PR Face2Face is a special series of interviews with the top public relations and publicity professionals in the country, as well as with people involved in the public relations world. The first part of the fifth installment is David Kistle, the current chairman of IABC.
IABC) and the Public Relations Society of America. Plus, David teaches the next generation of practitioners as an adjunct professor at the Padilla Speer Beardsley research and employee communication practices, helping companies identify and develop plans that leverage their communication dollars to achieve business objectives.
The scope of David's work is diverse. His recent efforts span from a community-based non-profit to a multi-national manufacturer operating in 15 countries across five continents. And the rest of his experience follows suit. Besides education and manufacturing, he has counseled clients in health care, consumer products, financial services, gas and electric utilities, and not-for-profit organizations.
An accredited member of IABC, David is active in all levels of the organization. He has served the association as president of IABC/Minnesota, a member of IABC's executive board, trustee and chair of the IABC Research Foundation, and the outgoing chairman of IABC.
According to the recent IABC Chair blog, it seems like you had a good idea and intention, but didn't realize the amount of time blogging takes. What would you change about the IABC blog, and looking back, would you do it again? (Editor's Note: Allan Jenkins, Eric Eggertson, Ragan's, you noted that the association is moving in the right direction at the right speed. What is that direction?
IABC, as all associations, is there to build a community (for IABC, it is 13,000 people) who have a common interest (for IABC, it is business communications) and therefore work to put forth a common goal and idea for professional development.
With IABC, it is to be: an access point for information, with products and resource materials to grow a professional's knowledge; professional development and skill advancement; and, to build a network of similar-minded professionals.
There is a realization that creating seminars for professional development that people are able to physically attend can now be done more efficiently with Webinars. We're moving toward Webinars, because it is easier for our participants to access, and more affordable to deliver and receive.
The basic reasons of having an association - or being part of IABC - have not changed, but technology is changing how we work with the members.
In the first phase of IABC technology, the people in the late 80'/90's pioneered pushing IABC into technology. They created a community, a community of people with common interests.
And, that is what IABC is about. People will find their network and create them in their own ways.
Our technology group on staff - people like Chris Hall - is thinking of ways to apply technology to our association all the time. People are reaching out to participate in online forums, Websites, Webinars, and to move that into more of an official status.
The IABC chairman job is a volunteer position. If you could do it again, would you?
Of course I would. I am proud of being the chair of IABC, and have worked very hard to be a good one. I've been a member of IABC since 1977, involved in that whole continuum since then. I have learned a lot, and being involved gives me an appreciation of what and who IABC is.
I know that I cannot be popular with everyone, but I have tried my hardest to not go out and be confrontational.
And, let's be honest. We have all been beaten up by clients, coworkers, bosses at one time or another. This is just another time where everyone cannot be made happy
But, being the chair of IABC is an experience unlike being a CEO and chairman, and an experience that I would not get on the job. I serve on the board at PSB, but that is not an opportunity like this.
The joke about volunteer organizations is always that they are great, except for the volunteer aspect. How does IABC combat this?
It's the nature of the beast. Lots of groups have volunteer boards, and I serve on other non-profit boards.
But, people belong because they care about something. Volunteers do not necessarily inhibit building consensus through agreement, but it can be difficult. It has been my experience that disagreement is better than agreement. You find the right balance and direction through the agreements and disagreements with volunteers.
To get the most out of the volunteer base, though, volunteer leaders need to be good listeners, and hear the minority voice.
What motivates volunteers? It's not career or money. There's something that's motivating these people to volunteer for IABC. Effectively working with the volunteers means finding that motivation.
I'm a former IABC member that had a terrible experience, although I do love current president Johna Burke. I know that you are trying to grow membership, but what would you say to someone that felt he wasted his money and would rather never join IABC again - how do you bring me back into the fold?
That's a difficult one - everyone has reasons for leaving an organization. As I have been involved in IABC, it is interesting to learn why people come and go. Sometimes it's professional, sometimes it's personal. Sometimes a career goes into a different direction, and there are other reasons why people don't rejoin IABC
Many times, it may be because the process failed. Sometimes I hear from former and current members that the membership ended, and no one called to inform them.
Whatever they experience is legitimate; it is the same with resolving conflict. IABC merely asks the former members to give us another shot.
But, sometimes it is the right decision to not come back.
