I'm speaking with Brandy Shymanski, who is the incoming director of student services forIABC. Hi how are you?
I'm good thanks. I haven't seen you for a while. It's been a long time! Yeah, you've been pretty busy I hear? I have been very busy working full time, going to school full time, and volunteering.
Alright. Well, why don't you tell us a little bit about IABC. Sure. IABC is actually an international organization that spans about 43 countries throughout the world. The acronym stands for the "International Association of Business Communicators" and locally, in BC, we have one chapter called the "BC Chapter". We used to also have a chapter in Victoria, but they've now amalgamated into the BC chapter. We currently have about 300 members, about 50 or 70 of which are student members. So the mandate of IABC International is to provide business communicators with a professional outlet that they can use as a resource to do their jobs better, to network together, to use best practices throughout their working professional lives and really share experiences and share knowledge together.
So, for example, how would you set up these networking sessions?
Actually, IABC International has what they're calling "Webinars" which is similar to a seminar, but it is conducted over the web, so people in the different chapters or different memberships can log on to the Internet, provide a password, and then effectively participate in an ongoing dialogue through the Internet. That's one of the most common ways - mostly utilizing the Internet or utilizing e-mail or telephone, fax, that kind of thing, so they can communicate back and forth. As well as, there is a member on each of the local chapters who sits on a District Board, who in turn has a member who sits on the International Board. So the information funnels "top-down" as well as "bottom-up", so that they can share experiences that way. I see. And in terms of experience, I'm sure everybody knows now that volunteering is an excellent way to kind of bridge the gap that you might have between school and work and making that transition, and the lack of experience a lot of people have going through that transition? Definitely.
So what kind of volunteer opportunities can you offer people?
Well, I'm actually the incoming Director of Student Services, but I also was a member of the Student Services Committee last year, so I have a lot of experience from the committee level, in terms of the different events that we have provided. IABC, BC Chapter, has a Professional Events Committee, as well as a Volunteering Committee that really strives to - well for the Volunteering Committee - bring and fulfill the volunteer needs of the organization. Because it's non-profit, because we operate on a very low budget, volunteers are really where we get the job done. So we currently have? about 25% of our membership is actually volunteer, which is quite high for a non-profit organization. But, in turn, when we survey those volunteers, we find that that's where they find the most value, in belonging to an organization such as this, because when they get involved, they get to meet other people, they get to network so they get a lot of stuff back, rather than just paying their money and going to a networking event here or there. So when you take that "down-level" look at the Student Membership or the Transitional Membership, which is anybody between a Student Membership and a Regular Membership, so they've just started out in the working world, they're at an entry level, and they get a discount off the regular membership price, those people are really looking for mentorship possibilities, they're looking for job opportunities, they're looking to meet people who may be hiring one day, and this really is a prime place for them to do all those things at one time. Additionally, if they do get involved as a volunteer, they can, of course, multiply the reward that they actually get from membership. So as part of the Student Services Committee, we really cater to those? that part of the membership. We provide them with events. There's about four or five events every year that we put on so that students can come out, at a very low-cost. For membership, it's free and for non-members, it's seven dollars. We also provide networking opportunities, as well as if you're a volunteer with my committee specifically, you have the opportunity to come to board meetings, you have the opportunity to volunteer at events that aren't open to the general volunteer network. So it's an increased opportunity for you to get even more involved and to meet even more people. Well, in such a tough job market, it is definitely a great way to kind of get some experience under your belt, and especially get to do jobs in which. that? which relate to what you studied to do. For example, you know, for an organization that deals with business communicators, you have communication jobs, and I would imagine, event planning jobs?
Yep. Absolutely, those are two really big portions of the job market for Communications, obviously Corporate Communications which is more your business communications side, there's Event Planning, Public Relations. We cover various segments of that, such as more technically related jobs that are looking more at the Internet and how to communicate over the Internet, and really the trend that's growing from there. So we're trying to incorporate a lot of technology, a lot of technology focus into the BC Chapter, and we're actually leading the way over the international scope. There are three or four different chapters that are really at the head of the pack, and we happen to be one of them. Which is really exciting for us, and it gives us a huge advantage, in that we have the basics covered so the groundwork has been laid from previous years and we can just grow from there. So we can take a little bit more of a chance, we have a good portion of money in our reserves, so we can take some chances, we can play with the technology and we can really make it work as a local organization.
And the fact that it's local-based, for your chapter, I would imagine for students coming from overseas, it's a good way to, kind of, make connections in BC? Absolutely.
and to kind of get involved in their community, and that's what employers are looking for. Exactly, and it's not enough anymore to have your education and nothing else. When you finish your degree, and? or your diploma, and you are looking for a position, employers want you to have some kind of experience. Volunteering is a great way to have that experience, and getting involved with an organization like this as a communicator. And really, I mean, business communications is -just to step back for a second - encompasses so many different things, just, you know, the simple, more obvious things, such as writing, and creating content for an Internet, but also, everybody communicates in their jobs, so getting involved in an organization like this is good for anybody who has to do any kind of communications in their job, which, frankly, breaks down to just about everyone. So there is a benefit, we see, obviously, a benefit for just about anyone to get involved in this kind of an organization and on top of that to volunteer. So you do get out there, you do meet the potential employers and then you also have the international connection. So we have an Asia-Pacific Branch, that if somebody decides they want to go back, get in touch with the local chapter there, I mean, you have a set of networks already set up. So when you arrive, you can have names to call, numbers of people, you have networking events that are already been planned for you that all you have to do is show up. So really, it's a safety net for somebody who is looking for a position in any number of localities or fields, really. And for people who are just looking to get into the job market, it's a great way to get experience, it's a great resource for people who have questions and want to ask people who are in the industry, and like you said, it is international, so it's especially useful for people who are international students and perhaps might be open to travelling to other places after they graduate. For sure.
Thank you so much for your time!
No problem.
