CHAPTER REGION IABC Ottawa Canada East CHAPTER BOARD TERM July 1 to June 30 TIMELINE July 1, 2016 to November 15, DIVISION CATEGORY CHAPTER CONTACT Division 2: Medium Chapter (76 to 200 members) Samantha Rae Ayoub, Executive Vice President, IABC Ottawa 613-698-6765 evp@ottawa.iabc.com 1. BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT IABC Ottawa connects nearly 200 members in the marketing, communications, and creative community to learn about best practices, develop skills, create connections, and access resources. Established in 1976, the Ottawa chapter of IABC has a rich history of striving for effective chapter management to benefit our members, community, and leaders. Our focus is on building a strong community, developing and supporting inspired leaders, and positioning our members as experts. We strive to help our chapter members grow in their careers by providing them with the skills and connections to succeed in their jobs. IABC Ottawa creates a demand for membership through a diverse slate of focused quality events, workshops, and professional development opportunities. We also create innovative communications content, such as our popular podcast The Voice, available around the world. The Voice helps listeners keep on top of the industry s hottest topics at both the local and international level. Chapter History/Challenges Despite stable membership and successful programming for the past several seasons, IABC Ottawa saw a decline in membership in the 2016 and calendar years, which also impacted event attendance. Additionally, saw a surplus of Canada 150 events in the National Capital Region. To attract new members and retain current ones, we refocused and revamped our Events portfolio, offering more price sensitive and value driven events that addressed audience needs. Additionally, we have added an emphasis on the value of IABC Ottawa in developing leadership roles and investing in our leaders. To sustain and develop the chapter, we continue to ensure that we focus on the things we do well to achieve our goals and deliver the most value to our members. 2. OVERVIEW IABC Ottawa focuses on helping our chapter members grow in their careers as strategic communicators by providing them with the skills and networks needed to succeed in their jobs. The local chapter is a vibrant community filled with knowledge, experience, ideas and a generous culture of sharing. Hosting monthly events is a key priority for the chapter and it ties directly to our overarching goal of building a stronger community. Members and the greater communications and creative community attribute IABC Ottawa events as a key factor in their continued involvement with our chapter. Our event lineup for any given season includes professional development events, networking events, and specialty events, such as half-day workshops. We focus on having 10 events per season to ensure both quality and a variation of topics for our membership. At present, IABC Ottawa is pleased to have nearly 200 members and many non-members who regularly engage with the chapter through our events. The Events Team at IABC Ottawa plans and develops innovative content delivered through our event activities by listening regularly to member feedback, being excellent IABC brand ambassadors, remaining adaptive, and instituting effective event planning process. Our approach helps ensure overall success both in terms of finances and attendee satisfaction. The Events Team is comprised of two VPs of Professional Development, who also sit on the IABC Ottawa Board, as well as three volunteer Directors who work to manage event logistics, and one regular on-site event volunteer. IABC Ottawa Chapter Management Award Submission: Events 1
3. GOALS & OBJECTIVES Goals: The overarching goal for IABC Ottawa events is to connect the Ottawa communications community and offer attendees a high-quality networking and learning experience. This goal connects directly to the overall chapter strategic direction of building a strong community through the three IABC pillars: advance the profession, create connection, and develop strategic communicators Objectives The objectives for the 2016- season as well as for the beginning of the -2018 season were/are: To develop a set of re-useable tools for managing event logistics. To be consistent in event pricing strategy and break even at the end of each season. To host 12 events between July 2016 and November, with four of these events focused on social networking. To carefully consider the needs of our members and event attendees when deciding on event calendar. To attract 40 to 80 attendees at all events and receive good to excellent on event satisfaction from post-event surveys. To build and maintain an Events Team of 4-5 individuals responsible for the creation and execution of all IABC Ottawa events. To re-scope events to be more targeted for the strategic business communications professional with 5 to 12 years of experience (new goal as of September ). 