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Live Meeting Dates 26 October 2026 at 11:00 am - 12:30 pm CT 2 November 2026 at 11:00 am - 12:30 pm CT Course Description The presentation and discussion will explore the impact of polarization on corporate communication. Over the past year, many of the world’s largest companies have remained silent on issues important to their stakeholders—raising important questions for communication professionals. Speaker Bio Fred Cook is the director of the USC Center for Public Relations, a professor of professional practice at the University of Southern California (USC), and chairman emeritus of the global PR firm Golin. During his 35-plus years at Golin, he has had the privilege to work with a variety of high-profile CEOs, including Herb Kelleher, Jeff Bezos and Steve Jobs, and to manage clients including Nintendo, Toyota and Disney. His book, "Improvise: Unconventional Career Advice from an Unlikely CEO," shares the wisdom he gained as a cabin boy on a Norwegian tanker, doorman at a 5-star hotel, and chauffeur for drunks. The book serves as the foundation for his popular USC honors class on Improvisational Leadership. As director of the USC Center for Public Relations, Fred leads its mission to connect corporations, agencies, academics and students to define the future of the PR industry and to develop those who will shape it. He has connected a board of more than 70 corporate communications and agency leaders — including representatives from eight of the top 20 U.S. PR firms and 25 Fortune 500 or comparable-size private companies — who mentor students, shape curriculum and help prepare the next generation of communications leaders. Read more

  Healthcare systems everywhere have never faced more change. Data shows that staff enthusiasm for change and their willingness to engage with it are falling. The gap between the speed with which leaders want to execute their change programmes and the appetite among staff for that change continues to grow. It means that the question of how communication professionals help navigate their organisations through change has never been more urgent. This thought-provoking conversation aims to challenge some of our most deeply held assumptions about how change actually works. This isn't about managing change from the top down; it's about navigating a human system through uncertainty. Helen’s work goes beyond structures, programmes and operating models, and focuses on the human conditions for change: purpose, relationships, networks, agency and energy. She brings a deep understanding of how change is experienced by people on the ground, and what helps organisations sustain momentum in demanding environments. About Dr Helen Bevan: Dr Helen Bevan is one of the most influential voices on large-scale change in healthcare. She has spent more than three decades working inside the National Health Service in England, supporting leaders, teams and systems to navigate complex, large-scale change. She is currently a Strategic Advisor with NHS Horizons, a Professor of Practice at Warwick Business School, and a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in the USA. She advises health and care leaders across the globe on their change strategies and connects with thousands of frontline healthcare change agents through her social media activities related to the practice of change. Read more

PR and communications professionals spend countless hours pitching executives, clients, and subject matter experts to appear on other people's podcasts. But what if you created the opportunity to host those conversations yourself? In this actionable session, Greg Wasserman will show how an intentional, interview-based podcast can help build relationships with prospective clients, existing customers, analysts, partners, executives, and industry leaders while creating valuable content for channels across the organization. Learn how to think beyond downloads and use podcasting to create access, build trust and authority, strengthen relationships, and turn one conversation into content and opportunities that continue long after the episode is published. Read more

Live Meeting Dates and Times Sep 23, 2026 09:00 - 10:45 AM CT Sep 30, 2026 09:00 - 10:45 AM CT Every communication plan should answer four questions: What business need are we addressing? Where can communication make the greatest contribution? What needs to change in what people know, think, feel or do? How will we know it worked? Plan for Impact is a practical 3.5-hour masterclass built around the Centre for Strategic Communication Excellence’s proven eight-step strategic communication planning process. You will learn how to translate a business need into a clear communication opportunity and intended outcomes, develop meaningful SMART objectives, define your measurement approach, analyse audiences, develop messages and tactics and plan how results will be evaluated. You will also explore how return on investment can be calculated and how measurement findings can provide valuable business insight. The process can be applied to any communication strategy, initiative or campaign and provides a strong foundation for developing an IABC Gold Quill entry. Your facilitator, Sia Papageorgiou, is an IABC Fellow who has used this process to develop work recognised with 16 IABC Gold Quill Awards of Excellence, including two Best of the Best honours. You will leave with an end-to-end planning process you can apply immediately to your own work. Who should attend This masterclass is designed for communication professionals who contribute to, plan, lead or advise on communication strategies, initiatives and campaigns. It will be particularly valuable for professionals who want to strengthen their strategic planning discipline, develop better objectives, conduct more useful audience analysis and demonstrate the results of their work with greater credibility. Masterclass outline The masterclass introduces the CSCE eight-step strategic communication planning process through four connected areas: 1. Connect communication to the business need Clarify the underlying organisational need, issue or opportunity. Identify where communication can make the greatest contribution. Define the intended changes in what people know, think, feel or do. 2. Define success and how it will be measured Develop meaningful, outcome-focused SMART objectives. Establish relevant measures, baselines, targets and methods. Distinguish between outputs, outcomes and organisational impact. 3. Use audience insight to shape communication Identify, prioritise and segment relevant audiences. Examine audience needs, motivations, barriers and preferences. Use audience insights to guide messages, tactics and channel choices. 4. Evaluate value and generate business insight Plan how results will be assessed against the agreed objectives. Explore how return on investment can be calculated. Turn measurement findings into insight that supports better business and communication decisions. Read more

How do you get people to pay attention to change communication when they are already busy, distracted, and dealing with constant transformation? For Zach Koitka, one unexpected answer came in the form of Satchy – a seven-foot Sasquatch with a surprisingly sharp take on organisational change. Through Change Happons, Zach and Satchy have cut through with change professionals by using humour, storytelling, and familiar workplace moments to reflect the real experience of change back to the people living it. The videos are clever, funny, and insightful, but their impact goes beyond entertainment. In this IABC Change Management SIG session, Zach will share why the series connects, what it reveals about attention and relatability, and how character-led storytelling can help organisations make change communication more human, memorable, and engaging. Zach will also explore how this approach can work inside organisations, helping teams bring fresh energy to change messages that might otherwise get lost in the noise. This session is ideal for change managers, change communicators, internal communication professionals, and anyone looking for more creative ways to help people make sense of change.   Speaker: Zach Koitka Zach Koitka is the creator of Change Happons, the character-led series featuring Satchy, a monotone Sasquatch navigating the awkward, messy, and very real side of organisational change. Together, Zach and Satchy use humour and storytelling to make change management more visible, relatable, and people-centred – for both the change profession and organisations navigating transformation. Read more

In this course, you will learn what IABC specifically looks for in evaluating award entries allowing for consistent application and interpretation of criteria across our large number of evaluators.  As an evaluator, you are not setting the standards or criteria for the awards. You are scoring entries based on the criteria in the Evaluating Excellence Guide and providing feedback to entrants using your expertise. While this course is designed for the evaluation of IABC Gold Quill awards, it can be used to train evaluators for all types of IABC awards. Read more