The social events at IABC’s World Conference help you connect personally and professionally to a global network of communication professionals. This year’s events offer a rich blend of culture, cuisine, entertainment and opportunities to volunteer and help the local community.
Saturday, 23 June
PRE-CONFERENCE COMMUNITY PROJECT:
2–5 p.m.
Give the “Gift of Communication”
Join a global group of communicators to give the “Gift of Communication” by pooling your talents to help Chicago-area charities address some of their greatest communication challenges. Prior to this event, you’ll be given a list of participating agencies and their top communication issues and will be asked to choose three nonprofits you’d like to work with. We’ll do our best to seat you with one that you identify.
Using IABC’s Gift of Communication model, you’ll have an opportunity to address unique problem-solving situations, brainstorm with colleagues from around the world and demonstrate how communication professionals can make a difference to their communities.
This special session requires preregistration due to limited space. You can learn more about the Gift of Communication at http://gift.x.iabc.com.
Facilitators / Michael Zimet / Pennsylvania, USA, is president of Dialogue Solutions, a consultancy specializing in assessment and strategy. Zimet previously served as architect and head of IBM’s worldwide Speak Up program. He is a member of IABC’s social responsibility committee and co-leader of the Gift of Communication initiative.
Jan Graves / Ontario, Canada, is a communication and development specialist and director of fundraising for the Bruce Trail Conservancy. She is a past director of the Canada Eastern Region and sat on the IABC executive board. She is also a member of IABC’s social responsibility committee a volunteer for the IABC Research Foundation and co-chair of the Gift of Communication initiative.
Listen to an interview with Micchael Zimet about the “Gift of Communication” Click Here
Sunday, 24 June
CHICAGO HOSPITALITY EVENTS
Take advantage of the exciting activities that the Chicago hospitality task force has arranged. Join fellow conference attenders to explore the city. Chapter volunteers will meet you and ensure that you connect with your guide and hosts.
Spots are limited for the architecture and trolley tours. All registered attendees are welcome to sign up at the IABC conference hospitality desk in advance. Please remember to wear your conference badge.
Meet IABC/Chicago chapter volunteers in the Sheraton convention/group lobby doorway 15 minutes before each tour begins.
Trolley Tour of Chicago
9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. (first two trolleys)
11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
The Chicago guide aboard your trolley has a passion for the city and will highlight the best it has to offer. We’ll stop briefly at the Adler Planetarium so you can take in the breathtaking view of the entire Chicago skyline.
Each tour will last approximately 90 minutes but not more than two hours. The first group of trolleys will depart at 9:30 a.m. and the second at 11:30 a.m.
Seats are limited to 70 people for each tour group.
Architecture Walking Tour: Chicago History, Historic and Modern Skyscrapers
9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
There’s a reason Chicago earned early fame as a center for innovative architecture. In this tour, you’ll take a walk through Chicago’s ‘Loop’ area and see examples of some of the world’s first tall commercial buildings. You’ll see the earliest masonry tall buildings through 21st century super-tall high rises by pioneering architects such as Louis Sullivan and Daniel Burnham. It’s a marvel to see how architects adapted their designs over time and interesting learn more about the cutting-edge technologies that made it possible to build taller buildings.
This tour is limited to a maximum of 13 people to provide a personalized experience. Please sign up at the IABC hospitality desk in advance.
About your guide: Gabe Labovitz, is an Economist by day and an experienced Chicago architecture volunteer tour guide. Gabe enjoys sharing his passion and knowledge of Chicago’s historic and modern skyscrapers and meeting people.
Chicago Photo Walk
9:45 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.
Tour many of the city’s best photograph spots by foot. Delight in the sights and sounds of the city while capturing memories with your camera. Get a few tips from a pro. You’ll be captivated by the city’s beauty and leave with a camera full of memories waiting to be retold. And, you’ll have the opportunity to meet fellow conference attenders from around the world.
The Photo Walk is open to conference attenders and their guests, and there is no cost to participate.
About your guides:
Suzanne Salvo, an internationally recognized trainer/speaker and winner of multiple Gold Quill Awards. She is the author of the “Visually Speaking” column for CW Bulletin and the 2007 Chairman’s Award recipient.