4. BUDGET In terms of budget, the goal of the IABC Ottawa Events Team is to break even at the end of each season. This means that we strive to ensure the costs of the event are covered by the registration fees. Occasionally event sponsorship is secured. Generally, expenses include venue, food, and promotion (Facebook and Twitter ads). For most events we do not pay speakers unless we are planning a one-day workshop where a certain level of instruction is required. In these cases normally a profit-sharing agreement is put in place. Travel and accommodation for out-of-town speakers is usually offered. Between July 2016 and June total profit/loss was C$2628.60. Between September and November 15, 2018 total profit/loss was (C$325.69). 5. IMPLEMENTATION ACTIVITIES In organizing events for the season, the Events Team considers many factors including logistics, promotion, sponsorship, speaker caliber, overall event experience, member and attendee feedback, and post-event activities. Each of these activities is underpinned by an overarching event plan for the year as well as individualized event plans for each specific event. Building and Sustaining a Stellar Events Team In previous years the Events team consisted of two Co-VPs who divvied up the planning and execution of events for the season, which created significant workload challenges and resulted some VPs only wishing to complete a one-year term. In an effort to remedy this challenge, the Co-VPs for the 2016- season set out to construct a team that would not only have extra volunteer support, but one that would have at least some continuity from season to season. One of the VPs was completing her second term in the events portfolio and brought with her a wealth of knowledge as well as a newly developed Business Continuity Manual for onboarding new team members (see work sample). This invaluable how to guide contains all protocols, checklists, templates, and passwords for the Events portfolio and has only added to the success of the Events Team. IABC Ottawa Chapter Management Award Submission: Events 2
Together the two Co-VPs built and mentored a team of four members using a collaborative approach that emphasized learning, even distribution of work, and teamwork. While the co-vps were responsible for key objectives such as building the overall event calendar, confirming speakers, collecting feedback, and signing on sponsors, the Events Team volunteers were responsible for operational tasks such as building run sheets, coordinating with venues, and managing event-day operations. At the close of the 2016/17 season, the outgoing Co-VPs passed along the updated Manual during a transition meeting to the incoming VPs. The nomination and successful election of a former Events volunteer to one of the VP positions for the /18 season assisted with a smooth and successful transition of the Events portfolio. The new VPs for the /18 season followed a similar strategy to build their Events Team and now are up and running supported by a team of Directors and volunteers. Using Feedback to Inform Event Planning and Speaker Selection Given the workload challenges experienced by former VPs, both the 2016-17 team and the -18 team focused on planning their entire event calendars at the beginning of the year based on feedback from members, board surveys, and information collected in the -18 IABC Ottawa President s Listening Tour (see work sample). A set plan at the beginning of the season outlining the types of events as well as timelines is imperative to the success of this portfolio as it reduces stress and the need to scramble for topics and speakers last minute. Careful consideration, led by the co-vps with oversight from the Board, goes into speaker and topic selection for all IABC Ottawa events. The criteria for speaker selection includes: well regarded in their field, high-caliber and engaging speaker, and excellent fit for the topic. One key reoccurring challenge in recruiting speakers is mitigating speaker fatigue or topic fatigue. The team aims to have a diverse selection of events covering a range of topics. Thus far, the Team has been successful in recruiting highcaliber speakers on a wide range of engaging topics such as government relations, change management, internal communication, and content strategy. One of the challenges identified toward the end of the 2016/17 season as part of the Listening Tour was that members were looking for much more focused events that helped them deal with day-to-day work challenges. After taking this into consideration and taking to other chapters, IABC Ottawa held its first Special Interest Group (SIG) in April. Onsite feedback from attendees was very positive, and presently two SIGs are planned for the /18 season. Additionally, this feedback led the /18 Events Team to take a more targeted approach with events and focus their content toward building the skillset of the business communicator. Working Toward Excellent Event Logistics In order to execute excellent events each month, a solid plan for logistics must be in place. AV support was identified as a key challenge in feedback surveys from the 2015/16 season and therefore the 2016/17 Events Team sought out venues that had both reliable equipment and on-site AV support. As the season progressed, one