Annual Report 2015 - IABC Brazos Valley
Transcription
Annual Report 2015 - IABC Brazos Valley
Annual Report 2015 April 2016 #CreateConnection with IABC/Brazos Valley! The International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) the association. The level of diversity within our region truly gives is a not-for-profit global network of communication professionals credence to the “International” in IABC. committed to improving organizational effectiveness through Other Texas IABC chapters include those in Houston, Dallas, Fort strategic communication. Established in 1970, IABC serves members in more than 80 countries through networking, career development and personal growth. Worth, Austin, San Antonio and a new chapter is forming in Tyler. Founded in 1981, IABC/Brazos Valley (BVIABC) conducts its meetings in the sister cities of Bryan and College Station, Texas. Our chapter Across the United States, you’ll find IABC chapters in the major cities serves member and nonmember communicators employed by of nearly every state. International chapters include those located in private businesses, government, educational and not-for-profit Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Belgium, the organizations within the Brazos Valley area. BVIABC was honored as Netherlands, Slovenia, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. the International Small Chapter of the Year in 1989, 1990, 1991, 1995, Texas is part of IABC’s Southern Region, which includes chapters 1996 and 2002, and the International Chapter of the Year in 1991, as far west as Arizona, as far north as Kansas, as far east as North 1993 and 2003. Carolina and as far south as Florida and the Caribbean. There are 25 Our chapter’s bylaws, last revised in 2014, can be found here: active chapters spread across 13 U.S. states, the Caribbean and Latin http://bviabc.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/IABC-BV-Bylaws- America, making it the broadest global geographic region within Revisions-2014.pdf Brazos Valley A Global Organization......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 3 How IABC Can Effect Change............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 4 From the BVIABC President................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 5 Administration....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Awards....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 9 Communications.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................11 Membership..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................14 Professional Development...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................17 Finance....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................20 Stay Connected....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................22 IABC/Brazos Valley Annual Report 2015 Page 2 HOME A Global Organization A Global Organization IABC has 124 chapters in 44 countries — our newest in Fiji . In addition, we have over 400 members-at-large in 42 countries . So if you haven’t already, #createconnection . IABC OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2015 QUARTERLY REPORT IABC/Brazos Valley Annual Report 2015 HOME 3 “A Global Organization” is taken from page 3 of the IABC International October–December 2015 Quarterly Report available at: https://www.iabc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/IABC_2015_Fourth_Quarter_ReportFinal2.pdf Page 3 HOME How IABC Can Effect Change How IABC Can Effect Change This is the Theory of Change and shows, in line with our bylaws, why IABC exists . This is how as an organization we have influence and impact on our profession, the business world and society at large . Input — Leadership development Business & Society Philosophy: IABC is a practitioner-driven organization whose strength is derived from the dedication of its members to the advancement of their profession. Profession Purpose: IABC serves its organizational subdivisions and leadership by providing services, management support, leadership development, conferences and awards programs encouraging and recognizing innovation, creativity and best practices. Members Output — our influence Mission: Provide lifelong learning opportunities that give IABC members the tools and information they need to be the best in their chosen disciplines. Local Leaders Mission: Share among our membership best global communication practices, ideas and experiences that will enable the development of highly ethical and effective performance standards for our profession. Outcome — our impact Global Leaders Mission: Champion the communication profession to business leaders. Mission: Shape the future of the profession through ground-breaking research. IABC OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2015 QUARTERLY REPORT IABC/Brazos Valley Annual Report 2015 HOME 9 Change” is taken from page 9 of the IABC International October–December 2015 Quarterly Report “How IABC Can Effect available at: https://www.iabc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/IABC_2015_Fourth_Quarter_ReportFinal2.pdf Page 4 HOME From the President Dear fellow Brazos Valley communicators, Why an annual report? Well, there are several reasons. • We are financially stable. Not only is there enough money in the bank, we are in compliance with our reporting to our region and international. • We are doing even better with attendance at our monthly lunches. In fact, for March 2016, we had our largest crowd in two years! We’re also consistently making a profit from our events, thereby sustaining our financial stability. And, we’re doing this by tapping into our local talent pool of professional communicators and members. We’re creating connection with our target audience and giving our fellow communicators the opportunity to hone their presentation skills. • We have a couple of new board members who attended IABC Leadership Institute (LI) this year and plan to continue in their board positions. Not only are they filling a role, they’re voicing innovative ideas and sustainable strategies about how we can better engage our target audience. • We plan to build our volunteer base with a slate of senior director positions. Open to members and nonmembers, these roles will include clearly defined tasks and will alleviate some of the operational load for each officer while providing clearer succession to the board of directors. • We successfully and comprehensively revitalized and expanded our communication efforts. The IABC rebranding mandate gave us the opportunity to refresh the way we market our chapter, and we are reaping the benefits. • We plan to utilize IABC International’s editorial calendar as a blueprint for planning our events and our original digital content for an entire year at a time. • We plan to set realistic goals and expectations concerning membership and awareness by implementing a new virtual conversation platform, better marketing directed at Millennial members and participating nonmembers, and better engagement of long-time members and participating nonmembers. We also plan to focus on attracting new members