Chris Salvo, an award-winning photographer and specialist in global assignments, with studios in the U.S. and Europe.
Walking Tour: Historic Buildings, Bridges & Iconic Landmarks
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
The tour will bring you to many architecturally significant buildings, bridges and iconic landmarks while imparting Chicago history. If you are a serious architecture fan, skip this tour and reserve a walking or riverboat tour given by the experts at the Chicago Architecture Foundation.
This tour is limited to a maximum of 13 people to provide a personalized experience. Please sign up at the IABC hospitality desk in advance.
Walking Tour: Historic Chicago & Millennium Park
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
The tour will highlight Chicago history, several architecturally significant buildings and Millennium Park landmarks. If you are a serious architecture fan, skip this tour and reserve a walking or riverboat tour given by the experts at the Chicago Architecture Foundation.
This tour is limited to a maximum of 13 people to provide a personalized experience. Please sign up at the IABC hospitality desk in advance.
PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP:
11:30 a.m.–2p.m.
Don’t Say That! Say This!
Use the registration form to order a ticket for this session US$315 (for Members), US$465 (Non-members).
Specific, lethal words sabotage 99% of all media interviews. The future of talking to the media means teaching your executives and spokespeople to embrace a visionary new way of writing, learning, and using key messages. Success in the future means throwing away your current key messages and learning a revolutionary new writing style that produces the most amazing key messages ever. Bring your laptop and come ready to write right.
You’ll discover:
• The deadly words you must never say
• Why your current key messages are built for failure
• Secrets to manipulate and control every interview through stronger writing
Presenter / Gerard Braud / Louisiana, USA, is an author, media trainer and crisis communication plan expert who has worked with organizations on five continents.
OPENING GENERAL SESSION:
5–6:30 p.m.
Rediscovering play: Bringing fun and passion to your work…and life
Kevin Carroll uses his masterful story-telling skills to communicate his vast and varied experiences to entertain, enlighten and challenge business leaders and worldwide audiences. Using lessons garnered from the spirit and dynamics of play, Carroll helps you better understand how to enliven and enrich you and your co-workers work lives, enhance innovation, and improve team dynamics and interpersonal communication.
Kevin Carroll is the founder of Kevin Carroll Katalyst/LLC and the author of three highly successful books, Rules of the Red Rubber Ball, What’s Your Red Rubber Ball?! and The
Red Rubber Ball at Work. As an author, speaker and agent for social change, it is Carroll’s “job” to inspire businesses, organizations and individuals—from CEOs and employees of Fortune 500 companies to schoolchildren—to embrace their spirit of play and creativity to maximize their human potential and sustain more meaningful business and personal growth.
Carroll spent endless hours at the neighborhood playground where he found his calling: a red rubber ball. His subsequent pursuit of play and his “red rubber ball” took him overseas with the Air Force, where he served as a language interpreter and translator, gaining fluency in Croatian, Czech, Serbian and German.
The IABC Fellow and Chairman’s Awards, two of the association’s most prestigious awards, will also be presented.
WELCOME RECEPTION
7–9:30 p.m.
Come join your colleagues for an evening of conversation, food and visual pleasure at the beautiful Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879 as both a museum and school. Built on rubble from the 1871 Chicago fire, the museum housed a collection of plaster casts and had a visionary purpose: to acquire and exhibit art of all kinds and to conduct programs of education. The collection now encompasses more than 5,000 years of human expression from cultures around the world.
The Welcome Reception is sponsored by:
Your IABC conference badge must be worn for admittance. If you have purchased a ticket for this event, your ticket is required for admission. Be sure to collect your conference registration materials, which include your name badge or ticket, prior to the reception. This reception, which features an open bar, is included in your conference registration.
Monday, 25 June
Accreditation Session:
8–9 a.m.
ABCs make it happen
Effective organizational communication requires professional communicators to think and make decisions under stress, to devise and direct effective communication plans, and to master and employ a variety of communication skills that will serve the strategic needs of their organizations. Join a lively discussion about how to advance your career in communication and why you should pursue your ABC. Learn what is involved in the application, work portfolio, and written and oral examination processes. Meet working accredited professionals and discover how earning their ABC changed their view of themselves and their careers.
