Outbranding: Building a Winning Personal Brand in 2021

A strong personal brand should be constantly evolving, especially given last year’s tidal waves. Join us to learn how to refresh yours!

About this Event

How you appear online has become more important than ever–especially in the last year as almost every interaction has been through a video call, social media engagement, or some form of digital communication.

These days, almost all of how you present yourself online relies on a strong, personal brand that translates just as well digitally as it does in person–and that’s precisely what Ebony R. Lincoln, MBA will shed valuable light on.

You’ll learn:

• How to properly identify your personal brand
• How to build your online presence – where can we build trust and add value?
• How to activate and integrate a working strategy that’ll stick

About the Speaker: Ebony R. Lincoln

As a 20-year industry veteran, Ebony has developed and nurtured major brands like Edward Jones, State Farm Insurance, Ameren, Astellas and Change Healthcare. Now, she uses her expertise to help individuals develop their own personal brand delivering dynamic discussions, and providing one-on-one, tailored branding and communication consult sessions.

She’s the winner of several branding, marketing and communications awards by Public Relations Student Society of America, and a multiple award winner in the branding, marketing and communications category by UM Association of Communicators. She’s been awarded Employee of the Quarter by StateFarm Insurance several times and is the recipient of the Star Award and Team Stats Leaders by Astellas Pharmaceutical Company.

GET 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.

Genma Stringer Holmes of GSH Media and Consulting has earned a prestigious Excellence Flame Award in the IABC Atlanta 2020 Golden Flame communications recognition program. The Cerese D June and August Digital Cover Issues and Stories won in the Publication Category. 

The IABC Atlanta Golden Flame awards program recognizes exceptional examples of advertising, marketing and communication programs as judged by an international panel of peer-professionals. This year, IABC Atlanta awarded thirty-two gold, four silver, sixteen bronze and three Best in Show awards for business communication excellence. 

“This year has been a difficult one for the communications industry as it has for all other industries,” said Eric Berrios, IABC Atlanta VP of Professional Recognition. “It’s been a privilege to watch how communicators have adjusted to the challenges thrown at them in 2020. The winning entries represent the best of Atlanta communications this year. I am proud of these communicators, their exceptional work and our profession.” 

Entries are scored on their own merit, not judged against one another. The awards criteria are based on IABC’s Global Seven-Point Scale of Excellence. Categories include internal communications, social media programs, websites, audio/visual, publications, writing, government relations, and marketing, advertising, and brand communications. A complete list of the IABC Atlanta 2020 Golden Flame award winners can be found at https://atlanta.iabc.com/2020-award-winners/. 

About IABC Atlanta

IABC Atlanta is the premiere professional communications association that provides professional development, networking, and best practices for a broad range of communication professionals at all career levels. With membership across internal and external communications, as well as executive, marketing and PR sectors, the association provides unique networking events and learning opportunities for communication professionals to advance their careers and build meaningful connections within the Atlanta community. More information about the organization is available at  www.atlanta.iabc.com. 

About Genma Stringer Holmes and GSH Media 

Genma Stringer Holmes is a recognized award-winning Serial Entrepreneur, Media Influencer, and Editor-in-Chief. She is IABC Nashville’s 2020 Inaugural Hall of Fame Recipient. She has won several awards from the International Association of Business Communicators including the IABC Southern Region’s Silver Quills, IABC Atlanta’s Golden Flames, and IABC Nashville’s Music City Gold Pens for projects as diverse as editorial work for print and digital publications, digital communication branding, and social media management and research. She is the owner of Holmes Pest Control, Executive Producer of Living Your Best Life Radio, and the Editor-in-Chief of GSH Media. Genma has a heart for non-profits and community engagement. She has served on IABC’s boards and committees locally, regionally, and internationally.

About Cerese D

Quickly becoming one of the most sought-after jewelry brands nationwide. Cerese D releases new and exciting designs of jewelry every month. With a passion for color, texture and balance, the founder, Cerese Dolman, strives to provide new fashion-forward designs without compromise.

The deeply admired luxury jewelry brand continues to allure the world with its stylish artistic array of jewelry. Cerese D Jewelry is the new luxury brand that is authentic and unconventional. A style that expresses new forms of elegance, presenting itself as modern and different. The strong identity of the Cerese D Jewelry brand has evolved over the years without ever forgetting its roots. 

An edited and abridged version of this article “IABC World Tour of IABC Chapters: Nashville” was published in the December 22, 2020 issue of The Bulletin, IABC’s weekly newsletter. 