and participating nonmembers—from within Texas A&M and the greater community beyond. When I began the board term as president in July 2015, my strategy could best be summed up as Go Big or Go Home. We were daunted by steadily decreasing membership numbers, a lack of sustainable leadership succession, a greater lack of volunteerism within the chapter, and what we perceived as diminished enthusiasm for IABC within our community. On the upside, we were holding steady in terms of attendance at monthly lunches and we had enough money in the bank. In fact, as I’ve found out through conversations with regional and international leaders and in listening to other chapter leaders at various IABC events, our chapter was and continues to be doing very well when compared to chapters of similar size and demographics around the region and world. I told the board that I wanted us to work hard to turn our situation around. I hoped that by being a more visible president and using the position as a sort of spokesperson to emphasize my own positive experiences with IABC, both at the chapter level and beyond, we could make BVIABC more human, more accessible, and more authentic. I also told the board that I wanted us to take a hard look at the bottom line, and that if we felt the best option was to go dormant or dissolve the chapter, then I wasn’t afraid to be the one to make that happen. As we are nearing the end of this term, I’m happy to report that I don’t believe our circumstances are quite so dire. Here’s why: • We took stock of what our members and participating nonmembers think about the BVIABC with a comprehensive chapter survey in August 2015. (You’ll find details of what we learned in the Membership section of this report.) We’ve used this information to inform our operating decisions throughout the year. IABC/Brazos Valley Annual Report 2015 We went big, and it’s paying off! But there’s more we need to do. While we have gotten stronger, some of our weaknesses remain. For example, because of our current lack of succession, I will be remaining as president for another term—this time, however, with a president-elect. As a board, we’ve decided to address our weaknesses by developing a sustainable and comprehensive strategic plan for chapter operations over a two- to three -year period. We’ve committed ourselves to investing time and resources at this summer’s board retreat to tackle our issues relating to building succession, building a volunteer base, and increasing momentum for chapter operations. Page 5 But, we’re not going to be able to plan well for the future if we haven’t taken a good look at where we’ve been. That’s where this annual report comes in. Beyond quantifying our strengths and weaknesses, this report helps us do the following: HOME From the President • We want to make our chapter operations more transparent to members and participating nonmembers. People are not only less likely to volunteer when they’re not asked, they’re also less likely to volunteer when they don’t know what they’re getting into. • We intend to start entering the IABC Chapter Management Awards (CMAs) again. While these awards can be a great source of motivation for the board, the entries can be intimidating to write at the end of the year. If we make a habit of detailing our operations in tandem with our mandated financial reporting to IABC International, we give ourselves a foundation for these entries. I hope this annual report can serve as a template for future reports and CMA entries. Part of our strategic planning process will include maintaining more consistent evaluation our efforts in real time. We should be writing these documents throughout the year. IABC as a whole has been through some very tough years recently. Things are turning around, though, due to the successful implementation of the 2014–17 Strategic Plan. I invite you to review the recent Quarterly and Annual Reports from IABC International to see what I mean. I feel strongly that if we employ the same ideas within our chapter—developing a comprehensive and sustainable strategic plan—we too will see the benefits, and BVIABC will begin to thrive again! BVIABC has survived for 35 years. Let’s aim for at least 35 more! BVIABC 2015–16 Board of Directors | March 2016 From left: Monika Blackwell, Vice President of Membership; Donna Malak, Vice President of Administration; Chase Friedman, Vice President of Communications; Jennie L. Lamb, President; Marie Lindley, Vice President of Finance; and Courtney Bosquez, Vice President of Professional Development —Jennie L. Lamb | BVIABC President, 2015–17 IABC/Brazos Valley Annual Report 2015 Page 6 HOME Administration BVIABC operations, including the board of directors term and our programming schedule, follow a cycle of July 1 through June 30 of the following year. Our fiscal year, however, follows the calendar year, running from January 1 through December 31. This is advantageous for two reasons: budgets are set by a sitting board with experience and programming more closely follows the academic year in a location frequently affiliated with Texas A&M University. For the most part, the administration of our chapter is handled by the members of the board of directors that comprise the executive committee, those being the president, past president, president-elect, and vice presidents for administration and finance. In recent years, due to a lack of a stable succession plan, some of these roles have been combined and past presidents have not participated. For the 2014–15 board term, the executive committee consisted of Blair Williamson, president; Jennie Lamb, president-elect and vice president of finance; and LaShanta Green, vice president of administration. For the 2015–16 board term, the executive committee consists of Jennie Lamb, president; Marie Lindley, vice president of finance; and Donna Malak, vice president of administration. Jennie Lamb will remain as president for the 2016–17 board term. Subject to the chapter membership vote in May 2016, Marie Lindley will remain as vice president of finance and also become presidentelect, while Leo Pardo will replace Donna Malak as vice president of administration. Background • • The vice president of administration is responsible for setting the times and dates of board meetings and sending reminders, keeping minutes at board meetings, maintaining chapter records, and assisting the president and other members of the board with research as needed. During the 2012–2013 board term, BVIABC transitioned from keeping board notes, reports, and minutes within a WordPress system on the back-end of the chapter website (which was still a part of IABC.com) to the IABC/Brazos Valley Annual Report 2015 Blair Williamson Jennie L. Lamb LaShanta Green Dropbox cloud-based system. This system remains in place today and is curated by the vice president of administration. Only board members have access with shared login information. • »» Marie Lindley Access is for board members only and each member maintains their own profile and login information. The chapter maintains a post office box, located at the Texas A&M University location, giving the chapter the following mailing