IABC Café

On October 30, IABC members were sent a survey about the effect of the financial crisis on communicators and their organizations and how they are coping with the uncertainity about the future.

If you are an IABC member and you have not filled out the survey, I hope you will take a few moments (only 17 questions) and do so. 

We will send the results to Mercer for analysis, and then we will share them with you in early December.  The results should be not only interesting, but helpful to all in figuring out how communicators can make a contribution to their organizations.

So, check our your mailbox and send us the results by Friday, November 7.

When I was growing up, my mother was always corralling me to watch an event being covered on tv.  I remember one July night when I was in my room, reading a novel, feeling perfectly happy.  She forced me to come downstairs to sit in front of our 15″ black and white television to watch the first moonwalk.  Her rationale?  “This is history.”

My mother did not have to force me to watch television last night.  I couldn’t drag myself away.  I knew without my mother’s admonition that I was witnessing history.  And I was thrilled to do so.

After the speeches were over and the analysis started to sound repetitious, I found my copy of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s magnificent speech, “I Have a Dream.”  He gave that speech in 1963, only 45 years ago.  I imagine he was pretty thrilled last night as well.

Sometimes dreams can come true.

I have admitted before that I am not a twitterer and still don’t have a great desire to become one.  But I have to admit that other people don’t share my attitude.   And that it might be a tool that is even more useful than my stodgy brain can imagine.

An article in last Monday’s Wall Street Journal, “Twitter Goes Mainstream,” gave me some specific ideas of how businesses are starting to use Twitter.  Then Saturday, while listening to National Public Radio, the story “Vote Report: Help NPR Identify Voting Problems,”  told listeners that should they experience any problems voting in tomorrow’s election, they can report them by sending a text message or a tweet, log on to YouTube or send a message through iPhone or Google Phone.

Naturally, IABC wants to keep communicators up to date on the latest communication tools.  That’s why on Thursday, November 6, it is offering a web seminar “An Introduction to Twitter for Business: The Power of Micro-Blogging” with Aaron Uhrmacher.  As a young PR professional, Uhrmacher can help us understand how this new tool can be used.

And if you want to Twitter with fellow IABC’ers, check out IABC’s Twitter Account.  You can stay connected with your colleagues in a whole new way.

Ah, the modern world…