2021 has been quite the year. And the past two years have been challenging, to say the least. Through the highs and lows, the members of our IABC Nashville family have risen to the occasion with thoughtfulness, professionalism, and support for one another.

I am immensely grateful for IABC and the professional and personal opportunities this organization offers. Serving as Nashville’s chapter president has helped me grow in many ways – as a leader, communicator, and as a person – and I am thankful for our members, friends and board members who have supported this growth.

I am incredibly proud of what we have accomplished together this year. We facilitated five top-notch professional development sessions, celebrated our communications peers through our awards program, hosted valuable in-person networking events, and received IABC Chapter Management Awards for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and Chapter Events. None of this would be possible without our dedicated and passionate board of directors, and I’d like to extend a huge thank you to our board members for all their contributions this year.

It has been an honor to serve alongside this wonderful group of people, and I’m excited to see the momentum continue in 2022.

As we look to transition into the new year, we also transition our IABC Nashville board (see our announcement of new officers below). Please join me in congratulating and welcoming our 2022 IABC Nashville board of directors. I am absolutely thrilled to pass the presidential torch to Kristin Appelman in 2022! Kristin, Marketing Manager at Concept Technology and longtime IABC Nashville board member, is a natural collaborator, leader, and overall rock star, and I can’t wait to see what we will accomplish under her leadership.

Thank you, all, for being an important part of the IABC Nashville family. Enjoy the holiday and new year with friends and family, and I look forward to connecting again in the new year.

To read more of Kerry’s letter and the rest of the 2022 news, check out our most recent newsletter. 

Kerry Burke
2021 President, IABC Nashville

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and we want to help you learn to be cyber-smart.

Cybersecurity threats can happen to anyone at any time. Are you prepared? Learn how to prepare for potential threats and respond like a pro! Join us on Thursday, October 28, at Noon (CT) on Zoom to learn how to protect your technology from vulnerabilities and how to protect or repair your reputation if you fall victim to a cybersecurity breach.

You’ll learn:

• Steps to keep your organization and your personal technology safe
• The right virtual meetings settings to ensure your virtual event is protected
• Cybersecurity tips for communication professionals
• How to think like a PR pro to respond and recover from a cybersecurity breach

Our discussion will feature:

• James Fields – Founder and CEO, Concept Technology Inc.
• Amanda Maynord – Senior Advisor, Lovell Communications

This will be an interactive discussion with plenty of time for Q&A. To submit a question in advance, please send us an email.

Get your tickets now!

$5 for IABC Members and $15 for non-members. Events are free for current students.

In an effort to continue to provide quality, engaging virtual professional development programming each month, our member rate for monthly events is increasing to $5. This will grant you exclusive access to the recorded presentation after the event. We recognize the last year has been trying for many of our members and friends, and this increase may be unattainable for some. If you feel this cost will prevent you from participating in our professional development events, please contact us. We appreciate your commitment to our chapter during the last year as we transitioned to a virtual environment and we look forward to returning to in-person events as soon as we are able.

A message from IABC Nashville President Kerry Burke:

As you may be aware, we sadly had to postpone our virtual Music City Gold Pen Awards ceremony last week due to cyber security issues. This was an extremely unfortunate occurrence, and does not reflect our organization, nor does it take away from the accomplishments of the award winners. I’m proud of our board’s quick response in getting out timely communication and outreach, and we are eager to move forward and celebrate Music City’s top communicators.

To properly honor the outstanding accomplishments of our award winners, we are shifting our virtual celebration from a live Zoom event to a social media campaign Monday, September 20. Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, as we share individual posts recognizing our community’s award-winning communicators and their entries. Please join us in celebrating our winners by liking, commenting, and sharing with your networks. These winners deserve all the praise in the world, so help let’s spread the word and cheer them on!

As members of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), an organization with an emphasis on learning, we would like to turn our misfortune into a learning and teaching opportunity. We will focus our next professional development event on video conferencing, cybersecurity, and ways to keep your presentations and organizations safe. We will also hear from experts in these fields. Please keep an eye out for details coming soon.

I’ll end by touching on one of the many lessons I am taking away from this experience – that when unexpected challenges arise, people can show up in the kindest ways. Our chapter leadership has received many messages and phone calls over the past few days – not criticizing or blaming, but offering support, compassion, and encouragement. This is a testament to our IABC organization and the support we have for one another in good times and in bad.

Thank you to our communications community for your understanding, kindness, and support. We look forward to “seeing” you soon.

Special thanks to our partner IABC chapters for judging our awards entries:

• IABC Atlanta
• IABC Central Oklahoma
• IABC Dallas
• IABC Houston
• IABC South Carolina
• IABC Southern Region

Our 2021 Music City Gold Pen Awards are sponsored by:

Secrets to Writing Award Submissions That Get You Recognized 

It’s officially awards season and if you’re among those talented, savvy communicators who’s put in the time and yielded award-winning results, you should be recognized for it…and it starts with your award submission. 

Believe it or not, sometimes the difference between a winner and just another award entry isn’t the quality of the project, but the quality of the entry itself. 

That can lead to all sorts of doubts. We get it, and we’re here to help you out. We hosted a rockstar panel of judges, past winners, participants and experts who shared the benefits of entering (and winning!) a Music City Gold Pen Award, key “dos and don’ts” to create a winning entry and how to tell a compelling story without ditching the analytics. They also offered an inside look at awards entries from a judge’s perspective.

Missed the session? Download our 8 Most Important Takeaways or click below to watch the recording on-demand. Don’t forget to submit your MCPGA application by June 24!

For more information, visit our Awards page >>

Thank you to our panelists:

• Eric Berrios – VP of Recognition, IABC Atlanta
• Genma Holmes – VP at Large, IABC Nashville
• Javier Solano – Vice President, MP&F Strategic Communications
• Moderator: Katie Adkisson, APR, VP of Awards, IABC Nashville