Preview of Next
IABC/Charlotte Luncheon:
Sustained
Crisis Communication: A Very Dry Case
Study
Not often does a public crisis last 20
months and affect a region of more than 1.5 million
people in such a critical way as our recent drought of
record.
Join Erin Culbert, APR, environmental outreach
coordinator at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities as she
shares the agency's successful strategies for
communicating water restrictions and motivating behavior
to protect the water
supply. |
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Want To Sound
Off? 
We've
built a soapbox just for you. Jump on and tell us what's on
your mind!
It's your
turn to share your triumphs, challenges, tips and
thoughts with other communicators.
We will feature this soapbox platform every other
month in our newsletter so be thinking about what you'd
like to share with your fellow IABC/Charlotte
members. |
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"It's not so much how busy you are, but why you are
busy. The bee is praised; the mosquito is
swatted."
- Marie
O'Conner
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A
Note From the President
Greetings!
Connections, Resources and Events-
Oh My!
Spring is buzzing for
IABC/Charlotte and I hope you're enjoying this
beautiful time of year both professionally and
personally. We're very excited about the upcoming
events we have in store for you at IABC with
outstanding monthly chapter programs along with a
number of valuable connections and resources. I
hope you'll check out the IABC MemberSpeak,
eXchange, Marketplace, LinkedIn, Facebook and
Twitter communities to stay in touch and on top of
what's happening with your IABC colleagues around
the corner and around the world. I encourage you
to make the most of your membership in the world's
top organization for communicators by volunteering
in whatever capacity interests you - from helping
with meetings, to working on an awards event, to
writing content for the website and this
newsletter. Please call or email me to let me know
how you would like to get involved. Oh, and make
sure to step up on the IABC/Charlotte Soapbox that
we've built just for you!
News- I'm
pleased to let you know that, in light of tight
financial times, IABC is offering
Membership Hardship Extensions.
Members who are experiencing financial
difficulties because of a job layoff or other
significant event should send an email to
service_centre@iabc.com.
You may be eligible for an extension of 2-6
months. Your request will be handled in
confidence.
Reminder-Join Jo Langham, ABC on May 14 for a
session on Preparing for Your Accreditation
Exam. This
teleseminar is designed for current candidates but
has value for those considering the program. The
session will provide you with an in-depth
understanding of how to prepare in order to
successfully complete the four-hour written and
half-hour oral exam. Registration closes on
Wednesday 13 May at 3 p.m. PDT.
I look forward to seeing you at
IABC!
Best,
Dianne
 Dianne
Chase |
Recap of the May
Meeting:
Is Tension Working For
or Against You?
At
the May 6 IABC/Charlotte meeting, certified coach
and licensed counselor Bob DeMers explained how a
healthy level of tension is necessary to moving
forward in one's life or
business.
If
tension is too low, apathy and inertia set in. If
tension is too high, stress and poor productivity
take over. Optimum tension levels fall in
between.
 DeMers,
president of CoachingWorks in Charlotte, used the
ChangeGridTM to show attendees whether they were
operating from an optimum level of tension. "This
is not a personality test," he emphasized. "It
reveals productive tension. It predicts behavior,
suggest options and is designed to turn starters
into finishers."
Most attendees had filled out
the ChangeGrid prior to the meeting, which
involved rating nine, work-related questions on a
scale of 0 to 12, based on "perceived ability" and
"perceived challenge." The ratings were then used
to plot coordinates on the ChangeGrid and identify
tension
levels. The tension level for each
question fell into one of five areas on the grid:
apathy, power/apathy, power, power/stress and
stress. DeMers discussed the characteristics of
each area, noting that attendees could use the
information to manage their tension levels to help
bring about desired
change. | |
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