Thank you!  In October, I shared with you some of the observations and challenges our IABC/OC chapter has faced over the past 18-24 months.  Several of you stepped forward to participate in our phone interviews and assist us in understanding how we can evolve as an organization and stay relevant in our business communications community.   Your responses have been helpful and greatly welcomed.  Thank you for the gift of information.  We’re excited to examine the feedback and use it to help set the course for 2015 and the years that follow. 

Over the next six to eight weeks, not only will your IABC/OC Board will be examining its research results to set the course for 2015, we will also be looking to fill board positions that will become vacant in January.  If you are an IABC member, you are eligible to be a board member!  We are asking you for the gift of time — we’d love to have you serve.  Elections will occur in December.  

We have open board positions in a variety of roles.  If you are interested in learning about the open positions and about what is involved in serving on the board, please contact me or another board member for more information.  Serving on the board is a great way for you to give back to the communications community, to learn and grow professionally, and to work side by side with other communications professionals. The IABC/OC Board is a fun group that works hard and works well together. I invite you to join us in giving to our communications community.  You will find it incredibly rewarding.  

This year, the local PR, marketing and communications associations will not be joining together for a collective holiday mixer.  Each group will pursue its own way to celebrate the holiday season.  After much consideration regarding the best approach for our group, your IABC/OC Board unanimously decided to give you, our IABC community, the gift of time in 2014 and not hold a holiday mixer.  Instead, we will be making a donation to our chapter’s charity organization, Habitat for Humanity of Orange County.  We are excited to be able to support this great organization and to give all of you the gift of time — an extra evening to take care of your holiday demands and preparations.  If you would like to augment our chapter donation, please contact me for information. Thank you for understanding our decision and thank you for considering giving to Habitat for Humanity of Orange County.

I look forward to hearing from more of you and learning how you would be willing to join us to grow an IABC chapter that provides the substance that you crave on the job every day.  By joining together, we can ensure that IABC will be able to give all that is needed to propel us to a more prosperous and satisfying future as professional communicators.

Please feel free to reach out to me at 949.622.1218 or via email here.  Join the conversation! Please follow the chapter on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and join our LinkedIn group. View our videos on YouTube and our photos on flickr.

Best,

Sarah Willis
President, IABC Orange County