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From the editor
Sky Marsen, ABC News Editor
Welcome to the May Issue
This issue is packed with exciting news from ABC and its members. It includes information on conferences and interesting projects from members.
I hope the first half of the year was productive and enjoyable for you and I wish you a fruitful second half. Please continue to send me your news and any items that you think our members would be interested in learning about.
And don't forget to visit the ABC website often for updates on initiatives, resources and other items of interest to business communication experts, http://www.businesscommunication.org/ I encourage you particularly to check out the awards and grants that foster and recognize excellence, http://businesscommunication.org/awards
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From the president
Peter Cardon, ABC President
Dear ABC friends:
Congratulations on finishing another great school year! Here’s some summer tips based on the wisdom of fellow ABCers:
Listen to as much music as you can. One of my favorite ABC presentations was Heidi Schultz (University of North Carolina) explaining her research about how music reduces presentation anxiety among her MBA students. Take time to get inspiration from the music you love.
Travel with the people who matter most to you. Geert Jacobs (University of Ghent) has taken his kids all over the world on various summer adventures. I love hearing about his trips every time we meet up at ABC events. Go somewhere that creates new shared memories.
Go windsurfing or something equally fun. I’ve received windsurfing updates from Marcos Bacelis (Michigan) at ABC events annually for the past ten years. He’s been going on wind-surfing trips with friends for decades. Do something you love to clear your mind!
Engage in an issue that is important to you. When I see Polly Conrad (Utah State University) at ABC conferences, she often tells me about her advocacy efforts for reptiles and amphibians. Even with her busy life teaching business communication, she takes time to make a difference. Summer is an outstanding time to re-engage in causes and re-join communities that are important to you.
Read some books unrelated to business communication. With a sad element of truth, I often joke with others that I stopped reading non-academic books once I entered a Ph.D. program. One thing I admire about Farrokh Moshiri (California State University, Fullerton) is his love for reading all kinds of books. At the first business communication event I met him at, he had brought along a science fiction book. Energize your minds with material that you love!
Make ABC a year-round experience. You likely can think of someone you ran into at a recent ABC conference with a shared interest. Summer is a great time to follow up on this shared interest. Nearly ten ABC members from the University of Aalto, Arizona State University, Notre Dame, and the University of Southern California (including several of my colleagues) have been corresponding recently about ways to run cross-institutional student projects. The conversations started at the ABC conference in Philadelphia. The conversations have gained momentum in the summer when everyone has a bit more time.
Thanks for all you do for ABC!
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ABC News
ABC 80th Annual Conference
Join us in the Emerald City on October 28-31!
Image courtesy of Tim Thompson and Visit Seattle
Excitement about our Seattle conference continues to grow and we are well on our way to developing an excellent program for this year’s 80th international conference celebrating Creativity, Innovation, and Service in Business Communication.
If you haven’t already checked it out, the ABC conference site (http://businesscommunication.org/2015-annual) describes the various session types available and submission instructions.
Don’t miss out on this exciting opportunity to reunite and share ideas with ABC colleagues and friends at the Renaissance Seattle Hotel, this year’s conference location. The conference rate is $191/night, plus 15.6% tax; click here to reserve your room. A downloadable paper registration form is on the conference website in case you need to secure university funds now.
Thursday, May 21 is the final deadline to submit proposals for the individual paper, panel, poster, or roundtable sessions. For more information contact valerie.creelman@smu.ca and rruark@elon.edu
ABC Regional Conference, Cape Town, January 6-8, 2016
The first ever ABC conference in Africa is being held at the University of Cape Town, the most prestigious university in Africa and the only one to annually make the list of top-ranked universities in the world. We are also very proud of our Mother City, Cape Town, located on a majestic peninsula at the very tip of Africa. Design capital of the world in 2014 and voted 3rd city in the world for wining and dining by Condé Nast, the UK’s leading travel publication, Cape Town and surrounds boast fabulous scenery and attractions. The conference is being held at the height of summer (6-8 January), so don’t delay in terms of travel planning.
