Gear Up for Get Smart, Holiday Party and Early Applications

Board News * Get Smart * Fall To-Dos * Spring Survey

1. Board News: Welcome New Board Members

WCA’s 2017-18 Board of Directors and I are pleased to announce several new appointments to the board: Sophia Lopez as president-elect and Leah Nyfeler as VP of Professional Development. Please join us in welcoming Sophia and Leah (and a new VP of Philanthropy soon)!

Both women fill vacated positions. Our thanks to Jennifer Perkins and Kim Lile, two busy women who gave several years of their time and effort to the board.

2. Get Smart: Visually Speaking: Friday, October 27, 12:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Have you ever left a conference wishing you had been able to see all the sessions, not just a portion of them? At this year’s ninth Get Smart conference, we are making that dream come true. Everyone attends every session as our focus zooms in on visual communication, one of the hottest topics trending in our industry.

Keynote: Get Smart: Visually Speaking has an exquisite lineup of speakers this year. Our keynote is Yvonne Tocquigny, nationally recognized branding expert, is thrilled to talk about “Our Communication Evolution: Who Needs Words?” Check out her WCA interview!

Session One: In “Create the Most Effective Video for Your Marketing Campaign,” SparkSight CEO Kelly Shores clarifies video methods, strategies and measuring success so you get the most out of your video communication.

Session Two: The goal of user experience design, or UX, is to improve the usability, accessibility, and pleasure provided in the interaction with the product. Brenda Miele, UX/Creative Director of Charity Dynamics shows how you keep viewers coming back for more in “What Is UX? Why Is It So Important in Design?”

Session Three: Our new VP of Professional Development, Leah Nyfeler moderates a panel of entrepreneurs and visual experts – Stephanie Carls (My Savvy Life digital correspondent), Jane Ko (A Taste of KoKo food writer) and Sonja Sommerfeld (Texas Parks & Wildlife Magazine photo editor) – focus on visual impact in “When Your Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words.”

Registration opens at 12:30 p.m.: Freelance Austin, Mentors, and Membership all have pre-event tables for your interaction. Plus, starting at 12:50 p.m., Kim Barnes brings a 10-minute, crowd-pleasing demo of Facebook Live, complete with tips for businesses interested in advancing to the next level of live-stream communication.

We’ve worked hard to listen to you in our spring survey (see below) to make these advanced tactical discussions worth your while.

3. Fall To-Dos: Programs and Applications

WCA@Night, 11/15: Have you noticed WCA’s programming lately? Megan Grajeda is busy bringing you one great program after another. Watch for exciting news about our next WCA@Night.

November Nominations: Time to begin thinking about who YOU will nominate.

Applications for Banner Awards and 2018-19 Board of Directors open after Get Smart.

Know a deserving nonprofit in need of communications help? Nominate them by October 10. CommSquad is a spring event that connects WCA volunteers with a local nonprofit to tackle that organization’s most pressing communications need.

4. Holiday Party: Wrap up your 2017 year with friends and colleagues at WCA’s beloved Holiday Party! This year’s festivities will be held at Mercury Hall on Wednesday, December 6, 6-8 p.m.

Happy October!

Karen
WCA President, 2017-18
president@wcaustin.org

Inside WCA’s Spring 2017 Survey

WCA conducted a survey in Spring 2017 to learn more about who our members and supporters are and what they are looking for.  Special thanks to Maria Cammack, Alix Morrow and Maria Rios for their hard work on this.

WCA Attracts Seasoned Professionals

• 72 percent of survey takers have worked in the communications industry for more than 10 years.
• 97 percent of member respondents said they joined for networking.

Key Member Benefits

“I appreciate the career insight, the networking, and the mentor program.
It’s all been a huge help so far!” –survey respondent

• WCA’s job bank and mentor program were rated as WCA’s top member benefits.
• The WCA member directory was also rated highly while our listserv, The Forum, was not as well known among respondents who have worked in the industry for 10 years or less.

Preferences for Future Programming

• Respondents with 10 years or less of industry experience would like programming focused on leadership/personal growth and development.
• Professionals with 11+ years of industry experience are looking for hard skills and “how-to tactics.”
• When it comes to program formats, respondents would like to see panel discussions, small group roundtables or “idea swap” events as well as trainings/extended workshops and events co-hosted with other organizations.