When I joined IABC, I thought it was like a lobbying group - bringing more attention to local PR practitioners to local business and press, and to try to keep local business locally PR'ed. I was told that that's not the group's mission. What is IABC's mission, then?
IABC has a stated mission from its Website:
- Provide lifelong learning opportunities that give IABC members the tools and information they need to be the best in their chosen disciplines.
- Share among our membership best global communication practices, ideas and experiences that will enable us to develop highly ethical and effective performance standards for our profession.
- Shape the future of the profession through ground-breaking research.
- Lead the way in the use of advanced information technology in the profession. Unite the communication profession worldwide in one diverse, multifaceted organization under the banner of the International Association of Business Communicators. But, we should also champion the profession to local businesses. One of the things that is needed for communications is to better represent our profession to other businesses. We spent this year and part of last year developing a global code of ethics and ethics committee, to explain the ethical ways that communications works with businesses. IABC should be more visible and relevant in the business community. This takes a lot of forms - business media outreach, which includes a media tour with the chairman in NY and/or Toronto. As far as the US media, it takes a lot of work with outreach. While I have been IABC chair, I focused on our own town (Minneapolis), holding a thought leadership forum with the Allan Jenkins, Neville Hobson come to mind. Jay Rosen, and Lutz' blog at General Motors, for example? It's not going to be the norm where 40-50 percent of CEOs will be doing blogs themselves. Successful CEO blogs will take a staff, like those that handle correspondence, speeches. You've had a year of mixed reviews. Certainly some bloggers and their readers don't think you are having a particularly successful one. When you make your final speech as Chairman, what successes do you think you will be able to list? I can point to several things that I am proud of, but there are two things specifically. Think of a business, and an important part of running a business is the oversight of strategy and planning and financing - we have some outstanding processes in place. People before and after me have helped put these processes in place. There has been an overhaul of the governance, with more clarity on roles and responsibilities. IABC remained on track with its debt to a zero position in five years - we delivered in 2004, will do so again in 2005. There are some disciplines in place to connect our product growth and membership growth. We are setting up what we need to, and what will support it, and the money allocation. We've done it before, but not in a staged way. Now, it is a planned growth strategy. On the marketplace side, we have provided some tools and access to the information (networking, Webinars) that is more appropriate for today. With growth, the numbers are moving up, with a concentration on member retention. We are doing well in recruiting, but we need to retain the members we have. We need to reduce that loss by 10 percent, which will help us grow. IABC will be so exciting that people will want to join. In Seattle, at the annual leadership meeting, I was able to visit with chapter leaders around the World, and find out the issues and needs that their members are telling them. The focus of their issues has shifted from misguided processes or bad feelings of the HQ. We have worked hard to be more responsive to our chapters. From an operations stand-point, it has tightened up, and we have more to offer than ever before. For IABC, there are huge growth opportunities overseas. The group is growing and evolving in Asia, and we have robust groups in Shanghai and Beijing. If you could advise future chairmen about what to look out for during their tenure, that they can get the most out of it, what 3 lines of advice would you have? My thoughts for Warren as the incoming chair are:
- Emotion - the need for having balance in dealing with feelings of others and yourself. Things will happen that will come out of left field and will surprise you. You need to manage the reaction and keep perspective.
- Intellectual - be creative in thinking about problem solving and future needs. Internalize what you hear and apply your own thoughts. Combine what others say with your own beliefs.
- Inspire Others - help others do their best to take it to new levels. For me, the governance people have been amazing. They rose to new levels, doing great work for governance. Taking advantage of their intellect has inspired them to go further. There is always the need for recognition and reward. What are you going to do on the last day of your chairmanship? You going to kick back and relax? The end of the line is not now. The past chairman has two important things to do: conduct the President's performance review, and chair the nominating committee. But, I will also be there as a sounding board for the new chairman, new vice chairman and new board members. The past chairman should stay tuned in, and provide the wisdom of going through the minefield. The past chairman has an opportunity to be the person who challenges the others - particularly the current one - but not in a way that interferes. There is a need for an advisor, and that is something that someone who has held the position can do. I have thought of that last day, and I think I will feel more sadness than jubilance. Not because I want to be a perennial leader, but because all good things have to come to an end. With IABC, you get more than you give. There is something fun and valuable for me that will have ended. POP! Public Relations, a public relations firm based in Arizona, USA. He authors the popular
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