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The ABC List for March 2007
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onu-@iabc.com
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Mar 30, 2007 14:28 PST
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The ABC List for March 2007
Welcome to the newest monthly edition of the ABC List. The ABC List
serves 647 professional communicators.
This newsletter is a forum for accredited communicators, but more
importantly, those communicators interested in learning more about
becoming accredited, the value of accreditation and the process to
attain accreditation. If you have a question, a topic for discussion or
something you’d like to see in the ABC List, e-mail onu-@iabc.com.
If your chapter is holding a workshop, fun shop, exam prep session, exam
date, pinning ceremony or the like, let me know and I’ll publicize your
event here in the ABC List.
IABC Accreditation: The Global Standard. A Personal Statement.
In this issue:
*** Congratulations to the New ABC’s in March
*** Upcoming Teleseminar: “Preparing for Your Accreditation Exam”
*** Upcoming IABC International Conference Accreditation Exam
*** “The Value of Knowing What You Know”: James Irwin, ABC
*** Congratulations to the New ABC’s in March
- Gary Williams, ABC from IABC / Toronto
- Cathy Planchard, ABC from IABC / Phoenix
- Lori Ristau, ABC from IABC / Iowa
- Diane Mitchell, ABC from IABC / Phoenix
*** Upcoming Teleseminar: “Preparing for Your Accreditation Exam”
This session will focus on providing you with an in-depth understanding
of how to prepare in order to successfully complete the four-hour
written and half-hour oral exam. It is designed to take the mystery (and
much of the anxiety) out of the process and will provide insights into
preparing for the exam, as well as managing your time (and your mind!)
during testing.
This teleseminar is designed for anyone who is already an accreditation
candidate, but has value to anyone considering entering the
accreditation process.
Details:
When: Thursday, 3 May 2007
Hours: 8-9 a.m. PACIFIC STANDARD TIME and 4-5 p.m. PACIFIC STANDARD
TIME. You may select the 8 a.m. or 4 p.m. session when you register.
For further information or to register for this teleseminar, please
visit:
http://guest.cvent.com/EVENTS/Info/Summary.aspx?e=66e9b2f6-bdd0-41f4-b239-b0de2f898d91
*** Upcoming IABC International Conference Accreditation Exam
The next IABC Accreditation Exam will be held at the International
Conference on 23 June 2007, from 1-6pm, at the Hilton New Orleans
Riverside in New Orleans, Louisiana. To sign up for the exam, please
contact Olivia Nucum at onu-@iabc.com.
Further information regarding the International Conference is available
at: http://www.iabc.com/ic/.
*** “The Value of Knowing What You Know”: James Irwin, ABC
I originally pursued accreditation because I was curious about how much
I remembered of business communication best practices after more than a
decade concentrating on other areas. You could say that I was more
interested in passing the exam than I was in putting the ABC after my
name.
Earlier in my career I was a filmmaker and a partner in a marketing/PR
firm in California, and business communication was my bread and butter.
Then I moved back to the northeast, taught college for a while, and went
on to immerse myself in the dot-com explosion. I held a series of
management positions where I often had P&L and product development
responsibilities in addition to any marketing or public relations role,
and I had come to think of myself as a business executive. I began to
take my communications abilities for granted.
Five years ago I joined a global business services firm where my focus
was narrowed to internal communication. As I researched the best ideas
in the field and tried to apply them in my work, I felt a little rusty.
I wondered if the distractions of negotiating deals and launching
products at those Internet startups had caused me to forget a lot of my
core business communication knowledge. Accreditation seemed an ideal way
to test myself.
As I moved forward with the process I became interested in the reasons
people pursue accreditation, or didn’t. Through other IABC members,
articles, and online postings, I was exposed to many of the
rationalizations for not getting that ABC. I understood the most common
ones – namely not enough time or just plain procrastination – but I
found some of the others puzzling.
One fellow said there was no point in getting accredited because his
boss wouldn’t be impressed and it wouldn’t get him a raise. I nodded
politely, but I really wanted to say listen pal, accreditation is an
investment in your career with long-term benefits, and the opinion of
who you happen to be reporting to this year shouldn’t have anything to
do with it.
Someone else said there was no industry pressure to get accredited as,
say, there currently is among project managers to get a PMP
certification, so why bother? You bother because the benefit is to you
and therefore the decision is yours, not to be dictated by the trends of
the moment. Besides, too many people getting a designation just because
of industry fashion ultimately, inevitably, dilutes the value. I
remember when an MBA was uncommon and actually meant something; I feel
that way now about my ABC.
But the excuse that, in retrospect, seems the oddest of all was the
person who thought the accreditation process was “too tough.” Well, it
is true that a four and a half hour exam sounds like a formidable thing.
And the oral section is certain to make some people anxious (although I
enjoyed that part of it the most!). However, in my opinion, that the
exam truly challenges your knowledge is what lifts the IABC
accreditation process into something special.
To pass the exam, you have to know your subject. You can’t just memorize
and regurgitate a set of facts or phrases. You can prepare, but you
can’t cram, and you can’t take a prep course that guarantees you’ll
pass. You simply have to know what you are talking about, to draw on
that knowledge in response to a variety of fictional situations, and
persuasively explain your perceptions and choices to an anonymous
reader.
Preparing for that experience is one of the most effective learning
tools available. Chances are, you already have all the knowledge you’ll
require, but it is a good idea to bring it out into the sun for a bit,
look it over, and refresh it as appropriate. Renew your familiarity with
those great insights you’ve gained during your years of experience. The
goal is to make sure that this knowledge is readily available when you
need it, and that you can talk about what you know in an articulate and
compelling way. Of course, while these skills will help you take your
exam, it is no coincidence that they are also essential for a successful
communications professional in today’s fast-paced business environment.
After you pass the exam, you’ll feel that you have accomplished
something. More importantly, you’ll better understand the depth and
breadth of your own business communication knowledge. You’ll actually
know what you know, which is a powerful thing to have on your side.
*** About the ABC List:
This list is a forum for accredited communicators, but more importantly
those professional communicators who seek to be accredited and wish to
learn more about the process and the value of accreditation.
I invite candidates, prospective candidates and ABCs to send questions,
comments and observations to onu-@iabc.com.
You can read the back issues on the Web.
Visit http://www.topica.com/lists/ABCList/read. If you are new to this
list, I encourage you to do so.
*** You can change your address by sending a blank e-mail from your old
address to ABCLis-@topica.com. Then send a blank e-mail from
your new address to ABCLi-@topica.com.
*** Professional communicators are invited to subscribe to the
award-winning free Job of the Week e-mail networking newsletter. Send a
blank e-mail to JOTW-@topica.com. There are more than 9,700
professional communicators in the JOTW network.
The ABC List was created by Ned Lundquist, ABC. It is currently edited
and published by:
Olivia Nucum
International Association of Business Communicators (IABC)
One Hallidie Plaza Suite 600
San Francisco, CA 94102
USA
t + 1.415.544.4721
f + 1.415.544.4747
onu-@iabc.com
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