A message of thanks from Incoming Chapter President, Dana Higgins

Back to Blogs By Dana Higgins, PMP, Incoming IABC/BC President Posted: July 7, 2020

It is my honour to serve as the incoming President of the IABC British Columbia chapter. It is also my pleasure to extend a warm welcome to the 2020-21 Board of Directors. I look forward to working with you to find opportunities to activate and apply each of your unique talents and areas of expertise into shared achievements this year.

As a board, we have been preparing for this moment for months and can’t wait to get started! We take pride in championing the communications industry by creating opportunities to learn, connect, and advance the profession. Over the next two months, we will be meeting to create an agile strategic plan to guide us through the coming year with a goal of continuing to provide opportunities for our members to connect and learn, both virtually and in-person once it is safe to do so.

Before we launch into the year ahead, we would like to extend an important message of gratitude:

A special thank you to the outgoing and continuing board members and volunteers for their hard work and dedication over this past year. As we launch into this new year, we are building on our association’s past achievements and years of dedicated service by the hard-working volunteers and board members that have come before and continue to be involved in contributing to this chapter’s success. We are proud to be working with a wide range of dedicated and caring individuals and organizations. There are hundreds of people contributing at a local, regional, and international level to keep our association growing and innovating. These are trying times and COVID-19 has caused major disruptions in our industry and our lives, and, for you to continue to take the time to connect and give back to IABC, we thank you.
We must take a moment to recognize our 2019-20 President, Adam Brayford. As chapter President, Adam has handled some challenging issues and decisions arising from COVID-19, as well as shepherding the chapter through the process of overhauling our operational systems to build in more efficiencies behind the scenes. Projects like this rarely bask in the limelight, but are instrumental in supporting the programming that does. Adam handled these challenges on behalf of our members with patience, creativity, positivity, and professionalism. On behalf of our association, we thank Adam for his tireless dedication to IABC and to our local chapter. We are grateful for his leadership and continued contributions as he steps into the role of Past President.
We want to express appreciation for our dedicated sponsors, many of whom have been supporting our chapter for years. We are inspired by your commitment to support our association to grow even stronger in the year ahead. Thank you!
Finally, we want to recognize you, our members, for your continued commitment to supporting and being part of this vibrant community of professional communicators. We will continue to work to ensure that you get value from your membership investment by providing opportunities for training, education, and networking.

Over the last few years, our organization has changed and grown in many ways. It is an important time to be part of our international network, and I look forward to building partnerships that will have a lasting and positive impact on our profession. As President, I am especially enthusiastic about expanding opportunities to create connections across the province, as well as welcoming diverse voices to our board, volunteer base, and speakers at events.

These are unprecedented times and there will be some learning involved and challenges along the way, but I’m excited to deliver on our goals and ensure that we are providing engaging programming. We are committed to the success of this chapter and your success as a member and we want to strengthen our connection with you. We want to hear from you, so please do not hesitate to reach out to me or any board member with questions, comments, or concerns. Our goal is to help you solve problems, advance your career, learn, and connect with your fellow industry professionals. We appreciate your feedback to ensure that we continue to provide value and meet your needs as a member.