Hope you’re all doing well and keeping safe as we enter the final stages of the ‘unlock.’
Welcome to the August edition of the IABC India Newsletter for Chapter members and communication professionals in India.
This month, as you’ll see in our articles and webinars, the focus is on certification, professional development, and personal branding. This time we also have two downloads for you—an eBook, and a research report, besides the usual selection of articles. Check out the top 10 articles and blog posts written by the IABC India community, viz., Sukanya, Krishna, Deep, and Aniisu; meet our member of the month, Sushmita; register for our September webinars, and take full advantage of your other membership benefits.
To stay connected and engaged, we urge you to join our WhatsApp Group by messaging me at +91 7799 000 792. If you would like to share your thoughts or articles here, please let us know on the WhatsApp group.
Sincerely,
Subho
Subhamoy Das
President, IABC India
With Faezal Yunus
Executive Editor
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
IABC Professional Development Program Receives ANSI International Accreditation
Our professional development initiative, the Global Communication Certification Council, has received international accreditation for the Communication Management Professional® (CMP) certification program. The accreditation from the American National Standards Institute (ANSI)—a century-old organization whose members include government agencies, companies, academic and international organizations—employs a rigorous, often years-long process, including written and on-site evaluations of compliance. IABC is now the only communications organization to receive accreditation under the specific ANSI/ISO17024 standard for practitioners. Read more.
Aniisu Launches Personal Branding Course on Thinkific
IABC India’s Aniisu Verghese has created a course on personal branding, now available on his Intraskope platform on Thinkific. It is based on the 3C Model of personal branding that he developed and is applicable for professionals, entrepreneurs, students, or anyone wanting to differentiate and get ahead with their authentic selves. Take the course, and feel free to pass it on to your friends and network, too. Free preview.
Dr. Rajeev Kumar and IABC Fellows Discuss Diversity & Inclusion
Following the killing of George Floyd, companies that had merely checked the D&I box are revisiting their commitments and introducing more meaningful policies and practices, in addition to taking direct action. IABC focused on the topic of D&I in the August episode of Circle of Fellows. Five IABC Fellows—Priya Bates, Neil Griffiths, Todd Hattori, Rajeev Kumar, and Brenda Siler—joined moderator Shel Holtz for an updated conversation about the communicator’s role in evaluating and promoting D&I, including best practices in language and visual representation. Watch the video.
Your Articles and Points of View
Here are the top 10 articles and LinkedIn Pulse Blogs written by the IABC India Community during the lockdown. Do read and leave your comments:
Thanks to all the IABC India members, and fellow communication professionals from 14 other countries across 21 industries, who participated in the Isentia-IABC APAC ‘Comms Agenda 2021’ survey. Your inputs helped us conduct an in-depth and balanced research on the post-pandemic future of the communication profession.
Find out the communication trends and insights across 14 APAC countries
Discover what will be front-and-center on communicators’ agendas in the next 12 months
Strategy & Evaluation: Insights into strategy, priorities, metrics, the impact of technology, and media mix
Resources include insights into budget trends, teams, outsourcing, collaboration with agencies, and operational synergies
Member of the Month: Sushmita Bandopadhyay
Meet Sushmita, the IABC India featured member of the month. She is the Communications Leader of Becton Dickinson - India, spearheading BD's communication mandate in advancing the company purpose in South Asia. With more than 20 years of work experience in strategy, crisis management, change communication, and launch campaigns for brands across aviation, FMCG, luxury, retail, hospitality, consulting, celebrities, fashion, alco-bev sectors, Sushmita has been "successful in being a trusted partner to senior leaders, and created opportunities to be able to navigate complex situations and matrices," in her own words. "I enjoy building teams that get things done and does it right," she says. Follow her on LinkedIn.
eBook: ‘Women in PR’ with Essays by IABC’s Sia & Zora
Launched as a podcast featuring interviews with practitioners and academics on topics ranging from missing voices in PR history to the wellbeing of PR professionals and access to the C-suite, Women in PR provides research updates and practitioners’ reflections from 16 chapters, 4 continents, and more than 10 countries. Besides contributions from IABC APAC’s Sia Papageorgiou and Zora Artis, the eBook includes a series of solutions and guidelines to the problems communicators face—revisiting how and what we teach about PR; considering how we recruit and how we envisage career journeys and progression; and bringing ethics, diversity to the center of the conversation by challenging the status quo, if needed. Download the eBook.
IABC offers free member-only webinars on the latest trends and best practices in communication. Join the live sessions or watch the session recordings at your convenience. Bookmark the Webinar’s page to stay up-to-date on the latest webinar offerings.
Beyond the Agenda: The Unwritten Rules of Communication in 2021
In this upcoming Webinar, delve into the how, discussing the ‘unwritten rules’ of successful communication in 2021. Join a great line-up of presenters and panelists to discover:
How to design communication strategies that are responsive and stand the test of time
How to encourage employee engagement during crisis and uncertainty
What could best-practice communications look like in 2021
Cultivate Your Personal Brand As business and communication professionals, you take pride in making others look and sound great. Now it’s time to focus on YOU. This webinar is intended to help you activate your best and position yourself to achieve your desired outcomes. This webinar will be divided into three key parts:
Part I: Get your message across in a compelling and concise manner—no matter what the situation.
Part II: Apply your distinctive messaging in various scenarios and applications.
Part III: Upgrade your resume and professional profile to pass the AI test and stand out.
IABC India’s Aniisu Verghese has created a course on personal branding, now available on his Intraskope platform on Thinkific. It is based on the 3C Model of personal branding that he developed and is applicable for professionals, entrepreneurs, students, or anyone wanting to differentiate and get ahead with their authentic selves. Take the course, and feel free to pass it on to your friends and network, too. 
As business and communication professionals, you take pride in making others look and sound great. Now it’s time to focus on YOU. This webinar is intended to help you activate your best and position yourself to achieve your desired outcomes. This webinar will be divided into three key parts:
