When I’m asked what I love about IABC, I immediately say “the community.”
More specifically, the local community we create as an organization, serving members and connecting with friends of the chapter.
That community would not be as vibrant and diverse without our chapter volunteers. Serving on the chapter board provides growth and networking opportunities in a safe space. We say that in “normal” times and we continue to say that today. The past two years have been a learning experience beyond what anyone could have predicted.
As we wrap up the 2021-2022 board year, I want to thank this team for their contributions to IABC, as well as their commitment to personal growth. Here are a few things we have been able to accomplish together:
- Providing a diverse lineup of professional development events, with topics that appealed to different communication disciplines, including video, podcasting and presentation design
- Continuing our mentorship program that not only helps people grow, but creates long-lasting connections with our members
- Creating and promoting original content, which highlighted the skills and backgrounds of our members
- Bringing in outside voices for our content and creating new friends of the chapter, including the timely topic of how to prevent burnout
- Driving more traffic to our website — beating our previous monthly metrics
- Growing our social media channels
- Trying on bite-sized opportunities, like our chapter music playlist, and sharing that with others
- Embarking on a chapter merger of the San Francisco and Silicon Valley chapters
- Developing a student outreach program to bring in the next generation of comms pros in the Bay Area
We continue to navigate a world where decisions on how we choose to spend our time are more important — and precious — than ever before. I want to thank our chapter board volunteers for continuing to say “yes” to IABC and to our chapter. You are the heartbeat, and you are appreciated!
Kristie King, SCMP, is president of San Francisco Bay Area IABC and leads agent communication at CSAA Insurance Group, a AAA Insurer.
Photo by Miriam G on UnSplash