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Board Minutes

Board & Delegate Meeting, September 21-22, 2008 - Seattle

Present (Indicated by X)

X Mark Flint, past director                        X Suzanne Poggio, director

X Steve Kuyatt, deputy director               X Brian Everett, professional development director  

X Cindy Schmieg, finance director           X Alan Tang, growth & development director              

X Lance Tanaka, chapter advocate           X M. Kuykendall, chapter advocate                         

X Mary Ann McCauley, chapter advocate

X Annette Tait, chapter advocate             X Jackie LeFort, chapter advocate

X Laura Vernon, chapter advocate           X Suzanne Hatcher, communications director

S. Poggio called the meeting to order at 9:08 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time.

S. Kuyat moved to approved. M.A. McCauley seconded. Motion approved.

One correction: L. Tanaka is visting the Chicago chapter in October.

Finance Update

C. Schmieg distributed the finance report prior to the board meeting. The PPR has $26,000 in checking account. We have not paid any expenses for the Exchange Conference. 

Leadership Instituite reimbursement will be discussed after we determine the final revenue from Silver Quill and the Exchange Conference programs.

Exchange Conference Upate

We currently have 149 attendees registered and anticipate a few walk ins, so we’ll meet our goal of 150 attendees.

Some re-adjustments have been made to the "ideas fair" to share and discuss best practices. Instead of an informal fair, there will be a panel discussion on Monday afternoon. That’s the only change to the agenda.

Board members to sign up to help with conference registration. Role includes greeting attendees, answering questions on the agenda, etc. Board members are all hosts.

The registrants list is posted on the website, off of the main page of the Exchange Conference section.

Approximately 1/3 of participants are from Seattle and then equal representation from other chapters and areas of the region.

Silver Quill Update

We will have seven award winners present at the Silver Quill awards reception. Todd Hatori will host the Silver Quill reception. There will not be a program on the table. Awards will be shipped at the beginning of November.

We will be re-evaluating how we proceed with the program for 2009.

Chapter Updates

Chapter reports were discussed by each chapter advocate, along with chapter self assessments.

In the reports, there were several requests for a PPR resource toolkit and professional development calls. Both of these items are currently in the overall PPR strategic plan.

Southeast Wisconsin is suspending operations in October. Members can join up with the Chicago chapter or members at large group. Money will be sent to PPR for two years. C. Schmieg to determine if there needs to be a separate account set up for these funds.

M. Kuykendall to learn more about the IABC International LI scholarships from G. Hoover and connect with her chapters who are struggling.

Possible topic for Spring delegate meeting: Great Plains to discuss how using IABC International web site templates work, process, success, etc.

Suggested PD call topic: Awards programs, specifically on consistent judging and submissions, etc.

J. LeFort to follow up with Southeast Wisconsin members to introduce what it means to be a member at large.

C. Schmieg and M.A. McCauley to look into partnering with San Francisco at next year’s World Conference in San Francisco.

C. Schmieg reminded CAs to try and visit chapters this year since we have it in the budget.

CAs to send a short plan to S. Poggio on chapter visits, contacts, activities, etc. for the year of each of their chapters.

Survey update

A. Tang presented information he compiled from the chapter reports that included membership growth and financial growth.

General discussion around the economy and regional growth:

Key to the next two – three years with the economic downturn is participation. Keep members and non-members engaged through events like networking. In the previous downturns, many communicators try to go out on their own as individuals. Keeping an eye out for this trend will be important for chapters and respond if necessary.

CAs in their discussion with their delegates at the delegate meeting should discuss the economic affect in their city/area and possibly connect struggling chapters with strong chapters.

PPR Strategic Plan Update

M.A. McCauley presented revised 2008-09 Strategic Plan.

Discussion around the PPR Mission, in particular if the goal around membership growth may be an outcome of the other two mission objectives. Board agreed that “fostering region growth” should be deleted, however, “advancing the profession” should be included.

M.A. McCauley to revise reserve goal to 20% instead of 25%. The financial goal is a two-year goal.

M.A. McCauley to delete goal #4 and “create benefits statement” – this will be included in the board descriptions.

All board members to review their area/function bylaws to see what needs to be update and contact M. Flint.

Committee job and board position descriptions need to be developed. These descriptions include specific tasks, time table, etc.

M.A. McCauley to provide a template; M. Flint to coordinate.

Board members to provide your board description to M. Flint by the end of October 2008. Board members should look at the bylaws and organizational chart to develop.

A. Tait will start the CA description and send it around for review, comments, etc.

Other Business

Discussion on propoals for 2009 host location. Proposals were submitted by Minnesota and Chicago.

