Random Thoughts on Canada Day
First, happy Canada Day ! Today is Canada’s 138th birthday and celebrations are taking place in every corner of the country. Here in Regina, there is a huge public party in beautiful Wascana Centre complete with three concert stages, food and a performance by Great Big Sea and spectacular fireworks show to cap it all off. If you think the Canadian Hospitality Suite is fun - just imagine the entire country partying in the same spirit!
In many ways, the past week has been a blur. Travel, meetings, receptions, interviews, graduations, all-night parties and a bit of work thrown in for good measure. I’m currently in the office working to deadline for a client but my thoughts keep returning to the events of the past week. Some of the things I’m thinking about:
1.What a great conference we just experienced. Unfortunately, leaders rarely get an opportunity to attend much beyond plenary sessions but I have to say the buzz in the hallways was that the conference was a winner. In my trips up and down the hotel elevator, I always ask conference attendees how they are enjoying conference. In Washington, all I heard were positive comments. From conference first timers to conference vets, everyone said they thought it was the best conference they had been to for some time. Way to go program committee and staff for putting together a fabulous professional development opportunity. The IABC International Conference continues to be the premier event for communicators. It is difficult to even describe the experience of attending the conference but I’m happy the Café was able to, at the very least, provide a taste. It really is something every communicator should experience in person.
2. What a great job the Café Coffee Press Corps did - and continues to do - to bring the conference experience to those who could not travel to Washington. I have thoroughly enjoyed the coverage (having not been able to attend any sessions!) and have had emails from members and non-members telling me how much they have enjoyed the Café coverage.
3. How we can make the coverage even better next year. Charles’s audio posts were a fabulous addition and pictures would be great. Maybe we need a group of official photographers along with the Coffee Press Corps. Feel free to send in your own suggestions for the coverage next year.
4. What a great leadership team I will be working with this year. As I mentioned in my remarks at the AGM, that team includes the board and its committees, task forces and work groups, staff, regional leaders and their boards and chapter leaders and boards. There are about one hundred members alone serving on International Executive Board committees. Speaking of which, I am putting the finishing touches on the appointments list and intend to have it posted in the Member Centre at iabc.com so everyone knows who is working on their behalf to make IABC the professional association of choice for communicators worldwide. Look for it in the near future.
5. How many fascinating people there are in IABC. I returned home with a fist full of business cards from the many interesting people from around the world I met in Washington. It will take a while to sort through them and follow up on the various things we committed to.
Well, I better get back to that project. Maybe I can get the first draft done before the concert. Have a great Canada Day!
July 1st, 2005 at 2:31 pm
I’ve been a Canadian for a long, long, time, and I’ve been in Regina often, but I must admit I’m puzzled by the Random Thighs on Canada Day.
Yes, you can get good chicken there, but it’s usually fairly organized.
And the best meal I’ve never had is in Regina, home of The Most Important Communicator in the World (TM-pending); steak on a pitch fork. The chef places beautiful Canadian beef steaks on the tines of a pit6chfork and they are plunged into a giant vat of hot oil on a trailer towed behind his truck.
I’m still waiting for an invite to a shindig with those steaks.
Toronto’s full of recovering alcholics on Canada Day. The biggest convention in Toronto’s recent history — biggest I can ever remember. And the big deal — in contrast to IABC in Washington this year and Toronto a few years ago — is that delegates are not expected at too many sessions, so they are out and about in the city. You can’t move without seeing the AA conference name tags hanging around necks of young and old alike. And a surprising number of bikers-members. Harley Davidson shirts are common.
Warren, you deserve congratulations for jumping into the blogs a few months ago after a few of us took issue with the whole incredible mess it was.
And then you deserve a second set of congratulations for the great job running the Press Corp during the conference.
Does IABC have any way of tracking the number of people around the world who were not able to get to the conference, yet were there in spirit, courtesy of your reporters, photographers, and your radio interviewer?
BAK
July 1st, 2005 at 2:59 pm
Sorry about the “thighs” thing. Just a result of my bad typing and not paying attention to the spell check. You will note it has now been fixed.
Thanks for the kudos, Brian, but the real credit goes to the fine folks who volunteered to join my blogging posse for conference. I’m sure you would agree that they did an outstanding job. The Coffee Press Corps will continue posting for a while (as they have much more to say) so keep dropping by the Café for more information.
Glad to hear you have had the pitchfork fondue experience. Hard to believe, but it is fantastic. It is definitely a cultural experience.