GENERAL SESSION
9:15–10:30 a.m.
IABC’S 2012 EXCEL Award winner
More heart, more soul: Employee engagement and transformational change
Irene Lewis makes transformation look easy. As President and CEO of SAIT Polytechnic in Calgary, Alberta, she joined a respected institute known for its trades and technical training and made it into one of Canada’s leading Polytechnics.
From rural school teacher to President and CEO, Irene has always focused on the people around her. Her warmth and genuine care for employees, students and supporters have made her an effective and much-respected leader.
In her address, Irene will take you behind the scenes of SAIT’s transformation, sharing the strategies, tools and tactics that rallied 2,300 employees to translate vision into reality — close to one billion dollars in campus construction, significant increases in revenue, huge gains in employee satisfaction, and a new focus on applied research and innovation.
Learn from Irene how heart and soul are the essence of modern communications excellence.
Presenter / Irene Lewis / Alberta, Canada, became President and CEO of SAIT in 1998, she set out to transform it into Canada’s premier polytechnic, while changing society’s perceptions of the value of trades and technology education along the way. With more than 70,000 annual registrations, SAIT is globally recognized as a leader in energy and petroleum training and a trailblazer in applied research and innovation. The impact of her leadership has been significant: nearly a billion dollars in campus revitalization; enhanced program offerings; increased revenues and enrolments; and a renewed enthusiasm among SAIT’s employees to be “part of the journey.” She has written textbooks, hosted an educational television series and taught in primary, secondary and post-secondary education systems. Lewis holds countless honours and awards, including being named one of Canada’s most powerful women in 2010. She will retire from SAIT at the end of 2012, and will leave a lasting legacy benefiting generations of future students.
GOLD QUILL AWARDS® Gala Dinner
7:30–10 p.m.
Recognizing international communication excellence: Celebrate the gold standard in communication from around the world
Take part in a spectacular evening to celebrate this year’s Gold Quill Award® winners as they are recognized for their outstanding achievements. Join us for a stimulating evening that will provide you with a glimpse into the exciting communication projects of your peers.
The 2012 Gold Quill Awards® program is sponsored by:
Music and entertainment / “All That Jazz” Chicago Revue / Bringing together a talented cast of performers to deliver all the drama, humor and excitement of “Chicago” the musical.
The spirit of Chicago lives through the classic medleys that evoke the blues, jazz, and swing of yesteryear, such as “My Kind of Town – Chicago.”
Gold Quill Gala Emcee / Steve Edwards / Illinois, USA, is the host of The Afternoon Shift with Steve Edwards, a daily conversation about news, culture and ideas on WBEZ. The show marks a return to the air for Edwards, who most recently spent several years as director of content development and program director at WBEZ.
Edwards also has moderated numerous statewide political debates, hosted the weekly political show the Best Game in Town, and was the correspondent for a BBC World Service documentary on the culture of political corruption in Chicago.
Edwards’ reports and interviews have been honored by the Society of Professional Journalists/Chicago Headline Club, the RTNDA, the Associated Press, UPI, and Public Radio News Directors, Inc (PRNDI). He’s earned the National Headliner Club’s Grand Award for radio, and was a 2007-2008 Knight-Wallace fellowship for mid-career journalists at the University of Michigan.
Use the registration form to order your ticket for this event for US$200, or purchase a Conference, Lunch & Gold Quill package.
Dress for this event is black-tie preferred
Tuesday, 26 June
GENERAL SESSION:
9–10 a.m.
Our environmental destiny
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. discusses the role that natural resources play in our work, our health, and our identity as Americans. A passionate environmental speaker, he reminds us that we have a responsibility to protect and preserve our planet for future generations. More than an advocate for the environment, Kennedy is an architect and agent of change. From solar energy to wind power and more, he shows how it is truly possible to become energy independent while making the world a better place.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s reputation as a resolute defender of the environment stems from a litany of successful legal actions. Kennedy was named one of TIME magazine’s “Heroes for the Planet” for his success in helping Riverkeeper lead the fight to restore the Hudson River. The group’s achievement helped spawn more than 160 Waterkeeper organizations across the globe. In 2009, he was named one of Rolling Stone’s “100 Agents of Change.”
