Fellow IABC member and blogger Allan Jenkins posted a scathing commentary about IABC and Chairman David Kistle yesterday (and has attracted a bit of flack in the comments to his post as a result).
What especially caught my attention in Allan’s post was his comments regarding the IABC Chair blog. Allan writes:
[…] While an excellent IABC Chairman’s blog would not necessarily indicate great communication and management leadership, a poor one is certainly indicative of the malaise and uncertain drift of Kistle’s administration. From the misprints (Reaching our my (sic) 2004-5 goals) to the bad grammar (Tsunami Affects (sic) Continue), to the lack of relevant content (Ketchum anyone? Insights from his near constant travel?), to the sheer paucity of posts, the IABC Chairman’s blog has fallen flat.
Launched last October, the IABC Chair blog has been a woeful effort. I greeted the launch with cautious enthusiasm which gradually if not quickly turned into huge disappointment as the months went by and the quality and quantity of posts never reached the level that one would have expected from the chairman of our professional association.
The blog has never developed into a place for discussion on the weightier issues affecting the profession. For example, as Allan mentions in his post, no comments on ethical issues in the wake of “Ketchumgate” in the US in January (and which has implications for communicators everywhere).
A quick look at the blog just now – first visit in over a month: why go when there’s nothing to see? – shows the last post was on 16 January, over seven weeks ago.
No taking a lead here for either IABC or the profession as a whole, that’s a clear fact. (I nearly used the phrase “thought leadership,” but it really is an awful descriptor as David Murray and Trevor Cook pointed out recently.)
Will anything change when Warren Bickford, the next IABC chair (PDF bio), steps up to the plate in June? Well, as someone who always looks at the glass as being half full, I’m willing to say “I would expect so” if you asked me that question.
I’ve been a committed IABC member for over 15 years. I’ve served in numerous volunteer leadership roles over the years including as a member of the Executive Board. I want the Chair blog to succeed! And the blogger to be successful!
You can make it happen, Warren. And if there’s anything I can do to help, you just need to ask.
Neville Hobson is the author of the popular NevilleHobson.com blog which focuses on business communication and technology.
Neville is currentlly the VP of New Marketing at Crayon. Visit Neville Hobson’s blog: NevilleHobson.com.
