In this issue

Happy Hour

Welcome New Members

IABC Member Spotlight

Last Month's Recap

IABC Heritage Region Conference

We Want You to Volunteer!

Social Media Event Recap

Career Opportunities

President's Message

It's hard to believe that we're halfway through summer. I hope everyone has gotten a chance for some relaxation and fun in the sun!

I hope you don't mind, but I'd like to get a little personal with this month's column. My husband, Greg has been a huge inspiration to me, especially these past 9 months. After working ridiculously hard for the same retail company for ten years (part-time during college and then full-time for six years after college), he became heavily recruited by a big brand--his dream. While this was a huge and exciting opportunity, the best part was that it opened his eyes to other opportunities out there and that he didn't have to stay at this same company forever. He finally realized what I knew all along; he could do anything he put his mind to.

Since I started dating Greg, he put his heart and soul into this company and hoped to make a life-long career out of it. However, the retail world is tough, and he was sort of stuck in his store management role. He wasn't advancing like he hoped to (and deserved to), and he felt like he gave everything he could as a manager and leader. He wanted something more for himself and wanted to provide the best that he could for me and our family's future.

So, he did it. Greg interviewed for months with this big brand, and while it didn't end up working out because the opening disappeared, he also began applying to other jobs in several different industries.

After interviewing for a supervisor position in supply chain at another big company, he took a risk and accepted it. And although the position was great experience and he was making a huge impact on that company in the short time he was there, he realized that it wasn't where he wanted to be and he was unhappy. He wanted something more.

So Greg started applying again and finally got a phone interview for a management role at a bank. The banking industry has always been of interest to him, but he could never break into it. And then it happened. After rounds of interviews and extensive background checks, he was offered the management position. While taking the job was another risk, it was a wonderful opportunity for his future and he was so passionate and excited about it. It was more than a job to him, it was the beginning of a new career.

I'm so inspired by my husband for doing everything he could to make his dreams come true and to find a career he would love. He wasn't going to settle for a job he wasn't happy with. He wasn't okay with staying at a job because it's comfortable. He wasn't going to accept that it's common to not particularly like your job.

He wanted more and so he did it. I think we can all take a page from his book.

Roxanne Lewis
IABC Harrisburg President

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July 2018 IABC Harrisburg Newsletter

Happy Hour

Spring Gate Vineyard
Thursday, August 23 • 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Spring Gate Vineyard & Brewery
5790 Devonshire Road
Harrisburg, PA 17112

Please join IABC Harrisburg at Spring Gate Vineyard for a casual happy hour to celebrate summer. Enjoy a variety of wines, wine slushies, ciders and beer, while socializing with fellow communications professionals. The happy hour is free to attend with cash bar. Everyone is welcome!

Welcome New Members

We're pleased to welcome our new IABC Harrisburg member!

New Member:
Nicole Bertelli
Content and Communications Manager, McCormick & Co.

IABC Member Spotlight

Lisa Maresca

Lisa Maresca grew up in Niskayuna, New York (go ahead and find it on a map), and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the State University of New York at Buffalo (where she studied communications and learned fun words like “besmirch” and “troglodyte”) and a Master of Arts from California State University at Fullerton in communications (where she discovered that she actually doesn’t like the beach).

She spent several years working (slaving away) in California and New Jersey in trade and medical magazine production where she was an associate editor. After moving to Ithaca, New York, and working as the managing editor for a college publication/recruitment marketing coordinator (she even had an office … with a small couch!), and as a group fitness instructor (kickboxing), she moved to some place even colder, Syracuse, New York, (go Orange!) where she was the marketing and communications specialist for a third-party administrator of health benefits.

After three-and-a-half years of winters that lasted from October until May, Lisa dug out from underneath the snow and moved to central Pennsylvania in November 2017 where she joined the marketing and communications staff at Penn State Health (and eats way too much chocolate).

She currently lives outside Hershey, Pennsylvania, (hence, the chocolate) and, in her spare time, she enjoys running (though she only enjoys it when she’s done), spoiling her kitty, discussing the many fine points of the “Star Wars” movies (except for the prequels, which were junk) and watching “Game of Thrones” (she drinks and she knows things). Lisa’s excited to be on the content creation team at Penn State Health.

“I joined IABC to gain professional insight and network with fellow communications professionals,” Lisa says. “I’ve enjoyed listening to the webinars and attending discussions to hear subject matter experts discuss their areas of expertise.”

Last Month's Recap

Last month, Crystal Hull, ABC, MPA and Rob Rutz joined IABC Harrisburg members and guests at Cliff’s Tavern in New Cumberland for dinner and an impactful discussion.

Crystal and Rob shared invaluable advice on what it takes to become a strategic communications adviser during a casual discussion.

