’ve submitted your application, email Summer Austin at summer.austin@p66.com and let her know who recruited you. Members, feel free to email Summer too, once your recruit submits their application.

The winner will be notified Dec. 17 and announced in the December IABC Tulsa newsletter.

If we can recruit seven or more new members before the end of the year, Tulsa will move from a small to a mid-size chapter designation!

As an added prize, participate in December and you’ll also qualify for IABC’s Member-Get-A-Member promotion. Members who recruit new professional members will get three free months of membership for each new member they bring in, up to a full year at no charge. The promotion will begin Dec. 1 and run through the last day of December.

Wed., Dec. 12, from 1 – 5 p.m.
B.S. Roberts Room
OSU-Tulsa, 700 N. Greenwood

Volunteer Today!

IABC Tulsa will once again host A Gift of Communication – a way for us as communicators to give back to the community.

This event allows seasoned IABC professionals and other communicators to work with representatives from community charities and share their expertise – while at the same time learning valuable insight into the issues facing today’s nonprofits.

We invite you to attend this event and assist these deserving organizations who may not otherwise be able to afford communication consultation.

Here’s how it works

Three agencies have been selected to attend the December meeting to present their top two communication issues. This year the nonprofits represented will be:

Operation Aware – an award-winning non-profit organization that equips youth, through prevention education, with the knowledge and skills to make positive life choices.

Hospice of Green Country – a nonprofit established in 1985 by a grassroots effort among area physicians, social workers, nurses, community leaders, funders and volunteers to provide community-based nonprofit hospice care to a ten county area in northeastern Oklahoma.

Ability Resources – assists people with disabilities in attaining and maintaining their personal independence through the creation of an environment in which people with disabilities can exercise their rights to control and direct their own lives.

At the meeting, attendees will be able to work with the agency of their choice to solve their pressing communications-related issues.

This is a fun way to share your skills and solve some problems – and it feels good, too!

By Shannon Frederick, ABC, IABC Tulsa President

The tree is up and the stockings have been hung at my house. The pumpkin spice candles have (begrudgingly) been put away and the Christmas wreath now adorns the front door.

But, even with all of this Christmas cheer, my kids and I haven’t yet had the heart to dismantle our “grateful tree” that we built.

Allow me to explain… For the first time in my life, I cooked Thanksgiving dinner and hosted my family. This was a big event, and so my daughter decided to take this opportunity to prod our guests to remember the reason for the season. Thanks to some inspiration from Pinterest, we crafted a big, paper tree on the back door. Each guest was given several construction paper leaves to share the things for which they are thankful. By the end of the night, the tree was full of colorful leaves and wonderful sentiments. A week later, it’s still so beautiful that we just can’t bear to take it down.

You all might be pleased to know that IABC Tulsa has its own leaf on our family’s grateful tree – because it’s been another great year for this chapter.  In keeping with the tradition I started last year, here are just a few of the moments from 2012 for which I am thankful:

1. Attending IABC’s Leadership Institute in Miami in February with Director-at-Large Megan Lewis, and having the honor of accepting IABC Tulsa’s second Small Chapter of the Year Award. Then to top it off, Megan and I were invited to the stage four more times as IABC Tulsa won multiple Chapter Management Awards. It was like the IABC Oscars, and I wish I had worn a fancy dress!
2. Watching in awe as Angela Byers and her husband, Mike, Lucia O’Connor and many, many others pulled off yet another great Bronze Quill event. Just when we thought last year’s record-breaking Bronze Quill couldn’t be topped, this crew went and surprised us yet again. Bronze Quill has become an event that we can depend on, not only for a fun evening of networking and recognition, but also to help fund our professional development efforts for the year.
3. And speaking of professional development… promoting all of our wonderful events – from the monthly meetings to the half-day seminar at Crystal Bridges to the crisis communications event with PRSA this past fall – has been a highlight of the year. Phillip Harris and Rachel Wagner have worked very hard to ensure this chapter has offered some of its best programming ever, and they’ve been recognized by IABC International and by us here locally, as leaders in this space.
4. Representing IABC Tulsa at the Southern Region Board meeting this past fall in Charleston, S.C. Yet again, as the leaders around the table provided updates for their chapters, my heart nearly burst with pride as I shared all of the good things that are happening in Green Country. Our Chapter Services Director, David Kistle, even commented, “it sounds like things are rainbows and sunshine in Tulsa.” I smiled and said “not 100 percent, but pretty darn close.”
5. And finally, announcing that Angela Byers has accepted the nomination of President-Elect for this chapter. I still have eight more months left to serve as your President, but it’s so exciting and humbling to know that IABC Tulsa has an extremely talented leader who will take the reins next summer. We all are blessed to have her.