address: PO Box 701, College Station, TX 77841-0701. »» The president and the vice president of finance each have a key and the vice president of finance checks the mail regularly. • During the budgeting process in November of 2015, the board voted to invest a significant amount in leadership development. Moneys were budgeted to send three members of the board to IABC Leadership Institute in February 2016. »» 2015 • Donna Malak Late in 2015, the board adopted the Slack messaging platform for board communications. It is a free application that is available across multiple operating systems and devices. »» »» It has proved an effective way to keep in touch with one another beyond monthly board meetings and seems to be more timely than email in sustaining momentum and completing action items. Discussions are separated across various topicbased channels open to the entire board, and private conversations between members are also possible. Page 7 All three members have committed to remaining in their current roles on the board through the 2016– 2017 board term: Jennie Lamb, president; Chase Friedman, vice president of communications; and Courtney Bosquez, vice president of professional development. Going Forward • A strategic planning board retreat will be held in the summer of 2016, where members of the board will establish a workable and repeatable two- to four- year plan of operations for the chapter. »» Content for web (including The Blog, email marketing, and social media) and events, using IABC International’s editorial calendar, will be decided upon for the entire programming year. »» A system of senior directors reporting to vice presidents will be established and potential volunteers for each will be identified. HOME Administration ◊ For the last several years, volunteerism has declined within the chapter due in part to a lack of defined roles. ◊ Senior directors will not be required to attend board meetings or required to have an IABC membership, but will have specific duties to carry out within each portfolio. ◊ Specific titles will allow specific résumé lineitems for volunteers and help to establish succession within each portfolio area and the board of directors. ◊ A senior director may be designated to attend a board meeting by their vice president in the event they cannot attend themselves. ◊ Some select senior director positions may become student intern possibilities. ◊ A possible hierarchy for the Communications portfolio is illustrated at the right. Area communicators discuss table topics at a networking event in 2013 at Fritella Cafe. IABC/Brazos Valley Annual Report 2015 Possible Communications Committee Vice President of Communications Senior Director of Email Marketing Senior Director of Web Services Emily Carlton, Emily Ratliff, Megan Kasperbauer, and Logan Jinks have some laughs at the Toast to 2013 holiday networking event. Page 8 Pam Wiley and Bob Beals networking in 2014 at Harvey Washbangers. Senior Director of Social Media Kammy Baumann & Nancy McQuistion pick up three 2015 Silver Quills for The Real Estate Center. HOME Awards The IABC chapter level awards programs are referred to as the Bronze Quills. The Silver Quills Bronze Quill AwArds the newer, and much more in-depth scoring sheets. The chapter experienced negative feedback from reciprocal judging chapters due to the more rigorous and timeconsuming judging process. Call for Entries • are administered at the regional level, and the Gold Quills are 2015 BVIABC Bronze Quill executed at the international level. The IABC awards programs have undergone a major overhaul in recent years in efforts to standardize and streamline the administration of the programs and the judging of entries. For the 2014–15 board term, Rachel Dohmann was the BVIABC vice president of awards. The position is currently vacant, with any inquiries or outstanding judging duties being handled by the president. At this time, there are no plans to fill the vice president of awards position for the 2016–17 board term. Background • »» • 2015 • »» Starting in approximately 2009, our chapter began to focus on writing our call for entries to match those of IABC Southern Region for the Silver Quills and IABC International for the Gold Quills, especially in terms of divisions and categories, in an effort to encourage entrants to enter successive competitions with only minimal tweaking of entries based on the judge’s feedback at each level. 2015 Bronze Quill Awards Program Income The new scoring rubric is more intense and has resulted in fewer entries, a more rigorous experience for judges, and fewer entries receiving awards. 2015 Bronze Quill Award Program Expenses Entertainment $100.00 Trophies $404.30 Net Entry Fees $1,147.91 Net Event Ticket Sales $1,262.10 Food $792.00 Facility & Drinks $625.00 Trophy Reorders $145.05 In 2013 and 2014, to keep with the trend of aligning with the region and international, BVIABC switched to IABC/Brazos Valley Annual Report 2015 The commitment of reciprocal judging chapters was increasingly difficult to secure, due to more chapters moving to the new system, as judging is no longer coordinated by the chapter. The subscription to IABC International’s new digital awards administrative/judging program was costprohibitive for the chapter. Historically, the number of entries were high and the event was well attended by members and nonmembers due in part to there being no other competition local for communication awards. With the older, less-complex judging sheets, IABC chapters were consistently amenable to taking on judging assignments for other chapters. »» ◊ In 2014 and 2015, the BVIABC awards program faced considerable administrative and financial challenges, some of which were: Prior to 2014, our chapter’s Bronze Quill Awards were branded as the “Brazos Bravo Awards.” »» • In 2014, the local awards program was rebranded as the “Bronze Quill Awards,” as part of the ongoing effort to align the chapter’s program to that of IABC Southern Region and IABC International. Rachel Dohmann Page 9 HOME Awards The 2011–12 BVIABC Board of Directors at the 2012 Brazos Bravo Awards. From left: Donna Malak, Blair Williamson, Jennie L. Lamb, Megan Kasperbauer, Pam Wiley, and Nicholas Roznovsky Not pictured: Holli Conley and Emily Carlton • Student Entry Cost Member Entry Cost Nonmember Entry Cost Entries Received Entry Income Merit Awards Excellence Awards Best of the Brazos Percentage of Winning Entries 2012 $15 $30 $50 42 $1,410 6 12 1 42.86% 2013 $15 $35 $50 33 $1,180 5 5 1 30.30% 2014 $25 $40 $50 32 $1,305 9 4 1 40.63% 2015 $25 $45 $60 26 $1,148 1 17 1 69.23% »» »» »» »» Cost of a Student Entry: $25 (0 entries) Cost of a Member Entry: $45 (22 entries) Cost of a Nonmember Entry: $60 (4 entries) Net Entry Sales: $1,147.91 »» »» »» Cost of a Student/Member Event Ticket: $35 (21 tickets) Cost of a Nonmember Event Ticket: $45 (14 tickets) Number of Attendees: 35 Net Ticket Sales: $1,262.10 »» Final profit from of 2015 awards program: $633.76 »» »» »» »» Number of Entries: 26 Number of Awards of Merit: 1 Number of Awards of Excellence: 17 Number of Best of the Brazos Awards: 1 Going Forward • 2014 BVIABC Bronze Quill Awards From left: Rachel