volunteer from the Events Team became responsible for documenting experiences at each venue and updating the Venue Spreadsheet, complete with photos and notes. This spreadsheet was passed along to the /18 Events Team. Over the course of the last two seasons, several protocols were put in place to ensure smoothly run events. For example, the Event Lead creates an event plan approximately 5-6 weeks in advance and presents the plan at monthly Team meetings. This allows the entire Events Team to give in-person feedback while helping the Lead mitigate any foreseeable logistical challenges. The creation of runsheets for the day of the event (see work sample) is also key to a successful event. The IABC Ottawa Events Team has a template that is used over and over to ensure proper timing of events and allocation or roles and responsibilities. Extra copies of speaker notes and testing all AV equipment at least 30 minutes prior only serve to add to the success of events. IABC Ottawa Chapter Management Award Submission: Events 3
Planning for Event Promotion One challenge that was most prominent in the 2016/17 season was the competitive events landscape given the numerous activities taking place for Canada s 150 th birthday. While this challenge was likely faced by many events teams across Canada, it was particularly difficult in the National Capital Region. To help mitigate this challenge, the 2016/17 Events Team worked with the Marketing and Communications Team to increase promotion around events on IABC Ottawa s social media channels (see work sample). Additionally, the Events Team worked social advertising into each of its event budgets. The Events Team also works regularly to provide the MarCom Team with event details and key messaging approximately one week prior to tickets going on sale. The creation of a Slack account in the 2016/17 season has greatly facilitated team interactions and sharing of files. This has allowed more time for planning and execution of social media promotion, thereby resulting in higher attendance rates. These practices have continued into the /18 season with one key addition. The MarCom team now operates a Trello board for all content. This new method allows the Event Team to see (and comment on) all scheduled content for events. Other methods used to help mitigate the event fatigue challenge and increase overall event attendance are: including promotions in the monthly IABC Ottawa newsletter, and distributing occasional e-blast reminders to the IABC Ottawa mailing list (see work sample). On-site marketing materials for events such as banners, membership brochures, and signage promoting the next event are also now requirements for all events. Finally, one volunteer is chosen to live tweet from the IABC Twitter account at all events. This showcases the value of the event to attendees helps to encourage future attendees to connect with IABC. Speakers are also encouraged to promote their events within their networks. When considered together, we have found these tactics to be successful in meeting our attendance goals. Creating Excellent Experiences and Enhancing Member Value For the 2016/17 season, the Events Team focused on providing positive and valuable learning experiences for all attendees. While the team has always strived for a professional event experience, complete with printed name badges and ample signage, one of the key challenges for event experience was figuring out how to increased member value in events. Lower ticket pricing for members paired with specialized member ribbons for name badges was a key first step. An important second step was the introduction of event takeaways from speakers. These takeaways are resource templates, supplementary reading, or speaker decks. In the case of Season Openers or Closers, these event takeaways can also take the form of free headshots for members, courtesy of a professional photographer. The IABC Events Team makes these takeaways available to all event attendees and also to all IABC members through a post-event email (see work sample). This is a practice that was instituted in the 2016/17 season and is now carrying over into the /18 season. A final step in helping to enhance member value was the addition of Member Moderator roles for event panels. These opportunities are offered exclusively to members and promoted through post event emails, newsletters, and at events through the MC speaking notes. Considering Partnerships and Sponsorships Strong relationships and partnerships are key to the continued success of the events portfolio. The events team is privileged have partnership opportunities with other professional groups in the Ottawa area for some of our social events. These groups include Women in Communications Technologies and the Canadian Public Relations Society for example. In the 2016/17 season, the Events Team was pleased to partner with the Marcom Annual Conference for a social mixer. Additionally, as of early November, a large holiday social with seven different partners was in development for the Ottawa region. Partnership opportunities such as these help grow the IABC Ottawa network and demonstrate our value within the community. Sponsorship is also an important consideration for the events portfolio, especially since the Events Team is often challenged with breaking even on events. With sponsorship money from CNW we were able to create a full Season Closer event that included our AGM and awards while allowing volunteers to attend for free. Overall successful sponsorships add to the event experience by allowing the Events team to IABC Ottawa Chapter Management Award Submission: Events 4
