Dec 08 06
2006 IABC International Conference preview
Jane Sparrow of Sony joins us to talk about the upcomming IABC International Conference, held June 4-7 in Vancouver, BC. Some call this the “main event” of corporate communication. The International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) celebrates 36 years of serving corporate communicators.
Click here to play this interview.
Full transcript after the jump
Renn Vara: Welcome to More Than Talk, a bi-monthly conversation about corporate and executive messaging. More Than Talk is produced from the San Francisco Studios of SNP Communications. Creating and implementing communication strategies, messaging and training leaders of Fortune 500 companies since 1992.On this edition of More Than Talk, Jane Sparrow from Sony, will join us to talk about the upcoming International Association of Business Communicators Conference on June 4th to the 7th in Vancouver British Columbia. In its 36th year, the IABC is the leading communications organization for professional development, training, networking, and accreditation.
Scott Sigler: Welcome to More Than Talk. Today we are going to discuss the International Association for Business Communicators, or the IABC, and the IABC International Conference. Our guest today is Jane Sparrow, who is head of Employee Communications and Change for Sony and the IABC International Conference Program Chair. Jane, welcome to the show.
Jane Sparrow: Thank you.
Scott Sigler: The IABC is going to its 36th year. So give our listeners a little background about the organization and the services that it provides.
Jane Sparrow: Well as you said, we are in our 36th year. And over that time we have developed hugely as an association in a number of different areas. There is obviously a huge amount of professional development and opportunity for professional development, both through formal and informal need.
So there are webcasts, web seminars or ‘webinars’, formal conferences like the international conference, where people can come together for knowledge sharing for development but also for education and for training. We have a number of seminars that run throughout the year. And then on the local levels, we have a chatroom for the IABC and they run events throughout the year, every year: interactive workshops, seminars, knowledge-sharing sessions, presentation sessions.
And then there are also networking opportunities that we will have, networking events for people to come together to view what we have been doing recently very much in Europe in terms of speed networking. So the format is designed to help people meet each other and share best practice and knowledge very quickly. And there is a whole lot of other things. We have our accreditation program which are interesting things. We have the CW, Communication World publication. And that looks at industry trends and comments.
We have our IABC Research Foundation - publishing research, again on the trends within the industry on a regular basis. And then we also have our Gold Quill Awards and our Excel Award for the CEO or business leader who has excelled in the communication.
So there is a whole lot of things the IABC offers and it is quite diverse. We are very much focused on bringing like-minded communications professionals together as a community, for development, for networking, and for futuristic and research reasons.
Scott Sigler: So it is a very well-developed organization. There is a great deal there for corporate communicators. And the IABC International Conference, that is clearly the biggest annual event for corporate communicators. So why should people be interested in attending this event?
Jane Sparrow: Well as you say, it is perhaps the biggest and certainly the global international conference of the year for communicators. And there is a number of reasons for attending, very much around professional development of course. So people of all levels in communication or marketing will hear about new trends, new tools, the new technologies, people’s opinions, opinion formers, opinion leaders, in terms of the where the communication is coming and where it is going. We have a number of the most respected communication and business professionals both presenting and present during the conference.
So it is a great way and a great place to come and learn but also to share, sharing ideas, sharing contacts. And I think one of the biggest things to give people, is a huge, huge networking opportunity. So there is a chance to meet new people. There is a chance to show your best practice, to crack problems together, to meet people that you can keep in contact with both professionally and personally long after the conference.
And it really is global. It really is international because we have speakers from far afield of China, other places in Asia, Australia, Europe, South Africa and of course North America itself too.
Scott Sigler: So it sounds like there are three main benefits to this. You got your professional development, bringing together the leaders in the industry. And it is also, as you say, a huge networking opportunity. So breaking that down, people are going to go to the IABC Conference, what kind of session or tracks can they expect to see regarding professional development?
Jane Sparrow: Ok. Well there are a number of sessions which are keynote or general sessions. And then, as you say, there’s the seven tracks that we have. So those seven are Marketing and Brand, Strategy and Counsel, Communication Leadership, Change Management, Employee Communications, Public Relations and of course, Skills Development. So there are number of different presentations, workshops and sessions within those different tracks, all designed to stimulate thinking, transfer knowledge, and get people talking together about their experiences.
[Theme Music]
Scott Sigler: You are listening to More than Talk. I’m Scott Sigler. We will be right back with more of our interview with Jane Sparrow of the IABC after a quick communications tip from Renn Vara.
[Theme Music]
Renn Vara: And now it is time for this week’s communication tip. When you are having a conversation with someone about a business issue, you want to achieve basically three things:
1. You want to isolate the issue. In other words, you want to figure out what they are concerned about.
2. You want to drive for some specificity. That is where you get the details of this issue.
3. You want to separate it from any emotion. This is keeping the conversation generally neutral, something that is accomplished primarily with your tongue.