Based in the heart of “Music City,” IABC Nashville is a small – but mighty – chapter that has been accomplishing impressive things, despite the global pandemic this year. Our chapter has showcased that we can accomplish anything, irrespective of our size or circumstances. Our members are diverse, representing an array of industries and backgrounds – from health care companies, public relations agencies, marketing firms, public and private corporations, government, universities, and nonprofit organizations.

Before we entered the “new normal” of Zoom meetings and virtual events, communications professionals could attend our in-person IABC Nashville events and experience true southern hospitality at its finest – something in which IABC Nashville takes great pride. Whether attending in-person or virtual, communicators can continue to make authentic and genuine connections at IABC Nashville events (and you never know, you may even meet a talented musician or songwriter there!)

Our chapter – like many others – had to shift to all virtual events in the early spring of this year, but that didn’t stop us from continuing to offer valuable networking and professional development events just like we normally would. In fact, we embraced the opportunity that virtual events provide to collaborate with others, and reach and support more people in the communications industry.

Here’s a brief recap of some of the remarkable work that IABC Nashville has accomplished this year:

Making the most of virtual reality:

• We made a seemingly seamless pivot from 100% in-person to 100% virtual meetings and events, overcoming the challenges that accompany a change of this magnitude – like setting up a Zoom account and learning how to use it! Following two successful in-person events in January and February, our chapter hosted twelve successful online-only events this year.
• Our July professional development workshop, “Write to Win: Mastering the Art of Award Submission Writing,” featured regional IABC awards program leaders as guest presenters, with over 130 attendees from all over the world who learned about award entry best practices. A special thanks to the IABC Southern Region, IABC Atlanta, Kansas City IABC, and IABC South Carolina for their collaboration and support in making this event happen.
• In November, we broadcasted our 2020 Music City Gold Pen Awards on Facebook Live. A total of 36 awards were presented during the broadcast which was hosted by emcee Danielle Breezy, Chief Meteorologist from WKRN-TV Nashville News 2, and featured special guest singer-songwriter and American Idol semi-finalist Sarah Lake (because #MusicCity). In addition to the communications award entries, we also recognized individuals contributing to our chapter and the communications profession with our 2020 IABC Nashville Leadership Awards. This was our chapter’s first ever virtual awards program, and it was a huge success!

Using social media as a powerful tool:

• IABC Nashville saw impressive social media growth this year, which allowed us to maintain an online connection with our members during this time of social distancing. Overall, we saw a 14% increase in Facebook followers, a 21% increase in LinkedIn followers, and a 10% increase in Twitter followers. Additionally, we reached almost 4,000 people on a single post: our virtual 2020 Music City Gold Pen Awards ceremony! We also saw increased engagement on Twitter when we started live tweeting during our professional development events. If you aren’t already, follow IABC Nashville on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter. 

Retaining a commitment to diversity and inclusion:

• After the unjust murders and social injustices that have been taking place in our world, IABC Nashville reaffirmed our commitment to supporting and encouraging diversity, equity, and inclusion in the regional and global communication community. Our chapter promptly developed a statement that was used by the global IABC community as well. Read the chapter’s full statement.
• Our chapter hosted discussions with experts on critical topics such as gender identity/parity and diversity and inclusion strategy. In August, we facilitated a panel discussion titled “Talk the Talk AND Walk the Walk” where local experts shared their insights on strategic ways to create a corporate culture of diversity and inclusion – whether you’re a small business or large company. 

Seeing steady and increasing growth:

• Despite the difficult economic situation of 2020, IABC Nashville was still able to see growth this year by recruiting new members. In fact, we were proud to be awarded with the Small Chapter Growth and Small Chapter Retention awards as part of the international October Member Month campaign.

IABC Nashville is rightly proud of what we have achieved this year and are looking forward to the future ahead. We look to continue to grow our chapter membership in 2021, and we are excited to continue engaging members, partnering with our IABC colleagues, and trying new things.

As a famous Nashvillian herself, Dolly Parton once said, “You’ll never do a whole lot unless you’re brave enough to try!”

On behalf of the IABC Nashville executive board of directors, we wish you a safe and happy new year. See you in 2021! 

Here are my Top 8 Things I’m grateful for in 2020:

1) Outdoor Walks: Going on long nature walks has been a saving grace for me during these times of the pandemic. Stepping away from my computer and iPhone to get some fresh air has given me clarity and gratitude for living in the present moment. 

2) Family Bonding: I am very blessed to be a Nashville native and have my parents, brother, and sister-in-law, plus my nieces nearby to lean on during this time. I’ve enjoyed more quality time with them than I have in the past few years, plus I have found an even deeper sense of gratitude for them.

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