June program PowerPoint now available

Members, if you missed the June program on intercultural communication with Rhonda Snider Collins, be sure to download her PowerPoint slides from the chapter library and get a taste of the material. (You must be logged in using your IABC member ID and password to access the library.)

Silver Quill entry deadline approaching

If you’re ready to take those Brazos Bravo entries to the next level, then it’s time to get your ducks in a row. Entries for the 2009 Southern Region Silver Quills are due by June 30.

Eligible projects are those with measurable results between June 1, 2008 and May 31, 2009 and you don’t need to be an IABC member to enter. Winners will be recognized at the Southern Region Conference in Houston this October.

Click here to check out all the details and get your Silver Quill entries submitted. Good luck!

The Games We Play: Workplace Politics 101

Getting things done in the office can sometimes be a challenge if the people you work with chose to make it so.

Join us for the July IABC/Brazos Valley professional development meeting as Mays Business School Clinical Associate Professor Roemer Visser teaches us how to effectively navigate the stormy waters of workplace politics. This interactive presentation will review the most common sources of power found in organizations today, and the political games that people play as a result.

Roemer Visser holds a Master’s degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the Vrije University in Amsterdam and a doctorate in Human Resource Development from Texas A&M University. He worked as a corporate recruiter for Unilever in the Netherlands and an Emerson Electric subsidiary in Austin, Texas, before enrolling in the doctoral program in Texas A&M.

Prior to joining the faculty at Mays Business School, he was a senior employee development specialist in the Human Resources Department and, prior to that, management analyst in the Department of Multicultural Services.

He has found that this work experience was very good preparation for his first course in Workplace Politics at Mays. His marriage and his new venture into parenthood are proving to be even more relevant to the topic.

“The Games We Play: Workplace Politics 101”
Thursday, July 16, 2009
11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Cocanougher Special Events Center
Wehner Building, Texas A&M University (West Campus)
College Station, TX 77843

Click here to register now. The final day to register for this event is Monday, July 13.

Please note that this event is a brown bag luncheon. Paid parking will be available in Lot 72.

Admission is $3 for IABC members and $5 for nonmembers. (If you prepay using Google checkout, an extra dollar will be charged to cover the service fee.) You may pay online in advance (preferred), or with cash or check at the door. IABC/Brazos Valley will no longer invoice individuals, companies or Texas A&M University departments.

Programs Survey

Thanks to all who responded to the survey about changes to our monthly meeting format. We will use these suggestions as we consider programming for the next year. Your input was greatly appreciated!

If you’d like to see the survey results yourself, follow the links below.

Non-member responses: http://bit.ly/LocIn
Member responses: http://bit.ly/bWKIl

You could save the day!

Your boss is supposed to be giving a presentation to the powers that be, but the projector and/or laptop isn’t working. All seems lost until you confidently approach the equipment, push a few buttons, and voila! It works! You’ve saved the presentation and earned your boss’s gratitude—as well as the respect, admiration, and awe of the audience.

How would you like to be the person with those valuable tech skills? IABC/Brazos Valley is looking for a volunteer (or a few volunteers) to take over A/V responsibilities for our monthly meetings. Don’t have A/V know-how currently? No worries. We’ll show you what you need to know.

This is a great opportunity for professional skills development. If you’re interested, shoot an email to Chrystal Houston at chrystal.houston@tamu.edu.

Intercultural Communication: The Basics of Communicating Across Cultures

As advances in communication technology continue to bring our world closer and closer together, it is more important than ever to ensure that our messages are not only effective, but culturally sensitive.

Join us for our June professional development meeting as communications expert Rhonda Snider Collins talks about considerations when traveling abroad, dealing with internationals at home, creating publications for diverse audiences, and issues specific to new media and electronic communication.

Rhonda Snider Collins has over 25 years professional experience in communications, international relations and leadership development. Through her business, Culture Knowledge, she provides training and consulting in topics related to culture, communication and personal development.

Collins has a Master of Arts in Anthropology, and has taught college-level courses in communication and cultural studies for four different universities. Collins and her husband lived in Mexico for a year, and she has traveled to more than 20 countries around the world.

“Intercultural Communication: The Basics of Communicating Across Cultures”
Thursday, June 18, 2009
11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Epicures
2319 Texas Ave S
College Station, TX 77843

Click here to register now. The final day to register for this event is Monday, June 15.

Admission is $16 for IABC members and $22 for nonmembers. (If you prepay using Google checkout, an extra dollar will be charged to cover the service fee.) You may pay online in advance (preferred), or with cash or check at the door. IABC/Brazos Valley will no longer invoice individuals, companies or Texas A&M University departments.

May presentation available for download

Did that long holiday weekend make you forget some of what you learned at last week’s professional development meeting? Don’t worry—IABC/BV members can now download a copy of Nicholas Roznovsky’s presentation “Using Facebook and Twitter as Marketing Tools” and the accompanying handout from the chapter library. (You must be logged in using your IABC member ID and password to access the library.)

If you have any questions about last week’s presentation, please feel free to contact Nicholas via Facebook, Twitter or plain old-fashioned e-mail.

Frighteningly good work

Let’s have a round of applause for IABC/Brazos Valley member and professional development chair Preston DuBose! His story “The One That Got Away” is included in the upcoming horror and supernatural fiction anthology Buried Tales of Pinebox, TX. Preston is also the president of 12 to Midnight, the publisher of Buried Tales.

For more information about the book, visit http://buriedtales.12tomidnight.com/.

Good job, Preston!

Last chance to RSVP for “Using Facebook and Twitter as Marketing Tools”

We know that some of you like to wait until the last minute to take care of things. If you’re one of those people, then congratulations — your time has arrived!

Today is the deadline to register for this week’s professional development luncheon, “Using Facebook and Twitter as Marketing Tools” with guest speaker Nicholas Roznovsky. If you’d like to join us at Epicures this Thursday, please register today.

To register now or for more details, click here.

Photos from the 2009 Brazos Bravo Awards

After many years of running the family business, the Godfather knows it’s always a good idea to document the after-hours activities of one’s associates. You never know when a stack of photos will come in handy.

If slideshows aren’t your thing, you can view all the photos here as well.

A very big thank you to Matt Zeringue for snapping these for us!