Key takeaways:

Always treat each other kindly
Don't obsess over your title and "C-Suite"
Think strategically
Be able to walk in other people's shoes
Check your ego at the door
Be decisive
Take risks
Always have a plan - and also a "plan B" and "plan C"
Put your company or organization's needs above your own personal goals
Get to know the ins and outs of your organization
Have personal and professional goals, and discuss them with your manager
Know when to speak up and when to shut up
Don't sweat the small stuff
Be willing to embrace change and do not fear the unkown
Be resilient and tenacious
Know your audience and be a great communicator for all audiences
Respect others and always keep building relationships
Build your network and keep in touch
Embrace the power of "Yes - and"
Be very flexible to take on new responsibilites at work - promote yourself sideways
Know what and how your leadership is measuring as successful
Make sure people under you are performing well, too
Go get coffee with connections you have made via LinkedIn, professional organizations, etc. if you don't actually know them
Become involved in professional organizations
Get into areas that may be uncomfortable
Volunteer to do things that are challenging at work, in professional organizations, etc.
Stay up on trends in your industry and in the communications field
Learn adaptability and connectibility

Plans are underway for our fall programming. If you have a topic. speaker and/or venue in mind, please contact us at info@iabcharrisburg.com.

IABC Heritage Region Conference

Now is the time to make sure your career is on the road to greater success! Make plans now to gather in Richmond, VA, for the 2018 IABC Heritage Region Conference November 11-13, 2018.

At this year’s IABC Heritage Region Conference you can engage in seminal presentations, find the latest effective communication techniques and network with the industry’s best practitioners. And you can catch the spirit through keynote sessions, breakouts and dining activities geared specifically to communication, public relations and marketing professionals.

The International Association of Business Communicators is a vibrant global association with members from around the world, representing many of the Global Fortune 500 companies. At the international, regional and local level, we support our community of professionals with innovative thinking, shared best practices, in-depth learning, and career guidance.

We Want You to Volunteer!

Get Involved with IABC Harrisburg!

Getting ready for vacation? Think about how you can move your career forward after you get back. Consider becoming involved or more involved in your IABC chapter! Regardless of whether you’re a member, we’d love for you to share your thoughts, time and talents with us and help make IABC Harrisburg what you want it to be. Would you like to further your communciations skills? Get more versed at event planning? Help with our social media?

However you’d like to get involved with IABC Harrisburg, please email info@iabcharrisburg.com and share your volunteer interests with us. We hope to hear from you soon!

Social Media Event Recap

Rachel Strella, owner of Strella Social Media, met with IABC Harrisburg members and guests at Marzoni’s Brick Oven and Brewing Co. on May 19 to share her insight on how companies and organizations can develop an effective business strategy in today’s social media climate.

Strella opened with a discussion of the phases of the sales funnel and how it has changed in the face of social media. Historically, the funnel contained four stages: awareness, interest, decision and action, and was dominated by the product or service sale. The new “buying funnel” has been further segmented into six steps, with consideration, intent, evaluation and purchase replacing the last two traditional steps. The funnel is now also heavily dominated by marketing, where social media has turned the process on its head.

To develop an effective strategy, Strella says businesses must first understand their values: are they relationship or sales based? Understanding what your company’s or organization’s values are will help in creating goals. Ask yourself: what do you want as a result of your effort? Do you want to create awareness for your business or brand, educate consumers, or engage your audience? Your goals are critical in determining what social media platforms are best for your message.

But today’s consumers are overwhelmed by social media content, a state that Strella refers to as “content shock.” So how can businesses break through the noise and get their message heard?

Strella says the answer lies in rich content, such as podcasts, blogs and video. These are engaging media posts that share your message and establish you as an authority in your field. But truly good content has one key ingredient that makes it sharable: “It can’t suck,” Strella says. Good, sharable content should:

Be goal-focused
Add value
Be fun

The more that your content is liked and shared, the greater the opportunity you have to make memorable impressions and move consumers toward your goal. This allows for valuable content measurement.

So now that you’ve established your goals and created your rich content, how do you decide what platform is best for your message? As the number of social media platforms multiplies daily, Strella shared a breakdown of seven of the top channels with statistics on active users, valuable demographics, and helpful tips to guide businesses toward their ideal outlet. Each outlet offers analytics that can be used to measure ROI toward your established business goals.

Above all else, when using social media as part of your business strategy, Strella stresses that messaging must have a real person and voice behind it to lend authenticity. A well designed strategy deserves dedicated, knowledgeable resources to manage content development and social media engagement.

If you have a specific topic you'd like us to cover for a future professional development event, have a speaker in mind or know of a cool venue to check out, we'd love to hear your suggestions! Contact us at info@iabcharrisburg.com.