IABC Launches Blog "Community for Business Communicators"

The redesign of the International Association of Business Communicators' web site was just part of the the group's web revitalization. This weekend they launched IABC Communications Commons, a group of blogs authored by various IABC members and aimed at elevating the discussion about business communications.

I'll park my skepticism about the extent to which the blogs will be authored by multiple authors. The IABC Cafe blog got excellent uptake during the last international conference, but after that chair Warren Bickford was left swinging in the breeze by all but one of his guest bloggers.

The active involvement of Communication World editor Natasha Spring is a good sign. An effort like this needs the hand of some paid writers, editors and association people, to supplement whatever blog posts are offered up by volunteers (members).

The idea of having several blogs on topics that interest and affect IABC members is promising. The fact the discussions will take place in public will possibly limit participation by some of the more timid members, but hopefully IABC finds more than enough authors and readers to create a meeting place for the exchange of ideas and experiences.

If you visit the site in the next day or two, don't be put off by the fact long-time IABC member and leader Shel Holtz seems to be a one-person blogging machine there.  He created an introductory post for each of the content areas, and for the home page. But that's pretty standard when you're building the template. Once others have stepped up with their blog posts, we'll be able to evaluate The Commons and how well it's living up to its potential.

I've already subscribed to the blog feed, and am hoping the site is showing signs of healthy debate by the time my membership gets renewed later this month.

Comments

[Shel Holtz]

Eric, one of the reasons the Commons is public is that a key goal is to elevate broad public perception that IABC's membership is made up of bright, energetic, and thoughtful professionals -- the kind of group non-members would want to join.

We dug into the rank-and-file of IABC to find the blog authors, rather than the "usual suspects." We approached them with a written proposal that outlined their role as a Commons blogger. Specifically, they don't have to post too often since they're part of a group -- a couple posts a week from each participant will keep the blog vibrant. Also, if they get tired of it, we'll be happy to replace them with somebody else from the association's membership. The bios of the volunteer bloggers for each of the blogs will be up in a while -- Chris Hall had to suspend his work on the infrastructure to tackle the IT needs of Chapter Leadership Institute, but he'll be back!

[Eric Eggertson]

Shel: I'm impressed with the concept and the way it's set up. I'm looking foward to seeing how ideas are presented and discussed.

I agree with the idea of using the blogs as a way to show off the best and brightest of the communications profession, and letting the readers figure out that all these talented people are IABC members.