Dohmann and Monika Blackwell Year The following is a breakdown of the 2015 BVIABC Bronze Quill Awards program: »» 2013 BVIABC Brazos Bravo Awards Committee From left: Jennie L. Lamb, Monika Blackwell, Rachel Dohmann, and VeLisa Ward Bayer The table above is a year-over-year comparison of the entries and awards portion of the BVIABC Bronze Quill Award program from 2012 through 2015. IABC/Brazos Valley Annual Report 2015 »» • Although the percentage of winning entries was higher, relatively, in 2015, it was due to a fouryear low in the number of entries submitted coupled with the lowering of the required scores to win awards at the Bronze Quill level by IABC International. In January 2016, we announced that BVIABC would not be holding a Bronze Quill Awards competition this year, for reasons stated above as well as the following: »» »» While BVIABC has made a profit on the Bronze Quill Awards program for the last few years, the return on investment (ROI) is very low. Professional development events offer a much greater ROI for our chapter. Results from the August 2015 membership and participation survey, as well as personal conversations between board members and local communicators, show that our audience is not happy with changes made to the BVIABC awards program over the last several years. Page 10 »» Also, in 2015, over 50% of the entries were by a board member or originated from a board member’s place of business. »» The chapter is currently operating without a vice president of awards. »» Area communicators were welcome to enter the 2016 IABC/Houston Bronze Quill Awards Competition. (BVIABC members could do so at member rates.) ◊ • The chapter will have an opportunity to assist in the judging phase of the IABC/Houston competition. We haven’t ruled out the possibility of holding an awards program in the future. »» The board continues to discuss ways to develop a strictly local competition that would better showcase the communication strengths and projects that are most relevant to the professionals in our area, as well as ways to better administer the competition within our chapter. HOME Communications The position of the vice president of communication is one of the most time-consuming roles on our board. This director is responsible for the strategic direction and tasks that make our Chase Friedman chapter communications possible, including development and »» maintenance of the chapter’s website (bviabc.com), direction and distribution of the chapter’s email marketing initiatives, and strategic direction for the chapter’s social media presence The board put a lot of thought into choosing the signature color to use for our chapter’s IABC logo. ◊ While maroon is not a choice offered in the new IABC color palette, the board also decided to stay away from purples and reds so as not to potentially reinforce the “Texas A&M-affiliated communicators only” stereotype that follows our chapter. ◊ When considering a blue close to the old IABC blue, we decided it looked too similar to the Hewlett Packard logo. on Facebook and Twitter. Chase Friedman assumed the role of vice president of communications late in the 2014–15 board term. He remains in the position currently, and plans to continue in the role through the 2016–17 board term. He attended IABC Leadership Institute (LI) in February 2016 with Courtney Bosquez and Jennie Lamb. Background • A belief prevailed that too much digital communication from the chapter would overwhelm target audiences and cause them to unsubscribe and unfollow. 2015 • »» »» »» In 2013, when web hosting through IABC was being reorganized, we started maintaining our own site through Host Gator and purchased the bviabc.com domain. WordPress was installed but the theme was outdated and broken by 2015. When the chapter newsletter moved from print to email, the name of Etc. transitioned with it. Within the last several years, however, the newsletter had devolved into little more than a forum to announce upcoming events. While we have had a social media presence on Facebook and Twitter for some time, prior to 2015 these channels had only been utilized sparingly, mainly to announce upcoming events. IABC/Brazos Valley Annual Report 2015 • In June 2015, IABC International launched an association-wide rebrand for the first time in the 45-year history of the organization. »» With a new logo and updated brand identity guidelines giving direction on typography, photography and tone of voice, it was the culmination of over two years of work by the volunteer IABC Brand Taskforce in conjunction with Arcas Advertising. »» The new brand debuted at IABC World Conference and chapters around the world were encouraged to rebrand within one year. By November 2015, BVIABC had launched the new brand locally. Page 11 HOME Communications ◊ Our MailChimp email marketing templates were updated to feature the new green chapter logo and also utilize similar photos as those used for social media cover images. * We replaced the outdated newsletter name of Etc. with The BVIABC Communicator. »» Part of the IABC-wide rebranding initiative was an updated tone of voice that is human, open, confident and professional. It’s inclusive of our audience with a member-first/ first-person perspective that is welcoming, friendly, approachable, positive and down-to-earth. • A large portion of our chapter-forward marketing strategy and communication revitalization has been our original content initiative. »» ◊ Some of the changes we’ve made to BVIABC style to reflect these sensibilities include: ◊ When considering a darker green, the board decided it looked too similar to the BP logo. * Use of “+” instead of “&” or “and” as in “Lunch + Learn” »» The board settled on a lighter green, PMS 368, to highlight the “valley” in “Brazos Valley.” * »» With the new branding guidelines in place and a chapter signature color chosen, we began a comprehensive revitalization of chapter communications. Use of “feat.” for “featuring” when marketing guest speakers * In an effort to put the chapter forward in our marketing, we’ve redefined the IABC/ Brazos Valley acronym from IABC/BV to BVIABC. ◊ ◊ bviabc.com was redesigned to highlight the signature green color and new IABC logo utilizing a more modern feel and WordPress theme. Our chapter Facebook and Twitter presences were updated featuring the new green IABC logo as the chapter’s profile photos. Cover images of locations throughout the BryanCollege Station area, with the IABC logo overlay, are rotated regularly. IABC/Brazos Valley Annual Report 2015 »» Throughout the fall 2015 holidays, the board of directors sent digital greeting cards to our audience in celebration of Thanksgiving, the winter holidays, and New Years via email and social media that utilized the new branding and drew attention to our rebranding initiatives. Page 12 The Blog provides original content on communication topics by local professionals. We try to tie subject matter into the topics of our regular lunch meetings or a local perspective of larger-IABC themes such as World Conference or Leadership Institute. ◊ Pieces for The Blog provide links for us to post on social media and in The BVIABC Communicator monthly