I work with someone who’s convinced that conferences are inefficient ways to learn useful skills and gain knowledge.
(Sounds like the same criticism Churchill made of democracy: It’s the worst system of government, except for all the other methods.)
Of course conferences aren’t efficient! You’re lucky if you find one mind-altering session at a conference, much less two days’ worth.
Since when is efficiency what you’re looking for when doing the professional development / networking / seeking enlightenment dance?
Shouldn’t the desired result be your improved professional effectiveness? Whether that takes place in a linear, efficient fashion, or by osmosis while hanging upside …read more

Accreditation as a PR veteran or business communications pro gives you a certain something. The International Association of Business Communicators recently  released some research to quantify what that something is.
According to a survey of people who have earned their Accredited Business Communicator designation, the process was well worth the effort.
As few as 9-10% of ABCs and their supervisors and clients felt the accreditation had little or no value. Yet, only two-thirds of people surveyed chose “valuable” or “very valuable” when describing it.
Confusing? Not really. It takes a lot of time and effort to prepare your portfolio, study, and …read more

Google has automated what would previously have been a call to the library’s reference department, or a visit to Lexus-Nexus’ database of media stories. But that doesn’t mean we should leave everything to algorithms, search spiders and widgets.
As Twitter reminds me every day (and Flickr, and instant messaging, and discussion forums and bulletin boards), the power of reaching out to an individual still counts.
This morning I checked to see if anyone had pinged me on Twitter overnight, and sure enough there was a short message from Mich Sineath, letting me know he’d posted a link to something I wrote on …read more

It’s possible to attract people to a communications program without a video, but given the nature of the work, why wouldn’t you use video to get your message out?
Easier said than done. A few videos on YouTube show the pros and cons of attraction by video.
Toronto’s Centennial College Centre for Creative Communications has a number of vids out there. Let’s look at a six-minute video promoting all aspects of the school – art, design, journalism, PR/advertising, new media, game design and development, and related courses.
It’s not a bad little promo, quickly sequencing through images that get across the diversity …read more

The International Association of Business Communicators has several social media tools that limp along with varying degrees of participation.
With the launch of two social networking sites for business communications people, Shel Holtz raised the question of whether IABC needs to create yet another site of its own. His conclusion: no way.
The discussion on the IABC Cafe blog has been interesting, with many voices advising IABC to steer clear of the big investment in volunteer and staff time, and the moderate investment of money. Others, including Melcrum’s Robin Crumby, say it’s a good idea that IABC should take a serious look …read more

Like railroad companies from the 19th and early 20th centuries, the communications training organizations face the choice of building their own social networking sites, or latching onto an existing network and building their own branch line.
They seem to be choosing the stand-alone solution, which will serve their existing customers well. Whether this will help them expand their customer base is another question.
Ragan Communications has launched a credible site with MyRagan.com. It requires free registration, and allows discussion on any topic, joining groups of like-minded people, posting blog items that are shared with other users, and so on.
Nothing you couldn’t get …read more