Kennedy is a graduate of Harvard University. He received his law degree from the University of Virginia Law School. Following graduation, he attended Pace University School of Law, where he was awarded a master’s degree in environmental law.
RESEARCH FOUNDATION LUNCH AND 30TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION (fee applies)
11:45 a.m.–1:30 p.m.
Celebrate 30 years of research that has shaped our profession and hear highlights from the latest international study on factors influencing the structure of a PR/communication department
The IABC Research Foundation luncheon will feature an update on the most recently published research and current studies underway,including the first public presentation of the results of a major study on communication department organizational design. Plus, be part of the Research Foundation’s historic 30th anniversary celebration when we’ll take a look back at the research that influenced our profession at key milestones in the history of business communications. From The Velvet Ghetto study in 1986, to Excellence in Public Relations and Communication Management in 1992 and 2009’s Preparing Messages for an Information Overload Environments, take a tour through our industry’s history to see how the Foundation’s work shaped the roles we work in today. It’s a party—featuring special surprise guests—that you won’t want to miss.
Use the registration form to order your ticket for this event for US$160, or purchase a Conference, Lunch & Gold Quill or Conference & Lunch package. Part of this fee is donated to furthering the work of the IABC Research Foundation.
The IABC Research Foundation Luncheon & Seminar is sponsored by:
Annual general meeting
4:30–5:45 p.m.
Ever wondered what is happening in you association? Learn how your volunteer leaders and IABC’s president have led the association over the past year and what they are planning for the future. The IABC executive board and staff will be there to answer your pressing questions and listen to your comments.
Networking reception
5:30–6:30 p.m.
Catch up with friends, make new career connections and meet face-to-face with representatives from companies that can bring innovation to your programs and workplace. This reception offers hors d’oeuvres, a cash bar and time to relax after a full day of educational sessions.
This reception is included in your conference registration.
Dine-around
7 p.m.
With more than 7,000 restaurants, some of the best in the country, and many award-winning chefs, Chicago is a foodie’s paradise. Whether you’re looking for Chicago-style deep dish pizza, French haute cuisine, steak or sushi, you’re guaranteed great food and a memorable experience. So join fellow conference attendees for a taste of Chicago and an evening of great conversation and networking. IABC/Chicago chapter members have lined up a selection of dining options that showcase the city’s diverse culinary offerings that are sure to meet everyone’s tastes and budgets.
Conference attendees are responsible for all costs including transportation, food and beverage. Many of the restaurants are within walking distance or a short cab ride of the hotel.
Wednesday, 27 June
CLOSING GENERAL SESSION:
8–9 a.m.
The Spark: Igniting the creative fire that lives within us all
In her magnificent keynote, Lyn Heward takes you behind the scenes of Cirque du Soleil to explore the nature of creativity and innovation. A gifted storyteller, she dispenses practical advice on a range of issues: risk-taking; leadership; teamwork; product development; finding and developing talent; and fostering a dynamic corporate culture. With authority, Heward helps you find the creative spark and zeal for innovation that, in today’s business climate, can mean the difference between success and failure.
Lyn Heward joined the circus in 1992, happy to discover an environment where she could draw on her wide range of experiences, skills and interests. She started out at Cirque du Soleil as an acrobatic scouting coordinator but was soon given charge of Cirque’s Creation Studio and in that capacity prepared artists for the shows Mystère (1993) and Alegría (1994). In 1994, she was named assistant vice-president of creation, and became vice-president of creation in 1996. The creative content of Quidam (1996), “O” and La Nouba (both 1998), Dralion (1999), Varekai (2002), Zumanity (2003) and KÀ (2004) was developed under her aegis.
From 2000 to 2005, Heward served as president and COO of Cirque du Soleil’s creative content division. Her in-depth understanding of the demands and myriad details that go into creating a show, combined with her managerial talents, made her a natural choice. In that position, she was the guiding force behind the creation and production, as well as the artistic and technical follow-up, of all Cirque du Soleil shows and other creative ventures.