newsletter, which drives our audience to our website. »» Member Spotlight on bviabc.com highlights featured chapter members’ answers to a standard set of questions about their careers and personal IABC experiences. »» Our posting on Facebook and Twitter has become much more frequent. ◊ We not only use these channels to announce upcoming events, but to repost content from IABC Southern Region and IABC International, to push our original content, to thank our speakers, and to congratulate our members on achievements. HOME Communications Going Forward • As an organization for communication professionals, we realize that quality communications are vital to our reputation and our service to our target audience. »» »» We are committed to continuing to provide original content through The Blog and highlighting it in our email and social media endeavors. • We have plans to start a virtual conversation area for local communicators via the Slack messaging platform. Our vice president of communications will oversee this new initiative where we will provide our audience a place to create connections with one another and allow us to market our events and content to them through another digital channel. • Our vice president of communications will also be implementing sustainable analytics to track all of our communications channels and advise the board when to adjust strategies as needed to better meet our objectives. In 2016, we are celebrating the 35th anniversary of our chapter. In addition to theming our networking events throughout the year as birthday parties, we are undertaking a chapter history initiative on bviabc.com. This new content includes: ◊ Personal reflections/Q&As with several longtime and past chapter members and leaders, which also serve as membership testimonials ◊ An archive of scanned historical pieces from our chapter’s history ◊ A complete listing of our chapter’s past presidents, with links to their personal reflections, where available Texas A&M Marketing & Communications team celebrates a Sondra White, Sam White, Pam Wiley, and Angela Clendenin 2013 Brazos Bravo Award for the Johnny Manziel campaign. enjoy the 2013 Brazos Bravo Awards at the Grand Stafford Theater. IABC/Brazos Valley Annual Report 2015 Page 13 The Bush School’s Communications Team celebrates a 2013 Brazos Bravo Award of Excellence. HOME Membership The primary role of the chapter’s vice president of membership is to shepherd the Texas A&M University corporate membership group through the renewal process each Spring, in addition to Jordan Meserole recruiting new members throughout the year. IABC Brand: During the 2014–15 board term the vice president of • membership was Jordan Meserole. The vice president of membership for the 2015–16 board term is Monika Blackwell. She is currently searching for a new vice president of membership for the 2016–17 board term. 2015 Yes No Somewhat Awards program participation 3 5 8 Networking participation 8 4 4 Prof. Dev. lunch participation 7 4 5 • As of December 2015, BVIABC had 52 members. Keeping/having a membership 6 4 6 • In August 2015, the board conducted an extensive online chapter membership and participation survey. »» Background Texas A&M University is the largest of 13 higher education corporate membership groups in IABC and the only one with gold-level corporate membership status. (See https://www.iabc.com/membership/ corporate-membership/corporate-benefits/) • Approximately 90% of our members are affiliated with Texas A&M. • Over the years, we have continuously tried to market membership and participation beyond Texas A&M communication professionals, but with little success. • As seen across all of IABC, our membership numbers have been steadily declining over the last several years. IABC/Brazos Valley Annual Report 2015 We asked how important the IABC brand was to participation by respondents in the following activities: During the 2015 corporate renewal period, the chapter saw a significant decrease in our membership, as illustrated in the graph above from the chapter membership management area on IABC.com. • »» • Monika Blackwell Current member (42) and nonmember (227) subscribers to our email distribution list (269 total) received invitations to participate, generating a total of 32 responses (9%). An incentive to participate was being entered into a drawing for a $60 gift card to Texas A&M University’s Memorial Student Center’s OPAS program, which presents professional productions of theatre, music and dance programs for audiences in the Brazos Valley. August 2015 BVIABC Survey Results Demographics: • 60% of respondents were between 20 and 39 years of age and 36% were over 40 years of age. • 80% of respondents identified as female. • The majority of respondents identified as working in higher education, but in a mix of specific communications roles. • 56% of respondents identified as current members, 28% as nonmembers who attended events (participators), and 16% as former members. Page 14 Activity Communications: • 94% of respondents indicated that they preferred to hear about chapter events and content via email. • No respondents indicated that they received too much communication from the chapter, although a majority indicated that they received just enough communication via emails and not enough via the website or social media. Service: • 50% of respondents indicated they would be interested in participating in a chapter service project. Networking: • 64% of respondents indicated they felt satisfied with the networking opportunities provided by the chapter, with several respondents commenting that more socialfocused gatherings at various times of the day would make chapter networking better. • 81% of respondents indicated that they felt the chapter is predominantly for Texas A&M-affiliated communicators. Professional Development: • 88% of respondents indicated that they were looking HOME Membership for more hands-on learning from chapter professional development offerings, with a wide range of specific topics suggested. • 81% of respondents indicated that a half-day professional development workshop would be ideal for an event lasting longer than the usual chapter lunches. • 69% of respondents indicated that the three main reasons they attended chapter events were professional development, networking and to stay connected to the community. The majority of respondents indicated that the top three factors in deciding to attend a chapter event were the topic, speaker and time of day. Awards: capacity with their activities. • 63% of respondents indicated that they felt there were enough opportunities to be involved in the chapter but that there could be more and they could be better advertised. • The average length of time respondents had been involved in or a member of IABC was 19 years. Most respondents had been involved in or a member of IABC for 4–7 years. • 56% of respondents indicated that they would consider board service if they didn’t have to become an IABC member. • 31% of respondents indicated that they would like to see the chapter work to encourage more participation in IABC at the regional and international levels. • • The majority of respondents indicated that on a scale of 1-10, the importance of the chapter’s Bronze Quill program aligning with IABC’s Silver and Gold Quill programs was a 4. • 100% of respondents indicated that scoring and feedback from judges was meaningful whether or not an entry won an award. • 44% of respondents indicated no preference between a lunch or dinner awards event. CMP Certification: • The majority of respondents indicated that on a scale of 1-10, their interest in the new IABC Communications Management Professional (CMP) certification process was a 4.85. • The majority of respondents indicated that the top three ways the chapter could support them and their career was through professional development lunches, through professional development workshops with hands-on learning, and through local networking opportunities. 