July 1st, 2005 at 5:45 pm
Pictures would be easy, Warren. Invite everyone taking digital photos to use the same unique tag, one that nobody else would use (like iabc06), when uploading the photos to a flickr.com account. Then, from the Cafe you could just create a link to all photos at flickr.com that have the iabc06 tag.
July 1st, 2005 at 5:51 pm
As for audio, next year you could podcast the files. This would allow anyone to subscribe to conference audio feeds and get them as soon as they’re available. The possibilities here are pretty rich. For example, somebody could edit general session remarks to provide a flavor of keynotes. You could also record presentation of honors, like the Chairman’s Award, and make these available. Interviews like the ones Charles did are great; how about some with session speakers? Offering up a taste of the value conference attenders get could very well entice a listener to register in 08.
July 1st, 2005 at 10:02 pm
Thanks for the tips, Shel. I am pleased with our first-time effort. We learned a lot and have many great ideas for next year. As they say, the possibilities are endless. By the way, who are “they”?
July 5th, 2005 at 6:50 am
Hold on tiger. We need to remember that this really was a first-time effort. The IABC Café is presently set up as an all-text blog; the Coffee Press Corps pushed the limits with a few pictures and small downloadable audio files. Neither of these two capabilities were forecast or realized until the team got to Washington D.C.
It’s easy to Monday morning quarterback. IABC has limited resources (time and staff, in this instance) and an IT department stretched to the max with other priorities (by now, most members have probably received the request to vote on a complete overhaul of the entire IABC Web site).
Clearly, we need to establish standards. And we need standards to apply to chapter events as well - perhaps to all IABC events where photos might be taken. There may be other options as well. I did poke around and see that Word Press (the program that drives this blog) has flickr.com support. Tom Keefe also showed (with insight from Chris Hall) that this blog could contain photos - though for storage and bandwidth reasons, IABC had to enforce a small size (low resolution) rule.
Lots of work. We’re talking about a technically proficient volunteer army loaded with professional grade equipment. Possible? Yes. Feasible? That remains to be seen. This sounds like a full-time job.
Logistical issue - we weren’t doing podcasts per se. The technology I used (AudioBlogger.com) required a mobile (cell phone) signal - which was impossible from the underground conference levels of the Hilton. Few speakers had the time or patience to walk up several levels and outside of the hotel so that we could get strong reception. We did get Jennifer Corriero; now I’m exploring doing more by phone this week.
Could this be improved? Surely, using different technology. I think it’s fair to point out that your perspective comes from the fact that you have a virtual radio station in your office and nearly 50 podcasts under your belt. I truly wish you had joined Warren’s blog posse, rather than offering post-event criticism.
Agree 100%. We need to explore the marketing potential.
At the end of the day, we all - that means you and you, dear readers - need to offer Warren and IABC hands-on help and expertise. Without the assistance from great minds, this will all end-up suggestions in the file.
July 5th, 2005 at 3:19 pm
But what good problems to have!
And I see IABC members now saying, “What if…” and “Good job, now give us more…” rather than “Ho-hum. What has my association done for me lately besides fill my in-box with marketing materials?”
That’s a big improvement in my book. Keep it up and maybe IABC won’t have to spend so much time and money trying to sell stuff. Instead, members (and non-members) will come looking for it!
July 5th, 2005 at 6:39 pm
Bang on Robert. These are good problems to have. I was pleased with our first effort and can only look forward to bigger and better things next year, whatever they are. One thing I know for sure, we will need to start preparations further out than we did this year. In the meantime, thank you everyone for your suggestions - both content and technical.
July 12th, 2005 at 4:22 am
Charles, I just want to make it clear that my comments were in direct response to this line from Warren’s post:
How we can make the coverage even better next year.
I thought this year’s coverage was fabulous, and have said so in multiple venues, including my podcast; I have absolutely no criticism. But if Warren asks for ideas for next year, should I keep my mouth shut if I have some? Warren’s request seemed pretty straightforward to me!
I didn’t join the blogging posse for two reasons: I thought I would be one of the usual suspects (I loved Tom Keefe’s posts, for instance), and I knew other commitments would prevent me from attending more than one breakout session, so I wouldn’t be of much use as a reporter. However, I am involved in a blogging project for IABC, so it’s not like I’m uninvolved…
And I would be happy to volunteer to handle podcasting from the 2006 conference. It’s less work than you might think, and I have a bit of experience.