Title: Owner

Company: Byers Creative

Why do you love your job? I founded the company in 2003 out of a spare bedroom of my house, so it’s never been just a job for me, but a true passion. What do I love most? I love the people that work here – they are so creative and special, and do incredible work for our important clients everyday.

How long have you been a member of IABC? Since 2006, I believe.

Have you ever served on an IABC Board? Yes, I served as Special Events – Bronze Quill Chair, and then served as IABC President in 2014. I also served on the Southern Region Board in 2016.

What is the best IABC meeting/conference you have attended? I really enjoyed the Southern Region conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Why? It was held at the Coca-Cola headquarters (wow), and the Coca-Cola products were free flowing all day long! Well, the speakers were awesome too. It was fun to serve behind the scenes helping the speakers and ensuring the event ran smoothly.

How has IABC played a part in your professional development? I wouldn’t have transformed my company if it weren’t for IABC. IABC sets the industry standards for our profession and taught me how to grow from a graphic design agency to a full-service strategic communications agency.

What is your favorite thing to do outside of work? Time with our 2 daughters – Lindsey (14) and Alannah (17). We covet family time together, especially since Alannah leaves for college in the fall!

What’s your favorite vacation spot? Watercolor, Florida for sure. It’s located in Seagrove Beach on the Northwest Gulf Coast of Florida near Destin. It’s located near to where the Truman show was filmed – a very idyllic location!

Who is your favorite musical artist? U2. I am so excited they are coming to the BOK Center in May, and I love their new “Songs of Experience” album.

Which website do you visit daily? Pandora, for one. Music inspires me, and I love to mix it up and try new genres and artists. I also love the Tulsa Library hoopla app – I download free audiobooks and e-books all the time. I am always perusing for my next reading adventure.

What is your favorite restaurant? I love trying new restaurants and was quite excited about Torchy’s coming to Tulsa!

How will we recognize you at the next IABC function? You’ll hear my southern accent, and I’ll be hugging all my IABC friends.

Complete the following: The future of the field of communications is more important today than ever. Because our world is flooded with “communications gone wrong”, the world needs a voice that stands for what’s good and right. Ethics, values and strategic and thoughtful insight are critical for every business. Companies can’t survive without communicators who understand this.

What advice would you give to new communications professionals? School only prepares you part-way; it’s your job to take your degree and make yourself valuable. You do this by being present, plugging-in, and seeking to understand before you take action. Also, never stop learning about your industry!

You don’t want customers today. They will quit you. You want relationships, where people will not only read but also follow and share. Get strategy and tactics on how to leverage the advantages that the web and social media give businesses today when it comes to content. You will leave with a to-do list that has helped local businesses in the Tulsa market increase awareness, gain attention, start relationships and boost profits.

What you’ll learn:

• How to design content that gets attention in the Age of Distraction.
• How to better position your message, so people will open the email, click through to read and watch the full video.
• How to give like no one else, so you can build relationships that can’t be broken.
• How to stay organized and efficient so you can do it all without losing your mind with all the other work you have to do.
• How to sell these tactics to your bosses when you have no budget, no support and no time.
• How to make sure you are concentrating on the right measurements to find success.

When: 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 28

Where: Tulsa Country Club, 701 N. Union Ave., Tulsa, OK 74127

Fee:

• IABC Member fee: $25
• IABC Non-member fee: $35
• Student fee: $15
• Register for this event on EventBrite

About Our Speaker

Jason Collington is a deputy managing editor for the Tulsa World, where he works on digital initiatives for news, advertising and marketing. He teaches classes on digital and social media at 36 Degree North for Tulsa Tech and Oklahoma State University. He is an OSU graduate who worked for the Associated Press before coming to the Tulsa World in 1999.

No matter your career field, obstacles abound – but you can keep them from getting in the way of achieving your goals.

Join us January 17 as we explore the practical steps to accomplishing big goals, led by award-winning writer Sasha Martin, who will share personal stories from her journey as a new mom to published author and go-to blogger for international foodies.

What you’ll learn:

• Why you should develop personal connections instead of making formal pitches.
• How to overcome roadblocks on your way to achieving big goals.
• How to bring community into your work and why you should.

Bonus! This month’s luncheon will take place at Tulsa’s new independent book store, Magic City Books, so you can hang out with your favorite communicators and check out downtown’s newest hot spot.

When: 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. January 17

Where: Magic City Books, 221 E Archer Street, Tulsa, OK 74103 (Parking available in the old Spaghetti Warehouse parking lot.)

