Come and join the IABC Victoria Board
As a communications professional most of us spend a lot of time advising others. However it's also a lot of fun calling the shots! Being on the IABC Vic Board gives you a chance to use your professional skills to make a difference to our community of professional communicators.
Working collectively you'll be part of a team with colleagues from different fields, job types, levels and experiences. Our diversity is our strength and our current board has a strong diversity- be it across gender, language, ethnic and religious background and sexuality. We value diversity in all its forms and welcome people with a disability, first nations, younger and older members of our profession to consider becoming a Board member.
What if I've never been on a Board before?
There is no experience in governance required and many people have not been on a Board before they join the IABC Victoria Board. The selection process (that assesses nominations, and results in an election if required) ensures that more experienced practitioners with governance experience are also nominated for the Board. There is a commitment to teaching skills in governance and sessions will be run on meeting procedure, financial management and strategy to ensure that the process of being on the Board is rewarding for everyone. So whether you've already run your child's kinder or school board, participate in governance as part of your job, or have never been on a Board, you likely already have the skills we're looking for.
What are the Board positions?
IABC Vic terms (for roles other than President, Vice President and Immediate Past President which are 1 year) are for either 1 or 2 years. There will be some people continuing into 2023 but a number of positions available to cover vacancies. There are Board positions that cover a wide range of functional areas:
Events- planning and executing on our calendar of events
Brand- responsible for our channels as well as the words and images that appear on them
Recognition- promoting excellence in communication by promoting certification and the Quills- also supports the team on professional development for members
Membership- ensuring we keep growing our members through both encouraging renewals and developing strategies to grow our chapter
Partnerships- working with our partner organisations and service providers, and entering new partnerships to allow us to continue to add value to our membership
We have positions we can add, to cover Education and other streams of work.
In addition we have a Secretary who keeps us accountable from a governance and process perspective, a Treasurer who manages our finances. Finally in leadership roles the President usually starts as a Vice President and then becomes the Immediate Past President (essentially a 3 year commitment).
What's the time commitment?
Everyone who's a member of the IABC Victoria Board is a volunteer and has work, and often family, responsibilities. So there is no expectation that your Board role will take up excessive time. Indeed the work that's done at the start of the term to plan out the year is designed to ensure that the Chapter takes on a level of work that is commensurate with the value we want to provide to members and the time we have to devote to the organisation. While there are peaks of higher intensity work, and times when there will be less required of you, it is not expected that you'd be spending more than a couple of hours a week on IABC Vic work.
More specifically- the Board meets monthly (for no longer than 2 hours, usually from 6pm to 8pm on a Wednesday evening but this could change) and there are occasionally working groups for particular projects. Once a year (usually in the month or two after election) there's a strategy day where the Board meets in person to develop its agenda for the year. Certain positions are more intensive which is why there are generally 2 people each allocated to events and to brand. There's a strong culture of sharing and a recognition that life happens. If you have a peak of work or outside commitments there's always the ability to seek help from one of the Board who has a bit more time.
Many Board members have found that their employers support their participation on the Board for the skills it offers them. You may find that you're able to do some of your IABC work in business hours reducing your personal commitment of time.
This sounds amazing- how can I find out more?
If you've read this far I hope you're keen to nominate! Read our nomination info and complete the nomination form. If you have a desire to help strengthen and grow IABC Victoria, then get in touch and discuss your area/s of interest.
For more information please contact David Imber at vicepresident@iabcvic.com.au or call him on 0413 274 204
