President's Message
by Shayna Stillman

WHAT DOES IASB STAND FOR?

Dear IASB Members,

This week I will be presenting the IASB Information Program to the Association of Collegiate Conference and Events Directors – International. In preparation, I’m reviewing the IASB Power Point slides and tailoring them to the audience. One slide asks the question “Why should you select an IASB Member as your Bureau Partner?” The answer: “IASB Members must sign and adhere to the IASB Code of Ethics.”

I hope no one in the audience has read the recent FORTUNE Magazine article that targeted three bureaus that were found to be listing individuals for whom they had not received permission to promote. As the FORTUNE article stated this is in violation of the IASB Code of Ethics item that says “Obtain permission from the speaker before using his/her name or their company’s name, in bureau promotions.”

After the release of the FORTUNE article, IASB Executive Vice President, Jim Montoya sent everyone an email with a copy of the article and a message recommending a review of your web site to ensure you have specific permission to promote all speakers listed.

To go a step further, the Board of Governors has decided to respond to the FORTUNE Magazine writer and to take the following actions:

1. IASB members mentioned in the FORTUNE article are being contacted via phone and letter and asked to submit a letter of apology to the association, fix their web sites and ensure all speakers listed are done so with the speakers’ permission.
2. IASB will shortly initiate a new process whereby any member can alert our Executive Vice President of a potential ethics violation, confidentially and anonymously. The Executive Vice President will contact the bureau in question to discuss the potential problem and see if there is merit in the complaint. Many violations, especially those on web sites, can initially be considered “innocent” mistakes. We want to give members the benefit of the doubt in that they may not be aware of a violation and know they would fix it if brought to their attention.
3. Once items 1 and 2 are accomplished, we will contact the author of the FORTUNE article and let him know IASB does take ethics and integrity seriously and have taken the steps listed above to ensure the highest standards of professionalism within our membership.

Signing the Code of Ethics every year when we renew our membership is an excellent way to remind us all of the IASB standards of professionalism. It has been assumed that we would all abide by the standards on an “honor system” basis and we have not policed ourselves enough.

We will now have an opportunity to help each other do better. The FORTUNE article showed that when one of us goes astray, it hurts all of us. It is unfortunate that two IASB member bureaus were involved but it is also an excellent opportunity to make some changes and demonstrate that IASB stands for professionalism and integrity. I believe most members adhere to our Code of Ethics. We need to be willing to stand up for the importance of our code and members who don’t comply after notification should lose the privilege of membership. The major differentiation between IASB members and non-members is that we stand for integrity. If we can’t promise that to the marketplace, then what do we stand for?

Hope to see you all in Ft. Worth.

.....

Membership News/Please Welcome Our Newest Members

Ambassador Speakers Bureau
Mr. Wes Yoder
Nashville, TN
615-370-4700
info@ambassadorspeakers.com

Arnett & Associates
Ms. Patsy Arnett
Richmond, VA
804-353-5999
patsy@arnettandassociates.com

Cornerstone Speakers, LLC
Ms. Andria Younger
McLean, VA
703-744-1200
andria@cornerstonespeakers.com

HarperCollins Speakers Bureau
Ms. Jamie Brickhouse
New York, NY
212-207-7136
jamie.brickhouse@harpercollins.com

HiCue
Mr. Santiago Zapata
Bogota, Columbia
571-611-0913
szapata@hi-cue.com

The London Speaker Bureau
Ms. Sarah Isherwood
66-208-748-9595
sarah@londonspeakerbureau.com

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2007 IASB Convention
By Gail Davis, Convention Chair
Gail Davis & Associates

IMAGINE. LEAD. CONNECT – IASB Convention in Fort Worth

In just four weeks you will all be packing and making your way to Ft. Worth.

I am eager to greet all of you and show you some real Texas hospitality.

We have just finished compiling the very impressive Profile Book of our attendees. I know this will be a helpful tool for each of you to receive on site. It will certainly facilitate taking networking to the next level.

I have spent much of the last few weeks having final conversations with our keynote presenters and session moderators. I have emphasized to each that this year’s conference theme, “IMAGINE. LEAD. CONNECT.” should be their guiding principle in preparing their content.

I have prepared each presenter that, as an association, it is our responsibility to help members IMAGINE the future of our business. In response to that, we have the technology session which will take us into the future of the speakers bureau of 2012.

I have also explained that I view each IASB member as an industry leader. I feel all content should address those that will LEAD this industry into the future. I want every attendee to leave this convention with the latest information in our industry so they feel poised as a leader.

And finally we know from past surveys that one of the primary reasons our members attend this convention is to network with each other. We have created an agenda that allows for plenty of connecting. I worked just yesterday with Ken Medema on creating a high energy welcome that will set the tone for each of us to CONNECT.

I am excited and look forward to seeing each of you in Ft. Worth. Be ready to IMAGINE. LEAD. CONNECT.

.....

A Special Opportunity for IASB Member Bureaus

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IASB member bureaus pay only $695 for an annual listing on ConventionPlanit.com. The current fee is $1,195 annually. IASB member bureaus are identified on the site with the IASB logo. To learn more, just click on this link, www.conventionplanit.com. Then, click on “Search Marketplace” and then click on the Service Provider menu item –“Entertainment/Speaker/Training/Education,” sub-category, “Speakers Bureaus.”

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