Conferences
Photo credit: www.vistalbuquerque.com
Albuquerque Awaits
ABC’s 81st Annual International Conference is October 19-22 at the enchanting Hotel Albuquerque in Albuquerque, NM. We will have an exciting lineup of presentations and panels on teaching and research in business communication. Two pre-conference workshops will engage participants in the use of video assignments in the business communication classroom and on using core competency rubrics for assessment.
Our keynote speaker, historian Zonnie Gorman, will share information about the Navajo Code talkers and relate their relevance to today’s business communication classroom. The plenary session will feature talks by the 2015 award winners and the 2016 award winners will be announced at the Presidential Dinner on Friday evening.
Continuing the tradition of supporting a local charity, CRARF will host a silent auction to benefit both ABC’s graduate student travel fund and our charity partner--Albuquerque’s non-profit Reading Works, an adult literacy group. We hope you will support this worthy cause by contributing items or bidding on them while in Albuquerque (or both!). For questions, or if you would like to donate an item for the auction, please contact Becky Morrison at beckymor@vt.edu. Also continue reading for an article on this.
For those of you arriving Wednesday, jump on the trolley for the pre-conference tour of Albuquerque to learn about its history and diverse culture. The post-conference tour will take us to Santa Fe, a unique and charming city with a rich tapestry of history, art, good food, and so much more. Please sign-up in advance for the excursions.
Please be sure to register for the conference by September 30th to take advantage of early registration rates. Details on registration, the Hotel Albuquerque, schedule, workshops, excursions, and more are located on the conference website
Join us for ABC’s 81st Annual International Conference!
ABC Midwestern/Southeastern Conference, April 21-23, 2016 in St. Louis, Missouri - Briefing
Dr Clark Ford receiving the Clarice Brantley Service Award
The joint Midwestern/Southeastern regional conference was held in St. Louis, Missouri, April 21-23, 2016, at the Embassy Suites Downtown. The 41 attendees represented 18 different states as well as Thailand and Canada. One of the highlights of the conference was the presentation of the Clarice Brantley Service Award to Dr. Clark Ford, a long-time ABC-SE leader and friend of Clarice. Clark was presented with a plaque as well as a memory book of messages from ABC colleagues.
Keynote speaker Christi Dixon, Corporate Media Relations Lead from Monsanto Company in St. Louis, presented strategies for communicating with audiences beyond direct customers who have a stake in a company’s reputation. Her presentation included specific strategies for communicating with difficult and possibly alienated audiences. Other presentation themes from conference participants included executive/managerial communication, innovative pedagogy, technology and communication, organizational communication, and legal/ethical issues.
In addition to the engaging conference sessions, attendees enjoyed an impressive reception Thursday evening, the awards luncheon Friday afternoon, and a fun group outing for dinner at Charlie Gitto's Downtown Friday night. And of course, a trip to St. Louis would not be complete without a visit to the impressive Gateway Arch.
Thank you to the conference coordinator, Kathryn Rybka, for her time and effort to organize this educational and entertaining event! Thanks also to ABC-MW RVP Teresa Sekine, ABC-SE RVP Kristin Pickering, and ABC 2nd VP Lisa Gueldenzoph Snyder for their support.
Silent Auction: Reading Works
The annual conference in Albuquerque is right around the corner, and we are once again excited to announce the opportunity to partner with a non-profit in the area. During the October 19 - 22 event, ABC and the C.R. Anderson Research Fund are honored to support Reading Works, an organization whose mission is to empower adults with the literacy and language skills they need to participate fully and effectively in work, civic life, and community. Reading Works is a community-based program that offers free tutoring services to adults with literacy needs. Trained volunteers work with clients in several core areas including reading and writing, English as a Second Language, Math, and Digital Literacy.
The median reading level of Reading Works’ clients when they enter the program is 3.8; after six months of tutoring, their reading improves by 1.5 grade levels. The goal of Reading Works is to “create a relaxed atmosphere where adults are treated as adults and their experience and knowledge are respected,” says Becky Morrison. For Reading Works, “the purpose of adult literacy instruction is to help people gain more control over their lives,” adds Morrison. Reading Works began in 2009 and has since provided free tutoring to over 850 people.
Though the program's mission is focused on helping adults; for every adult Reading Works helps, 1.7 children are also impacted. Morrison says, “This is important because learning to read begins long before a child enters school. Children raised in low literate homes enter kindergarten with skills two years behind their peers. These children also have a nearly 85% chance of dropping out of high school. For many immigrant parents, the lack of English language skills is a barrier to parental involvement at their children’s schools. Educating adults who are raising school aged children is a successful way to break the cycle of intergenerational illiteracy and poverty.”
How is ABC giving back?
To support the mission of Reading Works, we are giving back to our host city by organizing a Silent Auction at our annual conference. During the conference, bidding will begin Thursday, October 20 and will end Friday, October 21. Just like last year, the proceeds from your donations will be divided 50/50: half of the proceeds will go to Reading Works, the other half will support the graduate students in our own organization. You can support Reading Works and our ABC graduate students by bidding at the conference as well as donating items for the auction.
Your donations
Donations can include anything from gift certificates, to wine and food baskets, to getaways, to electronics, to swag from your organization or university. If you are interested in supporting Reading Works and our graduate students, please contact Becky Morrison (beckymor@vt.edu) to confirm your donation pledge, its value, description, your contact information, organizational affiliation, pick-up/drop-off details, etc. Donations are tax-deductible and a great way to increase the visibility of your business or institution among conference attendees.