Vote by the PPR board: 4-5 in favor of Minnesota. Minnesota delegates abstained from voting.

Delegates Meeting

Delegates in attendance at the Seattle meeting:

Karen Utterback, Chicago
Paula Cassin, Los Angeles
Elizabeth Williams, San Franscisco
Morgan Leu Parkhurst, Iowa
Liz Ahana, Hawaii
Laura Strohm
Rob Walgren. Seattle
Sarah Higgins, Sacramento
Chris Wayne, Portland/Oregon
Stephanie Grant, San Diego
Lisa Sedivy, Lincoln
Jennifer Peters, OmahaRhonda Sciarra, St. Louis
Dina Wiese, Great Plains
Lorriane King, Utah
Dave Meyer, Minnesota

General introductions from delegates and PPR board members.

Finance report by C. Schmieg.

A. Tang discussed his compilation of information from the chapter board reports.

L. Tanaka distributed the regional leadership toolkit. Chapter delegates brainstormed around new ideas, commented on ideas in the toolkit, etc.

General ideas to support delegates

• Use Exchange to connect with delegates virtually
• Develop PPR wiki for best practices
• Professional development calls
• Speaker list and topic list from all chapters to share on
• List of templates/resources for everything in one space
• Communication plan/timelines from International to chapter leaders
• Discuss the amount of communication from International w/ International
• Webinar schedule from International

PPR Report Outs

Communications plan review – S. Hatcher discussed the three communication plan objections

Professional development review - B. Everett distributed the professional development call schedule through May 2009. The schedule will also be posted on the PPR website.

Membership recruitment review – A. Tang reminded delegates that we need to think long-term during this economic downturn. The best practice is to focus on member engagement with events, activities, etc. not necessarily membership growth.

Strategic plan review – M.A. McCauley discussed the PPR’s three goals for the year.

1. Reach out to chapter leaders at least three times a year.

2. Begin building a reserve fund of 20%.

3. Fully staffed PPR board committees.

Chapter Management Awards

C. Schmieg, S. Hatcher and D. Meyer presented information on the IABC Chapter Management Awards. General information was provided, including helpful tips and processes to complete a successful submission.

Professional Development - Day 2

• Partner with other business groups like the Chamber of Commerce on PD events
• Book clubs on communication topics
• Panel topics
• Sustainability
• Self-Employment
• Crisis Communication
• Corp/Social Responsibility
• Incident communications (Bridge Collapse as example)
• Meet the Pros
• Media Panels
• Non-profit coverage
• Bring a non-member for free
• Survey attendees for PD subjects (CVent, Etc.)
• Ask your student chapter for topic ideas
• Speed Networking
• Paid administrator pitches events in the community
• Consider posting event on sport blogs
• Borrow projection equipment to avoid rental costs (purchase?)
• Cultivating close relationships with publications that can promote your events
• Tap your local Universities
• Accommodate walk-ins
• Breakfast, lunch and dinner venues
• Differentiate non-member pricing to encourage non-members to join
• Drive PD attendees to online registration (Cvent, Activia)
• Bill no-shows
• Pitch PD events in blogs
• Reward repeat attendees with a free event

Board Issues

• Allow Board meeting call-in as an option
• Hold concise Board meetings (Read: Shorter)
• Get a feel for your Board and figure out what works for them
• Prioritize agenda topics
• Hold a Board retreat to energize your Board
• No feedback on a Board member’s performance
• Ask for feedback following the retreat

Membership Growth

• Engage non-members at PD functions
• Offer membership discount
• Push corporate membership program
• Follow-up on renewals (phone, e-mail, face-to-face follow ups)
• Welcome Chapter transfers (Buddy System)
• Keep far-flung members engaged via teleconferencing

Retention

• Members should follow through with their employers to ensure that renewal has been paid
• Benefits sheet from HQ (International)
• Engage new members immediately
• Get your senior communicators accredited

Differentiating

• Go out of your way to welcome members
• IABC is well-rounded vs. other trade organizations
• Incorporate “Be Heard” branding
• Recognize/Profile new members
• IABC exposes professionals to a broader spectrum of options

Communicating with Membership

• Conduct a short survey
• Send out a postcard announcing PD events
• Communicate primarily via e-mail, plus on-line event registration
• Communicate face-to-face with members at PD events.

Succession Planning

• Ask ongoing board members if they’d like to do something different
• Two-year term for President
• Bring back past presidents to the Board, have them mentor newer Board members
• Each Board member is responsible for finding a successor
• Transition sheet on each Board position, with formal face-to-face presentation (one month overlap)
• Invite Board members-elect to last few regular meetings of outgoing Board, do mini strategic planning

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