50% of respondents indicated they did not wish to be more involved with the chapter because they were at IABC/Brazos Valley Annual Report 2015 • On a scale of 1 to 9 (with 1 being never and 9 being all the time), when asked if they felt the board of directors listened and made changes in accordance to their suggestions, the mean value from respondents was 5.20. When asked by IABC International for a “best rough estimate of how many nonmembers the chapter serves per year,” we replied with the following information: • Our email distribution list goes to 269 subscribers: 42 are members and 227 are nonmembers. »» Whenever someone registers to attend an event they are added to our master list. »» We recently went through our past member list and added people we could verify good email addresses for. »» We also let people self-subscribe/unsubscribe. Pricing & Renewal: • 69% of respondents indicated that pricing was a deterrent to their participation in chapter events. • 65% of respondents indicated that without employer funding they couldn’t be a member of IABC and 19% indicated that they couldn’t attend lunches or participate in awards programs without employer funding. • • Chapter Involvement & Participation: • Confidence: • 1/3 of the respondents indicated that they attended chapter events as a nonmember, rather than becoming a member, because dues were cost-prohibitive and membership benefits were not worth the price. 78% of nonmember and 100% of former member respondents indicated that they would be interested in becoming a member of the chapter if a reduced rate was available that excluded any regional and international IABC benefits. 60% of former member respondents indicated that the top three factors influencing their decision not to renew their memberships were price, not enough valuable professional development opportunities and not enough career support opportunities. Page 15 • • For 2015, we tracked member/nonmember registration for eight programs: two were strictly holiday networking events; one was the Bronze Quill 2015 event; and five were PD lunches. »» We averaged 20–23 attendees per event. »» We averaged 15–18 members per event. »» We averaged 8–10 nonmembers per event. A significant portion of our nonmember participators are people who were members at some point in the past. We do have a large contingent of what we refer to as “regular nonmember participators.” Going Forward: • We should work to revitalize marketing membership beyond Texas A&M communicators by capitalizing on how creating connections with Texas A&M communicators can benefit other communicators in the community, rather than trying to ignore the Texas A&M connection. HOME Membership • • We should continue to market membership within the community of Texas A&M communicators in order to stabilize and perhaps grow the IABC goldlevel corporate membership group, which requires at least 31 members. As of April 2016, BVIABC has 47 members. We should continue to recognize that regular nonmember participators are a valued segment of our target audience and continue to market our events and content to them. »» • IABC International recognizes the role it should be playing in promoting awareness and best practices within the field of business communications for all practitioners, not just members, and our chapter should as well. ◊ • Filling some of the potential senior director positions with student interns may be a viable part of this strategy. Continuing to increase our chapter’s value proposition and bettering communication about the value of IABC overall is crucial. »» We are planning to provide a virtual networking opportunity for communicators within the Brazos Valley via the Slack messaging platform. See “Creating Virtual Value for Professional Organizations” by Chase Friedman, vice president of communications, on The Blog at bviabc.com for more information on this initiative. We plan to investigate the best way to be of value to students in the community. »» While a student chapter or heavy recruiting of student members is not a priority at this time, finding ways to mentor students and solicit their participation in our chapter’s content activities and events should be. The Brazos Valley is located in southeast Texas, and includes parts of seven counties along the Brazos River, as shown on the map to the right. Broadly speaking, we’re southeast of Waco, northwest of Houston, and east of Austin. At present, our membership marketing focuses on communicators working for Texas A&M in the Bryan-College Station area only. (Map courtesy of the Brazos Valley Council of Governments) IABC/Brazos Valley Annual Report 2015 Page 16 HOME Professional Development The role of the vice president of professional development (or “programs”) has long been regarded as the most Monika Blackwell important and also the most time Courtney Bosquez 2015 and effort consuming position on the The following is an accounting of our 2015 chapter professional development events. BVIABC board of directors. This director is responsible for planning all chapter events (beyond those in support of the awards program), which includes after-hours Toast to 2015! networking events, regular lunch meetings, Date/Time: Thu., Jan. 22, 2015 | 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM (CST) and workshops. For the 2014–15 board term the vice Place: Private Home | College Station, TX 77840 president of professional development was Monika Blackwell. Courtney Bosquez is the »» The change of atmosphere was met with good feedback from members and nonmember participators. »» Because of the lower price per meal and no minimum attendance required, the chapter began to consistently make a profit on our lunch events. »» The space was smaller than the previous location and the chapter soon began to outgrow the facility. VP of professional development for the 2015–16 board term and plans to continue in the role through the 2016–17 board term. She attended IABC Leadership Institute (LI) in February 2016 with Chase J. Friedman and Jennie L. Lamb. Background • For several years prior to the 2014–15 board term, our chapter had a contract for a set number of lunches per year, stipulating a minimum attendance at each, with Christopher’s World Grille, a local restaurant and meeting facility in Bryan, TX. »» »» • Prices had steadily increased and despite