increase event offerings and value. The Value of Post-Event Activities Post-event activities, such as surveys that collect feedback from attendees, are important to be able to improve for the future. The Events Team makes best efforts to send out post-event surveys the day after each event to gauge attendee satisfaction. Two main challenges exist: first, in the inevitable wind down that comes after a successful event, occasionally post-event surveys are sent out late or not sent out at all. Second, response rates for these surveys tend to be quite low (10-12%). In an effort to remedy this, the 2016/17 Events Team would strive to build engaging Event Recaps that included event Takeaways and the post-event survey (see work sample). One volunteer on the Events Team was dedicated to drafting this Recap email. This practice will now begin to carry over into the /18 season. TYPES OF IABC EVENTS AND THEIR UNIQUE VALUE The Events Team focuses on executing four main types of events throughout the season. We work to ensure that event logistics match the unique events formats for an enjoyable event experience. Senior Communicators Dinners, Young Communicators/Professionals Dinners, Professional Development Panels, and Networking Socials. Senior Communicators Dinners are intimate three-course dinner events with one executivelevel speaker (VP level and above) and 12 to 14 attendees with 10 to 15 years of professional experience. We strive to host at least one SC Dinners per season to provide senior communicators with a safe and collegial atmosphere in which to discuss pressing issues among their peer group. For the /2018, and based on feedback received in the listening tour, a Senior Communicators Breakfast is also being considered. Young Communicators Dinners are intimate yet casual events with one or two mid-to-senior level speakers (Associate Director-level and above). Attendees are normally young communications professionals with 1 to 5 years of experience. The goal is to host at least one event for young communicators throughout the season and, based on feedback collected, we strive to provide focus discussions on tangible ways young professionals can work to advance their careers and connect with peers. Professional Development or Expert Panels are large, multi-speaker events that focus on a particular topic of interest such as content strategy, measurement, or government relations. Attendees are normally from all levels and there is always a portion of the event dedicated to networking. It is during these events that IABC Ottawa Members have the opportunity to moderate panel discussions. Networking Socials are large-scale networking events with mainly a social component. Popular networking socials include the Season Openers and Closers as well as the Holiday Mix n Mingles. The overarching goal of these social events is to build networks and strengthen the community. Key strategies for accomplishing this goal include having on-site activities such as photo booths, free headshots for members, and draws for prizes. Occasionally we aim to partner with like-minded professional groups. Events such as these are also excellent spaces for handing out awards or recognizing important volunteers. Recognition efforts such as these further reinforce our goal of community building. EVENT ATTENDEE MEASUREMENT The following chart shows all events hosted between September 2016 and November. Event type is noted in parentheses. Note that for this timeframe, the Events Team also held one special workshop-type event Coding for Communicators. Metrics come from Eventbrite and Survey Monkey. Date Event Name and Type Attendance Profit/loss Overall Avg. Rating* September 27, 2016 Season Opener: Celebrating Canadian Communicators Total: 96 ($243.08) Good (13 responses) IABC Ottawa Chapter Management Award Submission: Events 5
October 18, 2016 November 29, 2016 December 6, 2016 January 24, February 21, March 21, April 18, April 26, May 30, June 20, September 28, October 26, Secrets of Success: Building Award Winning Communications Plans (PD Panel) Exclusive Event for Young Professionals: Elevate Your Career (Young Pros) Holiday Mix and Mingle Networking in the New Year (PD Panel) Communicating with the C- Suite: A Senior Communicators Event (Sr. Communicators) Building a Content Strategy: Putting the User First Coding for Communicators (Special Workshop) Special Interest Group for IABC Members on Small Teams (SIG - *New*) MARCOM and IABC Ottawa Social IABC Ottawa Season Closer IABC Ottawa Season Opener Exclusive! How BDC transformed perceptions about its brand! (PD Panel) Total: 48 $269.85 Good (7 responses) Total: 16 $218.26 Good (2 responses) Total: 137 $276.83 Good (18 responses) Total: 63 $933.50 Good (3 responses) Total: 11 ($309.06) No response Total: 76 $1072.56 Good (2 responses) Total: 26 $422.98 Good (1 response) Total: 7 Under Membership portfolio budget No survey sent Total: 14 ($58.18) No survey sent Total: 52 $45.00 No survey sent Total: 56 ($352.55) No response Total: 32 $26.86 No survey sent *Options on survey scale are Excellent, Good, Fair, and Needs Improvement. 