Presidents Notes:
(From Judette Coward-Puglisi, IABC T&T President 2006-2007)
October 5th, 2006.
Fellow IABCers and Communicators,
On behalf of the Board, my sincere thanks to the 33 IABC members and guests who joined us for our first membership meeting last Wednesday. I think we can all agree that the meeting presented a wonderful opportunity to connect with fellow communicators, share ideas and best practices, as well as get on the same page with regard to the development of our Chapter.
Get connected
As you discovered last Wednesday, IABC International offers some amazing benefits. Here's how you can begin accessing them:
- Look at your membership card which you received in the mail last month
- Log on to iabc.com
- Log in your membership number and your password which are clearly marked on your card.
- You will now have access to world's best website for communicators.
To our guests who expressed an interest in joining IABC, someone from the membership committee will call you early next week and forward you a registration form. The good news is that, for Trinidad and Tobago only, the discounted membership has been extended. It's a great time during October to take advantage of CDN $48 discount, which means that your membership fee is CDN $19. I encourage you to sign up and of course, spread the IABC word.
Communications in the Caribbean to make an impact
Directly after our meeting, I attended a 3-day regional conference in Toronto for all IABC leaders in the canada East region where I presented on the topic "Developing an IABC Hub in the Caribbean. Upon my return, I received an email from IABC International indicating that they will publish their first Latin America/Caribbean regional supplement to their award winning magazine, Communication World, in early 2007. The supplement will focus on communication issues and practices relevant to communication professionals in the region. I have been asked to sit on the Editorial Advisory Board and am hoping that some of you, especially those who are interested in magazine publication can join me in helping IABC put some thoughts together. Please call or email me at any of the coordinates below.
IABC T&T grows
This month we welcomed Dayner Azzelino, Marketing Manager at CL Permanent and Caira Cudjoe, Communications Officer at Guardian Life of the Caribbean. We are thrilled to have the two of you on board.
What you need to know
Wynelle Gregorio, our VP of Professional development kicked off her year long calendar of events with a bang last Wednesday and intends to keep the momentum going. Our October meeting which is carded for later this month will be a learning and developmental session. Look out for further notice on it.
Also, is you are thinking about becoming an Accredited Business Communicator (ABC), now is the time to act. IABC's accreditation programme offers professional communicators a way to demonstrate their ability to think and plan strategically and to successfully manage the skills essential to achieving effective organizational communication. Interested? Please send an email to Maria Rivas Mc Milan at: Maria.McMillan@ghl.co.tt who is spearheading the process and has loads of information on it. She intends to organise a study group to get us through it as well
Again, thank you for attending the Chapter's first membership meeting. The Board appreciates your enthusiasm and interest. Please keep in touch and let us know how we're doing. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact me at iabcinfo@mangomediacaribbean.com
Best ,
Judette Coward-Puglisi
President of IABC Trinidad and Tobago Chapter 2006-2007.
