IABC Offers Invaluable Opportunities to Connect and Succeed

Editor’s note: This is an updated version of an IABC-St. Louis blog post by the same author.

It’s common to see conversations about reasons to join and be active in a professional association like IABC. With a new year upon us, now is a great time to consider the role of connections and the value of IABC membership and its role in networking — and professional success.

At a recent meeting of IABC St. Louis, we discussed all aspects of IABC based on its benefits. We talked about what IABC provides — why it was worth joining and being active; services and resources that could be used at any level of involvement; what makes it different from other organizations, etc. My focus was on the connections element of membership. In fact, connections are considered so central to IABC that the theme of the 2025 World Conference is … CONNECT!

Developing Connections Through Your Professional Association

Being part of IABC creates a connection that you can carry wherever you go, whether it’s to a new position or department at your current job, a new job in your current location, a new industry to work in or service to offer, a new city or country. Members have even made connections through IABC that led to love and entire new lives in new places.

Networking — to increase our skills and find jobs — is why most of us join IABC, and creating connections is an essential part of that. The concept of connections brings together everything about IABC and how it links training, professional development, conversations, knowledge, leadership, services and more among members, and the communities that we serve through our jobs, projects and/or clients. It doesn’t matter if you’re an in-house communicator or a communications consultant — connections are what matter and define why we’re part of this association.

Throughout life, we connect to things and people in many ways: through family, friends, schoolmates, neighbors, colleagues, coworkers, service providers … even total strangers. We connect with people we meet at a bus stop or a friend’s party, on a train or plane trip, in schools and workplaces, at the grocery store, walking the dog, jogging in the park. The opportunity to connect, and expand a life, is everywhere.

Many of those nonwork connections feed into how we do our work. Given that there are associations, organizations and memberships for every skill and personal interest anyone might have, you never know when connecting to a new person, idea, hobby or resource in your personal life will come in handy in your professional communications life, or even lead to a new job.

3 Simple Ways to Make Your IABC Membership Work For You

How can we create and maintain our connections through IABC? Here are a few ideas.

• Join and become active in a local or regional chapter, especially if it meets in person. People hire whom they know, so being visible connects us to potential employers or clients more strongly then we might realize.
• Seek ways to share knowledge or open conversations that give colleagues such opportunities, such as asking and answering questions in discussion lists, on LinkedIn, Slack or Facebook; offering to speak at chapter, regional and international events; contributing blog posts or articles to IABC outlets. These are all opportunities to showcase your experience and potential value to colleagues — and be remembered when they’re looking for staff or freelancers to hire.
• If you’re more of an introvert and find in-person interactions challenging, you can still create connections through the digital world. Make the most of LinkedIn, Facebook, email and IABC by posting advice and ideas in those environments, as well as via your own website or blog (especially if you’re an independent consultant). You don’t have to show up in person to be seen as a valued connection.

Real-World Examples: How Professional Associations Lead to Career Opportunities

I’ve been enjoying making new connections through a return to IABC St. Louis. Both the World Conference and ongoing chapter involvement are important to strengthening the connections that make IABC so worthwhile an investment in any communications career.

Looking for some concrete examples of how connecting through a membership association can pay off on a practical level?

• I found my first professional-level freelance projects through my IABC-St. Louis membership. For several years, IABC paid my expenses to our international conferences so I could serve as onsite newsletter editor, and I was hired by three independent communications publications to cover the conferences as well. IABC also paid for feature articles in our Communication World magazine for several years.  
• Joining IABC/DC led to being hired by fellow IABCers for several freelance projects, at least two of which have continued to this day — about 40 years later!
• Membership in the late, lamented Washington Independent Writers also resulted in a variety of freelance writing and editing projects.
• Being involved with a workshop for high school students sponsored by the St. Louis chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists led to paying writing assignments with several St. Louis-area newspapers over the years.
• Equally important, my association connections — with IABC in particular — have generated friendships with colleagues who have provided advice and the occasional shoulder to lean on. Those benefits can’t be calculated in dollars.

The dawn of a new year is a great opportunity to review and focus on expanding connections through IABC membership. Here’s hoping that colleagues will find ways to create and nurture connections through IABC that enhance careers and give new dimensions to both personal and professional pursuits.