So what is the best way to do this? Well think of using Socratic probes. Probes can help you accomplish these three things which in turn, lead to good business relationships. So how do you use a Socratic probes. A Socratic probe is used in the middle of the conversation when you want to get more information. And they are very simple.
Here some examples. You can say things like, “Well tell more about that,” or you can say “What else should I know?” Or you can even use what is my favorite question, “Why do you say that?” Or be very direct and say, “Can you give an example on what you are talking about?”
The point is to get them to talk more about a specific issue within the conversation so that you can learn more and you can come to some sort of understanding of the issue. So next time when you find yourself in a business conversation, try using Socratic probes. And that is it for this week’s communication tip.
[Theme Music]
Scott Sigler: You are listening to More Than Talk. I’m Scott Sigler. We are back with Jane Sparrow, talking about the upcoming IABC International Conference June 4th through 7th in Vancouver.
So there are quite a bit of things to be had, following those various tracks; a lot of education to be gained out of this. And the second big part of the conference you mentioned was bringing together the leading communicators in the industry. And you said you got a lot of those communicators speaking both in the tracks and in the keynotes. So could you highlight some of the main ones for our listeners?
Jane Sparrow: Mark Burnett will be one of our speakers. He will be our keynote speaker. Everybody listening will knows, Mark is the producer of both Survivor and The Apprentice among other shows. And he is going to be talking about the influence of reality TV on the communication industry, how it is reshaping the way we communicate with our key stakeholders across the world. And certainly in Europe, this has had a huge impact in terms of the way that we think about communicating with our employees, with our customers in different modes. And perhaps, there are four more ways that we have done previously.
The second session that I think will be as wonderful as well will be Stephen Lewis’ session which is a general session. And he will be talking about the political, economic and social responsibility angle, and advances and implications with some of the recent developments in that area for communicators.
And then we also have on the last day TJ Larkin, who many of our listeners will know. He will be talking about how to communicate big change. So when companies are faced with change, faced with big change, what’s the role and how can communicators make sure that they do their job effectively, to make sure that the company succeeds throughout that change?
Scott Sigler: Ok. And then lastly, as you said, you talked about this being a major networking opportunity specifically for corporate communicators. So now we have talked about the tracks. We have talked about professional development. What kind of specific events do you have to help facilitate that networking?
Jane Sparrow: Well there are some formal events. We have the welcome reception at Vancouver’s Aquarium. And that is on the first evening of the conference. There are also some luncheon sessions, which are designed both to share knowledge and a presentor will present at both. Say for example on one of the luncheon sessions, we have Tod Maffin presenting. But they are also there for networking as well. So after the lunch, there is time to network.
There is also our sort of impromptu opportunities and less formal events, which I think are a phenomenal return on investment, in terms of time and money of coming along to the conference. And certainly, I’m always astounded of the amount of value that I get out of that. And that’s just in every single break. And in the evening if you are not going to a formal dinner, there are diners around the stage. And those are great opportunities to start meet new people and to really start building and continuing to build that network.
And of course, there is always some favorite faces, that if you have seen before you meet. But if you have never been before, it is a great opportunity and everybody is very, very willing to want to meet, to share, to share experiences and talk throughout with what is going on in the industry.
Scott Sigler: By the way you talk about it, you really make this sound like a must attend event for the people in the field. With all that in mind, are there other key programs in the conference that we didn’t cover that you want to highlight?
Jane Sparrow: There are many. [Laughs] But right now, I think some of the key ones which are probably extremely topical are around new technologies, building online communities, what to do when actually communities maybe are not online and how do you build those with different demographics and so on.
And also crisis communication. We have got two speakers which I am really looking forward to hearing. One from London, who is going to be talking about the communication implications, when the London terrorists bombings happened last year. And a speaker from China, he is going to be talking about bird flu and the impact on how we need to be ready in terms of PR within those areas. Plus a lot more in terms of trends, in terms of panel debates about what is the role of communicators in the communications profession in the future.
Scott Sigler: Jane, where do people go to find out more about the conference?
Jane Sparrow: The best place to go is our website which is www.iabc.com. And on there, the whole program is given in detail. There are details on how to register, the hote,l travel information. And also some information about our exhibitors and our sponsors and of course all those logistical information people will need to register.
Scott Sigler: Fantastic! Jane, thank you very much for being on More Than Talk.
Jane Sparrow: Thank you.
Scott Sigler: That was Jane Sparrow, Conference Program Chair for the IABC International Conference.
