IABC Café International Conference Coffee Press Corps
Listen closely.
Do you hear it?
There it is - a fabulous fanfare heralding the formation of the 2005 IABC International Conference Coffee Press Corps (formerly known as the posse).
Pleased help me welcome an outstanding group of IABC members who have volunteered their time and energy to be in the first ever IABC Café Coffee Press Corps (drum roll, please):
Silvia Cambie - Brussels, Belgium
Adrian Cropley - Melbourne, Australia
Alix Edmiston - Toronto, Canada
Jerri Etchason - Seattle, USA
Russell Grossman - London, United Kingdom
Tom Keefe - Libertyville, USA
Barbara Palframan Smith - Sydney, Australia
Jeremy Pepper - Phoenix, USA
Gail Pickard, ABC - North Vancouver, Canada
Debbie Weil - Washington, DC, USA
Anna Willey, ABC - Regina, Canada
Julie Woods - Boston, USA
The Press Corps is an interesting mix of conference first timers, seasoned vets, experienced bloggers and, dare I say it - no I better not - first time bloggers. They will be posting about their travels, sessions they attend, conference events, whatever (and whoever) they find interesting - or not - while they are at the conference.
I am also pleased to announce that former IABC Chair, the inimitable Charles Pizzo of New Orleans, will be the Café’s roving reporter and colour commentator. Most recently, Charles has been blogging for Ragan Communications (click here for a sample of his work). As a seasoned IABC member, he will be roaming the halls of the Washington Hilton connecting with attendees to find out what’s really on their minds.
What a great team! I can hardly wait for the conference to start. Be sure to stop by the Café from June 26 through 29 for “all conference, all the time” coverage and be sure to get your two bits in by joining the conversation.
PS - There’s still time to register for the conference.
PPS - Kudos to Joseph Ugalde for winning the name game. Your fabulous prize is in the mail, Joseph - NOT!
June 14th, 2005 at 10:33 pm
What a team!
I was at a conference over the weekend that was heavily blogged. The posts are an invaluable post-conference resource.
Perhaps, in 2006, there should be an IABC Conference Wiki?
Not to take a bit of shine away from this effort, but here’s some history. At both the 1996 (Toronto) and 1997 (LA) conferences, “Reports from the Conference” efforts were organized on CompuServe’s PRSig. I think Neville Hobson organized the first one, and know Bill Spaniel was behind the second.
Don’t know if those old posts still survive out there, but I used to download them on this or that project for months after.
June 15th, 2005 at 8:40 am
The best IABC conference coverage ever was of the Toronto conference in 2003, written by me for BAK’s Report and for Jack O’Dwyer’s PR Daily.
This link should get the curious (is anyone?) to my coverage, which is not in BAK’s Report anymore, directly. http://www.briankilgore.com/IABC%202003%20Coverage.htm
There’s a link to the page in the Latest Updates section part way down the page at http://www.BrianKilgore.comwww.BrianKilgore.com
There was some coverage in some Ragan publications and PR Week, I seem to remember, but not daily, and not extensive.
BAK
June 15th, 2005 at 9:05 am
No self aggrandizement there? Are you a PR guy???
June 15th, 2005 at 5:12 pm
PR Guy, and proud of it!
Well, if anyone can show me any other coverage that was even close to mine, I’ll consider changing my commentary.
But that’s not really the point.
Anyone who knows me knows that the A in BAK stands for Aggrandizement, anyway.
I’m still of the belief that IABC should have worked very hard in the past to bring, in a very timely fashion, the highlights of its conferences and other special events to those members unable to attend.
BIG CHANGES NOW, though, compliments of our friend from Regina, inbound King Warren, who is going to put the team of bloggers to work.
Now, those fortunate enough to get to the conference will enjoy their tiny portion of it in person. What, you ask, is “tiny portion” all about? IABC organizes the conference so that delegates miss seven out of eioght sessions, day after day, offering unedited choice instead of narrowing things down so members have reasonable choice.
So this year, those people who choose to see Bill in Room 29 may be able to read a bloggers report about Fred’s concurrent program in Room 301.
And everyone, whether there or not, will receive lots of good info from the sessions via their computers.
With luck and good management, my “best coverage ever” statement will become inoperable by the end of the month, thanks to the Coffee Press Corps.
In the programming for the conference, there’s a special “Hot Topic Session” all about blogging. Seems like a great idea.
BAggrandizementK
June 15th, 2005 at 11:51 pm
Brian, I have to disagree. For me and most of the people I’ve met at conference, the variety is a positive problem. It’s like a great dim sum place, or a tapas café: you aren’t going to taste everything that looks good, but most of what you taste will be good.
Is it perfect? No. I’ve had to flip a coin a few times to choose between two “can’t miss” sessions. The “big” sessions in the afternoons present a difficult choice: they overlap several smaller session. I’ve learned to sit in the back of those, and “dip” into the small ones if I need to.
And, frankly, I’ve found the general sessions (when there’s no competition) to be hit-or-miss. James Burke had me on the edge of my seat. Jane Metcalfe bored me to tears. And if we have had an Excel speaker who was less wooden than a cigar-store Indian, please let me know.
But.. that said… I love the variety at conference. Yeah, no way you can take it all in, but so what? What dine-around conversation didn’t begin with “What was the best session you were at today?”
(I think, though, the blogging session is wrong-footed. From the conference blurb, I suspect a lot of people will walk away thinking “Ok, blog, new tool in the kit; will set one up for Boss on Monday”).
June 16th, 2005 at 3:53 am
So will the coffee press corps (a.k.a. blogging posse) be filing reports under specific areas? I’m anticitasting heds such as:
- Bean there; drank that.
- An alteanate repot.
- Cocktales. (Probably not a good idea….)
??
Ack, don’t those taste bad! Think of it as a first drip. I’m sure other, more caffeinated communicators (“Bottoms up, Richard!”) could come up with much beverage options. As always, I kindly request that you mix my drink with some irreverence (and no Kool-Aid). Cheers!
June 16th, 2005 at 9:23 pm
It’s worth hanging out in the IABC Cafe
It seems a distant memory now that, after the IABC Chair blog launched last October, it quickly reached a nadir in expectations, engagement, involvement, leadership, worthwhile content, you name it. That changed when incoming Chairman Warren Bickford t…
June 17th, 2005 at 5:21 am
May not have brought my laptop with me to Conference this year, but with the Coffee Press Corps, I will. Sounds like it will be entertaining! Hope non-conference-goers make use of it as well.
June 20th, 2005 at 10:16 am
OK, so what about us poor techno-luddites who will arrive in DC without a laptop? Any opportunity for us poor geeks to find out what is going in the cafe on-site?
June 20th, 2005 at 11:35 am
Hi Mr. Adams. I have heard you described as many things, but techno-luddite is a new one. Just kidding. You will be happy to know there will be an Internet Café for delegates in the exhibitor’s area. Do stop by and do check out what’s happening here in the Café. See you in Washington, eh.
June 21st, 2005 at 1:43 pm
I don’t know what beats others have staked out, but I have decided to be the Networking Correspondent, doing “person in the hallway interviews,” to “find out what people are thinking” on a variety of topics.
Expect candid reports (will IABC ever recover?).
June 22nd, 2005 at 4:55 pm
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