While these are some of my many favorite moments, the IABC Tulsa leaf on my family’s grateful tree expressed my gratitude to work with the marvelous executive board that leads this award-winning chapter. A big thank you to: Dena Wind, Tom Droege, Amethyst Cavallaro, Stephanie Cole, Megan Lewis, Lucia O’Connor, Summer Austin, Rachel Wagner, Phillip Harris, Jennifer Pigeon and Angela Byers.  Because of you, our members continue to tell us that IABC is the top professional communications organization in Tulsa!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you.

WHEN
Thursday, November 15, 2012  5:30 PM – 6:30 PM

WHERE
The Rusty Crane
109 North Detroit Ave., Tulsa, Oklahoma

PRESIDENT’S COLUMN
By Shannon Frederick, ABC, IABC/Tulsa President

October has been such a busy month that it’s downright spooky.

And while I probably shouldn’t write another President’s Column about another presentation from yet another conference, I think you’re going to appreciate this tidbit of information.

Last week, the Network of Executive Women (NEW) held its annual leadership summit in Dallas. If you’re not familiar with NEW, it is a professional organization committed to attracting, retaining and advancing women in the retail and consumer products industry through education, leadership and business development. That’s a mouthful, yes, but it’s a worthy mission.

The keynote speaker at the NEW summit was Dr. Bertice Berry, a sociologist, author, lecturer and educator. From the podium, she shared her beliefs that each of us is the sum of our experiences – and we need to maximize these experiences to be the best we can be. She captivated the audience with her wit, humor and life stories. Several times, I tried to be discreet while wiping the tears from my eyes, only to realize everyone sitting around me was doing the same thing!

Dr. Berry’s presentation was not about communication. It was about leadership. And there were several key takeaways that benefit us all. Consider these points:

• When you walk with purpose, you collide with destiny.
• Clean your filter so that you can learn every day.
• The gap between knowledge and wisdom is your ability to teach others.
• Ask yourself daily “Why me here now?” and “What is my purpose?”
• When you do well, we all do well.
• Profit from your life experiences.
• Stop and evaluate the lessons of your life.
• Don’t forget the tough moments, but don’t wallow in them either.
• Don’t let the little things stop you from doing the big things.
• Chains on your wrist are not as strong as the chains on your mind.

If these few pieces of wisdom inspired you to learn more about Dr. Berry – and hopefully they did, you can check out her blog “The Art of Transformation.” In fact, she even wrote a post about the NEW conference.

What I can tell you is this: Walking out of Dr. Berry’s presentation in Dallas, I felt like I could conquer the world. And I wasn’t alone. For days after NEW, most of the women who were in attendance talked about Dr. Berry and how she inspired them to be better leaders, mothers, wives, colleagues and friends.

And, for just 60 minutes, we were all allowed to forget just how busy life can be. That, in itself, was a gift!

Turn your Mundane Memos into Creative Communications
Peter Seronick, Emerson College
Wednesday, November 14, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
OSU-Tulsa, Room 140
700 Greenwood, Tulsa

RSVP Today!

Do you often feel there is an overload of “stuff” in your communications to the point where the message is lost as well as your target audience? Believe it or not, simplicity and creativity in content and design helps one improve the communications. Learn some common sense secrets from a 40-year veteran of advertising and marketing on how to cut through the clutter and rise above the confusion.

Peter Seronick has spent the last 38 years in advertising and is currently Director of Right Brain Thinking (Creative Director) at North Star Marketing in RI. I am also a part-time instructor at Emerson College in Boston.

Read more about Peter’s career.