Fee:

• IABC Member fee: $25
• IABC Non-member fee: $35
• Student fee: $15
• Copies of Sasha’s book, “Life From Scratch: A Memoir of Food, Family, and Forgiveness,” will be available to purchase at the event.

About Sasha Martin

Sasha Martin is an award-winning writer and blogger who spent almost four years cooking her way around the world. She graduated from Wesleyan University and was an MFK Fisher Scholar at the Culinary Institute of America. She lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma with her husband Keith and their daughter Ava.

While attending Wesleyan University, Sasha geeked out on Medieval French Arthurian Legend, wrote 100 pages about the history of artisan bread in France, and played several rounds of midnight Ultimate Frisbee barefoot, by streetlamp. During her time as a MFK Fisher Scholar at The Culinary Institute of America, she was Editor of La Papillote, the school paper, and learned to prepare an omelet in less than 90 seconds – though not at the same time. After moving to Tulsa, Oklahoma, she began cooking a meal from every country in the world and blogged about the experience at Global Table Adventure, a go-to hub for international foodies.

Her first book, “Life From Scratch: A Memoir of Food, Family, and Forgiveness,” chronicles her lifelong struggle to find inner-peace, including the years she spent cooking the world as a new mother. It was published by National Geographic and has been translated into multiple languages.

Her work has been featured on NPR, as well as in Food & Wine, People Magazine, NPR, Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Kitchen, O Magazine, Boston Globe, and Food52. Most recently she was a 2016-2017 Research Fellow at the Oklahoma Center for the Humanities at the University of Tulsa.

As communication professionals, you excel at making sure your colleagues and clients are given top priority. But when it comes to promoting your own skills and managing your own career, you can easily put yourself last.

Join Darcy Eikenberg for a fun, interactive discussion, where you’ll learn how to better understand and promote your own value at work – even amid increasing work pressures to serve your clients, colleagues and everyone else. Walk away with practical, professional strategies you can use on the job immediately.

What you’ll learn:

• Why it’s more important than ever to talk about your superpowers, strengths and talents – and not for the reasons you might think;
• Simple ways to identify – and share – you success stories without feeling like you’re bragging; and
• How to use everyday situations to show the world your extraordinary value.

Attend and Win: Bring your business cards for a chance to win $100!

When: 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. February 28

Where: Tulsa Country Club, 701 N. Union Ave., Tulsa, OK 74127

Fee:

• IABC Member fee: $25
• IABC Non-member fee: $35
• Student fee: $15

About Our Speaker

Darcy Eikenberg, PCC
Executive and Leadership Coach, Speaker and Author
RedCapeRevolution.com

Darcy helps high-performance leaders and teams manage through constant change with more clarity, confidence and control – plus a little bit of courage thrown in to handle today’s complex life at work.

With over 20 years’ experience working with top companies around the world, she strives to bring her clients a practical, real-life perspective that creates true business results, but with a touch of humor and heart as well.

Darcy is a longtime member of IABC and was selected to speak at the IABC World Conference last year. Her clients have included Microsoft, State Farm, The Coca-Cola Company and Deloitte, and she’s been quoted in the Harvard Business Review, CNN.com, and the Atlanta-Journal Constitution among others.

She’s the author of “Bring Your Superpowers to Work: Your Guide to More Clarity, Confidence and Control,” and writes regularly at www.RedCapeRevolution.com, where you can download free career and success tools to help you create clarity, build confidence and take control over your life at work.

Acronym Mixer 2018

Bring your career resolutions, friends, colleagues and business cards.

Start the new year off right with “Goals that matter” and a fun night with members of Tulsa’s top professional associations. Discover how you can continue your education, foster relationships, inspire creativity and develop new skills all while enjoying tasty hors d’oeuvres and drinks. You’ll also have a chance to win one of ten great door prizes that are sure to give your new year goals a boost!

What:    2018 Acronym Mixer – A fun and festive networking party!

When:   5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018

Where:  Living Arts of Tulsa, 307 E. Brady St.

Who:     This event is open to all communications, marketing, and advertising professionals. Participating association members and guests.

Tickets:          

$20/all early birds (includes food and one drink ticket).

$25/at the door and registrations after midnight on January 19th (includes food and one drink ticket).

All proceeds from this event will be donated to a Living Arts community program.

Participating Acronyms:

ADCT – Art Directors Club of Tulsa

AMA – American Marketing Association

AWC – Association for Women in Communications

IABC – International Association of Business Communicators

PRSA – Public Relations Society of America