Today I’m at the Leadership Institute (LI) for the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) held in Austin, TX this year. This isn’t my first conference with this crew of professional communicators, but it’s the first time attending as a Chapter President and CMP® certificate holder.
After holding different ranks within Kansas City’s board, it only felt right to join back in with another board following my move to Los Angeles four years ago. Since that time, I’ve worked hand-in-hand with the former IABCLA President @Deborah Hudson and our passionate and positive board members (@Ephraim Freed, @Grant Skakun, @Karen Trachtenberg, @Eli Natinsky, @Tery Amaya, @Rachel Mann, @Julie Wright, and countless others) to revive the Los Angeles chapter. A few years back, the chapter had steadily declined following the focus on virtual meetings given the geographic challenges of LA life.
Our new board team came together determined to put together high-impact in-person events, even if they were small and spread out through the varying neighborhoods of our city. With each event, we developed new connections and draw in new leaders for the chapter.
One event we’ve been discussing as a board is the possibility of hosting a Global Communication Certification Council (GCCC) exam. As we navigated the logistics of being a testing site for those interested in obtaining their Communication Management Professional (CMP®) and Strategic Communication Management Professional (SCMP®) certifications, we also tried to figure out how we garner interest in these certifications.
Acknowledging that good leaders know everyone is watching, as the IABCLA 2020 President I buckled down and prepped for getting certified myself. Today I passed the exam at LI, and now I have my CMP® through the GCCC®. But also today I feel I am more connected with this association and the profession that has given me so much. This community fostered by in-person and online connections, today at LI and also in the small but mighty events that our team is producing in Los Angeles as Chapter, is something I’m proud of and keeps me within the process of life-long learning.