increasing ticket prices, our chapter was not making an adequate profit per nonmember attendee and was losing money per member attendee. A couple of times, the minimum attendance wasn’t met and the chapter had to absorb costs of uneaten meals. We moved our regular lunch meetings to Amico Nave Ristorante, located in Bryan, TX, at the beginning of the 2014–15 board term. IABC/Brazos Valley Annual Report 2015 • In 2012 and 2013, the chapter did not hold a longer workshop event as it had in previous years. • In December 2014, past president and long-time member Pam Wiley gifted the chapter with her facilitation of a workshop called “The Passion Test.” »» Registration: 12 members | 0 students | 3 nonmembers = 15 attendees Net Ticket Sales = $11.28 | Expenses = $325.95 Net Loss for Event = $314.67 February Lunch—Managers as Communication Ambassadors with Adrienne Ciletti Date/Time: Thu., Feb. 19, 2015 | 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM (CST) Place: Amico Nave Ristorante | Bryan, TX Ticket Prices: $30 for members & students | $40 for nonmembers Pam Wiley (BVIABC Member) With little money spent for facility, food, or speaker fees, the chapter realized a healthy profit from the event. Page 17 Ticket Prices: Free for members | $5 nonmembers Adrienne Ciletti Registration: 16 members | 1 student | 6 nonmembers = 23 attendees Net Ticket Sales = $689.73 | Expenses = $710.10 Net Loss for Event = $20.37 HOME Professional Development Place: Amico Nave Ristorante | Bryan, TX March Lunch—The Marketing Trifecta: Harnessing the Power of SEM, SEO, and Social Media with Christine Hollinden Ticket Prices: $30 for members & students | $40 for nonmembers Registration:10 members | 0 students | 13 nonmembers = 23 attendees Date/Time: Thu., Mar. 26, 2015 | 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM (CDT) Net Ticket Sales = $756.23 | Expenses = $437.18 Place: Amico Nave Ristorante | Bryan, TX Ticket Prices: $30 for members & students | $40 for nonmembers Net Profit for Event = $319.05 Krista L. Smith, MBA (BVIABC member) gives a presentation about Texas A&M University’s social media program at the March 2016 Lunch + Learn. Christine Hollinden Registration: 12 members | 2 students | 13 nonmembers = 27 attendees Net Ticket Sales = $866.27 | Expenses = $576.11 Net Profit for Event = $289.94 November Lunch + Learn—Crisis Communication: Lessons Learned from the Disaster Zone feat. Angela Clendenin Going Forward • Date/Time: Fri., Nov. 20, 2015 | 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM (CST) Place: Amico Nave Ristorante | Bryan, TX June Lunch—Navigating a Protracted Story Pitch with Tonya B. Lewis Ticket Prices: $30 for members & students | $40 for nonmembers Angela Clendenin (BVIABC Member) Date/Time: Thu., Jun. 25, 2015 | 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM (CDT) Registration:14 members | 1 student | 8 nonmembers = 23 attendees Place: Amico Nave Ristorante | Bryan, TX Net Ticket Sales = $708.73 | Expenses = $455.85 Ticket Prices: $30 for members & students | $40 for nonmembers Prior to the 2015–16 board term it was believed that seeking speakers for regular lunch meetings from outside the Bryan-College Station area would draw larger crowds and help our chapter objective of not appearing to be a group only for Texas A&M-affiliated communicators. »» During this board term, we have seen increased attendance at regular lunch meetings, which have predominantly featured local speakers. We believe this is because communications at the university are decentralized and so BVIABC is creating connection for our audience of Texas A&M-affiliated communicators. We plan to continue to feature featuring local communicators as speakers at our lunch meetings and networking events. »» Lunch meetings are not an adequate setting to provide a significant learning experience, so we plan to alter our marketing strategy for these meetings to highlight the networking opportunities instead. Net Profit for Event= $252.88 Tonya B. Lewis Registration:10 members | 0 students | 2 nonmembers = 12 attendees Net Ticket Sales = $349.12 | Expenses = $660.11 Net Loss for Event = $310.98 December Holiday 2015 Mixer Date/Time: Thu., Dec. 3, 2015 | 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM (CST) Place: The Village Cafe | Bryan, TX September Lunch + Learn—Is Print Dying? feat. Bill Toler of Swift Communications Date/Time: Thu., Sept. 17, 2015 | 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM (CDT) IABC/Brazos Valley Annual Report 2015 Ticket Prices: Free for all (registration only) • Registration: 4 members | 0 students | 6 nonmembers = 10 registrants (9 people actually attended) Expenses = $125.27 Net Loss for Event = $125.27 Page 18 In 2016, we have been testing alternative locations for our regular lunch meetings. There’s been mixed success at different venues but overall we’ve benefited from no long-term contract, lower costs per meal, and marketing to a more diverse audience by holding meetings in multiple locations in our area. HOME Professional Development • Because the chapter isn’t holding a Bronze Quill Awards program in 2016, the vice president of professional development is planning a two-session, day-long workshop event featuring hands-on learning with speakers from outside the local area that will take place in late spring. M. Kasperbauer, E. Carlton, M. Blackwell, H. Conley, and J. Lamb at happy hour with Darcy Eikenberg. Jason Cook speaks about Texas A&M’s move to the Southeastern Conference (SEC) at The Village in 2012. IABC/Brazos Valley Annual Report 2015 »» The morning session will be a skills-based workshop. The afternoon session topic will be more abstract in nature but still hands-on, such as emotional intelligence, personal branding or worklife balance. Darcy Eikenberg speaking at a Lunch + Learn in 2013. Robin McCasland speaking at a Lunch + Learn in 2013. Area communicators gather for a networking breakfast at Sweet Eugene’s in 2012. Page 19 »» Attendees may chose either session and lunch will be provided with both allowing for networking between sessions. A reduced rate will be available for attendees who register for both sessions. Chase Friedman, Kelli Levey, and Leanne South, ABC, listen to Robin McCasland, IABC IEB Chair 2013–14. Keta and David S. Jones, ABC, at a networking event at Perrine Winery in 2012. Ronne Rock speaks at a Lunch + Learn in 2014. HOME Finance BVIABC finances are managed by the vice president of finance, ◊ who is a member of the chapter’s executive committee and the board of directors. For the 2014–15 board term, the vice president of finance was Jennie Lamb. For the 2015–16 board term, the vice president of finance is Marie Lindley, and she • A yearly budgeting process takes place each fall. »» plans to continue in the role for the 2016–17 board term. Background • The chapter maintains a business checking account and igning authority is shared by the president and the vice president of finance, currently Jennie Lamb and Marie Lindley. Both of these individuals also have debit cards for the account. »» • During the board transition in July, the incoming president and vice president of finance visit the bank to change the signing