6. MEASUREMENT & RESULTS Objectives To develop a set of reuseable tools for managing event logistics. Results Finalized and maintained the Business Continuity Manual (BCM) for the Events portfolio complete with procedures, checklists, templates, key contacts, and account information. The BCM was used to onboard new Events Team members for the 2016/17 and /18 seasons. It is now a cornerstone document in the Events portfolio and each outgoing team formally passes it on to the incoming team. Instituted the use of specific event plans, MarCom request forms, and event-day run sheets to manage event logistics. Ensured monthly meetings of the Events Team prior to the monthly event in order to work out any logistical details or challenges. IABC Ottawa Chapter Management Award Submission: Events 6
To be consistent in event pricing strategy and break even at the end of each season. To carefully consider the needs of our members and event attendees when deciding on event calendar. To host 12 events between July 2016 and November, with four of these events focused on social networking. To attract 40 to 80 attendees at all events and receive good to excellent on event satisfaction from postevent surveys. Consistent pricing for all events for 2016-17 season developed to continue the success we had in 2015-16 by having more affordable events while still covering event costs. Event budgets with ticket pricing o $25.00 Early-bird member / $30.00 regular member o $35.00 Early-bird prospective member / $40.00 prospective member o $10.00 Early-bird student / $20.00 student Between July 2016 and June profit/loss was C$2628.60. Between September and November 15, 2018 total profit/loss was (C$325.69). Obtained feedback from Board through surveys on speaker selection, venues, and event topics. Incorporated feedback into event plans. Incorporated feedback about events from President s Listening Tour into event plan for /18 including smaller more focused events like Special Interest groups, Sr. Communicator events. Provided opportunities for feedback and idea generation at some events through the use of posters encouraging attendees to write down their ideas. Provided event takeaways (i.e. templates, one-pagers, speaker presentations) to all attendees and members throughout the 2016/17 season and into the /18 season. This practice, which was initiated in the 2016/17 season is seen as added member value. Moderator roles are offered exclusively to members and promoted through post event emails, newsletters, and at events through the MC speaking notes. 2016- Season o Successfully held 11 events in total: four social events, three professional development panels, one two-hour coding workshop, one Senior Communicators dinner, and one Young Communicators dinner, and one special interest group meet-up. 2016- Season (up to November 15, ) o Full event calendar for the season was developed, approved and shared in October with topics and tentatively slated dates. Topics are more tailored to a business communicator audience and include branding communications and employee communications. o Held one social event with a speaker and one professional development event before November 15,. Most PD and social events consistently sold between 40 and 80 tickets. Excellent attendance records for Senior Communicators and Young Professional events. Sold out the special Coding for Communicators event that was hosted based on increasing requests verbally and through Twitter. Received raking of good in all post-event surveys conducted. IABC Ottawa Chapter Management Award Submission: Events 7
To build and maintain an Events Team of 4-5 individuals responsible for the creation and execution of all IABC Ottawa events. To re-scope events to be more targeted for the business communications professional (new goal as of September ). The Co-VPs for the 2016/17 built and maintained a team of four individuals who were responsible for event logistics and execution. Regular monthly meetings were key to maintaining an engaged and well-functioning team. The Co-VPs for the /18 season also built and are currently mentoring a new team of event volunteers. One of the VPs from this season transitioned into the role from a Director position on the 2016/17 Events Team. This continuity, paired with the updated Business Continuity Manual has ensured the sustainability of the team. In keeping with the /18 strategic vison for IABC Ottawa, the Co- VPs re-scoped events to focus on more specialized content targeted at the business communications professional. Thus far, feedback from attendees has been very positive. IABC Ottawa Chapter Management Award Submission: Events 8