The theme ‘Figuratively Speaking’ – the facts and fictions of business and corporate communications should appeal to academics, educationalists and practitioners alike and the varied topic list can be found alongside all other details on the website www.abc-capetown.com. We are also thrilled to have world renowned speakers as keynotes and panellists whose profiles are also on the website. We look forward to wishing you a ‘Happy New Year’ in Cape Town in 2016.
14th Asia-Pacific Conference November 27-19
The 14th Asia-Pacific Conference is hosted by Guangdong University of Foreign Studies in Guangdong, China.
The proposal deadline is June 30. The conference theme is "Business Communication in the Global Century." For the full call for papers and other conference details, please visit: http://businesscommunication.org/2015-asia-pacific-conference
Society for Technical Communication Summit
The Society for Technical Communication’s annual meeting, the Technical Communication Summit, takes place 21-24 June in Columbus, OH. ABC members can attend the Summit at the lowest STC member rate of only $875. Summit registration is an all-access pass to the premier technical communication conference and includes opportunities such as:
- Stay relevant in your career with 80+ education sessions led by 95 top industry speakers and organized into seven core techcomm tracks.
- Create valuable peer-to-peer connections during three networking receptions, as well as a brand new event, Speed Networking.
- Take inspiration from two keynotes, including best-selling author Nancy Duarte and creativity evangelist Denise Jacobs.
- Gain a competitive edge by learning about the hottest new trends and technologies in the industry while visiting sponsors and exhibitors in the Expo Hall.
To register, complete the form on the conference website and submit to Deborah Repasy, STC Education Coordinator, at Deborah.Repasy@stc.org by 31 May.
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Member News
Educational Leadership Award
Dr. Valerie Creelman, Co-Chair of the ABC 80th Annual International Conference, received the Dr. Geraldine Thomas Educational Leadership Award at St. Mary’s University in Halifax, NS, Canada in April. This award recognizes a St. Mary’s University faculty member who is committed to teaching and learning, and who demonstrates leadership among faculty colleagues in developing institutional learning and teaching excellence. Bachelor of Commerce students honored Dr. Creelman for her development of innovative pedagogical materials and teaching approaches in her Communications course at the Sobey School of Business.
Beyond Limits: Awaken your Potential
Jacqui Lowman
BEYOND LIMITS: Awaken Your Potential is an organization dedicated to helping people overcome challenge: physical, emotional, psychological, mental, etc., through supportive, nurturing activities and education.
BEYOND LIMITS is not about disability but about ability. It’s about finding and tapping our gifts, building on them, realizing our dreams—and helping others to do so.
The 2015 BEYOND LIMITS Katahdin Expedition is the perfect embodiment of this. It is about building an amazing dream team of folks who will form a special, magical bond and accomplish things that conventional wisdom says are impossible. This will be an extraordinary journey that starts now and will really go on forever. Climbing Katahdin is part of that. But the synergy and strength that we will create is much stronger than any mountain.
So during the week of July 13-20, this team, the first to include a paraplegic, will make history and climb Mount Katahdin, the highest mountain in Maine.
Why Katahdin? Mountains are incredibly symbolic. They are close to what is essential in life. They are strength, beauty, possibilities. They are iconic and evocative. Katahdin is Maine and what is best in all of us. Our team effort in climbing it will send an incredible message of hope to everyone. We all have challenges in life. Our expedition will eloquently demonstrate that together, with our faith, love, effort, goodwill, creativity, joy—and a little luck won’t hurt—we can move and climb any mountain. This is the ultimate embodiment of what we CAN do.
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Member Books
Communicating @Work, Terri Grant and Rea Borcherds, 3rd edition
Writing and Speaking for Business, William H. Baker and Matthew J. Baker, 4th edition, BYU Academic Publishing
Writing Well for Business Success, Sandra E. Lamb, St Martin's Press
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