authority documents, providing the bank with a letter from the incoming president and minutes of the recent board meeting showing the new board roster. Most of the income the chapter receives is through ticket sales for professional development events. »» »» The chapter uses Eventbrite.com and it’s credit card processing services for these transactions. After an event has taken place, a deposit of the net proceeds from ticket sales is automatically transferred into the chapter’s checking account. »» • Files of hard-copy receipts and approvals (Hard copies of financial records are kept for two to three years and then scanned for digital keeping thereafter.) Each vice president of a portfolio area is responsible for consulting with the vice president of finance and the president to set that area of the budget. The vice president of finance then presents a final budget for the next calendar year at the November meeting for board approval. The vice president of finance maintains a separate Dropbox from the board’s Dropbox where financial records are backed up digitally for several years. »» There is also an extensive procedure manual for the vice president of finance which is updated as needed. Grants Received $400.00 Quickbooks Online ◊ Budget vs. Actual accounting spreadsheet shared at each board meeting Return of Erroneous Bank Charges $15.00 • Each February, IABC chapters are responsible for sending a financial report to IABC International. »» Chapters within the United States do not pay their own taxes to the IRS. They are handled by IABC International and these yearly reports are necessary for that process. »» The pie charts below and the table on the following page illustrate the financial accounting of the chapter for the 2015 calendar year, which was reported to IABC International via email by the vice president of finance on January 25, 2016. 2015 BVIABC Expenses Holiday Event Gifts $451.22 $202.56 Website $128.00 Dues Rebates $1,620.00 Administrative $1,233.29 Chapter Events $3,381.36 Awards Program $2,555.06 Advertising $12.26 Speaker Expenses $352.37 IABC/Brazos Valley Annual Report 2015 Page 20 Marie Lindley 2015 2015 BVIABC Income Records of chapter finances are kept by the VP of finance in three ways: ◊ Jennie L. Lamb Meeting Expenses $175.77 Awards Program $1,921.30 Chapter Events $2,193.16 HOME Finance Going Forward • • In the past, we used PayPal for certain times when payments needed to be collected, such as for award entries and trophy reorders. However, there have been some issues with changing names on the PayPal account as members have left the vice president of finance position and revolved off of the board of directors. We intend to discontinue to the current PayPal account, since there will be no chapter awards program in 2016. If a need arises for an alternative payment system in the future, a new account may be created or other means of accepting payments can be investigated. »» • As of December 31, 2015, the current PayPal account held a $0 balance. In January 2016, the vice president of finance made the following adjustments to streamline the monthly financial record-keeping processes: »» Integrated the chapter’s Quickbooks Online account directly with the chapter’s checking account »» Established a new tracking form to streamline hard-copy records »» Noted in the finance procedural manual that debit card use has replaced the use of checks as our standard form of payment BVIABC Financial Statement for January 1, 2015–December 31, 2015 Income Amount Definition Dues Rebates $1,620.00 Membership rebates received from IABC International Awards Program $2,555.06 Monies received for chapter awards activity Chapter Events $3,381.36 Monies received for chapter-held activities Grants Received Return of Erroneous Bank Charges Total Income: Expenses Meeting Expenses $400.00 Receipt of funding for a specific project/award $15.00 Return of erroneous bank charges for paper statements $7,971.42 Amount Defintion $175.77 Payments made to vendors/reimbursements to board members that were incurred for/during the meeting Awards Program $1,921.30 Payments made to vendors that were incurred for/ during the activity Chapter Events $2,193.16 Payments made to vendors that were incurred for/ during the activity Speaker Expenses Advertising Administrative $352.37 Payments/gifts made to speakers & related expenses $12.26 All advertising expenses $1,233.29 Postage, PO Box rental, bank charges, bookkeeping services, & board insurance, etc. Website $128.00 Expenses incurred for maintaining chapter website Gifts $202.56 Staff recognition or unforeseeable event Holiday Event $451.22 Payments made to vendors that were incurred for/ during the activity Total Expenses $6,669.93 Net Income as of 12/31/15 $1,301.49 Bank Balance as of 1/1/15 Less Outstanding Checks Add Net income (from above) as of 12/31/15 Total balance as of 12/31/15 Bank Balance as of 12/31/15 Less Outstanding Checks Total balance/assets as of 12/31/15 $8,089.00 Agrees with prior year’s ending balance/bank statement – $1,301.49 $9,390.49 * $9,390.49 Agrees with current year’s ending balance/bank statement – $9,390.49 * Agrees with current year’s ending balance/bank statement * These two lines must be equal. IABC/Brazos Valley Annual Report 2015 Page 21 HOME Stay Connected. Join IABC-wide conversations on Twitter: #createconnection, #IABC, #IABCieb, #IABCLI, #IABC16 Follow BVIABC on Twitter: @bviabc + #BVIABC Join BVIABC on Facebook: facebook.com/bviabc Stay Stay Stay Join Join Join Join Join Join the the the the the the conversations conversations conversations conversations conversations conversations on on on oo Explore our history archive online at: bviabc.com/about/bviabc-history Thanks for joining us! Let us know how we’re doing. Checkour your emailarchive and respond Explore history online at: International International International International International International Executive Executive Executive Executive Executive Executiv BBB to our event survey! bviabc.com/about/bviabc-history Thanks for1981–2016 joining us! BVIABC: The The The The The The International International International International International International Executive Executive Executive Executive Executive Executive Board, Board Board Boar Boa Bo members. members. members. members. members. members. The The The The The The IEB IEB IEB IEB IEB develops IEB develops develops develops develops develops the the the the the str th sts the the the the the Association the Association Association Association Association Association Bylaws Bylaws Bylaws Bylaws Bylaws Bylaws approved approved approved approved approve approvb the the the the the IABC the IABC IABC IABC IABC IABC Foundation. Foundation. Foundation. Foundation. Foundation. Foundation. BVIABC Presidents from left: Anne Cole, 1986-87; Blair Williamson, 2014-15; Jennie L. Lamb, 2015-17; and Suzanne Deatherage, 1991-92; at a 35th Anniversary Mixer in March 2016. IABC/Brazos Valley (BVIABC) Post Office Box 701 College Station, Texas 77841-0701 USA bviabc.com | [email protected] IABC/Brazos Valley Annual Report 2015 Let us know how we’re doing. 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