IABC Phils delegation attends world meet in San Diego

MANILA, Philippines - The International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) world conference was recently held at the Hyatt Grand Manchester in San Diego, California.  

The Philippine delegation was led by communication consultant/Regional Director for North Asia Ritzi Villarico-Ronquillo, who also served as co-chair of the conference’s global track and member of the program advisory committee that planned the content of the world conferences. The other participants are ABS-CBN corporate communications head and past IABC Asia-Pacific director and IABC Philippines president Bong Osorio; Merk Media, Inc./Laurel Media Co. president and BPI consultant Roni Tapia-Merk, also a past IABC Philippines president; Rosanna Llegado, president of AHEAD Tutorial and Review; Sebastian Lacson, chief reputation officer of Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc., who was a speaker on managing reputation; Richard Arboleda, communications director of Wyeth/Pfizer, Philippines; PR specialist Leah Caringal; HSBC’s Laine Santana; Virginia-based Debie Diokno; senior communications specialist Fannie Mae; Business Mirror columnist and editorial consultant Butch del Castillo; Get Cre8ive marketing consultant Maya del Rosario, and San Diego resident Beth Pastrano.

Deborah Tabart, CEO of the Australian Koala Foundation (AKF) and recipient of the OAM (Order of Australian Medal), received the 2011 Excellence in Communication Leadership (EXCEL) award. The EXCEL award is IABC’s highest award given to a non-member, and recognizes individuals who exhibit strong leadership in fostering excellence in organizational communication.

Tabart, known affectionately worldwide as “The Koala Woman” has taken the AKF from a one-person operation to an internationally recognized organization.  She has dedicated the past two decades of her life to conserving the koala and its habitat. A gifted communicator who works tirelessly to influence decision makers and the community to protect the environment, Tabart has brought together scientists from around the world and helped the AKF to fund one of the largest bodies of research on a single species in the world.

The conference also presented the importance of cultivating the culture of open communication. Without the conviction that an open communication culture is beneficial and necessary to business success, the effort will likely fail. If social media represent the first big communication idea of this century, the larger goal of creating and leading open communication cultures is certainly the next big idea.