Strategic communication planning is a bit like dental cleaning. It’s necessary and good for you, but something most people put off. It shouldn’t be. Planning unites your team, integrates your vehicles, aligns your work with your organization’s goals and ensures that you’re addressing the interests of your audiences. Webinar instructor Patrick Williams leads the strategic planning initiative for Ragan Consulting, and has himself written hundreds of strategic plans—many of them award winners. During that experience, and based on best practice research, he has put together a 13-step strategic planning model.In this practical, 90-minute Webinar you’ll learn:

• Pre-planning: Do your research, assemble your team
• Barriers to anticipate—and design around
• The 13-step planning model
• How to secure management’s buy-in and participation
• Tips to implement the plan after it’s written

Webinars are interactive live presentations via conference call dial-in, supplemented by an online slide presentation.

This month, IABC-KY is proud to bring you a dynamic speaker who is a resident expert on Hispanic marketing. Creative Director and CEO for Adhawks Advertising & Public Relations, Inc., Ben Ruiz will be our guest at the February program. Now that Latinos (Hispanics) have passed African Americans as the largest minority group in the U.S., we are all witnessing a change taking place in America. It’s not just the 12 million undocumented Hispanic immigrants, but it’s the other 24 million plus — who have been here for a while — that are impacting us. Ben Ruiz, who was born in Mexico City and who grew up in the ghetto neighborhoods of the Southwest, Los Angeles and Chicago, offers his own experiences to dispel some myths about Latinos and to provide others a better understanding about this exploding American culture.

Contentment. Fulfillment. Joy. Make plans to attend our IABC-KY program in January and find out how to ensure these words describe your life. You’ll hear advice and words of wisdom from former County Judge Executive Rebecca Jackson. Advice such as, “If you are not happy with what you are doing, QUIT IT! Find your passion and ACT ON IT! It is not a privilege; IT IS A GIFT!”

Innovative ideas, personal dedication and commitment to excellence are hallmarks of Rebecca Jackson’s career. She is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the WHAS Crusade for Children. Jackson completed a four-year term as the Jefferson County Judge/Executive and was the first woman elected to that office. Jackson also helped lead the successful campaign to merge the City of Louisville and Jefferson County governments. Jackson’s background includes extensive experience in business, administration and education. She has received numerous awards for excellence and achievement from both local and national organizations. We’re excited and honored to have her as our special guest speaker at a program you won’t want to miss.

Join us at our annual holiday luncheon program this month and hear from Angie Fenton, The Buzz columnist for the Courier-Journal. She also dishes about the area’s hottest happenings for WAVE 3 and serves up celebrity scoop on 84 WHAS and 100.5 Louie FM.In addition, Angie is an English instructor for Brown Mackie College, where she teaches composition and literature. Angie commits much of her time to volunteerism, particularly through the Dreamgirls mentoring program, Special Olympics of Louisville and Highland Vineyard Church. Angie is a competitive bodybuilder who recently committed to training to run the Kentucky Derby Festival miniMarathon as a way to raise money and awareness for the Homeless Coalition of Louisville.

Her inspirational success story is fitting for the spirit of the holiday season.

In keeping with the holiday spirit, we are collecting items for the Homeless Coalition. New or gently used blankets, coats, blankets, hats, gloves or scarves or needed. In addition, they accept monetary donations.

The regular luncheon meeting in November will be replaced with a three-hour morning skillshop.

News media interviews can intimidate even the most seasoned communicator or business executive, especially in a crisis situation where pack journalism prevails. As a result, many take great pains to avoid such exposure, or participate only reluctantly. But if you don’t frame the story and gain control of the media situation, someone else will. No one else has your or your company’s best interest in mind.

Join us for an in-depth IABC-Kentucky skillshop, Nov. 15 from 8:30-11:30 a.m. During this three-hour training session you’ll learn how to prepare yourself, your executives or clients to meet the challenge of a media interview. Our presenter is Larry Smith, president of the Institute for Crisis Management, a leader in the field of crisis communications.

Explore ways in which various types of organizations are using measurement to attract more attention from the C-suite to receive bigger budgets for corporate communications. You will learn what former, current and non-Cision clients are doing to demonstrate true communications return-on-investment to non-communication executives.

From journalist audits to surveys to media analysis, various methods of research and measurement will be discussed. We will look at real-world examples of perception change that has occurred in companies large and small.

In addition, we will discuss how best to sell your ideas to C-suite executives by demonstrating how your team can:

• Increase revenues
• Decrease cost
• Integrate operations globally
• Revitalize your organization
• Enhance customer loyalty
• Increase market share
• Decrease employee turnover
• Improve customer retention levels
• Minimize risk

Our speaker, Joel Wethall, is Director of Business Development-Global Solutions-North America at Cision (formerly Bacon’s/Delahaye/Multivision). He has spent 20 years in the communications industry and most recently has worked with clients ranging from Cancer Treatment Centers of America to Hilton Hotels Corporation in the development of internal and external communications programs.